Hello all.

I recently discovered (after watching Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer on a 52" XBR4) that LCDs really can't keep up with motion. Luckily, I recently started researching Pioneer plasmas instead. I admit that I've been a bit biased toward plasma, (my bad :rolleyes:) but after seeing some pictures of the new Kuro and Elite series I can definitely see that both have their place. (and it looks as good or better than the XBR4 - and no motion blur!).

I do have a question. I would rather save up for the 5010 or the 110FD, but I would like to know if they are TOO dark. As in the whites are aren't as bright as they should be. If so, would it distract or even matter considering the quality of the rest of the image? How does it compare in brightness to the 5080? Also, how easily distorted do plasmas get in mid level, non-direct sunlight?

After almost excusively looking at LCDs... finally a brand without major hardware problems (motion blur, uniformity issues, clouding, etc..) and amazing picture quality to boot. :D

Thanks!

Well if you were watching a Planet Earth Blu Ray disc that involved snow, it would look better on the Bravia, but the Pioneer would put more details in the snow such as different tones and layers while the Bravia would make it bright.

Search for the Pioneer Pictures thread and I believe that on the first page, you see some amazing pictures of some bright scenes that I think show that they are perfect for everything. At BestBuy, there is so much lighting on top of the 6010 but the XBR 4 is virtually dark. It should be totally opposite. The Pioneer performs greatest in dark environments and in that situation, it still out performs any other TV except maybe the 81F which still has motion blur.

The in store environments really don't properly represent what a good plasma can do. The 5080 can produce a strikingly bright white image. I found that my own 5080 looks far more vivid than what was visible in store.

LCDs are indeed brighter, but when used within your home, that isn't necessarily correct. They are TOO bright at times. Plasmas produce a more natural picture, I feel, and that becomes immediately obvious once you're viewing it in your home.

The Kuro panels seem to produce a brighter white than any other plasma I've used in the past, but it still isn't as eye searing as an LCD. More importantly, the black levels are vastly superior to any LCD (outside of the 81 series Samsung, which only sports superior blacks when displaying nothing BUT black while anything else is very much like their other LCDs).

Personally, I think the Kuro panels look best in a room with just a bit of light. With such surroundings, the panel literally appears just black and the contrast between light and dark is incredible to behold. The ANSI contrast ratio of plasmas really shines here.