Topic: Pioneer PDP-LX5090 Review

[Vincent]

Please discuss our Pioneer PDP-LX5090 review in this forum thread. We're still running in the plasma before performing full calibration and commenting on its picture quality, so please bear with us.

Warmest regards
Vincent

[Ballysteroids]

How mean, drip feeding us info. I was surprised by the 1k reduction in price. Looking forward to seeing what, if anything, is missing as a result.

Does it mean there will be loads of cheap  LX5080's soon?

[hotzenplotz]

PLEASE have someone look at it who sees the yellow flashes/phosphor trails/rainbow effect, and have him/her comment on it (e.g. better/worse compared to 5080).
I know that every plasma has them, but since I have a pretty good idea where they come from, I'm pretty sure that the intensity of the effect depends on various factors (like phosphors used, sub field cound/frequency and the algorithm used for sub field shifting/distribution).

Or maybe you could get a high-speed camera and just shoot a video for every plasma-review

[mapstart]

Honestly, the wait is killing me... I am checking every day since the teaser came out.

Have you any idea how long it will be before the review is completed?

[Ballysteroids]

Assuming you are having fun with the Pio and are blown away by the performance, is the beast as callibrated by your good self being sold by TLC when you are done or are you going to keep it as a reference model?

The tension is still killing me!

[JAB]

In the test is says:

... In a dark room suitable for critical viewing, assuming we peg peak brightness (100% stimulus white) of a TV to SMPTE’s recommendation of 30 foot-Lamberts (too much brighter would look uncomfortable… remember it’s a dark room), ...

Where can I find more about this recommendation?
If this means you have to set the contrast value of your plasma screen to 80% (and no blooming ofcourse), this value is still the setting to go for? Doesn't it 'harm' your plasma screen when setting the contrast so high?

[xaje]

Does anyone think it's worth waiting to see if Pioneer will launch the PDP-LX5090H for Freesat

[meridius]

I read this on your site

For console gaming, there are 3 ways to minimise input lag on the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 plasma HDTV:

Setting [Game Control Pref] to "On" in [Game] mode
Engaging [PC] mode by setting [Option] > [HDMI Input] > [Signal Type] to "PC"

Connecting via VGA input (which basically uses [PC] mode)
In each of these scenarios, we measured the input lag on Pioneer PDP-LX5090 to be equal to our resident Samsung F96 LED-backlit LCD TV that was set to [Game] mode. Otherwise, the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 would be 30ms slower.

Just like previous Kuro plasmas, the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 was extremely resistant to image retention/ screenburn. That said, there's no harm in following our plasma screenburn prevention advice... at least for the first 200 hours.



In [Game] mode, the default [Colour Space] is "1", and we saw no reason to change it knowing that not many games are mastered to broadcast industry standard anyway. We did tone [Sharpness] down to its minimum value of "-15" to prevent excessive edge enhancement from aggravating in-game aliasing. We also engaged [Dot-By-Dot] mode for 1:1 pixel mapping, and [Game Control Pref] for the least amount of input lag.

With these settings in place, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue was absolutely dripping with detail, vibrance and depth on the Pioneer PDP-LX5090... and we had no complaints about the gaming response either. Fast motion was rendered fluently with minimal blurring, though as is the case with most plasmas, a select few viewers whose eyes are more sensitive to the temporal fluctuations of plasma cells might notice green/ yellow flashes (a.k.a. phosphor trails) on fast-moving, high-contrast edges. We did not witness any.


for the xbox 360 which does not have a hdmi port, so if i want to use the orb and have the least input lag i would need to

1 use a component cable select 720p or 1080i
2 select game mode pref to on
3 engaged [Dot-By-Dot] mode for 1:1 pixel mapping
4 turn on orb to what setting i want
5 [Colour Space] is "1"

if i am not bothered about the orb i just use

1 vga cable
2 select pc mode

is this what hdtvreview are saying

if this is right would i get less picture quality or res using a component cable over vga ?

[trevoralves]

I read your review of the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 and rushed out to buy a set. I am very impressed with the picture but I would probably get a better picture if I was able to calibrate the greyscale accurately, I have purchased a copy of DVE.

