Ok guys, the unit is out and we all love it, so let's get this party started!

Here are a few useful links:

Hitachi Rear Projection LCD Home Page:
http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/lcd/lcd_index.shtml

Owner's Manual:
http://merchant.satisfusion.com/library/manuals/owners/50_60_70VS810.pdf

Spec Sheet:
http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/lcd/pdf/50VS810.pdf

Contact Information:
Hitachi America Ltd., Home Electronics Division
P.O. Box 3900
Peoria, IL 61612
1-800-HITACHI
customerservice.ce@hhea.hitachi.com

http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/lcd/images/50VS810_lg.jpg

Wupshaw,

Have you calibrated your set yet? If so, what disc did you use (Avia, Essentials?) and what are your settings? I hope to have time to run Avia on Thursday when mine is delivered and will post my Day/Night settings Thursday or Friday.

ad10ad,

I calibrated using Essentials. However I had a rough time doing so, as this set never showed half the "errors" that the DVD said would happen. I hope to try again using Avia soon, or maybe even get it professionally done.

Essentials did improve the picture a bit though.

Originally posted by wupshaw
ad10ad,

I calibrated using Essentials. However I had a rough time doing so, as this set never showed half the "errors" that the DVD said would happen. I

Interesting. Do you mean that even if you over/under adjusted things like brightness, contrast, etc., you wouldn't see the problem in the test patterns? I have Avia, so I'll give it a shot later this week.

Thats correct - no "curved lines", "blurry boxes" and all that jazz. Keep me posted on how Avia works for you.

I seem to remember a discussion in this forum re: the applicability of AVIA or Essentials to LCD and DLP technologies. I'll see what I can find. What are your current settings? I may start from there and see where Avia takes me.

On a separate note, how far are you sitting from your set? Is the 50" big enough for you, especially w/a 1:2.35 DVD like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?

I'm going to be about 10 feet from my set, but I could back up to about 11.5 feet. I was leaning toward the 60", but I'm afraid the SDE and artifacts will be visable so I went with the 50" (plus, the 60" was not yet in stock, and would take 2-4 wks, and would hang off of my stand by about 6.5 inches on each side). I've looked at the XBR at CC and Magnolia and from inside 12 feet, the picture is not that great, especially on HD.

I think the 50 incher will do you just fine. I sit as far away as 14 feet and from that distance it looks really good. When I sit any closer than 7 feet the screen door kicks in.

How close are the blacks on this set compared to a DLP like the Kirk?

I did it! I pulled the trigger on the 50VS810 and so far it is great! I decided the HD input issue was one I could live with and took delivery of the TV last Friday. Currently only using one HD input now (DVD) + cablecard.
I have quite a bit of ambient light in my room and glare seems to only be a problem during the time when the TV is warming up. Once at full brightness, I really don't notice a glare problem.
I think the blacks are very good on this TV. But, I am not an expert, so I really can't give any objective info about this. I keep looking (even at night when the room is dark) to see gray instead of black, but blacks still look black. :)
I also looked into the SDE. Up close, I could see it. Once I was ~ 2 feet away, I did not notice it at all. Again, I am not an expert... and probably do not have the best vision.
Anyway, I had a little buyer's remorse over the weekend about spending so much on the TV. This was cured by the CC 10% off I was able to call and get on Sunday (in addition to 18 months no interest).:cool:
Does anyone who has this set have any programming info in the guide? I have the cablecard with Cox Digital cable, but so far the guide just has the channel name, but "no info" for the programming. I think this is something that is supposed to come from the cable company. My sense is that because I am the first in my area to have the cc, Cox will be clueless if I call about the guide.
Anyway, great TV. I love the HD picture and am pleasantly surprised with the SD picture. Plus, the TV looks great even turned off!

Congrats on the set! I share your thoughts on the screen. Once its fully warmed up, the glare is completely forgotten. I have DirecTV, so i can't really help on the cable issue.

I realize this is an owners thread, but I think I will probably be ordering the 60" this afternoon and had two questions. I am very concerned about the glare issue and would appreciate any input as if it distracting or not, or if it only really looks bad in the overly lit showroom. Also does anyone notice any green bleed on a input with no signal, or when credits are rolling and the screen is mostly black? All of the GWIII's seem to have this problem to some extent. This is why I am returning mine. It really bothers me to see the green in the black and is even in part of the black bars when in 4:3. This is mostly noticeable at night when there are few lights on. The two technicians that came to see it and saw the problem said it can't be fixed and it is normal for LCD's (as the gray scale comes up fine). I was hoping the VS810's didn't have this problem.

Originally posted by rotty2
I realize this is an owners thread, but I think I will probably be ordering the 60" this afternoon and had two questions. I am very concerned about the glare issue and would appreciate any input as if it distracting or not, or if it only really looks bad in the overly lit showroom. Also does anyone notice any green bleed on a input with no signal, or when credits are rolling and the screen is mostly black? All of the GWIII's seem to have this problem to some extent. This is why I am returning mine. It really bothers me to see the green in the black and is even in part of the black bars when in 4:3. This is mostly noticeable at night when there are few lights on. The two technicians that came to see it and saw the problem said it can't be fixed and it is normal for LCD's (as the gray scale comes up fine). I was hoping the VS810's didn't have this problem.

My set doesn't come until tomorrow, so I'm probably not going to be much help until then, but I did not notice any green bleed in CC after watching for an hour (albeit in brighter light) and looking at many dark scenes and a 4:3 feed with black bars, although I was not looking for it. I hope to post a First Impressions tomorrow night once I've got it all set up; I'll let you know my impressions re: green bleed.

As for glare, check out wupshaw's post above; I'll post my impressions tomorrow, if you can wait a day.

Thanks, ad10ad I would appreciate that. The green bleed is most noticeable on movie credits or commercials when the background is supposed to be black, but has green bleeding into it. Also with the lights off on a blank input. For most who own the GWIII and XBR it is in the bottom right corner.

Sorry, HDWannabee....One of the pretty well documented shortcomings of these first generation CableCards is that they are all "one-way" and DO NOT provide the features associated with an interactive program guide. You are getting all you are going to get.

That said, however, I've come to grips with the loss of the guide, will survive with the basic "time & title" guide, and can't wait to see a 60" "810" so I can make the leap.

Originally posted by BBH
Sorry, HDWannabee....One of the pretty well documented shortcomings of these first generation CableCards is that they are all "one-way" and DO NOT provide the features associated with an interactive program guide. You are getting all you are going to get.

That said, however, I've come to grips with the loss of the guide, will survive with the basic "time & title" guide, and can't wait to see a 60" "810" so I can make the leap.

Thanks, BBH.
I knew about the no interactive guide cablecard issue. I never had digital cable or a guide before, so I don't really miss it. I guess I was just wondering for sets like this one and the new Mits DLPs that have guides built in, where do they expect to get their info from? I certainly know it would not be 2 way, but do OTA broadcast have programming info included to feed into these built in guides? Are they expecting cable companies to populate the guide eventually? If not, why do Hitachi and Mits include guides at all?

I saw 50VS810 today in CC and I think I will buy one by end of the week. Unf., they didn't have HLP5085 in this store but I spend so much time looking at this DLP set that I think I can add some comments. Both TVs looks great and unique. VS810 picture is very sharp, probably as sharp as HLP5085. My main problems with Sammy are: 1) rainbows; 2) white reflection in the middle of black screen. I found this reflection more noticeable on hlp5085 than on 5063. Not sure what cost it but I found it on every sets I saw. The main problem with VS810 is SD effect. I can see it up to ~5-6 feet. But I will sit ~10-12 feet away, so it should not be a problem. The screen has glare but much better than Mits. And I guess this type of screen "add" some blacks to the picture.

Now, my question is how good this TV is with nonprogressive DVD players? Does it has good enough internal deinterlacer?

How much matching stand from Hitachi cost? Any other good (and cheaper) stands around?

Did anybody try to use it with PC through DVI input?

Hello everyone!!

This is my first post but I have been lurking here for a while learning what I can. Thanks for all the good info.

I am looking to purchase a RPTV in the next 2 months, so I started looking at what is available and am very interested in the new Htachi.

Last night I went to CC and checked it out. The place was empty so they let me play for awhile. Initially the 50vs810 looked bad and the blacks were terrible compared to the kirk next to it. After adjusting it however it looked really good and almost as sharp as the Kirk. All the sets were being fed by a central DVD player with a component distribution amp.

My problem is the set exhibits a uniform grainy quality with light colors, looks like dirty optics. A white background really shows a fuzzy dark grain. Very distracting and a deal breaker for me. The salesman noticed it as well but had no explanation. None of the other sets seem to have it. Could it be the amp?

How do your sets look?

Perhaps I'm not articulating the problem correctly. Any thoughts.

Other than that the set is gorgeous!

Thanks

Originally posted by kmo98


My problem is the set exhibits a uniform grainy quality with light colors, looks like dirty optics. A white background really shows a fuzzy dark grain. Very distracting and a deal breaker for me. The salesman noticed it as well but had no explanation. None of the other sets seem to have it. Could it be the amp?

How do your sets look?

Perhaps I'm not articulating the problem correctly. Any thoughts.

Other than that the set is gorgeous!

Thanks

Sounds like you might be describing the Screen Door Effect. Does the effect go away when you are at "normal" viewing distance, say 7 feet? If so, its normal for LCD technology. Even my Sony CRT HDTV has it to some extent. Its nothing to worry about so long as you don't sit on top of the set.

ad10ad

Yes, you may be correct. Although I have never had the screen door effect pointed out to me I think that must be what I am seeing. The xbr950 next to it didn't appear to have the same effect but I was standing very close to the Hitachi.

Due to the way CC had the displays set up you really could only stand about a aisle width from the screen.

I will try a different store.

Thanks

I was in CC today and saw this set. I purchased a 50V500 last year and then stopped keeping track of newer TVs but this caught my eye. The case looks really nice. The PQ looked terrible but so did everything else in there, I'm sure with some tweaking it will look as good as the 50V500 if not better.

I was trying to figure out why the price was so high? Just a new model? Can't be because of the cablecard.

FYI,

Bought a Denon 1910 today for this set. It will upconvert DVDs to 720p, which is the native resolution for the Hitachi. Upon initial viewing, this set definitely benefits from the upconversion. Although still not true HD quality, the images look noticeably sharper. Only bad thing is I had to use one of my precious HDMI inputs (the player has DVI out). Thank goodness my reciever does component switching!

Another question for you VS810 owners. How is the shadow detail? Is it acceptable enough? Close enough to a DLP? I'm just weighing my option when I get a set maybe at the end of this year.

wupshaw, have you tried to use PC with your VS810?


Also, I played with different settings today in CC and it seems that every temperature setting except for "high" produces picture with yellow tint. Do you use other settings? Are they useful in any light conditions?

Maxim5,
I haven't tried to connect my PC to the VS810 yet, mainly because I can't find a 25 foot DVI to HDMI cable. :D

I would use my laptop, but it only has a VGA connection (damn I need a Mac). If anyone has any suggestions, let me know - I'd LOVE to be able to connect this thing to my laptop, and S-Video just doesn't cut it.

Also, I left my color temperature at default.

Originally posted by wupshaw

Also, I left my color temperature at default.

Interesting, in CC I tried "default" and it made white background looks yellowish/reddish. It looked OK (and similar to all sets around) only at "high".

Sorry, I guess I didn't communicate that correctly. By default I meant that it came out of the box set to High - which is where I left it.

Thanks for clarifying about color temp..

Could you please also comment on the fan noise level? Can you hear it?

My 50VS810 arrived about 3 hours ago. So far I am quite pleased. I posted my initial impressions (including thoughts on the "glare issue") and a few screen shots in the "Hitachi 50VS810 First Impressions" forum. I'm going to tinker with it some more tonight and post my settings in a day or so. It'll be interesting to see what others have used.


As for some of the questions on the set:

FAN NOISE: I have central air so my room isn't dead silent to begin with, but, I didn't notice the fan at all with the sound on. If you put the set on, with no volume, and walk up to the set, you can hear the fan very faintly. If you back away to normal viewing distance--about 10 feet--you have to strain to hear it.
EDIT--I shut my central air off to see if I could hear the fan. If you listen for it, you will hear it during a quiet scene, or at very low volumes. It is not distracting personally, but it can be heard.


GREEN BLEED: Didn't see any watching dark scenes/credits, but I've only viewed the set in the daytime. I'll check tonight.

Congrats ad10ad! Let me know if you decide to hook up your PC/Laptop. That's my next step.

Ladies and Gents:

I successfully connected a DVI - AND - a component device to a single input on this set - AND BOTH WORKED!

If I'm not mistaken - this goes against a lot of miconceptions about this set - so let me explain exactly what I did:

I connected a Denon 1910 DVD player via DVI out to HDMI Input 1 (using Monster DVI/HDMI cable). I then connected my receiver's component out to the SAME input (Input 1). The only component device I currenly have is the XBOX, so the receiver is more or less acting as a "pass-through" device rather than a switching device at the moment.

I turn on both the DVD Player and the XBOX and switch the 50VS810 to Input 1. The DVD plays perfectly. I then turn off the DVD player. After a few seconds, the XBOX game displays on screen! I press power on the DVD player again - the XBOX game goes away and the DVD once again returns!

At this point, im like: WTF?!

So I do it all over again, even connecting both devices to Input 2. it works perfectly there as well!

So my only conclusion is, this either works if you have certain equipment, or the shared input problem only occurs when using a true HDMI connection, not a DVI-to-HDMI connection.

Comments welcome of course :D

Update: Concerned that component out through my receiver was tainting my test - I connected a 2nd DVD player directly to Input 1 via component cables. Worked perfectly. 2 DVD players on the same input, and the TV "auto-sensed" the signal with HDMI taking priority. Perfect!

For what it's worth ...I have a 60vx500. Input 1 shares DVI and Component. When I shared it between my Xbox via component and my Samsung TS-360 DirecTV HD Receiver via DVI, all I had to do was power off the Samsung and I could use the Xbox.

Now, I own a DirecTV HD-250 TiVo high def receiver which I have hooked up to the DVI in place of the Sammy. I now CANNOT use any device hooked up to component on the same input. This is simply because even when putting the HD-250 in "Standby" (the closest thing to off without pulling the plug on this device) the DVI input still detects an active signal. There was actually a power button on the Sammy so I could turn it off. Not the case with the HD-250.

So, certainly in the case of shared DVI/Component on the 60vx500, the type of equipment (specifically the ability to truly power it down) really determines whether the input can be shared between two devices.

I have added this to the "Popular Threads" sticky near the top of the forum thread list.

I know its not a huge thread yet, but I like to keep the owners threads easy to find.

Excellent point wired711. I didn't think of those devices which only go into "standy" and not truly power off.

Interesting though, that the Denon 1910 also goes into "standby" when power is pressed. However, it must actually shut down the DVI signal when it does so.

Hmmmm...
It all gets more confusing. All the different projection technologies and different models coming along (I know... it will only get worse).
I've tried a Sammy DLP but was bothered by rainbows. I've been reading everything about JVC's D-ILA thinking that was a good alternative. Now I just happened to see this new Hitachi VS810 at CC yesterday and didn't realize at first that it wasn't a plasma set. The picture looked great (it was next to a Kirk), and the cabinet design was to die for. Soooo now I'm wavering on the JVC.
Has anyone been able to compare the JVC PQ to this new Hitachi yet??

PRELIMINARY SETTINGS--Daytime

I ran AVIA during the day (my room gets a fair amount of natural light, even with the blinds down), so my settings are only good for daytime. Any comments, thoughts, or alternate settings would be helpful.

Contrast 51%
Brightness 46%
Color 23%
Tint 0 Change
Sharpness 63% (although I really didn't notice any change as I adjusted the sharpness; I know sharpness does not work if Noise Reduction is on, but I saw no change even with NR off)
Color Temp High
Black Enhancement Off

Color Decoder: red 51% Green 51% Blue NC
Noise reduction Off

I've also noticed that on some SD channels, the color saturation is pretty bad and I have to drop the color level below 20%.

For night time viewing, I dropped the brightness and contrast a bit, by eye. I will run AVIA at night over the next day or so. I also must say that watching the set last night, I noticed the screen door effect for the first time..mostly on white/light backgrounds. I need to adjust my settings a bit to see if this can improve. Its the only knock so far, but its a bit distracting now that I've seen it. I had to point it out to my girlfriend, but once I did, she noticed it too. Hopefully I can minimize this through my settings.

Thanks for the settings ad10ad. I will compare those to what I came up with by running Essentials.

Also, I know what you are saying regarding the screen door effect - although I think you may be experiencing be the "silk-screen" or "pantyhose" effect instead.

For example, when I stand 4 or 5 feet from the set, screen door is evident, as I can actually see the pixel outlines on the screen. However, the silk-screen effect (SSE) is entirely different as this can often be seen even at normal viewing distances such as 10-12 ft. It is an effect more prevalent on bright backgrounds and gives the effect of looking through "dirty glass".

This has been my #1 concern with the set, far more important to me than the screen reflections or shared inputs (which was proven incorrect). Also, the consensus seems to be that the protective glass actually enhances the effect. Note that *ALL* RP LCD's that I have seen have this effect to some degree, but I think that its a bit more noticeable on the VS810. Wish there was a way to remove the protective covering to see if that makes a difference.

Originally posted by wupshaw
This has been my #1 concern with the set, far more important to me than the screen reflections or shared inputs (which was proven incorrect). Also, the consensus seems to be that the protective glass actually enhances the effect. Note that *ALL* RP LCD's that I have seen have this effect to some degree, but I think that its a bit more noticeable on the VS810. Wish there was a way to remove the protective covering to see if that makes a difference.

Oh no! This is the single most annoying aspect of RPTV technology to me. I was really, really hoping SSE would be minimal to absent on this set and/or the new Sony XS series. Unfortunately, I see pronounced SSE on every single non-CRT RPTV I've ever looked at (LCOS and LCD more than DLP) and it completely distracts me from whatever I'm watching. This is one area where plasma seems to have a clear advantage over RPTVs (I still can't figure out why there is no SSE on plasmas).

Ok, I bought VS810 yesterday (will be delivered in a week). Was all excited about this but now all this SSE talk really scares me. I can not stand this anymore, was doing research for > 6 months, almost ordered HLP5085 but started seeing rainbows. Loved everything about VS810 and now SSE. I know I seen it in store but did not pay much attention to this. Sure now I will :(

Originally posted by wupshaw
Thanks for the settings ad10ad. I will compare those to what I came up with by running Essentials.

Also, I know what you are saying regarding the screen door effect - although I think you may be experiencing be the "silk-screen" or "pantyhose" effect instead.


After reading about SSE, I think you are right, that's what I'm seeing. SDE, as it is commonly described, disappears about 6-7 feet out.

Oddly enough, the SSE seems less pronounced if my viewing position (eye level) is above the middle of the screen, which is probably where my eye level was when I was at CC looking at the set. At home, eye level tends to be more toward the bottom of the set. Its a bummer because otherwise, I'm in love with this set.

Originally posted by Maxim5
Ok, I bought VS810 yesterday (will be delivered in a week). Was all excited about this but now all this SSE talk really scares me. I can not stand this anymore, was doing research for > 6 months, almost ordered HLP5085 but started seeing rainbows. Loved everything about VS810 and now SSE. I know I seen it in store but did not pay much attention to this. Sure now I will :(

Maxim, I feel your pain. I have been looking at big screens seriously since April. I anxiously awaited for the 63 series Samsungs, the Mits DLPs, and the Toshiba DLPs to come out, only to be dissappointed by something with each of them (Samsungs have too soft of a picture, the Mits glare screen and tilt issue, and I don;t like the Toshiba DLP's color reproduction, sharpness). Although I was not leaning toward an LCD, I really, really liked the 810, and it the mere 3 days I've had it, the picture has been impressive, and I've even gotten to the point where, with some tweaking, I can get a pretty decent picture with SD over digital cable, at least for most stations. But the SSE has soured me a bit. I'm going to do some research and tweaking over the next few days to see if there's anything that can be done to improve it.

In my opinion, SDE is a function of distance with LCD. If you see it at your normal viewing distance you might want to reconsider your monitor size.

Bruce

Originally posted by Bacffin
In my opinion, SDE is a function of distance with LCD. If you see it at your normal viewing distance you might want to reconsider your monitor size.

Bruce
I agree as to SDE (screen door effect), but not SSE (silk screen/panty hose effect). With the 50VS810, SDE disappears after 6 feet or so. I'm about 11-11.5 feet back and SDE is not an issue with this set.

What I am seeing, and what I originally thought was SDE, has been described elsewhere as the "Silk Screen" or "Panty Hose" effect. When looking at bright scenes (white background, shots of the sky) it looks as if there is a peice of nylon stretched over the screen. Different from the "grid like" screen door effect.

Just wondering, those who bought VS810 why you prefered it over Optoma PD50 plasma? Same size, same price, no rainbows or SSE...

Originally posted by Maxim5
Just wondering, those who bought VS810 why you prefered it over Optoma PD50 plasma? Same size, same price, no rainbows or SSE...

Believe me, if I could find a great 50" plasma for under $4k (what I paid for the 810), or even at $4k, I'd consider it. Isn't the MSRP on the Optima over $6k? I've seen it for just under $5k, but not much under that.

Originally posted by Maxim5
Just wondering, those who bought VS810 why you prefered it over Optoma PD50 plasma? Same size, same price, no rainbows or SSE...

I was considering that TV before I bought the Kirk, and kept up with the thread over on the plasma forum. It seems people like the Optoma but there doesn't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for it. If I buy a plasma I want a great plasma. If there was one of the Panny's, Pioneers or even Sony's on sale I would have more seriously considered a plasma. I want flexibility also with great PQ, not sure the Optoma has all of that.

I was just about to make the point about sitting position as it pertains to the Silk Screen Effect when I read your post ad10ad! Your comments were dead-on.

If you are seated slightly above or below the "optimal" viewing height, SSE is reduced DRAMATICALLY. For example if I'm sitting at my normal height, with my eyes dead center of the screen, SSE is apparent on a white background. But when I stand up, it seems to decrease to the point where you really have to strain to see it! I also noticed that the off-axis viewing of the standing position causes the screen to look darker.

So I experimented a bit and noticed that as contrast/brightness is turned down the SSE effect is also decreased. Obviously, you can only decrease these settings to a certain point until it noticeably affects picture quality, but at least its an option for those willing to tolerate a darker than normal picture.

Oh yeah, here are my settings:
Contrast - 45
Brightness - 30
Color - 50
Tint - 2 Clicks Left
Sharpness - 20
Temperature - High
Black Enhance - Off
Contrast Mode - Normal

Well, i just set up my buddies 810 last night. As previously mentioned, i'm a CRT owner. This set is fantastic! It is probably the most beautiful set i have ever seen. PQ is fantastic. Black levels(biggest knock on LCDs) is more than acceptible. After calibrating with DVE(and some tips from other 810 owners) picture is incredible. Screen door affect is gone after 6'. I have a shiny glare screen on the front of my Toshie CRT RPTV so the glare isn't really an issue on this set for me, but it is less glare on the 810 than on my Tosh. My views on the black level are this, Black looks like black period! Not dark grey or mud, but black. However, there is a little less detail in the dark scenes than CRT has. If you put up the grey scale (IRE boxes) pattern on DVE the delineations between the boxes are not as obvious as they are with a CRT. But the overall picture quality looks better than mine to my eye. I love it. And for around 4 grand i should. I'm not jumping ship yet(still love my Toshie) but this all falls right into my master plan. By cheap now(January 04) and watch the other techs mature and lessen in price. When sets of this tech get this good and drop in price i'll be in the market again.
This set in the showroom looked pretty good, but after getting it in his house, calibrated with DVE, it does look amazing. Will have pics of his set-up posted here within a couple of days.

I noticed that in posted settings the Black Enhance was set OFF. It does not work well in home lighting conditions? It surprises me because I actually liked the effect it produced in showrooms.

Originally posted by Maxim5
I noticed that in posted settings the Black Enhance was set OFF. It does not work well in home lighting conditions? It surprises me because I actually liked the effect it produced in showrooms.

