Pioneer Elite PRO-1540HD 60" Beauty

[kingchorizo]

Audioholics Amigos! Well, After looking at several plasmas in the 50-60 inch range and after countless hours, research, material demoes, video tests, and litteraly hours of comparisions I have made my choice. I simply fell in love with the picture quality of the PRO-1540HD. I know there are allot of Panny, Sony, Samsung and Fujistu plasma backers out there, but this set just blew my eyes away in terms of picture quality, contrast and color accuracy especially in HD content. Even 480i/p material and that crappy analog/digital CATV signal looked marvelous..ok not so much analog cable, but let me tell you it was the closest I have seen to a CRT image in terms of color reproduction, contrast and black color on those dark scenes.

Ever seen an analog or so called "digital" cable/sateliite signal on large LCD's and plasma's? That is when reality sets in for most people that spend a $hit load of money on a new plasma or lcd display only to realize over 90% of current material is still 480i/480p material and now the picure is worse than that old analog CRT tube tv they replaced.

But to my excitement the Pioneer Elite 1540HD was by far the best plasma my eyes have seen...pending of course the 1080p version of this set when announced. than again any 1080p material is virtually non existent outside of the HD/Blu-ray DVD material and no current tv channels are broadcasting anything in this resolution unless of course you count 1080i material---- so this 720p will suit all my needs for now and since it supports a 1080p signal.

With that said I plunged over the $$ and will have it delivered over the weekend and cannot wait to plug away. My question is I haven't seen or heard much about this set here or anywhere else. I have seen tons of reviews for the 50" inch version including the PRO-FHD1 nothing on this 60" inch version.

Anyone else out here have this set and what are your opinions about it. Now I could have purchased the "newer" 50" 1080p PRO-FHD1, for about $1000 bucks more, however since my viewing distance will be at about 10-12 feet away the 720p resolution and 1080p resolutions would be irrelevant at this distance. To my eyes I couldn't distinguish the resolution between the two sets.

Plus for 10 more inches, the PRO-1540HD comes with dual NTSC and ATSC Tuners with the CableCARD interface built in, ethernet port for media gallery, speakers and stand and has the ability to accept a 1080p/24Hz signal, i couldn't have wrong ...right?

Any thoughts, comments?

 

[BMXTRIX]

My thought and comment would be that I'm really, really jealous.

I bought a 'cheap' 50" plasma about 3 years ago (or so) and it is just starting to drive me nuts. For $3,000 back then there was nothing at all that was cheaper, but now it's showing that it is... cheap.

So, my upgrade path is exactly what you have and your opinion is just the crap I don't want to hear because it makes me itch that much more to upgrade my display. Really, I'm happy for you and would like to hear back if you have further comments or issues with your display as I really am interested in picking up a 60" Pioneer by years end.

 

[kingchorizo]

There must be no Pioneer Elite PRO-1450HD owners out there? I am sure one of you is out there...anyone?

 

[mouettus]

I don't know if you're an LCD guy, but did you have a look at the bravia line from sony? Talking about blacks, that's what made me willing to trade my old 27in CRT to that screen. I wasn't satisfied of black levels until now (46V2500).

N.B. I'm not dissing your choice here. I know that this exact tv is hell of a set! I'm just not into plasmas very well; I don't like the glassy screen and I think that LCDs in general produce a more realistic image than plasmas.

 

[kingchorizo]

I don't know if you're an LCD guy, but did you have a look at the bravia line from sony? Talking about blacks, that's what made me willing to trade my old 27in CRT to that screen. I wasn't satisfied of black levels until now (46V2500).

N.B. I'm not dissing your choice here. I know that this exact tv is hell of a set! I'm just not into plasmas very well; I don't like the glassy screen and I think that LCDs in general produce a more realistic image than plasmas.

I don't know if this is a fair comparision, but personally I don't like LCD's unless of course it is smaller than 42" (safe to assume that all models smaller than 42” are LCD) Sure there are allot more sets out there with 1080p such as your Sony 46V2500, but the problem with this set that I have seen is the "cloudiness almost ghost like" images I have seen it produce. I am not sure if you are aware of this or not but the Sony Bravia line has allot of these known "cloud" issues (google it) plus it doesn't have a true HDMI 1.3.

Don't get me wrong it is a good set and considering the size .What is an advantage for LCD is a disadvantage for plasma. LCD flat panels are great if you want to combine your tv with your pc. Plasma is arguably the best picture outside of direct view televisions. High definition content displayed on a plasma is extraordinary. LCDs are not far behind in terms of displaying high-end content, but most LCDs I have seen struggle in their ability to display cable and satellite programming. LCD technology has come along way, but still has issues with reproducing blacks and color accuracy compared to plasma's...my 2 cents.

 

[flyv65]

There must be no Pioneer Elite PRO-1450HD owners out there? I am sure one of you is out there...anyone?

I'm shopping the 1140HD right now: don't have the dosh right now for the FHD-1 1080p, and I think the 60" would be overwhelming in the room where we'll put it. I haven't seen any reviews for the 1540HD, but, like the 1140HD, I've just extrapolated from the 940HD reviews. (that, and I found one 1140HD at an Ultimate Electronics sitting in a corner that had burned in. User controls were straighforward, and after dinking around with the adjustments (by eye) I thought it looked pretty good.
If you don't mind my asking, where are you buy yours; brick and mortar store, or online?

Bryan...gotta save money for a wall mount...

 

[kingchorizo]

I'm shopping the 1140HD right now: don't have the dosh right now for the FHD-1 1080p, and I think the 60" would be overwhelming in the room where we'll put it. I haven't seen any reviews for the 1540HD, but, like the 1140HD, I've just extrapolated from the 940HD reviews. (that, and I found one 1140HD at an Ultimate Electronics sitting in a corner that had burned in. User controls were straighforward, and after dinking around with the adjustments (by eye) I thought it looked pretty good.
If you don't mind my asking, where are you buy yours; brick and mortar store, or online?

Bryan...gotta save money for a wall mount...

If I am permited I purchased my tv from abtelectronics.com based here in Illinois. They are both an online authorized retailer and independent retailer.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

And I have a plasma and a LCD and I like the plasma more...It has a more realistic image, awesome blacks and just overall better PQ than the LCD.

N.B. I'm not dissing your choice here. I know that this exact tv is hell of a set! I'm just not into plasmas very well; I don't like the glassy screen and I think that LCDs in general produce a more realistic image than plasmas.