Home > Consumer Reviews > Pioneer PRO 111FD - 50" Elite KURO plasma TV with built-in network media player - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV

The rumors are true. The Pioneer Pro 111FD 50" Kuro Elite HDTV offers the best picture and range of color I've seen. We researched Sony, Samsung, and Pioneer and found the Kuro to be the best. Yes it's expensive- but it's worth the additional investment.

I purchased the Pioneer Pro 111-FD a little over a week ago and I absolutely love it. I am pretty familiar with HDTVs since I purchased my first 1080p TV in October of 2006. I am upgrading from a SONY 46 inch XBR3 LCD which I also loved. The colors on that TV would just pop out and the sound was great as well. There were a few things about that TV (and many others on the market today) that I could just not get past and that was the black level. My old SONY LCD was top of the line and had better blacks than most TVs even on the market today, but once I saw the Pioneer TV at a magnolia Best Buy I was blown away at how black the blacks were. I mean the blacks on the TV are like no other, and no plasma, LCD, or even LCD with LED lighting can compare to this Pioneers amazing black level especially when viewing from any angle. The colors look more realistic and no so cartoonish and fake. I have been accused of being a huge SONY fan boy and some people even accused me of working for SONY because of the TV review I did for my old TV here on amazon in late 2006. I have always loved Sony products, but lately I have been disappointed with the direction (greed) Sony is going in. I never thought I would purchase a TV other than SONY, but seeing is believing and this PIONEER Kuro pro 111-fd is the best looking and most highly rated HDTV on the market today and I researched this for months. I also loved the fact that unlike my LCD the colors don't get washed out of foggy like when you're watching it from an angle or not directly front and center. Even though I am familer with HDTV I am new to the whole plasma scene and was concerned about plasmas not performing good in high elevation and the risk of burn in. I can assure you I have NO problem with this TV working here in Colorado or image burn in. I did do a 150 hour break in process to evenly wear out the TV pixels. They say the first 100-200 hours are the most vulnerable for plasmas that's why the recommend the break in process and watching only material that feels the entire screen to break in the plasma properly. After the break in process you are good to watch whatever you want. I love the 24fps that my previous TV never had. I also love the 4 position Split Screen picture in picture which lets you watch 2 things at the same time such as a blu-ray movie, and a TV show. You can also change the picture in picture to a little window instead and position it in any of the 4 corners of the screen. One other thing that stands out for me is the sound this TV gives out which is amazing and the best I have ever heard on a TV. I highly encourage anyone who has or plans to get this tv to Google "Pioneer Pro 111fd break in process" to get more info on how to properly break in this TV. I highly recommend this amazing HDTV. Sadly this will be the last generation of Kuro TVS that Pioneer will ever produce, but they are going out on top and with a bang. All future HDTVs will be measured against this TV.



Below is more detailed info directly from Pioneers site regarding the Pioneer pro 111-FD.

Plasma Technology
High-Definition Resolution 1920 x 1080p
50" Class (49.85" Diagonal)

16:9 Aspect Ratio

Deep Encased Cell Structure/Crystal Emissive Layer

Improved Color Filter For Enhanced Contrast

Improved ASIC Video Processing and Scaling

Detachable Side Speakers

Plasma Features
New & Improved Optimum Video Mode

Smooth Film Mode

4 Independent HDMI® 1.3 Inputs

Room Light Sensor for Automatic Picture Adjustment

HD Wide Mode Mode 1 / Mode 2
Standard 3:2 (60Hz) Pulldown

Advanced PureCinema with 3:3 (72Hz) Pulldown

Fully Integrated ATSC & NTSC Tuner with Clear QAM

Home Media Gallery

ISF(tm)ccc Calibration Ready

Independant Gamma Control (R/G/B) For Heightened Color Calibration

Sound Control (Synchronized Sound) Off / On
V-Chip Parental Control

Remote Control New Design - Aluminum Plated - Illuminated / Preset / Learning
On-Screen Display Eng / Fre / Spa
New & Improved Graphical User Interface (GUI)

New Energy Save Mode Standard / Save 1 / Save 2 / Picture Off
Energy Star Compliant

Picture Settings
A/V Selection Memory Optimum / Performance / Movie / Sports / PURE / Game / Standard / ISF-Day / ISF-Night / ISF Auto (PC input:only Standard, User & ISF)
Aspect Ratio Control 9 Positions: Auto* / Full / Dot by Dot / Zoom* / Cinema* / 4:3 / Wide* (Only for SD) Wide 1* (Only for HD) Wide* 2 (Only for HD) *Except PC Signal
Advanced Picture-In-Picture 4 Positions
Picture-Side-Picture 3 Positions
Still Picture Capability

Seamless Orbiter Off / Mode 1 / Mode 2
Auto Size Off / Natural / Wide-Zoom
Side Mask Detection 2 Modes (Black / Black and Illustrated)
Side Mask Brightness Fixed / Auto
Video Pattern White Bar
Game Control Preference Off / On
Intelligent Mode Off / Mode 1 / Mode 2
Room Light Sensor & New External Color Sensor Off / Mode 1 / Mode 2
Home Media Gallery
IP Network Compatibility Designed to DLNA(tm) Guidelines DLNA Version 1.5
Microsoft PlaysForSure® Protected Content Version 2.20
Supported Video Formats WMV9, MPEG1, MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, MPEG4 (SP/ASP), MPEG4 (H.264/AVC)
Supported Audio Formats WMA9, MP3, Linear PCM (WAV), HE-AAC, MPEG-4 AAC
Supported Photo Formats JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP
Zoom

