Had the Elite in our showroom for about three weeks now and...
I've had the 60" Elite on my showroom floor for about three weeks now (apparently we were the first to get it in the LA area).
First and foremost I'm an ELITE lover, and I recommend Plasma TVs to as many people as possible with the lighting condition that permits it. My parents have an Elite, my grandparents have an Elite, my best friend has an Elite, my A/V mentor has 6 Elites in his home, and I used to own an Elite, and back in 2006/7/8 when we all used to sell Pioneers and Pioneer Elites, it was just an "okay" saturday if you only moved one of the 42's and one of the 50's, and when you did the triple crown (42,50,60) you were having a good day. Bottom line, I've been around more ELITES than most, and I've setup and installed more than I can remember.
Now here's my thoughts...
Previous to receiving the Elite my favorite retail screens were the Samsung D8000 series plasmas, the Sony XBR929, and the 70" sharps (cuz hey they're 70 inch!!). The D8000 and XBR had hands down the best picture in the Store. In response to what someone said earlier about the Sharp 835 series, they make a very nice screen, and value wise they are a heck of a buy, but they don't hold a flame to the top Sony LCD/LED or Samsung Plamsa IMO.
Then we got the ELITE...AND EVERYTHING CHANGED. Clients have been asking me for months what I thought about the new ELITES that were coming out, and all I could say was, "I HOPE its the next TV I truly want to buy." I say hope because that's all I could do. We all knew basically what the unit was, but no one had seen it except for a demo, and there was little coverage on that line show.
So here's the deal. THIS IS THE BEST PICTURE YOU CAN BUY RETAIL RIGHT NOW PERIOD.
The blacks Trump the XBR. The Color saturation and accuracy beat out the Samsung D8000 (to my eye). The motion processing beats out the Sony XBR for sure, and feels way more like a Plasma TV than any of the other LCD/LED tvs on my showroom (we carry and show the FULL lineup of Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, and Mitsubishi).
We have it on display next to a Panasonic GT30 (which looks great I might add), and with regular TV content, the ELITE blows the Panny out of the water. Its clearly better in every way. The CLARITY of the set is truly what makes it great. THERE IS ZERO picture noise. Its truly like you're looking through a window.
We've played a ton of content on it since we put it up. The first thing I wanted to check out was THE DARK KNIGHT. The shots of the Hong Kong Skyline at night with Batman gliding down to the building was just AWESOME. INKY INKY blacks with virtually Zero haloing around anything lit up truly showed me why it demands a price tag that is twice that of the Sony XBR.
After the Dark Knight wowed me, I dropped in my new copy of The Island on Blu-Ray. The whole opening sequence with the Speed Yacht, and the ocean and cliffside felt like I was there. The depth of field this TV creates is like Glasses free 3D (and that's a quote from multiple clients, although I share the same thought).
For the final demo, and what I've kept in the Elite Blu-Ray since the inital check out, we have AVATAR. Just go straight to chapter 17 when Jake Sully gets his bird, sit back and enjoy. The depth of field, the color, the motion, the WARMTH, all of it make it the best I've seen that section yet (this is my AVATAR demo scene).
I have played with the set with both the Y pixel on and off, and while I know on paper that it messes with the accuracy, all it seems to do is make things that much more "THERE". Ive watched pre-season football and some college games on it, and the grass just looks GREEN (and not like the look on the rest of the Quattron TVs). This was something I was very happy about because the old Elites always had a little trouble with the green.
I really like the User interface, and it is its own design, and not just a copy of the Sharp TV interface. I cannot comment on the Internet Streaming as we have not done any setup for that, and since I'm not an owner I can't tell you about the Elite Live support (but how cool is that!!).
Well I've written a ton, and if you've read it, I can only bet that you're an ELITE fan just as I am. Go to your local ELITE dealer and check this thing out, cuz its the first "Breathtaking" TV I've seen in a while.
If you're in Southern California in the Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Valley, come check out the Elite at my showroom, Video & Audio Center.
Long Live the ELITE,
-Adam
