Hi,

I noticed similar questions have been asked on this forum, but alas it didnt answer my specific question. So i am asking it here.

I have the panasonic 32pf10 CRT. Distance to screen is between 8 and 10ft.(3 till 3,5 meters)
I am looking for a plasma that would really standout compared to my old tv.
Thats why I am considering 50 or maybe 46 inch tv because the prices has been become quite interesting for me now.
Connected will be digital cable(SD or at best 720p)
Bluray full HD player

Anyway my choices kinda baffles me because it's basically between a panasonic 50pz80 full HDTV or the Pioneer Kuro 5080XD/XA HD ready thats 25% more expensive!!

Normally it's pretty open and shut to me...the panasonic is newer, better specs and 25% cheaper than the Pio.
But I dont think it's so simple. People rave about the Pion kuro so much.

What would you people advice? Is the quality of the pioneer really that much better that it would justify the price difference and lack of full HD.
If I am mainly watching FULL HD blu ray on the TV....does teh kuro still have the edge over the panny?

Thanks guys,


Hope you can all help me out.

Yes it's not so clear since the 5080 pio beat a group of 1080p sets in the home theater mag shootout. I'm surprised you can still find a 5080. I bought 2 5080s for the same price as the 768p panasonic x80s were going for so it was an easy decision. Pio has better blacks and processing so detail is excellent. Extra res of 1080p requires very close viewing to be seen (under ~4 feet) on 50" set. The pio 5080 should be close out priced so offer the same as a panny 50px80 and see how that goes. Would I take my 5080 over the pz80? In a second -- and I really like the pannys. Something about the depth and detail on the kuros, cr related I suppose. Having said that if I was using my set as a computer monitor then I'd seriously consider the panny pz80 as a better choice because of the extra res. If you get the pio set your bd player to output either 1080p24 or 1080i and the set will look spectacular.

Edit:
Sorry I just noticed you are asking about the 5080xd euro set. I'm unsure how similar the 5080hd us set I have is, but I would guess fairly similar.

Yeah the 5080 are not so readily available.Just few left it seems.

Seems to me the main problems with panny compared to pioneer is the upscaling of non hd materiaal.
It's rather weak.

Would u get a better picture using an external scaler?
Maybe playing DVDs using your blueray player or using receiver like teh onnkyo 876 that upscales internally?


I am not someone who replaces things quickly. And i wonder with more and more HD material becoming available. Would buying a HD ready plasma be the same as buying a Dolby prologic receiver instead of a DTS/DD receiver a few years ago?

HD ready here simply means the set has no built in hd tuner but can display all hd sources, so I'm guessing thats the difference between the 5080xd and the 5080hd. If you're asking about 768p vs 1080p thats close to a religous debate on this forum - but my pios can accept 1080p 24 and it looks spectacular - so there is no compatibility that I'm lacking from not having a 1080p panel. I've veiwed many panny "true hd" sets playing blue ray 1080p content including the thx model and my pio looks better to me. I use the Sony ps3 for dvd and blue ray and it upscales on a level with the best dvd players (outputting 1080 from ps3 to panel seems to be best)- blue ray 1080 is awe inspiring. I really think at 50" the 1080p vs 768p debate is a bit of perception vs reality-there are far more important issues at that size.

If you are in the US (or any part of North America), there is no 5080XD/XA. There is only the 5080HD. If someone is attempting to sell you a 5080XD/XA, it is a gray market item that IS NOT made for the North American market. It WILL NOT function properly here.

Hi,

I noticed similar questions have been asked on this forum, but alas it didnt answer my specific question. So i am asking it here.

I have the panasonic 32pf10 CRT. Distance to screen is between 8 and 10ft.(3 till 3,5 meters)
I am looking for a plasma that would really standout compared to my old tv.
Thats why I am considering 50 or maybe 46 inch tv because the prices has been become quite interesting for me now.
Connected will be digital cable(SD or at best 720p)
Bluray full HD player

Anyway my choices kinda baffles me because it's basically between a panasonic 50pz80 full HDTV or the Pioneer Kuro 5080XD/XA HD ready thats 25% more expensive!!

Normally it's pretty open and shut to me...the panasonic is newer, better specs and 25% cheaper than the Pio.
But I dont think it's so simple. People rave about the Pion kuro so much.

What would you people advice? Is the quality of the pioneer really that much better that it would justify the price difference and lack of full HD.
If I am mainly watching FULL HD blu ray on the TV....does teh kuro still have the edge over the panny?

Thanks guys,


Hope you can all help me out.

Quality wise the pioneer 8th generation is better blacks processing de/interlacing anti glare/reflection best IR resistance and so on. better for daylight with abient light due to the ar/ag filter.

as far as the model number goes the usa is PDP-5080 and anywhere else it might be imported.

get the pioneer is the best

RESOLUTION is the LEAST thing to factor in PQ in a tv.

HANDS down if you had the panasonic 1080p new side by side with the used pioneer PDP-5080 the pdp 5080 wins hands down

Also FULL HDD is just another word,. YOU WONT GET FULL HD 1080P because at your 10ft of distane you wont visablity notice it. its size vs distance vs contnet.

blu ray is the only thing that does NATIVELY 1080p,

I am not from the USA. But from europe.
Compared to you guys we in europe are really backward with regard to HD and HD tvs.

Lol how did i miss the 768 and 1080P debate.Do u have a link somewhere?

Is the euro 5080 the same as the US 5080?

more or less the the numbers might be diffrent and some changes as well but your answer is the pioneer is the clear winner