The Official Pioneer 8G KURO Owner's Discussions Thread - Page 348

Has anyone seen this before? Some advice from Pioneer on how to tame the buzz.

www.pioneer.co.uk/eur/faq/986/5394/index.html

Yeah, we all know about using Powersave2...however, there doesn't seem to
be a way to change the drive mode from 75Hz to 100Hz. I guess that's for
older models. Anyhow, going to powersave2 makes the screen dimmer and,
in some cases, can make the noise worse.

I'm willing to pay a bit more to support the local economy. I was trying to decide between the XBR4 and the 6010. The shop I bought from had both set up and I could go back and forth and spend as much time as I wanted looking at them. To me that is worth something. On large purchases I like to be able to see the item beforehand. If everything goes to online, that won't be possible. I bought the 6010, a Salamander stand, and five new speakers. The entire package cost me about $500 (about 7.5%) more than buying the pieces from various on-line vendors. To me it was worth it. That might not be true for everyone.

The problem with buying online (from forum sponsor or not) is that if you get a defective TV you are on your own and pretty much at the mercy of a 3rd party Pioneer service center. Yes you've got a warranty, maybe even an extended warranty, but the key is that whether or not the TV is considered "defective" will be determined by a third party service tech.

So a possible scenario is: You buy online and save a good deal of money. The TV is delivered, you fire it up, and instead of a pristine picture you've got 6 stuck pixels or it buzzes loudly or the screen looks dirty and streaked. You call your online dealer and they say call Pioneer. You call Pioneer and they tell you to call a local authorized tech. You finally call the tech and he tells you he can maybe come and look at it late next week. So you wait 10 days, you take a morning or afternoon off work and wait for the tech. The tech comes and looks at your 6 stuck pixels or your buzzing or your streaks and says that's perfectly normal, not defective, and nothing he can do. So now your stuck with a TV that you spent several thousand dollars on and that you consider defective and Pioneer considers normal. You have no recourse except to continue fighting Pioneer or live with it. So you sit for the next couple of years staring at the stuck pixels, listening to the hum, or peering through the streaks until you've saved up enough to roll the dice and play the plasma lotto again.

If you buy from a local retailer with a return or exchange policy you're most likely going to pay more than from an online dealer. But if your plasma is defective (by your own judgement, not Pioneer's) you bring it back and exchange it, or get your money back and move on to a different model.

In all fairness the majority of the people who order online have no problems and are happy with the product they receive and the service of the dealer. Odds are probably 90% that you'll get a perfect plasma and be happy with the service and the money you saved. I had the same attitude as you when I ordered online- hey, it's got a manufacturer's warranty how can I go wrong. I'm usually lucky enough to be in that 90%. But this time I wasn't and now I'm wasting a lot of time, energy, and frustration trying to fix the situation. If I had bought from a local BB I would have already exchanged the TV and would be sitting and enjoying it instead of stressing and worrying over the whole thing.

This post isn't meant to knock forum sponsors or buying online, it's just a reflection of my particular experience buying online. Just weigh the savings against the risk and make an informed decision. Good luck.

Yes, I'm in the DC area - a larger market for sure.

I own a 150FD and filed a complaint regarding the buzzing with Pioneer last month. Pioneer contacted a local company authorized to repair Pioneers and sent them out ot my place. In following up, I called the Pioneer service line (800) 421-1625 and was told the field service guy reported my buzzing was normal and the case was closed.

I was not very happy and asked for the name of the Field Service Engineer (different from the local guy) assigned to my case. The customer service person gave me the phone number (mistakenly) for the Field Service Engineering group (home office) that is used by field service techs (local guys) for support while working on your TV. I called the number and had about a very good 20 minute conversation with one of the three Tech Service Engineers handling the buzzing issue. His points -

1. All plasmas buzz, including the Pioneers, to some degree. There is no such thing as a perfectly quiet set.
2. Pioneer removed the glass contrast panel to improve picture quality (removing some issues with astigmatism).
3. The contrast panel was replaced with current color-correcting film that actually is of a mesh design and is laminated to the panel. The mesh also improved EMF interference.
4. The buzzing is more audible with the contrast panel removed.
5. The problem has nothing to do with the X,Y control boards.
6. The factory is aware of the problem and is trying to establish a standard for acceptable noise level.
7. The factory is investigating solutions that may involve the firing sequence of the panel but do not want to jeopardize picture quality in doing so.
8. Just because you've been told that your case is closed does not mean Pioneer is not working on a solution.

