Pioneer PDP 5020FD 50 Inch Plasma HDTV

Pioneer PDP 5020FD 50 Inch 1080p KURO Plasma HDTV

Enter the next generation of Pioneer KURO, where a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Awake your senses and discover there is more to this television than meets the eye. Deeper black levels that pave the way to breathtaking detail, added dimension and more vibrant color are just the beginning. Optimum Mode automatically analyzes and adjusts audio and video settings according to specific room light conditions and type of light and color. Program content is also monitored and finely adjusted so movies, sports and news are all faithfully reproduced. Smooth Film mode eliminates motion jitter in 3:2 Pulldown (60Hz), providing natural even playback of film content. Detachable bottom speaker with fully integrated digital amplifier for pristine clarity and accuracy of sound 4 Independent HDMI 1.3 inputs with HDMI-CEC control and the ability to accept 1080p 24/60Hz signal Room Light Sensor for automatic picture adjustment Standard 3 – 2 (60Hz) and Advanced PureCinema with 3 – 3 Pulldown (72Hz) for accurate playback of film content Fully Integrated ATSC and NTSC Tuner with Clear QAM Supported Formats – Video – WMV9, MPEG1, MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, MPEG4 (SP/ASP), and MPEG4 (H.264/AVC) Audio – WMA9, MP3, Linear PCM (WAV), HE-AAC, and MPEG-4 AAC Photos – JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and BMP 4 Independent HDMI 1.3 (1 side, 3 rear) with PC support, 2 with analog audio, 1 Component, 3x Composite, 1 S-Video Antenna, USB (Mass Storage Class), LAN (10/100 Base-T –Ethernet), and PC input Optical Digital Audio (Dolby Digital/PCM), Audio LR, Subwoofer, SR, and Headphone output Dimensions – Width 48-17/32 x Height 28-15/32 x Depth 3-21/32 / 48-17/32 x 31-5/8 x 3-21/32 with speaker Weight – 74 pounds 1 ounces / 86 pounds with speaker and stand

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars buy another television
Stay away from this tv. It’s a waste of money. I am not a so called videofile unlike these other nerds who write these long evaluations using jargon that make us layman feel idiotic. I do know a little about tvs after doing research on what to look for like ressolution and frequency. If you look at reviews from other tvs, they all get the same good evaluations from amazon. Even the LG looked good. I made the mistake of buying this television due to pioneer’s reputation. When it was set up, and by the way, amazon’s white glove service is awesome, I was concerned about the picture quality but had to wait till the HD was set up several weeks later. I have durect tv by the way and it was installed by a professional so claiming a connection error will not fly. The picture was still not at the same level as the sony XBR6 or panasonic viera or the samsung plasma BN50B550. It was very graney and motion artifact was very obvious. I called pioneer for help and they told me of a service provider who only works Mon-Fri 9-5. Well like all of you, I work during the week and cannot be home. Remember that there are only 2 makers of televisions and all the others only market their product. Sony makes there own televisions and all the parts. Because they have dedicated themselves to only LCD and dropped their plasma line, their tvs are far superior. They just came out with the XBR8 so if you have the cash, go for it. Samsung just came out with a 240hz LCD. I went to best buy to compare each model. At the store, the pioneer had a good picture but once again, comparing to other televisions, not even close. Go see it for yourself. There is a reason why consumer reports do not review this television because the only tvs that are graded are ones given to consumer reports from the companies. Pioneer refuses to have their televisions graded. I wonder why a company that claims they have the highest quality tvs on the market would not want an objective comparison. I gave this television 2 stars because of amazons service and the fact they are an authorized pioneer provider. Be careful of other online companies that are not recommended by pioneer or warranty is voided. I ask you to see for yourself at best buy or any televion retailed and compare the tvs. You will see the difference and I guarantee you will not want to fork out the money for a pioneer. Do not make my mistake.

5 Stars Perhaps The Best Plasma Ever!! What a TV!!!
“Just received this TV recently and all I can say is OMG, where you have been my whole life? I realize anyone who is reading these reviews already are fully aware of the KURO reputation. It truly does not disappoint!! I have been keeping my eye on this one for a while now. The price was the major drawback to not having purchased this set in the past. At least for me, spending over $4K on a Plasma was a little out of my price range. It has now dropped in price over 50% as a result of Pioneer getting out of the Plasma business, which is quite sad by the way. This tough economy has hit them hard as well. Well the price finally hit my trigger point and I ordered this online from BB. The picture this Plasma produces is really breathtaking. Pioneer’s level of black detail is truly unmatched by any other MFG. The deep black level allows the TV to reach astounding shadow details. I have noticed things on this TV that I have never noticed before, the little details. After all, it’s the little things in life that seem to matter the most. The color accuracy is right on the mark. This combined with the deepest black’s, outstanding shadow detail, give THE best picture IMHO I have ever, ever seen. This set produces that POP I was looking for from HD sources. SD is adequate, but HD is where it is at. The KURO will spoil you, so be aware, be fully aware. The KURO is meant for HD and has blown me away. I have DirecTV as one source of HD and the other is BD. I have the Samsung BD-P2550. 1080P BD movies are simply a sight to behold on the KURO. As I mentioned before, this KURO will spoil you. I do not want to leave my house it is THAT good. Combined with a good 5.1 system, I am in total KURO HD heaven. This TV comes with a separate speaker bar that you attach to the bottom of the set. There are times where I do not want to listen through my receiver and utilize the onboard sound system. The sound it produces is very, very good. I was quite surprised at the quality of the included sound bar. It gave surprisingly solid bass at higher listening levels. The KURO is feature packed and has many adjustments you can make. Enough for the average person. Many people have decided to calibrate this TV and I may do that in the future. I have it set to OPTIMUM and right now I am so pleased with the results. I really can’t imagine a better picture. Do yourself a favor, if you are on the fence at the moment about purchasing this KURO, go out and get it today. They will only be around for a short time since the MFG has ceased. I am not regretting my decision at all and am really glad I made the purchase. I am confident you will too!!!”

