I down-shift to third gear as my car slicesthrough turn two of the Mazda LagunaSeca Raceway. Those suspensionupgrades I installed just before this raceseem to be paying off quite nicely. Aheadof second place, I check my mirror fre-quently. And then the unthinkable hap-pens. Going into turn nine with too muchspeed, my car fails to negotiate the cornerand ends up on the grass. My heart is rac-ing and my hands are sweating.Suddenly, I wake up! Perhaps I played alittle too much Forza Motorsport lastnight on the new Pioneer plasma that Iwas asked to review.

The great news about plasma televisionsthese days is that every new generationoffers better performance, packs morefeatures and costs less than the previousgeneration. This sixth generation Pioneerplasma promises a brighter display, withdeeper black levels and more accuratecolours than the previous generations.The 43-inch PDP-4360HD is appropriate-ly called a plasma display system, not just

a plasma display. Unlike a plasma televi-sion that comes in a single, large box, thissystem can be comprised of up to fourcomponents. The PDP-4360HD is actual-ly made up of two pieces: the PDP-436PUplasma display and the PDP-R06U mediareceiver. On top of these, there are twomore optional accessories that can com-plement the plasma: a table top stand andscreen-mounted speakers. What is thepurpose of the media receiver you ask?Good question. The media receiver hous-es dual NTSC tuners (standard TV)together with a single ATSC tuner (high-definition TV). It connects to the displaypanel using a single proprietary digitalinterface cable. All of your audio/videocomponents connect to the media receiv-er. As a result, the plasma panel is slim-mer than a typical plasma television andthe number of cables between the equip-ment rack and the display is minimized.This is especially true if you connect mostof your video sources directly to the dis-play. Although in my set up, where video

switching is performed by the receiver, allof the video sources are fed to the receiv-er and only a single component cablewould normally run to the display. So inmy case, the separate display/mediareceiver configuration didn't really makethe setup any easier. If you were to mountthis plasma display on a wall, then thisconfiguration would make your life easi-er. Pioneer is not the only manufacturerto provide separate media receivers withtheir displays.

The Pioneer plasma panel looks simpleyet well-dressed with its glossy blackframe and silver stand. I must say that Ido favor the simple black frame designover other more fancy designs. It trulyfocuses the attention of the viewer on thescreen, instead of dispersing it to theedges which fancier designs seem to do.It also enhances the perceived brightnessand contrast of the images on the screen.The media receiver is split horizontallywith the top section finished in black andthe bottom in silver. It has a simple, ele-

productreviewPioneer PDP-4360HD Plasma Display System

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gant look that's free of buttons with theexception of a power button. The silversection of its face is actually a flap thatopens to reveal TV Guide buttons, a VGAinput and a component/S-video/compos-ite input. The TV Guide On Screen sys-tem is a free on-screen television pro-gramming guide, similar to the guides thatcome with digital cable and satellitereceivers. It offers program listings (forup to eight days), searching bykeyword/channel/genre, timer recording,reminders and more. It can also be set upwith your DVD recorder to allow for eas-ier program recording.

The PDP-436PU plasma display offersan XGA resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels,a brightness of 1100 cd/m2 and a contrastof 3000:1. The media receiver has 3 com-ponent/3 S-video/3 composite, 2 HDMI, 1VGA and 2 i.LINK (FireWire) inputs. Italso has 2 antenna connectors: one foranalog/digital cable and one for anindoor/outdoor antenna. A CableCARDinterface is also present. The i.LINKinterface can be used with i.LINK D-VHS

recorders only (with this plasma system). The Pioneer comes with a universal,

learning remote that is fully backlit. It islonger than typical remotes so you willhave to slide your hand up and down on itbut the buttons are well laid out, making iteasy to use. A direct input source buttonis provided for each TV and video sourceso you don't have to cycle through inputswhen switching sources - this is a greatfeature that every remote should have.On top of all this, there are four favoritechannel buttons that can be programmedwith the TV Guide On Screen - a smallbut appreciated feature.

I set up the Pioneer PDP-4360HD dis-play system with our Marantz SR8500receiver which performed the audio andvideo switching for me. Four differentsources provided the signals: an analogtelevision cable, a Motorola DSR505 HDsatellite receiver (high definition feed), aPioneer DV-563A DVD player and anXbox 360 (also high definition). Allvideo connections were made using com-ponent cables.

With factory settings, the picture on thePDP-4360HD looked great. The colourslooked realistic and the contrast wasimpressive. The first big test for a largescreen television set is how it handles lowquality analog signals because after all, alot of us don't have digital or high defini-tion signals yet. Many people bring largescreen televisions home only to disap-point themselves with just how bad regu-lar cable looks on them (after seeing high-er quality signals at the store). But thePioneer did not disappoint here. Analogsignals were completely acceptable whenblown up to the size of this 43-inch panel.It did a better job than many same-sizedplasmas that I've seen.

