Sony said today it will launch several new 4K Ultra HD televisions. It will also start filling out the ecosystem to support the switch to a new line of brighter and crisper displays.

Phil Molyneux, head of Sony Electronics, announced at Sony’s press event at the Consumer Electronics Show that Sony will launch new 55-inch and 65-inch 4K TVs in addition to the 84-inch TV it has already launched. The move is similar to announcements by a number of other TV makers at the show today.

“It’s really like looking through a window,” Molyneux said.

He said Sony would launch the first 4K video distribution service to provide more content for 4K TVs. Movies such as the Amazing Spider-Man are available in 4K Ultra HD, but a lot more content has to materialize before consumers will join the bandwagon. Sony has 4K digital cinema projectors in 14,000 theaters and has now launched a 4K video camera for consumers. Sony Pictures plans to release a number of Blu-ray 4K movie discs in the spring.

“4K is not the future,” said Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony. “It’s now.”

Sony also announced a 4K 56-inch OLED display. But, unfortunately for Hirai, the TV gave a blue screen when it was unveiled.

“Excellent,” Hirai said, when the TV failed. Everybody laughed, except the Sony employees, who wheeled the TV off the stage.

Sony is recalling around 1.6 million of its Bravia TV sets for precisely that reason. A faulty component of sets sold since 2007 may lead in some cases to overheating, smoke, melting parts and even fire. Sony is offering in-home evaluations to Bravia TV owners and will repair defective components free of charge.

The defective part is an inverter transformer used for LCD backlights; the inverter can sometimes overheat and occasionally ignite. And when that happens, it can create a hole in the cabinet of the set.

So far, Sony is only admitting that 11 incidents of TV malfunctions of this nature have been reported since 2008, all in Japan. And according to Sony’s statement, no injuries have been reported yet. However, there are reports on Consumer Affairs’ website of fire-catching Sony Bravia TVs popping up as near as Hawaii and as recently as last month.

“I purchased a 40-inch Bravia Sony LCD TV in December of 2007 from Sears in Hilo, HI,” writes Dan, a consumer from Keaau, Hawaii. “It worked fine until two days ago. Then, it literally caught on fire. Smoke was coming out with an acrid smell… I called Sony customer support. The person that I talked to didn’t have the foggiest idea of what I was talking about and couldn’t care less. She would only send me a flyer that ‘would tell me what to do.’”

Disturbingly, owners of other flaming and melting Sony sets, such as the WEGA did report injuries including burns on the Consumer Affairs site. It seems unlikely that out of 1.6 million sets, no consumers have been burned or lost property due to the faulty components.

Sony is expected to announce recalls in the U.S. an Europe, as well.

Earlier today, we also reported that another division of Sony was suffering a bit of a meltdown, too. The PlayStation Network remains under attack, and so far, hackers have gained access to 93,000 accounts.

All in all, today hasn’t been a red-letter day for the consumer electronics company.

Hulu Plus is heading to Sony Bravia HDTV’s today, and it will be available to all Playstation 3 users next week, the company announced today.

Previously, only paid subscribers to Sony’s Playstation Plus service could access Hulu Plus. The company has also added new titles to the premium service, including new shows like Raising Hope, No Ordinary Family, and The Event, as well as past seasons of shows like Monk and Battlestar Galactica.

Sony, in addition to producing consumer electronics, is also a major producer of movies and TV shows, some of which it has licensed to Hulu.

Hulu Plus will eventually make it was to other Bravia devices, like Sony’s Blu-ray players, home theater systems, and even the forgotten Sony Dash “Personal Internet Viewer.”

While it’s nice to see Hulu Plus on more devices, Hulu needs to be working double-time to actually make users want to pay $9.99 a month. The fact that Hulu Plus doesn’t play certain content on home theater devices is infuriating, and the company needs to land more content deals to justify the subscription price. If it can’t accomplish that, then Hulu may be better off making the rumors of a cheaper $4.99 Hulu Plus plan a reality.