Official Pioneer 4360/5060/Elite Experiences, Set-up, Questions & Pictures Thread!!! - Page 2

Well, stretch modes always degrade things a bit, but it's no worse here than on any other 16:9 monitor. I would say, however, that I miss the Fujitsu's automatic mode for 4:3 material, which senses letterboxed images and switches to zoom, and then switches back again when it senses full-screen 4:3 images.

The "cinema" mode (a bit of zoom and a bit of stretch) on the Pioneer seems best for watching 4:3 programming, even though that label seems to be a misnomer--cinema means movies, not TV, right?. Alternatively, if you watch 4:3 windowboxed, you have your choice between gray side bars and an auto setting, which is said to vary the color of the side bars according to programming. I expected different shades of gray, but what it does is actually repeat part of the image, which makes for a kaleidoscopic effect--and an unwatchable one at that. Are other Pioneers like this?

A few other notes:

(1) Now that it's dark out, I've looked at a blank screen in the dark. It looks the same as the Fujitsu did. In other words, this confirms the excellent job Pioneer has done with black level, equalling the previous best plasmas.

(2) I'm still torturing myself over settings. I am indeed gravitating toward -10 for color for most sources, no matter what Video Essentials tells me.

(3) I didn't unpack the speakers, as I don't plan to use them.

(4) I'm no expert, but based on all that I've read, I don't think there is any documented improvement in picture quality with the Elite models vs. the standard Pioneers. (Anyone should feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

I can't find anything about it in the menus or in the manual.

On what I assume is an unrelated note, I discovered that the key sequence for entering the service menu on past models also works on this one (although it took me about five tries--glad I didn't give up). I didn't change any settings in there, though, mostly out of fear.

I have one stuck pixel on the 5061HD; it's stuck on green. I didn't notice it with normal viewing, only when I connected the plasma to my laptop and displayed solid color screens. I also had, if I recall correctly, two stuck pixels on my Fujitsu. I really only noticed them under similar circumstances, at least from a normal viewing distance.

I don't plan to do anything about it, nor did I with the Fujitsu. Some people would feel differently, and would seek perfection. However, even though I'm a stickler for picture quality, I don't find one or two stuck pixels to be a huge deal. Dead pixels are somewhat more visible, though.

By the way, what does an extended warranty have to do with exchanging your 5051? I guess they're trying to get some extra money any way they can.

Also, if you're saying they'd give you the 5061 as a straight exchange, you may as well go for it in order to get the later model. If you have to pay the difference (plus the money for the extended warranty), you'll have to decide whether it's worth it to you.

I've experimented with what I have on hand, although that's not much. As has generally been said about Pioneers, this one has good shadow detail. And, as I've pointed out, the blacks are good. So, the 5061 does a better job combining these two things than I've seen other plasmas do.

To me, dead pixels are completely off--i.e., black--and are more noticeable.

Although I said I'm not going to do anything about mine, I expect there will be a number of posts from people telling you that you shouldn't accept even one (or two) malfunctioning pixels. Regarding the extended warranty, it seems to me that it's Best Buy's problem that they don't have an appropriate exchange, not yours. They should allow the exchange without you having to buy the extended warranty.

I'm not sure what he expected; all plasmas (including Panasonics) emit light with a black screen. I'm looking forward to others on this board getting the 5060 to provide more data points, since this is so subjective, and since I don't want to be personally responsible for anyone's purchase decisions. (By the way, a later poster in the above thread stated "Mmm, not sure I agree.... I've got a 506 XDE and comapared to the PV500, the blacks are the same, if not better").

As for the judder, I've been looking for it--at least what I understand it is--and I haven't seen any problem. For those who have seen it, does it persist despite setting changes, such as turning the noise reduction off?

I've been watching some SD material, and I'm impressed at the cleaner upconversion with the Pioneer than I was used to with the Fujitsu. It's particularly apparent with animation. Watching the Simpsons, for instance, I was used to seeing some pixellation along the edges of solid lines, which I always assumed was just magnified DirecTV artifact. With the Pioneer, though, the lines are much cleaner. This is also apparent with non-animated material, and between that and the much-reduced false contouring (I've seen hints of it, but very minimal), SD looks quite a bit better on the Pioneer.

One other plus--the cinema mode perfectly cuts off the crawl on CNN. I hate the crawl.

The non-Elite does have this feature, and I have the 3:3 (advanced) turned off. It's on standard, which is 3:2 pulldown.

I wish I had a copy of the Hulk to watch the scene R. Harkness is referring to, but I don't (that's probably the only thing that movie is useful for).