Colour Banding Issues on Pioneer PDP-LX5090

[admin_exported]

Hi,

So I've just got a Pioneer PDP-LX5090 on the strength of the amazing reviews it recieved across the board. It's hooked up to a PS3 and a Virgin HD box, via an Onkyo TX-SR 706 receiver, the HDMI cabling is all £40-£50 per lead stuff.

The picture, by and large, as as great as everybody says but there are occasions - too many to be forgiveable at this price - where graded backgrounds will display as bands of colour rater than gradual fades from one shade into the next.

This is particularly apparent with cloud cover and smoke drifting into the sky, but can also happen with differing tones of sunlight falling onto a wall, or the halo around a torch. It's as if there aren't enough colours for the panel to display all the shades it needs to.

This happens with both hi-def and standard content.

I've tried bypassing the reciever but it happens - to varying degrees - with every configuration of the equipment. I've played with the settings on the TV but to be honest I don't really know what I'm looking for.

Is this just par for the course with plasmas? Even high-end ones like this? If so I've never read it mentioned in any of the write-ups. So either I've got a faulty unit (which seems unlikely as it's a fairly sublte flaw for a hardware fault) or there's some kind of setting configuration I'm missing.

If anyone's experienced this issue, or has any suggestions, I'd be very grateful for any advice.

Cheers
DC

 

[drummerman]

This issue is documented on other (owner) forums and has been measured. Pioneer have worse gradation than for example panasonics, some of which have over 5000 (now over 7000 I believe in the top model, though it's a pro panel and costs around 8k). Without looking into it and searching the details, from memory pioneer Kuro's have around 4400 steps of gradation. On the other hand the company uses far more advanced dithering/algorithms which in turn make other aspects of the picture superior.

Drive mode 1 does go a small way towards making the steps smoother, so does dot by dot which avoids the overscan and displays pixel perfect.

I did notice it in the beginning but it is no problem now and I almost feel that the issue has almost disappeared completely. Watching underwater scenes on BBC's HD Oceans I cannot detect any colour stepping. Same with BR or HD animations which contain high contrast fading colours. Perhaps I just got used to it, perhaps it has something to do with continuing use of the set though I am still more than sceptical on possible improvements with running in. Some very knowledgeable people say that sets deteriote with use rather than the other way round. Makes sense to me.

There are a few small issues I have with the 5090. One is a comparable lack of brightness, especially when displaying large picture brightness content and the associated dimming that comes with it. It's slightly more pronounced on the 5090 than say Samsung plasmas. Not ideal for bright day light viewing but not a problem otherwise. The others are the 'dirty screen' syndrome, something to do with the glass/lamination and a slight buzz with no powersaving mode selected.

Not perfect then but a very good product nevertheless.