Customer Reviews

Pioneer PDP-5020FD 50-Inch 1080p KURO Plasma HDTV

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After 4+ months, TV still rocks. Though I'm somewhat hampered by Time Warner HD, with an abysmal selection of channels, I'm still very happy with my purchase. The only thing I've had any second thoughts about is whether I should have sprung for the Elite, at about a grand more. Pioneer kind of screws the consumer this year with the base line Kuro (6020 and 5020) as they remove all of the second level of picture adjustments). But still the TVs performance is terrific. I have, however, had the gray scale professionally calibrated. It cost me a few hundred bucks and you need to make sure the person who is doing it has the appropriate software and has done a few of these before. And while the results are subtle, I can notice them. There is an improvement. Can only be done in movie mode, but improves the gray-scale and colors to some extent too. It just creates a more natural tone to the picture and removes a bit of the "haze" or "reddish/yellow tint" as I like to call it. Well worth it if u can find a good technician

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I have been researching HDTVs for what seems like forever, until this month when I finally pulled the trigger. You cannot go wrong with this TV. This is my first HDTV, but I consider myself fairly tech savvy and somewhat of an audiophile. That said I don't have any history with HDTVs so can't compare this TV with anything I've owned in the past, but rather friends' TVs or in store comparisons.

The negatives on this TV are as some may have already discovered; an inability to more finely calibrate this TV yourself, unlike the 5080 of last year or the Elites. That was kind of a downer given how much you pay for it. On the flip side, if you have it calibrated, I believe the professional can adjust these settings. Not 100% sure yet, but I may give that a shot at some point. Why would you want to adjust these settings at all from the way they come out of the box? Well, according to a few reviews, as well as the CNET review, Reds and Greens are not 100% accurate. This may be difficult to determine through the naked eye of most viewers. But I can say that Reds appear a little heavy to me. Greens look fairly accurate to me, but again according to CNET they were off a bit too. We are not talking about anything that is a deal breaker here by any stretch. Ask someone with an untrained eye and they'd probably wonder what the heck you're talking about. Anyway these are about the only negatives about this TV that I can find, if you consider them "negatives." Assuming you have it calibrated, then there are NO negatives to this TV.

Positives are many. Outstanding picture quality, and probably the best SD picture you can find or have ever found from an HDTV. Far better than what I've seen on any LCD thats for sure. DVDs scaled to fit this picture look almost HD. HDTV content is outstanding. You cannot find better black levels. The Panasonics have really improved their sets, but still the Pioneers are better, you can see the difference even if it is subtle.

Another thing to note, when I first got this TV, for the first week or so, I was worried that the picture was just a little dark. Plasma is definitely darker than LCD, and I thought hey, you can't have the best blacks and brightness all in one TV right? True, sort of. What you need to do after a break-in period (I have no idea whether break-in is even necesary on plasmas anymore, but some do) is set the TV to Movie Mode, then calibrate from there. Movie mode produces a brighter picture. I think most people are so accustomed to a super-bright set (read: LCDs) that produce very inaccurate pictures and tones that Movie mode might look dull to them at first. Your eyes will adjust, trust me. And you will slowly realize that once calibrated, the Pioneer produces a picture that is about as close to a movie theater screen as you can get.

Once in movie mode, use the following settings:
Contrast: 38
Brightness: -1
Color: -5
Tint: 0
Sharpness: -15

Pure Cinema

Film Mode: Advance
Text Optimization: Off

Power Save Mode: Off

Orbiter: Mode 1 (All screen size modes except Dot-by-Dot)
Mode 2 (Dot-by-Dot screen size mode ONLY)

Feel free to tweak from there as you feel necessary. But that is the so-called reference setting; I assume what a technician would set to produce the most accurate picture.

Once you're set in this, again, give it some time for your eyes to adjust to it, and you will see a truly outstanding real to life image. Film content is about as close to a move screen as you will get in my opinion.

