The Hitachi plasma H401 series.

Voyeur

The 42" is reasonably affordable. Does anyone have one of these 1080 plasmas? Are they decent.

BobY

Don't be fooled by the price, these are *not* 1080p displays.

A true 1080p display has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The 42" Hitachi has a resolution of 1024 x 1080 (still better than most 42" Plasmas, which are typically 1024 x 768) and the 55" Hitachi has a resolution of 1280 x 1080 (most 50" and above Plasmas are 1366 x 768).

I'm not saying these are bad displays, just don't be fooled into thinking you're getting a good deal on a 1080p Plasma display.

I personally think these weird Hitachi screen formats are not a good idea, as they do not have square pixels, while 1280 x 720, 1366 x 768 and 1920 x 1080 do have square pixels in a widescreen format. The signal is encoded with square pixels and rescaling it to rectangular pixels inevitably leads to scaling errors and artifacts in the picture, particularly on moving edges.

borromini

I would agree with BobY...the scaling necessary to resolve a 720p or 1080i input signal may create artifacts you might not get with a true 1080p display.

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danielm1

I recently purchased the Hitachi 42" 1080i plasma television and have been very pleased with its picture quality on HD DVD movies. I do have to admit that i was a little worried when i read the odd resolution size but for the price and a 1080 capable tv i decided to purchase it and have had no regrets. On comparing between 1080p and 1080i formats i still don't think i could tell the difference between the two so i got nothin to worry about.

BobY

If these are like the past Hitachi 1080-line ALiS displays, you *shouldn't* see any difference between 1080i and 1080p since the display automatically interlaces 1080p for display, so it won't look any different than if it were receiving 1080i.

The important issue is how it looks compared to a real 1080p display. Technically, the 42" unit doesn't qualify as an HD display as 1024 pixels across is less than any HD format.

Again, I'm not saying these displays are bad, just that they have a much higher potential for jaggies and motion artifacts than a real 1080p display--something you might not notice unless you were to compare it directly with a 1280 x 720 (720p), 1366 x 768 or 1920 x 1080 (1080p) display. You should also realize that you are only seeing about *half* of the pixels from your HD DVD player, as your display is scaling 1920 horizontal pixels down to 1024 horizontal pixels--the image is no where near as sharp as a real 1080p display.

As long as you know these things up front and it doesn't bother you, then be happpy, but I think it's a bit misleading for Hitachi to vaguely word their marketing materials so people think these are 1080p Plasma displays for a lot less than everyone else's 1080p Plasma displays--LG, Pioneer and Panasonic have *real* 1080p Plasmas.

Voyeur

Yeah, I pretty much knew they weren't 1080p, but right now, that's not a big deal. I'm just wondering if it's a decent 1080i display. My local Sears is also selling a Toshiba 1080p display (I believe LCD) for less than $1800.

BobY

I suspect it's a pretty good display for someone who doesn't care they are only seeing half the pixels in the signal. Even as a 1080i display, you're still only seeing half the pixels in a 1080i signal.

Realistically these displays are going to be gone in a year as real 1080p plasma displays are going to come down in price and lower-res (1024 x 768) plasmas will be much cheaper.

tbuck410

How are you only seeing half the pixels in the signal? This 1080i shows all of the pixels, it just refreshes every other line. At 60Hz refresh that is refreshing every 0.033 seconds instead of every 0.016seconds.
Simple math, what looks better, 540 lines scanned alternately to make up a frame? Or 768 lines scanned once to make up a frame?

Also for programming, the following networks broadcast 1080i: HBO, Cinemax, CBS, NBC, HDNet, Discovery, PBS. So the signal is not scaled in any way.

Yes, maybe a 1080p signal from HD or Blu-Ray would be better on a full 1080p set, but at what dollar cost?

I am currently watching King Kong on my new P42H401 from a cable channel and am quite pleased. I purchased it for $1200 which included an upconversion DVD player, free delivery and set-up, and 18 months with no interest.

Is it the best available right now? No. Is it the the best for that price right now? YES!

Can I buy a better TV for that price by waiting? ALWAYS!!!!!!

BrianO

A 1080i signal has1920 pixels per horizontal line. This display only has 1024 pixels per line, so it is impossible for it to show all the pixels. 1024 is only 53.3% of 1920, a little over half, but not by much.

This display can't even show all the pixels of a 720p signal either. 1024 equals 80% of 1280

Your math is faulty.

unotis

Alot of new people to HDTV are just a little bit upset when they find out the truth of what they bought.

Even if it doesn't really matter to their viewing pleasure (they would never had been upset if they hadn't discovered the facts), they just think they've missed out on something when they find out the truth of what the numbers mean. I guess it's human nature to always want the best you can for a really low price (and as usual if it sounds too good to be true then it generally is).

BobY

Yes, that is what I was referring to--you're only seeing 1024 pixels per line even though the signal has 1920 pixels per line.

Again, I'm not saying it looks bad, but to say it looks the same or "as good" as a real 1080p display is silly.

tbuck410

My math may be faulty but my reading ability is NOT!. This thread is about 42" plasma, correct? All of the ones that are 720p that BB and CC have are: •720p (1024 x 768), NOT 1280 x 768!

And I don't think anyone (not me anyway) said these were as good as a full 1080p, just a pretty good price for a pretty good TV.

BobY

This thread is about someone mistaking a 42" 1024 x 1080 interlaced Plasma display for a real 1080p Plasma display because of misleading marketing by Hitachi.

BTW, Panasonic has a *real* 1080p (i.e. 1920 x 1080 progressive) 42" Plasma coming soon.

hidefman30

As the owner of a similar Hitachi plasma I can vouch that the Hitachi is a very well made plasma tv. I have had mine nearly a year with no issues. The picture quality of HD satellite is excellent via hdmi, PS3 is looks spectacular via hdmi as well as upscaled dvd via hdmi. As for 1080p I had to draw the line there in my purchase. I just didn't like the way the lcd flat panels looked compared to the plasma technology. Lcd just had that grainy look even the 1080p's. Whereas plasma were very sharp even at point blank range. Plus I am really into fast motion things like sports. movies, and games. We all know about the faster response times of plasma. Now lcd does have the ability to show the maximum potential of 1080p sources, but I find they suit me just fine played at 1080i, and look better than anything else at that resolution! My room is also a very dark theater so lcd light absorbing screen didn't phase me. I figure like this, flat panel lcd and plasma are both top of the line. You could flip a coin between a good plasma or a 1080p lcd and you'd end up with a great tv either way. So like you said the Hitachi is a great value get it.

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BobY

I know that many people who bought these displays like them. That's great. Like I said, be happy.

But it doesn't change the fact that you are not seeing an HD image, you are only seeing half the pixels in a 1080i broadcast or 1080p disc and the rectangular pixels are distorting the image and causing pixelation artifacts that wouldn't be there in a display that has 1920 x 1080 pixels.

If you want to remain happy, don't compare one of these displays side-by-side with either a 1080p Plasma, or a 1366 x 768 Plasma.