 Pioneer PDP-6020FD |
| Review Date: August 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: SV, Boston, MA |
The Kuro PDP-6020FD is an exceptional flat panel display. I continue to marvel at the realism when watching High Definition shows. I do not hesitate to recommend this device.
At the end of my review I will include D-Nice's review from the AVS Forum. It will provide a technical evaluation for you to judge the 6020.
The following is my Amazon purchasing experience... In a pre-purchase call to Amazon a representative confirmed that they are an authorized Pioneer dealer and that `White Glove Delivery' was included in the indicated purchase price.
The 6020 was ordered on Sunday and delivered the following Friday. For whatever reason, the order was not coded as `White Glove Delivery'. I eventually prevailed and the delivery was delivered `White Glove'. Regardless of how handy you are, `White Glove delivery' is extremely important. This type of delivery service requires the delivery team to setup and turn on the TV. When a shipment is left at your door it can be defective and you do not discover this until well after the delivery team has left. If you receive a defective TV with `White Glove Delivery', one simply refuses delivery; the delivery team will repackage the device and return it to Amazon. Without `White Glove Delivery' one is stuck with a defective TV and must endure the process of repackaging, storing and returning it.
When the team unpackaged my first set the screen was covered with spider cracks. The device was repackaged and back it went to Amazon. If there is an issue with the delivery, I encourage you to call the returns department at Amazon that handles Plasma TV's. There is a special telephone number. If you reach an overseas Amazon representative ask for the call to be transferred to this department. This department is located in the States. They are available 7 days a week but are not available round the clock. I ended up speaking with a tremendous representative who was a Supervisor. He made sure that a new order was processed, the `White Glove Delivery' was coded clearly on the order and Amazon provided a substantial discount on the order due to the difficulties that were encountered. I received the replacement TV five days later on the following Wednesday. The TV was delivered in perfect condition. The `White Glove Delivery' team setup the TV turned it on and removed the packaging. I also received two other price reductions when Amazon dropped the price of the set in the following two weeks. (Please note that the price reduction policy is no longer offered by Amazon as of September 1st, 2008. Amazon policies are subject to change. Contact Amazon prior to purchase to review the details of the potential purchase and any expectations you may have.)
The issues I had could have happened from any vendor. The difference is that Amazon had a system in place which corrected that matter in an efficient manner with a minimum of inconvenience to me. Amazon also had the best price and delivery options.
The picture quality is stunning. I highly recommend the 6020 and Amazon as a reputable dealer.
I have included D Nice's technical review from the AVS forum to provide the in depth details of the performance of this TV.
Pioneer PDP 6020FD Review
Reviewed by D Nice
Overview
Kuro (Kuro), the Japanese word for black, defines the core of Pioneer's Project KURO. Prior to last year, consumers were not privy to have a digital flat panel display that consistently reproduced the absence of color (black). In June 2007, Pioneer released into the wild a PDP display series that was capable of an unheard minimum luminance level, 0.004fL. This new pinnacle in black level not only provided rich, succulent blacks that true videophiles have been yearning ever since the demise of CRT, it also was baseline for depth defying colors that to this day leaves me awestruck. By the end of 2007, the KURO series was herald as the "best display ever". Everyone thought that it would be years before another display hit the market capable of outshining the 2007 KURO series. No one knew that we would only have to wait 6 months........enter the PDP 6020FD.
Panel Design
The PDP 6020FD continues Pioneer's minimalistic, yet elegant figure with its 57 11/16" x 34 1/2" piano black acrylic bezel. Fit and finish is top notch although the overall build quality is less than last year's PDP 6010FD. Pioneer also managed to trim panel bulk by 20% leaving us with a slim, 3.7" depth display.
Features
The PDP 6020FD is equipped with 4 HDMI 1.3a ports (three on the back, one on the left input/control panel), 1 component, 1 S Video, 3 composite, and 1 VGA input. Although this sounds like a plethora of input options, it's actually less that what its predecessor offered. However, Pioneer now allows owners to label each input (a big plus). Also new this year on the non Elite KUROs is a network interface port that allows owners to connect and stream video (limited file types), music, and pictures from their home PC/laptop. Setup and use was a breeze on my network. However, computer challenged owners may have issues using this feature....especially if they have a home network firewall.
Pioneer has also included a new remote with the PDP 6020FD. Compared to last year's remote, the new remote sports a black covering and the layout is more user friendly with the channel and volume controls reversed from last year's layout (finally).
Everything about the PDP 6020 reflects the theme "KURO".....including the new menu GUI. Gone is the "Windows XP" like menu colors that I have been accustomed to surfing on the previous Pioneer generations. They have been replaced with a more "Windows Vista" like "KURO" GUI.
Thumbing through the new menu, one will find 7 Preset A/V picture modes and immediately notice a reduction of user controls. Unfortunately Pioneer has decided to strip the end user of the capability to change the color temperature, gamma, black/contrast enhancement features, and noise reduction.
Instead they chose to hardcode these features in what they call "the most effective combination".
Personally, I think this was a mistake on Pioneer's part. You NEVER, EVER, take away features that you offered in the previous generation. Pioneer is also rumored to has gone two steps further by deleting the RGB controls out of the Service Menu (not confirmed as of yet) and changing the sequence to access the Service Menu (confirmed). These "castrations" do not bold well for those who chose not to shell out more money for the Elite KUROs to "tweak" their panels more to their personal tastes and/or HD standards. Shame on you Pioneer.
I'm sure at this point the question that is on everyone's mind is "What does the removal of these items have on actual PQ?" Well let's find out..........
Picture Mode Overview
Optimum Mode
Out of the box, the PDP 6020FD is set to Optimum mode. Optimum mode is designed to constantly modify the contrast, brightness, color, tint, etc controls based on the room environment. This year, Pioneer added sound control to Optimum mode's "automatic" adjustments. PQ in this mode was good, but I could see edge enhancement on many scenes and test patterns. Although I could not get a completely accurate grayscale reading within this mode due to the constant adjustments, it averaged around 7400K. This will please most viewers during daytime and/or sports viewing as a "bluer" white is more pleasing and can add more "punch" to the picture. However, I do not recommend this mode for critical movie and/or night viewing. This mode is universal, regardless of input selection.
Performance Mode
Now, one would think that Performance mode would be the mode that makes the Pioneer 6020FD shine. Well, this is not the case and it's one of the worst A/V modes available on the
6020FD.Beyond its S shaped gamma curve (hump between 60 and 80% stimuli), this mode produced an 8600K average grayscale and crushed everything in the 0 10% stimuli range with the brightness control set to 0. This mode provides improved shadow detail with a brightness setting of +4, but it still is lacking somewhat. If a 6020 owner previously owed a LCD display, this mode would probably please him as it provides an extremely punchy picture with "crisp" (aka edge enhanced) highlights to boot. Critical viewers should stay away from this mode. This mode is universal, regardless of input selection.
Dynamic Mode
By all means, STAY AWAY from this mode!!!!!!! This mode is universal, regardless of input selection.
Movie Mode
This is the de facto mode on the PDP 6020FD. It sports an average grayscale of 6350 (6347 to be exact) and a 2.27 gamma. This A/V mode produces the most accurate picture I have ever seen on a non Elite Pioneer.......ever!!! All review material and PDP panel shoot out results were done using this mode. This mode is universal, regardless of input selection.
Sports Mode
This is an absolutely horrible A/V mode. Grayscale is well over 10K with non defeatable edge enhancement and an S shaped gamma curve to boot. This mode is universal, regardless of input selection.
Game Mode
This mode would have been a great mode if it did not have an 8K grayscale. Gamma is ok at
2.17 and it only has minor edge enhancement. This mode is universal, regardless of input selection.
Standard Mode
This is the only mode in which each individual A/V input can house discrete settings.
Unfortunately, this is the absolute worst A/V mode available on the 6020FD. It is similar to Performance mode, but crushed blacks far more. This is the first A/V mode I have ever encountered on any display that actually makes a 10% stimuli full field pattern look like a 0% stimuli pattern.
