Pioneer's Project Kuro: The 9mm thick, infinite contrast 50-inch plasma HDTV

[EazyduzIt]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

The 9mm display is based on 10 lumen tech. Heat and power are moot items with 10 lumen tech.

I am wondering at the energy efficiency of this plasma - given its form factor and tech involved. It suggests to me that it would leave current range of equivalent size plasmas + res in the dust in terms of energy efficiency. The form factor is amazing to behold.

[StinDaWg]

[williamtassone]

holy sh*t !

[andyx1205]

Wait...does that mean the Kuro doesn't have dark blacks, cause those pics make the Kuro look aweful...I was planning on getting a Pioner 6010 next week but those pics don't do it justice.

On the other hand...wow holy **** that new plasma is just amazing.

[notext]

They may have adjusted the contrast of the picture some so you could really tell the difference the new panel makes.

[Drewbert]

Originally Posted by andyx1205

Wait...does that mean the Kuro doesn't have dark blacks, cause those pics make the Kuro look aweful...I was planning on getting a Pioner 6010 next week but those pics don't do it justice.

On the other hand...wow holy **** that new plasma is just amazing.

No they do, see it in person to make your decision.

Wow and the new plasmas are looking like the elusive SED pictures....

[coltsfreak18]

150-fd for sale, anyone?? Actually I'll hold off on buying my 150 until these... They make the Kuro look... look... BAD

[coltsfreak18]

Originally Posted by D-Nice
The 9mm display is based on 10 lumen tech. Heat and power are mute items with 10 lumen tech.
Does this mean they are silent? Ohh, you mean moot...sorry, couldn't resist.

well the heat and power reduction WOULD make it pretty silent. Correct me if wrong D-Nice

[cubbiechris]

I don't know man. My Kuro blacks look blacker then that.

[sunarf]

Looks like I'm just going to have to live with my 42" Panny ED for a little while longer.

Roman...I'll get back to you when these come out.

[optivity]

Originally Posted by cubbiechris

I don't know man. My Kuro blacks look blacker then that.

Most likely because you are (I am at least) displaying the advertisement on an LCD (computer monitor) display.

[Nambit]

Originally Posted by optivity

Most likely because you are (I am at least) displaying the advertisement on an LCD (computer monitor) display.

I'm actually displaying this on my 150FD right now and I certainly know the TV
looks a whole lot better than that. I think they messed with the camera settings
to prove a point, though. What affects one TV does *NOTHING* to the other.
I'll admit that that's pretty good proof that these things are for real.

The good thing about the new sets is that by the time they come out, there
should be a huge abundance of HD material, especially in the states. There's
already tons of great stuff on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and it looks like as time
goes by, the transfer to these new formats are getting better looking with
less artifacts and such. I can't wait to see Ratatouille on my TV (I keep
putting off buying the damned thing).

Anyhow, it's great to see TVs moving ahead. I know it's going to be a really
tough decision for the folks who are considering a new TV this year, though
I expect the 9G's to be amazing on their own. I do wonder, however, what
the next big leap for TVs will be once the black level and brightness are behind
us. Perhaps a TV that you can fold like a mat and move to another room.

[6SpeedTA95]

It looks like they really cranked up the brigtness on the KURO for those shots, I've not seen one look that bad...

Anyone have the screen shot of the KURO from last year sitting there with two other sets beside it? It didn't look anything like that.

[Jonesky]

I don't what or if they did anything but they have those Kuros looking as bad as 2 year old LCD's.

[RichB]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

There were 2 parts to the presentation: Extreme Contrast Concept model and 9mm thick Extreme Contract Concept model. They specifically said that the 9mm thick Extreme Contract Concept model will not been seen in 2008 (manufacturing tech isn't ready) . They did not say anything about when the Extreme Contrast Concept model would be available

That makes sends. I was wondering about the wisdom in showing up the current product with a new and better product that will not be available more than a year.

The Olympics are coming...

