Hitachi Plasma 50" 1080

[Cody]

Thanks for having a look into this blairy. I don't use my Hitachi for a computer screen except for photos but have had problems with the flicker. I had a few scaling issues with RGB and thus went to DVI>HDMI and the flicker was more noticable then. Like you say it is probably a video card problem not a panel problem.

Philip

i dont use mine as a computer screen either, but did try web browsing via the PS3 the other day (connected via HDMI) and the flicker was terrible. not a concern for me though as i would never use it as a computer screen.

thanks for the info blairy, great to read some real-world, user experience. cheers.

[NickSomany]

I had a look at the NEW Hitachi today at HN.........was running the blueray demo and to be totally honest it looked terrible

just my opinion

But it's not a very helpful opinion unless you say WHY you thought it looked terrible. What was it about the picture you didn't like? Did you see colour banding? Flicker? Was it the colour saturation or sharpness that was a problem? Did the people in the shop let you play around with the settings to check whether it was just a badly set up panel?

That kind of info would be useful. Your naked opinion just throws doubt in the minds of people who are seriously trying to make up their minds about a big purchase, without giving them any guidance.

Not trying to flame, just asking for more info and explaining why.

Edited September 9, 2007 by NickSomany

[creamop66]

Yeah sorry about that..........

Basically the picture was very juddery and torn, when people moved their arms quickly in it looked like they were seperate to their bodies??

The picture was also very FUZZY.

Didn't see any colour banding or flicker, although the colour didn't look true

The people in the shop...?? well they just kept going on about how great the panel was.

And I would expect that a 1080p panel displaying "BLU-RAY" should look AMAZING, PERFECT, STUNNING and the Hitachi just DID NOT.

update:

Just asked my partner what she thought of the Hitachi we looked at yesterday...........and her response "CRAP"

And as I said before this is just my opinion of the Hitachi I saw setup, and I will coninue to "check it out" at other store to see if how it compare to the competition.

Edited September 9, 2007 by creamop66

[NickSomany]

Yeah sorry about that..........

Basically the picture was very juddery and torn, when people moved their arms quickly in it looked like they were seperate to their bodies??

The picture was also very FUZZY.

Didn't see any colour banding or flicker, although the colour didn't look true

The people in the shop...?? well they just kept going on about how great the panel was.

And I would expect that a 1080p panel displaying "BLU-RAY" should look AMAZING, PERFECT, STUNNING and the Hitachi just DID NOT.

update:

Just asked my partner what she thought of the Hitachi we looked at yesterday...........and her response "CRAP"

And as I said before this is just my opinion of the Hitachi I saw setup, and I will coninue to "check it out" at other store to see if how it compare to the competition.

Interesting. Funnily enough that was my first encounter with the Hitachi at HN as well.

But then I discovered that - even though it was displaying the vision from a Blu-Ray player - it was running on a component cable via a splitter box. That was responsible for most of the horrible picture, not the panel itself. Also, the guy had dialled up the sharpness to the max, which made the picture quite harsh and ugly.

I got the guy to dial down the settings and run an HDMI connection direct from the player to the panel and it was much, much more impressive - though (as I wrote before) still not quite the smoothness and depth of colour of the nearby $8000 Pioneer 1080p 5000EX.

It seems to me that HN are screwing up their 'first bite of the cherry' option of selling these panels exclusively, by displaying them in less-than-ideal circumstances.

[creamop66]

It seems I'm heading to HN today so I'll check out how they have it connected.........component?? can they be that dumb??

[pjc]

It seems I'm heading to HN today so I'll check out how they have it connected.........component?? can they be that dumb??

Yes

[NickSomany]

It seems I'm heading to HN today so I'll check out how they have it connected.........component?? can they be that dumb??

Absolutely they can be this dumb.

I asked one sales rep why the picture was so fuzzy, with obvious jaggies on the diagonals, when it was supposed to be a Full HD panel running a Full HD signal. He told me ''well you get what you pay for, at the price it's a great panel''.

I hung around and asked another sales rep the same question a few minutes later. He said ''oh, maybe because it's running on a component connection through the splitter box'' ... um, well yes that could be it, mate...

Unbelievable that they were crippling what should have been one of the pride and joys of their display!

But it was a lesson for me... never judge a panel in a shop until you know exactly what signal is going into it, over what connection, and you've checked that no-one's been fiddling with the settings.

[creamop66]

Just got back from HN..........

Ok the sourse is a samsung blu-ray player and it is connected to the Hitachi via HDMI.

They were playing "Hitch" with Will Smith (blu-ray) and unfortunately it still looked BAD. Same complaints as before. People walking seemed to blur their way across the screen, and close-up of fast movements just were blury....

Hmmmmmm..........blur-ray?? Hitachi's latest release??

Edited September 10, 2007 by creamop66

[Owen]

Component connections don’t degrade the signal noticeably on most TV’s , but BluRay players often only output 480p over component for stupid copy protection reasons. That would explain the soft picture.

