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"In my coverage of the 10th Super Bowl HDTV Party, the PRO-111FD was positioned strategically in the main theater, behind the Mitsubishi HC6000 projector and near the Panasonic TH-42PF11UK plasma monitor. It …got a unanimous “thumbs up” from everyone who spent more than a few seconds watching the Steelers and Cardinals slug it out in 1080i HD."

"Motion resolution tested between 900 and 1000 lines, which is among the best we've seen on any display."

"With a digital connection, the Pioneer...delivered every line of a 1,920x1,080-pixel PC signal with sharp text…. As usual, the analog connection was a disappointment."

"With PC sources, you can choose between 4:3 and 16:9 linear stretch modes."

"With the room lights up and window shades open, it attenuated reflections very well, making them dimmer than any display in our comparison. It also maintained a deep black level in bright rooms almost as well as the shiny-screened Samsung LCDs."

"Overall image brightness is reduced as well. What that means is that you’ll be hard-pressed to get a small area brightness reading over 100 nits (29 foot-Lamberts) in ANY picture mode after calibration. From my experience, that’s about as low as you want to go for normal viewing under indirect daylight conditions."

"Simply put, the Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD produced the best picture of any flat-panel HDTV we've tested to date. It delivered the deepest blacks we've seen from any large-screen display, as well as the most-accurate color."

"Video processing and upconversion were also top-notch, with standard 480i-rez DVDs looking strikingly crisp and high-def-like. Regular cable programs also benefited from the set’s powerful noise-reduction settings, particularly its 3DNR adjustment."

"Despite the few minor imperfections I found, the Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD upholds the Kuro tradition admirably. Black level, detail, and color are second to none. If you insist on the best at any cost, look no further."

"A decade later, that’s been completely reversed. Now, KURO plasmas have a level of black that is so low it falls below the range of accuracy of most color analyzers, making realistic contrast measurements all but impossible."

"That’s my big knock on KURO: This obsession with black levels has sacrificed too much visual dynamic range.... You wind up with images that aren’t as brilliant as they should be…. Let me say that in a controlled environment with extremely low ambient light, I was amazed at the subtleties and nuanced shading seen in The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray."

"A TV this expensive should have at least four HDMI connections, as it’s not difficult to come up with four such sources — think two set-top boxes, a Blu-ray player, and a game console, for example."

"Screen uniformity was characteristically excellent for a plasma model, with picture contrast remaining solid at all viewing angles over a near 180-degree near-180º arc."

"In my coverage of the 10th Super Bowl HDTV Party, the PRO-111FD.... had a small but dedicated audience most of the evening and got a unanimous 'thumbs up' from everyone who spent more than a few seconds watching the Steelers and Cardinals slug it out in 1080i HD."

"We liked the new menus, which are exceedingly easy to read…. We also appreciated the Tools menu, which provided easy access to many of the most used functions.

"The PRO-111FD’s elegant design also extends to its menu system. You can custom-label inputs using an onscreen graphic keyboard and store custom picture adjustments for each input in the Standard picture mode."

"The user interface has taken a step backward [from last year's model]."

"The Menu, Tools, and Exit buttons are super-tiny and easily confused in a darkened room. Ditto [with] the Screen Size (aspect ratio), AV Selection, Display, and TV/DTV buttons, all of which are mixed right in with the seven AV input selectors. I can tell you that it is very easy to get those mixed up, even with the lights on."

"For those who really want to fine-tune color, there are color hue adjustments for red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and magenta. These allow you to get each color point as close as possible to the ideal x,y coordinates found on standard NTSC or BT.709 color spaces.... You won’t get a perfect match — but you’ll get darned close."

"Your extra cash buys you a level of control over the image… although the PRO-111FD lacks the 10-point IRE color-temperature calibration."

"The TV’s advanced picture-setup options are too numerous to mention all of them…"

"That’s a lot of adjustments. Do they make a difference? Absolutely, although you may go a little crazy trying to figure out which settings will give you the best overall image quality."

"Pioneer's remote was redesigned after last year, and we really don't like it…. Almost all of the keys on the new remote share the same square shape, tiny size, and are arranged in an unforgiving grid."

"Pioneer’s remote control, which has a more substantial look and feel than that of other TV handsets, is another nice touch. The keypad is fully backlit — a good thing, since its smallish buttons would otherwise be tough to navigate in a dark room. A set of direct-input buttons at the top lets you quickly switch video inputs."

"Pioneer changed the design of the Kuro remote this year, and it's a step backward for the most part. The buttons are smaller and more uniform in size and shape, which makes them harder to find by feel. It's illuminated, but some of the labels are on the body, so they can't be seen in the dark even with the backlight on."

"The supplied remote is a bit “busy.” It has way too many same-sized buttons, many of which will get little use. While the channel and volume controls are adequate in both location and size, the Menu, Tools, and Exit buttons are super-tiny and easily confused in a darkened room."

"Thanks to the large, detachable speakers, the audio from the PRO-111FD was definitely several notches above what you get with most TVs, but if memory serves, it was not quite as good as the 110FD—a bit more honky. As always, if you're going to spend this much on a TV, I recommend springing for a proper surround-sound system as well."

"The set’s speakers attach to the sides and are removable if space is an issue. While the judges did not evaluate audio in this Face Off, my own experience with the sets tells me that the Pioneer offers the best sound by a considerable margin—if that is a relevant issue to the potential buyer."

"Even the audio impresses, delivering surprisingly effective bass (for tiny detachable speakers) and clear dialog."

"It offers a decent DLNA option with a wide array of supported file formats. And for the most part, it works like it's advertised: a bare-bones solution for streaming your media archives."

"Pioneer has also provided a 100BaseT Ethernet connection on the rear panel.... Using this connection and the on-screen menus, you can access JPEG photos, music, and videos on another PC, and stream them through your network to watch in real time on the PRO-111FD."

"Pioneer added its Home Media Gallery to the TV this year, which allows it to interface with a USB thumb drive or your home network via an Ethernet port to play back photos, music, and video files on the TV."

"Using this connection and the on-screen menus, you can access JPEG photos, music, and videos on another PC, and stream them through your network to watch in real time on the PRO-111FD."

Pioneer received a 9.1 out of 10 in a 2008 survey of PC Magazine readers, which measured companies across 7 criteria to determine customer service satisfaction. Pioneer ranked 1st out of the 15 HDTV manufacturers in the survey.

"Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of A+."

Pioneer was rated AVERAGE in a 2008 survey of 16,000 PC World readers measuring the "overall satisfaction with reliability" of HDTVs. There were 16 manufacturers scored, 10 of which were average, 3 were above average and 3 were below average. 

Pioneer provides a 1 year limited parts and labor warranty on its HDTVs. During the warranty period, Pioneer states on their website that "Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. (PUSA) warrants that products distributed by PUSA in the U.S.A. that fail to function properly under normal use due to a manufacturing defect when installed and operated according to the owner’s manual enclosed with the unit will be repaired or replaced with a unit of comparable value, at the option of PUSA, without charge to you for parts or actual repair work."