Today we have presented a new member of the Bang & Olufsen Family: Beovision Contour. Considering size and price, we would like to compare this new exciting TV with one of our best-selling products in the same category, Beovision Horizon. Unfortunately, Beovision Horizon has been discontinued, but we still have a few left in stock. Below we will try to clarify what similarities and differences there are on these two beautiful Bang & Olufsen TVs.
THE DESIGN
Beovision Contour and Beovision Horizon are both designed to fit in anywhere. With a wide range of stands and fittings, both TVs offer an incredible amount of flexibility. Each location has its own unique expression, it’s just about choosing the solution that fits into your particular home. No matter where you place Contour and Horizon, they will stand beautifully and elegantly. But the expressions on the two TVs are very different.
The Beovision Horizon design is classic Bang & Olufsen: simple and discreet. The outer aluminium frame in matte black is angled 90 degrees, so it almost disappears when you see the TV from the front, but gives the screen perspective and depth when you see it from the side. The aluminium frame, which assembles the TV into a visual whole, is discreetly broken by the grey aluminium slats that almost float in the air beneath the screen and cover the integrated speaker system. Horizon is only available in one colour, but in turn has an extra stand option: a roller stand that, with its retro style, provides an amazing flexibility for simple and easy moving around the TV at home.
Beovision Contour is discreet yet refined. The glossy aluminium frame gives a cooler and simpler look. The shape is designed to appear rounded and soft, but at the same time rigorous, giving edge and style to the décor. The characteristic aluminium frame is available in a wide range of colour tones (silver, anthracite and gold tone) which are combined with an exclusive speaker front with matching fabric (Grey Melange) or wood veneer (light oak and smoked oak). In addition, Beovision Contour offers three flexible stand and mount options: a floor stand (can be rotated 180 degrees to both sides), a table stand and a wall bracket (can be rotated 40 degrees to both sides), allowing you to tailor Beovision Contour to your home and make it your Beovision Contour.
THE SOUND
At Bang & Olufsen, sound is an art. Every detail, every sound wave, is created with passion, precision and sophistication. Beovision Contour and Beovision Horizon are no exception. The shape and sound are carefully aligned by humans and perfectly reflect our pursuit of acoustic perfection. But having said that, it is very difficult to compare the sound on these two beautiful TVs. The new Beovision Contour (anno 2020) features a powerful stereo sound system against Beovision Horizons (anno 2016) integrated stereo speaker. We let the numbers speak for themselves:
As mentioned, Beovision Horizon features an integrated stereo speaker (center speaker in surround-setup) that offers 2 x 2.5″ full-tone units with 2 x 30-watt amplifiers. The frequency range is 85-20,000 Hz and the audio format is Dolby Digital.
Beovision Contour is a fully-fledged, powerful sound system that surpasses many streaming speakers. It delivers outstanding award-winning sound quality with 3 channel technology and Dolby Atmos. Whether you’re focusing on pure speech or a deep bass, you get a great TV experience. Beovision Contour’s sound quality is based on the award-winning Beosound Stage technology. With 4 x 4″ bass units, 4 x 1.5″ midrange units and 3 x 3/4″ tweeters, Contour offers 11 power amplifiers: 4 x 50 watts for the base units, 4 x 50 watts for full tone units, and 3 x 50 watts for the tweeter units. The frequency range is 32-22,000 Hz and features a 3-channel stereo sound system, Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD.
PICTURE
Beovision Horizon is an LCD screen with LED backlight dimming that features Ultra High Definition (4k) image.
Beovision Contour is an OLED display with Ultra High Definition (4k) image, Cinema HDR as well as Dolby Vision IQ. The peculiarity of OLED pixels is their ability to turn on and off individually, which is the only way to reproduce absolute black and infinite contrast – the most important aspects of the viewing experience. With Dolby Vision™ HDR, the images get a unique richness of detail, intense colours, incredible depth and perfect black level.
STREAMING
Beovision Horizon has Beolink multiroom.
Beovision Contour also serves as a multiroom speaker (integrated Beolink, Airplay 2 and Chromecast), and can of course also be integrated with our growing collection of Multiroom products from Bang & Olufsen. Send the sound from your TV to other rooms or connect multiple speakers — wirelessly or wired — creating an impressive audio and music experience in your home. In addition, Contour also has TuneIn radio, Deezer and QPlay 2.0.
PRICES
Beovision Horizon costs from EUR 4,550 ex. stand/bracket – DISCONTINUED PRODUCT
Beovision Contour costs from EUR 7,199 incl. wall bracket
Below you will see a comparison of the technical figures on Beovision Horizon and Beovision Contour.
FACTS / NUMBERS
DESIGN & DIMENSIONS
WEIGHT
Table stand: 46 kg.
Manual floor stand: 49 kg.
Wall bracket: 38 kg.
DIMENSIONS (W x H x D)
Table stand:
111.2 x 88.8 x 21.0
Manual floor stand:
111.2 x 113.5 x 38.2
Wall mount:
111.2 x 85.6 x 12.8
COLORS
Silver / Fabric front
Silver / Light Oak front
Black Anthracite / Fabric
Black Anthracite / Smoked Oak
Gold Tone / Light Oak
PLACEMENT
Table stand
Floor stand (180 degrees)
Wall bracket (40 degrees)
WEIGHT
(without stand/bracket)
40″: 17.5 kg.
48″: 19 kg.
DIMENSIONS (W x H x D)
Table / Easel stand:
108.2 x 71.6 x 26.7
Floor stand:
108.2 x 111.0 x 37.9
Roller stand:
108.2 x 111.0 x 110.9
Wall mount:
108.2 x 71.6 x 11.1
COLORS
Frame: Matte black anodized aluminum
Speaker slats: Forged Iron Grey anodized aluminum
PLACEMENT
Table stand / Easel stand
Roller stand
Floor stand (left/right turn)
Wall bracket (left/right turn)
CONNECTIONS
WIRELESS CONNECTIONS
Bluetooth 4.2
MULTIROOM AND INTEGRATED STREAMING SERVICES
Chromecast
built-in Apple AirPlay 2
Beolink Multiroom
TuneIn
Deezer
QPlay 2.0
CONNECTIONS
Line-in
HDMI input
MULTIROOM AND INTEGRATED STREAMING SERVICES
Beolink Multiroom
THE SOUND
DRIVER UNITS
4 x 4″ bass unit is
4 x 1.5″ midrange units
3 x 3/4″ tweeter
POWER AMPLIFIERS
4 x 50 watts for bass
4 x 50 watts for full tone
3 x 50 watts for tweeters
FREQUENCY RANGE
32-22,000 Hz
MAXIMUM VOLUME AT 1M (SPL)
100 dB SPL
ADVANCED AUDIO FEATURES
3-channel stereo sound system
Dolby Atmos
Dolby TrueHD
DRIVER UNITS
2 x 2.5″ full tone unit
POWER AMPLIFIERS
2 x 30 watts for full tone
FREQUENCY RANGE
85-20,000 Hz
ADVANCED AUDIO FEATURES
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
DTS Digital Surround
Multichannel PCM 5.1