Pioneer Elite PRO-940HD Plasma HDTV & HP MediaSmart SLC3760N LCD HDTV review:HT Labs Measures: Pioneer

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio—476:1; ANSI Contrast Ratio—851:1

Measured Resolution with the Leader LT-446:
480: 480 (per picture height)
720p: 720 (pph)
1080i: Out to the limits of the 1,024-by-768 panel

DC Restoration (poor, average, good, excellent): Excellent

Color Decoder (poor, average, good, excellent): Excellent

Measured Color Points:
Red Color Point: x=0.664, y=0.328
Green Color Point: x=0.249, y=0.676
Blue Color Point: x=0.147, y=0.060

The top chart shows the PRO-940HD's gray scale relative to its color temperature at various levels of intensity, or brightness (20 IRE is dark gray; 100 IRE is bright white). The gray scale as set by the factory, in the Low color-temperature mode and the Movie picture mode, measures very cool with the darkest images and closer to accurate with brighter images. After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures much closer to D6500, the accurate color temperature, across the entire range.

The bottom chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) relative to the color points of the display's red, green, and blue color phosphors. These are off those specified by SMPTE. Red is somewhat oversaturated, while blue is very, very slightly oversaturated. Green is very oversaturated and slightly bluish-green.

After calibration, and using a full-field 100-IRE white (18.55 foot-lamberts) and a full-field 0-IRE black (0.039 ft-L), the contrast ratio was 476:1. Using a 16-box checkerboard pattern (ANSI contrast), the contrast ratio was 851:1. With a 100-IRE window, the PRO-940HD produced 53.41 ft-L. (It is normal for a plasma to have lower light output on a full-white field versus a white window.)—GM

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