Question:
I finally got to see the elusive Hitachi plasma TV last night (New Curry's store in Bangor, NI) and initial impressions were that it really is as good as the mags say. I plan to take a few DVD's 'round and see if they'll let me have a play with it sometime this week.
Significantly cheaper than the Panasonic and the Pioneer (also in the same store) and finished comparably.
Anyone here know of any problems with this unit or is it all roses so far?
Over on the Avforums a few people have moaned about a bad picture watching sky.
Then there's a really technical debate about the resolution and how it's perfect for NTSC, but less so for PAL.
But there have been no major problems reported, and a few people have opted for it over the Panasonic as it doesn't flicker.
There's a brand new Panasonic due soon though, so I'm waiting to see what that's like.
Over all though:thumbs:
Read the avforums though and make up you own mind.
The new Panasonic is out now and has the PAL flicker issue totally sorted by all accounts.
The Hitachi is a good screen, but its major drawback is that it is using interlacing technology, so if you plan to hook up a progressive scan DVD player, the advantages aren't so readily apparent compared to a Panasonic or Pioneer screen.
Does it use the technology or its media box? If the latter then the Hitachi would still make a very good mate to a home theatre pc.
Hitachi uses ALIS technology on its screens - it is interlacing two 1024x512 images to give its supposed 1024x1024 resolution. The media box isn't really relevant, although the 400e (which doesn't have the box) is supposedly the marginally better screen.
So why do Hitachi say that the screen will take a progressive input?
AFAIR, the ALIS technology (alternate lighting of surfaces) is to do with improving black levels and is nothing to do with interlacing. I could be wrong though.
Originally posted by Ron Hill
So why do Hitachi say that the screen will take a progressive input?
AFAIR, the ALIS technology (alternate lighting of surfaces) is to do with improving black levels and is nothing to do with interlacing. I could be wrong though.
Because it will take a progressive input! However, it will output it in an interlaced manner. If you're attaching a PC, Hitachi themselves recommend you set your PC to 1024x512 to get the best possible picture, rather than 1024x1024. It's all on the AV Forums: http://www.avforums.com
ALIS - alternate lighting of surfaces - essentially means alternately switching between two images very quickly, which is "interlacing" by any other name.
Had a play with one of these tonight. Demo disk was Daredevil (region 2). The DVD player was a Sony connected to the media box with a straight composite video feed and also a component feed. The component connection (AV4) was indeed a vast and noticeable improvement over the video feed but on both feeds I noticed a pronounced ghost on outlines (approx 3 milimeters from high contrast edges). Very reminiscent of analog TV ghosting. I'd need to see another one for comparison before i'd part with cash. Other than that though, the picture was rich and detailed and with none of the clearly visible colour banding or smearing you get on the cheap and nasty's.
Are we talking about the Hitachi 42in PMA400,as that is great?
yeah...although the 400 is just the screen.
The 300 is the tv which is basically the same plus the media box and speakers...
You'll see them on display in Curry's...
The model number on the back of the one in my local Currys is 42PD3000.
Originally posted by Ron Hill
The model number on the back of the one in my local Currys is 42PD3000.
The model number on the back of the one in my flat is 42PD3000 as well :p
Originally posted by Deron
yeah...although the 400 is just the screen.
The 300 is the tv which is basically the same plus the media box and speakers...
You'll see them on display in Curry's...
Does it use interpolation?
The ALIS definition on one of Hitachi's many websites indicates that it alternately lights adjacent columns of pixels vertically as opposed to horizontal rows so it would appear that this is not the same as interlacing technology which is alternate scan line based.
See here.
http://www.hitachi.ca/innovation.asp?PageID=6
trooper1212: Do you get a notiveable ghosting on high contract edges on yours? It's so obvious on the one in my local Curry's that i'm thinking it must be a fault in either the DVD player or the particular display in that store. I certainly couldn't see it walking off with all those "best plasma TV" awards with that particular fault.