Measurements
Contrast Ratio
Again, all of the measurements were taken in Movie mode (after the 150 hour break in procedure), adjusted for the most accurate picture, and the Power Save mode was set to Off. On a 0% stimuli pattern, the 6020FD can get really dark. In fact, the pixels literally turn off after 30 seconds on this pattern. Technically speaking, this means the 6020FD is capable of an infinite On/Off contrast ratio. However, this 0fL idle luminance is not achievable beyond a 0% stimulus pattern and I will refrain from using the 0fL reading in my official numbers. Using a window pattern, I measured a peak contrast ratio of 38,900:1 (38.9fL peak white with an astonishing, pre 30 seconds 0% stimuli pattern, minimum luminance level of 0.001fL....the lowest my AEMC
813 can go). Full screen white contrast ratio measured 21,300:1 (21.3fL peak white, 0.001fL video black). ANSI came in at 14,600:1.
Grayscale
Grayscale averaged 6347 from 10 100% stimuli. Although this grayscale isn't true D65, I found it very pleasing to the eye and was hard pressed to see the slightly "redder" tone on regular content. Any RGB Service Menu tweaks on this PDP will yield an incremental improvement at best.
IRE Measurement
10 6138
20 6340
30 6356
40 6389
50 6370
60 6420
70 6347
80 6371
90 6362
100 6385
Color Points
Just like its predecessor, the PDP 6020FD's user menu does not house any controls that can be used to properly calibrate the colors. On top of that, Pioneer has again chosen to hardcode the
6020FD with a wider color gamut (Colorspace 1) which exceeds the reference HD Rec. 709 Colorspace. The actual color points are remarkably similar to the 6010FD, with oversaturated green and red primaries, greener yellow, and a redder magenta:
Viewing Angle
There was no visible drop off in contrast and color from extreme horizontal angles of 75° off axis. However, there is a slight brightness drop off from vertical angles above 60°. I must note that I had to be standing 2 feet in front of the panel to see this drop off.
Other Measurements
Dead pixels none
Screen uniformity Perfect
HDMI Overscan 0% with Dot by Dot and 2% with Full
Blacker than black Passed
Black level Excellent
Black level retention none
Video deinterlacing Excellent
Film deinterlacing Passed 3:2/ 2:2 cadence in all resolutions
Viewing angle Excellent (> 150°)
Motion resolution 950
Digital noise reduction Very good (HD content)
Sharpness Defeatable edge enhancement (Movie mode only)
Image retention Very minor before 150 hour break in. Zero after.
Posterization Minor with HD cable
1080p/24 capability Yes. No telecine judder
Performance
"My God! It's full of stars" would be the slogan I'd use to summarize the 6020FDs performance.
Flanked to the left of a TH50PZ800u and below my Elite 1150HD, the 6020FD presented a picture that neither could fully replicate. Throughout the entire comparison, the following words stayed in my mind: smoooooth, clear, sophisticated, intoxicating.
Dark Room HD DVD and BD Performance
The 6020FD's 0.001fL black level created an eerie void adjacent to the other PDPs. I've never seen this much depth and shadow detail on a digital display. Watching Blackout destroy Soccent
Airbase on the HD DVD presentation of Transformers, the black level difference between the
6020FD and the 50PZ800u was not subtle, it was dramatic. Black levels on the 6020FD made the
PZ800u's blacks (measured @ 0.008fL) look like a dark shade of gray. The top and bottom bars literally disappeared into the 6020FD's screen. In comparison, I could always make out the bars on the 50PZ800u, but their luminance was subtle and much improved over previous Panasonic generations. Colors during the movie just looked better on the 6020FD. Although the 50PZ800u was fully calibrated to D65 and had better primary color plots, the 6020FD had a certain quality the Panasonic just didn't quite have: a creamy smoothness to the image. And this feeling remained seared into my sub conscious; even though the numbers say otherwise. Getting within 1.5 feet of the 6020 and 50PZ800u, I could see an ever so slight level of noise on the 50PZ800u screen. Engaging the Video NR filter on the Panasonic removed the noise, but killed some of the high frequency detail. The 6020s picture was void of any and all noise. Kudos goes to Pioneer for their hardcoded NR filters being setup just right for HD content.
Switching to 2001 on BD, the 6020FD continued to create exceptionally dynamic images with life like clarity, super sharp, and super smooth frames. The white ships on the star filled space backdrop had much more pop compared to both the 1150HD and 50PZ800u. Black bars again disappeared into the background of the 6020FDs panel, unlike the very, very slight luminance on the 1150HD (measured @ 0.004fL). Compared to the 1150HD, the 6020 can go brighter when the scene calls for it. For instance, the space station lobby scene with the red chairs looked noticeably brighter on the 6020 compared to the 1150HD. For reference, both were calibrated to roughly 39fL peak light output.
Watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, the 6020 once again spanked the 1150HD in overall brightness level. Watching the Black Pearl float in the white sands of Davy Jones's
Locker, the sand was actually too bright on the 6020FD for my tastes. I actually had to engage
Power Save Mode 1 to keep the brightness at bay.
Dark Room SD DVD Performance
Feeding all three panels a 480i presentation of Sin City, the 6020FD finally showed some weakness. Although black levels and dynamic range were far superior on the 6020FD, my
1150HD produced a sharper image. Goldie's facial details were much more pronounced on my
1150. Continuing on with Finding Nemo, Aliens, Star Wars Episode III, and Lord of the Rings
Return of the King produced the same "softer" results. The 50PZ800u with the same material was either on par or slightly worse compared to the 6020FD. I'm not sure if the lack of sharpness is due to Pioneer coding different NR levels on 480i/p signals or 768p vs 1080p native screen resolution. This is something I'll have to revisit once I test a 9G Pioneer Elite.
HD Cable Performance
The 6020FD presented 1080i/720p in the same fashion as HD DVD and BD presentations except that it showed me every single thing that was wrong with the compressed HD signals that broadcasters are shoving down our throats. Although the 6020FD was capable of showing the tiniest bits of details in static 1080i images, moving scenes were riddled with macroblocking and other picture artifacts. Dot by dot mode reduced some of these artifacts. However, it failed to give me the same pristine picture my 1150HD was simultaneously showing. The 50PZ800u weathered the same issues as the 6020FD. I guess 1300 compressed lines of resolution from a
SA8300HD cable box doesn't bold well on 1080p displays.
SD Cable Performance
SD cable viewing on the 6020FD was just as disappointing as SD DVD performance. Once again the 6020 presented a softer, less tasteful picture compared to my 1150HD. Watching SD channels with either Wide or Cinema stretch modes was at times annoying due to the soft picture and took time to get use to. Artifacts could easily be seen, regardless of channel. I know many will say that SD cable will always look "poor at best" on a 1080p display. However, I think the people deserve a little better than what the 602FD can muster.
Daytime Performance
The 6020FD really shines in low lighting environments. However, its daytime performance isn't anything to balk at. Pioneer's AR coating kept reflections at bay and on par with my 1150HD.
The Panasonic 50PZ800u didn't bold as well. Black levels remained inky, but I know that a
Samsung LCD would have provided "bezel blacks" due to its AR coating design. Never less, I would not call the blacks on the 6020FD during the daytime (with lots of ambient light, I might add) "grey", "blue", or any other color besides black. The 6020FD's improved brightness was most valuable during daytime viewing keeping the whites of snow peaked mountains and the ice rinks on hockey games bright and glistening.
Anomalies
There were a number of "bugs" reported with last year's KURO series. Pioneer did address most of these issues, but did not fix all of them (even after I was told that they were corrected): Blotching Still present. Only visible on a completely black screen.
Pure Cinema ADV Screen Dimming Fixed
Pure Cinema ADV Screen Flicker Fixed
Buzzing Power supply buzz has been corrected. Panel buzz is negligible.
Conclusion
The 6020FDs introduction poised many challenges for Pioneer. Could Pioneer improve on a series that has won more awards than I have fingers to count? Could Pioneer drop the minimum luminance level of a PDP that to date, no other manufacturer has yet equaled or surpassed? Could Pioneer create a PDP that expresses a voluptuous color pallet that is second to none? Is it possible? Overall, I would have to say yes. The 6020FD will quench any potential owner's thirst for unparalleled picture quality like no other display I've encountered. Mouthwatering colors, mystifying black levels coupled with mind boggling contrast dynamics. Unfortunately, the 6020FD is not without flaws: soft SD PQ performance, paltry number of user picture controls....especially on a $5,500 TV, A/V picture mode performance (minus Movie and Optimum mode) that you would expect on a Vizio, Olevia, or other cheap display. However, the 6020FDs overall presentation in Movie mode is second to none. I'll end this on a
Will Smith quote from Independence Day:
"I have GOT to get me one of these!!!!"
