Pioneer’s 2008 lineup announced
Sorry for all the Pioneer updates, but this is something that gives clarity to all the discussion of the new Kuro panels.
There are four models in the Elite line, and they share similar specs. All are 1080p, Kuro plasmas. There is a new line within Elite called “Signature Series;” these will be monitors without on board tuners and will be a thin 2.5″ deep. The $5,000 PRO-111FD and $6,000 PRO-151FD are 50″ and 60″, respectfully. The Signature Series are PRO-101FD and PRO-141FD in the same sizes. The Elite plasmas will ship in June, and the Signature Series will ship in October and August (101FD and 141FD).
The consumer line features a 50″ PDP-5020FD and a 60″ PDP-6020FD, both in 1080p. The new panels are almost a full inch thinner than their predecessors at 3.7″ deep. They’re all receiving the Home Media Gallery allowing connection to networked DLNA devices to view video, photos and audio on the TV. The consumer level plasmas will be $4,000 and $5,000 around June.
Interestingly, Pioneer has added a KRF-9000FD front projector to their lineup. They still don’t have full specs on it, but it is a 1080p LCoS projector based on the popular JVC DLA-RS2. This will retail at around $9,000.
Pioneer is also expanding their Blu-ray lineup with a player in their consumer line and in the Elite line. Both Blu-ray Disc players are BD1.1 “Bonus View,” and I’m a bit disappointed that they don’t have a BD2.0 player. The Elite model is BDP-05FD and the Pioneer brand is BDP-51FD. As far as I can tell they’re both the same unit. They both decode all audio codecs, they both have HDMI 1.3, BD1.1 profile, 1080p/24fps and PureCinema Deinterlacer. The Elite seems to simply add gold-plated connectors, touch-sensitive buttons, and an aluminum face plate. I hope there’s more to it than that.
Finally, Pioneer’s highly-respected Elite A/V receivers have been revamped. They will now all feature three audio zones, two video zones and will have RS-232 control. This is another effort to court the custom integrators. The new SC-07 and SC-05 receivers will follow the flagship SC-09TX with ICEpower class-D amplifiers. The VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH will be joined with the existing VSX-94TXH to complete the line.
