Pioneer Kuro PDP-5010FD 50-inch Plasma HDTV Page 3

The Short Form
Price $5,000 (list) / pioneerelectronics.com / 800-421-1404
Snapshot
Pioneer's next-gen Kuro plasma gets the blacks and virtually everything else right.
Plus
•Superb black depth and shadow detail •Accurate out-of-box color temperature •Very clean upconversion of standard-def
Minus
•Color looks somewhat pumped-up •No onscreen input-labeling option
Key Features
•1080p resolution •72-Hz display mode •CableCARD-ready •HDMI CE-Link control •Inputs: 4 HDMI (ver. 1.3), 2 component- and 3 composite-video; S-video; VGA; USB; CableCARD; 2 RF antenna/cable •48.5 x 32 x 4.8 in; 97 lb (w/stand)
Test Bench
After basic adjustments in the User mode with Low color-temp selected, grayscale tracked within 82 K of the 6,500-K standard from 30 to 100 IRE. Such stellar out-of-box performance is rare: I can count on one hand the number of TVs I've tested that came near. The set's Movie preset was also pretty accurate, tracking within 200 K of the 6,500-K standard from 20 to 100 IRE. Color-decoder tests revealed a mild -5% red error on HDMI and component-video inputs. Against the SMPTE spec, red and green color points were moderately oversaturated. Overscan measured 0% for 1080i/p signals in Dot-by-Dot mode and 3% in Full mode. The set displayed 1080i/p and 720p test patterns with full resolution via HDMI, though the component-video input showed a loss of contrast on the most detailed portion of a 1080i burst pattern. Screen uniformity and off-axis viewing were excellent. Reflectivity could be an issue, though, with some glare showing up onscreen during daytime viewing. Full Lab Results

The Pioneer may offer a surprisingly accurate out-of-box color-temperature mode, but its colors still looked somewhat over-rich after I made picture adjustments on test patterns. This was clear when watching programs packed with bright greens and reds, but skin tones also appeared overly warm and undifferentiated. For example, when I watched another scene where a junior agent has the unfortunate luck of cracking jokes about Party General Secretary Honeker within earshot of a Stasi Lieutenant, the faces of the two men and their nearby comrades had a similar orange-red hue as the scene cut between them. After knocking back the set's color control a few steps, however, I could more easily make out differences in their alternating yellowish, pasty white, and pinkish complexions. And bright colors in movies with more lively palettes also retained most of their richness after I made this adjustment.

Along with having effective noise reduction, the Pioneer boasted impressively clean upconversion of standard-def material. Dark, grainy images on a torture-test DVD like Master and Commander came out looking smooth and free of false contours. And the set's excellent screen uniformity also meant that the picture looked equally clean and punchy over a wide viewing angle. One additional thing that requires mention, however, is a faint but audible buzz that the TV emitted - an annoying issue that some buyers have complained about in online forums. The buzz seemed to increase in brighter scenes, although in most cases it was all but drowned out by the soundtrack.

Bottom Line Waiting on the newest generation of Pioneer plasma TVs has become an annual ritual that I look forward to. As in past years, Pioneer's latest and greatest 50-inch doesn't disappoint. Quite the opposite, really: The Pioneer Kuro PDP-5010HD 50-inch plasma HDTV's crisp high-def picture, clean upconversion of standard-def programs, cutting-edge video processing, and impressively deep, detailed shadows make it a serious pleasure for watching movies. If you're the kind of person who values quality and performance as much as anything else, the 5010FD's $4,000 street price - a small premium over LCDs of the same size - makes it the best flat-panel TV deal going.

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