Other cool features are 1)An optical output for audio 2.)Home networking feature to display Videos and Pictures from your PC right on your plasma. This works very well and is pretty intuitive. 3.) Great sound right out of the factory speaker. 4.)A very nice stand that is already attached.

I was recently in a Best Buy and looked at the new Panasonics, which are very good, side by side with the Pioneers. But I still think the Pioneer produces a better picture overall. I haven't seen a calibrated Panny, so not a perfectly fair assessment.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Just got my 5020 last week and this is the best TV that I have seen. I did a lot of research at high end stores and the side by side comparisons with the older 5010 model vs. any other tv (lcd or plasma) wasn't even close. I was looking at the newest Samsung plasmas and LCD's (Toc) but the black levels on the Pioneer really made a big difference. I even asked my 10 year old son to pick the tv with the best picture and he chose the Pioneer. I really wanted to buy the Samsung LCD (Toc) but couldn't get myself to do it knowing the Pioneer's picture was better. I think I would have regretted it later.
The 5020 is thinner than the 5010 and has the newest HDMI 1.3a inputs. I hooked this TV to a brand new Onkyo 606 which is HDMI 1.3a compliant, Time Warner DVR, and a PS3. All I needed was 3 HDMI cables for the entire system.
This TV has the best black levels i have seen which makes the colors really pop and gives more depth to the picture. The TV makes the high def content more 3 dimensional. At this price, you can't go wrong with this plasma. In addition, this will be the last year that Pioneer makes their own screens.

I looked for around 6 months for a new HDTV to replace a Sony XBR1 40" I've had for several years. After spending way to much time reading CNETs reviews, I settled upon this TV.

The performance is excellent. It certainly has better image quality than my Sony LCD, both when watching movies (due to the excellent contrast), and when watching fast moving basketball, in which my sony LCD would occasionally have motion artifacts. I think much of the LCD motion artifact thing has gone away with high end LCDs these days.

If you are a video nut that wants to change every aspect of the settings, you need to get the elite model, which is basically the same TV, but with all the settings opened up. You only get basic settings with this model. However, it has a mode that I personally like called "Optimum", where the TVs sensors detect what type of picture is being displayed along with the ambient room conditions and adjust accordingly. So far I've left it on that and it has been great. I have also played with "Movie" mode, in which you get about 50% of the controls on the picture that a typical high end TV might have.

Aesthetically, this TV looks perfect. The plain back bezel that is very small for this size of TV is exactly what I was looking for. Some of the Sony's for the past 4 years and most of the LGs and Samsungs have just got too much going on. I want a perfect picture and a minimal "TV". In addition, this TV is very thin for a 50" plasma, it is only 3.7" thick. My 40" LCD was 5.5" and the new sony XBR8 LED backlit LCD is almost 6" I believe.

In a store I compared this TV to the Samsung A950 series (LED backlit LCD) and the Sony XBR6, both 46" models. The Pioneer was cheaper and just looked better hands down. I went back on 3 occasions to confirm this was the case.

Some people will discuss buzzing with this particular unit. From what I have found out, all plasmas buzz. On this unit, if you put your head behind the tv, you can hear some electronic buzz. If you put your head in front of the TV, you can not hear anything, even with the TV muted. If you move your head about 5' back from the TV and have the TV muted, a slight buzzing becomes audible. If you turn on any volume whatsoever, you can not detect the buzzing. Actually, the fans and hard disk in my DirecTV HR21 DVR are louder than the buzzing!

I have been using power save mode 2 (the highest power save mode), which makes it meet the energy star requirements of the future, and it has plenty of brightness! We'll see how this holds up as we move through the break in period.

