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The Official Pioneer 9G Elite KURO Owner's Discussion Thread

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#1 ·
 Pioneer 111FD and 151FD Owner's Manual

111FD Product Brochure

151FD Product Brochure

The Official Pioneer 9G Kuro Settings/Issues Thread

The Official 9G Pioneer General Discussion Thread


9G Elite Reviews

D-Nice's Review of the Pro-111FD

Sound and Vision's Review of the Pro-111FD

Ultimate AV's review of the Pro-111FD

CNet's review of the Pro-111FD



It seems I'm the first to get the PRO-151FD in this forum so I figured I'd start the Thread.


First impressions:


Can notice blacker blacks over 5010. It's hard to tell were the bezel ends with the black bars.


Initial start up is set to performance mode.


While in the menu. Very slight buzz when you put your head behind the set. Can't hear it in front at all. Haven't try TV or video yet but I will before I start break-in.


Update regarding buzz:

While running the break-in disc, I do hear a buzz which does change pitch from dark to light screens, light screens higher pitch, but I have to be 2 to 3 feet from the front to hear it and it's the same as my 5010. My DVR box is louder then the buzz.


Not the brightest backlite remote I've seen. It's a little hard to see if the room is very dark.


I like the menus better then the 5010. I didn't care for the windows xp-ish menus in the 5010.


It has a great tool menu that comes up from the bottom during viewing which you can change settings like picture mode and screen size. Here's the post of the picture. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...4&postcount=10




PRO-111FD/151FD Specs:


- High-Definition 1080p Resolution (1920 x 1080p)


- 50”/60" Diagonal Class / 16:9 Wide-Screen Aspect Ratio


- 1080 Progressive Image Reproduction with ability to accept 480i / 480p / 720p / 1080i / and TRUE 1080p 24fps signals


- New Deeper, Intense Blacks for Unmatched Contrast (5x Previous Generation)


- New Thinner Cosmetic Design with ››Elegant Acrylic Bezel


- New, Improved Optimum Mode. Automatically analyses and adjusts audio and video settings according to specific room light conditions and type of light and color. Program content is also monitored and finely adjusted so movies, sports and news are all faithfully reproduced. Includes OSD with status.


- New External Color Sensor


- Room Light Sensor for automatic picture adjustment adjustment


- PureCinema Smooth Film Motion mode to eliminate motion jutter in 3:2 Pulldown (60Hz) providing natural even playback of content created on film


- 4 Independent HDMI 1.3 inputs with HDMI-CEC control and the ability ››to accept 1080p 24/60Hz signal


- Standard 3:2 (60Hz) and Advanced PureCinema with 3:3 Pulldown (72Hz) for accurate playback of film content


- Fully integrated ATSC and NTSC Tuner with Clear QAM


- Home Media Gallery – offering a multimedia experience to enjoy movies, music and photos through an existing home network or USB memory device


- ISFccc Calibration Ready for professional customization of plasma picture according to personal preferences for contrast, tint, color as well as room conditions for both day and nighttime viewing. Includes:

- Independent Gamma Control (R / G / B) for heightened color ––calibration


- V-Chip Parental Control


- Remote Control – Illuminated / Preset Mode / Learning Mode


- New Advanced Redesigned GUI


- A/V Selection Memory – 10 options for viewing preferences: Optimum / Performance / Sports / Movie / PURE / Game / Standard*/ ISF-Day / ISF-Night / ISF-Auto (PC input: only Standard)


- Aspect Ratio Control – 9 positions: Auto* / Full / “Dot by Dot” / Zoom* / Cinema* / 4:3 / Wide* (only for SD) / Wide1* (only for HD) / Wide2* (only for HD) *Except PC signal


- Advanced Picture-in-Picture (4 positions), Picture-side-Picture for use with Home Media Gallery & Broadcast and Still Picture capability


- After-Image Reduction Function

- Orbiter (Off / Mode 1 / Mode 2)

- Auto Size (Off/ Natural / Wide-Zoom)

- Side Mask Detection (Mode 1 – for black side masks / Mode 2 – for black & illustrated side masks)

- Side Mask Brightness Sync (Fixed / Auto)

- Video Pattern (White Bar)

- Game Control Preference (AV Selection: only Game) (Off / On)


- Fine Tune Setting for ultimate picture control of color temperature, noise reduction and color management


- Intelligent Mode (Off / Mode 1 / Mode 2)


- Room Light Sensor & New External Color Sensor (Off / Mode 1 / Mode 2)
 
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#5,762 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by northern2020 /forum/post/14719367


Hey guys, sorry for the newbie question;


When watching a BD with 2.40:1, to avoid getting the black bars above and below the picture


a) is it bad to have the bars re: burn in?


b) if it is bad, should one set it to zoom mode?


thanks for the response


While I tried to minimize that type of content in the first 100-200 hours, now I don't even think about it. We watch that kind of stuff a lot, since so many movies are now 2.35:1, and we don't have any problem with IR or burn-in at all.
 
