14 DAY TRIAL // Pioneer has provided quite a pleasant surprise when it released the KURO line of high-end PDPs a while back. However, it seems that the Japanese company is keen on maintaining its products in the spotlight and that's why it has announced quite an important overhaul of the KURO family, which will also include a few very interesting surprises in the form of LCD TVs and a front projector.
The first items in the KURO line are a few new plasma displays. As the company informs us, the second generation KURO PDPs are getting a lot closer to absolute black by further reducing the idling luminance and improving black levels five times over the previous 2007 KURO models. This has enabled Pioneer to accurately reproduce even higher contrast levels and deeper colours within the high-definition colour spectrum. The all-new 2008 KURO plasma TVs are available in 50 and 60-inch (availability depending on region).
The second important announcement made by Pioneer is related to the company's front projector. Developed specifically for cinephiles with a dedicated home cinema room, the KURO projector is configured for screen sizes starting from 60 inches. It supports advanced calibration, is in line with the KURO benchmark of deep black levels and rich colours and also incorporates LCOS 1080p technology. It's also interesting to mention that the device is based on 3 x 0.7 inch D-ILA technology, features a wide lens shift capacity and dual HDMI 1.3 support.
Last but not least, the company has also announced that it plans to release a few LCD TVs. Thus, the KURO LCD TV range is "HD ready 1080p" compliant with 100Hz frame mode, offering fast moving picture performance. Moreover, the LCD TVs feature an anti-reflective filter, triple HDMI 1.3 support and a specially tuned, high-standard picture quality. This latest Pioneer product is available in three sizes: 32 inch, 37 inch and 46 inch and differentiates itself from KURO plasma TVs in terms of design with an attractive "aluminum look" finish.
"We are consistently setting the standard for excellence within the HD display category, as evidenced by our award-winning KURO plasma TVs. This introduction is a natural progression to establishing Pioneer's uncompromised quality across other display technologies. All our products are Full HD - 'HD ready 1080p'," declared Marnix Somers, Director Home Business Division, Pioneer Europe, when speaking about his company's latest product line.
Since we're talking about a rather extensive product line, it's no wonder that the release dates are pretty much spread throughout the whole year (well, spring and summer, actually). For example, most of the new plasma displays from the KURO family will arrive at some point on June, with the LCD HDTVs following in August. The earliest to arrive is, nevertheless, the front projector, which is slated for an April release.
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