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Quite a lot has gone on in Pioneer’s world since it wowed us all with the Project KURO at CES, but one thing hasn’t changed: it’s dedication to world-class black levels. Announced alongside several other fine pieces of kit today in NYC, the 2008 KURO family will posses black levels “five times deeper than the previous KURO.” According to company bigwig Paul Meyhoefer, the ultimate goal is “pure, absolute black,” and it’s well on its way with the latest line. You’ll also find a feature dubbed Optimum Mode, which “simultaneously monitors video and room light conditions” and then makes the most appropriate adjustments based on what it senses. Sadly, most of the nitty-gritty details have been omitted for now, but you can count on the June-bound models checking in at just 3.7-inches thick, sporting 1080p panels alone (no 720p), coming in 50- ($4,000) / 60-inch ($5,500) sizes (no 42-inch) and arriving with a new remote / redesigned HD interface. Jump on past the break for the full release, but we’re warning you, there’s an awful lot of gloating down there.
PIONEER CONTINUES TO SURPASS BLACK LEVEL PERFORMANCE WITH NEW LINE OF 2008 KURO TELEVISIONS

Pioneer’s 2008 KURO Displays Boast Industry Leading Black Levels and Richer Color to Create an Unmatched Emotional Entertainment Experience

NEW YORK (May 7, 2008) – Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today announces a new line of KURO plasma displays featuring black levels five times deeper than the previous award-winning KURO. Widely recognized for its commitment to creating entertainment experiences that transcend the ordinary, Pioneer takes yet another groundbreaking step towards HDTV perfection with this new line of 2008 KURO flat panel televisions.

“The game-changing performance our KURO displays brought to the marke last year revitalized the landscape of high end home theater in a way that was never thought possible. The introduction of this year’s KURO televisions is another step toward our ultimate goal of pure, absolute black that will fulfill the true potential and all the promise of high-definition entertainment,” said Paul Meyhoefer, vice president of display marketing and product planning, home entertainment business solutions group, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. “Our goal is to listen and fully understand the minds of creative professionals and their craft. When great entertainment comes together something truly magical happens, the boundaries of technology fall away and you’re left with a truly unique experience. This is the hidden key to the power that KURO possesses and ensures the integrity of the artist’s vision is never compromised.”

Pioneer’s Philosophy is Absolute Black
The philosophy behind Pioneer’s Project KURO and the driving force is to achieve absolute, pure black. True, deep black creates a picture unlike any other that possesses finer detail, greater contrast, and more importantly, the ability to produce deeper colors not achievable before. This year, Pioneer pushes ever closer to their goal of absolute black by further reducing the idle luminance and improving black levels five times over the previous 2007 KURO models. This has enabled Pioneer to accurately reproduce deeper colors within the high-definition color spectrum and outdistance other display manufacturers.

Pioneer understands that color is a vital tool that creative professionals – from visual artists to film and television producers – use freely to evoke emotion and arouse our senses. With varying techniques from the most subtle to intense manipulation of color, artists can induce a very specific feeling within their audience. That feeling can be lost or diluted if a television cannot produce true, pure deep blacks and in turn reproduce an accurate color spectrum. The end result cannot be imitated and is beyond compare.

Evoking Emotion through Sound
Pioneer has incorporated six unique sound settings associated with each of the KURO video settings – standard, movie, sports, performance, game, dynamic – to ensure a customized listening experience that is specifically in tune with the type of programming on-screen.

The television employs an auto volume stabilization feature that further
controls the television’s volume level when switching between different types of programming; including network shows and commercials, broadcast channels or different input types to insure each experience remains true and distinct from one another.

Pioneer has included the most advanced SRS® WOW HD technology in the new KURO models by incorporating SRS Definition, a high frequency enhancement that provides finer control and adjustment to manage low, mid and high audio frequencies. The result adds to the virtual surround sound effect and produces clearer, more precise audio in mid to high frequency levels.

A Truly Intelligent Television
The KURO employs a unique automatic adjustment feature called Optimum Mode that simultaneously monitors video and room light conditions. The KURO then seamlessly adjusts the picture and sound settings by even the slightest variation to provide an experience specially tailored to each type of programming. The result is movies that reproduce a film-like quality, sports that feel like you’re on the field and crisp clear narration from newscasts that focus on the reporter, not ambient background noise.

While many consumers will rely on this unique feature, the 2008 KURO models still have the ability to switch between six finely tuned pre-set modes including: standard, movie, sports, performance, game, dynamic for consumers who prefer the ability to manually adjust their KURO television according to their particular taste.

