Pioneer's Kuro Elite: Best flat-panel HDTV ever

Pioneer's Elite Kuro PRO-111FD

(Credit: CNET)

For once, the headline is not an exaggeration. We just finished testing the 50-inch PRO-111FD, and like most professional publications who got there first, and most viewers who have seen this TV or its 60-inch brother in action, we came away very impressed by what we saw--so much that we felt compelled to award the first "10" we've ever given for picture quality.

The Elite Kuro may cost a mint, but if you have the cash to burn and the discerning eye to appreciate the differences, it's worth it. It produced the deepest black levels we've tested outside of OLED and the most-accurate color, and in most other important picture quality areas it performed admirably. That's the short story.

Read the full review of the Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD.

Note: Longtime readers of CNET reviews have come to expect the pieces to be accompanied by picture settings that enable viewers to set up their TVs as we did for the review. Unfortunately, we're unable to publish those settings to the review itself at the moment, so you'll find them reproduced below instead.

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Below you'll find the settings we found best for viewing the Pioneer PRO-111FD in a completely dark room via the HDMI input with a 1080p, film-based source with a Blu-ray player set to 1080p/24 output mode. Your settings may vary depending on source, room conditions, and personal preference. Check out the picture settings and calibration FAQ for more information.

Home menu > Setup > Picture
AV Selection: Pure
Contrast: 38
Brightness: +1
Color: +6
Tint: 0
Sharpness: -15

Pro Adjust menu > PureCinema submenu:
Film Mode: Advance
Text Optimization: Off
Intelligent Mode: Off

Picture Detail submenu:
DRE Picture: Off
Black Level: Off
ACL: Off
Enhancer Mode: 1
Gamma: 2

Color Detail submenu:
Color Temp: Manual
CTI: Off
Color Space: 2

Manual color temp submenu:
R High: -3
G High: 0
B High: 0
R Low: 0
G Low: 0
B Low: 0

Color Management submenu:
R: 0
Y: 0
G: -1
C: 0
B: 0
M: -2

Noise reduction submenu:
3DNR: Off
Field NR: Off
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off

Others:
3DYC: [grayed out]
I-P Mode: 2

[the46zone]

I like Jell-O

[DowNET]

Pioneer will always have the best Plasmas! This is no surprise! I have a 50" Elite from 2004 and it still blows the doors off what most is available today!.......except current edition Pioneers! :-) These guys know how to make quality plasmas, hands down.

[HDJunkie]

I just purchased this TV and absolutely love it. I was wondering if anyone could share two playstation settings with this tv, they are RGB Full Range (Full or Limited) and YPb/CbPr/CrSuper-White HDMI (On or Off) Thanks to anyone who responds.

[junglist101]

@HDJunkie - I set up an account to log in here for your question and since your a fellow PS3 owner. RGB should be set to full. HDMI superwhite to ON. I don't have this tv but this goes for any tv that can support these settings. The difference with the rgb to full is very noticeable but the super white is not as noticeable. RGB full will definitely improve the image.

[HDJunkie]

junglist101 - Thanks a lot for your response, I appreciate it. I actually have it set to Limited, but will switch it to see the difference. I am guessing this TV supports Full mode.

[~Smooth~]

Never put full range rgb on ps3 or expanded on 360.. leave it at limited for ps3 and standard for 360

the kuro elite has an automatic black level sensor which does the rgb full and expanded on 360 if you set it higher then limited then you will crush blacks and picture will become saturated....if you have another type of tv...set it to limited and put hdmi black level on the tv to low so that you get the darker blacks but dont do the console because you will crush the blacks...

my elite is at automatic for hdmi settings for color space and it provides perfect black level and i leave the full range hdmi on ps3 to limited.

[CCaldwell2]

Whenever you are looking at any CNET settings they provide for a TV, always use these settings for your PS3. In CNET's test labs this is what they use for testing each TV. So in order to get the benefit from these settings use:
Cinema Conversion: Automatic
Upscale: Normal
BD/DVD Video Output Format (HDMI): Automatic
BD 1080p 24Hz output (HDMI): Off (for most HDTVs) But for this, as they have noted above, you need to set as on
Video Output Settings: Check what your HDTV can provide which is an obvious 1080p and for this HDTV
Cross Color Reduction Filter: Off
RGB Full Range (HDMI): Limited
Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr Super-White (HDMI): On