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I hope this isn't the same blotching issue with the 8 g's . Did you wipe the screen with the cloth they give you to make sure it just isn't dirt or oil film?

are you able to post a pic?


Just got my 151 yesterday! Set it all up and tested some (fullscreen) material on it. Picture is unbelievable! At night when I turned off all the lights to see how black the set really is, I noticed that I'm seeing a quite blotchy screen:(. Particularly in one large section that is probably I would say 20% of the screen. I know this is not normal as I've seen a 110 in a dark room and it was completely uniform on the whole screen (albeit a little lighter shade of black).

I planned on starting the break-in DVD today, but not so sure if I should bother now. I think I should be contacting Pioneer. Is it possible that the break-in dvd would cure this? Or is my panel just defective? My other concern is that if they sent a tech out, he would obviously come during the day and I dont know if you could tell unless its really dark in the room...

Any suggestions/input......D-NICE?.....anyone?

This is making me sad:(

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It was'nt a huge issue, But my 4280 8g had blotching all over the screen and i was told by Pioneer that the engineers knew about the blotching condition and some displays were worse than others. They said that is was normal and called it " within spec" . In my opinion it was horrible and i finally got pioneer to return my money after writing a letter to my local better bus. b. I would advise calling them and starting a repair ticket if it really bothers you. They should give you another display if you b@tch enough.

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I just saw the 151 at the Definitive Audio show, no blotching there. It looked amazing.

It might be minor temporary image retention if the screen goes from displaying bright content to being black. Do the blotches stay after an all black screen has been showing for a while?

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Suggest you move this discussion to here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1039269&page=13

where you may get additional useful feedback and may provide useful information to others.

PRO151FD - blotchy blacks?Uh oh, blotchy blacks, buzzing panels... are we sure Pioneer isn't selling "rebadged" 8G Kuro's?

Uh oh, blotchy blacks, buzzing panels... are we sure Pioneer isn't selling "rebadged" 8G Kuro's?

No; be we are sure that you are selling the same old rebadged Optivity FUD!:rolleyes:

No; be we are sure that you are selling the same old rebadged Optivity FUD!:rolleyes:Thanks for that response. I thought "those in the know" said Pioneer would correct these problems with the 9G models?

Hope it's not the same blotching problem the 8g's had, because most people that have it says it gets worse with time. That and the fact Pioneer says it's not worthy of a defect.(within normal standards):confused::(

I would be taking that sucker back and getting a new one and hope for no blotches

The blotchy blacks is unacceptable. Does anyone have a 8g that's perfectly uniform in the dark on a all black screen?

Hope it's not the same blotching problem the 8g's had, because most people that have it says it gets worse with time. That and the fact Pioneer says it's not worthy of a defect.(within normal standards):confused::(

Pioneer sounds like a nightmare to deal with, this is why i would never buy online and be 'stuck' with it. Buzzing,blothches, the 'dirty' pic problem. GRRR.

The blotchy blacks is unacceptable. Does anyone have a 8g that's perfectly uniform in the dark on a all black screen?My 8G PRO-150FD, while not perfectly uniform, does come close & is devoid of the blotching issue.

My panel has some minor buzz, almost inaudible, but does suffer from the "dirty picture" image on "rare" occasion.

Overall, even though some members may think differently, I am happy/satisfied with my PDP and do recommend Pioneer to potential buyers.

However, if one receives a panel and for whatever reason is not satisfied with their display, do not hesitate to swap it out for another or get your money back.

My panel has some minor buzz, almost inaudible, but does suffer from the "dirty picture" image on "rare" occasion.


I thought the dirty picture artifact was 'stationary'? And in pc mode it removes it?

I had nearly the same effect you seem to be describing on my new PN58A650 Samsung 58" plasma. When showing just a black screen, either from a signal path or from not having an input signal, there was originally what appeared to be a horizontal bar about 4 inches tall that had a redish glow, and another large area that looked like a big kidney bean that had a greenish glow, all in a field of otherwise inky blacks. Mine ended up indeed being a sort of "image retention", or over-excited phosphors sticking to the screen.