#5,763 ·
Hi Guys, Jeff Meier from AccucalHD came by yesterday to calibrate my home theater so I thought I'd write a review and have HTWAITS add it to his databank.


Well, really what can be said about Jeff that hasn't already been said again and again and again.


Some background. I'm a virtual newbie in the AV field but I do like to read up, do research, and have been doing that as a predominant lurker for over a year now.


I have a Pioneer Pro 151FD, a Pioneer 05FD, and a Pioneer SC-07. That's the core of my home theater. I also have an Xbox360 and Wii component out and a Toshiba XA2, a PS3, and a Time Warner Motorola HD/DVR box. I have a 5.1 system via Aperion Audios: two 6T fronts, a 6C center, a 12 inch Bravus subwoofer, and 2 Dipole surrounds.


In my bedroom, I have a Pioneer 1150 Elite and a gunmetal grey PS3 as well as another HD/DVR unit.


He came on-time at 1:00pm exactly and stayed until near 9:00 pm. He calibrated both my Elite displays as well as my home theater system downstairs.


Now, choosing a home theater calibrator is like choosing a dealer to buy your electronics from. There are plenty of good ones out there and everyone will have their own schtick to sell you on their qualifications and their results.


But what it ALL boils down to is this: Do you trust the guy and do you feel comfortable putting your 10,000 dollar plus system in his hands?


Well, I spent some time doing some research and reading around and Jeff Meier's reputation on these forums is impeccable. He has also calibrated more Pioneer Elites than anyone I've come across and he's calibrated the home system of people who are high end audiovideophiles and who I trust and respect.


He was punctual, respectful, friendly, and informative. He answered all questions confidently and clearly. He spent the time doing the work and at the end of the day, it showed.


I don't know whether the doodads he showed me cost 40K plus as he informed me or cost 40.00 at the local Walmart. What I DO know is that it worked some magic on my system that I could HEAR and SEE.


My Elites LOOKED better. Now to be perfectly honest, they did not necessarily look leaps and bounds better. They are after all ELITES and so picture quality is going to be excellent to BEGIN with. But I wanted the calibration to be there to give me the most COLOR ACCURATE picture and Jeff certainly did that . . . with the numbers to prove it.


After he left, I looked at his picture and then switched to some of the other modes to compare. There was definitely a significant difference at least to my eyes. Even more surprising, my WIFE looked at the T.V. and noticed a difference. She is about as anti an audio and videophile as it gets. She uses the T.V. mostly for washing cable reality shows and Lifetime for women. The LAST thing she cares about is this stuff and she really surprised me when she mentioned casually that the pictures looked "better"


In terms of the sound, that is where Jeff really made a huge difference. My sound system was improperly balanced with my subwoofer out of phase with the rest of my speakers. I didn't know WHY this was but I could tell since I had to really crank up my bass to hear it. After he was done and showed me the results on House of Flying Daggers . . . well . . . let's just say I'm buying the disc as soon as I get the chance. There was simply a phenomenal difference in bass and now my system sounds better with the volume at -4 than it did before at +5!!


Jeff was also very meticulous and very careful. He does the same thing every time and calibrated my 1150 the same way in the same order as he did my 151. The same demo discs were used to confirm color accuracy. When he comes to do your system, watch for it: Charlotte Gray, Cars, Galapagos.


I have A LOT of input. And they can be complicated with many different settings that can screw up both video and audio with handshake problems. After calibrating the audio and video, he laboriously inspected the settings through the setup menu for my Toshiba, my Pioneer, my PS3, my Xbox 360, even my WII!!!! Sure there wasn't much to inspect on Nintendo's little 480p machine but he did it anyway. That level of attention to detail impressed me.


