Kuro beats Sharp Elite PRO-X5FD

The Sharp Elite is an LED backlit LCD panel available in both 60" (PRO-60X5FD) and 70" (PRO-70X5FD) sizes. The Sharp Elite is THX certified and it has 216+ LED local dimming zones. Back in January 2011 Sharp licensed Pioneer's "Elite" brand name which explains why the Elite logo on the bottom of the TV looks so familiar. CNET reviewed the Sharp Elite PRO-X5FD and compared its picture quality to the "legendary" 2008 Pioneer Kuro Elite. Here are some choice quotes from the review:

"The Kuro still produces a better picture overall"

and

"The only TV that's better is the long-discontinued Pioneer Kuro"

and

"You'll see better blacks from the Kuro"


CNET also said that the Sharp Elite's color accuracy fell short of the Kuro. It is amazing that 3+ years later no TV has matched the picture quality of the Kuro. Maybe 2012 will be the year that the Pioneer Kuro is bested? You can read the full CNET article here:

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sharp-elite-pro-60x5fd/4505-6482_7-35004013.html

Kuro beats Panasonic G20/25

It has been a sad 15 months since Pioneer canceled the Kuro 10G and said it was leaving the plasma TV market. Well, technology keeps marching forward, or does it? Panasonic recently released its 2010 series G20/25 plasma TV's. According to this CNET review:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20004882-1.html

The 2008 Kuro 9G still beats it when it comes to picture quality and black level. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure the Panasonic G20/25 is a fantastic TV but come on. It has been 2+ years since the initial release of the Kuro 9G, which is like forever in the tech world, and the competitors still can't beat the Kuro. Maybe 2011 will be the year when the Kuro gets to pass the torch?

KRL-37V LCD

Pioneer releases it's first Kuro LCD in Europe. This LCD may be available next year in North America. The bulk of this 37" 1920x1080 TV is manufactured by Sharp. About 18 months ago Sharp invested about $400 million in Pioneer for an 18% ownership stake. The Pioneer Kuro LCD product line is joint venture with Sharp and is available in 32", 37", and 46" sizes. Pioneer color filters and some Pioneer electronics are used. The MSRP for the KRL-37V is $1721 USD. Technically this LCD HDTV isn't a ninth generation (9G) plasma panel but it is part of the current Kuro product line.

A standard Cold Cathode Florescent (CCFL) backlit as is common on Sharp LCD panels was used in the KRL-37V. This HDTV has Pioneer's PureCinema processing feature and 100 Hz processing which is common with European TVs (think 50 Hz AC power lines). PureCinema has a "smooth" option which interpolates and operates at 100 Hz and it also has a mode that detects the 2:3 pull down of 24 FPS movies. On the Kuro plasma's this detected 24 Hz film source is run at a native 72 Hz 3:3 sequence which eliminates pull down judder. It is unknown if the KRL-37V LCD does this or if it runs detected film sources at a 100 Hz frame rate. Since 100 does not evenly divide by 24 this will create some sort of frame rate mismatch. Not sure of the benefits of 100 Hz.

Jacks

• 3 HDMI 1.3a
• 1 YPbPr
• 1 S-Video
• 1 composite
• 2 SCART
• optical Toslink ouput
  

There isn't a USB or Ethernet jack so no DLNA and no Home Media Guide (HMG). The remote control looks a lot like the one that comes with the 5020 and 6020. Pioneer's purple high contrast filter improves the black level while not reducing the bright white level.

Good

• black levels
• accurate colors
  

Bad

• heavy aluminum chassis
• standard LCD motion blur issues
• standard LCD off-axis viewing angle problems
• lack of a native 24 Hz multiple frame rate
  

The specifications for the KRL-37V seem very similar to the Sharp Aquos LC37D64U 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV which is available for $857. The Sharp LCD model has DLNA but it is missing all of the Pioneer modifications. Do these additions make it worth an almost $900 premium?

The reviewer said that the KRL-37V had very good performance for an LCD but lacks having a "truly groundbreaking black level response." Unfortunately reviewer said that the KRL-37V does not live up to the Kuro name.

Source

• http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/review/2008/11/03/Pioneer-KURO-KRL-37V-37in-LCD-TV/p1
• Sharp Aquos LC37D64U 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV