My first HDTV, no regrets, July 26, 2008
After 4+ months, TV still rocks. Though I'm somewhat hampered by Time Warner HD, with an abysmal selection of channels, I'm still very happy with my purchase. The only thing I've had any second thoughts about is whether I should have sprung for the Elite, at about a grand more. Pioneer kind of screws the consumer this year with the base line...read full review
After 4+ months, TV still rocks. Though I'm somewhat hampered by Time Warner HD, with an abysmal selection of channels, I'm still very happy with my purchase. The only thing I've had any second thoughts about is whether I should have sprung for the Elite, at about a grand more. Pioneer kind of screws the consumer this year with the base line Kuro (6020 and 5020) as they remove all of the second level of picture adjustments). But still the TVs performance is terrific. I have, however, had the gray scale professionally calibrated. It cost me a few hundred bucks and you need to make sure the person who is doing it has the appropriate software and has done a few of these before. And while the results are subtle, I can notice them. There is an improvement. Can only be done in movie mode, but improves the gray-scale and colors to some extent too. It just creates a more natural tone to the picture and removes a bit of the "haze" or "reddish/yellow tint" as I like to call it. Well worth it if u can find a good technician
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I have been researching HDTVs for what seems like forever, until this month when I finally pulled the trigger. You cannot go wrong with this TV. This is my first HDTV, but I consider myself fairly tech savvy and somewhat of an audiophile. That said I don't have any history with HDTVs so can't compare this TV with anything I've owned in the past, but rather friends' TVs or in store comparisons.
The negatives on this TV are as some may have already discovered; an inability to more finely calibrate this TV yourself, unlike the 5080 of last year or the Elites. That was kind of a downer given how much you pay for it. On the flip side, if you have it calibrated, I believe the professional can adjust these settings. Not 100% sure yet, but I may give that a shot at some point. Why would you want to adjust these settings at all from the way they come out of the box? Well, according to a few reviews, as well as the CNET review, Reds and Greens are not 100% accurate. This may be difficult to determine through the naked eye of most viewers. But I can say that Reds appear a little heavy to me. Greens look fairly accurate to me, but again according to CNET they were off a bit too. We are not talking about anything that is a deal breaker here by any stretch. Ask someone with an untrained eye and they'd probably wonder what the heck you're talking about. Anyway these are about the only negatives about this TV that I can find, if you consider them "negatives." Assuming you have it calibrated, then there are NO negatives to this TV.
Positives are many. Outstanding picture quality, and probably the best SD picture you can find or have ever found from an HDTV. Far better than what I've seen on any LCD thats for sure. DVDs scaled to fit this picture look almost HD. HDTV content is outstanding. You cannot find better black levels. The Panasonics have really improved their sets, but still the Pioneers are better, you can see the difference even if it is subtle.
Another thing to note, when I first got this TV, for the first week or so, I was worried that the picture was just a little dark. Plasma is definitely darker than LCD, and I thought hey, you can't have the best blacks and brightness all in one TV right? True, sort of. What you need to do after a break-in period (I have no idea whether break-in is even necesary on plasmas anymore, but some do) is set the TV to Movie Mode, then calibrate from there. Movie mode produces a brighter picture. I think most people are so accustomed to a super-bright set (read: LCDs) that produce very inaccurate pictures and tones that Movie mode might look dull to them at first. Your eyes will adjust, trust me. And you will slowly realize that once calibrated, the Pioneer produces a picture that is about as close to a movie theater screen as you can get.
Once in movie mode, use the following settings:
Contrast: 38
Brightness: -1
Color: -5
Tint: 0
Sharpness: -15
Pure Cinema
Film Mode: Advance
Text Optimization: Off
Power Save Mode: Off
Orbiter: Mode 1 (All screen size modes except Dot-by-Dot)
Mode 2 (Dot-by-Dot screen size mode ONLY)
Feel free to tweak from there as you feel necessary. But that is the so-called reference setting; I assume what a technician would set to produce the most accurate picture.
Once you're set in this, again, give it some time for your eyes to adjust to it, and you will see a truly outstanding real to life image. Film content is about as close to a move screen as you will get in my opinion.
Other cool features are 1)An optical output for audio 2.)Home networking feature to display Videos and Pictures from your PC right on your plasma. This works very well and is pretty intuitive. 3.) Great sound right out of the factory speaker. 4.)A very nice stand that is already attached.