I tried to calibrate it for daytime viewing without the black enhancement on. However, over the past few days, especially with nightime viewing of DVDs and HD movies, I have found myself setting black enhancement to medium and upping the brightness slightly. I get very good dark detail and blacks that are blacks. A good example/test is Mystic River, which has a lot of dark and shadowy scenes. Early in the movie, I thought the dark scenes lacked detail. I then did some tinkering. I'll check my ad-hoc (i.e., not calibrated) night-time settings tonight, but I think I moved BE to medium, and set brightness to 50-51%. The PQ improved substantially.

I took some shoots today in CC from VS810 screen. Here is a link:
http://www.pbase.com/max330362/inbox

Note, some images has very fine horizontal lines. These are some strange artifacts of pics taken from reflective screen and it was not seen in real life. Last pic in the gallery is from Sony XBR 70"

Nice pics Maxim5! I could never get my camera to take pictures that clean.

I saw the Hitachi LCD projectors at the CEDIA show last weekend and was very impressed with them, particularly the new Director's Series models. My only concern about them was the glare. The Director's Series sets were displayed in a small darkened room but on the wall facing them were Hitachi plasma sets and the pictures from the plasmas were clearly reflected on the face of the LCD projectors.

Because of my concern about this I went to a CC store today to look at the sets in a different lighting environment. They happened to have the 50VS810 next to a Kirk DLP, an HLP Samsung DLP and a Sony LCD. I think the Hitachi held up very well by comparison. The Kirk had the sharpest picture but the Hitachi was similar to the Samsung HD3 and looked sharper than the Sony. I felt the blacks on the Hitachi looked very close to those on the Kirk and were definitely more than acceptable. Unfortunately, with all four of these sets lined up and subjected to the exact same lighting conditions, the Hitachi definitely had the most glare, slightly more than the Sony and considerably more than either Samsung DLP.

I've read what has been written here by a few owners about how the glare disappeared after the set was on for awhile, but that didn't seem to be the case at the store even though those sets were on for God knows how long. I'd love to hear from as many owners as possible about their experiences with these sets in their homes relative to glare. I don't want a DLP because I see rainbows and think the Hitachi's are a terrific alternative but don't want one if the only time I feel comfortable watching the set is if I carefully darken the lighting in the room. Thanks for your comments.

Originally posted by Beefchopper

I've read what has been written here by a few owners about how the glare disappeared after the set was on for awhile, but that didn't seem to be the case at the store even though those sets were on for God knows how long. I'd love to hear from as many owners as possible about their experiences with these sets in their homes relative to glare. I don't want a DLP because I see rainbows and think the Hitachi's are a terrific alternative but don't want one if the only time I feel comfortable watching the set is if I carefully darken the lighting in the room. Thanks for your comments.

Couldn't agree more about the PQ. As for the glare, I think what I & others meant is that reflections are not noticable once the picture is on. The pictures I posted (link below) were taken in a 15x12 room, at about 2 pm with the blinds on all 3 windows down and an open door to a hallway, with enough natural light in the room that you could actually still read. There really is no glare/reflection in the shots, whereas, with the TV off, I could probably see my reflection in the screen.

If you have windows directly facing your set, you'll probably see glare if there's no drapes. Ditto if you have a skylight.

I've found the 810 is no worse than my Sony flatscreen CRT in terms of glare, so if you have a CRT flatscreen now, that's a good comparison. I also think the glare on the directors series is supposed to be better than the 810. That said, the Hitachi is not as good as the Kirk on the glare issue.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=439329&perpage=20&highlight=50vs810&pagenumber=7

Originally posted by wupshaw
Nice pics Maxim5! I could never get my camera to take pictures that clean.

Thanks, wupshaw. I found that it is more difficult to take pics of Hitachi screen (as well as Sony XBR and different plasma sets) vs. anti-glare screens of Sammy, GWIII, etc.

BTW, all the pics were taken in CC showroom with several other sets sitting behind me. Still, no visible reflections except when TV was off...

What stands are you using with VS810?

Is Hitachi matching stand available now? Where? How much does it cost?

thanks...

My local CC's have a nice metal and glass stand with three shelves that they're using with the 50VS810 and sells for $329. I don't know the make or model but I'm going back over to the store on my lunch break to try out some settings on the display to see if I can get the flesh tones to look right. I'll report back with the make and model of the stand. It's a pretty decent price compared to most of the proprietary stands sold by the set manufacturers. The Sony 60XBR950 stand sells for about $900!

BTW, I found a dealer on ebay that will have the Hitachi 60VS810 LCD sets in stock in about 2-3 weeks and will be selling them for less than what CC quoted me which also reflects the current sale price this week (i.e. 10% off MSRP). I'm tempted to go for it as it will save me over $400 between the price break and not having to pay any local sales taxes. I was going to purchase the stand from CC to use with it, although it may be a little narrower than the width of the set but only by a couple of inches.

Update: Just got back from lunch and I stopped by CC on the way. The stand is made by Z-Line Designs and measures 55"Wx22"Hx24"D. The model No. is ZLN Z221S and the price is $329.00. The 50VS810 fits perfectly on it. The shelves are thick glass and look like they can handle a lot of weight. The frame is in a Z-configuration on each end made of square tubular steel coated in a dark metallic gray gunmetal finish that really looks sharp. There's enough room on the two lower shelves to acommodate a lot of components. The best part I like about it is that it's all open, making the rear panel connections easily accessible. It also allows for ample cooling to your A/V gear.

Straight from Hitachi Support:


Dear W,

Thank you for visiting the Hitachi website and for your inquiry.

You can in fact have 4 different HD devices hooked up to Hitachi’s VS810 sets.

There is a priority status to delivering the picture which puts HDMI as highest priority and then component video.

So you can have input 1 HDMI hooked up to your satellite/cable tuner and the component hooked up to your DVD player. If the sat/cable tuner is off then the component source can be viewed. The same applies to video 2, the HDMI (if "set top box" is on) will override component input 2. There are now technically 2 audio inputs - one digital through HDMI and one analog with 2 pin jacks.

If you have any further questions about any Hitachi product, please call our technical assistance number at 1-800-HITACHI. Please have your model number ready. Again, thank you for your interest in Hitachi.

Derek
Hitachi Consumer Electronics


Finally, no more misunderstandings regarding the connectivity of the VS810!

Originally posted by wupshaw
Straight from Hitachi Support:



Finally, no more misunderstandings regarding the connectivity of the VS810!


WELL DONE WUPSHAW. Worth an update in the thread you started as well. I still have not picked up a DVI-HDMI cable, so I have no idea whether the Comcast DVR will constantly override a composite signal.
Hope to have one soon.

Otherwise, how are you enjoying the set?

OK. i finally posted a couple of pics of my buddies 810 set-up. Bear with me because the pics aren't that great. It was late Saturday night and i was beat after setting it up for him. There are some cables straggling down in the back behind the stand because they are temporary until we get the cables we ordered from RAM. They just E-mailed me saying they have been shipped and should be here anytime. The images on the screen are not static. He has a HD DVR and i just didn't use it(i was tired and getting stupid at this point). Set-up went pretty easy with some help from you guys
(ad10ad) and others. I'm going to head over there again this weekend to finish up the cabling and check out a few other things that some of you requested i check out. I can really find no deal breaker flaws with this set.
As GU above mentioned the output issue has been dealt with and the PQ is awesome. The only flaw on his (buddies) particular set is 1 stuck pixel. Stuck on green about 6"s from the bottom and slightly left of center. Not noticeable from 3 or more feet away. By the way the stand is from BB and costs about 299 or so. They have it in there ad for 250 this week i think. I wanted to paint it black for him but he thought it matched the Athenas pretty closely, so we left it. It also has pretty good Wire management built into the back of it, but didn't hide them all for the above reasons. I suck with computers so you can hit the GALLERY tab at the top of this post to see the pics. Ther's only 2 pics of it there besauce they didn't turn out very good but i will take some more with a tripod and some different shutter settings to brighten them up. I'll also use the HD DVR for still shots on the screen. If you guys want me to check out anything else on his set when i go over this weekend let me know and i'll write them down so i don't forget. Once again , soory about the pic's quality.

Pitt,

Nice photos and great balancing act with the center channel. I'm a novice on the issue of stuck pixels, but would the 810's screen wipe function help in any way? I know its recommended for symptoms of burn-in. Dunno if it would help the green pixel issue.

Well, like i said i'm a CRT owner but from what i understand it's part of the mfg process on these panels and you either have some(dead or stuck pixels) or you don't. I don't think they fail after mfg(the pixels)they are either there as soon as they are made or they won't show up later. I could be wrong and if i am somebody please clarify orconfirm. Like i said, it's a nonissue as it can't be seen at all from any distance over 3' and i beleive that warranties usually state on these LCD's that you have to have something like 12 or more stuck or dead to be in a warranty issue or visible from your viewing distance. They would have to be clustered together IMO to see them from very far away. The stand is rock solid and does look pretty good.

I remember reading an article a while back that discussed what the various manufacturers did with regards to warranty repair vs. the number of dead or stuck pixels on an LCD set. I was surprised to see the wide disparity in the number of bad pixels some manufacturers would allow before offering a replacement. Keep in mind that the article applied to LCD panels and not projectors but the principle still applies. I'm sure that a certain number of bad pixels are deemed acceptable on a new unit as well before rejecting it as a manufacturing defect.

First of all, let me say again that I really do love this set. For me, it turned out to be the best compromise of all the features I wanted with no “deal breakers.” And now learning that the HD inputs can co-exist is a bonus!
I do have a couple of questions with regards to the cablecard usage (posted a question in the hardware forum, but no replies yet).

I am in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with Cox digital cable.

Sometimes when I tune to a digital channel, it takes a little longer to tune than normal and then when the picture comes up there is no sound. If I punch that number back in the remote so the TV re-tunes the channel, I get the sound. But then if I change to a different digital channel – no sound until I re-tune the same channel. Analog channels have no problem. This sound problem will occur for a few days in a row and then everything is right for a few days. I had an appointment with Cox to come out and check it out, but they missed it so I have to reschedule. I am not totally sure if the problem lies in the TV QAM tuner, the cablecard, or Cox’s programming. Any ideas?

Secondly, I think I asked this question before, but has anyone been able to get the guide to work? Mine will have the correct channel names, but no programming info. Should I ask Cox about this also or is this something I will just have to accept that is not compatible with my cable provider?

Anyway, I am not too worried about the guide thing. The no sound issue for the digital channels is annoying. Any help or hints will be greatly appreciated.

I've decided to get the 810 series. Just deciding on size right now and i haven't noticed the SDE or SSE yet(in stores) on the 50". I'll be sitting about 7-7.5 feet away. I really want the 60" but it sounds like it's to big and i'll see some digital effects. Anyone seen a 60" from 7.5 away? Also anyone try and use the tv as the center channel feature, how does it perform?

Originally posted by stratman22
I've decided to get the 810 series. Just deciding on size right now and i haven't noticed the SDE or SSE yet(in stores) on the 50". I'll be sitting about 7-7.5 feet away. I really want the 60" but it sounds like it's to big and i'll see some digital effects. Anyone seen a 60" from 7.5 away? Also anyone try and use the tv as the center channel feature, how does it perform?


Congrats on your decision.

I have the 50 vs810 and I sit 11.5 feet away. I was originally thinking of getting a 60, thinking the 50 would be too small, but I can't imagine having one now, and I certainly don't think the 50 is too small. 7-7.5 feet away is probably the closest you'll want to get to the 50, especially for SD, but even for HD. Closer than that and you'll be able to count the pixels. With the 60 at 7 feet, you'd almost certainly see pixels, SDE.

The 60" model isn't out yet so you'll have to wait probably 2-3 weeks before any of the stores have it in stock. I finally convinced myself to go for the 810 model based on what I saw with the 50VS810. My viewing distance will be about 8-9' and I have opted to wait for the 60" model before making my purchase. I found a dealer on ebay that says he'll have them in hopefully within that time frame but you know how release dates tend to get pushed back. The price I was quoted was $4200 shipped which is way less than what CC quoted me.