[nis200979]

Component connections don’t degrade the signal noticeably on most TV’s , but BluRay players often only output 480p over component for stupid copy protection reasons. That would explain the soft picture.

Samsung BDP1000 outputs 1080i through component, same as Toshiba HD-e1.

Most quality issues in store are more the result of intereference (component being analog obviously) over the Nexus or other HD wiring systems. (and of course poor setup)

[nis200979]

Just got back from HN..........

Ok the sourse is a samsung blu-ray player and it is connected to the Hitachi via HDMI.

They were playing "Hitch" with Will Smith (blu-ray) and unfortunately it still looked BAD. Same complaints as before. People walking seemed to blur their way across the screen, and close-up of fast movements just were blury....

Hmmmmmm..........blur-ray?? Hitachi's latest release??

I always thought the same of previous Hitachi screens. Bad blurring / studdering on pan scenes. The 55" was pretty woeful at times for that.

[denzil1]

Wow! whats happening here? We just got over several days of Hitachi ALiS and 1080P discussion and methinks we sorted the new screen as a terrific piece of gear..Almost all raves..Now in three days we have the worst picture ever... jaggies, soft, blurry and in a partners word 'CRAP'. What has gone wrong..Did ALL this negative feedback come via ONE paritcular HN store? The P50X01 will soon be at Clive Peters at Belrose and given the way they display plasmas currently I'd say that this will be the ultimate test for viewing and adjudicating.. But I'd love to know how our Hitachi took such a dive over the past few days.

[creamop66]

denzil1.........the negative feedback came from I, and yes the viewing was all done at the same HN store.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Hitachi 1080p screen when clive peters at belrose gets it and sets it up.

Hope you have "better luck?"

[denzil1]

denzil1.........the negative feedback came from I, and yes the viewing was all done at the same HN store.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Hitachi 1080p screen when clive peters at belrose gets it and sets it up.

Hope you have "better luck?"

You will certainly be the first to know. I'm already an Hitachi fan (1024x1024) and so far all viewings of the new P50X01 have been excellent. I have not yet however seen SD or even HD fta. The Hitachi HD feed which some HN stores are showing is excellent...and enough to sell the set, However satisfaction with fta HD and SD and a couple of DVDs is of course necessary for a good appraisal. Be assured I will be testing all this at Clives. After that I will look at the Panasonic 50PZ700A just to be sure. The specs however on the Pana are not as good as the Hitachi...Here's hoping we're not disappointed. It could be another week

[NickSomany]

After that I will look at the Panasonic 50PZ700A just to be sure. The specs however on the Pana are not as good as the Hitachi...

Apart from the lack of 1080p24 input (which doesn't really bother me because my media centre will do all the upconverting), are there any other specs that are worse on the Pana than the Hitachi? I'd virtually decided to get the Pana, because I can't afford the extra time and dollars for the upcoming new Pioneers, and the Hitachi disappointed me in the store.

[denzil1]

Apart from the lack of 1080p24 input (which doesn't really bother me because my media centre will do all the upconverting), are there any other specs that are worse on the Pana than the Hitachi? I'd virtually decided to get the Pana, because I can't afford the extra time and dollars for the upcoming new Pioneers, and the Hitachi disappointed me in the store.

HDDVUSER, contributor to this forum, is the man who fully understands the spec diffences between the Hitachi and the others (The new Panasonic and Pioneer) It's to do with 24fps and the scan frequency I think. Perhaps he might post this info here for all of us to understand.

[Owen]

Samsung BDP1000 outputs 1080i through component, same as Toshiba HD-e1.

Most quality issues in store are more the result of intereference (component being analog obviously) over the Nexus or other HD wiring systems. (and of course poor setup)

Any HD player should be able to output 1080i via Component but only if the disk being played allows it.

If the disk is flagged as protected it would be illegal for the player to deliver 1080 over Component.

Interference causes noise not blur, and that should be easy to notice. The distribution system certainly will degrade the signal to some degree, although it should be about the same for all displays on the system, unless the cables or connections to individual displays is faulty.

It’s always best to connect the player directly to any display you are seriously interested in. If the store wont do it, go somewhere else.

[nis200979]

Interference causes noise not blur, and that should be easy to notice. The distribution system certainly will degrade the signal to some degree, although it should be about the same for all displays on the system, unless the cables or connections to individual displays is faulty.

Correct. But having power supplies (BD player, HD player, HD Tuner, etc + Nexus power supply) in close proximity to the distrubution system seems to have the effect of interference through the picture - yes, the same on all screens.

Smetimes light or dark lines rolling through the picture. It is slight, and being the same on all screens, most people can narrow their choice down very quickly even with that.

Once down to a Pioneer 508 and a 50PZ700 direct connections would help, obviously HDMI is preferred.

[Guest Consal]

Hi, new to this site, and I don't have all the tech knowledge of others, but I saw the Hitachi at HN in Melbourne QV (twice) and was disappointed with the screen. For me it just did not look as sharp as the much cheaper Samsung hanging above it or either of the Panasonics sitting to its left.

