Pioneer 8G Owners Thread

[bumtious]

Ok by request here we go. more later

Lets keep in in one thread so we can all help each other and just look in one place of reference.

I have now attached 6 sets of setting text files for each type of source as promised, this is a calaboration between myself and Andrew Fee.

The HDMI settings are perfect D65, the others track the HDMI setting as close posible we found differences between sources using scart. There are 2 scart settings, try them both but the Sky one works for Sky SD.

Check back weekly as they may change, the first line is the date they were issued.

AMENDED 22nd February 2008 SONY PS3 SETTINGS text file added

The HDMI Video setting of auto will now work as Sony have fixed a bug with the ps3.

Review of the Pioneer 4280
Review of the Pioneer 508XD

************DO NOT PLAY WITH THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING**************

The get into the service menu do the following..

Enter the Service Menu
Start with the plasma turned OFF
Make sure you point the remote directly at the IR sensor in the tv

Press the i button (directly below 9) on the remote (just press, do not hold)
Wait 3 seconds
Press LEFT, UP, LEFT, RIGHT then POWER

If done correctly, the plasma turns on and the INFORMATION page is displayed, will change 3 times on its own quickly.


*********TO MAKE 4:3 SIDE BARS BLACK ONCE IN THE SERVIVE MENU**************

Press MUTE 3 times until the side bar screen is displayed at the bottom.

Press ENTER

Set:
Standard is set to 115 use left button to set to 0

*************************************

Next to show hours meter

once into the menu press mute to show panel factory

press enter

Then press down and you will see the hours.

Press HOME MENU to exit

************************************************** ***********************

[ozzzy189]

A good idea. Do i have to have one to post ?

[BYF]

wow great blacks there!

even looks nice and vibrant next to that window.

its probably too early to ask, but how does this TV handle fast motion, especially the quick panning shot? is it as good as CRT for retaining detail during these scenes?

[bumtious]

Originally Posted by BYF

wow great blacks there!

even looks nice and vibrant next to that window.

its probably too early to ask, but how does this TV handle fast motion, especially the quick panning shot? is it as good as CRT for retaining detail during these scenes?

Yes and no, the smooth images are via 1080P/24, this is awesome, things like footy which is a 1080i source still suffer from deinterlacing lag ie double image on fast scrolling text.

[mwomwell]

Okay, it's going to be great on HD material, the big question however is whats it like with SD material? - Freeview ITV quality etc.

[JeffD]

According to the manual, native res without overscan (so should be 1:1 pixel mapping) is supported over HDMI, although it appears only 60Hz might be supported, if someone has the time could they test this with a PC or scaler and also verify whether or not it supports native res at 50Hz as well.

[mark800]

My first impressions are:

• Black levels and contrast levels. These hit you first. Images just pop off the screen. Even when you turn the contrast right down, it's still better than the Panasonic at full contrast.
  
• Colours. Amazing. I'm sure the TV will stand out from the crowd in the show room.
  
• Ease of use. Not very good. There are too many settings, which need to be changed. For example, the HDMI inputs are not on as default, until you switch them on.
  
• Aesthetics. Compared to my Panasonic, it's a beautiful piece of kit.
  
• Blu-ray. This is THE TV for Blu-ray. With no motion judder, the picture quality is awesome. Very film-like and detail is amazing.
  
• Blurring/panning. While some have claimed greater clarity with camera pans, I cannot see it. It seems just the same as my Panasonic (which is better than LCD). On some settings, you see a bit of judder on fast pans. I will have to experiment further.
  
• Reflections. I sit in a light lounge and my Panasonic was a nightmare in the day. The new TV is a revelation.
  
• Halos. No halos on text. As clean as a whistle.
  
• Posterisation. With the Panasonic, you can often see distinct bands of colour. However, the Pioneer appears very clean, and I haven't seen anything.

So, overall, the only concern is with the de-interlacing/motion handling of the TV. Other that that, it seems great.

Edit: please note that the judder has been solved - see later posts. It's now silky smooth.

Here are the latest reviews:



http://blog.homecinemachoice.com/pag..._web_exclusive

[andrewfee]

Disappointing about the motion handling - I thought these resolved nearly the full panel resolution now with quick motion (whereas the Panasonics apparently lose at least 100 lines of resolution)

Have you tested for / noticed any of the plasma "rainbow" artefacts yet? Basically it's green trails behind bright moving objects, or blue/yellow flashes with big contrast changes. (it's much easier to spot if you turn colour to 0 on a TV - that way if you see any colour on the screen you know it still suffers from this problem)

[gizlaroc]

Originally Posted by mark800

So, overall, the only concern is with the de-interlacing/motion handling of the TV. Other that that, it seems great.

The motion used to really annoy me on previous generations of Pioneer too, I was hoping this was sorted.
The one thing that made me go with a Panasonic PW6 a few years ago was the way it looked like a big CRT compared with the Pioneer sat next to it, that hit me before the black levels.
How does it compare to your PX60? Motion I mean.

[ozzzy189]

Fast movement. Perhaps that's the other models forte ? The 'elites' or whatever they're calling them here, i read something about some kind of extra processing or summat. Then again, i could be way off.

[KennyMo1]

even tho you are disappointed with the fast motion, it's still much better than an lcd right?

[KennyMo1]

cheers mark, thats great news.

[D-Nice]

Originally Posted by mark800

[*]Blurring/panning. While some have claimed greater clarity with camera pans, I cannot see it. It seems just the same as my Panasonic (which is better than LCD). On some settings, you see a bit of judder on fast pans. I will have to experiment further.

What Pure Cinema setting are you using?

[enator]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

What Pure Cinema setting are you using?

Nice D-Nice is here

[CottonEye]

Great pics! Mark thanks -

Not to take you guys off topic but I want to place an order for the 5080XD, is the panel the same i.e. video pic processing with comparison to the 508XD?