Pioneer PDP-LX508D Review

Pioneer PDP-LX508D

Having received the replacement plasma panel (the glass of first one was cracked but kudos to TLC Broadcast who sent me a new screen straight away) some time ago, the Pioneer PDP-LX508D review is now complete.

Oh, and a big shout out to James at Thundermonkey who designed a CMS (content management system) for HDTVTest in record time after I moaned about how much time it takes to code each review in HTML. Thanks mate, I owe you one…

12 comments

  1. can’t wait for 2008 with better blacks.

  2. Great review again. Pioneer have really hit the jackpot with these new kuros, the real question is will anyone be able to better them and when? 2008 will be a very interesting year…

  3. The company who could make T.V’s such as this, with half the cost – we’ll win the heart of the high end consumer. maybe in 2008…
    Ido.

  4. we’ll win = will win (of course ;))

  5. Great review, I might be tempted to get one and move the 4280 into the family room.

    One small point worth mentioning with the Pioneers, the number of inputs is not quite as good as the rear pannel would indicate. You can use scart1 & hdmi1 as input 1, not both. The same issue occurs with scart3 & component. You can have everything connected and change the inputs from the setup menu, but can not select all directly. Another minor point is that there is no digital optical output from hdmi connected sources, which has made connecting up a little tricky. I’m not sure if this is something all manufacturers do?

  6. Pioneer seem to be getting noticed at last. Not least by myself who saw a 428XD in action last week. I didnt even bother checking what the HD picture looked like – the SD picture was good enough in itself, the best I have seen in my 6 months of searching for that illusive replacement for my 29 inch Sony Trinitron CRT. It hurts to say that because I’m a Sony man through and through, and its only the fan noise issue which is presently holding me back from an imminent 40X3500 purchase. Theres no way my living room can accomodate a garage door sized panel such as the LX508D but if a Pioneer 1080 428XD existed then I might have been already swayed. But then the problem of reflections and dimish picture in bright conditions rears its ugly head. You cant win. The Kuros do look bloomin great though – even when they’re switched off.

  7. get the pioneer sony lcd s have serious clouding issue s

  8. Phil – I personally have a 40X3500 and can say the fan noises have not affected me (at least so far). I sit about 8 feet away, and cannot hear them. Of course I can if I put my ear right up close to it, but it’s not at all louder than the SkyHD box (or a PS3). To be honest, if it weren’t something others had mentioned, I wouldn’t have noticed it (as putting my ear next to my TV isn’t the most enjoyable pastime)

    Neil – Perhaps you should educate yourself a bit more before posting a comment such as that. How do you know this? Have you seen any of the new Sony LCDs? I myself have one and experience no clouding, much like many on AVForums. My friend also has a W2000 and has no such issues.

    Perhaps an odd batch or two have clouding, but not the majority, at least of the X3 and W3 series.

  9. Jamie – I own a LX508D, and before I purchased it I compared it to the 52X3500. There was a difference in picture quality / colour and motion handling, the Pioneer was outclassing the 46X3500 in all aspects. I could live with not having the absolutely best screen, but all of the Sony LCD’s that were 46″-52″ were having clouding issues. That and the picture quality difference made me purchase the LX508D.

    The LX508D I got had a issue that bugged the hell out of me, the buzzing noise! But today my reseller brought their demo LX with them to my place and guess what, no buzzing! So I am getting a new one tomorrow and I’m going to open it up at the resellers to ensure that it’s buzzfree. This seems to be down to some low percentage of bad screens and after checking the forums most people are not having this problem.

    Before you purchase, make sure that the reseller will replace your screen if the buzzing is abnormally loud!

  10. Onyxx et al

    I have very mixed feedback concerning my new Pioneer Kuro Plasma.

    I have recently purchased a Pioneer PDP-LX 508D having always bought Sony TV’s before (CRT). I pondered long and hard before my decision – at £3450 for a TV it is not a purchase I wanted to make just with the heart – but having viewed at my local dealer I was simply bowled over by the superb pictures and design.

    I took delivery in December and have to say I still get an incredible thrill each time I enter our lounge. The set itself is simply stunning – even before you switch it on. We previously had a 36?’ tv and I had been worried that a 50?’ screen would be too big (our lounge is not massive) but within days we were used to the size and it is such a beautiful item of furniture in its own right that everyone who has seen it to date has admired it.

    When you switch it on be prepared to be blown away. The picture quality is simply exquisite. The famed contrast and black levels are superb and the subtelty with which colours are portrayed is breath taking. We quickly upgraded to Sky HD and the results are amazing – though we now tend to want to watch only HD programmes!I have resisted the urge to go for Blu-ray/HDD at the moment because whilst the picture quality is no doubt fantastic I remain unconvinced about which format will win out and my friends who have taken the plunge have experienced some teething problems and operation is so painfully slow. I will definately upgrade in due course but for now my DVD player is more than satisfactory.

    So whats dissappointed? My Pioneer sits at the centre of my Home Cinema set up. I firmly believe that sound is just as important as picture quality when it comes to a home cinema experience and I have a full 7 speaker set up with Subwoofer and a Denon amplifier. It is in this regard however that I have been very disappointed with the Pioneer PDP-LX 508D. The screen emits a very annoying buzzing sound when operating and whilst this is not noticeable at all during action scenes it is very noticeable with any sensitive scenes or with documetaries and news etc where there isn’t a constant level of background noise. Not only is the noise a nuisance but it changes pitch and tone when the screen image alters and therefore does not ‘fade into the background’ for any length of time. I did telephone the Pioneer customer relations team when first purchased but was advised to switch the drive mode from 75 to 100mz which is not possible on this set!

    Overall then this tv is fantastic for anyone who wants a fantastic viewing experience – I have never seen better picture quality on any tv from any manufacturer before. If like me however sound is equally important then I strongly recommend you do everything you can to listen to the set in a ‘home environment’ before you decide to buy.

    I hope I simply have a ‘rogue’ set and that Pioneer will be able to change it. If it isn’t then anyone who is looking for true home cinema and for whom sound is important will be dissappointed with this aspect of performance. I think most people spending this sort of money will expect sound to be handled with the same sort of perfection as the picture and the best hi-fi equipment in the world will be useless if the screen emits this amount of noise – lets face it most people spending this amount of money for a tv with no speakers is likely to have a home cinema set-up.

    Pioneer have arranged to send an engineer to test the TV and identify any fault but I would be interested in any feedback from other people who are experiencing a similar problem.

  11. David
    Please let me know how you went on with your Pioneer 508, I am having the same problem with a 507 and both Pioneer and the retailer are being less than helpful. I have had an engineer down and he has said that the buzzing sound I am hearing is normal and within Pioneers parameters. The TV is still under guarantee (just) but unless I can prove there is a fault there is nothing they will do for me.

  12. I have the same problem with the buzzing on the PDP LX 508D which can be heard from 2-4m . I have raised with the dealer and waiting for them to come back to me. Fantastic picture even with SD .

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