Pioneer 720HD Rear Projection (1 Viewer)

[Ed Brunelle]

I am about ready to pull the trigger on this puppy and was looking for some inout from other Pioneer owners...
Since this is new any comments from 510, 610, or 710 owners would be appreciated....
Thanks
------------------
[email protected]
Pioneer Elite 720HD
Denon 5600 w/MSB DTS Board
Sony DVO-S9000ES DVD/SACD Player
Sony MDP200 LD Player
Mitsubishi HS-U780 S-VHS
(4) Platinum Audio Studio 3's
(1) Platinum Audio Studio 2 (Center)
M & K MX200 Subwoofer
High Quality Cables
[Edited last by Ed Brunelle on October 31, 2001 at 05:13 PM]

 

[John Miles]

What's the difference between the 720 and 710? The Elite brochure I have is from 2000 and doesn't list the 720.

 

[Ed Brunelle]

720 is brand new...
Here is a link
http://pioneerelectronics.com/Pionee...,20882,00.html
I think the changes are subtle...
My concern is the overall Pioneer Impression.

 

[PaulKH]

John, the 520, 620, 720 have an improved deinterlacer/scaler that allows aspect ratio adjustments even on progressive (480p) inputs. The 510,610,710 can only adjust aspect ratios on 480i inputs.
Ed - I've have a 510 for over a year and continue to be amazed at the quality of this TV. The built in deinterlacer is recognized as the best on the market.
I've just hooked up a Samsung SIRT150 HDTV tuner and I'm breathless looking at the wide screen digital TV images from over the air broadcasts!
I've not looked at the 'big' puppy, the 7x0 series, but my only concern there would be that if the viewing distance isn't significant, then you're likely to notice pixelation or other deficiencies in ANYTHING BUT HDTV inputs! ;-)
I've only got the 'baby' - the 510HD, and a 610 would have been nice in hindsight, but I'd spent enough cash on the TV and other things like a major room remodelling!
The best thing about the Pioneer I've found over other models is how well designed the operation of it is. Toshibas I looked at for example had aspect ratio control buried in some menu. On the Pioneer remote there's a simple 'mode' button which cycles through the formats. I have my Marantz RC5000 (aka Pronto) remote left button programmed for the mode switch.
The 'natural wide' stretch mode works well for 4:3 material, stretching it horizontally enough to fill the screen and a 'bit' vertically so things don't look too fat. We watch it in this mode all the time, when not watching DVDs or my new and amazing HDTV input.
I will say though that as amazing as the prior generation deinterlace I have is, eventually you may notice (as I have) its limitations (small motion artifacts or occasional zipper effects on fine detail) although this might well be related to my cheap DVD player which I plan to replace soon.
Hope that helps.
You will LOVE the Elite - I assure you.

 

[Grady]

I have a 510 and can confirm the set is wonderful with dvd and HD. Digital cable blown up this big doesn't do it for me. I prefer watching that on my 36XBR400. With a real good signal cable still only looks, to me, fair at best. Once you've seen HD, NTSC broadcasts look very soft on the 510.
While I haven't seen the 520 yet I don't really see how dvd or HD can be much improved over the 510. The "lock in full" issue isn't really to hard to deal with, especially now since the days of non-anamorphic transfers are over. If you have some of these pair the set up with a dvd player that will scale the image like the RP-91.
If I were you I'd see what you can get a 10 Series for. I paid $4600 for my 510 which was a good price at the time. I'll bet a 510 can be bought for $4000 or less. Depending on the price difference between a 10 Series and a 20 Series I suggest you consider both. If the 20 Series is say $1000 or more expensive, you can suffer with a measly 10 Series and not feel to bad. Doing a direct head to head in the store is not going to tell you much since there are so many variables it would be impossible to make sure both the 10 and 20 were optimally set up.
Remember that the 5,6&7 all have the same guts and the bigger screened 6&7 models are simply blowing up the same information. The more you blow it up the worse it looks. I agree that bigger is better to a point, and the 6&7 are great sets. I just feel the 5 is a bit sharper. Of course I'm highly biased!

 

[Todd Hochard]

Remember that the 5,6&7 all have the same guts

Not true. The CRTs/lenses are unique to each size. Note that the resolution is higher as you move up the line, according to Pioneer literature (1150/1250/1400 lines for 5/6/710).
I have the 510, and I love it. The line doubler is exceptional, and the x20s improve on that, so I hear. DVD is very film-like (I use the Denon DVD-2500 interlaced player), and HDTV, particularly live-action sports, is outstanding, sometimes breathtaking. After owning this set for nearly a year, I still marvel at the picture quality when I sit down to watch a DVD.
I'll be able to enjoy this set for years to come. Next stop- Front projected HD DLP, on an 8 ft wide screen.
Todd

 

[Ed Brunelle]

I really appreciate everyone's comments.
I have gone ahead and ordered a 720 ($7K poorer) - the local dealer has a 30 day return but I do not envision using it.
I will let everyone know my impressions after I have "viewed" it.
Thanks All!

 

[Scott Gilbert]

I am the proud owner of the 710. I used to have the 700 which stunk. Luckily I was able to protest enough that pioneer and my local dealer upgraded my set to the 710 free of charge.
I love the set for everything Watching reg TV, Direct TV, DVD and the picture on HDTV is just out of this world.
You will truly enjoy it. Just remember to calibrate it with avia or video essentials. You may want to have it professionally calibrated in the future.

 

[Allan Jayne]

Saw a large Pioneer RPTV (SD 653HD5 I think) in a Comp USA store, the pixellation was terrible when there was significant subject movement. The video they were showing was a cartoon like Monsters Inc. Other sets next to it and playing the same subject did not show the pixellation.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm
In years past, have seen TV sets with simple comb filters and wondered, how could anybody stand all that dot crawl.

 

[greg_t]

I would think something was wrong with the feed or the set. I saw a SD643 last week at Costco and the image quality was incredible.