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Very Much Good!
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| Review Date: July 14, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. B. Adams, Belmont, CA United States |
Wow!
There is a noticeable picture improvement over 6010 (last year's model). Even analog channels look great (considering).
Pros:
Lighter
Thinner
4th HDMI input on the side
Optical out (audio) works with HDMI inputs
Optimum mode (adjusts to room light)
Game Mode (supposedly better burn-in avoidance, faster updates)
Cinema Mode (24 fps)
Ethernet Port for Media Display via PC network
Cons:
4th HDMI input moved to the side. Only three on the back
Cable Card Slot gone
Remote is passable, but not able to be a useful Universal Remote
Small text on the remote
Media Display options not accessible from Apple Macs
Deleting analog and digital channels found via the autosearch is painful because the channel doesn't change to the selected channel as you move down the list
HDMI control is problematic (one HDMI devices controls another - just use a universal remote instead)
Can't change settings for an input unless you are currently on that input
A big item for me is that I'd like all my input to go to the TV first and only send audio to the AV Receiver if I choose to use its 5.1/7.1 sound. Otherwise I like to use the TV's speaker. The issue is I don't want to wake everyone up with the loud sounds if I want to watch something and the family is sleeping. The 6020FD makes this a little easier as the optical output produces audio for everything except "protected" content (whatever that means). I haven't found any on my Blue Ray disks (via PS3). However I wish there were more HDMI ports on the back so I could hook all my (current and future) devices up directly.
Hopefully with the Ethernet port there will be a firmware update so I can access the display from my Apple Macs and maybe the new Amazon media store.
Pioneer has built a nice tuner. However the TV guide is now gone. Unfortunately the tuner is kind of a waste given that there is no point in buying this set unless you'll have HD content from your cable or satellite provider.
So far, I'm very happy.
Now I just have to find a universal remote to control the 6020, Comcast STB/DVR, Mitsubishi DVD player and PS3 (and next an Apple TV).
P.S. The Onkyo SR606 AV Receiver works great with this set. |
Took two tries, but very happy
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| Review Date: August 12, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. Peters, Scottsdale, AZ, USA |
I ordered the PDP-6020FD from Amazon, even though the 6th Ave. price was a few bucks cheaper because I'd read about delivery problems with them. At $4049 with free white glove delivery, it was a great price. The unit shipped instantly and arrived two days early. The two guys who dropped it off were very nice, but they skipped the part about unpacking and checking out the unit. My wife, who was there to accept, was not aware that they owed us that. So that night we unpacked it to find the glass screen badly cracked. Called Amazon right away and they were very responsive and apologetic. They credited me the $103 white glove delivery cost, even though it was free to start with, then they shipped a replacement. It arrived within a week and was in perfect condition, just in time for the Olympics.
The unit itself is gorgeous, as many others have said. The Olympic opening extravaganza in 1080p on that giant screen was jaw-dropping. I have it hooked up through a new Pioneer VSX-1018 receiver that upconverts my Cox Cable box's 1080i signal. So far no issues. Ditto with the Playstation 3 that's also connected through the 1018. I'm not a big gamer, but MetalGear Solid 4 looks amazing on this TV.
A big thumbs up for the PDP-6020, and kudos to Amazon for taking good care of me on the delivery. |
Fantastic Plasma!
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| Review Date: July 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Yellowbird, |
| I am so pleased with this Pioneer plasma! The picture is fantastic right out of the box. It is absolutely the best TV I have ever owned. The deep blacks cannot be duplicated with any other brand of plasma on the market right now. I did a lot of research and looked at many different displays before settling on this Pioneer. I am completely confident that I made the perfect choice. I couldn't be more satisfied! You can't go wrong with this TV!! |
Pioneer KURO worth every penny of it!
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| Review Date: July 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Ebullet, NJ, USA |
The Pioneer is truely a HDTV to rave about, I am upgrading from a 61 inch DLP to this 60 inch Pioneer. My Samsung DLP is very nice, but it is still day and night with the quality and shapeness of the Pioneer. There are no complaints! The out of the box settings is excellent to enjoy what ever you want to watch. (The burn in really help for balancing the color and brightness)
Blu-ray, HD-DVD, HD Cable, are like a whole new sight and sound again with the detail and black level on this Pioneer.
Amazon service is outstanding, the shipper white clove service was prompt and friendly.
The Pioneer KURO PDP-6020FD is worth every penny that I've spent! |
60inches of pure digital entertainment bliss
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| Review Date: August 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: T. Asgari, Seattle, WA |
| I can't express how much I love this TV. The deep blacks makes the picture pop with a rich dimension. Watching movies on Blu-Ray on this set is now one of my favorite pass times. I just purrrr with happiness when I sit and watch movies and sports on this. You won't regret your purchase if you cost is not an option. |
Terrific
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| Review Date: August 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: SEG, Marietta, GA USA |
| It is now close to a month since I got it. This is the best tv I have ever owned. The levels of black are amazing. I am very happy with it. |
Excellent picture quality and great delivery service
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| Review Date: August 27, 2008 |
| Reviewer: C. K. Selfe, Orlando |
| The new Kuro PDP 6020FD has excellent picture quality. I noted the PDP 6010FD for sale at Sam's Club for $3958, listed as a one-time buy. I figured this was the closeout of the old stock coming with the release of the PDP 6020FD. Amazon had a great price on the new model, and with delivery it was a better deal to get the new model. Delivery went faster than expected, and it was up and working within an hour. I have it burned in and just had its calibration done. Everyone is shocked by the picture quality. It is excellent. |
Awesome
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| Review Date: September 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: G. Cutler, |
| This is the best Plasma out there by far (and I reviewed them all for the last 2 years before buying one). I read reviews that spoke of the inability to make detailed picture adjustments but have found this to be a false statement. It has plenty of picture options for any format you would want to watch from movies to sports. Keep in mind that you will need to purchase HD reception to really get a quality picture. Once you do this you will never regret the money you spent. I hooked it up to an HD DVR and it is better than going to an IMAX theatre! The Home Media Gallery is feature that influenced my choice and I am totally satisfied that I paid for this. I have my entire home wired with CAT5 and the network is ran by 2 Home Servers. With this TV hooked up to the network I can play music like it's cool along with photo slide shows and movies. HMG makes this plasma not only a TV but a full entertainment center. Final thoughts...The setup was a breeze and the TV was ready 15 minutes after it was delivered. This plasma has more options for viewing and sound than the reviews on any website reveal. BUY IT!!! |
Flawless Delivery
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| Review Date: December 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Derek C. Lou, Houston, TX |
I was apprehensive ordering this TV through Amazon, especially given the reviews on trouble with shipping and white glove delivery. I had NO concerns about this TV, having seen it in a showroom locally and given its reviews.
Thankfully, I had a flawless experience, thanks to excellent service from Amazon and the shipping company, CEVA.
If you are buying this TV through Amazon, there are 2 important things you need to know. First, ordering through Amazon with delivery requires that you click directly on the "add to my shopping cart" link, and NOT through the "## new and used..." link. Seems stupid, but it guarantees that you order through Amazon and not from another company listed.
Second, if you are ordering this TV (or any other TV>50"), the service number at Amazon for big screens is 1-866-423-5355. Write it down, because it is a hard number to find with the regular Amazon service line. I talked with them before and during the delivery service, and they kept me well informed and were courteous and communicative. They also contacted me via email just in case.
Delivery was flawless and the unit was brand spanking new with no problems, and I felt confident that had there been problems with the TV, it would have been taken care of without an issue.
As for the TV itself, remember how much better it was when you got a blu-ray? Multiply that by ten. |
so happy, you have no idea
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| Review Date: August 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Z. Abedin, St Louis, MO |
| This tv has been great. We've owned it for a few months now, and the picture still amazes me every time i sit down to watch it. The price on amazon is great, and their delivery was also fantastic. Pioneer is the leader in plasma tv's, and you can see that in this tv. |
Incredible High Definition Picture
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| Review Date: October 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: David W. Pancerz, Dallas, Texas |
I bought this set from Amazon over two months ago and have waited until now to add my review. The initial delay was due to DirecTVs 4 week waiting list to hook up their HR22 high definition DVR to this amazing Pioneer Kuro set.