At this point, I decided to tweak the fac-tory settings using the Digital VideoEssentials DVD. The video test patternson this disc suggested that the colourshould be turned up, the tint should lean alittle towards the green and the sharpnessshould be turned down. The brightnessand contrast remained pretty much in theiroriginal positions. The Pioneer remem-

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bers the settings for each of its videoinputs.

While watching digital television frommy satellite box, I noticed that the picturewas slightly on the dark side and that itwas now too soft for my preference.Turning the brightness and sharpness up alittle did the trick. The colours nowappeared more alive and vibrant but verynatural at the same time without theiroriginal slight bias towards red.

Now, I was ready to get into someextended watching. The 480p signal frommy satellite receiver looked substantiallybetter than the analog signal on the PDP-4360HD and reasonably so. I caught afew channels playing the same programwhich made it an easy comparison.Again, I was happy with the job this plas-ma did with the lower quality signal.

Next, I moved on to watching a fewDVDs. The colours in the opening chap-ters of The Hitchhiker's Guide to theGalaxy were well saturated and clean.The skin tones of the characters lookedrealistic, although the grass appeared a lit-tle too vibrant. The PDP-4360HD per-formed great with darker scenes and vary-ing shades of gray. The dark scenes pro-duced a deep black level. Subtle shadingin the dual-personality captain's blackcoat was clearly visible. The presetMovie mode (a little biased towards red)worked well with low light in the roombut was a little too dark to watch underdaylight conditions. With daylight in theroom, I preferred to watch the plasma inthe Standard, Dynamic or User modes.

The media receiver has a fan that spinsat different speeds. At lower speeds, thefan can't be heard over the audio, howev-er when the fan spins faster it can be heardover low volume levels. I also noticedthat the fan in the media receiver runs inthe low setting almost 24/7 when the tele-vision is in the stand-by mode. Updatesto the TV Guide On Screen are sent at var-ious times during the night which requiresthe media receiver to remain in an

"always on" state.The Pioneer did a spectacular job with

signals from the Xbox 360. The set fea-tures a preset picture mode for playingvideo games to reduce the risk of a burn-in of static images from games. This"Game" mode tones the brightness downand works perfectly fine in dimmer light-ing conditions, although in daylight con-ditions this mode makes the picture a lit-tle difficult to view. The manual recom-mends limiting video gaming on this tele-vision to two hours at a time and thenwatching a normal moving picture forover three times as long before playinggames again. Again, this is to prevent therisk of a burn-in.

Finally, I put the PDP-4360HD to thetest with high-definition programming. Ishould mention that when switchingbetween component and DVI videoinputs, the Pioneer tells you exactly whatsignal it is picking up, whether it's 480p,720p or 1080i - a very useful feature.Now, the Pioneer showed me what it trulydoes best. DVDs looked very much aliveon this plasma set but sporting events,movies and episodes of CSI came throughin a whole new light in high-definition.The detail and sharpness of the picturewas incredible. Names on baseball play-er uniforms were crisp enough that I couldread them, even in long shots. Whenwatching movies, imperfections in everycharacter's skin were clearly visible.

The Pioneer PDP-4360HD producedone of the best pictures that I have seenyet. It excels in colour reproduction, pro-cessing and delivers an impressive blacklevel. If you're looking to raise yourhome theatre performance to a new level,you should definitely give this Pioneer atry. With a price tag of $4499 (plus $399for the table-top stand) it is worth everypenny. A good number of dealers havethis television set up in their showrooms,so you should be able to bring someDVDs and see for yourself how it per-forms.

specifications

Manufacturer:Pioneer Electronics Inc.www.pioneerpurevision.comwww.pioneerelectronics.ca905-479-4411

Price (MSRP):$4499.00

Pioneer PDP-4360HD PlasmaDisplay System

• Screen size: 43 inchesRatio: 16:9• Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels• Brightness: 1100 cd/m2• Contrast: 3000:1• Tuners: Dual NTSC tuners and

ATSC tuner / Digital Cable Ready (DCR) with Cable CARD interface

• TV Guide On Screen Interactive Program

• Split Screen / Picture in Picture• Inputs: antenna F connections x 2

(1 digital/1 analog), HDMI with HDCP x 2, component video x 3, S-Video x 3, composite x 3, I.Link x 2, D-Sub for PC x 1, SR In x 1

• Outputs: optical audio output x 1, subwoofer output x 1, monitor output (composite) x 1, SR + output x 1

• 2-way stereo speakers: optional• Backlit universal remote control• Display dimensions (WxHxD):

42.4 x 24.9 x 3.6 inches• Display Weight: 56.9 lbs• Receiver dimensions (WxHxD):

16-9/16 x 3-9/16 x 11-13/16 inches

• Receiver Weight: 9.9 lbs

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