Originally posted by Ron Hill
The ALIS definition on one of Hitachi's many websites indicates that it alternately lights adjacent columns of pixels vertically as opposed to horizontal rows so it would appear that this is not the same as interlacing technology which is alternate scan line based.
See here.
http://www.hitachi.ca/innovation.asp?PageID=6
trooper1212: Do you get a notiveable ghosting on high contract edges on yours? It's so obvious on the one in my local Curry's that i'm thinking it must be a fault in either the DVD player or the particular display in that store. I certainly couldn't see it walking off with all those "best plasma TV" awards with that particular fault.
Thanks for clearing that up for me as I wasn't sure whether ALIS was interlacing.
The 42PD3000 won the awards then and is £3000.What Tuner do you get with this and is there any pics any where?
Does it come with stand and is it easy to move around weight wise?
ALIS is interlacing of a sort. It has a 1024*1024 screen, but the ideal resolution it can be fed with is 1024*512.
Even though it is interlaced, it is an excellent picture, on par with the pannys and pioneers.
No ghosting on any picture that i've seen, so I can only guess that the source was buggered.
It comes with a stand, already attached in fact, just flip a few plastic handles on the bottom of the box it comes in and slide the whole thing out, already fully assembled and on the stand.
It's not particulary heavy, but does really need 2 people to lift it for securitys sake, the last thing you want to do is drop it ;)
The plasma has a single cable that connects to the tuner box and the tuner box controls everything to do with the plasma. The 3000 without the tuner box is useless as far as i can tell, as the receiver for the remote signal is in the box rather than the screen.
In fact, everything is in the box, which means no fan in the screen itself, so it's a lot quieter than the equivalent 400.
T.
trooper1212: Thanks for the clarification on the ghosting. Something buggered in the Currys setup then most likely. I have to say that if the one I was looking at didn't have the ghosting I would certainly take it over the Panasonic or the Pioneer. A very natural and cinematic picture comparable with the Panasonic aesthetically.
The scene I particularly noticed the ghosting in was a chapter in Daredevil near the end of the film where the protagonist is sitting to the right of screen in a cafe facing a person on the left. The ghost was very noticeable around the main characters face against the dark backdrop. I can't be more specific as I havn't seen the film (the disk belonged to the store and is being used as a demo disk)
Sorry to be lazy - what's the model number of the new Panasonic mentioned above?
Cheers,
A.
AndyH - TH42PW6B
Cheers guv!
The ghosting could be interference from all the different electronics in the shop,hopefully,as this would have been mentioned as a major negative in any reviews.
Does the Hitachi suffer from any CRT 100Hz type side effects,like smearing etc?
None I could see. On the ghosting issue, it did occur to me that the attached DVD player was connected with composite and component connections simultaneously. I wonder could there be a cross channel interference issue.
Do any Plasma screens suffer from the CRT 100Hz type side effects,like smearing,illegible side scrolling text etc?
"illegible side scrolling text". That sounds like Toshiba's "Natural Motion" processing. (or OFF in my settings. :) )
Originally posted by Ron Hill
"illegible side scrolling text". That sounds like Toshiba's "Natural Motion" processing. (or OFF in my settings. :) )
Yes,the same on a 100Hz Philips.
But do Plasmas do this or similar and dark patches etc?
I don't want to spend 3 grand on a load of crap,imo!
Only way to know for sure is to demo thoroughly and see with your own eyes. No amount of forum browsing equates to a demo with material you are familiar with.
I am still of the opinion that the Panasonic and the Pioneer are equally good but different approaches to how a display should look and are the front runners. The court is still out in my mind on the Hitachi. It could be "the one" but I want to see another to convice myself that the ghosting issue I found is not a feature of this particular model.
According to What Video's review the older Hitachi 42PMA400 Plasma suffers from ghosting,but the new award winning 42PD3000 one is faultless and smooth,with no smearing.
