Pioneer Elite PRO111 FD 50-Inch Elite 1080p Plasma HDTV

by Pioneer

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 144 pounds
• ASIN: B001CE06GQ
• Item model number: PRO111FD
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,695 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 9, 2008

Product Description

High-Definition 1080p Resolution (1920 x 1080p), 5x Deeper Black for Unmatched Contrast*, Ability to accept 480i / 480p / 720p / 1080i / and TRUE 1080p 24fps signals, New Thinner Cosmetic Design with Elegant Acrylic Bezel ...High-Definition Resolution 1920 x 1080p 50" Class (49.85" Diagonal) 16:9 Aspect Ratio Deep Encased Cell Structure/Crystal Emissive Layer Improved Color Filter For Enhanced Contrast Improved ASIC Video Processing and Scaling

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars top of the line, unbelievable., October 29, 2008

By 

John (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer Elite PRO111 FD 50-Inch Elite 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

I purchased this TV 2 months ago (9/2008) from a local store. This TV is hands down the best TV on the market! 5 stars. I haven't found a single thing that I don't like about it.

It is hard to put into words how much better this TV was compared to every other TV in the store. The picture is bright and crisp. Hands down had the best picture in the store... Why? Bright Colors and a million shades of black.

There are so many more shades of grey and black that you'll see on this TV that you won't see on another TV until they are side by side and you see what you're missing. One of my all time favorite movies is Apocalypse Now. When you watch a movie like Apocalypse Now that has a lot of night scenes, you'll notice so much more detail because it doesn't come up as just black. You'll see the water move, you'll see the detail in the dirt... There are all these details that you never saw on a regular TV (or older plasma for that matter).

If you look at my other reviews, you'll see that I have a Samsung LCD TV that I reviewed a year ago. That is a great TV that hangs in front of the treadmill. The samsung is great where it is and is just fine for watch the evening news or for watching 30 Rock. But if you want to see the details in movies, you need to get a KURO. The KURO blows that TV out of the water for picture quality and for sound. There is a big price difference, but you'll see the difference in the picture!

*** Additional comments on the picture*** I watched the final table on ESPN the other night on my Samsung LCD. On that TV the Phillips fan in white t-shirts were all blued out because of the black lights and you can't make out the people at all. I just flipped the channels and see that on the KURO, they aren't blued out and you can see all them and make them out. Truly amazing. I don't know how much of this is because of Time Warner HD or the TV set, but there is a remarkable difference.

Another thing that I've really noticed is that text is so much cleaner and the lines of the text are perfect. There is so much difference it's hard to put it into words.

This is an expensive TV, but you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't interested in buying it. So, if you have the money, this is the TV that you'll want to buy. The picture will blow you away.

I keep editing and adding to this review because I keep finding more and more things that I really like. I've talked about the picture, but the sound is truly amazing for a TV. You can watch any action movie and use the TV speakers and you won't be disappointed. I have mine hooked up to a Denon 4308 amp and 6 Klipsch speakers and the sound system is great. BUT HONESTELY, YOU COULD ENJOY ANY ACTION MOVIE WITHOUT THIS SETUP. The dialog is crisp and has more bass than not expected. You could very easily get a silimar effect by getting a small subwoofer and connecting directly to the back of the TV. Overall, the sound on this set is very good for a TV.

Options- This TV is loaded with customization and options. If you're like me and want to have the adjustments to get things just right, you're going to appreciate the many ways you can adjust the picture and sound.

To wrap it up-
~The best picture possible
~Great sound right from the included speakers
~Lots of options and the ability to customize all aspects of the picture and sound

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands down the best TV out there right now!, December 13, 2008

By 

GErianne (Watertown, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer Elite PRO111 FD 50-Inch Elite 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

The Pro-111FD Kuro ('black') certainly lives up to its name. It produces jaw-dropping, deep blacks that make its true-to-life colors look all the more beautiful and stunning. The wide range of user-selectable as well as automatic features that protect it from 'burn-in', largely eliminated this as a concern for me about buying a plasma TV. The Energy Save feature of this TV also reduces the long-standing concern over the cost of operating a plasma TV.

The picture is as bright as it is beautiful, putting it on a par with some LCDs for brightness. The user-selectable automatic light sensor and automatic color sensor work well to automatically adjust the picture brightness/color for different room lighting conditions.

Sound output from the (optionally) side-mounted speakers is excellent, with automatic as well as user-cusomizable settings to adjust the sound for a wide variety of tastes and environments.

There are 4 HDMI input terminals and other outputs, as well as a USB port, Ehternet cable port, and PC input terminal that provided me with a wide range of interconnection possibilities for my home theater set up - with lots of expandability left over.

The seven AV settings (picture presets), except for Optimized, can be customized. There are two 'hidden' modes, ISF-Day and ISF-Night, that will appear if this TV is calibrated through the service menus, and can be locked so the settings can't be changed without accessing the service menu again. Although the Standard AV setting is the only one that can be customized for EACH input (cable, satellite, DVD, BluRay), the other customizable settings that are shared between inputs provide enough versatility to support most tastes - or needs.

Buttons on the remote are somewhat small and some are not backlit, making selection in a dark environment less friendly than it could be. On the plus side, the remote is comfortable in the hand and can be programmed to operate a variety of devices using codes (provided in the User's Guide) or via a learning mode.

This Pioneer Elite is truly a class act. Even the User's Manual, with it's glossy, deep black cover, smacks of class! The absolutely stunning picture on this TV vastly outweighs any minor shortcomings this plasma TV may have. In short, if you love home theater, movies, and watching high def TV, give this Kuro very, VERY serious consideration. It is, without a doubt, worth the price. I have absolutely no regrets about purchasing this fantastic TV and would recommend it to anyone - in a heartbeat!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By far, the best television you can buy, with excellent lifelike color and clarity., December 25, 2008

By 

G. Green (Evanston, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pioneer Elite PRO111 FD 50-Inch Elite 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

It is easy to find detailed reviews of the Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD on the internet. However, nothing beats a careful comparison in an high-quality electronics store of this set with ostensibly comparable models from other manufacturers. In particular, go to an electronics store where you can spend time watching some of the programs that you normally watch. If you like sports, watch some golf, baseball or something shot outdoors to see how realistic the color of the grass is on the 111FD compared to a highly rated Samsung or Sony, which make grass look like artificial turf. Then, or if it's all you can do, compare the skin tones as rendered on the 111FD to those on competing televisions. I had a highly rated Samsung (which by technical measures was on par with this Pioneer), and despite every conceivable adjustment, the skin tones were horrible, while a minimal amount of adjustment of the 111FD has given me a picture that is virtually perfect. This set is a pleasure to watch every time you turn it on.