It was showing FTA as were all the other plasmas and just didn't knock my socks off from a screen with supposedly such good resolution. I can't seem to find any overwhelmingly positive reviews on it either....does anyone have any reviews they could send me to?

At this stage I think I will wait for the pana and pion to hit the shop floors before making my decision. Some reviews that I have read of the pion show that it won european plasma of the year, does anyone know anything more about this?

[RXV3000]

All,

After finally finding a store in the northern suburbs of Melbourne (HN T/Town) that have a Hitachi P50X01AU all I can say is that if anyone is interested in looking at or buying the Hitachi do not go to a HN store, they had a 1080i crap demo that was being feed over component to at least 10 other plasmas and lcd's using it as well and it looked ****, and was then informed that it doesn't get any better than the way they had set it up????

When I asked if I could view 1080p material through HDMI the sales drone :ph34r: fires up a external HDD next to it only to sit there for 10 mins and it not work . Then when asked if he could set up a either a BlueRay or HDDVD player so that I could see 1080p he tells me it's too hard (what hope have you got!).

I'll wait to Friday and visit CP over the road!

Cheers,

Jas.

[Owen]

Personally, I would not buy a TV based on what it look like with a pristine HD signal unless that is the only thing you will watch.

High quality HD always looks good on just about any display, its poor quality source that sorts out the really good displays from the ordinary.

You need to be careful about making judgments on colour or sharpness as these factors are adjustable.

Samsung TV’s usually have over saturated colour and excessive sharpening by default, Sony are also famous for excessive colour and contrast.

When displays are all calibrated the same they tend to look very similar, often to the point where its hard to distinguish one from the other in a reasonably well lit environment.

In a darker environment the displays with the best blacks stand out as obviously superior.

[betty boop]

I remmber the samsung blu-ray demos in jb when first launcehd and they were demoing on the sammy lcds. put me right off the format, cannot imagine a worse display of hte technology. glad they've stopped doing those demoes instore. think that was a combination of things, poor early PQ blu-ray discs, a crap display plus a dodgy player. the player since gone by the wayside, blu-ray discs have since improved, the likes of fifth element for instance even been remastered and re-released. the sammy lcds though I think are still as bad as they ever were

my suggestion would be to demo displays using all typical sources and material you intend watching on the display at your intended viewing distance. if its SD TV/DVDs or HD TV or hi-def discs its not that hard these days to demo with all that stuff if you are determined.

[blairy]

Apart from the lack of 1080p24 input (which doesn't really bother me because my media centre will do all the upconverting), are there any other specs that are worse on the Pana than the Hitachi? I'd virtually decided to get the Pana, because I can't afford the extra time and dollars for the upcoming new Pioneers, and the Hitachi disappointed me in the store.

Hitachi does 1080P @ 24 Hz (according to the manual)

[blairy]

Personally, I would not buy a TV based on what it look like with a pristine HD signal unless that is the only thing you will watch.

High quality HD always looks good on just about any display, its poor quality source that sorts out the really good displays from the ordinary.

You need to be careful about making judgments on colour or sharpness as these factors are adjustable.

Samsung TV’s usually have over saturated colour and excessive sharpening by default, Sony are also famous for excessive colour and contrast.

When displays are all calibrated the same they tend to look very similar, often to the point where its hard to distinguish one from the other in a reasonably well lit environment.

In a darker environment the displays with the best blacks stand out as obviously superior.

Well done Owen. If that's not one of the most sensible posts I've ever read on this forum, well it's in the finals for the title. Spent last Saturday working through the manual of my new panel and whilst not making adjustments spent quite some time playing around (and then putting back to original settings). Almost pointless doing this with HD or bluray inputs because they look so good they need little to no adjustment. Saturday afternoon FTA tv and foxtel (typical real world viewing) allow you to suss out all the difficulties or imperfections you might have. Kinda sorta worked out what needed doing to set this up the way I like it and this evening made some fine tune adjsutments watching intro to socceroos V Argentina on fox sports.

Great game by the way, pity about the result though.

Viewing experinece, fox sports mind you, was phantasgamorical - no not blown away by pq, but thoroughly enjoyed watching the game on a huge panel that could cope admirably with an ordinary signal. This was my major concern when looking for a larger panel. LAst night watched HD movie (King Kong) and wow pq was great - but about half way through movie I realasied all i was doing was testing/critiqueing the panel. Just bloody enjoy it

[Felix..]

I had a good look at the Hitachi P50X01 at HN on the weekend. It was flanked by the Panny PX700A on one side and the Pioneer 507 on the other. All were being fed by the same source. My impression after about 30 minutes of comparing was that the Pioneer had the best overall picture, followed closely by the Panny and then the Hitachi a distinct third. Of course the story could've been different if the displays were properly calibrated and in an optimal viewing environment but nonetheless I have to say I left the store a little disappointed with the P50X01.

I'm a happy owner of an Hitachi 42" 8800 plasma who is looking to upgrade to a 50" panel in the next couple of months. And the Pio 508 appears to me to be the clear frontrunner as far as I'm concerned if it's going to be a step up from the 507.