Calling it the "grandest" among its current lineup of TV offerings, the Sony Grand Wega is the company’s answer to the barrage of high-end TVs that competitors such as Samsung, LG, and Philips have launched in recent years.

The local subsidiary of Sony said in a presentation that it has already recovered the large market share it lost to aggressive Korean electronic firm Samsung which made tremendous strides in the early part of the decade.

With recent developments in the US showing a 15-percent increase in 2004 of large-projection TV, Sony Philippines said that "it foresees bright prospects in the next two years in the large LCD projection TV market."

"The market for large LCD projection TV including the Grand Wega will be driven by a higher appreciation of what improved TV technology can deliver, in terms of superior picture quality, hi-resolution images, bright colors, and clarity of sound," Hiroaki Kobayashi, president of Sony Philippines, said in a statement.

The Grand Wega is available in 60", 50", and 42" models. The new TV model has elicited a highly positive response as marked by a good number of initial orders when it was introduced to Sony dealers in early February, Kobayashi said.

The Grand Wega utilizes 3LCD technology that creates high-resolution images that are comparable to the quality of plasma TV at a more affordable price. The desire of every Filipino family to have a television set big enough to simulate a theater style of viewing will be fulfilled by the Sony Grand Wega, officials said.

Plasma TV has caught the fancy of some high-spending individuals in countries like Singapore and Hong Kong, and has somehow enjoyed the status of gold standard for televisions. It is perceived that plasma TV suits these countries’ needs because their living rooms are smaller and more compact as compared to those seen in the Unites States and the Philippines.