Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 10: something awesome in the state of Denmark (update: video!)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Oct 19th 2009 1:19PM
posted Oct 19th 2009 1:19PM
If you're an HDTV buff with style, taste, and money to burn (and if you're reading Engadget we have our doubts about at least two of the three) then you've probably been waiting impatiently for Bang & Olufsen to make this one official. The BeoVision 10 is a wall-mounted LCD flat screen that boasts 40-inches of real estate, a brushed aluminum frame, and bottom mounted speakers that are available in a variety of colors. As the company boasts, "every aspect of the design is thought through." It also said something about "vægplacering," the definition of which we will leave to your imagination. On sale now at the B & O store on Kongens Nytorv in central Copenhagen for 43,495 Kroner (roughly $$8,700) -- not shockingly expensive, as far as this company is concerned, but still far too dear for you. No word on stateside pricing or release date.
Update: As several astute readers pointed out, the translated source for this one listed the price in British Pounds when it should have been listed in Danish Kroner (DKK). The thing is far less expensive now -- so feel free to send us one for an early Christmas present! You have the address. Oh, and a vid's after the break!
Read - Here is the new B & O television
Read - B & O's new flat panel
Update: As several astute readers pointed out, the translated source for this one listed the price in British Pounds when it should have been listed in Danish Kroner (DKK). The thing is far less expensive now -- so feel free to send us one for an early Christmas present! You have the address. Oh, and a vid's after the break!
Read - Here is the new B & O television
Read - B & O's new flat panel
All they are saying is that the TV is designed with "wall placement" (vægplacering) in mind, while not making the slim frame compromise the sound quality.
The price translation is wrong. The price is almost 10 times to high, as it's going for $8700 at the current exchange rate.
Not bad but far too small.
For a third of that price I took home a 60" pioneer Kouro and I surely would not trade it for this B&O.
Moreover to be "optimized for wall hanging" it should have wireless cabling or at least a sensible solution for the cables(power and connections) necessary in a HT and here there's no mention of anything of this sort.
Try to imagine the cool TV in this ad with an ugly power cord hanging under it.
I solved the problem by making a hole in the wall and powering the screen and connect it via HDMI to my Nas and to one of my desktops (even though they are all connected via WIFI) from the adiacent room against which wall conveniently there is a sofa .
The connections to to the HIFI rack required another hole in the wall at floor level.
Until someone rediscover Tesla's solution for wirelessly transmitting electricity every screen is gonna need at least the power cord and thus all talks of wall mounting optimization sounds a bit hollow to my ears.
First, you took home that 60" Pioneer Kuro home for $3,000 US because Pioneer doesnt make TVs anymore, and all of the leftover ones floating around are on super-sale. If there was a current 60" Pioneer Kuro, it would be well over $8,000 and that's just for the TV. B&O also makes 50", 65", and 103" TVs that can all be mounted on a wall or stand. They also make another 40" that has the full processor, a better screen, and a blu-ray player built in. But it's much deeper than this one.
"Optimized for wall hanging" refers to the TV's overall design, which is an extremely slim cabinet, and the hi-fi speakers (not the crappy 2" drivers and 5W "amps" that everyone else puts in their panels as giveaways), video processor, surround sound processor (yes, there's a pre/pro in there), and peripheral control system are all packed into that same slim design, which is 7cm(or 2.75 inches for the US people out there). Putting all of that into a package that small is extremely difficult. I'd like to see anyone else try that, especially using a custom frame and precisely machined, polished, and anodized aluminum bezels.
The one thing everyone WANTS, but will not get for the foreseeable future is proper wireless cabling. There are wireless HDMI sender/receiver units out there, many costing between $600-$1000. And performance varies. It's certainly not a permanent solution, especially in overcrowded spaces like apartment buildings. It's a great idea, but one that will take quite some time to hash out into a product that's usable over the long-term. Hopefully someone comes out with a wireless system that is bulletproof as actual cables. As for the power, some companies have already shown wireless power transmissions, borrowing heavily from Tesla's works from so many years ago. As of yet, the only fruits of that labor are the PowerMat, which is only useable on small portable electronics (like phones). Someone (I forget who) showcased a small 13" TV being powered by a wireless coil system, but it was just for a show recently, and to even make that work the sender coil had to be placed directly behind the unit. So if you wanted to do that now, you'd have to tear your wall open and put a coil behind the TV. Which is useless at the moment, as you could just make a much, much smaller hole like you did, and route the power cord for now.
For the time being, running wires is the only sure way of maintaining system integrity. It sucks, but that's all we as consumers have right now as far as bulletproof technology goes. I'm sure it will change in the future, but how far in the future is anyones guess. It's certainly not going to be anytime soon.