Enhanced Consumer Convenience Features
The introduction of the 2008 KURO 1080p line creates the perfect synergy between film, video and high quality sound, helping blend these into a new world of seeing and hearing like never before. Pioneer has built a reputation for providing best-in-class products that evoke emotion and surpass typical high- quality sight and sound specifications, adding enhanced features such as these to the 2008 KURO line:

• Pioneer KURO televisions are now only 3.7 Inches thick, reduced by nearly 20 percent
• New remote control and redesigned high definition graphic user interface for ease-of-use and seamless integration with other a/v equipment
• Networked Home Media Gallery for playback of digital assets such as HD movie, music and photos from a PC or via USB
• Pioneer KURO televisions are DLNA compatible and Windows PlaysForSure™ compatible

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You do know it’s quite rude to stare, don’t you? No worries — we’re pretty sure Pioneer fully expected its 2008 line of Elite AV receivers to catch a few eyes, much like its succulent Elite SC-09TX did last fall. The luxurious new crew consists of the Elite SC-07, SC-05, VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH, all of which were designed specifically to complement the second-gen KUROs and fresh new BD players. As expected, the whole lot handles internal decoding of DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus, not to mention support for 12-bit Deep Color and a Faroudja video scaler. If you’re curious about dollars and ship dates, you can look for the SC-05 / SC-07 to land in August for $1,800 / $2,200, while the VSX-01TXH and VSX-03TXH will hit next month for $750 / $1,000. Then again, those obsessed with instant gratification could snag the VSX-94TXH right now for $1,600. Check the full release waiting after the break.NEW PIONEER ELITE A/V RECEIVERS DELIVER UNPRECEDENTED SOUND EXPERIENCES TO THE HOME THEATER

Designed Specifically to Complement 2008 KURO Displays and Blu-ray Disc Players, Pioneer Elite Receivers Boast Revolutionary Amplifier Technology

NEW YORK (May 7, 2008) – Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today introduces four new A/V receivers delivering high-definition (HD) audio and video experiences for emerging home theaters – the Elite® SC-07, SC-05, VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH. Acting as the HD control center, Pioneer®’s full line of A/V receivers work seamlessly with Pioneer’s 2008 KURO displays and Blu-ray Disc® players to deliver the ultimate HD picture and sound performance for a truly emotional response in the living room.

Pioneer’s flagship A/V receiver, code named “Susano,” has set the industry standard for home theater performance and its 2008 top-of-the-line receivers, the SC-07 and SC-05, continue to incorporate the Direct Energy HD Amplifier with ICEpower™ analog class D amplification technology to produce a level of multi-channel power output, fidelity, and efficiency never before seen or heard in a home A/V receiver. Supported by the Company’s legacy sound-tuning technology, the SC-07 and SC-05 were designed from the ground up to produce a 3-dimensional aural experience that will take listeners to the next level of high resolution multichannel surround sound in the entertainment room.

The Elite VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH join Pioneer’s leading receiver from 2007 - the VSX-94TXH - to round out the entire 2008 offering. All three models flawlessly pass a 1080p picture with full reproduction capabilities of all new high resolution audio formats.

“Our flagship A/V receiver, the Susano, represents the pinnacle of high-end design and engineering in home theater equipment. We are now delivering that premium experience into our core line of Elite A/V receivers,” said David Bales, audio marketing manager for the home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. “The new Direct Energy HD amplifier with ICEpower technology was integral for us to provide the full impact of new uncompressed audio soundtracks now available on Blu-ray Discs. Just as HDTV and Blu-ray have brought new levels of high definition video performance to consumers, the new high resolution surround sound formats coupled with our expertise in multi-channel amplifier design truly deliver a high-definition, multi-channel A/V experience far beyond anything we have produced before.”

Built for High Definition Surround Sound
The SC-07 and SC-05 in Pioneer’s line of Elite receivers deliver robust, realistic sound quality as a result of the exclusive Direct Energy HD Amplifier. Pioneer combines its industry-leading amplifier design and sound tuning technologies with the most advanced digital signal processing (DSP) to produce high resolution surround sound at unprecedented efficiency levels. Now the receiver can operate at extraordinary output levels with extremely low distortion and virtually no wasted energy; all in an effort to develop the most advanced home theater amplifier to date.

Entertainment enthusiasts can take advantage of internal decoding of new advanced lossless surround sound formats – DTS-HD™ Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, Dolby® TrueHD and Dolby® Digital Plus – to finally experience the full impact these high resolution audio codecs deliver to the viewing experience with ultra-rich surround sound that complements, and completes, on-screen imagery.

For accurate, natural surround sound reproduction of all connected HD and SD devices, Pioneer employs its exclusive room tuning feature in all four new Elite receivers. Advanced MCACC ensures studio quality surround sound regardless of the room configuration. This feature makes subtle adjustments to optimize the audio experience for even the most discerning ear. In addition, Pioneer’s Elite SC-07, SC-05 and VSX-94TXH incorporate the exclusive Full Band Phase Control, which eliminates “phase lag” or group delay between all speakers in a home theater system. This innovative DSP maintains soundtrack synchronization, ensuring the most accurate multi-channel sound reproduction is achieved and heard. All models include new symmetric equalization (EQ) for the most precise speaker calibration.

