Several reports from Japan and elsewhere say that Pioneer will cease production of high definition televisions. Nikkei News reportedly got confirmation that the high quality but money-losing line of HDTVs will be no more. Pioneer already closed its plasma panel factory last year, opting to outsource the job to Panasonic, but the company said it would continue to design and manufacture Pioneer-branded HDTVs. If the news of closing down is true, chalk it up to the bad economy, which caused Panasonic to delay the opening of a new plasma panel factory by six months. Pioneer USA is keeping mum on the reports, saying it doesn’t comment on “rumors and speculation.” The company already announced that it was “actively evaluating” the business, and that’s still happening now, Pioneer maintains. [HDGuru via CrunchGear]
There was a time, when owning a HTIB (home theatre in a box) was looked as a no-no when it came to having your own home theatre set-up. Boy how times have changed. Pioneer recently introduced the LX01BD Blu-Ray Home Cinema System. With a list of cutting edge features such as a Blu-Ray player, Multi-Channel audio calibration and a touch screen LCD remote control, the LX can seamlessly link your audio to any Pioneer video monitor you might own for total control over your entertainment. While looking like something out of Blade Runner, this system isn’t from the future, but it might give your set-up the final missing piece to make it up to date. [pioneer]
Best flat-panel TV ever? Our friends at CNET think so. The Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO-111FD has received CNET’s first ever “10″ rating for a flat-panel TV. According to CNET, the Pioneer Kuro Elite has produced the “deepest black levels we’ve tested”, and the most accurate color they’ve seen in a TV. The only negatives CNET pointed out were the hefty price of the Kuro Elite, plus mediocre standard definition processing. If you’ve got $4k stacked aside for a 50″ flat panel, you’re absolutely not going to find a better set than this one. Check out the full review over at CNET… [pioneer]
Black is beautiful, and that rings especially true in the world of televisions. In the case of Pioneer, “Kuro” is the new black. The Elite Kuro TV by Pioneer focusing on redefining the way in which flat screen televisions reproduce the color black, and the foundation that color provides for the rest of the spectrum. Often times, black reproduction on LCDs and Plasmas leaves plenty to be desired, an obvious flaw to the flat panel display trends. The Elite Kuro line of televisions carries all the bells and whistles of a top tier flat television– yet promises the finest reproduction of color due to its focus on getting the color black just right. After all, the term “Kuro” itself translates from Japanese as “being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness”…
Buy: from $2700