- Rich

[johnnybrulez]

Originally Posted by Jonesky

I don't what or if they did anything but they have those Kuros looking as bad as 2 year old LCD's.

Camera settings. Higher the light intake in the camera and you'll get that effect.

Black level goes up. White level goes up. Hence why the flowers look so blown out.

That only bodes well for the display on the right though. I still can't see any glow. Ridiculous.

[VFR]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

It looks like they really cranked up the brigtness on the KURO for those shots, I've not seen one look that bad...

Anyone have the screen shot of the KURO from last year sitting there with two other sets beside it? It didn't look anything like that.

Not that specific image but a couple of others:

[optivity]

Originally Posted by Nambit

I'm actually displaying this on my 150FD right now and I certainly know the TV
looks a whole lot better than that. I think they messed with the camera settings
to prove a point, though. What affects one TV does *NOTHING* to the other.
I'll admit that that's pretty good proof that these things are for real.

The good thing about the new sets is that by the time they come out, there
should be a huge abundance of HD material, especially in the states. There's
already tons of great stuff on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and it looks like as time
goes by, the transfer to these new formats are getting better looking with
less artifacts and such. I can't wait to see Ratatouille on my TV (I keep
putting off buying the damned thing).

Anyhow, it's great to see TVs moving ahead. I know it's going to be a really
tough decision for the folks who are considering a new TV this year, though
I expect the 9G's to be amazing on their own. I do wonder, however, what
the next big leap for TVs will be once the black level and brightness are behind
us. Perhaps a TV that you can fold like a mat and move to another room.

So when are these next gen PDPs going to hit the store shelves? I thought I read in Pioneer's press release they are not going to be available during 2008. Just like what happened when Panasonic/Comcast announced at CES 2007 regarding the development of an interactive DCR (M-Card or DCAS) PDP... where is it?

I'd also like to upgrade my PC, which is only 2-years-old, to an iX38 platform, but I am very reluctant to spend ~$5000 to build another desktop that most likely will not support the HD content w/dreaded DRM requirements that may finally come to fruition during the next couple of years.

[xb1032]

Originally Posted by johnnybrulez

Apparently... absolute black may be 9g. Extreme Contrast.

That would be awesome. The blacks on the Kuro are good but absolute would be killer. Now if only there was an increase in brightness and an affordable 70"er . Or actually, maybe I'll just get a 60"er and put the extra $ towards a 70" 10G model the following year. That one sounds incredible! I'm sure the prices will be somewhat lower than 8G models. I hope anyway.

[xb1032]

Originally Posted by Nambit

I'm actually displaying this on my 150FD right now and I certainly know the TV
looks a whole lot better than that. I think they messed with the camera settings
to prove a point, though. What affects one TV does *NOTHING* to the other.
I'll admit that that's pretty good proof that these things are for real.

The good thing about the new sets is that by the time they come out, there
should be a huge abundance of HD material, especially in the states. There's
already tons of great stuff on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and it looks like as time
goes by, the transfer to these new formats are getting better looking with
less artifacts and such. I can't wait to see Ratatouille on my TV (I keep
putting off buying the damned thing).

Anyhow, it's great to see TVs moving ahead. I know it's going to be a really
tough decision for the folks who are considering a new TV this year, though
I expect the 9G's to be amazing on their own. I do wonder, however, what
the next big leap for TVs will be once the black level and brightness are behind
us. Perhaps a TV that you can fold like a mat and move to another room.

Apparently you were correct about saying there is a good difference between absolute black and 8G models after all .

[TommyV]

My Camera sucks but I know that mine looks better than those on display. I was even using the flash when I took that pic. BTW, I am viewing these pics on a CRT monitor.

[Whaaaaaaaaaa!!!!]

Originally Posted by TommyV

My Camera sucks but I know that mine looks better than those on display. I was even using the flash when I took that pic. BTW, I am viewing these pics on a CRT monitor.