FYI - He also has the 50VS810's in stock for $3274.94 plus $229 shipping east of the Mississippi (slightly more if you're west of the muddy river). He also offers a 5-year extended in-home warranty on LCD/DLP sets valued up to $5000 for $349.99. You don't have to purchase a set from him to buy the warranty but you must get the warranty within 30 days of the set purchase. The guy's feedback rating is exemplory and he answers all e-mails promptly. I'm in no way associated with this guy so I'm not trying to give him a free plug but the price is right if anyone is looking for a good deal. The sets are all new with factory warranty. He also carries lots of other makes and models that you can check out on his ebay store. Just go to ebay and look in the following category:

Listed in category: Consumer Electronics > Televisions > Rear Projection TVs > LCD

Run a search for 50VS810 and you'll find the auction. I'd post the link but I don't know whether that's allowed here. Since the management here is affiliated with the Tivo Community Forum I'm guessing they're pretty anal about it.

Has anyone seen the 50VS810 in the New York area? I've called several of the CCs in the area and none of them have it on display (though I cannot get a person on the phone at a few of the locations).

I think this set would be a contender for me, along with the 50WE655 and the 50LC14, if only I could view one.

The new CC is East Northport NY (LI) has the 810.

Originally posted by whorton99
Has anyone seen the 50VS810 in the New York area? I've called several of the CCs in the area and none of them have it on display (though I cannot get a person on the phone at a few of the locations).

I think this set would be a contender for me, along with the 50WE655 and the 50LC14, if only I could view one.

The CC in Paramus has it next to the Kirk.

Originally posted by whorton99
Has anyone seen the 50VS810 in the New York area? I've called several of the CCs in the area and none of them have it on display (though I cannot get a person on the phone at a few of the locations).

I think this set would be a contender for me, along with the 50WE655 and the 50LC14, if only I could view one.

You can see in the Wayne, NJ store, 1/2 hour outside of NYC.

Hey all,

I am the proud new owner of a Hitachi 50vs810 LCD, and I recently purchased a Denon 1910 DVD in hopes to get some better PQ out of my DVD collection. I use a monster 400 dvi-hdmi interconnect. I configured the Denon to use DVI and I've tried 420p, 720p, and 1080i settings, but I still see the same problem: Large visible dark grey blocks jittering back and forth in movies with dark scenes. The blotchiness only appears in the portion of the frame that would otherwise be black. I've tested several DVDs such as Blade 1 and Hellboy and can clearly see the blockiness. Strangely enough though when I switch back to component the problem completely dissappears and the PQ is superb.

So I'm wondering has anyone experienced this at all? If so, what did you do to correct it? The salesman (who sold me the Denon) at Magnolia HiFi told me I may need to change a setting on the Hitachi to turn off/on Progressive Scanning, but I can find no such option.

Oh, one other thing, I also tried a Samsung hd-841, and it works fine. Though I like the denon better because it was black and matches my setup (no silver here), the remote seemed simpler and more responsive, and I though I didn't do a side-by-side comparison, I feel the component PQ on the denon was better than the samsung.

Other than that I absolutely love this Hitachi LCD, don't you? Its the best-looking < $5000 TV I have seen No buyers-remorse here :) (yet).

Well thanks any assitance,

-Bill

Received my 810 one week ago, and need help with troubleshooting a problem.

Overall the picture is great, but on some scenes I noticed that there are a couple of areas on the screen where there is a slight green tint compared to the rest of the picture. The problem appears from multiple inputs (dvd, satellite), and the problem is most visible with a white/bright image. The problem appears in the same two physical areas on the screen -- if a bright image pans across the screen the color will go from normal to slightly green to normal to green again -- quite distracting! For example, a white image completely filling the screen will have a couple of areas of greenish tint.

Just to be safe, I also cleaned the front panel with a slightly damp cloth, and all is good there.

I'm suspecting a flaw in the lcd panel, but am looking for other suggestions of things to try, etc.

Will probably call Hitachi tech spt later today, but was looking for other suggestions here first...

Originally posted by outis
Received my 810 one week ago, and need help with troubleshooting a problem.

Overall the picture is great, but on some scenes I noticed that there are a couple of areas on the screen where there is a slight green tint compared to the rest of the picture. The problem appears from multiple inputs (dvd, satellite), and the problem is most visible with a white/bright image. The problem appears in the same two physical areas on the screen -- if a bright image pans across the screen the color will go from normal to slightly green to normal to green again -- quite distracting! For example, a white image completely filling the screen will have a couple of areas of greenish tint.

Just to be safe, I also cleaned the front panel with a slightly damp cloth, and all is good there.

I'm suspecting a flaw in the lcd panel, but am looking for other suggestions of things to try, etc.

Will probably call Hitachi tech spt later today, but was looking for other suggestions here first... Sounds like you will need a Light Engine replacement. I have had similar problems with 2 separate GWIII's. Hopefully you can get a Tech to come over that knows what they are doing, I was not that fortunate. On my present set I can go to a blank input and mess around with the brightness until it displays green in one corner and blue in another. It is going back to CC. I was interested in the 60VS810 but have noticed vertical bars to some extent on 3 different sets. These show up on light colored backgrounds (not white). When I checked a blank input and turned up the brightness I saw faint green lines in the background the same width apart as the bars I see when there is a picture displayed. Possibly this is the structure of the Hitachi LCD panels and the reflective screen magnifies it? There were no bars on any of the other sets running the same feed. If I just concentrate on the action of whatever I am watching, I can ignore them, but my eyes just keep searching for them. Do any of the new owners see these also?

Originally posted by bclements3
Hey all,

I am the proud new owner of a Hitachi 50vs810 LCD, and I recently purchased a Denon 1910 DVD in hopes to get some better PQ out of my DVD collection. I use a monster 400 dvi-hdmi interconnect. I configured the Denon to use DVI and I've tried 420p, 720p, and 1080i settings, but I still see the same problem: Large visible dark grey blocks jittering back and forth in movies with dark scenes. The blotchiness only appears in the portion of the frame that would otherwise be black. I've tested several DVDs such as Blade 1 and Hellboy and can clearly see the blockiness. Strangely enough though when I switch back to component the problem completely dissappears and the PQ is superb.

So I'm wondering has anyone experienced this at all?

-Bill

bclements3,

I also have the 1910 and see no such blockiness using the Monster DVI-to-HDMI cable. Try turning off black enhancement in both the player AND the VS810.

Just bought the 60 incher today. Can't wait to see this one. I think it might be to big for my room but I can alway's return it for the 50 if that's the case. C.C. said it should arrive in about three weeks, got my fingers crossed for that. I'll posts some pictures once it's up and running. Didn't but the extended warranty, anyone know of places that sell a four year for less then 500$ and trustworthy?

If anyone else get the 60 soon let us know all about it.

Check out this (http://cgi.*********/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3077614754&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT) link for a deal on a 5-year in-home warranty for your Hitachi LCD RPTV. I plan on buying my 60-inch VS810 when they come in from this guy as he seems to have the best prices I've found so far. I can't vouch for the warranty but you can always e-mail him for details. I will probably get the warranty from him as well.

Couldn't get the link to work, i'll keep trying.

The 810 is making my short list. Has anyone out there gone through the 500 issues thread and compared issues there with what they are experiencing on the 810? I started to read through it but thought I would ask if anyone else has before reading all 483 posts. Thanks

Originally posted by stratman22
Just bought the 60 incher today. Can't wait to see this one. I think it might be to big for my room but I can alway's return it for the 50 if that's the case. C.C. said it should arrive in about three weeks, got my fingers crossed for that. I'll posts some pictures once it's up and running. Didn't but the extended warranty, anyone know of places that sell a four year for less then 500$ and trustworthy?

If anyone else get the 60 soon let us know all about it.

I think I'm opting for the two year @ CC, and then, depending on how the set performs, I can extend another 2 years at least 30 days before the 2-year ends. I know it'll cost me a lot more in the long run, but I think if it gets through the first 2 years w/o any major problems (or if I get those problems fixed w/in the warranty period), I might just go with the 2 years and take my chances.

On a wholly unrelated note, for thos of you who bought @ CC, I got an email last weekend that CC was running a weekend special--free delvery and a gift card of 5%. I went in yesterday and got my delivery credited, plus a $150 GC. That's in addition to the 10% off MSRP I paid. I don't have the email anymore (they kept it), but its worth a shot if you bought at CC.

Just picked up an 810 last week and am just getting all of my components and my remote set up. I've been able to use the discrete codes from the 50v500 in macros to get to the correct input for Input 1-5, but I haven't been able to find one for Antenna A or Antenna B. The code for Antenna A/B in the 50v500 toggles through all of the inputs, not just the tuners.

Thanks!
David

I'm surprised at the comfort level some people show in buying these televisions over the internet. It's obvious that a fairly high percentage of
rear projections have issues. I can imagine the frustration some people
have in with getting an internet set repaired.

At any rate, I am interested in this tv. A salesman at one of the big box
stores actually quoted me a price slightly lower than Captain Video's internet quote. That quote was preceded by my mentioning the Mits and Toshiba sets I was also looking at down the block at 2 other retailers.

One negative I noticed with the set was evident on the PSU/BC football
game I was watching at the store. It seemed that there was just a slight hint of delay in movements during some of the action. Is this take accurate?

I like the set's aesthetics, and with it's plasma-like frontal frame (it measures just 28"s in height) , the center of the screen would likely situate at a better viewing height on my 30" high equipment cabinet.

Looking forward to hearing more about this Hitachi.

Originally posted by Golfrok


One negative I noticed with the set was evident on the PSU/BC football
game I was watching at the store. It seemed that there was just a slight hint of delay in movements during some of the action. Is this take accurate?



Definately have not seen this with my 810. Can you describe in more detail what you mean by delay? Do you mean the audio & video are out of sync?

Originally posted by stratman22
Just bought the 60 incher today. Can't wait to see this one. I think it might be to big for my room but I can alway's return it for the 50 if that's the case. C.C. said it should arrive in about three weeks, got my fingers crossed for that. I'll posts some pictures once it's up and running. Didn't but the extended warranty, anyone know of places that sell a four year for less then 500$ and trustworthy?

If anyone else get the 60 soon let us know all about it.

Stratman22, Here is the company Hitachi sent me to for the EW on my 50V500. The have or had a bunch of plans to choose from. I think the 5 year plan was 499. http://www.satisfusion.com/

The only drawback is they start the program the day you buy it so you have over lapping warranties with the manufacture for the first year. Even if you hold out until the first year is over, they still charge for the first year. I couldn't find a way around it with any of the aftermarket EW companies. Good Luck!

Bruce

When I was watching the game on the set, the images of individual players
almost seemed to blur, ever so slightly, while in movement. (Is this commonly referred to as pixellation?)

Originally posted by Golfrok
When I was watching the game on the set, the images of individual players
almost seemed to blur, ever so slightly, while in movement. (Is this commonly referred to as pixellation?)


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Golfrok


One negative I noticed with the set was evident on the PSU/BC football
game I was watching at the store. It seemed that there was just a slight hint of delay in movements during some of the action. Is this take accurate?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The signal plays as much as anything in these motion artifacts. I watched the Cheifs in HD on FOX yesterday. I've watched a few games being 720p native on my set which is a CRT RPTV so it has to be converted to 1080i. I've only seldomly seen this motion artifact (stuttery or herky jerky?) on my set. I would say it is the result of compression or some other problem with the feed. The olympics looked OK until there was alot of movement , and then there was all kinds of artifacting. If you watch the Monday night football game , they usually do it right , if you don't see the same types of artifacting there, then you can probably bet it was the feed. I watched the Steelers game on my buddies 810(pics in the gallery) last weekend and never saw any motion problems. The Chiefs game on the other hand was full of them on my set anyway.

Couldn't get the link to work, i'll keep trying.
Unbelievable! The AVS/TCF censors are in full swing again. I can understand them not wanting certain links to be posted but this is ridiculous. Anyway, check out the RPTV section on ebay and run a search for the 50VS810. You should see several links near the bottom for the seller's other auctions. The extended warranty is linked from there. The sellers name is gear-4-less.

Originally posted by vasqued2
Just picked up an 810 last week and am just getting all of my components and my remote set up. I've been able to use the discrete codes from the 50v500 in macros to get to the correct input for Input 1-5, but I haven't been able to find one for Antenna A or Antenna B. The code for Antenna A/B in the 50v500 toggles through all of the inputs, not just the tuners.

Thanks!
David

Got the following from Hitachi in case anyone else is interested.

David

------

Unfortunately, we do not have the specific hex codes for the discrete
commands available. However, the remote control (the new roll-and-click
remote) comes with certain discreet IR codes that are programmed on a
hidden layer of the remote control. These can then be learned via IR
with the universal remote.

