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9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent Picture Quality; Lots of Inputs"
Pros: Great combination of colors, shadow-detail and black level. Four inputs (2 HDMI) and excellent styling
Cons: Fan on media receiever runs continuously
Summary: I helped my brother in law install this set recently and the picture quality is outstanding. Don't believe all the hype about needing the absolute lowest black level. People think that if a set doesn't have a good black level dark movies will be un-watchable... this is only partly true. Some sets have great black level but do it only by crushing all the low level detail into black. Without good shadow detail as well, you get one big mess of a black blob. The Pio does a great job with low black levels (maybe not as low as the Panny) but adds better shadow detail giving the picture a much more believable, 3D effect. Couple that with Pios trademark colors, classy piano black styling and 4 inputs and you've got a winner.
Not many cons to speak of but I did notice that the fan media receiver runs continuously, even in standby mode. I'm not sure if this was do to the setup (heat build up?) but luckily it wasn't obtrusive. It's kind of a low whirl but audible non-the-less. Once we put it in a stereo cabinate (well ventilated) with a closed front it became a non-issue. The only other con I can think of is that it is unclear if the media receiver can pass 5.1 audio from it's HDMI inputs to it's optical output. I'm not saying it won't, there is just not enough testing on the forum I read to say either way. Regardless it would be nice if it could but not really an issue if it couldn't.
Enjoy the set, it's really best of class for the price.