Significantly cheaper than the Panasonic and the Pioneer (also in the same store) and finished comparably.
Anyone here know of any problems with this unit or is it all roses so far?
Answers:
Over on the Avforums a few people have moaned about a bad picture watching sky.
Then there's a really technical debate about the resolution and how it's perfect for NTSC, but less so for PAL.
But there have been no major problems reported, and a few people have opted for it over the Panasonic as it doesn't flicker.
There's a brand new Panasonic due soon though, so I'm waiting to see what that's like.
Over all though:thumbs:
Read the avforums though and make up you own mind.
Answers:
The new Panasonic is out now and has the PAL flicker issue totally sorted by all accounts.
The Hitachi is a good screen, but its major drawback is that it is using interlacing technology, so if you plan to hook up a progressive scan DVD player, the advantages aren't so readily apparent compared to a Panasonic or Pioneer screen.
Answers:
Does it use the technology or its media box? If the latter then the Hitachi would still make a very good mate to a home theatre pc.
Answers:
Hitachi uses ALIS technology on its screens - it is interlacing two 1024x512 images to give its supposed 1024x1024 resolution. The media box isn't really relevant, although the 400e (which doesn't have the box) is supposedly the marginally better screen.
Answers:
So why do Hitachi say that the screen will take a progressive input?
AFAIR, the ALIS technology (alternate lighting of surfaces) is to do with improving black levels and is nothing to do with interlacing. I could be wrong though.
Answers:
Originally posted by Ron Hill
So why do Hitachi say that the screen will take a progressive input?
AFAIR, the ALIS technology (alternate lighting of surfaces) is to do with improving black levels and is nothing to do with interlacing. I could be wrong though.
Because it will take a progressive input! However, it will output it in an interlaced manner. If you're attaching a PC, Hitachi themselves recommend you set your PC to 1024x512 to get the best possible picture, rather than 1024x1024. It's all on the AV Forums: http://www.avforums.com
ALIS - alternate lighting of surfaces - essentially means alternately switching between two images very quickly, which is "interlacing" by any other name.
Answers:
Had a play with one of these tonight. Demo disk was Daredevil (region 2). The DVD player was a Sony connected to the media box with a straight composite video feed and also a component feed. The component connection (AV4) was indeed a vast and noticeable improvement over the video feed but on both feeds I noticed a pronounced ghost on outlines (approx 3 milimeters from high contrast edges). Very reminiscent of analog TV ghosting. I'd need to see another one for comparison before i'd part with cash. Other than that though, the picture was rich and detailed and with none of the clearly visible colour banding or smearing you get on the cheap and nasty's.
Answers:
Are we talking about the Hitachi 42in PMA400,as that is great?
Answers:
yeah...although the 400 is just the screen.
The 300 is the tv which is basically the same plus the media box and speakers...
You'll see them on display in Curry's...
Answers:
The model number on the back of the one in my local Currys is 42PD3000.
Answers:
Originally posted by Ron Hill
The model number on the back of the one in my local Currys is 42PD3000.
The model number on the back of the one in my flat is 42PD3000 as well :p
Answers:
Originally posted by Deron
yeah...although the 400 is just the screen.
The 300 is the tv which is basically the same plus the media box and speakers...
You'll see them on display in Curry's...
Does it use interpolation?
Answers:
The ALIS definition on one of Hitachi's many websites indicates that it alternately lights adjacent columns of pixels vertically as opposed to horizontal rows so it would appear that this is not the same as interlacing technology which is alternate scan line based.
See here.
http://www.hitachi.ca/innovation.asp?PageID=6
trooper1212: Do you get a notiveable ghosting on high contract edges on yours? It's so obvious on the one in my local Curry's that i'm thinking it must be a fault in either the DVD player or the particular display in that store. I certainly couldn't see it walking off with all those "best plasma TV" awards with that particular fault.
