Pio 425CMX w/ HD Xplorer vs Pan 42PH9UK - help me decide!

The Panny 42PH9UK beats the Pio 425CMX in pretty much every way, especially in blacks.

Remember you will probably want to add a connectivity blade or two to the Panny (and the Pio CMX would require a video card also). When you factor those in, you are getting close to the price of a NEC monitor which you might also want to consider: NEC 42xr4a or 42xm4a (consumer/industrial). In the same price range would be the Pio 4270 with all the bells and whistles (tuner, speaker, etc).

I wish I had a good answer for you, as it is a question which has been plaguing me, as well. The problem is, not many people here have seen the 425cmx in action, whether it be with or without the Xplorer card. I have yet to see a single "professional" review of this panel either.

Certainly without the card, the Pio 425cmx is said to be inferior to the Pannny 9UK when it comes to black level. Now, how much less, I don't know. Is it close for all but the pickiest viewer? How do the 425cmx blacks rank amongst other brands, such as the latest Samsungs, Hitachis, etc., of this world? Similar? Still better, just not as good as the Panny? Good questions, all.

Also, whether the Pio black levels would improve substantially enough with the introduction of the Xplorer card, I do not know. My sense is that they will not improve, though almost everything else will, i.e., color fidelity and vibrancy, processing, etc.

Chris from Cleveland Plasma, a forum sponsor, has provided some casual observations about this model, and how it might perform with the card, but I don't think even he has spent much time comparing and evaluating it.

Also, the 427CMX replacement model in the 42" is said to be on the way, but that could be several months yet. At least, I haven't found any concrete information about this new model anywhere, when googling for it. This suggests to me that we are some ways away from seeing it. I'll be curious to know if this model will be adopting the single layer glass, just as the latest 50" Pio commercial models have done (I would assume that it will have it). Bare in mind, neither the 425CMX, nor the Panasonic 9UK have the single layer glass.

As a side note, I noticed from reading some specs that the 425cmx only puts out a maximum of 285 watts. I think that's even better than the 9UK, which isn't too shabby in that dept. itself.

Dusufyte - where are you drawing your conclusions from? I'm just curious.. have you compared the two yourself, or have you read opinions from someone else? If so, are they multiple opinions that come to those same conclusions? Just wondering.. I'm hoping for a little context to your observations.

furthermore..


I'm not sure this is valid anymore. The price on the 425cmx came down a few hundred in the last month or so. From a reputable seller, such as Cleveland Plasma, and maybe others now too, you can purchase the 425cmx for a price that falls within $100-$200 of the 9UK. Even after adding a card, maybe two, you would still be at least a few hundred away from the price of a NEC 42xr4, and probably still a couple hundred more beyond that from the Pio 4270.

The 425cmx monitor itself is a great price, but when you add on the video card plus a stand/mount, it is getting close to a Pio 4270 which has all these things included (plus speakers).

The 425cmx just came out recently, so I do not think a replacement model is coming out until late next year.

I have never seen a 425cmx in person (nor a 9uk for that matter - shame on me) , but I report the concensus of reviewers who have seen them. The 5th gen Pio blacks in the 425cmx would be a step behind the 9uk for sure. Pio made great strides in their black depth on the 6th gen glass.

Go Pioneer all the way the PDP-425CMX has a wonderful price point right now, and it is the new generation glass. Pioneer's 6th generation or last years models were all cut in the 43' size not the 42" size.

I hear a lot of people say that the Pansonic has better blacks, but the catch is that most people do not have a chance to see the 2 industrial units side by side since they are not sold in local store fronts. I can tell you that we offer both unit here in our Seattle, WA custom showroom and we have not had 1 customer say the Panasonic looks better. Panasonic does a really good job writing about their units and making them sound far better then any other on the market, but when it comes down to the side by side comparison with the naked human eye Pioneer will blow you out of this the water.

Go Pioneer, I have been in this industry for 8 years now and I can say with 100% confidence that the Pioneer will be a great addition to your system.


If you have any questions always feel free to send me a PM

Jamie
Invision Displays
A Forum Sponsor

Also if it were me purchasing at this point I would not waste my money on the HD card unless you really need all those HDMI inputs. I would start with the screen and then maybe ungrade in a year or so when they have perfected HDMI.

