Kuro is the New Black : Review: Pioneer 60-inch Elite Kuro Pro 151FD Plasma

When I first saw Pioneer’s Project Kuro plasma’s the company hadn’t even named the new line yet. That was at an industry expo in Japan, and I, along with the rest of the attendees allowed into the small demonstration room, was blown away by what I saw. In a pitch dark room, colorful images (flowers, a goldfish) started floating in mid air with no discernible glow of a screen around the floating objects. The blacks were so deep that the background blended into the black room.
  When the first models rolled off the production floor, buyers were equally impressed and Kuro quickly became synonymous with excellent picture. Now into the second generation of the Kuro line, Pioneer wanted to  continue the success of the premium-priced Kuro plasmas. The model 151FD is the largest, and mostly fully-featured, of TVs in the current Kuro line. It’s also likely the last line of plasma’s that will actually be constructed with Pioneer-made panels, as the company entered into an agreement last year with Panasonic to buy glass panels from them for future plasmas.
  Like all the models from Pioneer’s Elite line, this Kuro is an attractive glossy black. The bezel boasts a thinner new acrylic design; however it comes with detachable side speakers that add several inches to the width of the TV if you choose to use the speakers. I much prefer the hidden speaker designs (usually on the bottom of the TV) that most flat panels TV makes now employ as it keeps the overall footprint (or should I say wall print?) of the TV small. Side speakers may improve the stereo separation, but they just don’t look good. Other than that, the front of the TV is uncluttered and elegant.
  The remote is also slightly redesigned. It’s backlit (with a red glow) and covered with dark aluminum, which is great, but the buttons are almost uniformly small and square. Pioneer also updated the on-screen menu, which makes navigating around the many picture options a little less daunting.
  As you’d expect from a top-of-the-line TV, this Pioneer is overflowing with all the necessary inputs and outputs, including 4 HDMI (one on the side), component, S-video, composite and even an Ethernet port. The Ethernet works with the TV’s Home Media Gallery feature with lets you access media files, like music, pictures and videos, from your PC. You can also play files from a USB drive (the USB port is on the side) via the Home Media Gallery. This is a nice feature that lets your easily create a home media server-like experience without investing in a whole separate media system. Unfortunately the Ethernet port’s usefulness falls a little short as it doesn’t let you access any Web-based content as some current Panasonic and Samsung models do. Later this year online content will become even more central to TVs, so I hope Pioneer follows that trend with online connectivity.