Pioneer Plasma, Five Years On.

It's hard to believe it's been five years since Pioneer pulled out of the television market. Over that time, we have seen so many changes. 3D, Smart TV, 4K and OLED to name a few. 

One thing holds up though, and that is the sheer excellence of the image quality that Pioneer televisions produced. 

A few nights ago, I was watching the latest season of "Orange is the new Black" through Netflix on my LX509 panel and kept thinking to myself "this is being streamed, but this just looks so good!". I wanted to focus on the episode, but the thought just kept popping into my head. 

Five years on, and I'm still impressed by the image quality, now that is saying something, especially these days where within a year a tv is effectively redundant both feature and performance wise.

Over the years I have actually owned other tv's, I had a Samsung '6' series 32" LED, and I also now have a 65" Panasonic VT series plasma. 

Of the two, only the Panasonic came remotely close to the image prowess of the Pioneer. 

The Samsung, during the day delivered an exceptionally clear picture, however, when using it at night, it was washed out and lacking detail. I experimented with all the 'black enhancer' and 'dynamic contrast' settings, but nothing could hide the backlight bleeding that washed the image out so. 

Perhaps I was just spoilt having had the Pioneer to compare it to?

The Panasonic (TH-P65VT60A) comes the closest to reproducing the quality of the Pioneer, but still falls short. Admittedly, when purchased, it was because I decided I wanted something bigger, and I was left somewhat surprised that after calibration, the image still wasn't as good. 

And this is my point exactly.

Pioneer produced excellent plasma televisions. 

Yes, they were twice the price of everything else, but they were also in a completely different class. 

Yes they lacked 3D, but even I only utilise that feature once every few months and I dare say I could go without it.

Yes, they lack smart features, but I have a Mac Mini connected to it, which has vastly better processing than any smart tv currently has, so no need for that. 

Yes, it's 'only 1080P' but I challenge you to find a 4K screen that delivers a better picture being fed the same source.

And while OLED can produce deeper black and brighter white (hugely important for contrast), it is still unrefined and too extreme.

Needless to say, I'll be holding onto my Pioneer until it breathes its last breath, hopefully at least another five years on.

Rest in peace Pioneer Plasma.