REVIEW DATE: 12.13.07
It's been about a year since Pioneer Electronics announced a mandate to reengineer its plasma technology "from the ground up." The result is a new series of plasma display panels that the company has dubbed "Kuro," which is the Japanese word for "black." An HDTV that produces deeper, darker blacks offers better contrast and a more colorful picture than those that cannot, and the 60-inch Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD delivers black levels like no other set I've seen. In addition, the PRO-150FD's new video processor is the best I've seen for all HD sources; it minimizes distracting artifacts without sacrificing detail. If you're looking for the most pleasing plasma you can buy, and you can afford the steep $7,500 price, the PRO-150FD fills the bill and thus it earns our Editors' Choice award.
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The KURO PRO-150FD's design certainly reflects its namesake, and the glossy black bezel matches its included base stand. New screen filter technology makes the set appear nearly as black as the surrounding bezel and is noticeably darker than other plasmas I've recently reviewed, including the Panasonic TH-42PZ700U. Darker-colored screens provide better apparent image contrast and color saturation in a well-lit viewing environment. It should be a crime to not pair an HDTV like this one with a quality surround-sound setup, but the included two-way speakers (2 x 17 watt) speakers proved capable of delivering a pleasing and detailed sound field that was free of distortions, even at high volume levels. This set is no lightweight. The panel itself weighs 122.4 pounds, with the stand adding another 15 pounds and the speakers contributing almost 10 pounds more—a total weight of about 147 pounds. Large sturdy handholds located on the lower corners of the back of the panel make movement and setup a job for two relatively fit people. With its stand and speakers attached, the TV measures 66.3 by 37.7 by 15.0 inches (WHD). Without the stand and speakers the panel's dimensions shrink to 57.9 by 34.7 by 4.8 inches (WHD).
The remote control is a rectangular baton-style device that features a recessed finger grip on its back that naturally places the thumb over a circular directional pad. Volume and channel buttons, however, are at the bottom of the keypad layout, making it necessary to reposition one's grip to reach. The remote is fully backlit save for a dedicated backlight toggle button that glows in the dark. I found myself having to aim the remote directly at the TV's IR (infrared) receiver on the lower right corner of the bezel for consistent signal reception at close distances or at wide angles. The remote's IR emitter is recessed far enough to block its output at relatively extreme positions. An extensive list of codes provided in the manual allow the remote to control other home theater components such as cable and satellite set-top boxes, VCRs, DVRs, and disc players.
The set's main selection of audio and video ports is centered on the backside of the panel and includes four HDMI ports, a VGA input for PC use, one component video input, a CableCARD slot, and two RF inputs for cable and antenna reception. A second component video input as well as a USB port is front-accessible along the left-hand side of the panel. A USB port and Ethernet jack on the back of the TV allow for local and networked access of multimedia files using the KURO PRO-150's integrated Home Media Gallery feature. The PRO-150FD had no problems finding two media servers on the lab's local network (a NAS device and a PC running Windows XP with Media Player 11). Image file support includes all common photo formats except for RAW. Palatable video files include Windows Media Video and MPEG-2 variants including TS (transport stream) files as well as MPEG-4. Playable audio formats are MP3, WMA, WAV, and LPCM.
An anti-reflective screen provides native 1080p resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels progressively scanned) and accepts 1080p video input only through its HDMI ports. Widescreen VGA resolution support topped out at 1,360 by 768 pixels. Image overscan with 1080i/p video signals could thankfully be disabled revealing every pixel, but 720p video sources were cropped 3 percent, slightly sacrificing detail and clarity. I found that standard definition overscan measured 7 percent, an acceptable result but still borderline excessive. The Elite's 1080p video support includes 24-Hz and 60-Hz formats, plus the TV's Advanced PureCinema feature enables a 72-Hz refresh rate that eliminates a shaking artifact known as judder when displaying video sourced from 24-frame-per-second material (most films and digital cinema). The PRO-150FD's unique ability to "triple frame" 24-fps-sourced video for display at 72 Hz worked with 480i (standard definition) video sources as well as with the latest HD disc players that can output 1080p video at 24 Hz (1080p24).
As I said before, this set's contrast and ability to deliver luscious hues of black is unsurpassed. Using the PRO-150FD's pure picture preset, I measured its average black level to be 0.03 Cd/m2, which yielded a high contrast ratio (CR) of 2,612:1—no other HDTV I've seen even comes close to this level of performance. That black-level measurement also approaches the limit of my Konica Minolta CS-200 meter's rated sensitivity, and in the pitch-black test lab, only the slightest screen glow could be seen after my eyes were fully adjusted to the dark. To compare, Panasonic's TH-42PZ700U is an excellent 42-inch 1080p plasma, and its admirable 847:1 CR was achieved with an average black level measurement of 0.15 Cd/m2—a relatively good result, but nowhere near the PRO-150FD's. With LCD technology, the best black level I've measured to date was from the Sony KDL-46V3000, which managed an impressively dim 0.08 Cd/m2. However, unlike with plasma TVs, even slight off-axis viewing increases the set's apparent screen glare and black level, lowering its CR result.
Color measurements revealed the PRO-150FD's movie picture preset produced a color gamut that exceeded the HD spec—that is, oversaturated colors, albeit uniformly so. Switching to the PRO-150FD's "pure" picture preset resulted in the best out-of-box HD color gamut response I've ever seen from a TV. Primary colors were right on target, and the secondary colors were nearly perfect, too. The set's six-color adjustment control proved effective for making precise, slight adjustments, too, so that in no time I had all colors displaying exactly as they should. Color temperature and grayscale tracking with the default pure mode preset revealed red and blue were slightly dominating green, but a set of white balance controls in the regular menu brought the tracking into admirably tight alignment. I did notice, however, that the white balance controls lacked the fine granularity of the TV's other color controls making this critical adjustment somewhat unwieldy.
The KURO PRO-150FD's new video processor aced all of my HD video processing tests, including the HD HQV Benchmark. That's the first time I've seen a perfect score on this test. My subjective viewing was equally as impressive, and the PRO-150FD exhibited superb video noise management and detail preservation. Standard-definition video tests using the HQV Benchmark also showed the PRO-150FD to be an above-average performer.
I calculated the set's power consumption measurements using the PRO-150FD's pure picture preset. Its monthly operating cost is $13.61 based on 8 hours of daily operation at $0.13/kWh (a local average). The electronic programming guide (EPG) increased its standby energy consumption to 20W, resulting in $1.28 of the operating cost. The Mitsubishi WD-65833's EPG also ate up a similar amount of energy in standby mode, but unlike the PRO-150FD, the WD-65833 provides a means of disabling the EPG if it's not needed.
The Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD lives up to the company's lofty goals of reengineering its plasma TV technology. This set delivered the most outstanding image contrast, color quality, HD video processing, and viewing angles I've seen from any HDTV display technology that is currently available to consumers. Of course, the PRO-150FD isn't the least-expensive 1080p plasma in its size range, it simply delivers a level of picture performance that is unmatched.
Sub-ratings:
Image Quality: 
Value: 
Usability:
Benchmark Test Results:
Factory default display settings
HDMI video input @ 1080p
VESA Uniformity (black): 74.4% (fair)
VESA Uniformity (white): 85.9% (fair)
Average contrast ratio: 2612:1 (excellent)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2233915,00.asp
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