Translate This Page

Français/French Deutsch/German Italiano/Italian Português/Portuguese Español/Spanish 日本語/Japanese 한국어/Korean 中文(简体)/Chinese
Simplified
Select Language:

Top Blogs

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

AddThis Feed Button

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Pioneer 9G Kuro Series

Pioneer's plasma televisions are regarded as some of the best sets around, and the 9th generation 2008 line improves upon the already praised black levels and video processing of the 8th generation, 2007 models. The Kuro line puts primary focus on creating the deepest black possible with the 9Gs seeing a 5 times increase in contrast ratio over the previous generation. Alongside the picture quality improvements Pioneer has added extra features such as the Home Media Gallery which displays digital media content stored on your home network.

Pros & Cons
Pros:


•Has the deepest black levels
•Media streaming supports many formats
•Thinner cabinet than previous years
•72Hz does a good job of smoothing film
•Reflective screen is best in class

Cons:

•Runs very warm
•Costs a pretty penny
•VGA input maximum resolution is 1280x1024

More information

Specs


* 1080p native resolution
* 72Hz 3:3 pull down
* 60Hz 2:3 pull down
* Improved video processing and upscaling
* New Optimum Mode
* Smooth Film mode
* New anti-reflective screen
* Home Media Gallery digital streaming
* Two 18 watt speakers
* Inputs: HDMI x 4, Component x 1, Composite x 3, S-Video x 1, USB, Ethernet, VGA

Optimum Mode - a new mode introduced in the 2008 the Kuro line, this mode analyzes both the ambient lighting in the room and the content of the picture to automatically adjust the picture settings. The idea is that you set the television to this mode and never have to readjust, instead of having separate modes depending on the movie, weather,

Home Media Gallery - when connected to your home network through the LAN port you can view pictures, videos and music on the TV without any external device.

Home Media Gallery Format support

Video: WMV9, MPEG1, MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, ASP, H.264/AVC

Audio: WMA9, MP3, PCM, HE-AAC, MPEG-4 AAC

Image: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP

Models

There are three classes of Pioneer 9G Kuro televisions that have minimal differences between them, outside of an increase in price and longer warranty period.

Regular 9G Kuro

* Pioneer Kuro PDP-5020FD - 50" screen | June 2008 | $4000
* Pioneer Kuro PDP-6020FD - 60" screen | June 2008 | $5500

Pioneer Elite Kuro

Adds more calibration/picture adjustment options and modes, and a 2 year warranty.

* Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD - 50" screen | $5000
* Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-151FD - 60" screen | $6500

Pioneer Elite Signature Series

* Pioneer Elite Signature Kuro PRO-101FD - 50" screen | October 2008
* Pioneer Elite Signature Kuro PRO-141FD - 60" screen | August 2008

AMD Athlon X2 - CPU

The AMD Athlon X2 is AMD's dual core processor. Built with the same 65nm technology its triple and quadruple cores are, AMD has had relative success in the dual core market. While no longer competitive with Intel's 45nm 8000 series, the price:performance ratio of many of AMD's dual core chips is undeniable. With many offerings within the line, AMD has something to offer in every niche segment of the market. They produce cool & quiet energy efficient chips (designated by an E appended to the end of the model), mainstream chips and enthusiast chips (designated by the "black edition" open multiplier) for those interested in attaining higher performance for gaming and the like.

Pros & Cons
Pros:


•Less expensive than Intel's counterparts
•Low power consumption
•Good choice to match for a value system with AM2 motherboard; can be upgraded later to AMD Phenom
•Dual-core CPU
•Good overclocking abilities
•Runs relatively cool.

Cons:

•Lower Brands sport Same chip, lower clock
•Overclocking difficult on lower end products
•Price/performance beat out by Intel

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA8 - Camcoder

The Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA8 is a fully waterproof compact budget standard definition camcorder. Shooting at 640x480 the VPC-CA8 outputs AVC/H.264 MPEG-4 to its 44MB internal memory or loaded SDHC card (a 1GB card can contain up to 1 hour and 20 minutes of footage). The VPC-CA8 really shines with images, as the camera sports a 8MP CMOS sensor and 8 resolution settings. While a considerably advanced SD camcorder, the pitiful 44MB onboard flash and a lack of included SDHC card seems spartan, even when standard footage takes up much less room than high definition content. A slightly cheaper version, the Xacti VPC-CA65 includes less internal memory and a 6MP CCD.

Pros & Cons
Pros:


•Fully waterproof; shoot underwater
•8 megapixel CMOS for shooting stills
•Very small
•Comfortable upright grip
•Expandable with SDHC memory cards

Cons:

•Only shoots at 640 x 480
•Can only shoot underwater up to 1.5 meters deep
•Only 44 MB of built-in memory
•Can only shoot underwater for 1 hour at a time

Samsung 9 Series

The 9 Series is the flagship line of LCD televisions introduced by Samsung in 2008 and is the 2nd generation of LED backlit sets. Succeeding the often praised 81F series, Samsung has improved upon the LED system by introducing more lights, increasing contrast ratio, and retaining the premium features that make the 7 and 8 series notable. Samsung states the television has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio which is achieved by the local dimming effect of the LED back-light.

More information

Specs


* 1080p native resolution
* 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
* Auto Motion Plus 120Hz
* 4ms response time
* Ultra Clear Panel
* Wide Color Enhancer 2
* DNIe Pro
* WiseLink Pro USB port for accessing digital media
* Ethernet port for RSS, news, weather and stocks and digital media
* Two 10 watt speakers
* 1GB internal flash memory
* Inputs: HDMI x 4, Component x 2, Composite x 1, S-Video x 1, VGA x 1, Ethernet x 1, USB x 1

LED Back-light - The LED back-light solution differs from traditional LCD back-lighting solutions in two distinct ways: local dimming, and energy consumption. While traditional displays use 1-5 lights for the entire panel, this LED system uses 276 lights across the panel. This is an improvement over the 81F series which featured less than 100 lights. Each of the lights can be controlled so dark areas of the scene will have the lights off, while the brighter areas will have the lights with more power; this is how the extremely high dynamic contrast ratio is achieved.

Series 7,8,9 specific features

DLNA Support - Stream video, image, and music content over your home network. The TV has support for a wide variety of CODECs including DivX and XVid, and can support hi-def resolutions.



USB Port - The USB port lets you connect storage devices such as portable hard drives, or thumb drives and access the content within. Details aren't currently available but most like the TV can read content stores on devices that act as a USB Mass Storage (UMS) device.

1GB of Internal Memory - It's unknown whether or not you will be able to overwrite the content stored on this internal memory. Samsung reports that it will come preloaded with "premium" content such as HD art, recipes and children's stories.

"Touch of Color" - in a break away from the traditional black or really black choices that most televisions offer Samsung is introducing a little bit of color to these sets. During the manufacturing process the bevel has some color applied to it, with auburn being the initial option and more colors expected over time.

Series 6,7,8, 9 features

Ethernet port - the included ethernet port will allow you to access RSS feeds and other real time content to display sports information, news, stocks and weather. It's currently unknown whether other forms of content such as full Internet access will be available in the future.

4 HDMI ports - the lower level series feature 3 HDMI ports, with the high-end models adding an extra HDMI port for more expandability. All HDMI ports are version 1.3.

Common to all 2008 Samsungs

Anti-glare screen - first introduced in the Samsung's 71F series of television released in 2007, Samsung claims they have improved the glossy anti-glare screen to reduce glare and reduce reflections.

Models

* LN46A950 - 46" screen | $3199
* LN55A950 - 55" screen | $4199