Sony's 84-inch Ultra HD TV will be here in time for Christmas

Sony's 84-inch 4K TV will be here in time for Christmas
Yeah, we'll probably keep ours out by the pool, too

Sorry Santa, Sony's KD-84X9005 is all we want for Christmas this year, but you may have a spot of bother getting the 84-inch TV down the chimney.

Forget the Christmas tree, we're excited about the prospect of the Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 resolution – that's four times the quality of full HD) behemoth sitting in our living rooms this festive season.

That might be slightly wishful thinking given the roll out starts 'from the end of the year' but we'll cross our fingers and hope.

Sony says the 84-inch LCD panel, just unveiled at IFA 2012, is the "industry's largest". It uses Sony's 4K X-Reality PRO super-resolution high picture quality engine which is corporate speak for really freakin' crisp and lovely to look at, coupled with high-quality sound.

Engine engine number 9

The imaging engine is able to adjust to different types of content at different resolutions, so HD digital broadcasts and Blu-ray disc playback will be optimised for the screen.

Of course the KD-84X9005 can handle 3D as well, with passive 3D glasses bundled with the TV set.

The company promises you'll never see another pixel and that you'll notice that "images are breathtakingly realistic and beautifully clear with the 60-degree viewing angle", even if you sit twice as close to the screen as usual.

There's a combination of 10 unit live speakers that promise 3D sound, and PlayMemories Studio will allow PS3 owners to show high resolution photos on the mega screen as well.

And this is just the first of many; Sony says it "will strive to strengthen its 'BRAVIA products with the release of the kind of high-resolution, large-screen 4K TV" as well as working on the cameras capable of shooting the footage you'll need to watch on it.

Unfortunately there's no word on pricing just yet but we imagine we'll have to be Mother Teresa levels of good to earn it a place in our stockings.

Check back for our hands on Sony KD-84X9005 review coming soon - hopefully before it's made completely obsolete by the 8K super hi-vision set from Panasonic.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.