Pioneer PDP-LX508G (50-inch plasma)

By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Feb 4, 2008

While you have probably heard this a million times, it is still a fact that plasma TVs do generally offer deeper blacks for flat panels. This is due to their self-illuminating nature which eliminates backlighting, the main bottleneck for their rivals from the LCD camp. Ironically, it's the now-defunct CRTs that are still the undisputed benchmark when it comes to true blacks. Sometimes, these old technologies may not be as irrelevant as we think.

Design

The overall design of the new Kuros has evolved little over the years since the panel and media kit combination was dropped in favor of a one-box solution. Like its past predecessors, the PDP-LX508G is again dressed head to toe in black piano finish. The shimmer here is achieved via a thick overlay which insulates the underlying metal shell. This approach minimizes fingerprint stains but is still scratch-prone like most comparable finishes. Lastly, to echo our inhouse video producer's sentiments, the minimalist frontal is so bare that there is simply too little to show off.

As with its premium offerings, this TV is built like a tank reinforced with a metal skeleton. This adds rigidity to compensate for its 120mm-thick depth as well as necessary strength to carry a pair of side bolt-on loudspeakers. The entire 30kg-plus ensemble is, in turn, held upright by an L-shaped stand which secures the panel firmly but lacks a swiveling function. While we appreciate the stereo imaging benefits of these widely spaced loudspeakers, their placements are directly in the way of the corner A/V inputs and TV controls which compromise accessibility.

The beefy bundled remote not only excels in versatility with a cool four-way multi-brand/function control, it also ranks high in build and convenience. For starters, there is this brushed metal skin which delivers a very solid feel in hand. Toggling between video inputs is a hassle-free affair courtesy of seven dedicated buttons. That said, there is still minor room for improvements. For example, button illumination offered by the Bravia X is definitely one area worth exploring. If not, at least the input keys could have been better labeled instead of simply being numbered.

For the adventurous, there is an assortment of audio-visual settings in the software menu to keep you occupied for hours. Besides fundamental brightness and sharpness controls, we counted 23 advanced variants for further customization. Among them are four noise reduction options and SpyderTV Pro-friendly advanced grayscale cuts and gains. The latter is, however, grouped under the color temperature submenu instead of two independent configurations. In case you fall under the A/V-illiterate bunch, there are six preset picture modes optimized for different program genres.

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