Promises, Promises

Sony Launches Film Streaming Service Bravia CORE

Targeted at consumers thinking of buying a top Sony TV in 2021 — but is it premium enough?

Offering content in order to increase the value of tech products is not that common because it’s usually not that effective an approach — but if anyone can pull this off, it’s probably Sony. (Image credit: Sony)

Following up on the announcement it made during CES 2021 in January, Sony is launching its Bravia CORE streaming service in more than 50 countries. This service is exclusively created for owners of the best TV models the Japanese giant will be releasing this year — starting with its best OLED model, the A90J, which has just been made available — and will not be competing with the likes of Disney Plus or HBO Max. It is intended to work as an extra incentive for consumers to go for a Sony Bravia XR model in 2021 but also as a practical demonstration of what its Pure Stream technology can do for audiovisual quality through streaming — an issue that demanding viewers have been having for a long time with the most popular service of this kind, Netflix.

Bravia CORE promises streaming speeds that vary between 30 and 80 (!) Mbps, depending on the movie. The more Mbps a film or TV show needs in order to be streamed properly, the better the picture and sound quality are at a given resolution (1080p or 4K). Up until now, Netflix’s streaming bitrate would top at 17 Mbps, while Disney Plus offers movies or TV shows exceeding 30 Mbps. The best…