Everything! Line doubler, cabinet, blacks and stretch modes!

None, but I''d love the gloss finish the Elites have!

I have always wanted a Pioneer set, they have always stood out from all other competition. I looked at the Elites and realized that paying 3 times as much would be crazy. But I plan on being crazy in a couple years. The rest of my gear is Pioneer Elite, excluding the speakers which are all Definitve Technology :o) Anyways, this 533 is simply amazing and I got one of the last 4 "In Box" in Ohio and Pennsylvania so I feel very fortunate indeed. The Line doubler is amazing and its built like a rock. I''d expect nothing less from Pioneer as I have had nothing ekse since I started my Home Theater adventures 10 years ago :o) The convergence has drifted a bit but its only 10 days new and I have moved it around a bit so it might be my fault. But I have checked the convergence many times a day, to the dismay of my girlfriend. In the middle of a movie or a tv program, I bring up the menu and she whines. The ability to hold blacks is very overlooked and this set does it immaculately. Its color saturation is wonderful and setting up with the Video Essentials DVD did wonders. Take the contrast to about -24, the black level to about -8, the sharpness to -26 and youre set. I highly recommend this set if you can still find it my friends!! I got this one thanks to a friend at Best Buy, he rules!!

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 27" Toshiba 50"

Mr. Choi should go into the service menu and pick one from "Col A and one from col B" with steamed rice. That will fix the problem! Vic

hey, choi! one bad review per customer.....

Awesome picture. Multi-point convergence adjustment. Wooden cabinet, not cheap plastic. Nice Price.

Heavy but that is a minor anoyance.

I have coupled this with an RCA HD reciever. The picture is unbelievable and I was surprised that it surpassed a similarly sized Sony HD set easily. The remote is a little large and is "Glow in the dark" but I have replaced it with the Harmen Kardon TC1000 which is back lit with a touch screen which works very well with set. I have used this with a variety of signal sources including Satelite (DirecTV) - Air (via Antenna) - Cable, Video Tape (Cheap JVC) and DVD (Pioneer DV444 progressive scan) -- In all cases the picture is surprisingly vivid and clear. I have also used the set with an X-Box in high resolution mode which is another way of showing off this beautiful set. I shopped at many stores for the set but was sold on the smaller store that the owner and the sales people really knew what they were talking about. They delivered the system and wired the whole thing up, including re-wiring my existing components to make the whole thing work much easier. They spent the time a big store would not have even spent a fraction of. I heartily recommend the TV and the store both.

Similar Products Used:

As far as big screens a 53" Sony but this is my first HD set.

Incredible picture quality (for the 1st 1/2 hour after converging the set) for the price.

shoddy quality control, pitiful service and support from both Best Buy and Pioneer. Incredible picture quality (for the 1st 1/2 hour after converging the set) for the price.

Follow up to previous review -

Well, I'm still waiting on an updated converence board. Pitiful. Best Buy, despite me having spent $300 for an extended warranty (translation: profit margin padding) keeps pawning me off on Pioneer saying it is their problem, despite my extended warranty.

In the meantime, the set now resets all it's picture callibrations for all it's inputs to the default settings about every 4 days or so. No, I have not lost power or had any surges. My $10 alarm clock is not flashing, after all, so I am reasonably sure I haven't lost power.

In addition, if I set the convergence with the 72 point setting, within about 1/2 hour, it is WAY off again, to the point that I start to see red and blue halos around edges.

Is this a condemnation of the model? Maybe not, as I am still willing to believe I got a lemon. But it IS a condemnation of Pioneer and Best Buy. If you are going to purchase one of these, or any expensive, heavy item, I can not stress enough how important it is to purchase from a local, reputable, knowledgable, dealer that will offer you personal service and form a relationship with you. DON'T BUY OVER THE WEB OR FROM SOME WAREHOUSE STORE! No amount of money that I have saved is worth the aggravation and annoyance.

