Pioneer 505HD Review
10/10
I can safely say that if you can afford the screen you should buy it.
Buy it Now:
Highs: Excellent image quality, plenty of features
Lows: High Price
This 50-inch beauty provides a super detailed, unprecedented view into the electronic window created by any high-end signal sent through its many inputs.
Summary
I can safely say that if you can afford the screen you should buy it. By affording I mean the MSRP on this puppy is US$20,000. I will tell you that you can spend literally between 10 and 15 minutes on the Internet, and find a great deal. I have seen it for as low as $8999. Sales come and go, but you can consistently see this screen for around $11,000.
So far it has been worth every penny. Every client we bring in the room has something good to say about that screen. It has helped us sell products and have a raging good time. Overall, it has paid for itself in the business it has attracted, because multimedia and CBT look real good up there too.
Introduction
If you have ever seen one of these babies at Best Buy or Circuit City, you know what I mean when I say it will truly make you cry when you have to walk out of the store without one. This 50-inch beauty provides a super detailed, unprecedented view into the electronic window created by any high-end signal sent through its many inputs.
The Motive
Let’s start at the beginning; my team needed a high definition display that could be used in a variety of different ways. I needed to be able to hook up Desktop Computers, Laptops, VHS, DV, Beta decks and DVD players. I also wanted to hook up a Playstation2. We work hard and we play hard.
With that in mind we started searching the Internet for a product that could do all these things. I will not go into detail about the other products we found that could generally show a moving picture on a 50-inch screen. Most of them just didn’t have the number of inputs we needed. So we’ll center on the reasons we picked the Pioneer.
The reason we picked the Pioneer 505HD was that the number of inputs was just right for what we wanted. Of course, the 50 inch high definition plasma display had something to do with it also. The huge, crisp, luminescent display still sends shivers up my spine every time I turn the thing on.
The Screen
The unit has a 50-inch screen, which takes up most of the console. It’s only 4 inches in depth. Have I mentioned the High definition part? Pioneer uses what they call Pioneer Automatic Format Converter (PAFC). The PAFC basically converts the analog video signal to digital format on the fly. As mentioned in the specs below; this screen has a 160×160 degree viewing angle. As far as my eyes can tell there is no weird streaking, color dithering, banding or jaggies.
The Resolution
The resolution is incredible. XGA resolution is native 16:9 aspect ratio coming in at a nice 1280×768 75Hz. Using the aforementioned PAFC technology; the 505hd automatically converts any signal to 768 display using 16 million colors at .858mm x .808mm pixel pitch.
Not surprisingly, the 505hd produces a very crisp color correct picture. To tweak the color; Pioneer allows you to adjust the “color temperature”. The only thing I found lacking in color was the black. The blacks were not true blacks; they were a dark grey. The reds come close, but still retains an orange/red blend.
The Installation
The screen can be wall mounted or it can stand on a tabletop. Let me warn you now though both of these mounting kits are sold separately. The price of these accessories depends on what dealer you go to. Keep in mind though that you must choose one of the mounts. Wall or table; because there is no other way to stand it up. If you do not buy one or the other, your only recourse is to lay it up against the wall. It is not recommended you build it inside a wall because of the heat generated by this thing. If you decide to get the wall mount have a friend with you. The screen itself is a heavy 94 pounds. That means you must mount directly to the stud or it will rip your wall down.
The Hookup
Installation of all my gear was a snap. As you can see in the picture our normal setup includes a presentation laptop, and for sound, a Bose home theater system. The black box underneath allows us to pipe in both video and sound from our digital studio next door. As discussed in the input section, all the inputs are located on the bottom of the screen. It is very easy to hook up video and/or audio cables to the 505hd.
Inputs
Let’s talk inputs. The 505HP has 4 input panels. The input 1 panel has your standard Composite video input and an S-Video input. These can be used to hookup any standard video equipment. This includes a DVD Player, VCR, Cable box, DV Deck, VHS Deck, Beta Deck, Playstation 2, etc