I too, originally figured this was a defect and that I might need to exchange the panel, but am happy to report that after about 40 hours of running the IR "image eraser" in the user menu, this blotchiness in the blacks is almost completey removed. As of tonight, it is so minimized that I can officially live with it as is, because I now have to look HARD to find it. The red bar is completely gone, and the green area is half its size and so dim it takes a while for my eyes to adjust to the black enough to see it. I dont feel I'll have to live with any of it, though, as another 8 hours or so, and it should be completely gone if things continue to improve as they have been. I also noticed that increasing the contrast setting on the TV improved the effectiveness of the image eraser at wiping away these regions of "light black". I started with the contrast on 60, and increased by 10 every 10 hours or so...the vast majority of the improvements have happened since turning the contrast to 90, and running the eraser for 6 hours...so I would recommend skipping the first 30 hours at lower contrast, just crank the contrast to 90 or 95%, and let her rip.

I know the Pioneer has an "eraser" but not sure if its in the user menu or the service menu...I assume its in the user menu. Problem you'll have is that, I believe, the TV runs it for 1 hour and shuts the TV off...it wont run it 24 hours like the Samsungs will. That makes erasing something over 60 hours a pretty horrifying process of starting the eraser function 60 times.

I expect mine to be completely invisible by tomorrow morning, so I estimate probably 40 hours of the eraser at 90 contrast would have done the trick if I had started with the contrast up that high.

Good luck...I hope you can get yours erased like mine, as it was a sort of bummer, and I can only imagine how much of a bummer it would have been on an Elite panel. I'm really releaved that mine is nearly gone now, so I wanted to report this to you, and hopefully help.

I set up my 151 in my magnolia home theatre today, set it up with a denon 2500 blu ray, and direct tv hd, i didnt notice any blotchy blacks. The picture is amazing.

I thought the dirty picture artifact was 'stationary'? And in pc mode it removes it?Zues, I am an "old-school" kind of guy and use my PRO-150FD as just a TV. The only A/V setting that I really like on this display is the "Pure" picture mode.

In terms of the "dirty picture artifact," I may not be using the best term to describe what I see; but occasionally when there is a bright/light colored background (especially lighter blue color) that is accompanied by vertical motion it's almost as if there is a grainy (which could be source related) look to the background of the image.

When the room is dark and the display is on with no source content, if I stand about 3' - 4' feet away from the screen and change my orientation in relation to the panel I see what appears to be some sort of coating behind the glass that seems to be a wee-bit uneven in spots and I 'presume' this affects the image rendered, which is most noticeable during scenes with solid bright/light colored backgrounds.

I believe when this behind the glass coating is applied too unevenly the symptom evolves from the 'dirty picture' effect to the 'blotching' issue that many Forum participants have described.

I thought Pioneer was going to address this problem (among others) with their 9G series PDPs, but the early reports indicate they have not. Again, I presume Pioneer's manufacturing process is essentially the same from 8G to 9G models and there will be no significant changes made with these procedures until the 10G, hybrid Pio-sonic, PDPs come out next year.

I hope this isn't the same blotching issue with the 8 g's . Did you wipe the screen with the cloth they give you to make sure it just isn't dirt or oil film?

I don't have blotches on my 1150, but from almost everyone I've read that does have them they say with content on the screen it is not able to be seen and doesn't affect the image?

Overall, even though some members may think differently, I am happy/satisfied with my PDP and do recommend Pioneer to potential buyers.


And how did they come to that conclusion?

And how did they come to that conclusion?By reading way too much between the lines of my posts. ;)

Sure, and you believe that too, huh? :)

Sure, and you believe that too, huh? :)"quote" me if I'm wrong "grasshopper" :p

My 5080HD has blotches on a solid black screen but this is the *only* time I can see it, If I could see it during normal viewing then I'd be concerned.

The screen on my 151 is very uniform and shows no signs of blotching.

