Sony’s competitive promotion on its e-commerce site, offering a...

Sony’s competitive promotion on its e-commerce site, offering a free TV mount and installation with the purchase of an Ultra HD 4K TV, spurred independent AV retailer Bjorn’s in San Antonio to offer a similar deal, President Bjorn Dybdahl told us. “It’s been a help,” Dybdahl said, saying the store has “been doing well with 4K all along” following its launch of the 84-inch model in October. Bjorn’s decided to do its own promotion when a customer told a store salesperson about the deal on the Sony website. “We wanted to be in the ballpark with Sony,” Dybdahl said, so he contacted the manufacturer and “they made it possible for us to be competitive,” he said. Bjorn’s will run its promotion as long as the Sony promotion is in place, he said. “We've been pleased with the number we've sold,” Dybdahl said. As a harbinger of new video technologies, Bjorn’s was a cheerleader for 3D “before 3D was a reality,” doing promotions with Mitsubishi and Texas Instruments to promote the technology, Dybdahl said. “We were excited about 3D,” he said, until major TV manufacturers launched 3D through Best Buy, he said. “We couldn’t get flat-panel product because it rolled out through Best Buy and made us all look bad,” Dybdahl said. Like other specialty AV dealers, Dybdahl blames 3D’s flatlining partly on the mass-market launch instead of through specialists who could provide the education a new technology needs. Now with the industry looking to 4K as the next savior for the price-battered TV market, Dybdahl is hopeful 4K will bring the margins and consumer excitement that 3D didn’t. Conceding it’s early to get a feel for mainstream consumer reaction to high-priced Ultra HD TVs, Dybdahl said he’s seen something in 4K that’s attracting customers even without native 4K content available. The store held a demo showing a Sony 4K TV against a flagship Samsung LED-lit 1080p model, and consumers overwhelmingly chose the 4K model, he said. Dybdahl was particularly impressed that viewers in the back of the room saw a difference in the two displays, since reviewers have said users should sit close to a 4K TV to appreciate its benefits. “There’s something about 4K that’s drawing people to it, and it’s not the fact of having to sit close,” he said. The demo was done with upscaled material and with both TVs tweaked to the highest performance settings, he said. On rumored OLED 4K models coming to market this fall, Dybdahl predicted customer confusion as they are confronted with the new 4K and OLED technologies. “Like any new, revolutionary product, we'll go with it and sales will dictate what direction the market goes,” he said. “Cost will play a role in that,” he said. “We'll be involved with both.”