Since I was forced to watch standard def images on the 6020FD for almost a month, you can guess the difference a high definition picture made. I can not add to the superlatives mentioned in the other reviews with regard to the Pioneer Kuro. The colors are vivid and the images literally jump off the screen. I didn't understand all the talk about the color "black" and how it's different from plasma to plasma but I do now. Want to really be blown away by this new tv? Punch up one of the kids channels available in high def like Disney or The Cartoon Network. The color saturation on these animated shows is not to be believed. Even my kids are impressed by the set.
Here are a few caveats for the White Glove Delivery as I too, had a few issues. First, working with Amazon was a joy with regard to this order. The problem I had was with CEVA when they called to schedule delivery. I asked them to verify the White Glove Service and they did NOT show that in their files. A quick call to Amazon fixed everything, no problem. I would recommend checking to see if White Glove Delivery has been selected.
Secondly, the two guys who delivered my set were excellent unlike some other reviews I've read here. I've found in life if you treat people nicely with respect, often times you'll receive better service. The old adage of attracting more flies with honey as opposed to vinegar. They brought the set in, removed it from the box, placed it on the table where I wanted it, and powered it up (even though I had read the online Pioneer manual weeks ago). All I did was offer them a few sodas for their trouble.
One final thing to remember is that the speakers are packed below the set. I hooked my 6020FD to some speakers that I installed in the wall and almost let the delivery guys take the box away as they were leaving. Am so glad I didn't as they would have been throwing away the Pioneer speaker enclosure for the set. Don't make this same mistake!!!
I'm now in the market for another plasma that will be placed in our game room. Shall be ordering from Amazon again without a doubt.
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Try Try again
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| Review Date: January 4, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M. Patterson, Iowa |
After months of reading reviews I finally decided to go for the Pioneer. I ordered mine from Amazon (through 6thAve). Enough has been said about the white glove delivery service. It is hit or miss. If you dont order through Amazon you will not get it. In other words be prepared to have it delivered to your front door and that is all. I received my TV about 2 weeks after ordering it. I asked the delivery guy to wait while I unpacked it, just to check and make sure it wasnt broken. He offered to take the packing material with him when he left. I declined (as I keep all my boxes for my AV stuff). VERY IMPORTANT! Do not let them take the box and packing material. I set my TV up taking great care to make sure everything was aligned and hooked up properly. Momment of truth and when I switched it on....nothing but a loud buzz and no picture. I of course went back to the manual and found nothing indicating anything was wrong. Called 6th Ave and they told me to contact a local pioneer repair shop. Called the pioneer repair shop and they told me to get a new TV (after explaining the situation). Had to call 6th Ave back and they were gracious enough to send me a new TV. They dropped the new TV off about 10 days later and picked the 1st one up at the same time (thus the reason for my recommendation for keeping your packing material/box).
Now about the TV...Do yourself a favor and get this TV. Even after the aforementioned issues I would still highly recommend this TV. The picture quality is second to none. The HD channels are flawless and DVD's look phenominal. Even SD channels are good. I am planning to switch from cable to DirecTV in the next month or so and am guessing the image quality will look even better. The on screen menus are pretty easy to use and hooking up your other AV equipment is relatively simple. You will not be disappointed (even after waiting a month and dealing with some frustrating phone calls)! |
AMAZING black levels define this TV
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| Review Date: February 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: E. Durant, Syracuse, NY |
First off, I have to give Amazon (and CEVA, the shipper) kudos for their white glove delivery service. They gently carried the tv up my icy driveway, brought it in, un-packed it, made sure it worked, and offered to take the packaging away (I declined). And they arrived in the first hour of the 3 hour window, which is always a bonus. Definitely place your order through amazon, not one of their associated merchants. It was worth the extra $50-$100 (at the time I made the purchase).
First off, I want to mention that plasma technology has come a long way recently in reducing the weight, and profile of the panels. This 60 inch display only weighs about 10 lbs more (without speaker or stand) than my Samsung FT-P5084 50 inch display, despite being 20% larger. I was able to life the TV from the stand, to a wall mount with my wife's help! Didn't even have to call a male friend! The display also has handles on the lower back side, to save your hands from sharp edges. The holes for the bolts on the back of the display are 34 inches apart, which is wider than my old wall mount (and most of the universal wall mounts out there). So, even if a universal mount claims to be capable of holding a high enough weight/panel size for this display, make sure the wall bracket is at least 36 inches wide, or it will not be able to accommodate this display!
The stand is cheap, and relatively crappy for the price of the display. This doesn't bother me, obviously, because I've mounted it on my wall, but it's an obvious bit of cost-cutting that's a little disappointing. Also, if the speaker bar is not attached, the display is supported by two skinny little bars, that are rather unsightly. If you are going to use the stand, make sure the speaker is attached, even if you aren't planning on using the TV's audio. Because I haven't attached the speaker, I can't comment on audio quality. All the reviews I have read said that for a TV, it's pretty fantastic. But I've got at least $3 grand into my surround sound system, so I didn't even bother taking the speaker out of the box.
The TV itself has a high-quality, black gloss finish around the glass that looks like it belongs on a TV this expensive. The remote is ok, not great, but not bad. Lots of small, same-size buttons. The black, brushed-aluminum-type finish is nice, though. I use a Harmony One universal remote anyway, so I'm not worried about the TV remote. The TV's menu system is fairly logically laid out, although some settings that you might think you'd find in the picture sub-menu are actually in other sub-menus. It took me a little while to find my way around, and play with all the various settings, but there is nothing too confusing about the setup. The menu screen sets the current video feed into a little box on the right side of the screen, with a border around the whole screen, and the menu items on the left side. Selecting the picture-related sub-menus brings the video to full-screen and overlays the sub-menu on top of it. It's a little different than other displays I've used in the past, but it works.
The menu you'll spend the most time in is the picture menu, under setup on the main menu. There are a bunch of color/picture modes available, but the only three are actually watchable for any period of time: Standard, Optimum and Movie. Standard and Optimum have similar default settings, the main difference being you can tweak the settings in Standard mode, but not Optimum. Both have reasonably accurate color settings, and high contract ratios that really make an image "pop" off the screen. Standard lets you adjust contract, brightness, tint, color and sharpness manually, while optimum makes adjustments for you based on lighting conditions. For showing off what the display can do, Optimum seems to be the best setting. The whites are bright, the blacks deep (more on this later), and the colors are quite vibrant. The only problem is that, in a darker, more ideal setting, Optimum and Standard modes are a bit fatiguing on the eyes after a while. It's just too much contrast for your eyes to handle comfortably. The definition, accuracy and video processing are top rate, meaning good video feeds look fantastic. Poorer feeds, however, can look a little less than spectacular, however, in these high contract, high detail modes, because they accurately reproduce the images, flaws and all. Even with the sharpness turned all the way down in Standard mode, this is still the case. Letters can appear pixelated, not smooth, and standard def TV feeds just don't look good. So, my TV is currently in Movie mode, which I feel (and there are several professional reviews to back this opinion up) is the best overall viewing mode for the TV. The colors are more muted, but closer to accurate, the contrast is excellent, but not fatiguing, and the mode smooths out the lousier feeds, while still showing the details of the good feeds in nearly all of their glory. A word about the color: at first, everything looked a little greenish, compared to my Samsung, which was calibrated to be as close to accurate as possible, but any adjustment in the tint toward red made the picture appear pinkish. I was unable to make any adjustments that seemed to get to a color that was 100% accurate, and that seems to be the only downside to this TV, versus the Elite models. However, after watching the display for a week, my eyes/brain have adjusted, and I no longer see the greenish tint, and the colors appear completely accurate to me. I'm not saying this is the best solution, but it works better for me than spending the extra $1,500 to $2,000 on the Elite model. A professional calibration would probably help as well. Regardless, I'm quite happy with the color at this stage, and I'm picky when it comes to my displays.
