Newbie Questions Regarding the Hitachi 55PD8800TA!

[ashman]

Has anyone had this unit wall mounted? I am concerned it will pull my entire house down!

Also, are you able to buy this unit without the swivel stand and save as well?

Thanks

Ash

[Big W]

I did consider wall mounting it, but all the brackets I looked at didn't inspire confidence. A lot of the brackets I would have been approaching max limits. I decided on using the motorised desk stand ... which I have grown to really like. The motorised stand allows the use of the TV from all parts of the room and some adjoining rooms. Not sure if you can buy it without the motorised stand. It seems to come as a package in the main box.

[aztec]

I did consider wall mounting it, but all the brackets I looked at didn't inspire confidence. A lot of the brackets I would have been approaching max limits. I decided on using the motorised desk stand ... which I have grown to really like. The motorised stand allows the use of the TV from all parts of the room and some adjoining rooms. Not sure if you can buy it without the motorised stand. It seems to come as a package in the main box.

Actually the stand that came with mine was in a separate box. I doubt that the stores will give you a discount for not taking the stand but you never know, just ask them I guess. If they don't perhaps you can sell it on eBay (just had a look on ebay and there are a couple there from around $20 to $50 (one claims it retails for $600 ).

Personally I find that having it on a stand on some sort of a unit allows you to position it "logically" between, and in the same plane as, the speakers. I set mine up on an old coffee table (for now) and the height is perfect for me, eye-level is about centre screen. This set up will also allow me to move things around if I ever need to.

[ashman]

Hi All

If possible, could someone who owns one of these plasma's please measure the depth from the front of the screen to the back edge of the stand ... I would imagine it is approx 25cm but need to be sure. Another measurement that would also be useful is how far from the benchtop is it to the bottom of the actual viewing part of the screen.

I went to Harvey Norman to measure it up today but they have wall mounted it since the last time I saw it so was unable to get the measurements myself.

Thanks very much!!

Ash

[aztec]

Hi All

If possible, could someone who owns one of these plasma's please measure the depth from the front of the screen to the back edge of the stand ... I would imagine it is approx 25cm but need to be sure. Another measurement that would also be useful is how far from the benchtop is it to the bottom of the actual viewing part of the screen.

I went to Harvey Norman to measure it up today but they have wall mounted it since the last time I saw it so was unable to get the measurements myself.

Thanks very much!!

Ash

Hi Ash,

I'll try and do this tonight or over the weekend if you can wait. I see in your signature that you "were" going to get a 50", does this post mean you are rethinking :-) IMO you are better off getting the biggest screen you can afford and fit into your house. My wife thought I was crazy when she saw the size of the box that the Hitachi came in, about 3 days later she says, "it's amazing how quick you get used to a big tv, it doesn't seem big at all".

Cheers,

Adam.

[ashman]

Thanks Aztec. Yes I am almost certainly going to get one of these over the weekend, so don't worry about the measurements. Thanks very much for the offer though. I actually rang another Harvey's store to see if anyone else had it on display on the stand .. thankfully one store did and I got them to measure it for me.

I agree with you that I should go for the biggest screen i can get. However, I do have a projector which shoots onto a 120" motorised Screen Technics screen. However, this is not practical for using for "normal" day to day TV etc as the room is quite bright and impacts greatly on pic quality from the projector. So I want the plasma to sit on my cabinet and the screen to come down in front of it when I want to watch a movie etc at night.

Thanks to all for the advice on these forums. I was weighing up between this and the Pioneer PDP500HD but I have been convinced from owner feedback (as well as various industry reviews) that the Hitachi is more suited to my needs.

Now I need to get the best deal possible (using int free terms)!

Thanks again & I'll be sure to let everyone know how I get on.

Cheers

Ash

[ashman]

Done it. Bought it. Waiting for it to arrive! 10am tomorrow morning.

Any tips/tricks on how to get optimal picture quality from this plasma?

Ash

Oh yeah ... for others out there looking to buy one ... i paid $5500 from JB Hi-Fi (including 5 year warranty and Belkin 2.4M HDMI cable). I think I got a good deal. For anyone looking to buy, I'd certainly recommend JB Hi-Fi ... but only deal with the store manager ... he needs to be the one to make the final decision on price!!

