CES 2007: Pioneer demos the future of plasma

Pioneer made some bold claims on Sunday about its brand spanking new plasma technology that should shoo of those pesky LCD and SED screens that have been sniffing around its turf. We were taken into a back room of the the Pioneer to witness the spectacle. Here, Pioneer had stood two 60″ TV side by side, one using the current system, and the new one next to it.

The first me thing that struck me was that while the TVs sat idle, with nothing showing on the screen, you could still see the faint glow of luminance on the older tech one. The new plasma screen, however, actually offers such dark blacks that you can’t tell whether it is showing a blank screen or has been switched off.

We kicked things off with a demo movie designed to show off all of its new features, such as the contrast ratio (which apparently is so good it can’t be measured with standard equipment) and the richer colours. Then it was time for the side by side comparison and it became clear quite how much difference the new system makes. The colours are so much more vivid, skintones are a lot more distinct and of course blacks look quite considerably darker.

To demonstrate how much better the new contrast works, the lights were turned up and down, and it was only when lights came up quite a long way that you could even begin to see any effect on the new screen.

One thing I did notice was that the new plasma was perhaps a little too black, and the colours a little too deep, which meant that the demo started to gain an unreal quality to it. Of course, you’re unlikely to ever watch anything that even remotely resembles what they showed on the demo, so it might be best to take the results of this comparison with a pinch of salt. However, as it currently stands, it looks like Pioneer has delivered on its promises.

Tech Digest CES coverage