To access this second layer of the original remote, follow these
directions:

1. Set the remote to the TV mode.
2. While holding down the "Ent" key, press "Menu" and then "LC"
3. If you have performed steps 1 and 2 correctly, the remote LED will blink 3 times.
4. Reference the discrete code list to determine which buttons are now assigned to emit the discreet IR code you wish to learn.
5. To return the remote to TV mode use the following procedure: While holding down the "Ent" key, press 1, 3, 4, 5. If you have successfully changed to the TV mode, the LED will blink 3 times. Repeat if necessary to return to the TV mode.

Discrete code list.
Remote button - Discreet command
Aspect - 16:9 Standard
PIP - 16:9 Zoom
9 - 4:3 Expanded
Day/night - 4:3 Standard
7 - 4:3 Zoom1
8 - 4:3 Zoom2
Volume down - Ant A.
Channel up - Ant B.
Channel down - Ant C. (if your TV has Ant C.)
Menu - Day
Exit - Night
0 - Power Off
(-) - Power On
Power - Power Toggle
1 - Video 1
2 - Video 2
3 - Video 3
5 - Video 5
Info - Virtual HD 1080i
Guide - Virtual HD 540p
LC - Virtual HD Toggle

Thanks for all the warranty help, more decisions to make!

Question:

"I've been able to use the discrete codes from the 50v500 in macros to get to the correct input for Input 1-5, but I haven't been able to find one for Antenna A or Antenna B. The code for Antenna A/B in the 50v500 toggles through all of the inputs, not just the tuners."

What does all this do, that's a great post of all the info about the hidden layer in the remote but i have no idea what all this is for. It sounds cool, can anyone explain what this is for and why we should access this? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

Originally posted by stratman22
Thanks for all the warranty help, more decisions to make!

Question:

"I've been able to use the discrete codes from the 50v500 in macros to get to the correct input for Input 1-5, but I haven't been able to find one for Antenna A or Antenna B. The code for Antenna A/B in the 50v500 toggles through all of the inputs, not just the tuners."

What does all this do, that's a great post of all the info about the hidden layer in the remote but i have no idea what all this is for. It sounds cool, can anyone explain what this is for and why we should access this? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

vasqued2 can probably clarify, but one thing I think you can do with the codes above is use the 810 remote to "teach" a universal remote the discreet codes. For example, if I wanted to assign Antenna A to a button on my universal remote (so that when I push the button on my universal, the 810 switches to Antena A input), I would set my Universal to learn, run the codes on the 810, then hit "VOLUME DOWN" on the 810 remote, which would send out a signal to my universal remote. Thereafter, the next time I hit the button on my Universal, it would change the input to Antennae A, without having to go through the Hitachi input menu.

I don't know if there is also a way to assign the discreet codes to buttons on the 810 remote, but that's what the email from Hitachi suggests.

Discretes work exactly as ad10ad describes.

The real benefits of discrete codes come when you string several of them together in macros in a universal remote.

For example, say that in order to watch a DVD - which I run through my surround sound receiver - I need to set the receiver to use the Video Input 1 and the TV to Input 2.

I could create a "Watch DVD" macro that consists of several discrete commands.
1. Discrete code to turn on the DVD.
2. Discrete code to turn on the TV.
3. Discrete code to turn on the Receiver.
4. Discrete code to set the Receiver to Video Input 1.
5. Discrete code to set the TV to Input 2.

If you create the above macro, now you only have to push a single button and it will turn on all of your devides and set the inputs correctly to watch DVDs, regardless of which devices were on or off before you started or where their inputs were set.

The note from Hitachi simply explains how you can use the Hitachi remote to "learn" the discrete codes into a universal remote w/ learning capability.

Hope that helps.
David

Originally posted by outis
Received my 810 one week ago, and need help with troubleshooting a problem.

Overall the picture is great, but on some scenes I noticed that there are a couple of areas on the screen where there is a slight green tint compared to the rest of the picture. The problem appears from multiple inputs (dvd, satellite), and the problem is most visible with a white/bright image. The problem appears in the same two physical areas on the screen -- if a bright image pans across the screen the color will go from normal to slightly green to normal to green again -- quite distracting! For example, a white image completely filling the screen will have a couple of areas of greenish tint.

Just to be safe, I also cleaned the front panel with a slightly damp cloth, and all is good there.

I'm suspecting a flaw in the lcd panel, but am looking for other suggestions of things to try, etc.

Will probably call Hitachi tech spt later today, but was looking for other suggestions here first... outis, did you ever find out what was wrong with the set? I am interested as I am still considering the 60VS810. Thanks

Originally posted by rotty2
outis, did you ever find out what was wrong with the set? I am interested as I am still considering the 60VS810. Thanks

After a quick call to Hitachi technical support, they offered to send someone out to look at the problem, at which point I indicated that I'll just have CC swap it out for a new unit (which they are doing). Note that another friend here at work and I bought units together (they're cheaper that way!), and his unit does not exhibit the problem I indicated. Overall, it's a very, very subtle problem, and only certain images will exhibit the symptoms (and only certain people would notice it), but with the pricing on this unit there's no way this would be acceptable long-term (and both CC and Hitachi agreed). So the bottom line is that even though the problem is there, I'm having CC swap it out for the same unit.

So if you're looking to purchase something in the near term, this is the best picture for DVD, SD, and HD that I've seen -- real blacks, good contrast, very good saturation, etc.! However, if you have lots of light in the room this might not be the unit for you, as the screen will show some reflections (but far better than my current direct-view tv). As this is a basement room, I can keep out all light, and I use the "night" mode for viewing.

Overall, I find myself totally immersed in the program when watching DVD/HD (watching espn's sunday night game was like watching football for the first time ever!), and even SD (when run through Dish's 811 receiver and upcoverted to 720p) looks great (my wife had a hard time noticing the difference between SD and HD, but that's a different story).

Finally, I second the comment above about being sure to buy from a local vendor, as there are problems that can occur and the Boulder, CO CC has exceeded my expectations in keeping me happy with my decision/purchase.

Let me know if there's other items I can help with.

Enjoy!

Originally posted by outis
After a quick call to Hitachi technical support, they offered to send someone out to look at the problem, at which point I indicated that I'll just have CC swap it out for a new unit (which they are doing). Note that another friend here at work and I bought units together (they're cheaper that way!), and his unit does not exhibit the problem I indicated. Overall, it's a very, very subtle problem, and only certain images will exhibit the symptoms (and only certain people would notice it), but with the pricing on this unit there's no way this would be acceptable long-term (and both CC and Hitachi agreed). So the bottom line is that even though the problem is there, I'm having CC swap it out for the same unit.

So if you're looking to purchase something in the near term, this is the best picture for DVD, SD, and HD that I've seen -- real blacks, good contrast, very good saturation, etc.! However, if you have lots of light in the room this might not be the unit for you, as the screen will show some reflections (but far better than my current direct-view tv). As this is a basement room, I can keep out all light, and I use the "night" mode for viewing.

Overall, I find myself totally immersed in the program when watching DVD/HD (watching espn's sunday night game was like watching football for the first time ever!), and even SD (when run through Dish's 811 receiver and upcoverted to 720p) looks great (my wife had a hard time noticing the difference between SD and HD, but that's a different story).

Finally, I second the comment above about being sure to buy from a local vendor, as there are problems that can occur and the Boulder, CO CC has exceeded my expectations in keeping me happy with my decision/purchase.

Let me know if there's other items I can help with.

Enjoy! Thanks, outis. Have you ever noticed vertical bars in the background of scenes with mostly a solid color behind the main characters, as in Finding Nemo? I noticed it on 2 sets in two different CC's. Also saw it next to the Kirk running the same store HD feed and it sometimes had these bars on it while the DLP didn't. Also, do you find yourself needing to shut off all the lights to avoid reflections, or is it mainly windows/lights directly across from the unit? Thanks again.

Originally posted by rotty2
Have you ever noticed vertical bars in the background of scenes with mostly a solid color behind the main characters, as in Finding Nemo? I noticed it on 2 sets in two different CC's. Also saw it next to the Kirk running the same store HD feed and it sometimes had these bars on it while the DLP didn't. Also, do you find yourself needing to shut off all the lights to avoid reflections, or is it mainly windows/lights directly across from the unit? Thanks again.

Nope on the vertical bars -- I suspect that running the signal to 200 tv's might have something to do with this. Also, can you verify that the Kirk and Hitachi are connected the same (component video, eg); also, there's an "info" button on the Hitachi that shows info on the picture (such as 720p, etc.). For best picture, you're going to want to set your satellite receiver to displaying 720p, which is what the Hitachi eventually displays.

For the reflections, I turn off the lights mostly to enhance the overall experience of watching the movie. The amount of reflections also appears reduced almost 90% once you turn the tv on and are watching it. Also, I have a halogen light that I can turn on that's to the left of my viewing position and above the height of the tv, and I don't see any reflections when it's on.

Hopefully someone here has similar equipment to me and can help me out with this small dilema:

I only have one digital connection left on my VS810. There are two digital devices remaining: a DVD player (Denon 1910) and a HD-TiVO. Which one should get the last digital connection?

By the way - I can return the 1910 if need be in favor of a good component player - since there's no really no sense in keeping it if I connect it via component.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

What's in your first HDMI connection?

David

I can't believe you've used up 2 digital ins already..

Here's a rather unscientific suggestion:

I assume both units have component outs as well as digital outs. Try hooking up the DVD player to input 1 digitally and input 2 via component. Compare PQ to see if there's much of an improvement.

Then try the same thing with your HDTIVO, looking at HD, regular cable, and the network feeds (which tend to look worse than regular Sat Cable channels due to over compression).


All things equal, if your HD Tivo overrides your component input unless its powered down (if I remember your earlier post, it doesn't), that might be the tie breaker.

Did anybody use VS810 with PC? I would guess that many tips from V500 threads should work. Please, share if you have any positive (hopefully) experience on using VS810 as PC monitor.

To answer both vasqued2 and Maxim5 - I have my powerbook connected to the first digital in (Powerbooks have DVI out - the PQ is AMAZING try viewing any of the new 720p DivX movie trailers!) I plan to use it as my music manager - imagine full screen iTunes with wireless mouse/keyboard.

Thanks for the advice ad10ad I'm leaning towards using component out on the HD TiVO, but if I prefer digital I may just unplug the Powerbook connection and only use as needed - at least until the price of switches go down. I just cant see spending $250 on an HDMI switch when I can just reach back and unplug the thing. The DVD player MUST be connected digitally or I won't receive any upconversion, which is the main feature of the player. I guess the bigger question is will the player do better upconversion than the VS810? Does the VS810 use Faroudja chips?

Originally posted by wupshaw
To answer both vasqued2 and Maxim5 - I have my powerbook connected to the first digital in (Powerbooks have DVI out - the PQ is AMAZING try viewing any of the new 720p DivX movie trailers!) I plan to use it as my music manager - imagine full screen iTunes with wireless mouse/keyboard.


wupshaw, this is great news for me since I am planning to connect my PC to VS810 (should be delivered tomorrow!). Could you please give some more details on what setting do you use with your laptop video card. What resolution? Do you see over/under scan? Thanks a lot!

Maxim5,

I really havent started tinkering with the display settings other than setting it to "mirrored" versus the default of having the external monitor extend the desktop. I'm not sure what overscan/underscan really means, but I can tell you that the image is a few pixels too large for the screen. I'm gonna have to figure out how to fix that on a Mac.

Originally posted by vasqued2
Unfortunately, we do not have the specific hex codes for the discrete
commands available. However, the remote control (the new roll-and-click
remote) comes with certain discreet IR codes that are programmed on a
hidden layer of the remote control. These can then be learned via IR
with the universal remote.

Anyone know if these codes work on a 50V500? I may have to get that remote. :-)

Any 50V500 owners feeling like they should have waited to buy their TVs? I mean mine is less than 8 months old. :-)

Originally posted by ad10ad
I anxiously awaited for the 63 series Samsungs, the Mits DLPs, and the Toshiba DLPs to come out, only to be dissappointed by something with each of them (Samsungs have too soft of a picture, the Mits glare screen and tilt issue, and I don;t like the Toshiba DLP's color reproduction, sharpness).