Ash

[aztec]

Done it. Bought it. Waiting for it to arrive! 10am tomorrow morning.

Any tips/tricks on how to get optimal picture quality from this plasma?

Ash

Oh yeah ... for others out there looking to buy one ... i paid $5500 from JB Hi-Fi (including 5 year warranty and Belkin 2.4M HDMI cable). I think I got a good deal. For anyone looking to buy, I'd certainly recommend JB Hi-Fi ... but only deal with the store manager ... he needs to be the one to make the final decision on price!!

Ash

That's an excellent price, you did get a good deal.

I've had mine for a week or so now and am still trying to get the optimum settings (I am trying to emulate my old CRT ). I think everyone will have their own preferences and I know mine seem to be a bit off from what others are quoting. The most obvious thing is to turn the colour down, I have mine down to -15, I have heard others have -20. When I think I have my optimum settings I will post them.

If you do a search in this forum you will find topics such as:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=39839&hl=

When you are viewing a program with lots of dark scenes you will probably experience the fluctuating brightness issue discussed in another topic in this forum which has a description and solution.

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=30831&hl=

[MJBarbaro]

Done it. Bought it. Waiting for it to arrive! 10am tomorrow morning.

Any tips/tricks on how to get optimal picture quality from this plasma?

Ash

Oh yeah ... for others out there looking to buy one ... i paid $5500 from JB Hi-Fi (including 5 year warranty and Belkin 2.4M HDMI cable). I think I got a good deal. For anyone looking to buy, I'd certainly recommend JB Hi-Fi ... but only deal with the store manager ... he needs to be the one to make the final decision on price!!

Ash

WOW THATS AN AMAZING PRICE - WHAT STB did you get ?

[otublueleader]

Got it last week and played all weekend, so here goes on first impressions.

Cant fault the panel, pq is sensational, swivel base is nice touch and as MJ said before makes it so much more usable. The whole 1000:1 contrast thing is just not an issue so I can only say claims of others must be overrated or something, and yes size does matter - my wife is very impressed at the extra few inches, although we did sh.. ourselves when the box arrived.

Viewing in dark or light rooms is really no prob which I think would have been with the Pioneer, and I found all the menus really easy to drive without reading the manual first (you know we dont do that).

As for probs, what idiot company only puts in an asian / euro power plug in the box for australia ?

Really ticked me that after spending all that, i couldnt crank it up until I went and bought another $10 power cord. Did everyone elses come like this ?

As for the dicussion on cabling had earlier, I have now tried nearly every type and come to the following which may be of interest for anyone about to buy and may do the same as me. I was going to get the $300 Monster HDMI until advised differently here, so i borrowed one instead and i bought the $119 Monster HDMI and also got a much cheaper one care of D.S.. I also tried all manner of Component / RGB / S and even composite just to see what the hell works best.

In short I have kept the $119 moster HDMI which I could not differentiate from the $300 version at all but... I also have a high quality component cable running from the STB with the Optical Audio running directly to the Amp which IMO produces a better allround package of picture and sound than the HDMI, but I kept it anyway just because you can with this panel it has so many bloody inputs its great.

I ditched the cheaper cable after I got some interference when my wife did the vacuuming nearby and noticed none through the other cables.

One aside, is that I cant get good colour through the component cable from my Marantz DVD, everything is all pink, but when I just use the single video signal from the composite its perfect ??? If anyone can help with this I would love to know what to do. S Vidoe is fine and Component from any other source is fine.

All in All a great screen and one anyone considering a 50 inch would be mad not to look at. Thank again for all the opinions and help, it certainly made this purchase easier and actually more fun cause I got to share the experience more.

[Big W]

Power cord ... I found the Aussie version 'stuck' to the underside of the pull-off cartoni.e if you split the the box open at the very top, it's right there. It p*ssed me off when I set it up only to find a UK power cord ... then after I found the Aussie on when we moved the box.

Component ... I get excellent picture with a Sony DVD player via this method. HD STB is via HDMI.

I'd be curious to see what picture settings you end up with after a few weeks. I needed to turn down the 'red' as I found the normal picture too red and now skin tones look better.

