Pioneer PDP-LX5080D - strange but true?!

[admin_exported]

Went to a tv store today who have the Pioneer PDP-LX5080D in a demo room. The guy put spiderman 3 blu ray on as the demo disc and sure enough the picture looked fantastic sittin at about 7ft away from the tv. I asked him if he could show me some standard def footage and sure enough he put on a dvd of Nemo, this looked okay i must admit. However, i wanted to see live action footage and not animation so i asked him to put on a dvd which i had just purchased, the dvd being Aliens Special Edition. I was shocked! Not at shear brilliance but at how poor the picture looked, the picture was so grainy and even seemed slightly pixalated!! The guy said "if that doesnt impress you then i dont know what does" I looked at him and thought yeah mate okay! Were my eyes playin tricks with me because i expected too much?? Or does this tv not handle standard dvds all that well??? Some please help as i do not wish to spend £3500 on a tv which i wont be able to enjoy my vast dvd collection!!??? Will the 428XD do exactly the same with standard def images??

 

[Andrew Everard]

Don't dismiss the fact that the film may have been shot on grainy stock to create atmosphere, and that this is a relatively old DVD transfer. Could just be the screen is doing nothing wrong at all, but rather revealing deficiencies in the original material.

Don't shoot the messenger...

 

[Anonymous]

Do you recommend i take a dvd with a crisp transfer? The opening rave scene of Blade seems as crisp as anything, would that make a difference? Im not knocking the tv, i just dont want my viewing pleasure compromised as all of my movie collection is on dvd and cant replace them with blu ray or hd dvd cos firstly some of them are not on hi def and second they have cost me almost as much as this Pioneer is worth. Im gonna ask them to demo Aliens and Blade on the 428xd and see what that looks like too. Hi def is fantastic but i need a tv that can handle both well. The demo of the LX5080D has left me confused!! Oh and is the LX508D any different to the LX5080D, its around £500 more expensive?!

 

[Andy Clough]

Yes, taking a DVD with a crisp transfer would be a good idea. As Andrew pointed out, much can depend on the transfer quality of the DVD itself. I've got some DVDs of mainstream films (and not necessarily old ones) with a shockingly bad transfer - yes, the image looks grainy and pixellated, but it's nothing to do with the TV.

You've got me confused on the Pioneer model numbers too: do you mean the PDP-508XD and PDP-LX508D? The former is HD-ready (1365 x 768 resolution), while the latter is Full HD (1920 x 1080) and the price difference between them is around £500.

 

[Anonymous]

Aliens is a grainy transfer anyway, Alien is much better on my 428XD, Star Wars dvd's will look good as does Transformers, i've got the NTSC copy.

I think any Full HD set will exagerate standard def's faults and lack of resolution, especially with TV.

At least you're testing it properly.

R

 

[Alsone]

7ft is pretty close for that size of screen unless you're going to use DVD / Blu Ray only. With standard tv over an aerial the grainy DVD will look like heaven by comparison. I suggest you audition it with normal (non HD) BBC or ITV before deciding on that size as its very unforgiving from that distance with poor sources as you've just found out and even a poor DVD is good quality compared to an aerial signal.

I've auditioned the PZ and PX 70 side by side in 50" with an aerial from 10ft. The PX (720P) looks definately a lot sharper with an aerial feed in my opinion (less upscaling) however, I'd be lying if I said either set looked great.

From 10ft the 42" version blew them both away!

A big screen close up needs a good source. My advice is take into account what you're going to be using it for before buying. If its a general tv with a cinema system tacked onto the side for occassional use then you seriously need to consider the SD aerial feed as the most important aspect and consider downsizing until you have a good SD picture. Only exception here might be if you plan to get Sky HD or similar although even here not all programs will necessarily be transmitted in HD as I understand it.

If its a dedicated cinema screen with only DVD / Blu Ray / HD DVD sources, then 50" or larger should be no problem even from that distance. It all depends on the source. The better the source, the closer you can sit ie the bigger the screen relative to the sitting position. HD Formats > DVD > SD Aerial. Its not only the pixel count (sources physical size) but the bit rate / compression and aerial feeds have a lot of compression comparative to even SD DVD.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andy Clough"]
Yes, taking a DVD with a crisp transfer would be a good idea. As Andrew pointed out, much can depend on the transfer quality of the DVD itself. I've got some DVDs of mainstream films (and not necessarily old ones) with a shockingly bad transfer - yes, the image looks grainy and pixellated, but it's nothing to do with the TV.

You've got me confused on the Pioneer model numbers too: do you mean the PDP-508XD and PDP-LX508D? The former is HD-ready (1365 x 768 resolution), while the latter is Full HD (1920 x 1080) and the price difference between them is around £500.

[/quote]

Nah Andy, check this link out regarding the model numbers, apparently they are two different tvs..

http://www.tlcbroadcast.co.uk/pioneer/plasma-tv-c-45.html

the lx5080d is above the lx508d... im confused too!!???

Should i stay away from th 50inch considering my viewing distance will vary from 14ft to 6ft away??

 

[Anonymous]

Apparently PDP-LX5080D and PDP-LX508D use a different filter to suppress ambient light - the PDP-LX508D is the more expensive so I assume the better of the two... the model numbering as horribly confusing though. PDP is obviously Plasma Display Panel the 50 is the size, I guess the 8 means 8G? The LX must mean 1080p while nothing at all means 720p? Anybody's guess what the D is for... since there are dozens of threads similar to this we should start a campaign to standardise... have a guess what these two items are just from my made up codes (borrowed from other manufacturers)...

PDP-50-HD-PED-SIL
LCD-42-FD-CAB-BLK

 

[Anonymous]

All LX models will be 1080p. Because the 720p version is the non "LX" model, the standard 508D.

I have a 50 inch Samsung. It's 720p and I sit 7 to 8 feet away. Perfect. No problem at all at that range. If you're worried about it get the 508D which is 720p. It's an amazing screen but will be more forgiving on standard def material. Still outstanding with HD. Don't forget HD is not just about the picture but also the audio. You lose none of the HD benefits at 720p, it's still miles better than SD and the audio will be as good as it's meant to be.

So don't be scared of buying a 50inch. Within a month of owning it you'll wonder what all the fuss about viewing distances was all about. I bought a 42inch first and 5 months later gave it to mum and dad to get a 50inch. Best decision ever. They love the 42 and i love the 50.

Good luck bud.