And now the most important part, the black levels. I think this is the best way to describe it: you can't tell the difference between when the display is turned off, and when there is a completely black screen being fed into the display. It makes anything else I've ever seen look gray in comparison. If you are new to TV/video-mania, you should know that there is no substitute for deep black levels. All images displayed on a screen are simply different color and intensity lights arranged in shapes that we perceive as whole images. Those lights stand out in contrast to the relative absence of light (ie, black) displayed elsewhere on the screen. If your screen's absence of light is just a medium gray, the screen has to output more color and more light to equal the contrast produced by a screen such as the kuro. And there are limits to the technology (and to human sight) that don't necessarily allow that to happen. So having the deepest, darkest basis to contrast with is extremely important if you truly want the best image possible. And, in normal viewing, this display, and the other kuro displays, simply have the best black levels available in a flat panel today. Samsung and Sony have LED-backlit LCDs that score better on contract ratio and black level tests, but in normal viewing situations, they simply can't match the Kuro line.
I don't think the question is whether you want to buy this display or not. It's entirely a matter of the cost/benefit analysis. If you are nuts about your home theater, and the thought of spending 4 grand on a TV doesn't scare you, you will not be disappointed. On the other hand, Panasonic and Samsung make some excellent 58 inch plasma displays, for significantly less money. As long as you never saw the black levels on this Pioneer, you wouldn't even know what you were missing, and would probably be perfectly happy. But, with the exception of the Kuro Elite models, the PDP-6020FD and the PDP-5020FD are probably the best displays money can buy today. I don't regret my purchase one bit. |
Just awesome!!!!
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| Review Date: March 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A. Khan, Riverside, CA |
| I bought this TV wanting the best I could afford. I didn't buy this at Amazon but another online vendor. Anyways I'm comparing this TV to my Sony SXRD (DLP) TV. It looks so much better maybe due to the fact that I could see the "screen door effect" on my older TV. I love the fact the speakers are optional since I already have my theater setup. The appearance of the TV is excellent, very beautiful to look at first hand. Once setup at the house, it looks so good. I'm sad to see Pioneer discontinue making TVs cause I'm shocked or blown away at how good this TV performs on HD content. Just an overall fantastic TV, I hope it lasts me for the next decade or at least until OLEDs are practical and affordable. |
Great HDTV's But shipping is a rip off
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| Review Date: May 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: OLD JR, Central Florida |
I just bought 2 of these babies and love them ! Mine were shipped by J & R Music via a carrier called Absolute Freight Carriers (or something like that) I paid for expedited threshold delivery. Beware ! Items shipped by dealers (even though they are listed with Amazon.com) are not covered with Amazon shipping rates (ex "free shipping") The day my order was placed an email followed stating further notification would follow when shipment was in route. It did and the dispatcher called me to arrange delivery appointment on thursday between 12 noon and 4 pm, he also wanted to be sure that i understood that this was a threshold delivery (placed inside the door only) and 2 men would make the delivery. I took off work anticipating the delivery only to be called at 10 minutes till 4 to be told that the driver was tied up south of me and would be very arriving very late or could we possibly postphone delivery until the next morning. I agreed so I was told to expect truck around 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. The van arrived here at 9:00 with only the driver. He was very polite and set out to wrestle these beauties into my house. Now mind you, the shipping wt. on each was over 150 lbs. He was atleast 60 yrs old and I have a herniated disc in my back. Thank gosh my 25 yr old son was here to help lift these packages out of the van onto the dolly. Oh, the driver assured me he could handle this but I kringed when I saw that he was going to slide these babies back and drop them about 30" off the truck onto the dolly! I stopped him and made him wait until my son could get outside to assist him. Maybe nothing would have happened to the plasma tvs, but when I've paid over $8,500.00 plus for 2 of these units (freight included) I darn sure was not pleased to see that they were going to be handled like that. I told the driver that his dispatcher informed me that 2 men would be making the delivery. His reply was "ha, they send me out like this everyday without any help." I feel ripped off for having to pay over $800.00 for this kind of freight service.
"A day late and a man short." |
Super Image, beat expectations. Great customer care from Amazon.
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| Review Date: October 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Vapor Trail, Boston MA |
What can I say that hasn't been said? This TV beat my picky expectations by far! If your one to notice over hyped colors, bad shadow detail, poor blacks, washed out colors, hyped motion "anti-blurring" sets, you'll love this TV.
This is my first HD TV but I have been looking to buy for 6 years. My wife bought me a Blu-ray player ( Oppo BDP-83 recommend ) so I made the leap...so glad I did.
I am very picky about picture quality. I shoot large format photographs, I tend to notice digital artifacts, bad skin tone, bad contrast, pixilation etc. This TV has no artificial look to it. It seems to spit out what it gets with out adding anything. Off air 1080i broadcasts are stunning. Blu-Ray is outstanding. It may not be the best TV for converting from SD, but even converting from the lowest of resolution it still show no artificial digital artifacts. Meaning, no hyped colors, no rainbow effects, off color shadows etc.
The color depth is also stunning. May be a bit strong on reds and greens but seems to be pleasing to the eye. As advertised the black levels and detail are where it's all at. Making colors rich, deep, accurate and shadow detail solid. Blacks are inky black. For Plasma is does have a decent anti reflective coating. Reminds me of anti reflective coating on video lenses. Day time viewing is not a problem at all. TV speaker is better than the average TV speaker. I use 5.1 surround system for Blu-ray and HD TV but, for average TV viewing it's decent.
LCD and LED sets are using fast motion reproduction ie...120hz, 240hz to help stop motion blur. To me this makes 24fps film look like video. 24fps is supposed to show motion blur at certain speeds, and trying to make everything look sharp makes the picture look unnatural. This set show no signs of this artificial "fix". Blu-ray, broadcast 1080i shows (sports) look amazing. Smooth, fluid...the way they were meant to be seen. My first viewing of NFL HD was like anything I had ever seen.
I'm glad I waited for a TV like this. It's one of those things you know you'll want to keep for as long as possible because it performs so well.
Amazon was great at communicating shipping info. Personal e-mail to connect with me about who was shipping, contact info etc. TV was set up and turned on to make sure all was %100. I was a bit hesitant about ordering such a large item on line, but Amazon was on top of everything.
There is a similar Kuro by Pioneer that sells for $1,000 more. It has controls over every aspect of the video output. If your a Pro, super amateur enthusiast etc. with knowledge way beyond highlight, shadow, sharpness, color depth control... than you may like the "higher" model. Otherwise this set is pretty perfect right out of the box with out the bigger price tag.
(Don't forget if you live near TV stations...50 miles or less, you can get free HD 1080i broadcasts.)((separate antenna required)) |
Splendid Experience with this plasma TV
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| Review Date: August 24, 2008 |
| Reviewer: B. Shah, USA |
This is one great TV. Picture is amazingly crisp and sharp.
Only problem I had, was with a remote. I called Pioneer customere Service and They gave me local phone number to call for free service. I left a message with this company. It has been more than 4 days and still no body has called me to resolve my problem. Meanwhile, I resolved the problem on my own effort.
Other than that, love this great television set.
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Great retirement present!!
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| Review Date: October 20, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Spammom, Pittsburgh, PA |
| My husband bought this 60inch plasma TV for himself for his retirement present. We figure we will be spending the winter watching TV, so why not watch it on the best? The TV was delivered right to our living room...and it is beautiful!! I told my husband that I feel like we are sitting in the front row of our local movie theatre! The picture is so clear....and beautiful!! The "high definition" is exceptional......so glad we "splurged" for this retirement gift!! |
Exceptional!
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| Review Date: October 30, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Lynnster, USA CT |
Have only had this Kuro plasma for a week, but sure enjoying the World Series & all the HD channels.
We don't have a BlueRay yet but that's coming soon.
If you can't decide between this and the Elite, and if money is no object, go for the Elite BUT if you are over 50, like us, save your money and just get this one as older eyes can hardly detect any difference in picture quality. Yes, there are a couple more bells and whistles on the Elite, but this is one amazing tv. It does give off some heat so be prepared for that. You will need a special cable wire and a surge protector, so expect to add another $150 for those.
