Price: $1674 - $2749
I initially had my mind set on purchasing the Sony XBR2 for my master bdrm when I went to my local AV shop. I was then introduced to this new Elite model by the manager whom I entrusted my AV purchasing experience to over the years, and he has done it again! I watched an HD broadcast of a Laker game on both TVs and was amazed at how natural the colors were with the Pioneer vs the Sony. There were also no motion artifacts on the Elite model whereas I was able to see trailing shadows during fast-break sequences of the game on the XBR. He told me it had to do with the 3:3 video processing compare to the 2:3 that the Sony uses. I watched an entire quarter on each display and was blown away by the accuracy of color, smoothness, and lack of eye-fatigue of the Elite compared to the XBR. Then when he told me that the Elite was only $250 more, I was sold. Although I haven't seen any negative reviews yet on the AV forums regarding the Elite, the clouding problems of the XBR seem to be prevalent enough to make me think twice about getting it.