I admit I was skeptical in the beginning. I wasn't really even sure if I was going to see or hear a difference. I'll be honest. I figured after spending more than 12000 dollars on my system, I could afford spending about 8 or 9 percent more to get a universally respected and trusted calibrator to come out and do his job so I could rest in peace knowing I was getting the most out of my system. I really didn't care if I heard or saw a difference at all. To my surprise and delight, I did and so did my wife which I REALLY didn't expect.


Finally, my brother in law was a real skeptic and after speaking to Jeff for a little while is now seriously considering having him come out again next January. Hopefully, after listening to my system, he'll be convinced all the way.


Jeff Meier is not the cheapest guy out there and you do have to wait for him to travel to your neck of the woods. There will be cheaper guys in your area that can come out sooner. But I say be patient, spend a little more money, and use him. As with so many things in life, you do get what you pay for, and he is worth what you will pay.


I will recommend him heartily to my friends and colleagues and will use him again in the future for my home theater calibration needs.


Hope that helps and thanks again Jeff for your time.


Remember folks, he spent 8 solid hours at my house working on my stuff. I was tired at the end of the night, just watching him!


Dennis
 
#5,766 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by corpfan1 /forum/post/14719566


What about ISF calibration for the 151 in Toronto area in Canada?


Anyone know anything that can help here?



Why the hell doesn't Pioneer have a calibration department that specializes in calibrating Kuros???

Considering their customer service in other areas, would you really want them to do it??
 
#5,767 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dfchang /forum/post/14719533


In terms of the sound, that is where Jeff really made a huge difference. My sound system was improperly balanced with my subwoofer out of phase with the rest of my speakers. I didn't know WHY this was but I could tell since I had to really crank up my bass to hear it. After he was done and showed me the results on House of Flying Daggers . . . well . . . let's just say I'm buying the disc as soon as I get the chance. There was simply a phenomenal difference in bass and now my system sounds better with the volume at -4 than it did before at +5!!


Dennis

This is no disrespect to Dennis or Jeff.


But man the amount of energy I see folks spending on their Video with Breakin, D-Nices settings etc. I can't believe how many folks have had their Audio systems messed up and fixed by Jeff. It's great that Jeff is fixing these setups, but it's a sin they were so out of whack in the first place.


Spend some time learning the audio end. You don't need very many special tools to get it right either. Some of the Mid-Fi receivers with total automation do a pretty bad job, choosing wrong size speakers for example.


I agree the house of flying daggers is one of the best audio demo's out there. Video isn't so bad either. I know exactly what chapter he used too
 
#5,768 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by corpfan1 /forum/post/14719566


What about ISF calibration for the 151 in Toronto area in Canada?


Anyone know anything that can help here?



Why the hell doesn't Pioneer have a calibration department that specializes in calibrating Kuros???

Check with Michael Chen, if I remember correctly, he's touring Toronto soon (and nearly booked):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1058269
 
#5,769 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by El Bandito /forum/post/14715774


Hey guys,


Is there any way to stop my 111 from displaying the source/resolution/screen mode/etc. when a different source is fed to it? It gets kinda annoying with Blu-rays, since when they're starting off, they jump from 480p to 1080i to 1080p (when going through menus and previews and such). I've looked but had no luck.

I see the same thing on mine, but it does not bother me. In fact, I think it's intersting. I never checked, but there might be a selection in the menu of the TV to turn off the display. If not, then try using the component connections to see if that helps.
 
#5,770 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by mswlogo /forum/post/14719582


This is no disrespect to Dennis or Jeff.


But man the amount of energy I see folks spending on their Video with Breakin, D-Nices settings etc. I can't believe how many folks have had their Audio systems messed up and fixed by Jeff. It's great that Jeff is fixing these setups, but it's a sin they were so out of whack in the first place.


Spend some time learning the audio end. You don't need very many special tools to get it right either. Some of the Mid-Fi receivers with total automation do a pretty bad job, choosing wrong size speakers for example.


I agree the house of flying daggers is one of the best audio demo's out there. Video isn't so bad either. I know exactly what chapter he used too


Audio is actually more difficult to get correct than video. You would very likely be surprised if I worked on yours.
 
#5,771 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dfchang /forum/post/14719533


Hi Guys, Jeff Meier from AccucalHD came by yesterday to calibrate my home theater

He'll be dropping by my home this Friday...I can't wait as I've been waiting since June! My system is the 151fd and the 51fd. Don't have a sc-07 yet, but oh well!


