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Pioneer PDP 436XDE - 43" PureVision plasma TV - widescreen - 720p - HDTV monitor
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £799.00Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
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Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Leads the pack at the moment
(5 out of 5) by D. I. Shipley on Jun 8, 2006 (Gravesend, KENT United Kingdom)Basically if you are after a 42" to 43" Flat Screen TV then the Pioneer is the choice for best picture. It gives a better picture than any rival manufacturer on either Plasma or LCD.
The superb picture is a result of Pioneer's Purevision system.
Exclusive to Pioneer, Purevision ensures that contrast is pin sharp, colours are clean and are not distorted, and black in particular is is beautifuly defined, with hues of incredible depth and clarity.
The fuzziness of colours like black you would expect on other Flat Screen TVs is simply non existent.
Watch a black and white film on this Plasma display and you will see what I mean.
I have foregone the optional side speakers and have plugged mine into a 6.1 Home Cinema System. Therefore, I cannot give any opinion on the performance of these side speakers.
However, I would recommend a good HDMI DVD player to go with this Plasma Display. Look no further than the magnificent Denon 1920 DVD player which gives superb HDMI pictures, in conjunction with the Pioneer Plasma Screen.
One drawback of the Pioneer Plasma Screen is that it will clearly show up not so great pictures at source eg VHS, old TV programmes, DVDs with poor picture transfer etc.
Caution! Be wary of leaving TV menus on screen for too long eg on screen menus for various channels, news show menus etc.
Being a Plasma screen means that these images if left on screen too long, will cause a burnt in image. If that happens, run the tv on a normal programme for at least 20 mins and it will usually clear it. Leave such an image on there though for too long though and it will cause a permanently burnt in image.
Also when cleaning the screen and surround, invest in a Fibre Free cloth. Follow Pioneer's instructions re being able to use flannels or soft cloths and you will end up scratching these surfaces, in particular the gloss black surround. To repeat, the only cloth that will clean these surfaces safely is a Fibre Free cloth.
If you do end up scratching the Gloss Surround though, an application of a DVD/CD Restorer such as Bib Polish will normally reduce such scratching by 90% to 95%.
The cautionary notes aside, this remains a magnificent Plasma Screen, and well worth the additional money over its rivals. That superb picture alone will quickly make you forget any extra cost.
I have had my Pioneer Plasma Screen for 7 months now and am still absolutely delighted with it.
I think you will feel the same way after purchasing one of these beauties.
The superb picture is a result of Pioneer's Purevision system.
Exclusive to Pioneer, Purevision ensures that contrast is pin sharp, colours are clean and are not distorted, and black in particular is is beautifuly defined, with hues of incredible depth and clarity.
The fuzziness of colours like black you would expect on other Flat Screen TVs is simply non existent.
Watch a black and white film on this Plasma display and you will see what I mean.
I have foregone the optional side speakers and have plugged mine into a 6.1 Home Cinema System. Therefore, I cannot give any opinion on the performance of these side speakers.
However, I would recommend a good HDMI DVD player to go with this Plasma Display. Look no further than the magnificent Denon 1920 DVD player which gives superb HDMI pictures, in conjunction with the Pioneer Plasma Screen.
One drawback of the Pioneer Plasma Screen is that it will clearly show up not so great pictures at source eg VHS, old TV programmes, DVDs with poor picture transfer etc.
Caution! Be wary of leaving TV menus on screen for too long eg on screen menus for various channels, news show menus etc.
Being a Plasma screen means that these images if left on screen too long, will cause a burnt in image. If that happens, run the tv on a normal programme for at least 20 mins and it will usually clear it. Leave such an image on there though for too long though and it will cause a permanently burnt in image.
Also when cleaning the screen and surround, invest in a Fibre Free cloth. Follow Pioneer's instructions re being able to use flannels or soft cloths and you will end up scratching these surfaces, in particular the gloss black surround. To repeat, the only cloth that will clean these surfaces safely is a Fibre Free cloth.
If you do end up scratching the Gloss Surround though, an application of a DVD/CD Restorer such as Bib Polish will normally reduce such scratching by 90% to 95%.
The cautionary notes aside, this remains a magnificent Plasma Screen, and well worth the additional money over its rivals. That superb picture alone will quickly make you forget any extra cost.
I have had my Pioneer Plasma Screen for 7 months now and am still absolutely delighted with it.
I think you will feel the same way after purchasing one of these beauties.
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Gobsmackingly good, regret free monitor
(5 out of 5) by Criticaleyes on Jul 13, 2006 (Embra, Scoatlunt)Sometimes with HD recorded SD broadcast digital TV (e.g. Lost) or the best of DVD (e.g. Lemony Snicket) the picture is gobsmackingly three dimensional like no CRT or LCD I've ever seen.
If you watch a lot of 4:3 DVD (old movies or TV on DVD) the side bars are grey not black which you may find offputting BUT... what they don't tell you in the shop is that the side bars can 'auto fill' with a B&W exploded version of the L&R edges of the 4:3 picture giving you a kind of 16:9 illusion (purists please note: TV and cinema are all about illusion). I find the effect works really well as it has been set-up intelligently, i.e. the perspective of lines running out of the 4:3 screen (e.g. stair bannisters, road kerbs, etc.) often nearly match up with the fill. Many scenes work well this way especially dark scenes (well, duh). Maybe an exception is when the actors elbow or actresses arse are blown up in this way, but it's a good illusion none the less. Check this out B&W movie fans. B&W looks gorgeous on this monitor!
The PIP is useful if you want to compare how a CinemaScope movie has been reframed for 4:3 (a bit pointless in this era but many early transfers to DVD used VHS masters so you may have 'em in your collection!) or how a 4:3 has been cropped for 16:9 (there's a lot of this about but they don't necessarily tell you on the box, e.g. Welles' Touch Of Evil DVD).
This monitor shows only what's there. I just watched the very grainy, VHS artefacty Peter Gabriel Secret World DVD and loved it. Maybe be this should have remained in 4:3? Don't blame it on the plasma... have a word with the greedy DVD mastering people. Who cares when the picture is all it can be? Enjoy the best!
If you watch a lot of 4:3 DVD (old movies or TV on DVD) the side bars are grey not black which you may find offputting BUT... what they don't tell you in the shop is that the side bars can 'auto fill' with a B&W exploded version of the L&R edges of the 4:3 picture giving you a kind of 16:9 illusion (purists please note: TV and cinema are all about illusion). I find the effect works really well as it has been set-up intelligently, i.e. the perspective of lines running out of the 4:3 screen (e.g. stair bannisters, road kerbs, etc.) often nearly match up with the fill. Many scenes work well this way especially dark scenes (well, duh). Maybe an exception is when the actors elbow or actresses arse are blown up in this way, but it's a good illusion none the less. Check this out B&W movie fans. B&W looks gorgeous on this monitor!
The PIP is useful if you want to compare how a CinemaScope movie has been reframed for 4:3 (a bit pointless in this era but many early transfers to DVD used VHS masters so you may have 'em in your collection!) or how a 4:3 has been cropped for 16:9 (there's a lot of this about but they don't necessarily tell you on the box, e.g. Welles' Touch Of Evil DVD).
This monitor shows only what's there. I just watched the very grainy, VHS artefacty Peter Gabriel Secret World DVD and loved it. Maybe be this should have remained in 4:3? Don't blame it on the plasma... have a word with the greedy DVD mastering people. Who cares when the picture is all it can be? Enjoy the best!