I was recently in a Best Buy and looked at the new Panasonics, which are very good, side by side with the Pioneers. But I still think the Pioneer produces a better picture overall. I haven't seen a calibrated Panny, so not a perfectly fair assessment.
Hope this helps, good luck!
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Pioneer 5020 is the best!!!, July 3, 2008
Just got my 5020 last week and this is the best TV that I have seen. I did a lot of research at high end stores and the side by side comparisons with the older 5010 model vs. any other tv (lcd or plasma) wasn't even close. I was looking at the newest Samsung plasmas and LCD's (Toc) but the black levels on the Pioneer really made a big difference. ...read full review
Just got my 5020 last week and this is the best TV that I have seen. I did a lot of research at high end stores and the side by side comparisons with the older 5010 model vs. any other tv (lcd or plasma) wasn't even close. I was looking at the newest Samsung plasmas and LCD's (Toc) but the black levels on the Pioneer really made a big difference. I even asked my 10 year old son to pick the tv with the best picture and he chose the Pioneer. I really wanted to buy the Samsung LCD (Toc) but couldn't get myself to do it knowing the Pioneer's picture was better. I think I would have regretted it later.
The 5020 is thinner than the 5010 and has the newest HDMI 1.3a inputs. I hooked this TV to a brand new Onkyo 606 which is HDMI 1.3a compliant, Time Warner DVR, and a PS3. All I needed was 3 HDMI cables for the entire system.
This TV has the best black levels i have seen which makes the colors really pop and gives more depth to the picture. The TV makes the high def content more 3 dimensional. At this price, you can't go wrong with this plasma. In addition, this will be the last year that Pioneer makes their own screens. minimize
Great choice for videophiles that aren't video-nuts!, November 1, 2008
I looked for around 6 months for a new HDTV to replace a Sony XBR1 40" I've had for several years. After spending way to much time reading CNETs reviews, I settled upon this TV.
The performance is excellent. It certainly has better image quality than my Sony LCD, both when watching movies (due to the excellent contrast), and when...read full review
I looked for around 6 months for a new HDTV to replace a Sony XBR1 40" I've had for several years. After spending way to much time reading CNETs reviews, I settled upon this TV.
The performance is excellent. It certainly has better image quality than my Sony LCD, both when watching movies (due to the excellent contrast), and when watching fast moving basketball, in which my sony LCD would occasionally have motion artifacts. I think much of the LCD motion artifact thing has gone away with high end LCDs these days.
If you are a video nut that wants to change every aspect of the settings, you need to get the elite model, which is basically the same TV, but with all the settings opened up. You only get basic settings with this model. However, it has a mode that I personally like called "Optimum", where the TVs sensors detect what type of picture is being displayed along with the ambient room conditions and adjust accordingly. So far I've left it on that and it has been great. I have also played with "Movie" mode, in which you get about 50% of the controls on the picture that a typical high end TV might have.
Aesthetically, this TV looks perfect. The plain back bezel that is very small for this size of TV is exactly what I was looking for. Some of the Sony's for the past 4 years and most of the LGs and Samsungs have just got too much going on. I want a perfect picture and a minimal "TV". In addition, this TV is very thin for a 50" plasma, it is only 3.7" thick. My 40" LCD was 5.5" and the new sony XBR8 LED backlit LCD is almost 6" I believe.
In a store I compared this TV to the Samsung A950 series (LED backlit LCD) and the Sony XBR6, both 46" models. The Pioneer was cheaper and just looked better hands down. I went back on 3 occasions to confirm this was the case.
Some people will discuss buzzing with this particular unit. From what I have found out, all plasmas buzz. On this unit, if you put your head behind the tv, you can hear some electronic buzz. If you put your head in front of the TV, you can not hear anything, even with the TV muted. If you move your head about 5' back from the TV and have the TV muted, a slight buzzing becomes audible. If you turn on any volume whatsoever, you can not detect the buzzing. Actually, the fans and hard disk in my DirecTV HR21 DVR are louder than the buzzing!
I have been using power save mode 2 (the highest power save mode), which makes it meet the energy star requirements of the future, and it has plenty of brightness! We'll see how this holds up as we move through the break in period.
