Review: Pioneer 60-inch Elite Kuro Pro 151FD Plasma

When I first saw Pioneer’s Project Kuro plasma’s the company hadn’t even named the new line yet. That was at an industry expo in Japan, and I, along with the rest of the attendees allowed into the small demonstration room, was blown away by what I saw. In a pitch dark room, colorful images (flowers, a goldfish) started floating in mid air with no discernible glow of a screen around the floating objects. The blacks were so deep that the background blended into the black room.
  When the first models rolled off the production floor, buyers were equally impressed and Kuro quickly became synonymous with excellent picture. Now into the second generation of the Kuro line, Pioneer wanted to  continue the success of the premium-priced Kuro plasmas. The model 151FD is the largest, and mostly fully-featured, of TVs in the current Kuro line. It’s also likely the last line of plasma’s that will actually be constructed with Pioneer-made panels, as the company entered into an agreement last year with Panasonic to buy glass panels from them for future plasmas.
  Like all the models from Pioneer’s Elite line, this Kuro is an attractive glossy black. The bezel boasts a thinner new acrylic design; however it comes with detachable side speakers that add several inches to the width of the TV if you choose to use the speakers. I much prefer the hidden speaker designs (usually on the bottom of the TV) that most flat panels TV makes now employ as it keeps the overall footprint (or should I say wall print?) of the TV small. Side speakers may improve the stereo separation, but they just don’t look good. Other than that, the front of the TV is uncluttered and elegant.
  The remote is also slightly redesigned. It’s backlit (with a red glow) and covered with dark aluminum, which is great, but the buttons are almost uniformly small and square. Pioneer also updated the on-screen menu, which makes navigating around the many picture options a little less daunting.
  As you’d expect from a top-of-the-line TV, this Pioneer is overflowing with all the necessary inputs and outputs, including 4 HDMI (one on the side), component, S-video, composite and even an Ethernet port. The Ethernet works with the TV’s Home Media Gallery feature with lets you access media files, like music, pictures and videos, from your PC. You can also play files from a USB drive (the USB port is on the side) via the Home Media Gallery. This is a nice feature that lets your easily create a home media server-like experience without investing in a whole separate media system. Unfortunately the Ethernet port’s usefulness falls a little short as it doesn’t let you access any Web-based content as some current Panasonic and Samsung models do. Later this year online content will become even more central to TVs, so I hope Pioneer follows that trend with online connectivity.
  For picture control, this Kuro has few rivals. It is Imaging Science Foundation certified and includes both ISF Day and Night modes which will make your calibrator happy if you choose to have a pro tweak the set. If not, there are still plenty of advanced picture controls a user can do him or herself. The Optimum setting is designed to automatically make picture adjustments based on room the room lighting. The TV comes with a room lighting sensor, which is tethered by a cable to the back of the set. Pioneer takes its implementation of an ambient light sensor a little further than other makers as it also analyzes the color, not just the intensity, of the room light, and adjusts the TV picture accordingly.
  Another unique video feature of the Kuro, called Advanced PureCinema, takes the 24Hz signal from Blu-ray players and converts it to 72Hz. This has the effect of taking some of the judder out of moving pictures. Judder isn’t nearly as much a problem with plasma TVs as it is with LCDs, but with a picture this size (60 inches) small flaws are magnified so the dejudder feature is welcome.
  The Kuro panel is based on a deep-encased plasma cell structure which prevents light leakage as well as some heavy-duty image processing. As to the picture itself, remember that Kuro means black in Japanese. Pioneer is putting all its money on the black since black level affects overall picture quality more than anything else. When you have a good deep black, the rest of the picture tends to fall into place. With this set Pioneer has achieved near perfection. I spent time watching several Blu-ray movies such as The Black Knight and Speed Racer (an underappreciated and gorgeous movie) plus bright HDTV broadcasts, notably local news over an antenna. The intense black levels this TV achieves gives the picture more depth than nearly any I’ve seen on a flat panel. At the same time, colors looked rich and realistic. High def newscasts were bright and detailed, and at 60-inches, somewhat unflattering to the newscasters. In a word, outstanding.
  Of course, this outstanding picture comes at a high price. At $6,500 (actual street price is a bit less) this is almost the most expensive 60-inch plasma you can find. Runco offers a 60-inch model for about $11K and a 65-inch for about $12K. Since I haven’t used those Runcos, or Mitsubishi’s new laser TV (which also claims unheard-of black levels and an equally high price) I can’t say how they compare side-to-side, but this Kuro definitely has the best plasma picture I’ve used. OLED also has the potential to look this good or better, but that technology is years away from reaching home theater size. Some LED-based LCD technologies also have the potential to be exceptional, but at this point, they’re not available. Is this plasma worth the premium price? That depends on your priorities and your wallet.

Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-151FD
$6,500
60-inch plasma
1080p resolution
4 HDMI inputs
Component, S-video, composite inputs
USB
Ethernet
Home Media Gallery
ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuner
Optical audio out
External ambient light sensor
backlit remote
removable 18 Watt speakers
ISF mode
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