Sony recognised with record six awards from European Imaging and Sound Association at 2014 EISA awards

• European Professional Compact System Camera of the year 2014-2015: α7R
• European Compact Camera of the year 2014-2015: DSC-RX100 III
• European Camcorder of the year 2014-2015: FDR-AX100
• European 4K Ultra HD TV of the year 2014-2015: KD-65X9005B
• European Tablet of the year 2014-2015: Xperia™ Z2 Tablet
• European Digital Source of the year 2014-2015: HAP-Z1ES

Weybridge, Surrey, 15-8-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Sony’s commitment to delivering products that move people emotionally, also known as ‘Kando’, has been recognised with a record six awards from EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association), the largest editorial multimedia organisation in Europe.

Recognising leading technology spanning the television, digital imaging, home theatre and mobile product divisions, the awards demonstrate the success of Sony’s commitment to producing high-quality, reliable products that customers can use with confidence.

European Professional Compact System Camera of the year 2014-2015: α7R

Beautifully styled and easy to hold on lengthy assignments, the α7R is a no-compromise camera that puts the needs of advanced users first. Front and back dials plus a control wheel and exposure compensation dial allow intuitive adjustments while framing shots through the high-contrast, high resolution XGA OLED Tru-Finder or on the tiltable 3.0-type LCD screen.

The 35mm full-frame Exmor CMOS sensor incorporates light concentration and photo diode expansion technologies and also features a new ‘gapless’ on-chip lens design that eliminates gaps between adjacent pixels. These advances increase light collection efficiency, achieving outstanding resolution, sensitivity and low noise while circumventing the challenge of decreased pixel size due to the extremely high pixel count.

European Compact Camera of the year 2014-2015: DSC-RX100 III

Crafted in tough, travel-friendly aluminium for lightness and looks, the Cyber-shot™ RX100 III builds on the acclaimed reputation of its predecessors. An uprated lens and speedy image processor are complemented by a retractable OLED Tru-Finder™ with ZEISS® T* coating, enhanced movie features and a 180-degree tilting LCD – all in a stylish fixed-lens camera that’s truly pocket-sized.

European Camcorder of the year 2014-2015: FDR-AX100

The FDR-AX100E is the first 4K Handycam® that features a large back-illuminated 1.0-type Exmor R™ CMOS sensor. Far larger than the sensor in normal consumer camcorders, this captures flawless 4K Ultra HD images (3840 x 2160 pixels) with four times the detail of Full HD while also allowing beautiful bokeh background blur effects.

The 4K sensor is paired with Sony’s ultra-powerful BIONZ X processor that employs area-specific noise reduction and detail reproduction technology for incredibly vivid, lifelike footage that’s closer than ever to reality. Together with the camcorder’s advanced Cinematone Gamma/Colour function, progressive 25p recording gives a sumptuously warm, rich look to your footage.

European 4K Ultra HD TV of the year 2014-2015: KD-65X9005B

This season’s big-screen 4K TV, the BRAVIA™ X9, offers the best from Sony with stunning pictures and premium sound complemented by ground-breaking styling. Pictures are brighter and more powerful than ever with new X-tended Dynamic Range™. Unique TRILUMINOS™ Display continues to evoke the full emotion of every scene with rich, vivid reds and emerald greens. Everything is immaculately up-scaled by the powerful 4K X-Reality™ PRO processing engine. Whether you’re watching 4K or HD, Sony’s special 4K image database ensures lifelike textures, dramatic colours and contrast. The unique ‘Wedge’ structure of the X9 TV increases stability, allows simple cable connections and a larger speaker capacity to deliver richer, more powerful sound.

European Tablet of the year 2014-2015: Xperia Z2 Tablet

With Xperia Z2 Tablet, Sony has developed a tablet that is both beautifully sleek and portable. Using premium materials, every single detail has been carefully crafted to create the world’s slimmest (only 6.4mm) and lightest (only 426g for Wi-Fi model and 439g for LTE/3G model) waterproof tablet1 on the planet, making it extremely portable and comfortable to hold, even with just one hand. Sony’s acclaimed OmniBalance design creates an elegant shape that is delightfully slim yet reassuringly solid, providing balance and symmetry in all directions for a comfortable hold and beautiful look from all angles. And as you would expect from Sony, this lightweight beauty is also entirely waterproof taking everyday life in its stride.

European Digital Source of the year 2014-2015: HAP-Z1ES

Meticulously engineered to true audiophile standards, the HAP-Z1ES HDD Audio Player extracts the finest musical details from today’s High Resolution audio files. Music files are stored on the player’s 1TB hard drive, and can be transferred – wirelessly or via a cable connection – from your PC or Mac using the ‘HAP Music Transfer’ application. The app automatically syncs with fresh downloads, so your player’s hard drive is always up to date.

EISA citations

European Professional Compact System Camera of the year 2014-2015: α7R

By managing to squeeze a 35mm full‐frame sensor into such a small mirrorless compact system camera, Sony has created a world first, and at a remarkable price. With 36 megapixels and no anti‐aliasing filter, the Alpha 7R offers extremely high resolution, currently the highest of any CSC, and the Sony BIONZ X processor enables high ISO sensitivity up to 25,600, with relatively low noise. The contrast‐based AF system is fast and decisive, while the superb electronic viewfinder and 3 inch tiltable screen offer bright, clear viewing. Remote shooting and wireless image transfer are also available courtesy of the built‐in Wi‐Fi and NFC.

