What's our theme again? Oh yes, black levels. Let's understand something, you can crank up an LCD or lesser plasma to show the details present in a dark scene, but to have it displayed at very low IRE levels is the key to a truly good display. The PRO-940HD pulled it off. Details without washing out the blacks or turning them gray - now that is something I'll pay a premium for!

DVD: Serenity
Serenity , the only film I know of that was made despite the TV series being cancelled within the first season. Joss Whedon's amazing "comeback" film has some great color, exceptional film quality and plenty of "plasma-testing" scenes to make me want to reach for it early when testing out a display. It also sounds killer, but that's just fluff.

This film looked fantastic on this display. The last time I had seen it was on a DLP front projection system and the plasma really gave it a depth that I hadn't seen before. Granted, the screen size was much smaller, but that only makes the detail pop out even more. The ending fight scene when they are trapped in the hallway fighting the Reavers showed off excellent details within the shadows and dark areas of the scene. This is a scene (and not the only one) that would be completely diminished on a sub-par display.

Television: Misc Shows

I watched a complete hodgepodge of television shows which reaffirmed to me that the Pioneer Elite has one of the best analogue cable TV tuners I've ever experienced. Fortunately for consumers, they didn't just toss in cheap processing and circuitry to get by. I would have to guess that even utilizing a CableCard in this display would not deliver much improvement for the analogue cable channels. Some of the material I watched included CSI: Miami, Futurama, and several Discovery Channel and History Channel shows.

Even if you're watching the 10 o'clock news, you'll see a difference between this display and a typical entry-level flat panel. Engaging the different screen size modes showed me that the PRO-940HD has excellent scaling capabilities. Whether I was using the Full Mode or stretching the image asymmetrically across the screen, lines were smooth and clean. This is simply a great television set.

Temporary Burn-in Effects

I couldn't get this set to show me any burn-in effects from normal use. I also didn't abuse it on purpose. Judging from my past experiences, I would say that this 9th (ninth) generation plasma is a much harder panel to burn-in. No one who purchases a plasma display should attempt to view tons of non-full-screen 4:3 content for extended periods of time. However with the new panel technology and the fact that Pioneer doesn't really allow you to abuse this panel, it is unlikely that users will ever experience significant or lasting burn-in effects. Contrast this against an entry level model I reviewed earlier which suffered temporary burn-in effects from just a few minutes of abuse.

Conclusion

This plasma television is a cut above the rest. I've used several entry level models and it's easy to think that you can get a much cheaper flat panel display... and you can. But when you add up the features, look at the quality and sit back for a preview, you quickly realize that there is more to a flat panel display than simply being flat. Pioneer's Elite PRO-940HD is a diamond among other precious stones (and some unpolished pieces of quartz). I started out by saying that "It's All About the Blacks..." and that's true, but with the additional features, you'll find yourself quickly justifying the additional expense to get away from the entry level models. Highly recommended and a bar to which other displays of all kinds should be measured.