Struggo Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi All, I was checking out the 8800 today and it looks yummy . They are a better looking set than the pana. I have had my eye on the Pana 60v and was close to purchasing until I noticed a lot of forum members recommending others to check out the 8800. Has anyone seen the new 8900 in Sydney yet? If so where and how much? Thanks for the feedback Struggo http://aus.hitachi.com.au/hitachi/content/...cts.asp?ID=1835 42PD8900TA 42" (106cm) HD Ready Plasma Television - RRP$4,399 KEY FEATURES World First 1080 Line 42" Plasma Panel HD Ready (requires HDTV Digital Set Top Box) 1024 x 1080 Resolution 60,000 hour panel life (under normal video use)* 1,400cd/m2 Panel Brightness 4,000:1 Contrast Ratio 68.6 Billion Colours 170 Degree Viewing Angle Built-in twin analogue tuners Multi-Picture (PinP, Split, PonP4, PonP12) Aspect ratio mode (Panoramic, Zoom, Cinema, Full, 4:3) Teletext (Fastext with 100 page memory) Built-in HiFi quality speakers (10 speaker, 36W) SRS WOW / BBE Sound VGA-UXGA input for PC Twin Component inputs (DVD/STB) Twin HDMI digital inputs SD Card + USB Photo Inputs Headphone Output Remote Control Swivel Desk Stand Fanless Design for Silent Operation Slim Space Saving Design 12 months warranty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fRuItCaKe. Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi All,I was checking out the 8800 today and it looks yummy . They are a better looking set than the pana. Haven't seen the 8900 yet, but a friend of mine just bought the 8800 (and he demoed a few including the pana) and says its fantastic. I looked at the last one in HN tonight and they had a price of $3453, floor model only. I agree it looks great. Considering he got his new at Domayne for $3450 two weeks ago, that price is a bit shabby. At $2800 I'd seriously consider it though. Chriso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 good to see up on the hitachi website including with the same rrp as the 8800ta just gone. wonder when it hits the shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fRuItCaKe. Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Wonder if Bing Lee have any of the old ones in stock in Sydney as their price was pretty damn good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke.VDC Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I saw these at the Hitachi launch. Every LCD/Plasma they had was on show running a HD clip through a PC. With the 8800 and 8900 beside each other. There wasnt a huge amount of difference but from really looking closely at both panels, the 8900 exhibited slightly better gradation, but apart from that, there wasnt much to see. When one is out, hopefully then ill get to see the difference between the two as i have already done a couple of Hitachi 8800's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggo Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 I saw these at the Hitachi launch. Every LCD/Plasma they had was on show running a HD clip through a PC. With the 8800 and 8900 beside each other. There wasnt a huge amount of difference but from really looking closely at both panels, the 8900 exhibited slightly better gradation, but apart from that, there wasnt much to see. When one is out, hopefully then ill get to see the difference between the two as i have already done a couple of Hitachi 8800's. Thx for the feeedback 'Luke.VDC'. The fact that you have two of the 8800's, I dare say you are really happy with them. I think I will see if I can pick up a good deal over the weekend on 8800 then. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke.VDC Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi Struggo, Actually i meant i have calibrated a couple of those Hitachi 8800's hehe, not own them. So i have calibration data of how they perform and until i see the new 8900 to calibrate i cant really comment on what the exact differences are now. The Panasonic and Pioneer i would rather over the Hitachi personally. But everyone has different tastes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi Struggo,Actually i meant i have calibrated a couple of those Hitachi 8800's hehe, not own them. So i have calibration data of how they perform and until i see the new 8900 to calibrate i cant really comment on what the exact differences are now. The Panasonic and Pioneer i would rather over the Hitachi personally. But everyone has different tastes hitachi themselves told me the same thing the. nothing much between the 8900 and 8800. its a minor update, "nothign to rave on about" apparently but as you say luke would need to do a side to side to tell. The 8900 might be better on movement for instance over the 8800 ?. its the real pity is we miss out on the built in HD tuner which people get overseas with this 8900 & the 9700panel, woudl have been a nice bonus. On asking the hitachi guy whether to wait for the 8900 he said although the same rrp you wouldnt get it for the run out pricing you'd get the 8800 for so that would be well worth going for and pockettignthe savings. the pana and pios ? the pana looks like some cheapo chinese made thing in its all silver bezel and bargain basement old fashioned stand. Yuck I could not have it in my lounge room, big come down from the previous vieras. And I've spent a lot of time looking at the pio's yes good screens but think theyre overated and overpriced for what they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dawg Down Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 the pana and pios ? the pana looks like some cheapo chinese made thing in its all silver bezel and bargain basement old fashioned stand. Yuck I could not have it in my lounge room, big come down from the previous vieras. And I've spent a lot of time looking at the pio's yes good screens but think theyre overated and overpriced for what they are. When I first saw the Pana I also thought it looks a bit cheap. But give it time and you will realise the material is actually quite solid and doesn't feel cheap at all. So it is only the silver colour which gives the perception that it's cheap. I am sure Panasonic uses the same material as Pioneer but since the Pio are painted glossy black, it just looks 'more expensive'. Which is true anyway . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samps Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Damn I've had my 8800 a little over a month and it's already been superceeded by a true 1080 line display! Does anyone know with the 8800's 1024 lines, does it 'clip' the extra 56 lines or just 'squeeze' the picture down by some other means? I'm assuming a 1:1 signal would look far better than an approximation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkrac Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Damn I've had my 8800 a little over a month and it's already been superceeded by a true 1080 line display! Does anyone know with the 8800's 1024 lines, does it 'clip' the extra 56 lines or just 'squeeze' the picture down by some other means? I'm assuming a 1:1 signal would look far better than an approximation. No it just crops the top and bottom 28 lines, that's why 1080i material looks so good on it. In fact the ALIS panel was intentionally designed as a cheaper way of displaying 1080i. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 No it just crops the top and bottom 28 lines, that's why 1080i material looks so good on it. In fact the ALIS panel was intentionally designed as a cheaper way of displaying 1080i. thats right 1024 display crops, what it does crop thoug his not even noticeable. To be fair samps, the 1024 panels have been out and about for well over 2-3 years now with some incremental improvments along the way. That said though the 1080 line one dont appear a drastic improvement jsut another incremental one. And yeah the 1024 line ones are just tops with true 1080 line HD material. Will be interesting how it looks on the new 1080 line panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samps Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 That's good news - I'm happy again now. It kind of explains why the xbox 360 looks so good at 1080i. Loving it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 went past a HN store on the way home to check out the 8800 again. they had it set up right next to the philips 9531 that has the 1024x1080i alis panel. Being totally honest here you'd be pretty pushed picking one over the other as being any better in any department. there happened to be a hitachi guy there that I spoke too. To add to confusion he said the new model(8900) wasnt goign to be out for another month and was $600 up on the sticker price of the 8800 they had on show. Plus strangely he said they have replaced the gunmetal grey speakers the 8800 with black for this new 8900 model. He also said picture quality wise between the 8800 and 8900 there was not much he can remember seing between them in the display they had of them. Apart from the 1080 line alis panel and different colour side speakers he said there was nothing else of difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjc Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 went past a HN store on the way home to check out the 8800 again.they had it set up right next to the philips 9531 that has the 1024x1080i alis panel. Being totally honest here you'd be pretty pushed picking one over the other as being any better in any department. there happened to be a hitachi guy there that I spoke too. To add to confusion he said the new model(8900) wasnt goign to be out for another month and was $600 up on the sticker price of the 8800 they had on show. Plus strangely he said they have replaced the gunmetal grey speakers the 8800 with black for this new 8900 model. He also said picture quality wise between the 8800 and 8900 there was not much he can remember seing between them in the display they had of them. Apart from the 1080 line alis panel and different colour side speakers he said there was nothing else of difference. So will the 8900 display the full vertical 1080i signal without "overscan"? Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 So will the 8900 display the full vertical 1080i signal without "overscan"?Philip have a look at the brochure of the 8900 on the hitachi site will give you some clues. As far as I can see the 1024 line alis panels drop 28 lines top and bottom and display on the 1024 line panel. 28 lines top and bottom include overscan and 28 lines at the top or the bottom out of 1000 or so lines when comparing with other type plasmas you cant even see if any thing has been dropped off. Fro the 1080 line alis looks like it does not crop but what I'd imagine it would do instead it just does not show overscan. Either way as I mentioned lookign at the philips 1080 line using the alis panel and the 8800 using the 1024 line I coudl not honestly find anythign in the pic that would sway me to one over the other. The 8900 and the new philips using the new alis panel have a higher contrast ratio now 4000 vs the older screens 3000 again here maybe with the way each of the apanels were set up the greater contrast ratio on the newer screen was not somethign that particualry stoof out to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggo Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 have a look at the brochure of the 8900 on the hitachi site will give you some clues. As far as I can see the 1024 line alis panels drop 28 lines top and bottom and display on the 1024 line panel. 