The big question many of you are probably asking is should I order from amazon and save almost $1000 over best buy or other big box store? My first HDTV I purchased from a locally owned specialty retailer. It gave me the confidence I needed since I knew little about HDTVs at that time. They offered a 15 day no questions asked return policy. For this Pioneer purchase, I went with amazon.com and saved $1000. Shipping was free. Amazon will contract this to CEVA, who will contract the delivery to your home by another local delivery agent. My TV arrived within 3 business days. It went from Ohio to Chicago in the first day I ordered it, and then was in Milwaukee to be delivered the next day and an appointment was set up. However, when the delivery guys showed up, I asked them to remove it from the packaging so I could plug it in and make sure it worked before I accepted delivery. The bezel was cracked and the screen damaged before we even got it out of the box. So I easily refused shipment and the delivery guys took it back. I contacted amazon and once you get beyond the india help desk and to a real agent who specializes in electronics returns I was all set. A new unit was sent 3 days later (with a total of about 1 week delay) for no charge. I think in the future I would order online from amazon.com again for the cost savings they provide. Although it was a hassle to be at home twice to have the TV delivered twice it was worth the savings for me. I believe you can also return to amazon within 30 days as well if you change your mind, but shipping cost is yours to pay.

I just recently purchased the Pioneer Kuro PDP-5020 from Amazon and I couldn't have been happier. I ordered the TV on a Monday evening and I had the TV in my house on the Thursday of the same week. It was less than 72 hours from clicking the mouse to clicking the remote on the TV, which I find amazing. The TV was delivered by Eagle/CEVA and the delivery guys were very helpful in getting the TV into my 2nd floor bedroom.

I chose the 5020 Kuro after an exhaustive search of what TV would be the best for my room. I read many websites and AV forums and found the only thing people could agree on is that the Pioneer Kuro's have the best black levels out there period. Sure the Kuro is a little more expensive than sets from Panasonic or Samsung but over the life span of the TV the difference in price is minimal. So I say go with the best and don't look back.

I could not be more satisfied with this television. Last year I bought a 42" Vizio LCD for gaming because it was the only 42" I could find under $1000. However, after upgrading my home theater audio with a new receiver/speakers and buying a PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies, I really discovered what a sour piece of hardware my screen was. When you've spent the cash for a new player and bought a bunch of your favorite movies in Blu-ray format, the last thing you want to see is unnatural looking skin tones, lack of detail in dark and bright scenes, and awful video processing and motion blur!

I got fed up and decided to do my homework this time and prepare to spend what it takes to get a true quality display. I read several critical reviews and message boards which directed my attention to the Kuro line of Pioneer plasmas. I finally got a chance to see one at a local A/V store and absolutely fell in love. They had SportsCenter on in HD, doing an interview with Coach K from Duke, and the black backdrop was so dark and the colors so perfect that it looked like he was sitting across the room talking to us. A friend was with me and his reaction was "Super Bowl at your place!"

No one can deny the black levels and contrast on this TV, and that's what makes watching it so great. If it's completely dark in the room, you can still tell that it's on, but when you've got a widescreen movie on and there are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, you can barely make out where the screen stops and the bezel begins. Colors benefit from the depth and it creates a 3D image, and you don't miss anything because everything is so clear. This screen makes me want to watch all my Blu-rays over again because you really haven't watched high definition until you've watched it on a Pioneer.

For anyone who is feeling gun-shy, just pull the trigger and don't look back. You will surely be satisfied!!

I just plugged it in an hour ago - amazing. I'm upgrading from a 3-year-old 720p NEC 50" plasma. What a difference. My source is Dish HD via HDMI, and PS3. I bought it without even seeing one in person, and I was not disappointed. I haven't tweaked it one bit, just went through the different picture modes. I started with the Herbie Hancock special I had from DISH - black grand piano and white sheet music - the details in the black were as good as I've seen ever, (over 30 years as TV producer/director). The whites got a bit blown out in Dynamic Mode, but switching to Game mode looked incredible. I can't wait to fiddle with it tomorrow. Other impressions:
* No burn in that I can see - freezing on menu for a couple of minutes - nothing...
* Very minimal screen reflections
* With room light on - it truly is black when there is no picture on.
* In a blacked-out room you can see that it's on, (but I haven't tweaked it yet)
* I sat 4 feet away from BlueRay Ratatouille and thought about rearranging the furniture permanently - it's that nice. It looked like a theater screen - only cleaner...