European Compact Camera of the year 2014-2015: DSC-RX100 III

With the Cyber‐shot DSC‐RX100 III, Sony has improved on a camera that was already one of the best compacts available. Retaining the high‐resolution, 20‐megapixel, 1‐inch CMOS sensor of its predecessor, the RX100 III manages, incredibly, to squeeze in a high‐quality 1.44‐million‐dot pop‐up OLED electronic viewfinder while retaining the same pocket‐sized body. Its fast F1.8‐2.8 Zeiss Vario‐Sonnar T* lens with a full‐frame‐equivalent focal range of 24‐70mm, together with Sony’s BIONZ X image processor, guarantees high‐resolution, low‐noise images even in low‐light conditions. The RX100 III also features a 180‐degree‐tiltable WhiteMagic LCD 3in display with 1.23 million dots, a built‐in 3EV ND filter, full HD movies, and Wi‐Fi/NFC connectivity for both wireless image sharing and camera control via smartphone or tablet.

European Camcorder of the year 2014-2015: FDR-AX100

Owners of 4K/Ultra HD TVs can create their own 4K content with Sony’s feature‐packed camcorder. Employing a compact and lightweight design, but offering high‐quality components, it provides filmmakers with a state‐of‐the‐art creative tool. The Carl Zeiss Vario‐Sonnar T* lens is joined by a 1‐inch Exmor R CMOS sensor and provides 12x optical zoom. Several recording modes, three ND Filter Functions and easy‐to‐use adjustments that you usually would expect from a professional device give the user full control, while the pro‐grade BIONZ X processor enables recording with 4K at 25fps, Full HD at 50fps in XAVCS format and capturing slow‐motion footage at 100 fps. Meanwhile, the OLED viewfinder, Wi‐Fi/NFC connection, SteadyShot image stabilisation and scene selection modes make the FDR‐AX100E a pleasure to use. Short of 4K content? Not any more…

European 4K Ultra HD TV of the year 2014-2015: KD-65X9005B

Size, sound and Ultra HD resolution, all in one amazing package – Sony’s KD‐65X9005B is perfect for those seeking high‐end home entertainment thrills. Whether you’re viewing your own pictures and videos, upscaling Blu‐rays and TV broadcasts or streaming native 4K material, this 65‐inch LED screen impresses, particularly with the control given over its upscaling engine. Sony’s unique Triluminos technology offers a wide range of natural and realistic colours, while X‐tended Dynamic Range processing enables superb contrast. HDMI 2.0 support, an on‐board HEVC decoder and HDCP 2.2 compatibility make it ready for all foreseeable 4K content. And then there’s the audio. The ‘Wedge’ cabinet design and revamped Magnetic Fluid speakers combine to provide authentic bass and crisp, high frequencies – no other TV sounds as good. And if you want even more bass, Sony’s wireless SWF‐BR100 subwoofer is an option.

European Tablet of the year 2014-2015: Xperia Tablet Z2

So slim, so classy, so slick ‐ the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is undoubtedly an EISA winner. This seductively designed tablet will impress the user with the astonishing image quality it provides via its 10.1‐inch LCD IPS display with a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels that delivers vivid colours, deep blacks and exceptional detail. Lightning fast, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is powered by a 2.3 GHz Quad‐Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, uses 3 GB RAM and runs on the Android 4.4 operating system for an unrivalled mobile web experience. Easy to use and perfect for watching Full HD movies or playing your favourite games, the tablet is IP58‐certified (waterproof for 30 minutes in 1.5m of freshwater) and its super‐powerful 6,000mAh battery delivers over 13 hours of full AV performance.

European Digital Source of the year 2014-2015: HAP-Z1ES

The multinational corporation responsible for audio milestones such as the revolutionary Walkman, the digital compact disc and SACD is embarking on another initiative to bring hi-fi replay back to the top of consumers’ wish lists. Its new ‘hi‐res audio’ separates are fronted by the HAP-Z1ES digital music file player featuring a built‐in 1TB hard drive and USB expansion port. The HAP-Z1ES connects to a home network via wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and it provides internet radio using the vTuner platform but it replays music files directly from its internal drive for a truly consistent and self‐contained performance. Dynamic and spacious, the HAP-Z1ES has the capacity to sound all the sweeter with its user-selectable DSD‐upsampling mode. It’s the perfect digital source for all your hi-res downloads.

1 Tablet with an 8-inch or above display size. The Xperia™ Z2 Tablet is a waterproof (in compliance with IP55/58††) tablet. Specifications verified by Strategy Analytics’ SpecTRAX service as of 21st February 2014, for more information on Strategy Analytics results go to: www.sonymobile.com/testresults. In compliance with IP55 and IP58, Xperia™ Z2 Tablet is protected against the ingress of dust and is waterproof. Provided that all ports and covers are firmly closed, the phone is (i) protected against low pressure jets of water from all practicable directions in compliance with IP 55; and/or (ii) can be kept under 1.50 metres of fresh water for up to 30 minutes in compliance with IP58.

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