I mentioned the discussion and poll results from AVS forum. I felt better afterwards that Pioneer is very aware of the problem and working on the issue but got the impression that the buzzing and picture quality may be interrelated.

Hope this provides some insight.

Very interesting.
I wonder what Pioneer will do with this issue.

Guys,

I have a Pioneer Elite 1130HD and was wondering how big of a difference the Kuro series, and specially the PRO-110FD, is from my 1130HD! Would it be worthy the purchase?
I am not sure if I can return my 1130HD for the new series though.....anybody have ideas?

Thank you!
Emanuele

I was watching my new 5080 the first day I got it and fell asleep. The powersave came on from my cox cable box and remained on for the rest of the night. Should I be worried? Could this be a problem in the future?

Nice... mine arrives on Friday morning. Gotta go burn a copy of the Break-In DVD...

Hi everyone! This is my first post although I've been reading here for a while.

I just purchased a 4280HD at BB today after the price drops and I thought I would share my thoughts.

This is my first plasma. My previous flat panel was a Sharp 30" aquos from 2003. I really liked the aquos (although it was extremely expensive back in 2003) but I wanted something a bit bigger and after hearing so many good things about the black levels of the Kuros's and the overall picture quality, I took the plunge.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed by the picture quality. I was astounded how black the blacks are on this display compared to my old LCD and the other models at BB! Shadow detail is amazing! That was a pleasant surprise coming from the old Aquos. But on the flip side, one thing that kinda bugs me is that the whites are not quite as "white" as I would like them. They are little muddy to my eye. Maybe its just me. Anyone else?

As far as the buzzing problem, I can honestly say that although the display emits a buzzing sound, its so faint that I can only hear it if I put my ear to the back of the TV. I don't hear anything at all when I start to walk around to the front (and I have excellent hearing.) In general I would go as far to say that its practically dead quiet. The manufacture date is Oct. 2007.

Cheers

P.S. I should add that I think the pioneer plasmas are the only displays that look as good off as they do on

Thanks. Did you get a chance to ask about some of the streaks that have
been reported here? I'd like to know the cause and such.

Hi I bought both a 110 (bedroom) and a 150 (family room) for a new house.

we watched about an hour of TV on the 110, then turned it off to get to sleep. then i kept hearing a loud 'pop' from the TV set every minute or two... been driving me a bit nuts so i thought I'd check the online forum. panny owners previously have complained about this type of thing being an issue due to heat expansion/contraction of the case. have any other 110/150 owners observed this problem?

it's annoying enough that I'll have to take the TV back if it's a common problem. since my wife usually watches TV right before bedtime it's a showstopper if the tv is going to keep making popping noises for the time it takes to cool down. I'd expected a better build quality from an "elite" series...

Hello All.

Ive been a long time lurker of this great site, but this is my first post.

I just recently got a pdp-6010fd (Thanks Roman for the great price!) and am in the process of breaking it in. I have already scheduled a isf calibration appointment for next month.

As of right now I have the xbox 360 add on as an hd-dvd source and a ps3 as a blu ray player. Now, my question is, considering the fact that this set supports 1080p@24hz and the 360 ao does not, is it worth it to get rid of the 360 ao and jump into a toshiba A35? My receiver is a bit outdated (Onkyo ht-r540) thus i will not be able to take advantage of the new HD sound formats.

Will i notice a difference in pq that is significant enough to justify the extra expense?

Thanks alot for the help!

I guess that depends on what display you were watching before. I upgraded from a TH-50PX50U to a PRO-150FD and got a bigger screen that renders better blacks & HD picture detail. I now see what I was missing on the 50U. My panel seems to be in good condition with no streaks, dead/stuck pixels or buzzing noise. I paid MSRP + NYS sales tax for the panel but did not anticipate the leap forward with PDP display technology that a Kuro PDP provides & IMO... it is worth the extra cost.

Hmmm. You mean to tell me my set isn't absolutely silent?
(Stomps feet, sobs, and runs away).

