Pioneer PDP427XD Review

42in Plasma TV

Picture
Sound
Features
Usability
Value

Outstanding picture quality backed up by all round excellence in performance.

89%

1024 x 768 pixels

HD Ready

Reviewed: 02 May 2007

Design

Along with Panasonic, Pioneer have cornered the market in glossy, ultra stylish, minimalist plasma screens. The PDP427XD exudes quality and its understated looks will add a touch of class to any living space and surely attract envious glances from friends and neighbours.

Features

At the core of the PDP427XD lies the latest Pureblack Panel 2 with a unique Crystal Emissive Layer as part of the front glass panel, which is designed to reduce unwanted light emissions to create distinctive black levels that enhance contrast and definition.

Details

Screen size & shape: 42in 16:9

Tuner: Digital

Sound system: Stereo

Resolution: 1024 x 768

HD Ready: Yes

Contrast Ratio: 3000:1

Brightness: 1,100cd/m2

OTHER FEATURES: PUREBLACK Panel 2, Direct Colour Filter 2,PURE Drive 2HD

SOCKETS: 2 x HDMI, 1 x component, 1 x S-video, 1 x RCA A/V, 3 x Euro-SCART, 1 x PC

The PDP427XD sports an improved version of Pioneer’s revolutionary Direct Colour Filter panel design, which does away with the ‘secondary offset image’ visible on standard plasma TVs if you watch them from the side with improvements to the screen’s phosphors reckoned to improve the colour spectrum on this panel by around 9%

Setting up the Pioneer PDP427XD is as simple or as complex as you desire. leave the panel in its out of the box standard setting, or choose to navigate through a serious of on-screen menus to adjust virtually every aspect of the screen.

Additionally you can choose to have the screen calibrated to by a professional Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) representative.

Connectivity on the PDP427XD is very good with twin HDMIs, component video jacks, a D-Sub PC port, a subwoofer line out, three Scarts, and two jacks there to support a built-in digital (Freeview) tuner, a Common Interface slot for adding subscription TV cards, and a digital audio output for potential Freeview Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks through an AV receiver

Performance

With its 7th Generation plasma screens, Pioneer have addressed one of the only weak points of previous Pioneer models, colour. A bench mark of colour performance, skin tone realism shows a marked improvement. The PDP-427XD handles complex scenes involving faces with stunning realism, and the vastly expanded colour palette produces scenes of class leading naturalism and depth.

The images delivered by the PDP427XD can only be described as pristine, with a crisp sharpness that is almost devoid of any video noise. With High Definition (HD) the picture is virtually faultless with no video noise or edge exaggeration.

PUREBLACK Panel 2 technology delivers simply the most stunning black level performance of any screen out there at the time of writing. Never have blacks been so pure with subtle graduations of greyscale detail that produce a truly remarkable viewing experience for darker scenes.

Impressively, the picture retains most of its composure even when viewing Standard Definition sources. Inevitably, you will notice the switch from the pure crispness of High Definition, but the loss of quality is nowhere near the levels of most of this screen's rivals.

The Pioneer stands out further from the crowd with its impressive sonic ability. An unpromising thin speaker strip along the bottom edge of the PDP-427XD actually delivers a clean and powerful sonic performance. The 2 x 13 Watt speakers are powerful enough to handle the most demanding of soundtracks.

Conclusion

Outstanding picture quality, and in particular superb black levels separate the Pioneer PDP427XD from the flat panel crowd. Combined with all round excellence in other departments at a reasonable price we have a class leading plasma.