Interesting...cuz I thought the Tosh DLPs had the BEST color reproduction and sharpness, overall. Well, I'm going into the store this weekend where I plan to buy my DLP, and they now have the VS810 up there on display right by the Tosh, so I'll verify with my own eyes again.
:)

Originally posted by ndahbar
Interesting...cuz I thought the Tosh DLPs had the BEST color reproduction and sharpness, overall. Well, I'm going into the store this weekend where I plan to buy my DLP, and they now have the VS810 up there on display right by the Tosh, so I'll verify with my own eyes again.
:)

Part of it may be personal preference, but I saw the Toshiba in several different stores, the colors always looked oversaturated to me. I dialed down the setting but I just couldn't get them to where the color reproduction was satisfying or realistic. I was bummed because I thought it was going to be the one. I had the owners manual and couldn't figure out any other settings to try, but maybe I missed something.

But, I'm a firm believer that there is no "objective" best picture, since everyone has differerent preferences. Out of all the DLPs, I liked the 5085 Samsung the best, but pedestal was a deal breaker.

As for the 810, many places have the color set poorly. Set color temp to High and saturation at around 22%. That should give you a fair basis to compare. Then go with what looks best to you.

Originally posted by ad10ad


Out of all the DLPs, I liked the 5085 Samsung the best, but pedestal was a deal breaker.

As for the 810, many places have the color set poorly. Set color temp to High and saturation at around 22%. That should give you a fair basis to compare. Then go with what looks best to you.

Yeah, I was in CC last night and I agree that the 5085 is the best Samsung but the pedestal blows, although one couple bought it after comparing it to the 810. The Samsung was hooked up to HD feed while the 810 was playing a LOTR DVD and there was a greenish cast. The 810 remote had been ripped off so there was no way to play with the settings.

I also saw the greenish hue or cast at the local CC. I adjusted the green phase and gain down but it didn't seem to help. Are there just a few bad sets out there or is common with the 810. The set is great except for that.

Originally posted by dsierra
Yeah, I was in CC last night and I agree that the 5085 is the best Samsung but the pedestal blows, although one couple bought it after comparing it to the 810. The Samsung was hooked up to HD feed while the 810 was playing a LOTR DVD and there was a greenish cast. The 810 remote had been ripped off so there was no way to play with the settings.

Yeah, people need to quit jacking our remotes... The settings get screwed with, then the remote disappears, then we can't fix the settings... *mutter* as for the green cast, ours doesn't do anything of the sort but we've got the thing tuned so far off factory settings at our store its insane. what can i say... the other senior sales associate and i get bored sometimes and go in service menus and putz around ;)

Just got back from local CC with my wife comparing the 810 with the Kirk. Both were playing a HDnet football game. The picture on the Kirk seem brighter and with higher contrast but the 810 was also beautiful in its own subtle ways. The PQ was softer and less in your face like the Kirk. I may actually prefer the 810 picture.

However, I did notice that the grass on the football field was definitely greener than the Kirk and other DLP sets. In fact, the overall picture has a green hue to it. Is this what other had observed? I hope this can be calibrated out. Would some owners of this set please post your experience with this green hue and whether you were able to calibrate it out?

On the bright side, my wife definitely prefer this set's aesthetics to the Panny PT-50DL54, which is the set I was going to buy. Now, decision time - go with the PQ of a HD2+ or the aesthetics of the 810??? The $700 or so difference in cost is also a consideration, but not a show stopper.

Originally posted by Minja
On the bright side, my wife definitely prefer this set's aesthetics to the Panny PT-50DL54, which is the set I was going to buy. Now, decision time - go with the PQ of a HD2+ or the aesthetics of the 810??? The $700 or so difference in cost is also a consideration, but not a show stopper. [/B]
In my opinion, the aesthetics of the 810 is worth AT LEAST $500. In the same vein, the local high end Hitachi dealer quoted me $39xx for the 915(?) when they arrive and $300 for the 4 year extended warranty. I cannot believe that I am planning to spend $4K for a TV. Guess I have gone middle age crazy..

If you think this unit looks good in the store wait to you get it home- both the PQ and cabinet looks are outsatnding. NO bars or artifacts of any sort and plenty of blacks to go around. 'Football' greens are fine but after bouncing around between 4 games the source feeds had different greens not the 810.

The appeal of the all black set and 'semi-chrome' & black Maxim stand form a dramatic centerpiece in the family room AND NO cheap silver looking plastic. Sit and enjoy.

Game over.

dewey

I have been having a rather interesting issue with my 50VS810 and I am now on my third set in less than 2 weeks. The issue is only with the component inputs and any signal at 480p.

While watching DVDs any sudden change from a light to dark frame, dark to light frame, or a bright flash such as an explosion or gun firing causes the tv to lose synchronization. That is the tv picture flashes for a brief second as if a power surge has hit the tv or the sceen will go totally black for a second or two. In each case the input display flashes in the upper right hand corner as if I had just switched to that component input.

I have tried 3 different brands of dvd players, new cables, routing the dvd player cables through a receiver and directly to the back of the television all of which produce the same results. I even purchased a Samsung 841 dvd player to test it. I had the same problem with the componet outs, but oddly enought the DVI output at 480p did not have the issue.

After spending about 40 minutes at CC the sales manager was also able to reproduce what I have been seeing at home on the Display 50VS810 in the store. They had to rewire the display. Evidently they had only been sending an interlaced signal to the tv and not a progressive signal. But once the Manager was able to see what I had been describing all he could offer was to send a Tech out to look at my 3rd 50VS810 and it has not even been 30 days.

I am really trying to keep this TV as the picture is stunning, however I am concerned about the issue with the component inputs and a 480p signal. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Setup:

Hitachi 50VS810
Kenwood VR-5700 receiver
Kenwood DV-5700 DVD player

Hi folks,

I have the 61" JVC DILA set on order from American, but it has not come in yet...

Should I be considering the 60" Hitachi? What advantages/disadvantages does it have over the JVC?

Thanks.

Originally posted by PackFan
Should I be considering the 60" Hitachi? What advantages/disadvantages does it have over the JVC?

Good question, but to get a good answer, you really should go look at them side by side.

Another question is how many have the 60" Hit? Personally, I have only seen the 50".

As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they are all good sets.

Packfan:

I WAS in the same position that you are in, the VS810 or JVC. I wanted the 60" version in both and right now you can't compare since the Hit. isn't out yet. But based on the 50" version there was no comparison. This is just me opinion though.

I popped in quite a few dark scenes from movies (LOR, Blackhawk Down, Matrix) and in the JVC the scenes we're completely washed out couldn't see any detail. That turned me off right away, can't spend that much and not see dark scenes. I was ready to buy the JVC set until I saw that. The hit. did a great job with these scenes, it could've been better but of the TV's out now it was at the top of my list. The hit. also has more digital inputs, two HDMI and 2 component.

It's a bit more in price, but with the deals C.C. is running now, you can get the 60" cheap and get a 10% off gift card, that $400+. I believe that ends up being cheaper then the JVC, which is why i ordered the hit. should be here in the first few weeks of Oct.

I thought the chassis looked flimsy and the general look sub-par. The color was off with some noise components. I'll grant that this was at BB but all the units had the same general crummy feeds, out of the 8 sets displayed it was about the worst.

I wanted to buy it badly as the engine is Gwiz but I felt they could have done a much better job in converting the technology from their commercial line.....dewey

What is the MRSP of the 60" 60VS810?

Now let me get something straight...

The Hitachi has 2 HDMI inputs, but they are shared with the component inputs. So you can have one or the other used, but not both... That seems very odd...

How many component inputs are there?

OK. I just saw the manual. There are 2 component and 2 HDMI. So you can use 2 component and no HDMI, 1 component and 1 HDMI, or no component and 2 HDMI? Am I getting that right? At least with the cable card, it isn't necessary to use a digital input for cable TV, but if I use an HDMI input for a cable HD-DVR, I lose an HD input?

Thanks for any clarification you can give...

VS810 owners, what do you think about silk screen effect (SSE) after having this set at home for a while? I got it delivered 3 days ago and I love everything about this TV but SSE bothers me. Most likely this is because I still constantly looking for it in every bright scene....

There are 2 component and 2 HDMI. So you can use 2 component and no HDMI, 1 component and 1 HDMI, or no component and 2 HDMI?
There has been a big discussion on this issue and the final resolution is that you can use all four inputs. The only caveat is that the HDMI input overrides the companion component input when the device connected to that HDMI input is powered on. When its turned off, the component input is then active. The downside to this is if you have a HDTivo that stays on all the time and you want to connect it to one of the HDMI inputs. Your only option then would probably be to get an HDMI switchbox or manually disconnect the HDTivo if you needed to use the component inputs.

There is another issue that was reported in another thread where the display would go bonkers if you were using a 480P source through the component inputs and the scenes switched from light to dark rapidly. As for the SSE effect, I have yet to see it unless I was standing about two feet from the display. My feeling is that you can see all sorts of unwanted artifacts if you sit closer than the recommended viewing distance (which is why its recommended in the first place). If you're seeing it from the proper viewing distance then you've either got outstanding eyesight or you need to sit further back still. Just my 2 cents on that issue.

Ahhh, I see. That makes a little more sense.

i saw the SSE at circuit city from about 9 feet. I was about ready to buy it the set for its look and PQ but the SSE in bright scenes is really noticeable. I might just wait for the 55" GWIV.

Just found myself thinking how to reduce SSE on my 20.1 Sony plat panel in the office :confused: Never thought about SSE/SDE on this monitor for a few months since I bought one. Am I crazy?

Just saw a 50" Hitachi vs810 in Circuit City this afternoon. I was told it is one of their new LCD rptv's. I saw something not so good - misconvergence. At about a 10' to 12' viewing distance, all white text glowed on both sides, pink borders to the right of the text, and green to the left. Misaligned internal LCD panels? The set was playing Circuit City's HD loop. The set was flanked by other LCD and DLP sets of similar size. The other sets did not exhibit this condition, which leads me to believe it was the unit and not the feed. The last time I saw it that bad was on an older LCD front projector.

Other than the misconvergence, the set looked great, blcks seemed quite dark and the new shiny black chasis is very groovy.

Rich in NJ.

After having the unit for a month, I'm quite happy. Pound for pound, this thing outshines whatever competing set you throw at it. My #1 concern is distracting SSE on bright scenes - but screw it. Nothing's perfect. I've learned to "look past" the SSE after having it so long. Also, turning the brightness down really helps.

Pls don't confuse SSE (silk screen effect) with SD (screen door). Screen door is only visible 3 or 4 feet away. Silk screen is easily visible from recommended viewing distances. I used to think that SSE was a dealbreaker for me, then I took a trip to a local retailer and looked at all their RP LCD's - only to find SSE all over the place, no matter what brand or price. Maybe they will learn how to fix it one day - but until then, I'm enjoying having the hottest RP LCD on the market!

Are the 60vs810's available yet? Does anyone know who's selling them? Anybody had similar SSE effects with the 60 model?

The 60VS810's are due out in October although I was told by a CC salesperson the other day that they were already out and they had several on special order. Everyone else I've talked to says they're supposed to be out in October so I just chalked it off to another misinformed salesperson.

What is the MSRP of the 60VS810?

Originally posted by JakiChan
Any 50V500 owners feeling like they should have waited to buy their TVs? I mean mine is less than 8 months old. :-)


Nah, I mean I have owned my set for a year. Although I am 100% satisfied I'd like to upgrade just to have the latest and Greatest. :D

Can anyone point me to comparrission reviews/tests/discussions between Hitachi's new 810 LCDs and Sony's XBR LCDs?

I visited a numebr of stortes now to view these models and in many cases was able to view them side-by-side under same same broadcast conditions
and have determined that to my experience the Hitachi 810 sets provide a better piture quality and greater black resolutions. I have also found Hitachi's speaker/sound system to be fuller and the ability to tweak individual colors on the Hitachi more helpful.

The Hitachi 60" set is appx. $1000.00 less than the 60" Sony XBR - that helps too!!!

Please point me to any reviews/comparrisions as I'd like to make a purchase soon and may not be able to wait for a further refined/improved JVC LCOS or smaller and less expensive Sony Qualia.

There really aren't any reviews out yet on the 810 since its only been out a month or so. Sound and Vision JUST reviewed the Samsung 63 series that has been out since the beginning of the Summer I think, so it may be a while before the 810 reviews hit. There are, of course, user reviews on places like this forum, CNET, etc.

