What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
03 JUL 2008
Pioneer PDP-LX5090
Once again Pioneer has delivered the goods; it’s a premium product, with the price tag and most importantly the performance to match
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Pioneer's publicity for its Kuro plasmas has always been prone to veering towards 'none more black', Spinal Tap territory. 'Kuro' is Japanese for 'black', after all, and unsurprisingly Pioneer has always made much of its TVs' ability to deliver the deepest, darkest blacks around – and with good reason, based on previous models.
And so it has come to pass with this, the ninth generation of Pioneer's Kuro plasmas and the last to be made exclusively by Pioneer before adopting Panasonic-derived panels. Claiming a contrast level five times greater than its predecessor, the company doesn't deem it necessary to list a numerical contrast ratio, simply labelling this specification "extreme"; shades of the amp that goes up to eleven, no? Still, in the past Pioneer has more than justified its own hype, so we can only hope it's the same here.
Out of the box the Pioneer strikes us as fairly familiar in terms of style and design, still looking every inch the premium product – this is, after all, where Pioneer is looking to position itself.
Our speakers are integrated on the side of the screen but you can also choose to have them sat underneath the panel. The standard video inputs are present and correct, with three of the crucial HDMI inputs, and the screen is of course a 1920 x 1080, Full HD resolution panel.
Colours are lusciously rich and vibrant
We start by feeding some 1080p/24fps HD content from the Cars Blu-ray disc, and yet again we find ourselves marvelling at a Pioneer plasma TV. Colours are lusciously rich and vibrant, packed with juice yet at the same time still capable of demonstrating subtlety and insight.
There are a panic-inducing number of adjustments at your disposal, but we will at least suggest you investigate 'Film Mode' for turning on some seriously smooth motion, without which we did find the Pioneer displayed a touch of judder at times.
Switch to something at least a little more real, and standard-def, in the form of the Fantastic Four DVD, and the Pioneer dishes out just the right amount of colour to deliver healthy, realistic skin tones. It goes almost without saying that black detail is excellent, going deeper and darker than any set before, while still uncovering the necessary detail.
We know it isn't easy to deliver an off-air picture this size, but the 'LX5090 makes a solid stab, being largely free of noise and capable of colourful, detailed pictures. Those speakers shine too; having demonstrated organisation and body with films, they sound clear and balanced with TV broadcasts.
We'd find it hard to believe Pioneer could find a new TV with a staggering gap over the last range, and, well, it hasn't. But there is an improvement - and Pioneer's last range of TVs were probably the best we'd ever seen. Go figure. Yes, you pay a premium for this product compared to other screens this size, but if you can take the extra hit, you'll be more than rewarded.