It's not a very common problem, at least not many here have reported it. But my 110 did the same thing, both when warming up and cooling down. I reported it to Pioneer who sent the local authorized service guy out. He tried to fix it in my home, but couldn't so he had to take it with him to his shop. They loaned me a TV for the week they had mine. Anyway, it's fixed now and does not make any strange popping noises any more. He said it was something in the subframe.

Bottom line: call Pioneer to get it fixed, or if you can return/exchange for another one, you can try that. They definitely don't all do it.

Anyone know what the story is with the drastic price drop is about on the Pioneer 5080 - price dropped over $500 this week

Hi,
I have a tech coming to calibrate my 150 today.

Anything I should look for during the process? Any advice? Should I look for a couple of modes like day / night etc. Thanks.



I know this set doesn't have a contrast glass panel. Will calibrating the set require anything attached to the screen or just in front of the screen?

Yeah, I got my 5080 at a local retailer as well. They were beat BB by $200 and when BB dropped their price dramatically this last week, I called up my retailer to take advantage of their 45 day price guarantee. I wouldn't count out the local retailers...especially around this time of year.

Pioneer lowered the MSRP on the 5080HD by $1000. They lowered the MSRP on all of the 768p models (elites too).

I'm in the same boat as you. Since Sony released a firmware update that supports 1080p/24 playback on the PS3, I'm holding out hope that Microsoft will do the same for the 360. I think that HDMI 1.2 will carry a 1080p/24 signal, so I don't think it's an unrealistic hope.

As for whether the equipment upgrade is worth the additional expense, use your PS3 to perform an experiment. In the PS3's BD settings, set the output to 1080p/60 and watch a Blu-Ray movie. Then set the output to 1080p/24 and watch the same movie. That will more or less be the same difference seen moving from a 360 to an A35. Personally, I see an improvement in some scenes (at 1080p/24 there's no motion judder) but it's not a phenomenal difference.

Any way to tell on the set that you are using 1080p/24?

Not all calibrators believe in using the ISF day/night modes and prefer to use pure. The downside to using the ISF modes is that once they are set only someone with the proper knowledge and equipment can make any changes(not that you should have to make many once calibrated). And some even believe that it could be dangerous to go in through the service menus. I personally don't believe that(I had my pro1540 calibrated using the ISF modes). I also believe that many calibrators just haven't spent the time to learn to use the ISF modes. And yes, they attach suction cups to the front glass to make measurements. It is not a problem. Thanks. Ned.

Some guesses:

- Last chance to get the Christmas sales up
- Lots of inventory and they are not moving
- 768P Plasmas may be discontinued in 2008
- CES is coming...with new and wonderful announcements

- Rich

[quote=Odins_throne;12551722]But on the flip side, one thing that kinda bugs me is that the whites are not quite as "white" as I would like them. They are little muddy to my eye. Maybe its just me. Anyone else?
[quote]

My take on this is that your eyes will adjust. I'm in the other camp, I can't stand LCD whites. To me it's like staring at the sun, then going into a retail outlet and complaining that it's "dim" in there.

I'm not sure what the 'Power Save' function of your cable box does, but if it puts out any static images on the screen that's what you really need to worry about. If all it does is darken the entire screen (and with no images whatsoever), you should be fine. However, I wouldn't suggest doing this frequently.

I would like to know this as well. I'm a 150FD user here and all I ever see on the upper-right hand corner of the screen is "1080P" even though my Toshiba A30 is doing 1080P/24Hz out. Maybe my receiver is doing something to the video signal?

I negotiated at my local BB for $1900 under retail for my 6010- still 200-300 above an online seller (mainly from taxes) but close enough for me to have the returnability, plus the $90 in reward zone credit.
Just research authorized online resellers prices (from Pio's website) and take that price in and tell them you want it close and they will make the sale usually, for me anyway.

[quote=brentsg;12554152][quote=Odins_throne;12551722]But on the flip side, one thing that kinda bugs me is that the whites are not quite as "white" as I would like them. They are little muddy to my eye. Maybe its just me. Anyone else?


I to at first was concerned with the white level of the pio plasma. Once adjusted and when watching movies I never had a problem with white being white even on full screen.
Note: if you enable the power save feature it does reduce the peak contrast level giving white a dim appearance but with power save off no problem.

After doing some reseach on proper luminance levels I will have to re adjust my lcd in the bedroom. As once you see a good calibrated display you start to see the errors in all others.