Pioneer's 50-inch KURO plasma reviewed
If it ain't broken don't fix it - and Pioneer's newest plasma proves that statement. 1080p might be the '07 buzzword, but the Pioneer PDP-5080HD shows that you simply don't need the extra pixels in order to produce a superb picture. The 720p 50-inch plamsa happens to be one of the best-looking sets CNET has reviewed - evar (8.7/10). Sure, green wasn't reproducing 100% accurately and they would have liked to see a better picture control menu, but the marvelously deep black level outweighed those small issues like a fat kid on a teeter-totter. The $3500 sticker doesn't make this set the cheapest meal on the menu, but we can't think of a better way to fill your high definition appetite - or you could eat for free and win the 42-inch version in our latest giveaway.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nfinity @ Aug 22nd 2007 7:39PM
Wow, 720p is looking spectacular? Shocking! But didn't they say 1080p is a MUST in order to experience HD? I mean what the hell, don't they know that Blu-Ray is 1080p. LOL
Another proof that 1080p crap is way overhyped. Makes sense to go 1080p on sets 55",60" and more but 50 and down, 720p LOOKS SPECTACULAR.
EricDJ @ Aug 23rd 2007 4:33AM
Pio says they ran a still image for 4 days with no burn in.
Aaron Smith @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:26AM
I went into The Home Theater Store the other day and looked at a lot of nice 1080P sets (DLP, LCD, LCoS) and then walked over to the 720P Fujitsu sets. The Fujitsu sets looked unbelievable even standing directly in front of it. 50", 65", didn't matter, they all looked better than the other tv's even though they were 720P. Just goes to show contrast, processing and color really do make more of a difference.
Oleg @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:24AM
Well, this is actually not entirely true. Pioneer does have 1080p versions of their new Kuro plasmas: 50" KURO 1080p PDP-5010FD
60" KURO 1080p PDP-6010FD
The last year's model Pro-FHD1 that was considered by CNet and many others as the top consumer oriented TV is also 1080p
EricDJ @ Aug 23rd 2007 1:08PM
FHD1 is going away, its super cheap right now. There is a new Elite 50 and 60 coming. IIRC they are Pro 110 and 150's now.
EricDJ @ Aug 24th 2007 2:04AM
Got to open up a PDP-6010 1080p Pio today. Looks really sweet in 720p. Will do a 1080p image on it on saturday to see how it looks.
SimbaDogg @ Aug 24th 2007 3:22PM
I really really really really hope that my old 2 year old pioneer elite has some kind of catastrophic error with it so i can have it replaced under the 4 year warranty @ bby w/ a newer model. Considering i only paid about 3300 for a 5500 tv, and only paid about 250 for a warranty, whether it does fail or not, i'm still golden.
Nerd @ Aug 24th 2007 4:44PM
Many on AVSforum.com have said that these models are the best on the market right now. Good thing for me I have one.