Sony Bravia NX803 Monolith TV hands-on photos: Sneak peak at LoveFilm streaming

Yesterday Sony showed us its super-cool Monolith TV and LoveFilm streaming service at a swanky London hotel. We were mighty impressed, and we think you will be too

Ian Morris

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Ian Morris

March 11, 2010 7:11 a.m. PT

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At a swanky central London hotel yesterday, Sony enthusiastically showed off two of the things it's excited about this year. No, not Adam Sandler's moobs -- the Bravia NX803 Monolith TV and its LoveFilm streaming service.

We've gone over the specs for the new NX range before, but just to recap, Sony is pitching these svelte tellies to people who want the coolest hardware. These are not top of the range TVs, with every new feature imaginable, but they are intended to turn heads. And we have to say, it's a success at that. These TVs aren't shallow though, with plenty of features on offer too, such as LED edge-lighting, built-in Wi-Fi and the new LoveFilm service.

Sony seems very keen indeed to get us all streaming films and TV shows to our TVs and Blu-ray players. In fact, the company told us it thinks people are likely to be more interested in its Blu-ray players for their extra streaming functionality than for Blu-ray movies themselves. While that might seem like a strange thing for Sony to say, we couldn't agree more. You can't find the time to watch a film every night, but you might well be keen to catch up on TV from broadcasters such as Five and the BBC.

Anyway, less talk, more pretty tech. Check out the photos, give us your thoughts via the comments section below and keep your eye on our reviews channel for a proper review of all this gear in the next few weeks.

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Oooh, glowing logo.

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The optional TV stand doesn't have its own built-in speakers, instead opting for holes that allow the sound through.

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The NX doesn't look all that monolithic when it's turned on. It is rather classy though -- as long as you don't mind dusting it every day.

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Even the new Sony remotes are cool looking. Check out this funky thing, with its stylish curves.

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There appears to be a power button on the reverse of the remote, which will save valuable nanoseconds when you've come in late, the match has already started and some hoon has left the control upside down.

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The TV does look pretty terrific, and has an adjustable tilt of either 0 or 6 degrees, to improve your viewing angle if you put the TV on a low stand.

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The only thing we don't like about the stand is it's not included with the TV. Apparently this is because people want to wall-mount it. We raised our eyebrow in the manner of Roger Moore at this suggestion.

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We're sure 'energy-saving switches' used to be called 'off switches'.

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The usual inputs are shared between the rear of the set and the side.

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Here you can see the logos for the current video-on-demand partners. The BBC will also be included at launch with its iPlayer catch-up service. Sony tells us HD is also possible on these streaming services if providers want to include it.

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The LoveFilm interface is really slick. This demo was running from an older, US-spec Blu-ray player. The final version will be faster apparently, but we were very impressed by the responsiveness of this system.

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Lots of options are provided by the interface to find a film for you to watch. Streaming is SD-quality only, but it's free as long as you're on a LoveFilm contract for at least £10 per month.

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Demand Five is a little short on content in this demo service -- only offering soaps at the moment -- but that promises to change soon. We're perfectly happy with Neighbours and never watch anything else.

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The service did work very well though, and the interface is pleasant and easy to use. It's easily accessible to even the least technically minded people, which we heartily approve of.