Slide Show Effect 8 Patterns
Video Processing Technology
DRE Picture Off / High / Mid / Low
Black Level Off / On
ACL Off / On
Enhance Mode 1 / 2 / 3
Gamma 1 / 2 / 3
Color Temperature Adjustment 5 Settings (Off / Mid-High / Mid / Mid-Low / Low)
CTI - Color Transient Improver Yes
Color Temperature Manual Adjustment

Color Management

Color Space 1 / 2
3D Digital Noise Reduction 4 Settings (Off / High / Mid / Low)
Field Noise Reduction 4 Settings (Off / High / Mid / Low)
Block Noise Reduction Off / On
Mosquito Noise Reduction Off / On
Tuner Noise Reduction Off / On (for each channel)
3 DYC 4 Settings (Off / High / Mid / Low)
I-P Mode 1 / 2 / 3
Manual Video Adjustment (Before & After Comparison)

Video & Audio Inputs
Independent HDMI 1.3 4 (with Deep Color Support)
HDMI Inputs - Ability To Accept 480i / 480p / 720p / 1080i / 1080p (24/60 Hz) Signals

Component 1
Composite 3
S-Video 1
USB (Mass Storage Class)

PC

LAN (10/100 Base-T Ethernet)

Video & Audio Outputs
Optical Digital Audio (Dolby® Digital/PCM)

Audio LR

Subwoofer

SR

IR Repeater

Headphone

Speaker Out

Audio Technology
New 18-Watt Stereo Digital Amplifier w/TruBass 2-Way Stereo Speakers

Sound Effect

SRS Off / Low / Mid / High
SRS Focus Off / Low / Mid / High
SRS TruBass Off / Low / Mid / High
SRS Definition Off / Low / Mid / High
Auto Volume Control Off / On
Synchronized with Optimum Mode

Surround Effect with Headphone Out

Sound Setting Memory (Per A/V Mode, Per Input)

New Audio LSI

Audio Output 18W+18W
Dimensions
Carton Dimensions 52-7/8" x 38-3/8" x 20" (W x H x D)
Carton Weight 115 lbs. 1 oz.
Panel without Speaker 48-17/32" x 28-15/32" x 3-21/32" (W x H x D)
Panel (w/detachable side speakers) 56-7/8" x 28-15/32" x 3-21/32" (W x H x D)
Panel Weight 74 lbs. 5 oz.
Panel Weight (w/detachable side speakers & stand) 88 lbs.

The pro-111fd makes such an awesome PC monitor. way better then the Samsung plasma 650. The Samsung did not overscan though. The Samsung was top rated by consumer reports. geesh- its not even in the same league!!
After I saw the elite, the Samsung went right back to Amazon. Amazon took the Samsung back, and refunded my money, in full, including shipping both ways. Amazon gets 5 very solid stars.

The Pioneer seems to run cooler than the Samsung-even with the power save function turned off on the pioneer.

There are annoyances with the pioneer but I still have no regrets.

The Samsung had better HDMI control functionality:
If you turned on the blu-ray player, the Samsung would automatically turn on and the change input to the player! I miss that.

The Samsung allows HDMI control for EACH HDMI input. With the Pioneer, you have to go to setup and choose a SINGLE input.
The pioneer HDMI control is really lame. The HDMI control worked fine with my Panasonic blu ray and the Samsung (except the pause button.) It is flaky and thus unusable with the Pioneer. Tech support said that HDMI is flaky and not a good standard. geesh. Pass the buck!

I miss the swivel stand too.

The Samsung remote was bigger and more usable in darkness.
The pioneer remote is difficult in darkness.

The Home Media Gallery is not much more than a curiosity to me, even after I setup a freeware DNA server for it.
Just too inflexible and I am spoiled by having an XP box plugged in to it with Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I would have traded the HMG for the swivel stand.

The included speakers are awesome for tv speakers-too bad I am not using them.

I am just whining because the picture quality more than makes up for the relatively petty grievances.



Turning off the orbiter to avoid the over scan is scary, especially when connecting to the PC.

So here is what I did to the:

1. Auto hide task bar.
2. Set screen saver to 2 minutes.
3. Set desktop to Grey (18% or so)


I hope this is sufficient.
I like to view my photos on it.


BTW, the person complaining about the grey bars on the side during 4:3 viewing should know that you can turn them off or darken them a little. It is in the menu under setup or options.

simply put, this is the best television. picture quality is out of this world and not to mention the design of the television set is by far the most elegant of all televisions out in the market.

The best TV I have every owned. There is nothing bad about this TV. Working with Digital Plaza and Manna shipping was grate. The driver who dropped off the TV was a great help. Superb picture detail, incredible accuracy and the deep blacks and perfect whites all combine to produce as perfect a picture as current technology permits. Everything simply looks better on this set. I still have a lot to learn about this Pioneer TV it come with a lot of features. I was very scared to buy my first big TV on line. I always like to see the TV in the store to compare and see how pitcher looks. The stores only carry the low brand names with very few features. I am very happy I purchased this Pioneer TV. Now I have to upgrade my dish dvr and get a good Blu-ray player.