I received my 5020 Pioneer plasma last week. My son, who is an audiophile, had been pushing me to take the plunge for some time. I visited him during the Christmas holidays and thoroughly enjoyed watching his 5020. I wrapped up my research including educating myself about plasma versus LCD and visiting showrooms to view the set. I became convinced that Pioneer's 5020 was the right one for me. I made one last visit to the showroom before making the purchase. After installation, I'm excited that I made the right decision.

As I view and enjoy this outstanding video technology, I couldn't help but recall another personal experience. It was in 1947 on a visit to NYC that I had the opportunity visit the RCA Building and to see an early demonstration of TELEVISION. What excitement for this 17 yr. old. At 87+ yrs. old, the 5020 generates similar excitement. I'm looking forward to a few more years of viewing pleasure.

Here is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.....according to my observations and general tests. I ordered this Pioneer plasma tv from Amazon on July 16th and promplty received it via CEVA trucking on July 18th. As soon as the delivery guys opened up the packaging and, to my immediate delight, I noticed that this plasma set comes with the stand pre-installed. At this time, I do not have any intentions of putting this plasma set on the wall; for those of you who want to install it on the wall please keep this in mind as you will now have to take the plasma stand off - screws and all. The manual states that all PDP-5020 sets have the stand pre-installed.

*This plasma set is replacing a Samsung 56 inch DLP**

Let the fun times begin: After turning on this set, it was apparent that this Pioneer PDP-5020 is the real deal. The black level is so deep and dark that I was left speechless for quite a few minutes. I tuned in to Cinemax HD and watched The Heartbreak Kid for 10 minutes.....WOW,WOW,WOW! The colors (popped) and the deep contrast made for a spectacular viewing of this movie. Ben Stiller's black shirt was really pitch black and the views of the ocean looked so realistic I was beside myself. I switched between other HD satellite stations and was very pleased with the results.

Next, I hooked up the PDP-5020 to my trusty Panasonic blu-ray BDMP-30 to check out some of my blu-ray movies. Since I was so impressed with the Satellite HD broadcasts, you can now imagine my excitement as I turned my attention to Blu-ray. I wanted to test out a few of the worst looking blu-rays I had: Tomb Raider (read the Amazon reviews), Stargate (the dark scenes), Black Hawk Down ( alot of film grain ), and Big Fish ( alot of film grain).

Believe it or not, the Tomb Raider Blu ray looked fantastic on this plasma. There was hardly any film grain visible on this plasma set at all, as I only sit 8 feet away. I could not believe how good it looked - a solid 8 out of 10 for the blu-ray. The dark scenes in the movie Stargate were also excellent and it was easy to make out small details that were not present before (on my 56 DLP) - again hardly any film grain. My final tests were done on the Black Hawk Down BD, Big Fish BD and the dark, night scene on Rambo BD (2008).....
Would you believe me if I told you that all 3 discs looked fantastic? Black Hawk and Big Fish showed no signs of film grain and the night scene in Rambo was so visible I could not believe my eyes. This is a true testament of how great Pioneer plasma screens are. I now have a hard time believing any negative blu ray reviews from the pros since most of them are not using Pioneer plasmas for their reviews.

Xbox 360 and PS3 games all looked great on this screen. The deep colors and the deep black really make the games a pleasure to look at.

In case you are wondering, I didn't do any type of calibration to this set. I truly believe that no adjustments need to be made to it. It looks that great out of the box. Again, the deep black contrast is the major selling point. The color of grass looks the way it does in your back yard, not the fluorescent green you see on other plasma tv's.

Should you buy a Pioneer plasma set? Absolutely!!! I can guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with its performance and aesthetic appearance.
Don't be fooled by all the other competitor's displays at the brick and mortar stores.....this plasma set is well worth every penny you spend on it. You will thank me for it!