Go for it and you'll feel rewarded each time you turn it on. |
Great Product and Great Service
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| Review Date: December 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: RomBo, |
| I Googled the 6020FD Pioneer TV for the best price and after reading terrible reviews of service and problems with some of the other "Cheaper" sites I decided to go with Amazon. The retailer was actually 6th Ave and the price included delivery to the inside of my front door only, which was ok with me since I had to do some furniture moving. To make a long story short I plugged it in and was immediately amazed at the picture quality, even before going through all the settings. After a week I became a little more curious and began to tweak the picture settings, which made this the most realistic and clear picture I have ever seen. I previously had a 50" LCD HD and although I thought that it had a good picture the 6020FD makes it look obsolete. It has the deepest blacks and the brightest picture.After I purchased this TV and while it was still on the delivery truck being delivered, I went back to Amazon and found the price had dropped by $89. I called Amazon and although they couldn't help me because I purchased it from 6th Ave. they told me to call them directly. The customer support at 6th Ave. immediately credited my account for the full $89 with no questions whatsover.Pro's: Super black backgroundFantastic brightnessRemovable speaker makes wire access easy to get toGreat Looking TVMany options for power and screen saving (Green Friendly)PC compatible with easy to access connectionsCon'sRemote hard to readHeavy 130 lbs (but thin - 3-1/2")Huge manual to read and understand, but well worth the time. |
Fantastic!
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| Review Date: December 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: P. Hill, Denver, CO USA |
We purchased this as an early Xmas present. CEVA White Glove Delivery Service was excellent! I had researched what the White Glove Service actually would entail and knew that they would not "install" to cable boxes, DVD, etc. Still with HDMI it was a breeze, we made the actual connections! The CEVA employees were in and out in less than an hour on a Saturday afternoon in time for the 4th quarter of the AL/FL game. It was very useful that we had downloaded the Operator's Manual from Pioneer's website so we knew how to assemble the stand and speakers AND about the power button on the back, not just the side.
The picture is beyond anything we imagined. We didn't really get the "blackest black" until we started watching it.
I noticed on the Amazon website that a few days after we ordered that the TV was then being sold by 6th Ave. and at a much lower price. Though no White Glove Delivery. So it equalled out.
We are very happy with the service and the TV itself. |
Great product - worth every penny
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| Review Date: December 31, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Armando, Dallas USA |
I have just bought the Pioneer PDp-6020FD and I am very happy and would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for a great 60" plasma hdtv.
I also have a 46" LCD and was looking to upgrade to a 55-60" size. The first decision was LCD again or Plasma. I asked many people about it and eventually decided on Plasma and I very glad I did. Colors are much truer and great for gaming too as there is no noticeable delays.
The other decision was whether to buy a Kuru or a normal plasma. If you are not sure about this I would strongly recommend the Kuru technology. The quality of the image is outstanding.
However the most difficult decision was whether to go for the standard (this one) or the more expensive PRO-151D. In the end i decided to go with the lower price option (difference in price was quite high), but I was quite concerned that the quality was not ideal. Once I plugged it in, all of the worry disappeared as I found the quality excellent and although I have no doubt the PRO series is better, I find it very difficult that it can be that much better to justify the difference in price.
Buying from Amazon was a great experience. Tv arrived in 4 days. I was contacted to organize time of delivery and installers were there in time and were most helpful in setting it up.
If you are looking for a great hdtv, I would strongly recommend the Kuro series. You will not be unhappy you paid a little more.
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Kuro at altitude
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| Review Date: February 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: tahoemom, tahoe |
We live in Lake Tahoe at about 6500 feet elevation. I was worried about the potential buzzing with a plasma tv at altitude. This tv was recommended to be ok for our altitude so I went for it. The older (5 year?) Sony had horrible buzzing so I was concerned but the AV techs were right. So far we have none- don't know if this will get worse in a few years. We have used the tv moderately to heavily for the past month.
I have no complaints at all. |
Pricey, but worth it.
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| Review Date: February 24, 2009 |
| Reviewer: R. Kloentrup, N. KY. |
| I don't know what I can add about this TV that hasn't already been said. The picture is so much better than any other set I've seen and the cosmetics of it are superb as well. As for Amazon customer support etc: I really like the way they have a seperate conceirge department for these high-ticket items and I needed them because I had a problem with the first set; it developed a line in the picture after about 6 hours of viewing. Amazon put in the order for the new one and said they would have CEVA pickup the old one when the new one was delivered. The delivery / pickup of the defective one is the only place I have any complaint. The two guys from CEVA acted like they were on a pit crew and couldn't get in / out fast enough. They wouldn't put the TV on the included stand (the guys who delivered the first one did) so it was impossible to check the sound or really hook up any source to the it. They plugged it in, made sure it turned on and then took off without half of the stuff I laid out for them from the return set (manual, remote, speaker brackets, etc.). The crew that delivered the first set were very professional, courteous and careful and everyone at Amazon was very helpful and professional throughout the process. |
Great product; great delivery
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| Review Date: February 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: RWL, San Francisco, CA |
After ordering this product from Amazon I braced myself for the "white glove nightmare" described by others. Either I was lucky or changes have been made in "glovedom", because the delivery (to San Francisco) by CEVA was professional and flawless. CEVA contacted me by phone and I asked if they would have a two-person crew for the delivery (they said they would and did). They arrived on time, unpacked the unit with care, assembled the speaker and stand (which takes a bit of strength and skill), carefully set it on my furniture, turned it on to insure it was working, gathered up the documentation, and then carted away the packing. Everything was done right and they seemed unhurried and eager to please. It was a totally positive experience.
Oh yes, as everyone else has reported, the 6020 is one amazing product. Even after three weeks, the picture still seems jaw-droppingly, grin-inducingly wonderful. |
Amazing TV!!!
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| Review Date: March 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Hit4dough, VA |
| This is such a good TV. Picture is beautiful and the sound is ok too. I bought this tv through amazon and got the white glove delivery. All went smoothly and the tv arrived one day ahead of schedule. I advise you do turn on the tv to make sure it works and check for scratches etc.. Only negative comment is (for videophiles) that every option as far as temperature control and some advanced options for picture adjustment aren't available (for 90% of us the extra money for the elite wont make a difference/or we wouldn't notice any difference anyway)and it was missing the screws to connect the speaker which I ended up running to lowes to get. Other thoughts.. my 6020 does not run hot (which I have seen other people mention) nor does it have any humming noises. If you buy this tv it will not dissappoint. |
Best display under $10,000
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| Review Date: May 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mark E. Fontaine, Howell, Michigan |
| If picture quality is important to you, and you don't want to spend significantly more, this is your display. It doesn't get better than this at this price point. It's got 4 HDMI inputs, you can hook a computer up to it, as well as the usual array of monitor options. Contrary to popular opinion, this TV can be calibrated through it's service menu, using software from ControlCal, so it's not worth the premium for the Elite. Enough has been written concerning the stellar picture quality, but an underappreciated feature of this display is its sound quality, especially using the SRS options. Obviously, you'll want to run this through a dedicated surround system, but in a pinch, the supplied speakers are surprisingly good. I would also recommend running a burn in CD (check out AVS forum, settings for KURO 6020) for 150 hours, then doing the ControlCal service menu calibration (you can use the suggested settings from AVs forum). You will then have an uncompromised-in-any-way killer display that is state of the art! |
The End of an Era
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| Review Date: June 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: C. A. Boylstein, |
So I've had the 6020FD for a few months. First off, the 'top of the line' Samsung LCD that maxes out at 55 inches is the UN55B8000. It currently (today) costs $3600. I purchased my Kuro for 3697 all in and is listed at 3700 today on Amazon. So that's $100 difference. Half the price is a comment made by an idiot. It is half the wieght of the Kuro - certainly not half the price. The differnce in the 5 inches (55 to 60) is 19% larger area for the Kuro screen-wise. For me, I did not want anything smaller than 60 inches.
The picture of the Kuro is near perfect out of the box. Put it on Optimum and you are good to go. Digital looks pretty good and HD looks amazing. All visitors comment on the HD picture. 90% of what I watch is HD or blu-ray so it works for me. Right now I am watching a digital channel (Fox Soccer) and it looks very good - not perfect, but very good.
I have watched various movies from a PS3 on the Kuro - Iron Man was stunning, Star Trek II (daytime) looked perfect, even upconverted dvds look excellent.
