EISA rewards Sony with 5 ‘Best Products’ of the year awards

• European SLR Camera of the year 2012-2013: α SLT-A57
• European Advanced Compact Camera of the year 2012-2013: Cyber-shot DSC-RX100
• European Travel Camera of the year 2012-2013: Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V
• European 3D TV of the year 2012-2013: BRAVIA KDL-55HX850
• European HT High End of the year 2012-2013: VPL-VW1000ES

Sony’s achievements and innovation in Digital Imaging and Home Entertainment have once again been recognized by the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA).

EISA is the largest editorial multimedia organisation in Europe, with a membership of 50 special interest magazines, from Audio and Mobile Electronics to Video and Photo magazines spanning 19 European countries.

α SLT-A57: European SLR Camera of the year 2012-2013:

Whether you’re just starting out photography or a serious enthusiast, the SLT-A57 will impress: it’s a high performing camera at an accessible price with stylish ergonomics and quality finish. Thanks to the Translucent Mirror Technology, the SLT-A57 achieves amazing burst shooting with 12 frames per second and a full time continuous autofocus to keep your subject always sharp, making it ideal to shoot action, even at high zoom. You won’t even need to worry about moving subjects, the SLT-A57 also ensures efficient tracking of subjects. Shoot like a pro and achieve the best portrait pictures thanks to the new Auto Portrait Framing function that uses face detection and reframes the image to the best suited proportions.

Cyber-shot DSC-RX100: European Advanced Compact Camera of the year 2012-2013:

Crisp details and amazing picture quality will come with this impressive compact camera. The DSC-RX100 brings you a step closer to DSLR style and quality thanks to its 1.0-type Exmor CMOS sensor with a resolution of 20.2 effective megapixels and its manual capabilities. The F1.8 maximum aperture Vario Sonnar Carl Zeiss lens combined with the latest BIONZ processor makes it the ideal compact camera for low light conditions and fast shooting action, resulting in beautiful, detail packed images and Full HD movies. Even more impressive for a compact camera, you can now make pro-like photos with a sharp focus against a smoothly blurred background.

Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V: European Travel Camera of the year 2012-2013:

Ideal to carry around, multi-purpose and high performance without compromising on picture quality, the DSC-HX20V will be your perfect travel companion. From close macro of 1cm capability to an impressive 20x optical zoom you will enjoy taking pictures of any intriguing subject close or far. But that’s not all you can do with the DSC-HX20V- used in low light conditions or on fast-moving subjects, the efficient Optical Image Stabilization allows you to create natural looking images with reduced noise and less blur. Thanks to the GPS/Compass functionality, once back home retrace your travels with online map view on your PC and you’ll be able to see where and which direction your photos were taken.

BRAVIA KDL-55HX850: European 3D TV of the year 2012-2013:

The HX85 brings improved picture enhancement technology with X-Reality PRO, to enhance lower quality signals, taking you closer to HD quality as well as making 2D & 3D images clearer. Connectivity to the online world through your TV has never been easier than with the Sony Entertainment Network, it offers unlimited on-demand movies and music while helping you stay in touch with family and friends though the pre-installed apps for Twitter®, Facebook® and Skype. All this while looking super stylish in your living room with newly designed stands and screens.

VPL-VW1000ES: European HT High End of the year 2012-2013:

Sony ‘s VPL-VW1000ES projector is the world’s first home theatre projector to display stunning 4K images that are four times superior to the resolution of Full HD (4096x2160 pixels) to offer a fully immersive visual experience. It features advanced technologies, from 4K lens and rich colour reproduction to super high brightness and a dynamic contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, which make watching 2D and 3D content at home just like being at the movies. In other words, the VPL-VW1000ES 4K projector is a revolution for the home cinema experience and the projector market.

Citations from EISA judges:

α SLT-A57: European SLR Camera of the year 2012-2013

The EISA judging panel commented: “The Sony α SLT-A57 is a 16-million-pixel translucent mirror camera with remarkably impressive specification, especially for a model in this price range. The benefits of translucent mirror technology are now beginning to have an impact on entry-level cameras, allowing high speed AF in movie mode, 12-frames-per-second shooting rates as well as Sony’s powerful combination of high quality imaging sensor and processor. The Sony α SLT-A57 is an excellent tool for the new photography enthusiastic, and is built on a platform from which both the consumer and the manufacturer can develop even more. Features such as the new automatic portrait-framing mode make this a user-friendly camera for the beginner as much as for the more experienced user. Sony’s picture quality continues to be very good, and the SLT-A57 can compete easily with much more expensive cameras.”

Cyber-shot DSC-RX100: European Advanced Compact Camera of the year 2012-2013

The EISA judging panel commented: “Sony’s Cyber-shot RX100 is a high quality and solidly built compact camera designed for advanced amateur photographers. Its unusually large 1-inch CMOS sensor and the bright 28-100mm F1.8-4.9 Carl Zeiss lens provides very good image quality even in low light. In addition to JPEG format, the RX100 also offers users the chance to save images in raw format, allowing extra flexibility and quality for the serious photographer. The high resolution 1.2-million-dot 3-inch-LCD has proven to be excellent in tests performed by EISA magazines.”

Cyber-shot DSC-HX20/HX20V: European Travel camera of the year 2012-2013

The EISA judging panel commented: “What makes the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20/HX20V interesting is that it is a small and portable compact camera that has a 25-500mm 20x optical zoom lens. Its 18.2-million-pixel sensor delivers large printable files while the metering system consistently produces well exposed images. The ISO range, the 10fps burst mode and the fine tuning feature, that provides custom control of brightness and colour saturation, allow the user freedom under a wide range of lighting conditions and when shooting moving subjects. A variety of options through the “artistic” menu as well as the background defocus function and the Full HD 50p video function, allow for freedom, creativity and imagination to take the lead of any project.”

BRAVIA KDL-55HX850: European 3D TV of the year 2012-2013

The EISA judging panel commented: “Sony’s KDL-55HX855 is the ideal television for 3D movie fans. The very fast response time of the panel and its ability to keep the two image channels separate means image quality is striking, with almost no crosstalk. Sony’s Cinema mode, meanwhile, ensures correctly-balanced colours straight out of the box, and black levels are excellent due to dimming technology that reduces the backlight in dark parts of the picture without a loss of shadow detail. As well as the superior 3D and 2D pictures, the unique lean-back stand provides a convenient, stylish viewing experience.”

VPL-VW1000ES: European HT High-end of the year 2012-2013

The EISA judging panel commented: “Home theatre diehards have keenly anticipated a true 4K projector and Sony’s VPL-VW1000ES is that dream given form. This inaugural native 4K home theatre projector offers a full 4096х2160 pixel resolution and is based on Sony’s professional cinema solution. At its core are three new SXRD matrix panels capable of delivering a claimed 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio through its specially developed 2.1x zoom lens. As you would expect for a projector of this resolution, its picture processing is exceptional, upscaling Full HD input to fill its 4K capacity with seamless efficiency. Your favourite movies have never looked so vivid, detailed and realistic – this is the projector of the future, available today.”