The dudes over at The Tech Lounge sat down for a real-world—not canned—comparison of Mitsubishi's cutting-edge, 65-inch LaserVue HDTV with the current reigning champ, Pioneer's 60-inch Kuro plasma set. Does Mitsubishi's fancy new tech really make for a better high-def experience? The tests show, at the very least, that the LaserVue can certainly hold its own against maybe the best HDTV in the world: "You're not going to find a set that is capable of displaying colours quite like this one."

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Pioneer introduced two new plasma TVs with panels designed for incredibly deep blacks at an industry event in Tokyo. Are these the same Kuro gen 2 panels that are currently shipping in the US? Or are they the even better ones we saw in prototype form at CES? The guys at Akihabara News were able to check out the company's new 60-inch and 50-inch sets at Tokyo's Miyako Hotel. Pioneer said that the black levels were five times deeper than its previous KURO panels. How black? When you turn out the lights, you can't tell where the TV ends and the rest of the room begins.

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Just yesterday we got our first taste of Panasonic's new TH-65VX100U plasma technology, which features specs that meet or exceed Pioneer's Kuro. Our initial impressions were extremely positive, but Gary at HD Guru managed to get his hands on an early production sample for a closer look, and he too was impressed. In fact, he called it the "new king of flat panels."

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Pioneer's Kuro plasma range has long been deemed the pinnacle of picture quality, but while every other TV manufacturer is pumping out the flat panels with new releases every few months, Pioneer has been disconcertingly quiet. Until now.

They've just announced the release of their first 9th Gen Kuro in Australia. 1080p resolution, blacker blacks than you've ever dreamed of, and because it's 9th Gen, all the panels are still made by Pioneer. The company will happily tell you it's the best display they've ever made, as they hand you the price tag of $10,999. And let's hope that you realise before you hand over your cash that this isn't actually a TV - there's no tuner inside. Instead it's a monitor, with plenty of connections for external TV boxes to feed HD signals to the panel via HDMI.

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Last week we saw Panasonic's latest 50-inch TH-50PZ850U posing a serious challenge to the long-enshrined King of All TVs, the Pioneer Kuro plasma. But now our buddy Gary at HD Guru put the all-new second-gen Kuro 50-incher, the Kuro Elite PRO-111FD, up against the potential throne-usurping Panasonic 850. The verdict? As we predicted, the Kuro is once again "best TV ever," says Gary.

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Gary at HD Guru probably puts TVs through the most insane, obsessive test gauntlet of anyone. He just stacked one of Panasonic's latest, the TH-50PZ850U, against a Pioneer Kuro, once and future King of Plasmas. Basically, while Kuro is blacker (courtesy of its screen's darker tint) and brighter, Panny's colour reproduction is much deeper, you get better dark detail, more accurate gamma, it uses 30 percent less power, AND it's cheaper (US$3500 to $4600). Everything else is about even. For more grisly details, head over there: [HD Guru]

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After months of reigning as the best TVs on the planet, Pioneer's Kuro is finally challenged for the throne by Panasonic's THX Display-certified Viera TH-50PZ800U. It's the THX mode that gives it the edge, with its superior colour accuracy and uniformity making it "one of the best-performing plasmas" Cnet has tested, even though the blacks (while very good) still aren't at Kuro level. And of course, this isn't compared to the new super-thin, super-black Kuros rolling out later this year. So enjoy the crown while you've got it, Panny. [Cnet]

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If you were hanging out for the last possible minute to pick up a cheap Pioneer 50-inch HD Kuro, you've left your run too late. They're all sold out. Completely. Which is a shame, considering you could have picked one up for under three grand.

There are still a few of the 42-inch models left, so if 50 inches is just too large for you, this is probably your last chance to pick up an awesome TV for an awesome price.

If you still want 50 inches of Kuro goodness, there is hope, with Pioneer today announcing a price drop in their LX range (they're the Full HD, best TV in the universe models). The RRP for the 50-inch PDP-LX50A has dropped from $7,999 to $5,999, while the 60-inch PDP-LX60A has gone from $11,999 to $9,999.

[Pioneer]

Today we took a look at the Kuro 2G plasma compared to the 1G and others. We also had a look at the JVC-made projector that Pioneer is branding Kuro Elite. The hype—if not the price—seems totally worth it. But instead of trying to tell you how much I enjoyed the display of in-yer-face contrast comparison, take a look at the pics I snapped. I marked some with shutter speeds, so you can get a better sense of what we saw. More images of the thinnest Elite plasma monitor and a look at the projector after the jump.

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Today Pioneer is revealing its official 2008 Kuro TV lineup for the US. As we expected from European announcements, it includes second-generation Kuro plasmas—thinner, with five-times-deeper black levels than the first critically acclaimed Kuro plasma—and a Kuro-branded LCOS projector originally developed by JVC. What's missing here are the smaller-sized Kuro LCDs that Pioneer is offering European flat-panel shoppers. Here's the full product rundown, plus the reason for the missing LCD piece of the puzzle:

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