Sony is bringing its flagship QD-OLED television to Japan, more than a year after the set first went on sale in the United States and Europe. The company has set a September 19 release date and, for the first time, local prices. For buyers in Japan, the story is when they can get the set and what it will cost.
The BRAVIA 8 II reaches Japanese stores in two sizes, the 65-inch K-65XR80M2 and the 55-inch K-55XR80M2, Sony said. The company set no fixed list price and left that to retailers. Its estimate puts the 65-inch model at about ¥605,000, or roughly $3,780, and the 55-inch at about ¥462,000, or roughly $2,890, both figures including tax.
The hardware is not new. Sony is shipping the same QD-OLED panel, the same XR picture processor, and the same panel-vibration speaker system that went into the international model last year. Sony repeats its earlier claim that the set's contrast processing lifts peak brightness to as much as 1.5 times that of its previous-generation OLED, helped by a low-reflection screen coating that it says cuts glare in bright rooms.
The additions for Japan are mostly local. The television ships with a wireless remote that adds a dedicated button for TVer, the Japanese broadcasters' streaming service. Sony also lists Gemini, Google's assistant on Google TV, among the set's voice controls, and says the cabinet and remote use recycled plastic, with an energy-saving menu that it says can cut power draw by about 29 percent from the default configuration.
What is not yet settled is the actual price. Sony's yen figures are estimates rather than a fixed amount, so what buyers pay will depend on individual retailers once the television reaches shelves on September 19. Sony began in-store demonstrations at five of its own stores on September 1.
