Last month, Samsung also announced new LED TV models that will compete head-on with the new Sony Z series making the battle at the top end of the TV market highly competitive.

Sony claim that they are now using a new second generation Motionflow 200Hz engine in their flagship Z series TV's which will be available in 40-inch, 46-inch and 52-inch.

The 1080p Full HD models also have 4 xHDMI, 24P True Cinema, DLNA, BRAVIA Sync, XMB (XrossMediaBar) menu system and Ambient Light Sensor.

Sony, who at Christmas announced price rises of up to 30%, have not said what price their new premium range will be. However, SmartHouse suspects it will be expensive as Sony is aiming for profits over volume sales as reflected in their sales history .

Despite being outsold by Samsung, Sony is claiming that the previous model the KDL46Z4500 was the number one selling LCD TV in value from December 2008 to April 2009. However questions are now being raised as to whether the giveaway of a Sony Playstation PS3 or a Sony Blu ray players should have been counted as part of the TV's value.