I noticed that in the Plasma Calibration Article on the website there is a statement "When I have time I will write up a step-by-step tutorial on how to calibrate your plasma using specific patterns in DVE". Have this tutorial been written yet?

Also would it be possible to post the calibrated settings for this TV.

Thanks

Trevor

[SlingShotUK]

Hi there Vincent,

Just finished reading your excellent (as always) Pioneer 5090 review. I've had the set myself for about 5 weeks and while I'm really happy with it, I recently discovered what has been bugging me since I got it - the dreaded dirty screen...

I was just wondering if when you say in the cons section:

"Subtle uneven blotches/ streaks on screen (mostly invisible during normal viewing)"

Is this what people normally refer to as 'dirty screen'? It was good to see you have put this as I think it's what I've been seeing.
The only thing is I'm not finding it that subtle although I think I may just be very aware of it now.. It's very clear when playing GTA 4 on the PS3 and I move the view across the sky for instance. Also easy to see on DTV via my HTPC. On lower quality sources like Sky via RGB Scart I see it all the time.
It's like looking through a windscreen with dirt on it.

I was just wondering if you would be willing to carry out a little test for me if you still have the 5090?

It's a test using the PS3 picture viewer in 200% zoom mode while panning over a photo with a skyline shown. This shows the problem very clearly on my set and it looks quite pronouced (like the image is being scrolled beind a mesh or filter on the screen which has dirty black patches on it and some faint vertical black lines and certain intervals).

The post is on the AV Forums. Here is the link and the instructions are at the bottom:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698893&page=4

I know it's asking a lot for you to take the time to try this but I would *really* appreciate hearing what you make of the effect you see, as I massively respect your skill and knowledge in this area.

I am basically trying to work out how bad my set is in regards to the dirty screen to determine whether it's worth getting a replacement. If you don't see much of an effect when trying the above test I may have reason to do this..

Massive thanks in advance if you can do this for me but I totally understand if you don't have the time or if the 5090 has gone back now.

Thanks again for a top review - you really do offer a superb resource and service to the community... Especially to us overly 'enthusiastic' users..

Cheers,
James.

[L0W]

I am curious how the LX5090 handles 24P sources.  I see in the review that 'judder is eliminated' by engaging True Cinema.  That hints that 24P is handled via 2:3 pulldown without True Cinema and the judder is eliminated by interpolation with True Cinema.  Is that the correct conclusion to draw?

[aneil]

HI Vinc, thanks for your brilliant reviews.

I have purchased the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 and I am not disappointed, it is AMAZING. So far I have left it to the standard settings but please can you post your calibration information. Also, would you suggest performing the screen burn too or would this be taken care of once calibrated?

I got undermount speakers and they are awesome, miles better than the standard speakers you get and I am not in a rush to add any surround speaker yet.

Thanks again for helping me decide on my TV. Ive been looking for over 3 years! 

[aneil]

HI Vinc, any chance you can post a reply to my optimum calibration settings for the PDP-LX5090      cheerz

[jimmypapa]

I before bought roughly 2 months, the pioneer 5090H.
the last 3 days where I dealt little with regulations, I observed the following.
looking at him [panel] in the absolute dark, with or without signal, as long as it right rolls the eye from to the left, [panel]more white.
 that is to say while from the left corner exists very good and dense black, left has a click more brightness.
they is visible from differences sources (ps3, dvd, blueray player) and of course from different entries.
they is not the day with the night, other it exists difference.
they is reason or it will be supposed does look at him some technician?
 
thanks

[jimmypapa]

I before bought roughly 2 months, the pioneer 5090H.
the last 3 days where I dealt little with regulations, I observed the following.
looking at him [panel] in the absolute dark, with or without signal, as long as it right rolls the eye from to the left, [panel]more white.
 that is to say while from the left corner exists very good and dense black, left has a click more brightness.
they is visible from differences sources (ps3, dvd, blueray player) and of course from different entries.
they is not the day with the night, other it exists difference.
they is reason or it will be supposed does look at him some technician?
 
thanks

help.....??