PDP-42A3HD Inputs & Menu System

We were pleased to note that the Pioneer PDP-42A3HD correctly allows for independent picture settings for each input. In fact, the inputs are "smart" in that they are not available as selectable options unless there is an active source plugged in. And when I say each input has its own picture settings, I mean it - all six (three each) of the s-video and composite inputs are completely independent except that they share audio inputs. This is exceptional as many manufacturers have cut corners in this area, especially on their budget models.

Selecting inputs on the Pioneer is a simple process, with a single "Input" button being present on the remote control. This calls up an on-screen menu showing the active (utilized) inputs, with unused inputs being grayed out. Simply scrolling to an available input will select it after a second or two, or you can use the remote's "Input" button as a toggle control to flip through the inputs as needed. You can also access inputs via the Screen > Main Input submenu of the Menu system.

Available Inputs:

• DIGITAL CH
• ANALOG CH
• VIDEO 1
• VIDEO 2
• VIDEO 3
• S-VIDEO 1
• S-VIDEO 2
• S-VIDEO 3
• COMPONENT 1
• COMPONENT 2
  
• HDMI

Both of the component video inputs are capable of accepting 480i, 480p, 720p, or 1080i input signals. As mentioned above 60Hz is the frequency used for all of the Pioneer inputs in this model.

Tuner Setup

The first time you utilize the TV for NTSC viewing, you will need to go into the Tuner Setup menu and select "Scan Channels". This will initiate an automatic scanning of analogue (cable or OTA) channels on your television. You can also scan for digital channels and store them for use when selecting the DIGITAL CH input of the Pioneer. The PDP-42A3HD also allows for fine tuning of analogue channels, though the auto tuning seemed to work best in my location.

Picture

The Picture menu contains the most important and in-depth features of the Pioneer PDP-42A3HD television. Here you will find controls for AV Selection (display modes), Brightness (black level), Contrast (white level), Sharpness, Color, Tint, Noise Reduction, and most important - Color Temperature. With these controls you can dial in the Pioneer display to a reasonable performance, though we really wish there were additional RGB drive (contrast) and bias (brightness) adjustments for finer tuning apart from intrusion into the service level menus. The AV Selection system gives you 4 modes plus a user mode which is automatically selected whenever you begin to adjust the individual picture controls.

The AV Selection options include:

• Standard: Bright image with less dynamic range
• Dynamic: Produces a very sharp image with high white levels.
• Movie: Good starting point for more accurate picture quality
• Game: Pulls back white levels, making it easier on the eyes (and helpful for reducing burn-in)
• User: Activated with the use of any of the picture controls

Editor's Note on Display Modes
We really cannot emphasize enough that your typical "torch" mode is what is seen in most retail stores. On the Pioneer this corresponds to the "Dynamic" AV Selection mode. What is disturbing to us is the number of consumers who try to compare televisions in the stores while they are all set in this mode. Using this logic, any television set to a Cinema mode (with more accurate color reproduction, color temperature, and white levels) will appear "washed out" or flat compared to the super-bright lighthouses positioned next to them. If you want to get a reasonable comparison of television in a retail environment - shop for features and budget first. Once you have found 2-3 displays that you are interested in, locate the Picture modes in the setup menu and activate the one labeled Cinema , Theater or Movie - so that you can get a better feel for each display's true capabilities.

Sound

The Sound Effect options include:

• Flat: Flat unprocessed sound
• Speech: Emphasis on dialogue frequencies; picture a U-shaped EQ
• Movie (default): This mode slightly emphasizes bass and treble
• Music: This mode also emphasizes bass and treble; picture an upside-down U-shaped EQ
• User: Activated with the use of any of the sound controls

Screen

You can use the Screen menu to select inputs (as mentioned previously) as well as gain access to PIP functions and the "Orbiter" screen saver mode (more on this later). The Screen Size selections affect the way the input image is scaled to the display. HDMI and HD content only allows the "Full" setting, but here are the full suite of options available with analogue video inputs:

• Zoom: .If you absolutely hate seeing black bars on the top and bottom of 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 movies, you can use this mode to zoom/scale the entire image to the screen, while sacrificing a bit of the picture on the left and right sides. Honestly, we recommend getting used to seeing some black and using the Full mode with DVDs for the best possible picture.
• Cinema: This is stated to be used with 14:9 letterbox pictures, but I do not believe this mode will be very useful for most users.
• Full: This stretches the input signal to the width of the display while maintaining correct aspect ratios for DVDs. Use for 16:9 HDTV content and widescreen anamorphic DVDs.
• 4:3: This avoids scaling standard definition 4:3 content, leaving side bars on your television.
• Wide: This is a non-linear scaling mode that takes 4:3 material and fits it to the 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen while keeping center-focused content less scaled than the outer edges. This is handy for watching standard definition television, provided there is not a ton of left to right movement.

The other elements of this section include an "Orbiter" screen saver which rotates the entire screen image around the display in various range increments (Small, Mid, Large). This is "On" by default and can be very distracting as it is basically the entire screen shifting several pixels at a time at regular intervals. The concept is to ensure that a still image isn't present in the same area so as to cause temporary or permanent screen burn-in. Our recommendation would be to take the following steps to naturally avoid burn-in and turn off the distracting Orbiter.

Some common sense steps to avoid burn-in:

1. Be sure to change up your viewing habits. Avoiding viewing 4:3 material with the presence of side black bars for extended periods of time. Alternate with Full/Wide mode to allow the entire screen to become utilized. Full/Wide screen viewing should make up at least 75% of your viewing time.
2. Do not park your television for hours on end on a news channel or other program source with a continuous ticker tape at the bottom or top of the screen.
3. Avoid playing video games for extended durations which have fixed on-screen or heads-up displays that do not change or move locations.
4. Calibrate your display or at least put it in Cinema mode so as to lower the overall contrast and prevent the display from putting out overloaded white levels.

One last thing the Pioneer provides is a Full White mode which is helpful in clearing out any temporary burn-in images. This mode puts a full white screen up for 20 minutes or until you exit out using the remote control. This will pretty much eliminate residual burn-in effects by evenly engaging the phosphors across the entire screen. If you are an avid gamer, it may be a good idea to run this following each extended gaming session.

System

This menu is very basic and sets the clock and language options for the Pioneer (including Auto Power Off, Sleep, and timer functions). It also allows access to the Parental controls which function on Age-Based (MPAA), TV-Content and even Canadian TV ratings.

Closed Caption

The Pioneer accepts standard Closed Captioning for regular analogue channels and also offers the new DTV Closed Captioning options whereby you can select the Font Size, Style, Foreground Color, Background Color, and Digital Option.