I got Denon 1910 DVD player to replace my 5 years old Toshiba but I don't really see any difference between:
1) Toshiba over component 480i
2) Denon over component 480i
3) Denon over component 480p
3) Denon over DVI (monster) 480p
4) Denon over DVI (monster) 720p
5) Denon over DVI (monster) 1080i

Anybody experienced this? What kind of deinterlacer Denon has?

Captain_Video - thanks for the info re availability of the 60-810s. I'll check in w/my local CC store since Oct is practically here.

Any word on which is better: the vs810 or the vx915? I plan to buy one or the other of these as soon as available and would appreciate if someone knew whether the features/value of the vx (as described) is worth the additional money.

I'm partial to Hitachi from past experience. I owned one of their older big screen (61") projection TVs and the picture was as good when I sold it as the day I bought it (5 years ago). I'm brand loyal but not to a fault. These sets are costly. If there is cause to pause, would appreciate the heads up. Thanks.

Purchased a 50vs810 two days ago and have mixed feelings about the unit so far. First, I will make a few big disclaimers, I have not been able to view HD feed on it yet at home (thanks Comcast!), but had plenty of time to view HD material in CC. I have also not received DVE for it yet, so I haven't done any major calibration but have read other members settings and found that their settings looked "the best" to my eye as well.

As for viewing in CC, I was pretty much jumping up and down with respect to everything about this set. Beautiful cabinet, very sharp picture second only to the DLP Kirk sitting next to it, and what I thought was similar black level detail to the Kirk as well. I was watching an HD football feed, though, which definitely isn't the best material to judge black levels on. However, I thought it was close to the Kirk nonetheless.

After getting my brand spankin tv home and connecting it up to good old SD digital cable, several points caught my eye. SD wasn't too bad (better than expected), except for the SSE (which is very noticeable and pretty distracting even at ~9.5 feet!) and poor black levels. I have tried adjusting the brightness and contrast settings (both currently ~45), but my black level detail is horrible. Is the problem here that this is my first non-tube set and RPLCD is really this bad, or is something potentially wrong with my set?

I've also noticed a green tint problem in certain areas of my screen which is similar to other posts on this thread. Mine occurs particularly in the bottom left and right corners of the screen. I first noticed this when watching the ticker at the bottom of the screen on ESPN - the font changed color as the words moved across the screen, which is definitely not something I will be putting up with in a $4K tv! I've pretty much accepted that this tv has to go back for at least a replacement, but I'm now wondering if I should simply make a return and look for something else. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Here are a couple of pics. The first shows how bad the black level is compared to my good old 12yo 25'' tube set. The 50vs810 is sitting on a stand right above my 25 incher, which is sitting on the floor below it but displaying exactly the same thing. Sorry about the picture quality, not a pro digital camer user. The second is a close up of my screen when using the all white "Wipe" function, which has a greening color in all corners, but mostly in the bottom two.

here's the second pic...

Originally posted by HiContst


Any word on which is better: the vs810 or the vx915? I plan to buy one or the other of these as soon as available and would appreciate if someone knew whether the features/value of the vx (as described) is worth the additional money.


OK. The 915 is the Director's Series. The additional features include: 2 firewire inputs, a darker screen, gold lettering and a second, smaller remote. The darker screen is the feature I want. They are only sold by select Hitachi dealers. I was quoted $39xx for the 915 and $300 for the extended warranty, which was $200 more that CC wants for the 810. Athough CC is offering a $3-400 gift card right now, the extended warranty at CC is $599.

Originally posted by azran



I've also noticed a green tint problem in certain areas of my screen which is similar to other posts on this thread. Mine occurs particularly in the bottom left and right corners of the screen. I first noticed this when watching the ticker at the bottom of the screen on ESPN - the font changed color as the words moved across the screen, which is definitely not something I will be putting up with in a $4K tv! I've pretty much accepted that this tv has to go back for at least a replacement, but I'm now wondering if I should simply make a return and look for something else. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Here are a couple of pics. The first shows how bad the black level is compared to my good old 12yo 25'' tube set. The 50vs810 is sitting on a stand right above my 25 incher, which is sitting on the floor below it but displaying exactly the same thing. Sorry about the picture quality, not a pro digital camer user. The second is a close up of my screen when using the all white "Wipe" function, which has a greening color in all corners, but mostly in the bottom two.

Your black level seems bizzarely off; I've not experienced PQ that bad. Mine is actually pretty good. You can see from the attached picture (which is admittedly out of focus) that there is a fair amount of black detail. I've posted my settings earlier in this thread, although I've since bumped the brightness to near 50 and upped the Black Level detail to Medium.

As for the green issue, I'm starting to notice a similar issue with mine. I only really notice it wtih grey bars on the sides for 4:3 viewing. I see green discoloration in the bottom right corner. It reminds me of what my old Sony CRT Tube looked like if I had an unsheilded speaker too close to the TV. (This should not be the cause of the discoloration with an LCD, should it?) OCCASIONALLY, I will notice the discoloration with a light background..snow for example. You can sort of see it in the attached photo.

Has anyone else seen this problem? I really don't want to return this set, but this, coupled with the SSE is starting to concern me.

azran, that black detail is horrible! I hope it's just an adjustment issue of a defective set.

I am very close to pulling the trigger between the vs810 and the new Mits 725. This problem, along with SSE and green tint, may sway me over to the Mits camp (for more $).

Other owners, please chime in if you have experienced similar problems. May be post some pictures of dark details.

Originally posted by ad10ad
As for the green issue, I'm starting to notice a similar issue with mine. I only really notice it wtih grey bars on the sides for 4:3 viewing. I see green discoloration in the bottom right corner. It reminds me of what my old Sony CRT Tube looked like if I had an unsheilded speaker too close to the TV. (This should not be the cause of the discoloration with an LCD, should it) OCCASIONALLY, I will notice the discoloration with a light background..snow for example. You can sort of see it in the attached photo.

Has anyone else seen this problem? I really don't want to return this set, but this, coupled with the SSE is starting to concern me.

I've not had a chance to calibrate the set yet, other than to use "night" mode for my viewing (I've got a dark room).

I was the person who originally noted the problem with the green tint in some areas of the screen a week or two ago... yep, the problem occured mostly on the bottom of the screen, and for me it was centered about a third of the way from the edge on both sides. It is most noticeable with sand, snow, and/or other solid areas of a light color, though if you look really hard you can notice a slight tint of green even on darker colored areas. This had appeared on the set from when I originally received it, and I guess I was hoping it would just "go away", which it didn't.

The good news is I received a new set this past weekend from CC (swap out), and have not noticed the problem at all.

I do agree that SSE is visible, but it is something I can live with (whereas rainbows and/or burn-in are not).

I've also noticed that using the Dish 811 receiver I lose some of the black detail with SD pictures, but with HD all is fantastic! In other words, I am a happy customer and will be staying with this unit.

(BTW, if you think this green is bad, I saw an even worse case of this with a JVC DILA/lcos unit at the local hi-end store, and in this case it was very bad with snow scenes in the bottom left and upper right of the screen. Someone suggested that this is a problem with the "light engine" chip, which possibly a number of people are using as this has also been seen in the Sony RP LCD as well...)

Originally posted by outis

The good news is I received a new set this past weekend from CC (swap out), and have not noticed the problem at all.

I do agree that SSE is visible, but it is something I can live with (whereas rainbows and/or burn-in are not).



So with your new set, is it safe to say that there is NO green bleed at all? If that's the case, I may try an exchange (still have box, etc.). The only other set I'd consider is the 5085, but I don't want to buy a new stand, and I can live with SSE over rainbows.

Not to go too far afield, but how did you arrange a swap with CC? At the store or with the main office? Did you have to take your set back or were you able to arrange for the delivery people to do the swap? I'm going to try to go tonight.

Originally posted by ad10ad
So with your new set, is it safe to say that there is NO green bleed at all? If that's the case, I may try an exchange (still have box, etc.). The only other set I'd consider is the 5085, but I don't want to buy a new stand, and I can live with SSE over rainbows.

Not to go too far afield, but how did you arrange a swap with CC? At the store or with the main office? Did you have to take your set back or were you able to arrange for the delivery people to do the swap? I'm going to try to go tonight.

I've seen no green bleed at all w/ the new set (and I've been trying really, really hard to find it!).

To do the exchange, I called the local CC store, and told them the unit was defective (and that Hitachi tech spt said so as well), so please pick it up and get me a new unit (this is still within my 30-day return period). It didn't come in the regular CC truck, but a couple of local salespeople got a van (personal van?) and brought it in.

hope this helps...

Originally posted by Minja
azran, that black detail is horrible! I hope it's just an adjustment issue of a defective set.

I am very close to pulling the trigger between the vs810 and the new Mits 725. This problem, along with SSE and green tint, may sway me over to the Mits camp (for more $).

Other owners, please chime in if you have experienced similar problems. May be post some pictures of dark details.


Thanks to all that have provided similar experiences with greenish tint issue and confirmed that the black level problem on my set wasn't just me. As an update, CC is going to swap out the unit for me this weekend, so I'll post again after that to say whether a new set fixed the problem.

One other thing I noticed last night, which I totally can't explain, is that my black level detail is MUCH better on one side of the screen if I use the Split-screen mode and view the same source on both sides. I know this sounds weird, but you can display ANT A on both sides of the screen and view the same material. On the left, terrible blacks - while on the right, pretty good black detail. As soon as I exit the split-screen, the black detail reverts back to the crappy left side, no matter what input or source (cable, dvd, etc) is selected. If the set is using the same feed from the same ANT A input, how can the black levels be different? Any brightness/contrast/etc. changes affect both sides of the screen and it doesn't appear they can be calibrated separately.

If no one can think of an obvious explanation for this, I'll post a picture tonight when I get home.

I'm not having any issues with black levels or green tint on my set. I've attached a couple of pictures (although a bit out of focus and taken on a 5 year old camera). The pic of the white screen looks like it has some wierd tinting thing in the corners - but I swear that only showed up in the picture. The screen itself was almost perfectly white when I snapped except for a "teeny-tiny" bit of shading in the extreme corners - certainly nothing to write home about.

BONUS: Pics of Apple Powerbook connected to the VS810! I forgot to snap some 720p movie trailers while I had it connected, but oh well.


Pic of SD DirecTV:

Pic of white screen:

Pic of LOTR scene (a bit out of focus):

another LOTR scene:

web browsing on the VS810!

full screen iTunes visualization!

Dan

Nice pix Wupshaw.

Switching topics, Has anyone tried adjusting their settings to try to minimize the SSE? I spent some time tonight and found I was able to reduce the SSE somewhat by raising the brightness and contrast a little bit.

I upped the contrast to 48% and the brightness to 56% (I initially thought lowering the brightness would help, but raising it actually seemed better). Black enhancement at High helped a bit more, but I found the Picture too dark at that point, so I left it at medium.

I found if I raised contrast and brightness even more, it would help SSE further, but with PQ being sacrificed.

I know Maxim5 was trying similar tweaking. Does anyone have any similar experiences?

I have the same experience. Reducing brightness makes SSE more prominent to me, but increasing helps a little. I also found that SSE less prominent when my eyes are below middle of the screen, at the level of the bottom screen edge. And this is not because of the brightness decrease, I do compensate for this. Still I see some SSE :(

I also noticed some green tint in the low corners of the screen...

Very interesting posts regarding SSE. Reducing brightness seemed to decrease SSE for me, rather than increasing it. I'll do some experimentation tonight and see what I come up with. As Maxim5 pointed out, off vertical off-center viewing seems to dramatically reduced SSE for me, which is why i decided to lower my brightness, since off-center viewing made the screen look darker.

Originally posted by dsierra
OK. The 915 is the Director's Series. The additional features include: 2 firewire inputs, a darker screen, gold lettering and a second, smaller remote. The darker screen is the feature I want. They are only sold by select Hitachi dealers. I was quoted $39xx for the 915 and $300 for the extended warranty, which was $200 more that CC wants for the 810. Athough CC is offering a $3-400 gift card right now, the extended warranty at CC is $599.