Lighted conditions is where I was surprised - this TV works very well in lit conditions, anti-glare screen works very well - I have light bouncing off it now and there is 0 reflection on the screen.
It is very heavy - so I have not wall mounted it yet. That is going to be a project and I likely will have to hire a couple of insured installers to do the job. Keep that in mind.
Also, my wall mount did not fit - so make sure your wall mount fits the specified holes on the 6020.
There are screen splotches when it is off - no big deal - part of the plasma experience I suppose.
Do not touch the screen - you are only supposed to clean with the supplied cloth - does not perform miracles. So, try to keep the screen pristine.
I have used the movie mode settings found on internet, like from here and CNET - they work very well - so does simply putting it in optimum mode.
Optimum is great and is one of the truly awesome aspects of this model.
HD is almost 3 dimensional, almost. It is stunning from 1 inch to 12 feet away at any angle.
I have not used the included sound bar so can't comment on sound.
Laptops look great on monitor - I have used VGA (Windows-based) and HDMI (macbook pro) - both looked very good - even watched a TV show off of netflix via the VGA - it was fine, not blu-ray, but good enough.
I cannot get split screen to work the way I would want it to.
TV is almost too easy to operate - Once I discovered how to power it on, the picture looked great and continues to.
If picture looks bad, make sure you are on HDMI option and not simply the cable feed (if you have a cable feed going to it for some reason like I do [trying to get split screen to work])
I would not use other modes other than optimum and movie, I do not see any reason to, but hey, that's me.
P.S. - nobody who has seen the screen thinks it is 'dim' - this screen is quite bright. For those who own it and think it is dim - there are control settings you can manipulate to make it brighter - mine, however, is perfect and not dim at all - the whites in fact are very solid and not 'smokey' in the slightest - something is wrong perhaps with your connection or input if any of your colors, white included, look 'smokey' on this plasma. |
Amazon does not deliver all they promise
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| Review Date: December 12, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Joseph Katilus, Stockton, CA USA |
| I ordered this item from Amazon using 1 click. The web site indicated we would get "White Glove Delivery". It was delivered on time and delivered to my living room. The shipper unpacked the TV set and left about 20 pieces around the room. When I asked if they were going to help me install the set, as indicated in the white glove delivery, they just laughed and left but they did take to packing material. I called Amazon and received the usual run around. They said I purchased the set from a third party and they were responsible for the shipping. I used 1 click to order the TV and the website indicated I was ordering from Amazon. I didn't get any help from amazon. I like the TV Set but the service from Amazon sucks.. Until they review their policies be very careful ordering anything. |
It is the best You have to see ot to beleive it!
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| Review Date: October 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: ED, USA |
| I had previously bought LCD - This set offers a new dimension in viewing. The colors are so much better. The deep blacks change all. You have detail and clarity in the blacks. Everything looks better. I have has very high end LCD's - this set is a major leap forward. |
pioneer6020fd
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| Review Date: October 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: C. Damante, SF bay area |
| Amazon was very easy to work with. The delivery time was excellent . the only negative comment would be about the White Glove service. The delivery person knew nothing about the TV. He didn't even know how to turn it on. After reading the manual, I figured how to turn it on and he had me do it so if something went wrong it would be my fault and not his. He helped me put the TV on the cabinet but would not connect it. After I connected it and got a picture on it, he picked up the packaging and took it away. It's a good thing the White Glove service didn't cost anything or I would be asking for a refund. The TV itself is perfect in every respect. I would recommend it to anyone. Purchasing anything through amazon is great. |
Pioneer Kuro PDP-6020FD
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| Review Date: November 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Gene E. Neal, 1st coast Florida |
This Plasma is one of the greats. Detail, depth, quality of resolution
are superb. It makes you wonder why everyone is jumping on the LCD wagon.
Honestly, LCDs have very nice pictures in the upper end models, however,
I do not see LCDs being close to the smoothness, depth, and just plain
delivery that this plasma can put out...and Pioneer is the paradigm
of this technology.
|
Great tv and great problem solutions.(from amazon customer service dept.)
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| Review Date: November 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. leonard, |
| Ordered on a Saturday and delivered on Wednesday of that week. Monday on that week I received a email from amazon customer service concierge team (James) to call him if there any problems. On Tuesday I got a call from the delivery company to set a time for that. I asked if the white glove delivery was coded on the paperwork. She said it was. Well when the truck arrived, he was by himself. Asked about white glove service,he did not know any thing about that. The container looked in good shape so I accepted it. I called the amazon customer service concierge team and informed James of the situation. He gave me a few options, return, call shipping company to pick up or I could assemble it. For my trouble I would be given a credit of $103.52. I had no trouble assembling with the clear instructions that came with it. I'm satisfied with everything the way things turned out. Kudos to James and amazon. |
Love this TV!!
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| Review Date: November 23, 2008 |
| Reviewer: C. Santana, Summerfield, NC United States |
Have had the Pioneer for a couple of weeks now and this TV rocks! We have HDcable, Xbox360 and PS3 connected through an Onkyo TX-SR606 AV receiver and the picture quality is just stunning. Prefer the Optimum picture mode best so far. At first we thought the 60" was a little too big for our family room but now we couldn't imagine a smaller TV working as well. Attractive looking unit with glossy black borders. We attached the included speaker on the bottom of the unit because we think the system looks better with it installed (although we don't use the speaker for audio). Highly recommend this TV, and all that talk in the reviews about deep blacks is so true.
Bought TV through Amazon, and received free white glove service. White glove service was just okay for us. They brought the TV into the room where we wanted it but argued with us about installing the stand. They wanted to lean the TV against the wall and plug it in to verify it worked. Can you image expensive/huge TV just leaning against the wall as something good? We refused to accept this as a "setup" of the TV and they eventually put the stand on and then plugged the system in. All worked fine and they were out of here.
For now, we think this TV is the best you can get. Buy this TV!! You will not regret it. |
Fantastic picture
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| Review Date: December 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Hawthorne, |
| I have owned this Kuro 60" plasma for several weeks and although it has not yet been professionally calibrated I can tell you that the picture on this tv is the best I have ever seen. When playing a blu ray disc it is more clear than if the people were in the room. ESPNHD is incredible. It feels like you could reach in and touch the players. It is also beautiful in terms of it simplicity and its appearance. Expensive but worth it! |
Pioneer 60 inch HD TV
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| Review Date: December 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Barbara L. Geistfeld, |
| We love our new TV. Got it in time to watch football on Thanksgiving Day and throughout the weekend. The HD channels are spectacular and we are looking forward to upgrading our movie collection to Blue Ray as we now have the set to do them justice. |
Excellent picture.
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| Review Date: January 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Michael E. Madryga, |
| After researching many LCD's including the LCD models with backlit LED's we came to the conclusion that this plasma HDTV was far superior in quality. The picture on this HDTV is excellent, even with a standard set of rabbit ear antenna. I own a high end projector home theater unit from Yamaha with Stewart filmscreen "firehawk" screen, that was specifically designed to match the projector. This is a six foot by ten foot custom made screen. While the KURO cannot match the projector for black levels the KURO does an excellent job. HD signals for live events are incredible, even better then the projector. We plan on adding the pioneer blueray player in a couple of months so I cannot tell you how well the Pioneer blueray player works with the KURO. If you are looking for an HDTV with excellent color you will not find one better then this. |
Fabulous TV!
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| Review Date: January 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Linda Schiffhauer, Boulder, CO |
| We bought this 60" Pioneer Plasma TV and the picture is Fabulous!!! We got the White Glove Delivery from Amazon and everything went so smoothly. An Amazon representative emailed us before our TV was delivered with a direct phone line to him if there were any problems with the delivery or the TV. We had neither, but felt confident that if we had a problem, it would have been taken care of immediately. Our TV was delivered the day that they said it would be. We would highly recommend buying any TV from Amazon.com! |
Fantastic picture quality!
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| Review Date: January 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ralph E. Durnbaugh, Marble Falls, TX |
I ordered this TV with Amazon's "White Glove" delivery. The delivery company called one day ahead for an appointment and when they arrived, they unpacked the TV, installed the stand and turned it on to make sure it worked. Then they hauled off all boxes. The picture quality is astounding! I hired a couple of local guys to wall mount it and connect it to my Dish receiver, Samsung Blu-ray and Bose sound system. I also bought a Harmony One universal remote which I highly recommend.
