Pioneers have higher contrast and no motion blur but still risk some burn in and buzzing. XBR 4 is known as a great quality Sony set and don't have the problems that plasmas have and I'm not too worried about motion blur. If you could choose either a 1150/080 or a 52" XBR 4 for free, which one would you go with if your room was dark? Would you be worried about burn in or buzzing?

Pioneers have higher contrast and no motion blur but still risk some burn in and buzzing. XBR 4 is known as a great quality Sony set and don't have the problems that plasmas have and I'm not too worried about motion blur. If you could choose either a 1150/080 or a 52" XBR 4 for free, which one would you go with if your room was dark? Would you be worried about burn in or buzzing?

The Pio and no on the burn in...

What about this buzzing though? Many people are reporting that they can hear a buzzing sound from 8-12 feet back while some people say that they can't hear buzzing at all when their ear is right next to it. The cheapest place to buy a 1150 is online but I can't live with peace of mind with all these problems incase I need to return it!

pio no questions asked

What about this buzzing though? Many people are reporting that they can hear a buzzing sound from 8-12 feet back while some people say that they can't hear buzzing at all when their ear is right next to it. The cheapest place to buy a 1150 is online but I can't live with peace of mind with all these problems incase I need to return it!

I'll tell you what, if you buy a Pio and there is buzzing and it's unbearable, return it and get a XBR5.

I have a Pioneer 1140 and my brother in law has the Sony LCD. I can't hear any fan at all, and would not be at all concerned about burn in. I watch CNBC Business channel a lot and will leave it on for hours with the ticker running across .... I've had mine for 7 months and have not had any bad experience at all. The reason I went with the Pioneer was because the Sony show slight motion blurr during football when viewed closely. Generally, I believe the the burn in issue is close to being a thing of the past.

Does the XBR 4 show a lot of motion blur during sports? What about during Xbox 360 or PS3 gaming? I don't plan on the movie watching that plasmas are great for, mainly cable and games. Can someone PM me the best place to buy a 1150 for $3500 or less?

XBR 4=$1000 more, not worth it for LCD
1150=not much difference from 5080, especially if your budget is somewhat weak.
Samsung 71F and 5080-consider these 2. Same price and comparable but quality may differ. I decided with the 5080 but good luck!

I'd take 1150 if you can and 5080 if you can't.

1150
5080
XBR4

in that order.

Both Pioneer models you mention are obsolete 720p models. Fine if all you're going to watch is broadcast and DVDs, but crappy for HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and Media center PCs. The XBR4 is probably the best 1080P LCD on the market today. Pio will have advantage on black levels..but not by much on these older models.

Both Pioneer models you mention are obsolete 720p models. Fine if all you're going to watch is broadcast and DVDs, but crappy for HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and Media center PCs. The XBR4 is probably the best 1080P LCD on the market today. Pio will have advantage on black levels..but not by much on these older models.

Yes, they are obsolete 768p models, but what good does 1080p model do to you if you can't tell a difference from 10' between 50" 768p and 1080p panels playing the same 1080p signal from Blu Ray player?

Sure, if you sit close and game then you have no choice but get 1080p.

Yes, they are obsolete 768p models, but what good does 1080p model do to you if you can't tell a difference from 10' between 50" 768p and 1080p panels playing the same 1080p signal from Blu Ray player?


If you can't then you must seek professional medical help (e.g. eye infirmary).


Sure, if you sit close and game then you have no choice but get 1080p.

Jesus, 10' is 3 meters... how can't you see it on a 4+ FEET or 1.2+ METERS diagonal screen?

This topic is hilarious - I bet most people never seen any XBR4 in real life.

Get the XBR4 - IT IS A NO-BRAINER. It's WAAAAY superior to the aforementioned plasmas.

Only ignorant fans spend an arm and a leg rather on outdated/discontinued 720p Pioneer plasmas instead of a top-of-the-line, future-proof (30-bit color depth, 120Hz, MotionPlus etc) 1080p XBR4.

If the current Pioneer 1080p plasmas were listed I'd say you can buy whichever you like better but these old ones are out of question for any sane person.

Does the XBR 4 show a lot of motion blur during sports? What about during Xbox 360 or PS3 gaming? I don't plan on the movie watching that plasmas are great for, mainly cable and games. Can someone PM me the best place to buy a 1150 for $3500 or less?

WEll, I have seen even the current 5010 for that but it's from here, Brooklyn, home of the bait&switch online stores... :D

Having spent the past few days really looking at a new set, I went to Best Buy Magnolia with a few settings (from here) for each set. I was mainly trying to compare the Pio Elites vs the XBR since they're in the same area, playing the same feed. Once I decided on the set, I did have them play "the corpse bride" BluRay on this set and it put my 5070 to shame :(

First of all, PQ depends on how sensitive one is to certain things. For me, the black levels on the Pioneer are superior, hands down. The one great side effect of having great black levels is that other colors come out much better.

The Sony is brighter and like a moth to a bulb, many people are drawn in by this, myself included! However the Sony does not produce a realistic image. The Pioneer is very smooth and life like. On the XBR, you are watching a TV and the sets output clearly reminds you of this. It's has a procesed look. Kinda like a super sized PC screen.

When it came to deciding, for me, I have 2 sorts of buyers remorse. One being "oh crap, i spent x amount on a big ticket item!" Luckily this one passes in a few weeks. The one that would haunt me for ages would be the "I didn't get the set I really really really wanted." I'm not in the mood for that this time around, so unless something dramatic happens, it'll be the Pioneer Elite 150. The Sony is a great set also and I doubt many would be unhappy with it but it isn't for me.

