Pioneer Kuro Plasma Still Better than Today’s Bests: the Kuro’s Dead, Long Live the Kuro!

It’s been a sad 15 months since Pioneer’s deadline to cease production of the world’s best TVs—its Kuro plasma display panels—and to cancel its upgrade to a possible tenths generation. Vultures are still staying perplexed.

Technology keeps fast-forwarding in an unbelievable speed, or does it? Panasonic recently released its 2010 series G20/G25 plasma TVs by March 15th.

According to a CNET review by David Katzmaier, Panasonic G20/G25 plasma TVs are excellent; oh, really?

On the same review, David intimated that the Kuro still beats the Pana when it comes to picture quality and black level. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the Panasonic G20/G25 is a fantastic TV, but come on, it’s been more than two years since the initial release of the Kuro 9G, which is like forever in the tech world, and the competitors still can’t beat the Kuro.

Kuro’s blackness

“Kuro” is Japanese for “black”, and that’s because Kuro’s current (9th and the last) generation of plasma display panels deliver 5 times deeper black levels than the previous generation for an unmatched contrast. That’s blacker than almost every plasma produced today, and way blacker than LCDs.

With the 3D fever spreading all over the world, and its minimal requirements for a 120 Hz refresh rate which is currently unattainable in plasmas, and greening everything, and affordable brands’ LED 3D adverts on reaching over 400 Hz, the Kuro is history.

Vultures shall remain on-call; maybe 2011 will be the year when the Kuro gets to pass the torch…

The Kuro is dead, long live the Kuro!

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13 thoughts on “Pioneer Kuro Plasma Still Better than Today’s Bests: the Kuro’s Dead, Long Live the Kuro!

  1. I am a proud owner of a 9th gen, 60 inch pioneer kuro. I am so proud of it; was ecstatic the first day I bought it, and continue to be fascinated by each bluray DVD I play on this wonderful plasma TV. How really happy am I with this product? Well, I am looking to buy one more set to add to this one. In certain electronic outlets here, where they retail an assortment of brands including Sony, Samsung, Panasonic and others, the picture resolution of the Kuro stands out and beats the others by a mile or five.
    Unless I see some literature – which I am always on the lookout for – that says, the Kuro’s quality and its “blackness” has been beaten, I will continue to champion this brand. Yes, I laud the Kuro as loudly if not more so, than Mr Komeil Bahmanpour. Darkness may have fallen on the Kuro, but its still “pitch” perfect! Long live the Kuro!

  2. Kuro is dead…….yes. It however shall continue to be a legendary and iconic piece of technology for the simple fact that there has never been such a clear cut unanimous domination of its competitors in the way that this TV overshadows its competitors…………..it has surpassed any of the great champions in that it has stopped competing for nearly 18 months now and is still undefeated. One can only imagine what the 11th or 12th generation would have been like…………the others would have taken about 15 years to catch up!

    • I give you two proverbs, first, Persian, “هیچ ارزانی بی‌علت نیست و هیچ گرانی بی‌حکمت”, meaning “nothing is cheap for no reason and nothing is expensive for none”, second, English, “I am not rich enough to buy cheap things!”

  3. It would be very interesting to see how the Kuro of today would be beating off the competition. I’ve been very impressed with the some of the higher end Panasonics but I suppose the difference is debatable and the Kuro has definitely left its stamp!

  4. I too am a proud owner of a Kuro Plasma and have championed this TV ahead of all the current crop of TVs available today. Sure, it doesn’t have 3D capabilities or run at 400Hz but one thing it does is piss its ‘blackerness’ over everything out there today. I wait in hope Panny can do something with the tech it has bought from Pioneer; however much later it is.

  5. Pioneer Elite Kuro plasmas that were developed in 2007 and released in 2008 still crush all the new 2010 model plasmas, LCDs, and LEDs. Amazing, simply amazing. Pioneer Elite Kuro plasma TVs must have used alien technology because how can a human being make something so perfect? David Katzmaier is a legend in the ISF, Hollywood, video science and engineering community. Some people are stupid enough to go for the really thin “edge-lit” LED LCD HDTVs, they are worse than the thicker LED HDTVs, because thicker ones have either full array (full matrix) or local dimming technology.

  6. It is 2011 and the Pioneer Kuro is Still the pinnacle of flat panel technology. Black are so black. Colors so sharp. Pioneer tv nearly went bankrupt refining the best amid the crash of the us economy (8k tv’s are a hard sell amid economic crisis). I have compared my 60″ Pioneer Kuro to every current tv on the market as of 2011; Nothing compares. Panasonic (which has pioneer bought technology in it) is close. But not quite.! Simply put: Pioneer Kuro = Still the king. It’s just sad that the majority of the public is brain washed into thinking that LCD is better. I think the Pio Kuro will remain the benchmark for several more years. Simply astounding! To me, it’s sorta like a little inside secret for the few of us who own the very best. Thank you Pioneer.

  7. I also have a 9g KURO, Had a 7 series pio before which was still better than many new screens (apart from 1 hdmi reason for change) The 9g KURO may have cost a bit + seperate speaker + stand…But, such a cool tv the picture flawless, the way it looks class!! Wouldnt swap it for anything else Just wonder what will replace this if it packs up 🙁 ??!!

  8. such a sad shame that they could sell enough due to the masses being brainwashed by the big stores of stories of re-gassing and pushing lcd tech that looked ‘better’ in brightly lit shops.
    i have a krp500a and am so proud of it. wish i’d been able to afford the 60, but that is my only regret. thank you pioeer for kuro- a true tech legend.

  9. Gentlemen…I have stumbled upon kindred sprits in your web blog. I too am(was) a proud owner of a Kuro, a Pro-1150HD to be exact and I’ve greatly enjoyed swimming in its warm color tones and inky blackerness. But alas, my beloved Kuro had a stroke after less than 33 months of servitude with what the doctor says is a burnt out PC board. Surgery will set me back $800. As the saying goes, “a candle that burns twice as bright lasts half as long”? Whatever. The issue is do I spend the $800 for on an old friend or spend it towards a new memeber of the family. I just read some reviews on CNET for Panasonic and Samsung plasmas, CNET is comparing their 2011 models to 2008 Kuro’s and saying the Kuro’s still can’t be beat! PIONEER….PIONEER….WHERE FOR ART THO PIONEER! Would blackerness by any other name than Kuro still be just as black? This is like taking your pet to the vet and being told that your beloved snoozerdidle needs a heart transplant. I’m suddenly missing the love and affection my Kuro has devoted to me, but the cost benefit ratio is not meeting the projected long term investment projection. I feel faint. If you see a ragged gentlemen standing at the intersection with a sign that reads “HELP, I’m off the grid, my Kuro needs a heart transplant”, please donate generously.

    Signed, LONELY

  10. the reality is that NOTHING comes close to the Kuro, even today, because it is/was such as an expensive TV to produce that the numbers just don’t make business sense. We can get a TV as good as or better than the Kuro with current technology, but no one wants to pay for it. It tells you something about the quality of the kuro, doesn’t it?

  11. Does anybody know where you can buy 9th generation KURO? It seems it’s no longer available and have a hard time finding it. Any help is highly appreciated guys.
    Cyrano de Bergerac

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