Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO 111FD
Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO 111FD

Pioneer markets its class plasma TVs to attract the people having strong interest in home theaters. The home theater enthusiasts, who can afford the 50″ PRO-111FD are assured to have the most performing TV as compared to anything else available in the market today. Besides OLED, this TV has the best black level, and has immaculate image color balance, one which is difficult to find in any other HDTV that has been so far reviewed. The TV features “pure” picture mode, and when this is set, the TV delivers a better image quality, even before you start any adjustment features. The image quality in this TV is better than any other having pre-set picture mode, including the models having THX such as the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U.

The Pioneer PRO-111FD has a 50″ screen which has a 1920 x 1080 resolution. The connection panel of this TV includes four HDMI, one video, one PC input, and one RF input as well. The RF input is used to access the TV’s internal ATSC, NTSC and Clear-QAM tuners. The previous model of this TV has a CableCard slot and a second RF input, which Panasonic PRO-111FD does not have. It is Pioneer’s Home Media Gallery which plays digital movies, music, and photos through the USB port provided at the side of the TV.

The recent model of Pioneer PRO-111FD is even thinner than the last, and the thickness measures three-and-seven-tenths inches deep. The TV has small detachable speakers at its sides, and when these are taken out, the TV has a much smaller profile. The back panel of the TV has a subwoofer output, which sends signals to an external subwoofer. The TV has the usual treble, bass, and balance controls, and the SRS WOW audio processing as well.

The Pioneer PRO-111FD features stunning images, and offers various option settings for picture adjustments and HDMI inputs, and along with it has one of the nicest digital features. However, all these are priced at $5,000 as best buy, which is more than any other 50″, 1080p panels in the market.

The good and the bad of Pioneer PRO-111FD

Pros

  • The Pioneer PRO-111FD has a superb anti-reflective screen, which is not affected by temperature change.
  • The TV has extensive picture control options, and delivers excellent out-of-the-box image.
  • It has the best deep black levels than its previous model, and maintains good light output which produces outstanding contrast.
  • The recent model of Pioneer PRO-111FD offers better image processing technology providing immaculate HD and SD images.
  • The TV offers settings to reduce film judder in 1080p/24 Blu-ray content, in which the setting could be set to ‘advance’ 72fps, providing natural movement. On the other hand when this is set to ’smooth’, it provides video-like motion.
  • The TV has extensive picture controls and superb connectivity, and includes 4 HDMI and one PC input.

Cons

  • The Pioneer PRO-111FD is extremely expensive, and could only be afforded by small number of people.
  • The recent model of the TV does not have CableCARD slot, and does not offer “TV Guide on Screen” program guide.
  • The TV has one component video input, which means that, for lot of older sources you would require an external video switch.

What the Reviews Say About Pioneer PRO 111FD

The technology used in all Panasonic’s elite HDTVs, including the 50″ 1080p Panasonic PRO-111FD, introduces quite a number of improvement in design as well as features. These include stunning black levels, immaculate image presentation with deeper colors, and new menu system. The elite series of Panasonic HDTVs have added options which set an adjustable gray scale, and a new anti-reflective filter. The model provides a warranty which is longer than the other models.

The TV has a new “optimum” mode, which is a sensor placed at the two edges of the screen. This mode automatically adjusts the color balance of the image, and the brightness level of the TV’s viewing area for the lighting environment in the room. This mode is a definite advantage, as otherwise , with settings, you have to constantly adjust your picture brightness and contrast levels when the ambient light changes during your daytime and night-time viewing. The TV features another set of five controls for the pictures, which include a “standard mode”. Unfortunately these settings are not for “global” adjustments for all inputs, viz., game, sport, movie, and performance.

The “Dynamic Range setting”, which is mentioned as DRE in the user’s manual is opted when the user wants to stress the contrast between brightness and darkness. It is better to be left at “off” position, since it makes the TV’s white level disappear into white and the black into dark. There are few more, like, the “Enhancer”, which is the second option to enhance the sharpness of the picture. There is the “Black Level” setting, which would have the darker parts in your picture disappear into the black.

There are two “energy saving modes” available in the Panasonic Pioneer PRO-111FD. These modes lower the energy consumption of the TV, but tests done on the TV has observed that the picture brightness gets low when these two modes are applied. Using one of the modes may require you to re-calibrate the controls to adjust the picture in the TV. There is substantial improvement in color saturation in PRO-111FD, in which, the red and blue colors are almost the same as Panasonic. As for the speed of transition from black to white, this could be set by the “Gamma” controls provided.

The performance as regards to color re-production of Panasonic Pioneer PRO-111FD is comparable to the one found in Panasonic 850, with a better noise reduction. The TV has the best black level compared to any other Plasma TVs in the market, and is one of the high priced TVs.

User Ratings

Note: Always, take user reviews with a grain of salt.

Amazon.com has an all round 4 star rating for the Pioneer PRO-111FD.

Customer reviews at Amazon.com puts the TV as having the best shades of gray and black. Due to this, the TV produces greater detail than the others while you watch movies having a lot of night scenes. Users have found the TV to produce greater detail than the regular ones, such as Samsung LCD TVs, which is just fine if you want to watch the evening news or any other TV programs. But as far as movies are concerned, the Pioneer PRO-111FD brings out the details, even to the extent of the detail in the dirt or water movement in night scenes in a movie. One user goes on to say “…but the sound is truly amazing for a TV” in addition to the stunning image quality.

However, users have found some minor problems with the TV. For example, the clock in the TV runs “one hour out for the time zone and there is no way to adjust the time.” The DST time function is not effective, and, while the manual mentions that the bars on the side of the image should be grey or dark grey, in actual it is found to be almost white.