The big question many of you are probably asking is should I order from amazon and save almost $1000 over best buy or other big box store? My first HDTV I purchased from a locally owned specialty retailer. It gave me the confidence I needed since I knew little about HDTVs at that time. They offered a 15 day no questions asked return policy. For this Pioneer purchase, I went with amazon.com and saved $1000. Shipping was free. Amazon will contract this to CEVA, who will contract the delivery to your home by another local delivery agent. My TV arrived within 3 business days. It went from Ohio to Chicago in the first day I ordered it, and then was in Milwaukee to be delivered the next day and an appointment was set up. However, when the delivery guys showed up, I asked them to remove it from the packaging so I could plug it in and make sure it worked before I accepted delivery. The bezel was cracked and the screen damaged before we even got it out of the box. So I easily refused shipment and the delivery guys took it back. I contacted amazon and once you get beyond the india help desk and to a real agent who specializes in electronics returns I was all set. A new unit was sent 3 days later (with a total of about 1 week delay) for no charge. I think in the future I would order online from amazon.com again for the cost savings they provide. Although it was a hassle to be at home twice to have the TV delivered twice it was worth the savings for me. I believe you can also return to amazon within 30 days as well if you change your mind, but shipping cost is yours to pay. minimize
Believe The Kuro Hype! The 5020 Is Amazing!, July 25, 2008
I just recently purchased the Pioneer Kuro PDP-5020 from Amazon and I couldn't have been happier. I ordered the TV on a Monday evening and I had the TV in my house on the Thursday of the same week. It was less than 72 hours from clicking the mouse to clicking the remote on the TV, which I find amazing. The TV was delivered by Eagle/CEVA and the...read full review
I just recently purchased the Pioneer Kuro PDP-5020 from Amazon and I couldn't have been happier. I ordered the TV on a Monday evening and I had the TV in my house on the Thursday of the same week. It was less than 72 hours from clicking the mouse to clicking the remote on the TV, which I find amazing. The TV was delivered by Eagle/CEVA and the delivery guys were very helpful in getting the TV into my 2nd floor bedroom.
I chose the 5020 Kuro after an exhaustive search of what TV would be the best for my room. I read many websites and AV forums and found the only thing people could agree on is that the Pioneer Kuro's have the best black levels out there period. Sure the Kuro is a little more expensive than sets from Panasonic or Samsung but over the life span of the TV the difference in price is minimal. So I say go with the best and don't look back. minimize
You can't go wrong with a Pioneer 5020, July 13, 2008
I could not be more satisfied with this television. Last year I bought a 42" Vizio LCD for gaming because it was the only 42" I could find under $1000. However, after upgrading my home theater audio with a new receiver/speakers and buying a PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies, I really discovered what a sour piece of hardware my screen was. When you've...read full review
I could not be more satisfied with this television. Last year I bought a 42" Vizio LCD for gaming because it was the only 42" I could find under $1000. However, after upgrading my home theater audio with a new receiver/speakers and buying a PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies, I really discovered what a sour piece of hardware my screen was. When you've spent the cash for a new player and bought a bunch of your favorite movies in Blu-ray format, the last thing you want to see is unnatural looking skin tones, lack of detail in dark and bright scenes, and awful video processing and motion blur!
I got fed up and decided to do my homework this time and prepare to spend what it takes to get a true quality display. I read several critical reviews and message boards which directed my attention to the Kuro line of Pioneer plasmas. I finally got a chance to see one at a local A/V store and absolutely fell in love. They had SportsCenter on in HD, doing an interview with Coach K from Duke, and the black backdrop was so dark and the colors so perfect that it looked like he was sitting across the room talking to us. A friend was with me and his reaction was "Super Bowl at your place!"
No one can deny the black levels and contrast on this TV, and that's what makes watching it so great. If it's completely dark in the room, you can still tell that it's on, but when you've got a widescreen movie on and there are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, you can barely make out where the screen stops and the bezel begins. Colors benefit from the depth and it creates a 3D image, and you don't miss anything because everything is so clear. This screen makes me want to watch all my Blu-rays over again because you really haven't watched high definition until you've watched it on a Pioneer.
For anyone who is feeling gun-shy, just pull the trigger and don't look back. You will surely be satisfied!! minimize
(90 total reviews)