I am very happy with the great service from Amazon and I love the TV!!! |
Glad I bought it.
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| Review Date: February 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: G. Kumazawa, Castaic, CA |
| I know it is pricey but I did not want to buy another just because a better one came out. With the Pioneer, I feel it will be many years before it is replaced. The picture is just GREAT. |
Decided on plasma, not looking back
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| Review Date: February 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: WEF, |
I was set on getting an LCD due to glare issues on my first generation 42" plasma screen. I have been tracking this technology for two years trying to convince myself to shell out the $$ to upgrade my old set. The trend in LCDs was clear. They were looking better and better, but with this improvement, most vendors' higher-end LCD sets have shiny screens! The ones with matte screens looked terrible by comparison. The glare with most of the new LCD sets is similar to, or worse than most plasma sets. I also found that when trying to decide on which LCD to purchase, I simply tried to find one that didn't look too much worse than a plasma. Don't get me wrong, many LCD sets look good, but, with the exception of animation, high-end plasma sets look better.
After careful consideration, I decided to get a plasma. The clincher was that I compared a bluray video on the latest Samsung LED-backlit 55" set to the same disk played on a Pioneer Kuro pdp-6020fd. Looking at the LCD first, I thought "wow, that black suit coat is really black!" When I viewed the same disk on the Kuro, I thought "wow, that black suit coat is not just a black blob without definition, but has subtle wrinkles that are completely invisible on the LCD." The local dimming used on the latest LED-backlit LCD screens removes all of the subtle detail in dark scenes. I also noticed that the skin tones looked cartoonish on the Samsung LCD compared to the Kuro.
Now that I have enjoyed the Kuro 60" for a few weeks, I still am amazed at the unbelievable detail and the amazing blackness of the screen. I am also pleasantly surprised at how cool the screen runs. The lack of glare on this screen was also amazing. The anti-reflective coating does a great job - not as good as the older matte LCD screens, but much better than my old plasma or the newer LCD screens.
Note that most wall mounts will not work with this set. This includes ones that claim they can handle sets of this size. The bars that mount to the TV simply are not long enough. I ended up ordering the Sanus VMPL3b through Amazon, which worked great.
I have only one minor complaint: When using the "optimum" mode, which adjusts the color temperature along with brightness based on room lighting, you don't have any control over the overall brightness and contrast. The pre-set levels for these loses some of the detail in dark images. It is a shame that I can't tweak these settings. This is only a minor complaint; the solution is simple - just use one of the other settings. The light sensor still adjusts screen brightness automatically.
Overall, I am VERY pleased with this set. The buying experience from Amazon was also great. A few days after I ordered the set, I scheduled the "white glove" delivery. They delivered the set, un-boxed the set, made sure it worked, and removed the packaging. What more could I ask for?
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Too bad Poineer is leaving the TV business...
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| Review Date: February 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Alan Hoshor, Discovery Bay, WA USA |
| Love this display (Pioneer PDP-6020FD 60-Inch Class). My wife isn't into technology or change...and she is ecstatic about it. It up converts really well from our standard broadcast satellite service and DVDs look great (something I didn't expect). I'm using a Sony Play station 3 for BlueRay which has turned out to be a great solution and I'm playing my first console game ever; Valkyria Chronicles. The experience is so immersive I may not play these games on a PC anymore. The Play Station is connected by HDMI to the Pioneer. I didn't have an HDMI connector for my Dennon 7.1 surround sound system, so I connected to the Pioneer via fiber optic. I thought that my surround system sounded great before; using Dolby on DVD movies. The sound is so unbelievably good now on a BlueRay disk that it beats any theatre I've ever attended. The nicest part is that I didn't have to do any configuration, or either side. I'm just amazed how easy it all was. |
Pioneer PDP 6020FD
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| Review Date: February 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Andy McAllister, Columbia, KY |
I can't begin to explain how impressed I am with the Pioneer PDP 6020FD. I have purchased Pioneer compenants before and this is the first Pioneer TV that I purchased. The colors are amazing, the it is easy to operate.
The white glove service I got with the item, was amazing. They brought the TV, set up, made sure everything worked, and went on their way. I'm sure I could have done this myself, but it was good to have someone who knew what they were doing.
I would recommend this TV to anyone as a first time Plasma buyer or looking to upgrade. I upgraded from a 50in Mitsubishi Plasma to the Pioneer 60in. I liked my Mitsubishi, but it did not offer all the features this Pioneer TV has now. Highly recommend Pioneer Kuro, you will not regret this. Even my friends that see my TV are impressed and are now sold on this item. |
The Pioneer 9G Non-Elites can be Calibrated with ControlCAL
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| Review Date: January 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: HM, |
This is one of the best Flat Panel Consumer Televisions available today!!!!! Only the Pioneer Elite Kuros are better!!!!
Use ControlCAL (www.ControlCAL.com) to adjust/calibrate this Model's RGB Highs/Lows:
http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78
Good Review on the 9G Non-Elites by D-Nice here:
http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56
ISF Calibration?
Professional ISF Calibrators who can properly Calibrate the Pioneer 9G Non-Elites:
http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93 |
Videophile dream
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| Review Date: January 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: biomad, Princeton, NJ |
| High contrast display with the blackest black I have ever seen. I give it 4.5 stars only because there is an Elite version. |
Great product including the White Glove service provided by Amazon
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| Review Date: January 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: P. Leon, El Paso, TX |
Its been about a month since I have my TV and I really like it. It seems like the picture quality gets better everyday. My house has many windows and I was worried about picture quality with the brightness in the room. The picture adjusts to the brightness, the quality is great. I also like the sound as to the fact where the volume does not increase during commercial time. I have noticed some ocassional picture distortion or rather the picture trying to come thru like when you don't get a clear signal, and also an ocassional skipping of a word now and then - this dosn't happen often but I would like to know why it happens. Also on the remote, I do not have a button that says "info" to see what channel is playing. Minor issues. Overall I really like this TV.
I would caution about the company you may call upon to set up your TV on the wall (The TV does come with a stand which is good). I paid the ZIP company that poped up when I purchased my TV from Amazon offering a price comprable to BestBuy which included service and bracket. I thought this would be good but I wound up paying $199.00 more because they did not send the right bracket. I understood that a bracket measuring for a 43" to a 63" TV would accommodate my 60" TV - it didn't! I was then told that I would have to pay for another bracket to accomadate this brand of a TV. I do not know if this was just a line I was given, nevertheless I had to pay extra for another bracket which they did not even accept to exchange the other bracket with one that would fit my TV.
Amazon's White Glove service is impecable!! It would be nice if other business would learn a thing or two from how Amazon dose business. Amazon.com - keep up the good work. |
how to choose the best tv
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| Review Date: January 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A. Massumi, |
| superb picture quality , great contrast, perfect size. you will not go wrong with this tv |
Great TV...
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| Review Date: February 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: David J. Leach Jr., Texas |
blah blah blah... you have seen all the reviews about how great this tv is... they are all correct. I'm amazed at how nice this tv is. Of course I was upgrading from a 1986 27inch Sony TV so I guess any HD tv would blow me away but I had done a lot of searching before buying this on. The picture is amazing! I find myself standing in front of the tv looking at the images...
[...].
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Great Product
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| Review Date: August 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. Mills, Aiken, SC USA |
First of all, this TV has excellent picture quality. The deep levels of black truly create very deep colors. The black bars at the top and bottom of some movies are almost invisible as if the picture was floating in the air if you view in a dark room. A very well engineered product.
Amazon's delivery was top notch. I ordered on Thursday night and received it on the following Tuesday. The delivery guys were careful not to damage the TV or my floors. They waited until I was sure that the TV was in working condition before leaving.
The only negative is Pioneer's QC. The TV arrived with what appeared to be a sweaty handprint on the top right portion of the screen with a salt stain where sweat ran down the TV. With a damp cloth I was able to remove most of it. It is still slightly noticeable, but only if you look very closely. Certainly not worth returning.
Overall, this is a great product that I can easily recommend. |
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