Pioneer Plasma
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Pioneer to stop making 42-inch plasmas
In a move that can only be interpreted as a win for LCD manufacturers, Pioneer is giving the axe to its 42-inch plasmas and instead will buy 'em from Panasonic. This eliminates one of our two favorite plasma manufactures and leaves Panasonic with less competition. This is of course the size that competes head to head with LCD more than any other size. We can understand where Pioneer is coming from on this one, as the 42-inch market is all about value and we've seen a few big named manufactures getting away from low margin HDTVs. Pioneer will however continue to focus on panels 50-inch and larger, so don't worry, our beloved Kuro line isn't going anywhere.
Pioneer @ CEDIA - New PureVision Elite plasmas on display
Pioneer is showing three new Elite PureVision plasma HDTVs during CEDIA 2006, the 42-inch PRO-940HD, 50-inch PRO-1140HD and 60-inch PRO-1540HD models may not bring the 1080p of the PRO-FHD1 but they have a bevy of new features to make up for it. Their color filtering, color zone mapping and improved phosphor technology are all part of the package to help color and image quality, as well as the crystal emissive layer for better contrast. These plasmas are also the first to include Pioneer's Home Media Gallery support, with built-in Ethernet and USB ports to allow home users to stream music, videos and pictures directly from a DLNA compliant PC or other device in HD quality. They include Microsoft PlaysForSure DRM support, as well as the MPEG-1, WMV9 and MPEG-2 codecs. CableCard slot and NTSC/ATSC tuners are onboard, plus dual HDMI (1080p/24hz) inputs, two component inputs, PC input and RS-232C support. The 42-inch PRO-940HD has integrated bottom speakers while the 50- and 60-inch TVs feature detachable side speakers. The 42-inch is 1024x768 resolution with an MSRP of $4,000, while the PRO-1140HD (pictured above) and PRO-1540HD both have 1365x768 resolutions and are priced at $5,500 and $8,000 respectively. All are now available and shipping.