My 151fd is currently set at D-Nice's settings so it will be interesting to see what gains in picture quality there will be. If anyone remembers, I had a bit of an accident during my break-in. There was a glitch with the electricity and for about 4 to 6 hours, my 151fd displayed a solid blue screen via the DVD player that was hooked up to it. To counter act that, I ran a break-in period with only the colors Red and Green. The blue screen incident happened at about 200 hours so I'm probably ok, particularly with the red and green counter break-in.


Today I've pretty much forgotten about it as everything looks fine, but it will be VERY interesting to see if Jeff detects any problems with the colors because of what happened. Currently I have over 1200 hours on my set.
 
#5,772 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dfchang /forum/post/14719533


Jeff Meier from AccucalHD
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebarnman /forum/post/14719668


He'll be dropping by my home this Friday...I can't wait as I've been waiting since June! My system is the 151fd and the 51fd. Don't have a sc-07 yet, but oh well!

...and Jeff will have ControlCAL with the right Display Profile by then so he will be able to activate and calibrate the ISFccc Interface (which I suggest you do).



Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to get him the ISFccc Display Profiles yesterday morning (he requested them).


He will be good to go this week...
 
#5,773 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by mswlogo /forum/post/14719582


This is no disrespect to Dennis or Jeff.


But man the amount of energy I see folks spending on their Video with Breakin, D-Nices settings etc. I can't believe how many folks have had their Audio systems messed up and fixed by Jeff. It's great that Jeff is fixing these setups, but it's a sin they were so out of whack in the first place.


Spend some time learning the audio end. You don't need very many special tools to get it right either. Some of the Mid-Fi receivers with total automation do a pretty bad job, choosing wrong size speakers for example.


I agree the house of flying daggers is one of the best audio demo's out there. Video isn't so bad either. I know exactly what chapter he used too

I do agree but the sad thing is that most people feel pretty proud of themselves just being able to hook up all the speakers and components and getting sound and picture to show up at the same time!! I know it took me the better part of a day connecting my stuff and then figuring out how to program my receiver so everything went the right place.


Actually calibrating with even an SPL was simply beyond me. That's why I gave up and spent the money to get Jeff to just take care of me . . .



Dennis
 
#5,774 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dfchang /forum/post/14719533


Hi Guys, Jeff Meier from AccucalHD came by yesterday to calibrate my home theater ...

I've added your report to the flat panel list that's linked at the bottom of my post.

Quote:
so I thought I'd write a review and have HTWAITS add it to his databank.

Yes sir!
 
#5,775 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by mswlogo /forum/post/14719582


Spend some time learning the audio end. You don't need very many special tools to get it right either.


Good advice. Thats what these forums are for. But many just take the easy way out. And will probably do so again and again. Since my speakers are really only set where you can't move them i dont think it could be improved. I do audio by ear and video by eye. Although if i had a fancy eq and lots of room to place speakers, and room treatments, i would pay for RTA calibration..
 
#5,776 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by htwaits /forum/post/14719818


I've added your report to the flat panel list that's linked at the bottom of my post.


Yes sir!

What a great service you provide, centralizing these calibration reports. Just want to thank you for your dedication. Great info for all those considering this service.


Bill
 
#5,777 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by turbe /forum/post/14719737


...and Jeff will have ControlCAL with the right Display Profile by then so he will be able to activate and calibrate the ISFccc Interface (which I suggest you do).



Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to get him the ISFccc Display Profiles yesterday morning (he requested them).


He will be good to go this week...

I'm surprised to read this, I was under the impression he was not going to work with the ISFccc Interface. I guess this opens up a whole new set of possibilities!
 
#5,778 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by billybob0405 /forum/post/14719856


What a great service you provide, centralizing these calibration reports. Just want to thank you for your dedication. Great info for all those considering this service.


Bill

Thanks for the kind comments.


It's hard for me to find all the calibration reports in threads that I don't read. I probably should ask to have both lists pasted to one of the calibration threads.
 
#5,779 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by progprog /forum/post/14719417


While I tried to minimize that type of content in the first 100-200 hours, now I don't even think about it. We watch that kind of stuff a lot, since so many movies are now 2.35:1, and we don't have any problem with IR or burn-in at all.

After viewing a movie in 2.35:1 (after 150-200 hours) do you need to display something full screen for a period of time or is that total overkill? Can I play a second movie in 2:35 immediately after the first one without any fear of IR or burn-in?
 
#5,780 ·
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