**UPDATE 7/23/08** I contacted Pioneer Electronics today to ask about a future calibration and was informed that these non-Elite models are already calibrated by Pioneer techs prior to shipment from their facilities. So, there is no need to spend an additional $300+ on calibration services.

background - My first HDTV in 2006: 40" Sony Bravia LCD (good with faults), my parents bought a Panasonic plasma 3 months later (I knew THEN that plasma was MUCH better PQ) ... my second HDTV purchase was the NEWEST Pioneer, KURO 4280 (a finer, more satisfying PQ than the Panasonic) in the summer of 2007. January 2008 I sold the Sony LCD and replaced that with a KURO 5080, a larger version of my fabulous 42".

My Kuro 4280 became my parents second plasma in FEB '08 ... I purchased the ninth generation Pioneer plasma Kuro 5020 from InvisionDisplays for $1950 (same seller of my 5080, same price) DELIVERED and guaranteed satisfaction delivery prefect. I also bought the 3 yr extended IN HOME warranty from CPS for the cost of $125. 4 yrs of warranty total.

The 8G Kuro's were fabulous, amazing color, black levels, picture resolution for HD content is incredible. MOST new buyers of HDTV are awestruck with their new purchase, the Pioneer plasma's take it to the next level. The newest 5020 has slightly improved black level, thinner, EnergyStar rated, and a sleeker remote (good & bad). A few manufacturer's come close with certain models, but the KURO is still king of PQ. ALL of the AV press have made this claim the past 2-3 yrs. If you're able to view one of these with the proper HD or BluRay set up - you'll understand what the hype is all about. Of course the 5020 is 1080 compared to the older 5080 with 768 - this is a factor when you're within 5 feet of the display MAINLY, the finer details are revealed. NONE of my Kuro's have ever buzzed, malfunctioned in any way or failed to display fabulous HD content, standard def on the DirecTV satellite looks very good too, but I rarely watch anything in SD any longer. Some HD channels look superior to others, but that's a whole diff. issue (satellite provider upconvert signals, BIT rates, etc).

The only negative I have for the new 5020 is that the user pic settings are not as expansive as the 8G Kuro's were (color TEMP can not be set by itself, these are set within the various AV selections for picture settings).

The following settings I favor within the MOVIE mode:
contrast: 38
brightness: -1
color: -4 (I prefer realistic color as opposed to over intense color)
tint: R1
sharpness: -15
film mode: Advance
text Optimization: Off
orbiter: 2
power save: off

The above are the extent of the pic settings on the 5020. The greyscale can be PRO calibrated to perfection (I've read). The serious videophiles go to this extreme for perfection. Pioneer is one of few manufacturers that have displays that can be pro calibrated a near perfect greyscale - the Pio Elites can be calibrated to perfection.

Plasmas do "settle" during the first few hundred hours. Right out of the box, the phosphors are at their very brightest and within a few hundred hours a bit of that initial brightness wears off and from then on, the image will be very stable. I keep the contrast on low settings the first two weeks and leave the panel ON viewing a true HD source like HDNet all the time while I'm at home, this helps to help break in/settle the display (allowing all the pixels to "fire" or to break in). Its not a big issue, but true, plasma's will look better after the first 100 hours or so. Mine has hit THAT stage after six weeks (not much actual TV time here lately) and the 5020 is dazzling to view with the above settings. This break in period is not required as a special "chore" for any plasma owner. During the first few hundred hours, you may notice some image retention. This is very common with brand new plasmas. Image retention is when you switch to a different image (it's easiest to spot on an all black screen or an all white screen), but you still see a bit of an after image (a "ghost" image, if you will) from what ever you were just watching prior. THINK of when you gaze at a light fixture/bulb for a few seconds, then look away. The image of that light appears to retain in your view. Image retention is rarely if ever permanent for any length of time. Relax.

