Pioneer Elite KURO PRO 111FD - Manual (Page 3)

viewing as well. The LCDs’
backlight controls (set to 3 for the
Samsung, 1 for the Sony) kept
their output levels in check.
The Sony and Panasonic LCD
sets offer motion-compensation
features that add interpolated
frames to upconvert 24-fps or
60-fps sources to the sets’ native
frame rate of 120 hertz. This
interpolation feature, which gives
film-based sources a smooth but
video-like look, was turned off for
the tests.
All of the sets provide the
option to display JPEG photos
and some types of videos. These
features were not tested.
I camouflaged the sets as much
as possible to conceal the brands
and models. But a fully blind test
was not really possible. Most of
our panelists know that LCDs
look worse off axis, so that was a
giveaway to the technologies
involved, at least by pairs. Editor
Shane arranged for the review
samples, so he knew the entrants
and their sizes, although he didn’t
know where they were positioned
(and he later admitted that he
guessed wrong on which of the
LCDs was which). Also, Scott
uses the same studio for his work,
so there was no way he could
avoid seeing the setup in progress.
(I was tempted to play with his
head by suggesting that I might
have moved the sets around the
night before, but I hadn’t, and I
didn’t.)
the Program Material
We began with excerpts from two
different standard-definition
DVDs: Legends of the Fall
(non-Superbit) and Shakespeare
in Love. These ran at 480p from
the players. (Many Blu-ray play-
ers, including the two Panasonics
we used here, will not output 480i
over HDMI.)
Following that, I showed two
to three short clips from each of
the following Blu-ray Discs: A
Passage to India, The Incredible
Hulk, Hidalgo, Madagascar,
Stargate: Continuum, and
Mission: Impossible III. The first
four of these were sent to the sets
at 1080p/24, the last two at 1080i
(converted to 1080i in the player
from the discs’ native 1080p/24).
In the afternoon session, the
panelists also requested to see the
opening belowdecks scenes from
Master and Commander: The Far
Side of the World (shown at
1080p/24).
All of the sets can display
1080p/24 as a direct multiple of
24 fps: 120 fps in the Samsung
and Sony, 72 fps in the Pioneer,
and 48 fps in the Panasonic. I ran
the Pioneer, Samsung, and Sony
in this mode. But the Panasonic
also offers the option to display a
24-fps source at either 1080p/48
or 1080p/60. I chose the latter.
The Panasonic’s peak-white
output at 1080p/48 drops by
about 30 percent at 1080p/48,
which limited its ability to match
the other sets’ peak brightness
settings. The Panasonic also
displayed noticeable flicker at the
48-fps setting.
the Judging
For the composite scores
presented for each TV, our
panelists judged the sets in four
specific performance categories:
black level, shadow detail, color,
and overall detail (resolution).
They judged the fifth category,
value, only at the end of the
testing, when I revealed the price
of each set. In the composite
scores for each set, I weighted the
first four categories equally. I
didn’t include value in this
performance rating but kept
it strictly separate. I rounded off
the raw scores to the nearest half
point on our five-point (five-
star) rating scale. Incidentally, the
references to he and she in the
comments are random and do
not necessarily provide a clue as
to the identity of the judge.
We didn’t rate the sets’
efficiency in the tests, but their
power draw is shown in the chart
on page 42. Power will depend on
the image displayed and the set’s
setup. There’s no single source or
setup that is completely represen-
tative. I used two different test-
pattern sources here, with the
same settings on each set that we
used in the panel tests. The power
at 100-percent peak white, full
field, is a worst case. The power
used with a 100-percent white
window is more typical of average
program material.
Let the games begin…
www.hometheatermag.com
The Pioneer looked great on pretty much
everything. I want one.
Michael J. Nelson