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Sears (Hoffman Estates, IL) (www.sears.com)
has started to sell the Veos
65-inch RPTV on its Web site. The TV uses Gen II LCOS
technology from Brillian, and Sears is the until now unnamed
and long-awaited major retailer that Brillian has been saying
would sell its TVs this fall. The sets are available now
only from Sears at an introductory price of $7,600 and will
soon return to the normal retail price of $7,999.
This is the first time in decades that Sears has offered
its own brand of CE product. It has a well-known appliance
brand with Kenmore and a great tool brand in Craftsman,
but not in CE products.
Brillian has said Sears plans a nationwide roll-out of
the set, with Brillian and partners ramping production to
match. This could change, we suspect, if consumers don’t
embrace the TV sets, however.
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The RPTV (Sears item #05754904000) is one of the best performing
models on the market, but also one of the most expensive. It offers
resolution of 1280 x 720 with an on-screen contrast of 2000:1
and an ultra-fine pitch screen. A Pixelworks processor provides
full featured video processing plus 3:2 pull down support. Optional
expansion ports are built into the TV for future upgrades –
a great idea that all manufacturers should adopt. These slots
can accommodate ATSC tuners, CableCARD or IEEE 1394 connectivity.
Sears says the RPTV will be delivered within 2-7 business days.
Brillian will also be in the Kenwood booth at CEDIA demonstrating
the same 65-icnh RPTV. There is no formal tie between the two
companies yet, but it is our guess that Kenwood is using CEDIA
to showcase the TV to see if its dealers would like to carry it.
Given the high performance, we suspect they will like that very
much. The question is the price point. But then again, most CEDIA
dealers are selling higher-end systems, so this may not be an
issue. Stay tuned.
Brillian, Rainer Kuhn, 720-406-8400, rainer.kuhn@brilliancorp.com
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