Pioneer’s new Elite receivers (SC-07, SC-05 and VSX-94TXH) include Neural-THX™ allowing for encoded content to be delivered in a two-channel stereo format and decoded for dispersion among up to 7.1 channel surround sound. In addition, the full line of Elite receivers includes dialogue enhancements, a wide range of listening modes, Mid-night Listening and Lip-Sync A/V synchronization. For the ultimate digital signal processing, all Elite receivers utilize anti-jitter technologies. The SC-07 is equipped with a professional level Burr Brown Sampling Rate Converter (SRC) to scale all digital audio signals up to 192 kHz 24-bit resolution.

HD Digital Connectivity
Pioneer brings HDMI 1.3a with full support of 12-Bit Deep Color to deliver a stellar picture from connected sources with a range of hues and shades not previously possible. In addition, for analog video sources, Pioneer’s Elite receivers are engineered for 1080p video processing with a Pioneer digital video converter and Faroudja video scaler chip that ensures up to full 1080p resolutions to best match the incoming video signal to the native resolution of a connected display.

Pioneer Audio Synergy
Pioneer’s engineers developed unique settings in its A/V receivers to harmonize audio performance like never before. Pioneer created jitter-free playback and dynamic sound quality for music CDs. When connected to a new Blu-ray Disc player via HDMI, Pioneer’s SC-07 and SC-05 receivers utilize a proprietary Precision Quartz Locking System (PQLS) that synchronizes data between the Blu-ray Disc player and the receiver, providing listeners with the ultimate precision in CD playback.

Networking and Consumer Convenience Features
Home Media Gallery
The SC-07 and SC-05 enhance the home theater experience with the exclusive Home Media Gallery. Pioneer’s home networking feature enables users to select and playback personal digital music and JPEG photo files direct from a PC hard drive or USB for playback in the living room through the main HD home theater system.

Through the receiver, users can easily access and stream digital media files directly from a connected home PC or laptop computer with IP networking capability. Home Media Gallery is compliant with Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), Windows Vista or Windows Media Connect as well as Microsoft playsforsure™ DRM technology.

Additional Connectivity Options
Pioneer continues to provide full-feature entertainment connectivity with Advanced Digital iPod® USB for pure digital audio fidelity. It allows users to navigate and select personalized music playlists from their iPods. Users can control these digital components player with the receiver’s remote control and on-screen display.

The proliferation of portable music devices has resulted in reduced audio file sizes that have negatively affected the reproduction quality of audio entertainment. Recognizing this, Pioneer employs its proprietary Sound Retriever DSP technology, which works by “filling in” and compensating for the audio data removed from the compressed files (WMA, MP3, MPEG-4 AAC) for music playback that is near CD quality.

Full Custom-Installation Ready
Pioneer’s full of Elite A/V Receivers are ready for custom installation with the following features:
• Multi-zone, multi-source capabilities allow Pioneer’s Elite receivers to serve as the entertainment centerpiece of up to 3 A/V zones in the home
• The SC-07 has dual HDMI video output and second zone component video output for zone 2 HD video capabilities
• RS232 Port for PC and 3rd party custom control and connectivity
• Advanced Direct Construction ensures enhanced reliability and performance
• New product cosmetics synchronizes with design of the KURO displays and Blu-ray Disc players

The VSX-01TXH and VSX-03TXH will be available in June for a suggested price of $750 and $1,000, respectively. The SC-05 and SC-07 will be available in August for a suggested price of $1,800 and $2,200, respectively. The VSX-94TXH is currently available for $1,600.

Pioneer’s Home Entertainment and Business Solutions Group develops high definition home theater equipment for discerning entertainment junkies. Its flat panel televisions, Blu-ray Disc players, A/V receivers and speakers bring a new level of emotion to the HD experience. The company brands include Pioneer and Elite®. When purchased from an authorized retailer, consumers receive a limited warranty for one year with Pioneer products and two years with Pioneer Elite products. More details can be located at www.pioneerelectronics.com

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Sure, those flashy new KURO plasmas or that new array of receivers may have taken you by surprise, but don’t pretend you didn’t know this one was coming. Known simply as the Elite KURO projector, this 1080p beamer incorporates LCoS technology, dual HDMI 1.3 ports, wide lens shift capacity, a trio of viewing modes (standard, dynamic and movie) and a real semblance to JVC’s DLA-HD100. According to the firm, it’s designed for “high-end cinematic installations and supports advanced calibration,” and of course, you can’t escape a KURO release without a little bragging about black levels. We’re still waiting on a finalized specifications list, but ’til then, you can chew on that $9,000 price tag and wait for these to hit dealers next month.

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Not content with just busting out a new pair of Elite KURO plasmas, Pioneer has separately introduced four 1080p Pro models for those with (even more) exquisite tastes and deep wallets to back it up. The whole lot enjoys the firm’s highly touted Optimum Mode, which “simultaneously monitors video and room light conditions” and then makes the most appropriate adjustments based on what it senses, and “industry leading” calibration features. As for the 50-inch PRO-111FD ($5,000) and PRO-151FD ($6,500), you can expect a bolstered two year warranty and a ship date to be determined, while the Signature Series PRO-101FD (50-inch) / PRO-141FD (60-inch) units will arrive in October and August (respectively) with prices not yet disclosed.

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