But after about 4 wks ... this has been an awesome unit. Anyone looking at 50" of Plasma ... go have a look at the 55" Hitachi

[otublueleader]

Thanks, i'll check the box when i get home, but i looked everywhere on Friday night !

First thing I did was drop the red, along with contrast and brightness.

Cant figure out the red image from the component dvd though ?

Everything else is pretty good.

Just out of curiosity what temp have you set your colour at ?

[otublueleader]

Power cord ... I found the Aussie version 'stuck' to the underside of the pull-off cartoni.e if you split the the box open at the very top, it's right there. It p*ssed me off when I set it up only to find a UK power cord ... then after I found the Aussie on when we moved the box.

Checked it out Big W and no other power cord anywhere. Pulled the box to pieces and all the packing bits etc etc etc, no aussie power cable ??? Anyway, doesnt matter its all up and running perfectly, just thought it sucked at the time.

[ashman]

WOW THATS AN AMAZING PRICE - WHAT STB did you get ?

I ended up buying an LG LST-5403P HD PVR. Great picture through component but having issues with HDMI at the moment (have tried 2 cables so i hope that its the PVR cos i don't want to try to take the plasma back to the store!!!). Picture quality of the plasma is fantastic!!

Ash

[zok1503560685]

Hi Guys

Can someone please tell me what settings ( color, brightness, etc ) they have set their plasma set to and why they chose those settings. Should the color, brightness etc be set at a minus level ? I have my color at + 4, brightness at + 4. Is that a problem ?

[ashman]

Hi Guys

Can someone please tell me what settings ( color, brightness, etc ) they have set their plasma set to and why they chose those settings. Should the color, brightness etc be set at a minus level ? I have my color at + 4, brightness at + 4. Is that a problem ?

Zok

Don't know if those settings are such a problem without knowing how old your plasma is (ie have you used it more than 200-300 hours). Personally I think there are too many variables (room size, ambient light, etc) that impact on recommended settings. However,

My settings are:

Contrast -10

Brightness 0

Colour - 10

Colour Temp Normal

Reasons are:

a/ I have only used mine for probably 20-30 hours and this is similar to what is recommended for the "run-in" period.

b/ The picture looks good in my room.

My brother-in-law has the DVE (Digital Video Essentials - I think) disc used for calibrating projectors & plasma's which I will borrow from him once I have clocked up 200-400 hours.

Ash

[MJBarbaro]

Got it last week and played all weekend, so here goes on first impressions.

Cant fault the panel, pq is sensational, swivel base is nice touch and as MJ said before makes it so much more usable. The whole 1000:1 contrast thing is just not an issue so I can only say claims of others must be overrated or something, and yes size does matter - my wife is very impressed at the extra few inches, although we did sh.. ourselves when the box arrived.

Viewing in dark or light rooms is really no prob which I think would have been with the Pioneer, and I found all the menus really easy to drive without reading the manual first (you know we dont do that).

As for probs, what idiot company only puts in an asian / euro power plug in the box for australia ?

Really ticked me that after spending all that, i couldnt crank it up until I went and bought another $10 power cord. Did everyone elses come like this ?

As for the dicussion on cabling had earlier, I have now tried nearly every type and come to the following which may be of interest for anyone about to buy and may do the same as me. I was going to get the $300 Monster HDMI until advised differently here, so i borrowed one instead and i bought the $119 Monster HDMI and also got a much cheaper one care of D.S.. I also tried all manner of Component / RGB / S and even composite just to see what the hell works best.

In short I have kept the $119 moster HDMI which I could not differentiate from the $300 version at all but... I also have a high quality component cable running from the STB with the Optical Audio running directly to the Amp which IMO produces a better allround package of picture and sound than the HDMI, but I kept it anyway just because you can with this panel it has so many bloody inputs its great.

I ditched the cheaper cable after I got some interference when my wife did the vacuuming nearby and noticed none through the other cables.

One aside, is that I cant get good colour through the component cable from my Marantz DVD, everything is all pink, but when I just use the single video signal from the composite its perfect ??? If anyone can help with this I would love to know what to do. S Vidoe is fine and Component from any other source is fine.

