Sony Europe announced that its new 4K Media Player (available in August for €399) adds HEVC streaming support to existing BRAVIA 4K Ultra HDTVs.

For more information visit: www.sony.com

Unedited press release follows:

Sony 4K Media Player adds 4K live streaming support to existing BRAVIA™ 4K Ultra HD TVs

From August this year, every BRAVIA™ 4K Ultra HD TV owner will be able to enjoy video content streamed with the increasingly popular HEVC (H.265) standard.

Available for purchase direct from Sony online at €399, a compact new 4K Media Player, the FMP-X5, plugs into an HDMI port on these existing 4K BRAVIA models (introduced in 2012/2013):

• KDL-84X9005
• KD-65X9005A / 55X9005A

Equipped with the new decoder, all 4K BRAVIA televisions can now play content encoded with the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) video codec. HEVC is becoming increasingly popular among the video streaming industry and being used in services such as Netflix. HEVC/H.265 has a better coding efficiency than that of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, it makes HEVC ideal for online streaming of 4K video, requiring less bandwidth to deliver stunning-quality 4K images.

HEVC support is already featured as standard with all 2014 BRAVIA 4K TV models, including KD-X9500B/X9000B/X8500B, that do not require this decoder to play HEVC content.

About Sony
Offering an integrated entertainment experience through its electronics, mobile, music, pictures, game and the Sony Entertainment Network, Sony is uniquely positioned to be one of the world’s leading consumer brands. Sony is renowned for its audio-visual products in both the consumer and professional markets, such as the 4K Ultra HD and Full HD LED BRAVIA™ TV, Cyber-shot™ digital camera, Handycam® camcorder, “α” (pronounced Alpha) digital SLR camera, Xperia™ Tablet and Walkman® MP3 player as well as professional broadcast equipment.

Offering an integrated entertainment experience through its electronics, mobile, music, pictures, game and networked entertainment business, Sony is uniquely positioned to be one of the world’s leading consumer brands. Sony is renowned for its audio-visual products in both the consumer and professional markets, such as the BRAVIA™ LCD high-definition (HD) television, Cyber-shot™ digital camera, Handycam camcorder, “α” (pronounced Alpha) digital SLR camera, Sony Tablet and Walkman MP3 player as well as its VAIO™ personal computers and 3D HD professional broadcast equipment.