Ok, enough with this nonsense! The "old" Kuro isn't wrong calibrated and the camera is actually a good one. Those photos were taken with a long aperture and very high iso, that's why the "old" Kuro looks that bad. Any other display would look even worse! They basically tried to get any light from the black areas of the new Kuro, but miserably failed!

(yeah, I've just registered for this post)

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by TommyV

What rock did you crawl out from under?

He could actually be right. You open a camera up to absorb all incoming light and it will have that effect.

[Jabba_The_LCD]

That new extreme contrast technology looks hot. I'm sure the new technology is better... but realistically, I've never seen a properly adjusted Kuro's contrast look quite as exaggerated as the pictures of CES are showing.

I still haven't heard anything out of CES yet on larger plasmas. Anyone got any information?

Pioneer Elite make an awesome TV. But where’s the 65”, 70”, and 70”+ models?!?

[Whaaaaaaaaaa!!!!]

And the nonsense continues ...

Again, there's nothing wrong with the old Kuro, it's just the camera setting that was chosen to illustrate the extreme blacks of the new one.

[Jabba_The_LCD]

Nothing wrong at all with the current Kuro model. I certainly am not waiting until 2009 or later for this extreme contrast to hit the market to make a purchase.

What I want to know is where are the larger models?

[davidjschenk]

Gawd, these things look beautiful. If they can get the 9Gs to yield nice, bright whites on top of this and still preserve all the killer virtues of the 8Gs, I just can't see myself not buying one, you know?

-David

[R11]

Originally Posted by Whaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

And the nonsense continues ...

Again, there's nothing wrong with the old Kuro, it's just the camera setting that was chosen to illustrate the extreme blacks of the new one.

It's pretty hilarious isn't it? It really makes you wonder about some people. If they can't wrap their minds around the basic idea of photographic light accumulation... Anyway, the pics above of the girl's face that show the increased shadow detail capability is pretty impressive.

If they can get the 9Gs to yield nice, bright whites on top of this and still preserve all the killer virtues of the 8Gs, I just can't see myself not buying one, you know?

If I understand it correctly, it sounds like the increased brightness (and whiter whites) may be coming in the 10G 10 lumen units (along with the lower power consumption/heat generation).

ron

[russwong]

The point of the new technology is that there is no light coming out even when the camera is set to a long exposure.

The Kuro is dark, but as others have said, it's not pitch black. So when using a camera with a long exposure, it will keep capturing all the light and eventually in a PHOTO it will look gray.

Kinda like pointing a camera into the dark sky with a long exposure, eventually if you hold it long enough, it will look like daylight... That's not to say the sky at any instance isn't dark, but over a period of time, there is some light and if you capture all the light it will end up being light.

Are the current Kuro's dark? Heck yeah, they are the best. Are they pitch black? Nope... that's what the new Kuro's are striving for.

Should you upgrade a kuro to the new kuro? that's a personal choice. As Ken Ross has said, the incremental difference may not be worth it. Is pitch black worth it? Maybe! I'll have to see for myself, but my 150FD looks pretty darn black in a dark room.

Russ

[davidjschenk]

Originally Posted by R11

If I understand it correctly, it sounds like the increased brightness (and whiter whites) may be coming in the 10G 10 lumen units (along with the lower power consumption/heat generation).

ron

Ah. That's what I'll be waiting for, then. Thanks, ron. With luck, the 10Gs will hit the market right around the same time that I finally get sick of my 81F's quirks and start looking for a new tv. With great luck, this will all happen about the same time that HDR tvs become a reality. Then I'll have me a real decision to make.

Originally Posted by russwong

Are the current Kuro's dark? Heck yeah, they are the best. Are they pitch black? Nope... that's what the new Kuro's are striving for.

Should you upgrade a kuro to the new kuro? that's a personal choice. As Ken Ross has said, the incremental difference may not be worth it. Is pitch black worth it? Maybe! I'll have to see for myself, but my 150FD looks pretty darn black in a dark room.

Russ

Mister, you're not kidding. I finally got to see one of these things in action a while ago and, man.... just........ MAN!! WOW!! Wotta tv...

Yours,

David