Answers:
Originally posted by Ron Hill
The ALIS definition on one of Hitachi's many websites indicates that it alternately lights adjacent columns of pixels vertically as opposed to horizontal rows so it would appear that this is not the same as interlacing technology which is alternate scan line based.
See here.
http://www.hitachi.ca/innovation.asp?PageID=6
trooper1212: Do you get a notiveable ghosting on high contract edges on yours? It's so obvious on the one in my local Curry's that i'm thinking it must be a fault in either the DVD player or the particular display in that store. I certainly couldn't see it walking off with all those "best plasma TV" awards with that particular fault.
Thanks for clearing that up for me as I wasn't sure whether ALIS was interlacing.
The 42PD3000 won the awards then and is £3000.What Tuner do you get with this and is there any pics any where?
Does it come with stand and is it easy to move around weight wise?
Answers:
ALIS is interlacing of a sort. It has a 1024*1024 screen, but the ideal resolution it can be fed with is 1024*512.
Even though it is interlaced, it is an excellent picture, on par with the pannys and pioneers.
No ghosting on any picture that i've seen, so I can only guess that the source was buggered.
It comes with a stand, already attached in fact, just flip a few plastic handles on the bottom of the box it comes in and slide the whole thing out, already fully assembled and on the stand.
It's not particulary heavy, but does really need 2 people to lift it for securitys sake, the last thing you want to do is drop it ;)
The plasma has a single cable that connects to the tuner box and the tuner box controls everything to do with the plasma. The 3000 without the tuner box is useless as far as i can tell, as the receiver for the remote signal is in the box rather than the screen.
In fact, everything is in the box, which means no fan in the screen itself, so it's a lot quieter than the equivalent 400.
T.
Answers:
trooper1212: Thanks for the clarification on the ghosting. Something buggered in the Currys setup then most likely. I have to say that if the one I was looking at didn't have the ghosting I would certainly take it over the Panasonic or the Pioneer. A very natural and cinematic picture comparable with the Panasonic aesthetically.
The scene I particularly noticed the ghosting in was a chapter in Daredevil near the end of the film where the protagonist is sitting to the right of screen in a cafe facing a person on the left. The ghost was very noticeable around the main characters face against the dark backdrop. I can't be more specific as I havn't seen the film (the disk belonged to the store and is being used as a demo disk)
Answers:
Sorry to be lazy - what's the model number of the new Panasonic mentioned above?
Cheers,
A.
Answers:
AndyH - TH42PW6B
Answers:
Cheers guv!
Answers:
The ghosting could be interference from all the different electronics in the shop,hopefully,as this would have been mentioned as a major negative in any reviews.
Does the Hitachi suffer from any CRT 100Hz type side effects,like smearing etc?
Answers:
None I could see. On the ghosting issue, it did occur to me that the attached DVD player was connected with composite and component connections simultaneously. I wonder could there be a cross channel interference issue.
Answers:
Do any Plasma screens suffer from the CRT 100Hz type side effects,like smearing,illegible side scrolling text etc?
Answers:
"illegible side scrolling text". That sounds like Toshiba's "Natural Motion" processing. (or OFF in my settings. :) )
Answers:
Originally posted by Ron Hill
"illegible side scrolling text". That sounds like Toshiba's "Natural Motion" processing. (or OFF in my settings. :) )
Yes,the same on a 100Hz Philips.
But do Plasmas do this or similar and dark patches etc?
I don't want to spend 3 grand on a load of crap,imo!
Answers:
Only way to know for sure is to demo thoroughly and see with your own eyes. No amount of forum browsing equates to a demo with material you are familiar with.
I am still of the opinion that the Panasonic and the Pioneer are equally good but different approaches to how a display should look and are the front runners. The court is still out in my mind on the Hitachi. It could be "the one" but I want to see another to convice myself that the ghosting issue I found is not a feature of this particular model.
Answers:
According to What Video's review the older Hitachi 42PMA400 Plasma suffers from ghosting,but the new award winning 42PD3000 one is faultless and smooth,with no smearing.
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