This thread is only 29-post young and it is already clear that the King of Dark suffers from a number of ailments: blotches, buzzing, image retention and "dirty picture". He also doesn't like the 4:3 and 2.35:1 formats and needs frequent "erasing" which he finds so repugnant that the bath time is limited to no more than an hour.

I thought Kuros are not just the best in the whole wide world - they were acclaimed the be the best with a "Period." as opposed to "the best" without the "Period". Kind of like global warming end of discussion.

This thread is only 29-post young and it is already clear that the King of Dark suffers from a number of ailments: blotches, buzzing, image retention and "dirty picture".

How many 9G folks are reporting blotches again? Right.

There were growing pains on the 8G's for sure, and most of the complaints we've
seen are folks (like myself, actually) who had a less-than-perfect 8G. Most of the
folks who hear a 'buzz' on the 9G are saying it's only noticeable/slight when they
are right up to the TV, and there's only a couple of cases so far in which the buzzing
is pretty severe.

I think it's premature to make declarations based on a few comments here and there.

And for folks like Optivity, your post was unwarranted as there was 1 guy who seems
to have an issue that is unique to his panel. Don't go jumping around like there's a big
problem!

And for folks like Optivity, your post was unwarranted as there was 1 guy who seems to have an issue that is unique to his panel. Don't go jumping around like there's a big
problem!

Like Dr. Phil once said: For every rat you see there is a hundred you don't. Same thing applies to reporting problems.

Like Dr. Phil once said: For every rat you see there is a hundred you don't. Same thing applies to reporting problems.
And how many more report they don't see rats? Then there must be thousands that don't see rats.

It's all relative: lots of people are reporting their TVs are fine, especially in both threads. Most buzzing,
for example, that's reported is minimal. We've had some discussions on buzzing here and there in those
threads, but a lot of the authors are 8G folks. There are, after all, more 8G owners than 9G owners at
this point. I'm just saying folks are being premature based on paranoia caused by 8G owners. It amazes
me how this one thread is getting the attention it is based on *ONE* report. I'm expecting a visit from
Auditor and maybe even my old friend Westat6969.

"9G's have a blotch issue!! One guy reported it, thus the whole line is full of problems!!" ... yep.

I would agree, last years stats on blotches were less than 1% not sure why it would be more this year at all. Time will tell but willing to bet it should be good :)

Whether the 9g's have all the 8g's problems or not, Pioneers reluctancy to admit and correct certain defects should show just what kind of factory support you can expect if you decide to purchase a Kuro.

My advice would be to buy from a B&M store so you can return it if there is a problem. Within spec? What a joke.

I would agree, last years stats on blotches were less than 1% not sure why it would be more this year at all. Time will tell but willing to bet it should be good :)


Someone said EVERY panel had blothches, JohnnyBrulez also reported the blothes on his panel, i doubt he was in the 1%. 1%?? I sure hope every panel don't have the problem.

My advice would be to buy from a B&M store so you can return it if there is a problem. Within spec? What a joke.

If you (that's an editorial you) want to see them squirm, ask your friendly CSR how he or she happens to know what the spec is. At this point, depending how far you want to go entertaining youself, you can quickly bring them to the point where is obvious that there is no spec and that they are making things up, case-to-case. My favorite is: OK, did you read the specs recently? Yes. (What else can they say?). Can you send me copy? No. Why not? We are not allowed. Can I talk to the person who does not allow you? No. End of the conversation.

Seriously, it would be good to hear from a lawyer what protection is there against the TV manufacturers who at this point can sell almost anything and claim that all the defects, short of lack of sound or picture, are within, unpublished of course, specifications.

Your advice to buy from local B&Ms is also spot on. If you wait for a good price, once the novelty of a new model wore off, the difference between a reputable local store and the crooks in Brooklyn is neglegible. In fact, the greatest mystery right after how life began, is how these outfits manage to stay in business and the owners out of prison.

Whether the 9g's have all the 8g's problems or not, Pioneers reluctancy to admit and correct certain defects should show just what kind of factory support you can expect if you decide to purchase a Kuro.

My advice would be to buy from a B&M store so you can return it if there is a problem. Within spec? What a joke.
No disrespect to the sponsors here, but after going through pioneer hell with
my past Pro-150FD, I quite agree. They talk about 'within spec' but I think
they should point out that 'spec' in their manual, just like how they do with
dead pixels and such.

Oh, and Ramazur, you're right about asking the CSR what the spec is. In my
bout with pioneer on streaks, they said it was on spec. :) Yup, it's apparently
within spec to have streaks on your set... until they later record it as burn-in.
Nice stuff.

But alas, I think there are lots of good reports on the 9Gs so far (some bad, of
course) so I think things are better. Of course, that may change as more TVs
are released as it took a month or so before blotches and buzzes became the
'buzz-word' of the Pioneer threads. I admit, I'm still nervous just because of the
crap I went through, but I still loved my former TV.

This thread is only 29-post young and it is already clear that the King of Dark suffers from a number of ailments: blotches, buzzing, image retention and "dirty picture". Don't forget to mention the reports regarding "crushed" blacks too. He also doesn't like the 4:3 and 2.35:1 formats and needs frequent "erasing" which he finds so repugnant that the bath time is limited to no more than an hour. Hold on now, if you are referring to any new PDP... unless one takes the time to break in their panel correctly (and I don't mean with the break-in DVD), their display will be subject to IR & uneven phosphor wear.I thought Kuros are not just the best in the whole wide world - they were acclaimed the be the best with a "Period." as opposed to "the best" without the "Period". Kind of like global warming end of discussion.You are correct Sir! As "crazy" as it may seem, the Pioneer Kuro series PDPs are currently the 'Best in Class" of plasma screens available.

Unfortunately, I seem to have spoken too soon about my Samsung's blotchy black level. While the areas of lighter black have smoothed out considerably, they are still there, and not improving with any further use of the scrolling pattern.

Worst of all, it is visible during dark scenes in movies. Almost looks like a slight haze on the screen during dark scenes in the Beowulf Blu-ray. User menu controls don't seem to affect it...I've tried running gamma up and down, contrast up and down, brightness up and down, etc...no changes.

Ive put in a service call request to Samsung, so we'll see how they handle this compared to Pioneer. Anyway, I know its not a Pioneer set, so it may not be the same problem, but just wanted to update the thread with my situation in case it is.

This thread is only 29-post young and it is already clear that the King of Dark suffers from a number of ailments: blotches, buzzing, image retention and "dirty picture". He also doesn't like the 4:3 and 2.35:1 formats and needs frequent "erasing" which he finds so repugnant that the bath time is limited to no more than an hour.

I thought Kuros are not just the best in the whole wide world - they were acclaimed the be the best with a "Period." as opposed to "the best" without the "Period". Kind of like global warming end of discussion.

This is your idea of contributing to this thread?

No disrespect to the sponsors here, but after going through pioneer hell with
my past Pro-150FD, I quite agree. They talk about 'within spec' but I think
they should point out that 'spec' in their manual, just like how they do with
dead pixels and such.

Oh, and Ramazur, you're right about asking the CSR what the spec is. In my
bout with pioneer on streaks, they said it was on spec. :) Yup, it's apparently
within spec to have streaks on your set... until they later record it as burn-in.
Nice stuff.

But alas, I think there are lots of good reports on the 9Gs so far (some bad, of
course) so I think things are better. Of course, that may change as more TVs
are released as it took a month or so before blotches and buzzes became the
'buzz-word' of the Pioneer threads. I admit, I'm still nervous just because of the
crap I went through, but I still loved my former TV.

And many, many had no problems with their 8g's. ;)

I would agree, last years stats on blotches were less than 1% not sure why it would be more this year at all. Time will tell but willing to bet it should be good :)The (?) is... knowing these problems exist with the 8G series... why haven't they been resolved for the 9Gs?

This is your idea of contributing to this thread?

Well, I wrote it so it is a safe bet that it is mine. I am glad I was given an opportunity to clarify this.

What video material are you using that displays "bloching"? I do not see problems with uniformity with either the 111 or 151 using video material or via a Sencore signal generator.

