Sony UK Falsely Claims—Then Retracts—That It’s Only TV Maker to Offer HDR on 1080p TVs

Two new Bravia TV models, the WF66 and RF45​, make Sony “the only TV manufacturer offering the benefits” of high dynamic range in its 1080p TV line, Sony U.K. boasted in a Thursday product announcement.. The claim -- with the footnote that it was accurate “according to Sony research as of 15 February 2018” -- was false, because Panasonic in Europe earlier announced that basic HDR10 will be built into even its entry-level 1080p TVs for 2018 (see 1802130024). Sony's WF66 and RF45 sets will support HDR10 and hybrid log-gamma HDR technologies, said a Sony U.K. spokeswoman Thursday. Asked if Sony stands by its claim that it's exclusively offering 1080p TVs with HDR support amid Panasonic's announcement of the same 1080p feature, the spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on other brands." However, toward the end of the day Thursday, Sony deleted the exclusivity claim and the footnote from the Bravia TV announcement. Panasonic representatives didn’t comment. TV makers for several years have openly pondered building HDR functionality into 1080p sets (see 1509030014), and now is that feature combination making its way into commercial reality with 2018 products. Judging from the competitive jockeying already seen between Panasonic and Sony, it bears watching to see if HDR becomes a differentiating feature in 1080p TV product lines. Bandwidth constraints have many broadcasters looking toward using 1080p with HDR in launching ATSC 3.0, at least as an “interim” approach, several said at an ATSC conference in May (see 1705160044).