Friday, October 10, 2008

vs. Kuro 8G improvements


The 2008 second generation Kuro plasma HDTV (9G panel) is an amazingly beautiful sight to behold. It is an incremental improvement over the previous Kuro 8G series and here is a list of the changes:

improvements:
  • 5x deeper blacks for improved contrast ratio
  • black level luminance changed from 0.004 fL to 0.001 fL
  • all models have a native 1920x1080p resolution
  • panel is 1.2" thinner and 10 pounds lighter
  • new redesigned remote control
  • improved Graphical User Interface (GUI)
  • clear-QAM tuner
  • HDMI 1.3 now with Deep Color support
  • three more aspect ratio settings (Auto & Wide modes)
  • inputs labels can now have custom names
  • automatic 3:2 pulldown @ 60Hz for PureCinema 72Hz mode
  • non-Elite models have light sensor for optimum video mode
  • non-Elite models have DLNA Home Media Gallery (HMG) via Ethernet and USB
  • energy save modes
  • energy star compliant (less than 1W standby)
  • MSRP is $1000 less

features removed:
  • one of the YCbCr component video inputs has been removed
  • TV Guide On Screen Interactive v9 removed
  • cableCARD slot removed
  • video processing controls removed on the non-Elite models
  • one of the analog NTSC tuners has been removed
  • one the RF antenna inputs has been removed

Many of the new features are very nice and useful. The main disappointment is the removal on the non-Elite's of the video processing controls (gamma, noise reduction, DRE, black level, ACL, ...).

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