Yes there is a master power switch on the bottom right (rear) when you initially set up this display (Pio even has an insert within the remotes plastic bag alerting this). I've never used the speaker of this display, my home theater handles the audio chore. It is a shame (?) that so many HDTV buyers were mis informed, under educated or mislead into buying LCD as the preferred HD display. Plasma IS the best for motion resolution, view angles, black levels, color intensity and processing. I could post link after link of professional reviews and articles to back up my claims (but Amazon won't allow links). Pioneer has been rank #1 for years with their plasma's.

Yes I am a plasma convert (and a Kuro owner three times now). The shinny piano black bezel may be reflective in certain situations, but it is not an issue here. I only needed to clean my Kuro display's once every few months of any finger prints. USE a 100% cotton soft cloth or towel , slightly damp on edge of the cloth then buff clear. NEVER use a paper towel or cleaner, swirl marks or smears MAY appear. The plasma screen tends to produce heat moreso than a LCD display, that's the phosphor technology of a plasma display, your electric bill will not increase from plasma viewing. None of my Kuro's have ever buzzed or malfunctioned in any way. I am not a gamer, I am a satellite HD subscriber.

Owning a Kuro is not about the "status" of having the most awarded HDTV - THE state-of-the-art for video display, but it never hurts either. Yes, proud Kuro owners tend to sound like a "cult" - I apologize sarcastically.

The picture quality is #1. YES Pioneer will be leaving the display biz by 2010. Developing the KURO tech wasn't cheap. Pioneer was the plasma innovator for the past 10 years, The Pioneer engineers saw the SED prototype, and knew they had to compete- that lead to project KURO a few years ago. It became an instant success on the technology side, the press and buyers loved the displays, a new standard without peer. But the pricey KURO never captured enough of the publics dollar. The recession, mounting losses at Pioneer and the decision of Panasonic to delay their new plasma facility for months (they were to manufacture ONLY the 10g KURO glass) was the final straw. No 10g KURO with their latest tech (FUGA ?) for 2009 meant zero revenue coming in. Which is sad. Not least of which, the loss of the best looking flat panel ever made, but also such a sign of the times. Pioneer's exit from the market makes sense, from a business standpoint. As great as the Kuro was, Pioneer only held 4.9% (?) marketshare of the plasma market, according to a published industry survey. There's no way, considering the cost of producing plasma, that Pioneer could have continued producing plasmas with this small a share of the market. Panasonic has 49.9% marketshare (according to the same survey), and five factories in Japan totally dedicated to nothing but producing plasma. Plasma is not going away, with Pioneer's exit. Pioneer leaving is an indication that the market is correcting itself, as would be expected.

For $2000 I can't find a finer 50" HDTV, it may be awhile before another company sets a new standard. YES I desired the KRP monitor two months after buying the 5020, the 500M arrived on May 4. The review of that display was posted Aug 1. I now rate the 5020 model a 4.2 stars. The KRP-500M is my perfect 5 star display.

I spent much time comparing the KURO's with other top of the line plasma TVs and the picture was always best on the KURO. It's even better in my living room! Was incredibly easy to set up. Amazon's White Glove service was awesome. The guys set it up in my living room, turned it on, checked picture quality, all fine. It arrived in only 4 days. This is top notch service and I recommend using White Glove.

There are preset picture quality choices and "movie" looks great for DVD and cable TV shows, "sports' looks awesome for sports. There is an optimized choice as well, all personal preference. The picture is great in low light and bright daylight. The TV adjusts for each unobtrusively. There is no problem with reflection from lamps using 100 watt bulbs. The picture stays crisp during sporting events. The TV even downloads all my cable channels at the push of a button. So easy to use. Haven't hooked up a computer yet.

Two things I learned that might help. 1) Some extended warranty/service contracts on Amazon and other sites do not cover Pioneer KURO's or Panasonic top models and some do not have in home service, so check before buying. 2) This incredible picture quality can be improved even more by having a technician calibrate the TV in your home after a 200 hour or so "burn in" time, but if you use a technician not ISA certified you will void Pioneer's warranty. (based on a call to Pioneer)