Anyone here have a Pioneer plasma or considered getting one? Impressions? Are you happy with it? What other flat panels did you consider?

 

There are no others to consider. It's like shopping for a Rolls Royce and wanting to stop by the Kia dealer just to make sure they don't have something better.

 

Pioneer is not the Rolls Royce, if you want Rolls Royce you go Fujitsu.

Pioneer does make a good panel. However, if I was in the market today I would take a serious look at LCD.

BTW, I have a NEC plasma which is built alongside the Pioneers. Its very nice.

 

+ 2 on this. Fujitsu was the bomb when I was looking 3 yrs ago

I have a 3 yr old Panny plasma and really like it. My buddy bought a Pioneer at the same time and we both agree that there is no discernible difference btwn the two. I'd take his and he'd take mine and we'd both be fine. Actually, I like the exterior look of mine more, but I didn't tell him that

 

Fujitsu, Pioneer, NEC all have the same panel. The difference tends to be in the price and availability. You will have a much harder time finding a Fujitsu (not in you ordinary local store) versus a Pioneer. I still cannot recommend LCD if someone is concerned with PQ. They are still not on that same level unless you have a full 1080p resolution displayed. To each his own though.

 

My Dad has a Pioneer plasma and it's pretty amazing. Prepare to pay for it, though. They're not cheap.

If I wanted a top-tier plasma, I'd look there and probably no where else.

 

The only LCD that looks promising is the 81 series Samsungs, which use local dimming for better black levels and contrast. The only problem is the MSRP is $3000 for a 46" and $4000 for a 52". I'd consider an LCD if my room were very bright, but it isn't.

 

They're not so bad anymore. They definitely were very expensive a short while back, but they have come way down and are much more affordable. Not they are really cheap, but they used to be in the $5000+ range for a 42" where now they are $3000 or less, depending where you buy from.

 

Pioneer is losing a bundle selling plasma TVs. You can get the 50" 5080 for the same price as the Panasonic 50pz700. Of course, Pioneer will have to overcome one of the biggest TV myths: that 1080 resolution is the biggest factor in picture quality.

 

Have had 60" Pioneer Elite for almost 2 years now and love it. My wife and I like real looking colors. Some pannels make colors way to hot. Also something that is fast enough so the pannel does not show artifacts. We found that some of the other pannels tend to get blocky when viewing footage of fog, mist, or even when images move to fast. Gave us a headache watching it.

Pioneer Elite and a few Panasonics were the only two we liked. I can't say we saw many high-end Fujitsu's, but from what I hear those are good as well. I feel you do get what you pay for when it comes to pannels.

 

The Elite uses the same panel as the regular Pioneers. The Elite (at least the current models, doesn't apply to yours) offer 1080p while the regular did not, although that is now beginning to change. I honestly see a better picture on the regular set, although I haven't played with the settings on an Elite. Either one is a great set though.

 

Ya, you may be right. They did something with the Elite's when 1080p's came out. No more metal frame and I think some other changes.

The ones out now all have plastic frames. The quality difference between the elite and the regular one may be less these days.

I got mine before 1080p's came out and when it was a metal frame.

 

Just a note to think on. Just because the panels are the same the internal processors are not.

Think Samsung and Sony LCDs. Same panels. Different engines.

 

The Samsung 65 series is a terrific set. cNet rates it the best LCD out there, etc. and if you have a dark room you won't see any reflections from the glossy screen. The 81 series will probably be more expensive than your quotes, the 71 series looks to be about that price. These aren't due until August anyway.

This is all irrelevant, of course if you find plasma to have a better picture than LCD. You definitely need to see them in person to judge though. Plasma is not a slam dunk better picture. I find that LCD is more pleasing to me, whether it is less "real" or not.

 

the only thing holding me back from going plasma is the fear of "burn in".

if i were to go with a high quality plasma like the pioneer should i be worried about burn in?

 

After you break it in, the odds of actual burn-in are low. What it is now called is image retention, or IR. The difference is there's a disc you can run that will remove the image. There is still a chance of burn-in, but it's much, much better than the first plasmas that came out.

 

To me, LCDs and plasmas both have their strengths and weaknesses. I think LCDs have more vivid colors, while plasmas have better black levels and shadow detail. It really depends on what you think a good picture is and also what you're viewing.

I mostly watch movies, so black levels and shadow detail are more important than if I watched a lot of sports and played PS3 or Xbox.

 

Also, a lot of newer plasmas have anit-burn in features. I keep my LG set to orbiter which will move any static images like a mm. I have only noticed it like once when I was staring at the box when it shifted. Otherwise you never see it. I have only had an instance of image retention once, after I left a channel on that had a static image and went in the other room. Forgot about it, and when I came back there was some IR. I went into the menu, selected the white wash feature that displays a white image on the screen. I powered it off and back on just to make sure. No more IR. I play PS2 on the set and never had a problem either.

 

It has been said already but the new models have anti-burn-in features. Our 3 YO panel less so and we've had no issues and trust me....it burn in was a big issue, we'd have Dora the Explorer or the Wiggles staring at me every damned morning

 

WOOHOO! I just pulled the trigger on a Pioneer 5080.

 

Comcast (FINALLY) got an HD CableCard to work. Holy crap, the picture is awesome.

 

i hera theres a big difference between the regular pioneer models and the pioneer elites...

 

For the same resolution, the differences are:

- Home Media Gallery - networking functionality
- ISFccc
- New Independent Gamma Control for heightened color calibration
- Remote Control - Illuminated / Present Mode / Learning Mode
- AV Selection Memory - PURE, ISF-Day, ISF-Night
- Advanced Picture-in-Picture (4 positions), Picture-side-Picture for use with Home Media Gallery & Broadcast (3 positions) and Still Picture capability
- Intelligent Mode (off/on)
- Color Temperature Adjustment – 5 settings (High / Mid-High / Mid / Mid-Low / Low)
- Color Temperature Manual Adjustment
- Color Management
- Color Space (1 / 2)
- MPEG Noise Reduction
- Block Noise Reduction Activation (off/on)
- Mosquito Noise Effect
- Mosquito Noise Reduction (off/on)
- 3 DYC (1/2/3)
- I-P Mode
- IR Repeater
- 2 year warranty
- First Color Pro Filter versus First Color Pro Plus Filter

Primarily, it's easier to calibrate an Elite and it offers more calibration options. But they use the same panel, glass and chassis.