Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Changes are in motion
You’ve followed the BRAVIA-drome ad from concept to post-production. You’ve even enjoyed a sneak preview of the final cut.
Now the wait’s over as the commercial hits TV screens and the new Motionflow site goes live. Click here to view the new site and see great behind-the-scenes videos, more of Kaká and Motionflow demos.
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Motionflow 200Hz - bringing action sequences to life
This is it, the last post before the ad officially launches and lots more content heads your way. Before we move onto the next stage of the campaign though, here are five action-packed movies to see on the BRAVIA Z4500 for the ultimate sensory experience.
While standard TVs have a 50Hz frame refresh rate, meaning that high-speed action can look blurred and appear to flicker, Motionflow 200Hz quadruples the frame rate to produce a clear picture that’s judder-free. The end result is an intense, enhanced experience and action sequences that look as if they are happening right in front of you.
Casino Royale
Bond movies are pretty much all one amazing action sequence full of breathtaking stunts and explosions. The first Bond film with Daniel Craig is no exception.
The 6th Day
Arnold Schwarzenegger does what he does best in this movie about a sinister human cloning operation that is sweeping America. When Schwarzenegger finds he has been cloned, it’s a fight for survival to escape the assassins who will stop at nothing to kill him and single-handedly stop the cloning of humans.
Hancock
Will Smith plays Hancock, a superhero with a bad attitude, a bad reputation and a bad drink problem who costs the state a fortune in damage to public property. This is action adventure with a comedic angle is packed with explosions and awesome special effects.
Surf’s Up
A computer animated mockumentary, this movie follows Cody Maverick, a penguin who wants to become a famous surfer like his idol Big Z and win the annual Big Z Memorial Surf Contest. Full of lovable characters and brilliant surfing scenes this is a fantastic film for all the family.
Men in Black
In this hit from 1997 Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones star as agents from a top secret agency that monitors alien activity on Earth. Men in Black is a classic science fiction adventure flick with a comedy twist and one big Bug - which the heroes must find and exterminate in order to save the galaxy.
Watch the Men in Black trailer
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
The experts behind Sony Motionflow 200Hz
What’s it like, inventing a new technology? Get the inside story on Motionflow 200Hz from its developers, Sony engineers Kyoichiro Oda and Wataru Mamiya.
Identifying the task in hand
Oda: “I began wondering what the key features would be for next generation LCD TVs and felt the focus had to be on the quality of fast-moving images. We did a careful evaluation of existing image-improvement technologies and found that each involved a tradeoff between the components of LCD display performance. For example, the picture might be improved but luminance is reduced.” (more…)
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
How Sony Motionflow 200Hz works
BRAVIA Z4500 hit the shops last year, complete with Motionflow 200Hz. The technology has been hailed as a world first, but what does it actually do?
Picture this. It’s match day. You turn on your TV and there’s your team pelting down the pitch, in razor-sharp detail. That’s what Motionflow 200Hz delivers. Our revolutionary motion enhancement technology captures every kick, every swerve, every flick at 200 frames a second. So you get action that’s as smooth and clear as real life.
Standard TVs have a 50Hz frame refresh rate, which means that high-speed action can appear to flicker and blur. By quadrupling that frame rate Motionflow 200Hz produces a picture that’s crisp and judder-free.
The technology works by adding three frames to a fast-moving sequence. It predicts movement in all directions and creates new images to match these movements, so any gaps in the action are filled. The result is an intense and immersive viewing experience. From sports to games, action movies to cartoons, Motionflow 200Hz means you won’t miss a thing.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
Capturing the Sony BRAVIA-drome advert on film
For five days Venaria’s Piazza Annunziata was transformed into a film set as director Vernie Yeung and his crew captured the BRAVIA-drome on film for Sony’s latest TV commercial.
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
From toy to 10-tonne BRAVIA-drome
Designer Ben Scott describes some of the challenges involved in taking the BRAVIA-drome from pencil drawing to massive motion machine.
“In the initial meeting you have a little toy on the table and you spin it, then say let’s just make that 50 times bigger. The mathematics and the optics of doing that are really complicated. For example, there are so many things that alter the actual image inside, from the size of the slot you look through, to the distance that the picture is away from that slot, to the amount of light.
The images inside the BRAVIA-drome aren’t anything like those you see when it’s moving. They change in shape, they get wider as it spins. The optics of it are such that we had to make those images very thin so that when they’re spinning they come back to a normal size.”
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
World-class footballer has our event in a spin
Football sensation Kaká is the star of our Motionflow event. Just like the revolutionary 200Hz technology, he’s super fast and precise – talents that have won him honours like the Ballon d’Or (Europe’s highest accolade for a footballer) and FIFA’s World Player of the Year award. Now his legendary skills will be setting the BRAVIA-drome in motion.
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
Designing a modern-day zoetrope
What’s 10 metres across, spins at 44km/h and could break records? It’s the BRAVIA-drome shown here at Venaria, in Northern Italy. We’ll be unveiling more photos and videos soon. Stay posted.
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
21st-century technology creates the ultimate moving image
It’s 1834 and William Horner has just invented the zoetrope. Its rotating drum transforms still images into a single moving picture. As the Greek name suggests, it’s the ‘wheel of life’ (zoe ‘life’, trope ‘turn’).
Fast forward to today and Sony’s Motionflow technology, which intelligently adds new frames to action scenes to make them appear smoother than ever. At 200 frames a second, Motionflow 200Hz is like a fast, fluid 21st-century zoetrope.
What better way to celebrate this technology than through the creation of the BRAVIA-drome, the most technologically advanced zoetrope in the world. We’ll bring you breaking news of our Motionflow 200Hz event, as it happens. Stay tuned.
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Football genius Kaká kicks off our event
Football’s speeding up: the players run faster, the ball travels further. It’s the ultimate test of Motionflow 200Hz, the world’s first technology which makes intense action scenes appear as clear and smooth as real life.
It’s certainly a challenge, keeping up with AC Milan player Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaká. He’s one of the fastest players on the pitch with a speed that’s rarely matched, making him the perfect embodiment of sharp and fast Motionflow 200Hz technology.
Watch this space to find out how Kaká’s world-class football skills are featuring in our Motionflow 200Hz event.