28 lines top and bottom include overscan and 28 lines at the top or the bottom out of 1000 or so lines when comparing with other type plasmas you cant even see if any thing has been dropped off. Fro the 1080 line alis looks like it does not crop but what I'd imagine it would do instead it just does not show overscan. Either way as I mentioned lookign at the philips 1080 line using the alis panel and the 8800 using the 1024 line I coudl not honestly find anythign in the pic that would sway me to one over the other. The 8900 and the new philips using the new alis panel have a higher contrast ratio now 4000 vs the older screens 3000 again here maybe with the way each of the apanels were set up the greater contrast ratio on the newer screen was not somethign that particualry stoof out to me. Hi alebonau, Judging by your comments the 8800 colud be a real bargin at run out pricing. I'm looking at both the Pana 60A HD & the 8800. I just finding hard to make a decision . My main concern is black levels as I wish to use my display for movies a fair bit. Appreciate any feedback Struggo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hi alebonau,Judging by your comments the 8800 colud be a real bargin at run out pricing. I'm looking at both the Pana 60A HD & the 8800. I just finding hard to make a decision . My main concern is black levels as I wish to use my display for movies a fair bit. Appreciate any feedback Struggo thats exactly it with the 8800, think its 99% actually I'd go as far as sayign 99.9% of the performance of the new 1080 line panels(based on the philips 1080 line vs teh 8800 and I couldnt pick anything of difference/significance PQ wise), that at this stage make pocketting the massive savings with the 8800 and running a damn good option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffrobinson Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hi alebonau,Judging by your comments the 8800 colud be a real bargin at run out pricing. I'm looking at both the Pana 60A HD & the 8800. I just finding hard to make a decision . My main concern is black levels as I wish to use my display for movies a fair bit. Appreciate any feedback Struggo Don't know much about of the Pana but I do know how pleased I am with my new Hitachi. Its fantatic and if you buy you will not be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deang Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Do you guys think it would be fair to say that the Hitachis would have the best speakers of any plasma on the market? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjc Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Do you guys think it would be fair to say that the Hitachis would have the best speakers of any plasma on the market? Of course .. but you are asking a bunch of Hitachi owners!. I must say I am impressed with the audio quality. The subwoofer line out also helps if you like the extra thumping. Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skin Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I understand how ALiS works and the benifits. I also know that the picture on a 8800 is awesome, but how does the TV scale the horizontal component of the picture back to 1024 and still make it look good! I don't get it, is it just some kind of Hitachi Voodoo Magic? Anyone have a technical explaination? Expecially when using a source such as an Xbox 360 where you know it is outputing the 'full' horizontal resolution. The Minister for Finance put the kybosh on my plans to buy a 50 inch plasma, so the 8900 may be my best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter D Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I understand how ALiS works and the benifits. I also know that the picture on a 8800 is awesome, but how does the TV scale the horizontal component of the picture back to 1024 and still make it look good! I don't get it, is it just some kind of Hitachi Voodoo Magic?Anyone have a technical explaination? Expecially when using a source such as an Xbox 360 where you know it is outputing the 'full' horizontal resolution. The Minister for Finance put the kybosh on my plans to buy a 50 inch plasma, so the 8900 may be my best bet. There are lots of different algorithms for scaling. The simplest is plain interpolation of the immediately surrounding 4 pixels. More complex algorithms take into account the surrounding 9 or 16 pixels. Then there's tweaking to avoid solarisation and jagged edges. It would be intersting to know whether the Hitachi just interpolates just on the horizontal line for 1080i or whether it still using surronding pixels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter D Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 When is Hitachi going to bump up the warranty to at least 3 years? Most of us are buying 5 year extended warranties. So much easier if Hitachi did it for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggo Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 http://www.asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/t...39362187,00.htm Has anyone seen the 8900 in Sydney yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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