Pioneer Kuro Lx Series - Who's Seen Them And What Do You Think?

[hobey123]

Got the LX508 in at work on Wednesday, I was absolutely floored by the picture quality. Even in the store, which was very brightly lit, the blacks were incredible.

But the pricetag is a bit scary and considering you can get the Pana 50" 1080p for $3997, it's a little hard to justify (in my eyes)

You can get it for considerably less than that now! It just had a price drop! Wonder if Pioneer will make some Price drops before XMAS?

[Guest scorpian007]

Exactly. I don't think the Pioneer will drop in price for a while.

But I'll let you guys know if I hear anything (I work at JB Hifi).

[ozboy]

Saw the LX508 at JB HiFi Nunawading today - picture was much sharper than anything else on display. They were running Bluray though.

50" is just a little too small, but then the price jumps $4K for 10 extra inches...

Edited November 3, 2007 by ozboy

[pi314]

Got the LX508 in at work on Wednesday, I was absolutely floored by the picture quality. Even in the store, which was very brightly lit, the blacks were incredible.

Which JB store was this?

[Aths]

I had a good long look at an XDA today, and Blacks were just fantastic, really in another calls to any other large display I have seen, color was also exceptional.

However one thing I noticed was how it handled motion, there was an overhead tracking shot from FTA of horse racing (as you would expect today!) and the grass just blended into a kind of smooth green background, in the same shot on the the other screens in the shop you could still make out that it was grass under the horses.

Can any one shed some light on this, it was really quite noticeable and would obviously give problems in other such fast motion shots, is there some type of motion smoothing system on these panels (that I assume can be turned off) ?

[DavoQ]

The LX508 and LX608 are on display in Perth at West Coast HiFi in Osborne Park. They have stock.

Just got back from having a look at them. Very impressed.

When I first looked at the XDA a few weeks ago, I was disappointed. First look at the LX508 today and was immediately impressed. Looked at some High Def material, but focussed mainly on the standard def from a set top box. The depth of the picture is very noticeable.

Spent about 45 mins playing around with the LX508, very happy. Didn't feel this way with the XDA.

As I was walking out of the store, I was stopped in my tracks by another screen that I caught out of the corner of my eye. From about 7 metres away, I thought, wow that screen looks really good too, I wonder what that is? Competition for the LX508, I will have to think again! As I got closer, I was relieved to find out it was the LX608. Interesting, as I felt it was a more objective analysis as I didn't know which screen it was until I got closer. Just as good as the 508, only bigger!

[bevancoleman]

Has anybody noticed that 509XDA seems to do a lot of dithering? I't not really noticable at 3m, but I can see it closer (was watching the 9HD loop).

I'm not convinced that any other display was handling it better (plasma or LCD) but it is quite notiable on the 508. Can it be turned off?

The Sony doesn't seem to do much dithering at all... though I did notice the background did look a bit posterized.

[Guest scorpian007]

Which JB store was this?

JB Belconnen

[pi314]

JB Belconnen

Cool - I know what I'll be doing tomorrow!

Strange thing is I rang JB Civic today and they didn't have the LX508 - they were expecting it in 2 weeks!

[optusman]

All of them are on display at Myer (including Pana Full HD). Was watching Monsters Inc. and with the LX you could see the hairs on the back of the monster pretty clearly. On the pana, you got jagged edges and the blacks aren't nearly as good. As for the XDA, pretty good but not as good as the LX although I thought the black levels were similar.

The one negative is that with the colour green sometimes the XDA loses definition, hasa anyone else seen this ?

The real test will be FTA / SD / sport etc but they haven't hooked that up yet.

I have to 100% agree with Owen, you have to be pretty close to the LX to notice the difference in resolution / sharpness, I'd say 2m max distance away from screen For me though, it feels too close and results in 'screen search.' Great set though

[Aths]

All of them are on display at Myer (including Pana Full HD). Was watching Monsters Inc. and with the LX you could see the hairs on the back of the monster pretty clearly. On the pana, you got jagged edges and the blacks aren't nearly as good. As for the XDA, pretty good but not as good as the LX although I thought the black levels were similar.