5 Stars still evaluating… but great so far
i bought this direct from pioneer because that’s the best price you can find.

my first comment applies to the plasma vs. lcd….

if you have young toddlers or cats and/or dogs, you HAVE to go plasma. plasma tvs have a glass screen while LCD haves a soft screen which 3 years olds and cats are drawn to!

also, plasma from my tests has a more realistic picture.

i’m very pleased with the lower speaker that comes with this. as i live in a small apt. i don’t have the space or budget right now for a surround sound set up so this lower speaker fills my 13′ x 13 ‘ living room well.

i am still finetuning my time warner cable with my 5020, hey if anyone knows of a tech guy in the nyc area who could help me set this up perfectly, please reply to the comment.

5 Stars Pioneer Plasma will knock your socks off!
We wanted to replace our 40-inch Sony KV-40XBR700 picture tube HDTV. Unlike most LCD televisions, it has very natural color, a very wide viewing angle, and very good built-in speakers. Unfortunately, the old Sony weighs 304 lbs. (yes, really!) and it sticks out a long way into the room. So, where could we get a replacement that would retain the best features of the Sony? Accurate color? Wide viewing angle? Very good built-in speakers?

The answer was the Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD 50-inch plasma. We’ve had it a little over 3 months and, in a word, it’s OUTSTANDING. The Sony picture tube TV was very good but this Pioneer plasma is simply terrific in every way.

On the MOVIE setting, we played the THX setup thing on our Pirates of the Caribbean DVD (not BLU-RAY). Guess what? No adjustments were needed. We did this in a darkened room with just a small lamp on in the corner of the room.

We have large windows in the room so daytime viewing requires a higher contrast setting. Mostly we use Optimum setting with the room light sensor enabled, or just set it on Standard without the room light sensor. Looks great either way. Don’t let anyone tell you that a plasma isn’t bright enough.

Watched a golf tournament on the Sports setting. Wow – that was a dazzling experience! Can hardly wait for football season to start…

[...]

HDTV reception is from Comcast cable. We record almost everything on the Comcast DVR (made by Motorola) so we can skip through the commercials. HD programs look very good indeed, and even standard-definition programs come across smooth and clear (with the rare exception of washed-out or jagged 30 year-old reruns!). Movies broadcast in HD are a real treat, too.

You won’t find more natural-looking color anywhere, and you can sit way off to the side and still see a crisp clear picture.

Oh, I almost forgot. There is no motion blur whatsoever on this TV! Plasma TVs simply don’t have that problem.

We bought our Pioneer on a 2-day or 3-day sale at [...] That’s the nearest thing to a “steal” that you could possibly hope for on a top quality model such as this!

Regarding hookup, the delivery guys were just two guys in a hurry to finish all their deliveries. They wanted to leave the unopened carton on our porch and drive away. We insisted they unbox the set and place it on our stand in the living room and wait while we turned it on to make sure it worked before they left.

For this review to be balanced we should say something negative about the TV. OK, here it is: Plasma TVs radiate a fair amount of heat from the screen. Right now we’re having a local heat wave with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees each day. Adding extra heat from the Pioneer TV doesn’t help our air-conditioning much!

5 Stars Superb Viewing
Replaced my 3 year old Sony XBR1 40″ LCD with a Pioneer KURO 5020FD in February 2009. The Sony was a great set & my 1st HDTV, but as it was 720P and I wanted a full 1080P Panel, I decided hit the reviews.

After reading many professional reviews and ownwer opinions, I decided on a Samsung 850 46″ LCD. Picture quality was/is my 1st and foremost concern, and while the Samsung was excellent in many ways, it just did not have the ‘Natural’ look I was hoping for and off angle viewing was not good.

I decided to return the Samsung and replace it with a Pioneer KURO 50″ Plasma. It was on sale, which helped my decision, but it turned out to be the best television purchase I have ever made. What a fabulous viewing experience! Deep,rich, natural colors. Bright and clear, day or night. So much depth it is almost 3D. Pioneer is/was known as the top of shelf in Plasma or any other HDTV, now I know why.

My advice…get one while you still can, you won’t be sorry. Superb viewing.

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