Sony Adds BBC iPlayer To 2010 Bravia HDTVs

Sony has finally incorporated the highly popular BBC iPlayer on-demand catch up service into the Bravia Internet Video platform on some of their HDTV sets, fulfilling a promise the company made when it launched its 2010 range of Bravia HDTVs earlier this year.

Through a firmware update, owners of certain Sony Bravia HDTV displays with integrated Freeview HD tuner will be able to enjoy BBC iPlayer content directly on their internet-connected television sets. The Sony Bravia HDTV range which will benefit from this firmware update include the EX403, EX503, EX603, EX703, EX713, HX703, HX803, HX903, NX503, NX703, NX803 and LX903 series.

Having been implemented on some of the company’s hardware devices like the Playstation 3 (PS3), Blu-ray players and home cinema systems, it was only a matter of time before the BBC TV catch-up service also found its way onto Sony internet-enabled HDTVs. Viewers will be able to watch BBC iPlayer content for the previous 7 days using the Sony Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface.

Christian Brown, senior marketing manager of the Home Entertainment division at Sony, said that the company is “really excited” to have struck a partnership with BBC to deliver this “fantastic service” to most owners of its 2010 range of Bravia high-definition televisions. The addition of BBC iPlayer service would give Bravia HDTV owners more value-for-money, and the convenience of being able to watch and manage TV programmes via a few clicks on their remote controls.

Besides the BBC iPlayer, the Sony Bravia Internet Video connected TV platform also offers some useful applications such as Youtube, Lovefilm and Channel 5 on-demand services.

Sony PS3 3D Blu-ray Firmware Update 3.50

Sony has also announced that it will release firmware update 3.50 for the Playstation 3 (PS3) on Tuesday the 21st of September, which will let console users playback 3D Blu-ray discs to be watched on a compatible 3D TV. The Sony PS3 already boasts 3D game support since firmware update 3.30.

3 comments

  1. The BBC iPlayer on Bravia TVs is a total disappointment. The quality is very inferior to that achieved by SONYs own BDPS370 Blue ray player which give a brilliant rendition of HD programmes an a very good rendition of non-HD content. The TV version is noted a “beta” version, but the images are as poor as early so called HD ready tv from 5 years ago and debateably the TV playing HD content from iPlayer inferior to standard definition. Come on SONY this is not acceptable. It may be that the signal processors in the TV ar just not up to the job – this could amount to miss-representation of the product!

  2. I totally agree with the above poster. The channel 5 streaming video is really good quality, the BBC quality is very poor, lots of pixelation (even on high quality!). Hopefully they’ll get it sorted ASAP. And hopefully ITV and 4od will join in because the image quality on iplayer is poor and there’s jack shite on 5ondemand :)

  3. My experience is very different to the previous 2 posters. I have just watched the F1 qualifying using the iplayer option on my Bravia, selecting the higher definition mode, and the quality is very good with none of the issues. A good internet connection is a must for this to work well though.