The one negative is that with the colour green sometimes the XDA loses definition, hasa anyone else seen this ?

The real test will be FTA / SD / sport etc but they haven't hooked that up yet.

I have to 100% agree with Owen, you have to be pretty close to the LX to notice the difference in resolution / sharpness, I'd say 2m max distance away from screen For me though, it feels too close and results in 'screen search.' Great set though

he one negative is that with the colour green sometimes the XDA loses definition, hasa anyone else seen this ?

Yes

I posted about this a few post ago, major issues with the horse racing coverage, even the LG near the XDA had more definition with moving grass, what is happening ?

[harrislp]

Saw an LX508A on display at David Jones in Chadstone Shopping centre (melbourne) playing the horse racing. Looked great, though it wasn't set up properly settings-wise. They also have a Blu-ray player hooked up to it, but didn't see that in action. Comparing to the XDA, I couldn't see a great deal of difference, but there is the peace of mind of 1080p I guess, and if you want a sixty-inch Pio, LX is the only way to get it. I wouldn't bother with the LX508A personally, but really, you can't go wrong whatever model you pick. They're all great screens, and I can't wait to get mine.

[Cooksta59]

Saw the LX 50" at DJ's Marion today with "Spiderman 3" fed from bluray...absolutely stunning.

so was the price tag$7999

[Guest scorpian007]

Cool - I know what I'll be doing tomorrow!

Strange thing is I rang JB Civic today and they didn't have the LX508 - they were expecting it in 2 weeks!

Yeah, we were very lucky to get one.

[JTM]

I saw the lx508a at JB Hi Fi at WaterGardens Shopping Centre, Sydenham. Beautiful for a plasma. But far as clarity and sharpness, I still reckon you can't go passed a CRT screen. So does anyone know why plasmas still don't have same clarity and sharpness as CRT's. Although the guy at JB Hi Fi said it wasn't as sharp because they have a heap of tv's hooked upto the same antenna. Also he said it had only done 4 hours and it'll be better once past 100 hours of operation.

[natecochrane]

Popped into Klapp in Chapel Street, Windsor (Vic) where they had the 608 and 508 LXs displayed. Running the optimal demo disc the colour and contrast were striking -- remember when the Sony black Trinitrons came out many years ago? So black and vivid were the colours it almost hurt the eyes. I am not sure that is necessarily a good thing ;-)

They didn't have FTA or other sources running through it and I didn't have time to stop and chat but Klapp could put those through on request, I am sure.

But compared to the XDA is it worth the $$$? That's a personal opinion and everyone will have theirs but for me the answer is "yes" -- just barely. Looking to the future I don't want to have to upgrade to Full1080 in a couple years even as prices come down; I just don't want the hassle.

And my viewing room is a shade too small for the 608 -- it would dominate proceedings, even if hung on the wall. But the 508 at a viewing distance of 2.4 and 4.2 metres would be about right, Goldilocks.

BTW JB Chapel Street doesn't have the new Kuros but speaking to the assistants I get the impression they can get them in easily enough on request.

[seoighe]

I viewed the 508/608 LX and the 508 XDA today at West Coast Hi Fi in Osborne Park WA today. I was blown away by all three.

Watched the HD demo disc and Channel 10. The quality of the picture from the demo disc was stunning and from Channel 10 was very good.

I am a relative newbie to HDTV and I must say that I was unable to distinguish between the LX and the XDA with the exception of slightly better blacks on the LX. I am sure people with more discerning eyes than mine could pick up other differences.

However, I could see a significant difference between the Pioneers and the Panasonic Plasmas.

