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Our HDTV Review of the Pioneer PDP-5060HD

(Reviewed 8/1/06) Our HDTV review shows the Pioneer PDP-5060HD plasma TV (resolution 1,280x768 pixels) is the overall best plasma in the 50 inch size. It’s the company's latest generation of plasma panels and can now deliver excellent black-level performance like the Panasonic plasma line.

The Pioneer PDP-5060HD offers extremely accurate color and like its baby brother the PDP-4360HD it has one of the best feature packages available. It has excellent connectivity (two inputs for HDMI, three for component video) and offers more features than its competitors. It does costs more but if you want a plasma HDTV with the works this is it.

The Pioneer PDP-5060HD’s glossy black frame and table stand finished in silver makes it almost identical to the Pioneer PDP 4360HD (read our HDTV review of it’s baby brother). This gives the Pioneer plasma a high-tech look. The panel measures about 48.2 (W) by 28.3 (H) by 3.6 inches (D.

The fully backlit remote can operate a wide variety of A/V components with direct-access keys for all inputs. The internal menu system is intuitive and easy to navigate.

As in our HDTV review of previous Pioneers the PDP-5060HD has an external media receiver 16.6 (W) by 3.6 (H) by 11.8 (D) inches where all the inputs and connects for the panel reside. The proprietary 10-foot cable connects to your flat panel.

Notable Features: Its feature package helps make it the best plasma HDTV. This HDTV’s native resolution (1,280x768) can resolve all of the detail of 720p HDTV sources. The PDP-5060HD scales all sources, including HDTV, DVD, standard defintion TV, and computers, to fit its pixels. The Pioneer includes an ATSC tuner, a CableCard, an EPG and has PIP.

The PDP-5060HD offers a selection of five aspect ratio choices with standard definition TV and four choices with HDTV. A set of non-working features that should be noted. Pioneer’s Advanced mode under Pure Cinema. Leave this turned off. It doesn’t provide a smoother picture as promised.

The other non-working feature is the CTI (Color Transient Improvement) which offers no improvement. It should be turned off for all inputs and sources.

Connections: This HDTV offers a generous load of connections. Inputs slots 1 and 3 give you the choice of either component video or HDMI. Input slot 2 offers either S-Video or composite-video, slot 4 on the front panel of the A/V controller, has a choice of component, S-Video, composite, or a 15-pin VGA input for a PC.

There are two RF antenna inputs, with Antenna A being capable of decoding digital off-air HDTV broadcasts, as well as two FireWire ports. There’s a CableCard slot, and a set of monitor A/V outputs with composite video.

Conclusion: The Pioneer PDP-5060HD has accurate color and to date is the only other plasma line that can reproduce deep blacks like the Panasonic plasmas. Although the Panny’s are cheaper - the Pioneer is a fully featured 50-inch plasma and rates as the best plasma TV on the market. The glossy-black finish gives the Pioneer a sleek high-tech look.

The Pioneer PDP-5060HD offers excellent connectivity with two inputs for HDMI and three for component video. Pioneer's PDP-5060HD has an excellent overall picture. If you want bang for your buck go with the Panasonic TH 50PHD8UK (read our HDTV review of the Panny first) otherwise our HDTV review shows that the Pioneer PDP-4360HD is the best plasma HDTV available today. Its only real downside is it costs more than the competition.