Product Review: Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-950HD 42" Plasma HDTV

The PRO-950HD is part of Pioneer’s KURO Elite line of plasma displays, which are some of the highest rated plasma televisions at Consumer Reports.

At 42”, this plasma has enough screen size for most living rooms but 50-60” models are also available. At the time of this review, Pioneer's MSRP was $2,700, but you can find it at retailers for under that price.

All specifications quoted in this article are courtesy of Pioneer Electronics.

Overview

The panel weighs about 66 pounds, so I recommend two people lifting this panel. Keep in mind that this is plasma so burn-in or image retention is possible and the panel will give off more external heat than a LCD flat screen.

Pioneer addressed the burn-in issue with two technologies: Side Mask Function and Orbiter Mode. Side Mask is something that detects 4:3 images and automatically converts then to 16:9 while the Orbiter Mode subtly shifts the screen to avoid long periods of displaying static images.

The bezel or panel-casing is elegant. It is a shiny black that doesn’t distract the eye when watching television. The black levels are so good on the PRO-950HD that you hardly even notice the bezel around the screen. I read reviews from other sources that suggest that the bezel retains dust but I don’t fully agree with that opinion.

I had the panel in my living room for one month. I have two dogs and two cats and after the month I dusted the panel and didn’t have near the amount of dust and hair that my DLP collects. Still, I can see why dust would stand out on the bezel since it really looks like the black keys on a piano.

Pioneer offers a 2-year full parts and labor warranty that is transferable to another owner when the sales receipt is kept.

Read The Bottom Line

The Picture

And, they should be considering this television has a MSRP of $2700. The colors were bright, blacks were deep and motion processed without issue – meaning there was no ghosting or blurring of moving images. I’ll get more into how motion processed on the 950HD in the HQV Benchmark Test discussed later in this review.

I watched analog and digital signals through my antenna and satellite receiver. I also watched several DVDs through the HDMI input. While there was a drop-off in picture quality from analog to digital and high definition, analog appeared closer to digital than on any television I’ve reviewed to date, including the JVC 120hz high speed LCD.

I played XBOX 360 through component cables and found that the game play was fine. I didn’t notice any burn-in and images were crisp. I even paused the console for about a half-hour and still didn’t see any image retention, which makes be believe that this panel is fine for video game play. Still, read the instructions before doing so because Pioneer did include a burn-in/image retention disclaimer along with the product manual documentation.

Tell Us Your Opinion On This Review and Television

What I Liked

• Automatic Side Mask Detection: When watching high definition television this feature automatically configures 4:3 images that would have black bars on the side to 16:9 images that fill the entire screen. I like this because it aids in the prevention of burn-in, and while you see the transformation happen on screen, you don't notice it after a few minutes. This is also nice because you don't have to constantly toggle aspect ratio settings on HD channels if the 4:3 images bother you.
• 4 Independent HDMI 1.3 Inputs: If you’re into calibrating each component independently of each other then this is the feature for you. Each HDMI input has its own set of color calibration so changing levels on input 1 doesn’t affect input 2.
• Comes With A Dust Cloth: The little things of life but getting a dust cloth with the manual package is nice and convenient. It’s a nice touch.
• Remote Control: Like any remote control it takes a while to get used to the layout but the buttons were big and clearly marked. It also had a hidden compartment that housed buttons for other functions, like Picture-in-Picture and image swapping.

What I Didn't Like

• Antenna Toggling: You must press the Antenna button on the remote twice to switch between antenna input A and B. This is a minor issue but I did get frustrated trying to figure out how to get back to A. I would have liked separate buttons for each input as this was the only button that had control over two inputs.
• Wide Screen Mode: This mode reminded me of the panoramic modes on some televisions where the outer edges of the screen appeared curved. I could not watch anything on this mode as images, especially moving text, looked like it was being displayed on one of those fun house mirrors.
• Panel Gets Hot: The panel gets pretty hot. It’s not like a toaster oven but those comments about how plasmas give off heat are there for a reason. I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting this panel in an entertainment center with an enclosed back and sides. I would wall mount this but I’d probably want it several inches off the wall for ventilation and would keep the sides open for good airflow behind the panel.