back to article Pioneer Project Kuro 'Extreme Contrast' first look

Pioneer proudly premiered its Project Kuro "Extreme Contrast" presentation at CES, and Register Hardware was exclusively invited to see this awesome, absolute black TV in action. Shown only as a concept, with no indication of when it might come to market, Pioneer has been working on the top secret "Project Kuro" in a bid to …

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  1. Dazzer

    Wrong way round?

    Are the TVs the right way round to what the article states? The one on the left looks blacker to me!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Wrong way round?

    I asked Scott - who also took the photograph: Here is his reply:

    "No, it's correct as it is.

    It's just the way it looks given the camera flash and where I was standing.

    The writing on the stands - if it's visible at 72dpi, should help clarify."

  3. john
    Alien

    I assume these are plasmas not LCDs?

    Kuro is plasma right?

    So does that mean its fine for a dark room, but where you have natural light an LCD is still better overall?

  4. Bernard Langham
    Coat

    Spinal Tap

    "It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is, 'None. None more black.'"

  5. Andrew Bolton

    A contrast ratio can be provided, surely?

    It'll be infinity. Light/dark = something/zero = infinity...

    And John - in any conditions, plasma is better for watching TV than LCD, frankly. The LCD camp is possibly winning the PR war, and I suppose the price war for sub 42inch screens, but they're the only war they're winning. Compare plasma and LCD side by side and I guarantee you'll prefer the plasma.

    Andrew

  6. Bronek Kozicki

    good question

    Might be anything. Maybe OLED, I know it is capable of "absolute dark".

  7. frank denton
    Thumb Up

    Reflections on black

    I wondered about the picture order as did the previous posters.

    It looks like they need to use a more matt paint finish and the screen has reflections as well. In a fully darkened room this may be fine and impressive but in a domestic situation the 'absolute' black of the screen would probably be lost due to reflections of ambient light.

    It's an admirable achievement all the same.

  8. David Haworth

    @john

    LCD's are brighter than plasma's, and cheaper to make in higher resolutions, but LCD's have always struggled with black (which plasmas have always been good at). many people would say that a plasma at 1024x768 looks better than an LCD at 1920x1080.

    I have an LCD now, btu if I were buying again I'd probably go for a plasma.. indeed a pioneer kuro plasma at that. not sure if I could justify the spend on a 1080p one mind...

  9. jolly
    Dead Vulture

    "Awesome", "Wow" and "Look at that"

    Unbelievable. Black pixels. Just incredible. I don't know about you but I'm off to dance in the streets!

  10. Scott Mckenzie

    Pics

    I initially thought they were the wrong way round too, but if you look at the image they are labelled underneath... it'll just be the camera flash.

    John - Yes they're Plasma TV's, the Kuro range is currently the best available anyway so this should shake things up nicely.... whilst you allude to the main downfall of Plasma in the sense that a room with a lot of natural light isn't ideal for them, it's not that clear cut, if you're watching a screen with the window behind and around you streaming on to the set then an LCD is better, but if you have a tv with windows at the sides/behind etc then i doubt you'll have an issue at all (that is my setup) Personally i'd shut the curtains on the odd occasion the British weather was that bright rather than sacrifice the improved quality Plasma offers over LCD.

    Good brief article here, from a company that makes both: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/technology/plasma-or-lcd.html

  11. Chris Miller

    As usual, the Blessed St Douglas of Adams got there first:

    Every time you try to operate one of these weird black controls that are labelled in black on a black background, a little black light lights up black to let you know you've done it. What is this? Some kind of galactic hyperhearse?

  12. Iain

    Re: the picture

    It looks like it was taken with a flash, so you've got the right-hand screen reflecting, and looking less good than the left-hand one. Oh well.

    Yes, the Pioneers are plasmas, and bloody amazing. Even with natual light they'll kick any LCD's backside. At £3000 for the 50", they bloody should do, however.

  13. Ian K

    "It's just the way it looks given the camera flash"

    Possibly using a camera flash was a bit self-defeating, given what you wanted the photo to illustrate?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    resist the couch potatory

    "Personally i'd shut the curtains on the odd occasion the British weather was that bright rather than sacrifice the improved quality Plasma offers over LCD."

    Personally I'd switch the TV off and go outside to enjoy the lovely weather.

  15. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
    Stop

    So if I watch...

    "Pitch Black" on this TV, it'll actually be "Pitch Blacker"?

  16. Ash
    Joke

    How they did it...

    Nathan Explosion was called in to write a song, and the score was directly etched onto every single pixel on the screen.

    "Blacker than the blackest black, times infinity." indeed.

    But the truely important question is... Can I get it for my iPhone?

  17. Scott Mckenzie

    Couch Potato

    That'll be my fault for thinking inside the box.... getting outside and enjoying the weather with maybe a G&T is a far better idea of course!

  18. Player_16
    Flame

    Never take photos of light using a flash.

    @Drew Cullen; You can inform Scott, even if it was flames, it's a light source.

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