From now on, I will never buy any piece of AV equipment UNLESS it comes from George Liu at Audio Visions, in Tampa, FL. There is a guy who knows how to take care of his customers.

Now I have to go find my lawyer.

meester choi, pleese take your discussion over to the discussion forum, leave the rating forum for ratings. you might get some sympathy. no need to repeet post.

terrific picture, highly tweakable

none noticed

I shopped/researched very hard for 2-3 months before settling on this model. Getting it home, I was not disappointed. The picture is outstanding and seemingly continues to improve as the set "burns in." Convergence drift is not really an issue, it takes only a couple of minutes to perform the function on the Pioneer, with 72 point convergence accessible in normal user adjustments (not service menu mode like most other brands). I believe most sets, regardless of mfr, have this same attribute in their early life.

Every feature this set has in best in class, e.g., stretch modes, line doubler, connectivity. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Similar Products Used:

toshiba 50HX, sony 51HW

Black Level, flesh tones, input flexibility, more "natural" pic

Convergence drifts constantly

This set clearly stands out in the showroom, even especially when it's properly calibrated. But I got this home and quickly noticed that the convergence was off by 1/4" or more at the edges, and in the center. After converging all points (72) for all inputs (4) for all aspect ratios (6) I congratulated myself for a long night of watching progressive scan DVD's. And it was great, as expected, once you turned down the ridiculous contrast setting to flat instead of it's default setting, maximum (annoying and ridiculous).

Next day, the convergence was off just as bad as it had been before, if not worse. I've had professionally converged in diagnostic mode, but the very next day, BAM!

Service people say they have revised the convergence board and added some capacitors, but I haven't gotten the new board yet because I imagine they have a horrible backorder!

buyer beware! I'm more frustrated because the picture is so good for a short period, until the convergence drifts again, which it always does. GRRRR!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite

Excellent analog pictures, best I have seen on any HDTV of similar price, excellent line doubler, awesome HD picture quality.

a complete learning remote would be nice, otherwise no weaknesses

I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with this set. Like others, I read the great reviews of the Pioneer SD532-HD5 model, and saw the impressive picture first hand in the store. It clearly stood out among the competition! I seriously considered Sony's latest XBR series but decided that the line doubler for standard signals was clearly inferior to Pioneer and the Sony prices were higher. I decided to wait for this newest model Pioneer with the improved line doubler, 3-2 pulldown, etc, and I have not regretted it for a minute. My only hesitation was perhaps getting the larger SD643-HD5 model, but I opted for the 53" as it was large enough without over-powering the room.

Video quality with Digital Cable is truly impressive, DVD's using a Sony progressive scan player are magnificent, and HD is just out of this world. I am getting HD signals from Comcast Cable that now offers 5 HD channels in my area.

Lots of video/audio options to please almost any enthusiast. Built in sound is quite good, but most impressive with an separate receiver and appropriate speakers.

Now if someone would come up with the perfect learning remote that would end the need for separate remotes to utilize all functions for cable box, audo, VCR, DVD, TV, etc, that would really be great! Any ideas out there?

THIS HDTV IS ABSOLUTELY THE BEST FOR THE MONEY, BY FAR!! I RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY.

Nice user features especially the convergence capability
Crystal clear pictures

non- lighted remote-glow in the dark

Recieved my new set about a month ago and hooked it up to my surround system and dvd. Awesome picture with the dvd. I'm even running the dvd without progressive scan and the picture is still crystal clear. The screen options are a nice feature, cinema, full wide etc. lots of room for fine tuning the viewing enviornment. The only weakness I can see is the non lighted remote. I know it glows in the dark but its always nice to have an led staring out at you in the dark, easier to see. Overall I'm very happy with this set. I purchased it after a few months worth of studying and found that the past reviews on the older model were very favorable versus Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, etc. So I went with the new model. Tech support is very good at answering any questions you might have concerning setup etc. Overall very pleased with this product.