Jamie

The NEC 42xr4 and 42xm4 were the first panels to have the single pane glass. They are the same panel except for connectivity connectors (xm has dvi, xr does not) and bezel styling, and the picture on both of them is "a thing of beauty" as one poster in the long NEC thread wrote. The NEC panels are often equated with the Pio Elite line.

For Pioneer models, the third digit indicates the generation glass, so for a 425cmx model has 5th gen glass. Also the pdf brochure for the 425cmx indicates it has two panes of glass, and there is no mention of the bonded filter which would eliminate a pane of glass.

That said, I defer to Jamie as to the picture quality, as I have not seen one in person. Chris highly praised the 50" 505cmx, and that was also 5th gen glass, so I'm sure the 425cmx also looks quite nice.

but Chris also said the 50" 507cmx looks 10% better

I hear you, but I'm still unsure about the NEC 42xr4 model. As many good user opinions I've read, and positive "pro" reviews, I've read more wishy-washy "pro" reviews. I posed a similar question in the official NEC thread, with links to some of these reviews, but nobody was willing or able to negate some of the specific criticisms of the 42xr4 panel. The one that troubled me the most was the one or two reviews which mentioned "picture noise", with a subsequent recommendation that it's best if you sit at least 8 or 9 ft. away from the 42xr4 in order to avoid seeing the noise.

Granted, if you already own the panel and are happy with it, it doesn't then require of you to answer to each and every supposed flaw someone else has supposedly found. But I was hoping that someone would have come along, skimmed the reviews I linked to and chimed in with passionate defenses for some of the flaws cited in those reviews (i.e., "they're crazy! they didn't adjust such and such and that would have fixed the problem!" etc. ).

actually, he said 10% to 15% difference, depending on your preferences.

I believe you to be correct about the glass used in the 425cmx, unfortunately. I hope we are wrong on this. The easiest way to know the scoop is to check for the double pane of glass.

Even if the Pio were to have the single layer glass, the free Panny 5 year warranty upgrade (available through the end of the year) would still make the 9UK a compelling choice. On the other hand, the inability of the Panny to change aspect ratios for SD content on HD channels still bugs me a little. I *think* the Pio can do this, however. So can the NEC 42xr4.

decisions decisions.

Check out the illustration on page 3 of the 425cmx brochure. It shows two panes of glass, and no mention of a "bonded filter" or "first surface filter".

that's not to say it doesn't look nice

I have installed a few PDP-425CMX with the HDXplorer cards, they look better with the card.

I have recently seen a problem with the RS-232 power off command when the HDXplorer card is installed, it does not work. Pioneer confirmed that they have seen this problem with 3rd party cards.

Thanks to this forum!

I am also in between 3 models panny phd8uk (used), ph9uk, and pio 425cmx.

if I understand correctly, pio has only 2 inputs out of the box: analog rgb and digital dvi-d (both for computers) - is that correct?

If we would like to watch TV/dvd on Pio there are two alternatives:

1) Buy a PDA-5003 or PDA-5004 card (PAL and NTSC support without any dvi or hdmi connect) or HD xplorer card (PAL and NTSC support with 4x hdmi+ component + better pic quality).

2) use a pc with tv card and the dvi-d output for digital signals.


And, in general, can we assume that pic quality is on par between panny and pio commercial units?

Any known blown power supply issues for 425cmx (like older models)?

Thanks kindly!!

good questions.

The collective board wisdom seems to suggest that the Pio will have more color pop/vibrancy, followed by slightly better scaling/processing (esp. with KeyDigital card), and the Panasonic will have deeper blacks, along with a cheaper price and better warranty (9uk). But yes, both pictures will be very close and very pleasing, so price/warranty/features should probably be your determining factor in choosing one over the other.

I'm still considering both. Probably leaning Panasonic because of price and warranty, but Pio is still very much in the running (depending how much key digital card is running). One way or another, my self-imposed decision deadline is 2-1/2 wks from now (between Christmas & New Years).

Don't want to mess with forum rules, but you might find that the price for the 425CMX is on target at a well known BM/online retailer. PM for full details.

Is it true what Lex vs Kingpin said? That I'll need to buy an expansion card before I can watch TV on it through my cable box? Or can I just plug it into the unit's dvi port? I hear that the 42PH9UK will work out of the box with a cable box unsing component connection.

I have the PDP-425CMX. Currently my DVD player have a HDMI port. And I would like to use it the plasma"s DVI-D port. Does any one know which type of cable do I need?

Many thanks