All in All a great screen and one anyone considering a 50 inch would be mad not to look at. Thank again for all the opinions and help, it certainly made this purchase easier and actually more fun cause I got to share the experience more.

Great to hear! & thanks for the detailed post.

FYI i got an aussie power plug, no probs there.

I ended up buying an LG LST-5403P HD PVR. Great picture through component but having issues with HDMI at the moment (have tried 2 cables so i hope that its the PVR cos i don't want to try to take the plasma back to the store!!!). Picture quality of the plasma is fantastic!!

Ash

it may be a problem between the HDMI standards 1.1 vs 1.2 - check if the player has a firmware upgrade available.

[zok1503560685]

Zok

Don't know if those settings are such a problem without knowing how old your plasma is (ie have you used it more than 200-300 hours). Personally I think there are too many variables (room size, ambient light, etc) that impact on recommended settings. However,

My settings are:

Contrast -10

Brightness 0

Colour - 10

Colour Temp Normal

Reasons are:

a/ I have only used mine for probably 20-30 hours and this is similar to what is recommended for the "run-in" period.

b/ The picture looks good in my room.

My brother-in-law has the DVE (Digital Video Essentials - I think) disc used for calibrating projectors & plasma's which I will borrow from him once I have clocked up 200-400 hours.

Ash

Thanks for your reply Ash.

I have now had the Plasma for a couple of months. It was that " run-in period " that I was worried about. I did read about it but have ignored it as I like my settings. What would happen to my screen in the long run if I kept ignoring it and kept the settings I have now ?

Regards

Zok

[aztec]

Hi Guys

Can someone please tell me what settings ( color, brightness, etc ) they have set their plasma set to and why they chose those settings. Should the color, brightness etc be set at a minus level ? I have my color at + 4, brightness at + 4. Is that a problem ?

I think there are too many variables for a one size fits all. For example, the source, how it's connected, the lighting in your room, your eyes, etc.

I have a TEAC DVB800 (high definition) connected through component set to auto out and my settings are (everything standard unless otherwise listed):

contrast +10

brightness -1

colour -16

black enhancement "medium"

Why, because I think it gives the most natural picture, I played with the settings for hours to try and get skin tones the most natural, even then different shows require different settings, in the end I think I've managed to find a middle ground. One thing I have been unable to fix is blue lips on people. Again, this varies between shows.

Last night's episode of House, though, looked very good.

[ashman]

One thing I have been unable to fix is blue lips on people.

I've heard a bowl of warm soup works well!!!

[50mxe20]

I've heard a bowl of warm soup works well!!!

ROFL!

[aztec]

I've heard a bowl of warm soup works well!!!

Just need to convince Bert Newton to have some before going on air.

[zok1503560685]

I think there are too many variables for a one size fits all. For example, the source, how it's connected, the lighting in your room, your eyes, etc.

I have a TEAC DVB800 (high definition) connected through component set to auto out and my settings are (everything standard unless otherwise listed):

contrast +10

brightness -1

colour -16

black enhancement "medium"

Why, because I think it gives the most natural picture, I played with the settings for hours to try and get skin tones the most natural, even then different shows require different settings, in the end I think I've managed to find a middle ground. One thing I have been unable to fix is blue lips on people. Again, this varies between shows.

Last night's episode of House, though, looked very good.

Thanks for your reply aztec. Much appreciated.

[aztec]

Thanks for your reply aztec. Much appreciated.

Pleasure!

BTW, I'd be interested to see what you end up with so please post when you are settled on something.

Cheers,

Adam.

[zok1503560685]

Pleasure!

BTW, I'd be interested to see what you end up with so please post when you are settled on something.

Cheers,

Adam.

Aztec

Sorry for the delay in this reply....here are my settings :

Contrast +5

Brightness -2

Colour -10

Sharpness +2

Tint 0

These settings I found are what works best for my set up. I have spoken to a couple of retailers and also called Hitachi and was informed that it's what ever works best for your set up. The run in period is more for plasma burn in (at least that was what I was told )...ie if your screen is too bright it might achieve burn in a bit easier.

Hope this helps others as all the write ups on this site helped me. Thanks.