New Sony Back-Lit LED ... When?

It is (or at least was when this news was brought out last year about this time) supposed to be XBR8. I saw another announcement maybe 2mos ago saying the same thing. In Japan, the XR1 series of 46" and 55" LED backlit TVs is coming out in October. I saw a demo of the Sony LED backlit technology several months ago; it looked great vs the "older" Sony but I could not compare it against anything else (Kuro, Samsung, or otherwise).

It's XBR8 which will come in 46" and 55" sizes at $5000 and $7000 pricepoints, respectively. October release is estimated.

The launch date in Japan appears to be the 10th of October for the two top end ones, which are the Bravia KDL - 46XR1 and the 55XR1. Advance street prices are about $4800 and $6000 right now when translated into dollar terms, but I would bet that within a month they are 15% lower. To give you an idea, the new Pioneer Kuro (the 50 inch is the 'KRP-500A' in Japan) comes out near end-Oct and it is being quoted at $5300 for the 50 inch. The older version (5010HD) from a year ago is about $3400 now.

OK. If anybody gets a chance to compare, I hope you will come back and post your impressions here. Thanks, Jeff