More Than A Billion Colors On Display In New Pioneer Plasma TV

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today announces the addition of two new high-definition plasma televisions to its Pioneer PureVision™ product line; PDP-5040HD (50-inch) and PDP-4340HD (43-inch). Both of these Pioneer plasma screens make future TV a reality today by offering best-of-breed technology that, for the first time, can display more than one billion colors for the ultimate on-screen display. The new high-definition Pioneer plasmas offer complete television solutions including a high definition (ATSC) media receiver, side-mounted speakers and a tabletop stand that swivels.

"As one of the early developers of plasma technology, Pioneer has leaped ahead of our competitors in terms of image quality. Any consumer who is truly interested in preparing for the high-definition TV wave that is about to hit this country should look at a Pioneer plasma before they consider anything less," said Russ Johnston, senior vice president of marketing for home entertainment at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

A tremendous amount of proprietary technology is used to create Pioneer's unbelievably crisp image quality. New advancements include:

Pure Drive, a pure digital signal path from source to image. With Pioneer Pure Drive an analog broadcast is converted once to digital and remains in the digital domain. Any digital signal has no analog to digital conversion. By minimizing or eliminating the A/D or D/A conversions Pioneer has reduced digital 'noise' and MPEG 'noise.' Pure Drive also offers more correction for accurate images and improved gray scale.
Advanced PureCinema™ for faithful and accurate reproduction of film content. Pioneer is the first to introduce advanced film detection using 3:3 film to video conversion at 72Hz in a plasma display. This new technology enables film content to be reproduced with smooth and natural imagery like in a movie theater. Previously televisions only offered 3:2 film to video conversion at 60Hz resulting in on screen artifacts, such as uneven motion.
The advanced continuous emission display technology II is another industry first, eliminating false contours that can appear in close-ups of faces. This improved technology allows the television to display smooth transitions from dark to light areas without losing detail or compromising the image contrast. The improved technology works in conjunction with Pure Drive enabling the plasma panel to display more than a billion colors.

Pioneer, a world leader in plasma technology, offers a range of PureVision plasma screens that are the ultimate in super-slim vision technology. Other models in the PureVision family of products include the recently announced Pioneer Elite PRO-1110HD (50-inch) and Pioneer Elite PRO-910HD (43-inch), and for commercial/industrial use, the PDP-503CMX (50-inch) and PDP-433CMX (43-inch).

Plasma televisions are becoming more common in homes across the nation because consumers favor the aesthetic appeal of these beautiful flat televisions with wide viewing angles. Pioneer's new plasmas can sit on a table or be mounted to the wall, and work well with almost any home décor. More furniture manufacturers are developing furniture and room treatments to properly showcase the flat screen televisions. The black frame and silver side-mounted speakers of Pioneer's plasma televisions are sure to get admiration from friends and family, but the true high-definition picture quality with the capability to display more than one billion colors is what makes a lasting impact.

Pioneer plasma televisions are packaged with a stand-alone media receiver with a built-in ATSC tuner for true high definition television. The media receiver is compatible with high-definition terrestrial broadcast transmissions as well as NTSC (standard definition) broadcasts. The media receiver also allows the consumer to input an array of sources including satellite, cable, DVD, VCR, and computer signals up to wide XGA. The media receiver is digitally linked to the panel for optimal performance. It also offers HDMI connectivity.