Wow. Pioneer is trying a little too hard to advertise its Kuro line of HDTVs. Pioneer’s plasmas are usually fine, so its “look how great they are!” is a little troubling. The Kuro line is split in two: the Kuro and the Elite Kuro. Both are available in 42-, 50- and 60-inch models, but none of them are 1080p. Hmmm… Strange, considering it’s 2007. Both models have the usual suspects like HDMI 1.3, but Pioneer is really pumping the hell out of how black their blacks are. We get: more black equals more gooder.
Maybe someone should tell Pioneer that no matter how many bleeding advertising firms it hires (that eye is creepy not cool, guys), it’s gonna have a hard time selling 720p sets to our technology-rabid readership. It’s like trying to sell us a solar powered flashlight. 1080p or bust.
Kuro [Pioneer]
It’s so unfortunate how true this really is. People now assume that any 1080p television is inherently superior to any 720p set; in my opinion this isn’t always the case. I worked as a Sony rep for a few months running their “Test Drive” demos (and trying to get a discount on the XBR line), and I spent a LOT of time staring at the different flat panel sets on display…if I was goin’ for a Plasma, it’d be a Pioneer all the way. Those 720p sets outperformed every other 720p set out and looked better than quite a few of the 1080p units as well. Don’t get me wrong though, if I was buyin’ a 50″ or larger flat panel anything, I’d still prefer 1080p.
First off, they do 1080p….even the 42″ regular KURO, and the ELITE’s as well.
The only difference is, they do not have native 1080p resolution, however they easily support 1080p input signals, if you read the product owner’s manuals for all of them.
In fact, they do 1080p at 60hz and 24hz.
Quite clearly stated in the manuals.
And, while I know this is no consolation to those running out to buy the new line of Kuro plasmas, there is a line of 1080p plasmas slated to arrive mid September. Same blacks, but 1080p output (not just support).
1080p is overatted. One of the most overatted aspects of PQ. Blacks are much more important in the scheme of things. Take the blacker blacks over a pointless up-rigging of pixels.
But on the plus-side, the 1080p Pioneer plasmas will even have a darker shade of black than their 768p models. :)
I came across this article on the Moving Pictures Magazine website and they focus more on what it can do for movie lovers. Check it out at:
http://www.movingpicturesmagazine.com/departments/offthelot/kuro
wow you guys are noobs! pioneer 8th gen (kuro series) are both in 720p and 1080p models. 4280 (40”) 5080(50”) Pro-950hd (42” elite) pro-1150hd(50”) are 720p. Now the 1080p models are PDP-5010FD(50”) 6010FD(60”)
they dont make 40” 1080p the lowest size is 50”
Pioneer’s Kuro TV’s are simply and by far the best TV’s on the market today, this would even include my assessment of the few remaining high end CRT’s. As several have noted, contrat ratio and color gamut are much more important dimensions of resolution than is spatial resolution.
I’ve had many chances to compare Pioneer’s 8th gen 720p PDP’s against the best Sharp, Samsung and LG LCD’s and MEI’s 1080p PDP’s. Pioneer’s 720p sets easily best all in the PQ dimension. 1080p sets suffer greatly from poor aperture ratio in both LCD and PDP formats. Low aperture ratio limits contrast and brightness.
Pioneer’s PDP’s have the highest luminous efficiency (by far) of any of the PDP’s on the market today, 2.3lm/W, this too is a key reason they achieve the very high dynamic display range.
As to the lack of a 43″ 1080p device at Pioneer, I’m sure they will have one, probably gen 9, but I doubt anyone could really tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 43″ set at actual viewing distances. While MEI offers one, it suffers the same problems (perhaps worse) as MEI’s 50″ FHD set and I’d pickl the Pioneer 720p set for sure at this size.
Astrobuf
Yeah, wtf are you talking about. The PDP-*FD models are definitely 1080p.
The statement of “1080p or bust” is clearly a naive, if not a true statement of ignorance. See the site listed below, given the FACT of visual acuity in the human eye, 1080p resolution cannot be seen until you are sitting within 8 feet of a 50 inch television. The fact that pioneer markets the best best black levels is due to fact, unless you buy a $50k dollar plasma like Fujitsu (even most of their displays are 720p). The actual over market comes with 1080p panels, unless you have a 58″ or bigger one should never go 1080p, unless it is used for gaming or a pc monitor. Please review facts before further misleading the public and draining peoples hard earned money of benifits that cannot actually be seen. PQ and SD processing will always be more important than resolution.
Previously cited source:
http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html
wow this guy needs a pair of new contact lens….what a retard