[here2rock1503559562]

Saw an LX508A on display at David Jones in Chadstone Shopping centre (melbourne) playing the horse racing. Looked great, though it wasn't set up properly settings-wise. They also have a Blu-ray player hooked up to it, but didn't see that in action. Comparing to the XDA, I couldn't see a great deal of difference, but there is the peace of mind of 1080p I guess, and if you want a sixty-inch Pio, LX is the only way to get it. I wouldn't bother with the LX508A personally, but really, you can't go wrong whatever model you pick. They're all great screens, and I can't wait to get mine.

Save the money mate and get a XDA. It can play blu ray not a problem. From a reasonable viewing distance you won't see the differencet. Having just hooked up the DVD player through a HDMI cable I am just amazed at the quality. I can not really unserstand the fuss about HD and Blu ray.

I have to watch my DVDs collection again on XDA, it brings them to life.

[beem130]

Went to check out the LX 50" and 60" at Len Wallis today. Also saw the 60" at DJs Sydney CBD yesterday.

Both instances of my 60" viewing were connected to blu-ray players via HDMI. The 50" at Len Wallis was playing FTA.

The LX 60"s playing blu-ray were very impressive at both stores, enough to convince me that this is the TV I want...what more can I say...I'm sold!!!

The LX 50" was sitting on a wall amongst a whole bunch of other LCD/Plasmas it was cleary better than the others in colour and contrast. Some of the others appeared dull and washed out including a 52" xbr Bravia LCD. In a previous viewing of the Bravia I was very impressed, but against the Kuros not a chance...maybe the LCDs were incorrectly adjusted at Len Wallis...but they looked very bad against the Kuros. About the only TV the LXs didn't beat the pants off was its sibling the 50" XDA...but I did see noticeably better contrast and colour with the LX over the XDA.

Don't wait around, if you have the budget the LX series are definitely worth the extra money. I will be ordering one very soon!!!

[Peacekeeper]

LX508a available at JB hifi Strathpine (Brisbane). Setup back to back with XDA version playing some very dull looking cartoon. Will recheck what it is playing tomorrow. lIt ooked clear but very dull which i feel is the DVD choice.

[Iglesia]

LX508a available at JB hifi Strathpine (Brisbane). Setup back to back with XDA version playing some very dull looking cartoon. Will recheck what it is playing tomorrow. lIt ooked clear but very dull which i feel is the DVD choice.

Did they have a 60" there?

[brumby1503560467]

Just went through this whole thread. Of the people who have seen the LX508A and the 508XDA side by side showing the same material through the same feed, almost all said that they were hard pressed to pick the difference.

I'm off to Brisbane on November 7 for a few days. From what I've seen here, it seems that Sunnybank Hi Fi is the place to go to compare LX to XDA. I doubt if JBs in Strathpine would be very good. JB Hi Fi, in my experience, are shockingly bad places to compare flat panels.

Anybody know of anywhere else in Brisbane where the LX and the XDA can be compared?

[Peacekeeper]

No LX608a as far as I can tell. Sunnybank Hifi has a fair setup so the posts say.

[Iglesia]

No LX608a as far as I can tell.

Nope.....I just went out to JB Strathpine. They were showing Meet the Robinson's on the 50" LX and it was pretty amazing.

I was also informed by the salesman that 4 metres will be way too close for me to view a 60".

[brisvegas1]

Nope.....I just went out to JB Strathpine. They were showing Meet the Robinson's on the 50" LX and it was pretty amazing.

I was also informed by the salesman that 4 metres will be way too close for me to view a 60".

4m should be fine for a 60 inch - technically. Practically - WAF may be low. My wife doesn't want anything bigger than a 50 inch as she believes it would look ostentatious and would dominate the loungeroom.

If you have a dedicated theater room it would be fine. If that giant hunk of glass needs to share space with guests in a lounge - you might find you are pushing it.

From a pure image quality point of view - 60 at 4m would be a treat.