Pioneer's NEW 7th Generation Plasmas for 2006-2007 - Page 3

It implies cheaper units and some outsourcing but the outsourcing was only a 'possibility' in my statement.

No MR on the "regular" 7Gs. New resolution on the 50" model (1365x768). Everything else is "incremental".

Still doesn't make sense as it's about the same weight as a 5060 with the MR included.

Wow...my 500u is 115lbs. What kind of crap is pioneer selling these days.
(That was humor man)

Edit: The Pioneers are lighter than I thought (60-70 lbs).

My th50phd7uy weighs 94.9 lbs. It's still in the heavy side... One of the reasons why i like Pioneer is because it's light..... the new PX60U series have improved the weight... but still slightly heavier than Pio IIRC.

I want a 40 lb 50" plasma. That would be nice.

If a person were to view a Panasonic, a Pioneer, a NEC, and a Fujitsu side by side would the greatness bring one to tears? Would choosing between them be like choosing between your children?

There's also the dual digital tuner that the new sets apparently have.

Regarding the acquisition of NEC pdp division by Pio:

I initially suspected that the NEC branded panel might continue as a higher-end model similar to the Elites now. However, looking at the new Pio panels they seem fairly upscale already. It could be that the NEC brand might continue as commercial-only. It could be the NEC brand will end. Don't know. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Who (what position) at Pioneer told you that? I'm not trying to question your credibilty, I'm just curious, and eager to purchase the right set as soon as possible. I need the best information in order to make the decision.

"huge difference"?? Sheesh. There's not a "huge difference" between the PQ of a properly calibrated 5060 & 60u today. If that is a huge difference to you, what do you call the difference between a Panasonic and a Vizio?

Yeah....a difference in judder

Is it true that if you mix a Panasonic with a Pioneer that you get a NEC? If the El Cheapo brands just used the great outward design of NEC would they sell more?

cpcat, just to clarify the business situation:

Once upon a time there was a company called NEC that owned a pdp glass manufacturing factory. They made their own glass and used it to make their pdp's. They also sold their glass to Sony, and Sony added Sony electronics to Sony pdp's and sold them as Sony pdp's (with NEC glass).

Then one day Pioneer company said to NEC company, "I will buy your glass factory for lots of money. Don't worry, you can still buy the glass from us to make your pdp's; Sony can also continue buying pdp glass from the factory."

And so it was that Pioneer bought NEC's pdp glass manufacturing factory. And NEC bought pdp glass from the factory and added NEC electronics to it and sells them as NEC pdp's, but Sony decided it did not want to buy the pdp glass from the factory any more, since Sony decided to leave the plasma market. And of course Pioneer also used glass from the factory and added their pioneer electronics to it and sold them as Pioneer plasmas.

The point is, that NEC is still an independent company from Pioneer, just like Sony is, and NEC determines their own NEC marketing strategy. How Pioneer markets pioneer plasmas has no bearing on how NEC markets NEC plasmas.

for some reason I thought that needed saying

I was worried when I bought my PDP5060 earlier this year that I was potentially buying the last line of non 1080p sets from Pioneer. With this bit of news concerning resolution, a possible lack of MR and potentially lower picture quality, I'm glad I jumped when I did.

You can still find the 5060 from online authorized dealers, but in all honesty; we're talking about Pioneer here, I hardly doubt that this 7th generation will disappoint as much as many are claiming here. We'll all know for sure in a few months, but until then, it's all just speculation and we should base that against Pioneers esteemed history in Plasma panels.

Darth,

Everything is relative. People set high expectations and when the expectations aren't met the same people are dissappointed. That has to be put into context with the fact that today's plasmas are much better and cheaper than just two years ago. And I don't hear too many people complaining about the sets they bought two years ago.

115mm depth... that's 11.5cm.... Ummm....... um.. 2.54cm/11.5cm=1 inch/x inch

so..... 2.54(x) = 11.5

x = 11.5/2.54

x = 4.5276 inch ???????!!??

Why is the new model so thick.. Am I missing something here? I was hoping/assuming the new Pioneer panel will be as thin as the previous Elite and PDP5060 series... They're only at 3.6" thick!

No media box?

The incorporated the MR's components into the plasma panel.

MR stands for Mount Rack? ....

Media Receiver

oh... oops. Ok.

I am about to take the plunge and buy my first plasma.
I have decided to purchase the Pioneer PDP-4360.
The picture is incredible and I thought the versatility of the media receiver was a great idea.
But I talked to a "friend' in the business and he suggested I get the PDP-4312 Monitor for less money.
He said I would get the same picture for less and could just use my cable box and do not need the separate media receiver.
What is the truth?
Please help I am confused with the tuner vs. monitor question.
Also after reading these post I am concerned that I will not find the 4360 or should I wait for the new products.

I believe that the PDP-4312 is based on the 4350 (last year's generation) rather than the 4360. So the 4312 has basically the same picture quality as last years model - not this years model. And most folks here will tell you that Pioneer made significant improvements in picture quality from last year's models to this years models.

As far as the media receiver is concerned, it serves a couple of different purposes. It contains the tuners (as your friend indicated) and it also facilitates a "cleaner" looking install if you ever want to mount your plasma on the wall. With the media receiver, most of the wires & cables connect to the media receiver and only two wires run between the media receiver and the plasma panel. The media receiver also contains the tuners so that you can hook up an antenna and receive free OTA channels if you choose to. Just some things to consider...

I would buy the 4360...the 4312 has at least a one year old panel, perhaps two years old. The PQ improvements on the current generation, especially in black level, are significant.

Concur,

Remember just a few short months ago everyong was looking at the 6th Gen Pioneers and evaluating their claims to much improved black levels with the "crystal emmissive layer" and other magical technology....well, they were right. The 6th gen Pio's ARE a tremendous improvement over the 5th gen, in more than just the black level, but so much so that I would not purchase anything earlier than their 6th gen sets. I suspect that their 7th gen sets will be better than the 6th, and so far as I know they have never made meaningless or empty claims regarding their products. I really want them to get off the bench and into production!

I'd agree about the very real improvements between the 5th and 6gen Pioneers. But...


I've found Pioneer's claims to be somewhat inflated over the years (which is true of many companies, of course).

They kept implying better black levels in their 5th generation, due to the screen structure change. It was like pulling teeth to get the Pioneer tech rep, during a demonstration, to admit they actually hadn't improved black levels (only ambient light rejection had improved).

Likewise, I have never found their claims for superior motion processing to live up to the hype. I've actually found (at least in the 5th gen) that it can actually look worse than other panels. (This was even with a Pioneer rep demonstrating the 72 Hz mode for me, and it wasn't smooth at all).

The new panels are wonderful, though. And I expect the 7gens to be killer!