Word to the wise though, the more you learn, the more prone you are to seeing flaws and more likley you are to spend the extra amount to get a set without those flaws. I come from a gaming back ground before I started I had no idea what AA/AF and such were but now that I know, I can spot them right away. Before someone calls me a Plasma Fanboy, I just helped a friends family purchase a Sharp LCD since it fit their needs and budgets well. As usual, don't get sucked into the AVS mindset, thus stay within your budget. No need to accrue unnecessary debt for something you might not even notice or benefit from anyway.

I will throw my 2cents in. I own the XBR5 and I have spent countless hours researching the KURO. Now, We all know the KURO is the best TV around. I will not argue that point. But, It will come down to what you want out of a TV. I've seen things on the KURO (Dave Mathews Blu-Ray) and it looks much better than it does on my XBR5. But, I've seen movies like Crank, Ratatoullie, Fifth Element, etc, and games look better on my XBR5). I also have fine tuned the settings on my XBR. Also for me, when I watch a plasma, it sometimes freaks out my eyes? I have no idea why that is...

And I am getting sick and tired of people saying the image quality on the XBR's aren't realisitic. Do you know why? It's because in the store the have ME set on high! Turn it off if your not watching sports or animated movies and the picture is incredible. And I'm also sick and tired of hearing the XBR/LCD's are way to bright! Um, does everyone know that you can turn the brightness way down. And if you read any review, they don't say the black levels are FAR superior then the XBR4. In fact they say it's just under the pioneer and better than the Panasonic.

So, I'm sure if the 2 TV's were comparable in price, It would of been a very hard decision for me to make. I honestly was never a plasma fan until I saw the kuro. It's an amazing TV I will never question that. I'm not a LCD fan boy by any means. Hell, I'm thinking about returning a Samsung LCD I purchased for my bedroom to buy a plasma. That way, I get best of both worlds. :)

One last thing. I got my 52" XBR5 for under 3000.00, so I couldn't be more happier with the purchase!

Hey, If someone is happy with their Plasma or LCD that's their choice and no one can argue that point. Buy what you can afford and what you personally like. It's that simple.

Does the XBR 4 show a lot of motion blur during sports? What about during Xbox 360 or PS3 gaming? I don't plan on the movie watching that plasmas are great for, mainly cable and games. Can someone PM me the best place to buy a 1150 for $3500 or less?


None. You really need to learn what each of the settings are on the XBR4.

T2k, you realize you did absolutely nothing to counter a singe thing he posted, right? He's right your original post read like an advertisement, complete with all the fancy marketing terms.

Basically you copied the things he said, making fun of him but offering no information.

T2k, you realize you did absolutely nothing to counter a singe thing he posted, right?


Umm did you notice there wasn't any fact or anything meaningful claim?

What should I rebuke on posts like "Pioneer trumps the Samsung" and such?


He's right your original post read like an advertisement, complete with all the fancy marketing terms.


Ummm like which, if you don't mind...? I have seen the XBR4 and I BET YOU DID NOT, it's just the usual plasma-bullying tactics.

When one saw it next to another one without 120Hz/Motion, watching the same good source (ie BD or HDDVD) and still claims it's only marketing then I cannot help, that person needs an eye and/or a brain surgery, period. It's like claiming red is green or 2+2=5, it's so trivial.

BTW I didn't like the Motion effect when it was on strong level - however when it's tuned down it's great and it HELPS a lot. This is the subjective part and this can be challenged any time, I have no problem with it - but when somebody keeps claiming it's marketing it makes the person totally laughable because anyone ever seen it knows it couldn't be further from marketing.
In other words I'm quite sure none of you have EVER seen i hence these ridiculous claims.


Basically you copied the things he said, making fun of him but offering no information.

Just like he did, right - it's hard to take seriously on a post without no substance whatsoever...

I will throw my 2cents in. I own the XBR5 and I have spent countless hours researching the KURO. Now, We all know the KURO is the best TV around. I will not argue that point. But, It will come down to what you want out of a TV. I've seen things on the KURO (Dave Mathews Blu-Ray) and it looks much better than it does on my XBR5. But, I've seen movies like Crank, Ratatoullie, Fifth Element, etc, and games look better on my XBR5). I also have fine tuned the settings on my XBR. Also for me, when I watch a plasma, it sometimes freaks out my eyes? I have no idea why that is...

And I am getting sick and tired of people saying the image quality on the XBR's aren't realisitic. Do you know why? It's because in the store the have ME set on high! Turn it off if your not watching sports or animated movies and the picture is incredible. And I'm also sick and tired of hearing the XBR/LCD's are way to bright! Um, does everyone know that you can turn the brightness way down. And if you read any review, they don't say the black levels are FAR superior then the XBR4. In fact they say it's just under the pioneer and better than the Panasonic.

So, I'm sure if the 2 TV's were comparable in price, It would of been a very hard decision for me to make. I honestly was never a plasma fan until I saw the kuro. It's an amazing TV I will never question that. I'm not a LCD fan boy by any means. Hell, I'm thinking about returning a Samsung LCD I purchased for my bedroom to buy a plasma. That way, I get best of both worlds. :)

One last thing. I got my 52" XBR5 for under 3000.00, so I couldn't be more happier with the purchase!

Hey, If someone is happy with their Plasma or LCD that's their choice and no one can argue that point. Buy what you can afford and what you personally like. It's that simple.

Wow, 52XBR4 under $3k? :eek: You got a great deal there, pal, that's for sure... :cool: