One in five Australian households has HD TV

Sony today announced new additions to its Bravia range of LCD TVs. In typical Sony style, they're appended with frankly impossible to pronounce product names -- you try remembering something like KDL52W4000 the next time you're at the shops.

The launch comes on the back of research conducted by GfK but commissioned by Sony which suggests that 20% of Australian households have access to an HD LCD TV, while only 8.3% have access to an HD Plasma. The report notes that HD LCD TV sales in the first quarter of 2008 accounted for 61% of HD sales (which includes HD Plasmas and Camcorders), and that HD itself as a category made up 79% of all CE sales -- although that figure does tellingly omit all notebook PCs, movies and games software. Without movies and games, what does Sony think people are doing with their HD TVs? They can't all be watching Kerrie Anne -- can they?

The new models all feature the XMB navigation system used by Sony's PS3 and PSP consoles, as well as Bravia Sync. Models in the W and V series feature digital media ports for connecting portable media players, and the V series features Sony's first semi-small FullHD 32" model. Whether you'll get the full benefit out of FullHD at only 32" remains open for debate, but it's good to have the choice at least.