Already since about 30 hours of break-in, the blotches have all gone away:). Maybe the blotches were just a initial thing before it is broken in, cause they are non-exhistent already. Thanks for all the help, I cant wait to sit and enjoy this set after break-in is complete!

That's great news! Now I can cross my fingers that the blotches on my Samsung will go away. I sure hope so.

Already since about 30 hours of break-in, the blotches have all gone away:). Maybe the blotches were just a initial thing before it is broken in, cause they are non-exhistent already. Thanks for all the help, I cant wait to sit and enjoy this set after break-in is complete!

From what I've been reading here, I think some people will be genuinely disappointed with your success. ;)

Already since about 30 hours of break-in, the blotches have all gone away:). Maybe the blotches were just a initial thing before it is broken in, cause they are non-exhistent already. Thanks for all the help, I cant wait to sit and enjoy this set after break-in is complete!
Another guy posted the same thing in a different thread. I can't remember who. Nevertheless, that's good news! :) Enjoy your set.

Another guy posted the same thing in a different thread. I can't remember who. Nevertheless, that's good news! :) Enjoy your set.

Unfortunately, I think you're referring to me...I posted that mine had nearly gone away after 40 hours of break-in with the scrolling pattern. Now it seems that it has stopped improving, and is actually dependent upon picture settings as to how noticeable it is. There is still a definite glowing area, however, and so I'll have to see how it goes with a service call.

From what I've been reading here, I think some people will be genuinely disappointed with your success. ;)


Not me ken. I want as much as anybody for these panels to be perfect. What makes me upset is problems i hear like streaks, dirty pic, buzzing, is problems other plasmas don't seem to have. Pioneer being 'elite' it really is sad to here i could get one of these problems. And i know all to well from the sxrd threads about the green blob problem, people used to say the same things, that it's a minor problem, less than 1% etc have the problem, only avs members complain and the majority of the public don't have the problem etc. The buzzing is a slight concern but the other problems i think it's unbelievable that their there on some panels. I would still take a chance on a panel as great as pioneer though for sure, in a heartbeat.

^^ Zues, I felt the same about Sharp when reports of banding and clouds started appearing on their LCDs.

From what I've been reading here, I think some people will be genuinely disappointed with your success. ;)What makes you believe this?

Not me ken. I want as much as anybody for these panels to be perfect. What makes me upset is problems i hear like streaks, dirty pic, buzzing, is problems other plasmas don't seem to have. Pioneer being 'elite' it really is sad to here i could get one of these problems. And i know all to well from the sxrd threads about the green blob problem, people used to say the same things, that it's a minor problem, less than 1% etc have the problem, only avs members complain and the majority of the public don't have the problem etc. The buzzing is a slight concern but the other problems i think it's unbelievable that their there on some panels. I would still take a chance on a panel as great as pioneer though for sure, in a heartbeat.


All plasmas buzz. I owned two different Sammy's that buzzed.
Dirty pic? How would they have a dirt pic.,especially across the board on all panels, yet it not be seen by all and even by pro reviewers and ISF calibrators.
Streaking I've never seen on either my two Kuro's nor any in stores.
Not to mention, there are numerous issues with every plasma, they just don't have Kuro haters jumping in 'every single thread' exaggerating the issues.
-imo

there are numerous issues with every plasma, they just don't have Kuro haters jumping in 'every single thread' exaggerating the issues.
-imoAren't most of the problems associated with Pioneer PDPs made by individuals who own a Pioneer PDP?

My PRO-150FD:

1) buzzes

2) exhibits the 'dirty screen' effect on occasion

but I don't 'hate' Kuro

The blotchy blacks is unacceptable. Does anyone have a 8g that's perfectly uniform in the dark on a all black screen?

I do. I have looked for the blotches on my 110FD and have never ever seen anything like what people described. FWIW

The TV does buzz a bit, though.

Someone said EVERY panel had blothches, JohnnyBrulez also reported the blothes on his panel, i doubt he was in the 1%. 1%?? I sure hope every panel don't have the problem.

I am just telling you what I have seen for a couple of generations in complaints.