Pioneer’s latest reiteration of its popular 1,090mm (43-inch) and 1,270mm (50-inch) plasma TVs have not changed all that much in looks; they’re still framed in black glass, a slick design that looks smart in most home theater environmentsBut inside, Pioneer’s 6th-generation plasma screens boast new technologies that improve picture-quality and reduce energy consumption. The Pioneer-dubbed “Pure Black” panels have been designed to improve the stability of color discharge from the plasma cells, which produces purer colors, particularly at the ends of the color spectrum with “blacker” blacks and “whiter” whites. The screens also include a Direct Color Filter that reduces light reflections from the outside of the panel (as well as from the panel itself) to improve contrast levels in bright environments.

Pioneer has also enhanced the PDP-506HDG’s video processing and digital noise reduction technologies. It is high definition-ready (HD) and handles both industry standard HD video formats (1080i and 720p) plus it now includes HDMI connectivity. On the audio side, Pioneer has added a subwoofer pre-out to TV sound for more bass.Nice as this panel is, you’re still going to have to fork out for a digital tuner–the Pioneer roadmap for an integrated console is still 18 months away.There’s always something bigger and better coming down the line in the flat screen TV world, and in Pioneer’s case, it’s a “true HD” 1,920 x 1,080 resolution screen. Pioneer’s first demonstration of this panel is set to be on show at the CES show in Las Vegas in January 2006.Pioneer concedes that smaller, lighter-weight LCDs may be the way to go for a secondary TV in bedrooms and kitchens, but maintains that the picture quality limitations of LCDs are exposed at larger screen sizes. Therefore, the company is sticking to its big-screen plasma guns, pouring all its research and development efforts into its large size plasmas, which they argue should be the centerpiece for a home’s main TV viewing area. The 6th-generation PDP-506HDG does produce a beautiful picture, so we tend to agree.