Thanks. Why do you prefer the darker screen of the 915? Does it minimize SSE? Does CC carry the 915s? Finally, could you share with me your opinion on the cable card insert? I've read in this forum that cable cards are currently not "two way" or "interactive" (I have Comcast ). Thanks!!

Originally posted by HiContst
Why do you prefer the darker screen of the 915? Does it minimize SSE? Does CC carry the 915s? Finally, could you share with me your opinion on the cable card insert? I've read in this forum that cable cards are currently not "two way" or "interactive" (I have Comcast ). Thanks!!

The darker screen minimizes glare more. I have not seen the 915 yet but the Hitachi dealer has and said that it significantly reduced glare which is important to me because I have 5 windows in the room where the tv will go. On top of that, it looks killer. I don't know if the darker screen will have any effect on SSE. The cable card is kool but you will lose the program guide if you have cable. I don't know how it will effect satellite tv. I have time warner and the cable card costs $1.75 per month instead of $7.95 for the set top box. The upside of having a cable card slot is that future cards will be interactive. The firewire connections are a big deal because of the ease of connecting to other equipment that have firewire (eliminates a bunch of wires). CC will not carry the 915, only select Hitachi dealers will.

How long will it take for the 60" 915 to hit the market?

The Director's series is available through Cambridge Soundworks in the Boston/Southern NH area according to Hitachi.

I asked them a two part question; where is the Director's series available in my area and when is the 915 being released. The response above is all I got. I guess it is 1 question per form. I will ask them about availability today.

Just called C.C and my 60" VS810 just got in today! I'm having it delievered on Monday(out of town this weekend.) I'll be sure to post my first impressions and hopefully some pictures early next week. It's killing me to leave it but i thought people should know that the tv is hitting stores now.

Here is Hitachi's response re: the vx915...

-----------------------------
Thank you for visiting the Hitachi website and for your inquiry.

That television was slated for release in September, so it should be available shortly.

If you need any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
------------------------------

That's vague. I will have to talk to my local dealer to get an exact date. Nice to know the 60" vs810 is out. I would like to see the vx915 before deciding on a 60" vs810. Can't wait to hear your impressions of the 60" 810 stratman22!

Originally posted by gammadude
Here is Hitachi's response re: the vx915...

-----------------------------
Thank you for visiting the Hitachi website and for your inquiry.

That television was slated for release in September, so it should be available shortly.

If you need any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
------------------------------

That's vague. I will have to talk to my local dealer to get an exact date. Nice to know the 60" vs810 is out. I would like to see the vx915 before deciding on a 60" vs810. Can't wait to hear your impressions of the 60" 810 stratman22!

Is the VX915 even on Hitachi's web page? I couldn't find it; only the 810s and the 715s. Did I miss something? I would think if it was supposed to be out last month, it'd be on the web.

The models don't appear on Hitachi's LCD page yet (I don't know why). I found out about them from a press release describing the Cineform line show this summer and from reading the board. There is a reference to the Director's series in the deep black screen animation inside the technology advantage section of the Hitachi LCD page.

Here is the section of the press release from 6/04:
-----------------------------
ULTRAVISION DIGITAL CINEFORM DIRECTOR'S SERIES VX915

Adding Hitachi's new Learning AV NET III, simple remote, Deep-Black Anti-Reflective Shield and dual IEEE 1394 interfaces, the Director's Series VX915 CineForm sets also feature a High Gloss Black with Black Trim cabinet in 50-inch, 60-inch and 70-inch screen sizes.
Shipping in Q3, the 50VX915 and 60VX915 will retail for $ 4,699.99 and $5,499.99 respectively. The 70VX915 ships in Q4 retailing for $7,999.99.
------------------------------

It is quite a jump in price from the 810 to the 915 so I would like to see the 915 before deciding.

Originally posted by gammadude
[-
That's vague. I will have to talk to my local dealer to get an exact date. Nice to know the 60" vs810 is out. I would like to see the vx915 before deciding on a 60" vs810. Can't wait to hear your impressions of the 60" 810 stratman22! [/B]


Agree. Look forward to seeing what you find out re vx915 availability/release. Also congrats Stratman22 on your purchase. Looking forward to your review of the 60vs810. Meanwhile, I'll see what I can find out in my area re the avail of the 60" 810s and 915s. Must admit that Hitachi is making it far too difficult to get information about exactly where/when these things can be viewed/purchased. They don't appear to be as marketing oriented as some of their competitors. Thats too bad.

Originally posted by ad10ad
Is the VX915 even on Hitachi's web page? I couldn't find it; only the 810s and the 715s. Did I miss something? I would think if it was supposed to be out last month, it'd be on the web.

I found that odd also. However, the manaul did show up for download a couple of weeks ago.

Billb

Originally posted by tucson_bill
I found that odd also. However, the manaul did show up for download a couple of weeks ago.

Billb

Can you post the link? Couldn't find it

Here's the link to the owner's manual page. Enter the model number in the pop-up to get to the download. It is about 6 MB.

http://hitachi.us/tv/resource/prodsupport/ownmanuals.shtml

Thanks for the link.

I now have a problem with my 810 that I can't figure out (about to call Hitachi).

I have had my 810 for 3 weeks. Today a new problem reared its head. When the TV is showing a 480i signal, there is only very faint red color. Its as if the component cable is loose, but it isnt.

If I switch to a 480p, 720p, or 1080i signal, the picture is fine. The problem was replicated with my DVD player and cable box. With SD cable channels, problem occurs; with HD--picture is fine. With my DVD, normal 480p is fine; if I switch off progressive scan, problem occurs.
Since this just occurred after 3 weeks, I can't imagine something is all of a sudden set wrong.

Any suggestions? If I can get any insight from Hitachi, I'll post it here.

I was planning on exchanging the set anyway tomorrow, in light of the green push/bleed I posted about earlier.

Originally posted by gammadude

-----------------------------
ULTRAVISION DIGITAL CINEFORM DIRECTOR'S SERIES VX915


It is quite a jump in price from the 810 to the 915 so I would like to see the 915 before deciding.
The local Hitachi dealer here quoted me less than $4K for the 50" 915. CC has the 810 for $38xx. Of course, CC sometimes has those gift cards things.

Well....nevermind what I said about 60vs810 availability. Purchased one from CC this evening. Considered waiting to see 60vx915...but quite frankly, not comfortable spending any more money. When you add the cost of the set, plus the 4 year warranty, stand, etc. it adds up! BTW, my CC didn't have the model SPF60 Hitachi stand that goes with it. Anybody know of another source? The set is sched for delivery next weekend. Will provide feedback to the forum.

In case no one has seen it yet: Hitachi Director's Series - initial impressions (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=453165)

I finally took the plunge last night after vacillating between the 50vs810 and the Mits WD-52725. Picked up the 50vs810 at the local CC and thought a very good deal on it. To make a long story short, after negotiating with the store manager, I got the unit for about $750 off MSRP.

Initial reaction to the set is excellent. Granted, I haven't done any adjustment to the set other than turning down contrast from the out-of-the-box of 100%.

- HD via OTA rabbit ear was great. Nemo on DVD was out of this world!

- Xbox (Star Wars Battlefront and ESPN NFL2K5) was really nice. No lag or motion artifacts.

- Photo input from Canon S400 was slow in painting the screen.

- DirecTV Tivo (SD) was much better than I had expected (although I had low expectations). This was probably the most pleasant surprise for me. Better SD than I had seen in the stores for any set (LCD or DLP).

I have the AVIA disc and will do a calibration after the bulb has some time to burn in. Right now, I notice a slight green/yellow push to the picture and I hope I can calibrate it out.

Blacks are black on this set. It really is very nice and I don't feel it needs to improve at all. Without calibration, I feel that there is some loss of details in dark scenes however.

As far as SSE goes, I do notice it in bright scenes at my normal viewing distance of about 10 ft. However, after just a few minutes of watching, I completely forgot about it and had to think about looking for it at the end of the DVD session. I think SSE shouldn't be a problem long term for my viewing. Screen door effect is non-existent beyond a couple of feet.

Overall, the set is just absolutely beautiful. Definitely a very high Wife Acceptance/Approval Factor! We are looking for stands today as the set is sitting on the floor right now.

I will post more reviews and pictures in the near future.

There is no need to let the bulb burn in on these or any other bulb driven set. so go ahead and do it now.
Before you start, plug in these settings to get you close so you don't have to make gigantic adjustments. I copied a PM from someone here that i replied to. I won't mention names but he was a big help and can come forward if he wants to , to say it was him. He calibrated with Avia and i calibrated my buddies with DVE. The settings were almost identical between the two.

WOW! I was over there till 9:00 PM. The set is amazing! Your settings were very close to what i ended up with using DVE. DVE has some patterns that show aspect ratios of 1.78, 1.85 etc. They show a circle in the center of the screen and some cross hatch patterns in small boxes along with some small print letters (words actually, just can't remeber what they say) this is really usefull when setting the sharpness control. At the 63% setting you used, these patterns showed to much sharpness. I dropped the sharpness all the way down to 0% and the text was perfectly clear and all the Jaggies disappeared from the cicle and cross hatch pattern. I set it up in Daytime mode, Natural color mode, Sharpness 0,Color temp-high,contr+brt are within 3% of your settings(forgot to write them down) colr was at 40% and i did have to adjust the tint but i can't remeber which way i had to go. I'm heading back over there later today to check it all again. I'm not familiar with AVIA as i have never used it before. DVE comes with a color filter to look through when setting colors. On sharpness,
Set it all the way down to 0%, find a pattern on AVIA with some small text or intricate patterns, then bump it up until it starts introducing false edges, ringins etc. then back off til they disappear. Hope this helps. I'll try to let you know where my tint setting ended up when i head back over. GREAT SET, and the black levels are very acceptible.

By the way, contrast was around 50% and brightness was around 47%. Tint was skewed a couple of notches towards red, as best i can recall. Hope this helps you out and enjoy your set!

I would almost buy this set today, but I don't like the reflections from the glass screen.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the 915. But I'm worried it will be out of my price range...

Originally posted by PackFan
I would almost buy this set today, but I don't like the reflections from the glass screen.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the 915. But I'm worried it will be out of my price range...
Packfan, I know how you feel. But this might perk you up. The local Hitachi dealer quoted me a price on the 50" 915 that was ~$700 less than MSRP and that was ~$200 more than price of the 50" 810 at CC. For $200, it is a no brainer for me. I don't know what size you are looking for but here are the MSRPs from the Hitachi site.

"The 50VS810 and 60VS810 ship in Q3 and will retail for $3,999.99 and $4,699.99, respectively. The
70VS810 ships in Q4 retailing for $6,999.99.

ULTRAVISION DIGITAL CINEFORM DIRECTOR’S SERIES VX915
Adding Hitachi’s new Learning AV NET III, simple remote, Deep-Black Anti-Reflective Shield and dual IEEE
1394 interfaces, the Director’s Series VX915 CineForm sets also feature a High Gloss Black with Black Trim
cabinet in 50-inch, 60-inch and 70-inch screen sizes.

Shipping in Q3, the 50VX915 and 60VX915 will retail for $ 4,699.99 and $5,499.99 respectively. The
70VX915 ships in Q4 retailing for $7,999.99."

By the way is Mike McKenzie still with the Packers? He was a great player for Memphis.

Originally posted by dsierra
Packfan, I know how you feel. But this might perk you up. The local Hitachi dealer quoted me a price on the 50" 915 that was ~$700 less than MSRP and that was ~$200 more than price of the 50" 810 at CC. For $200, it is a no brainer for me. I don't know what size you are looking for but here are the MSRPs from the Hitachi site.

"The 50VS810 and 60VS810 ship in Q3 and will retail for $3,999.99 and $4,699.99, respectively. The
70VS810 ships in Q4 retailing for $6,999.99.
ULTRAVISION DIGITAL CINEFORM DIRECTOR’S SERIES VX915
Adding Hitachi’s new Learning AV NET III, simple remote, Deep-Black Anti-Reflective Shield and dual IEEE
1394 interfaces, the Director’s Series VX915 CineForm sets also feature a High Gloss Black with Black Trim
cabinet in 50-inch, 60-inch and 70-inch screen sizes.
Shipping in Q3, the 50VX915 and 60VX915 will retail for $ 4,699.99 and $5,499.99 respectively. The
70VX915 ships in Q4 retailing for $7,999.99."

By the way is Mike McKenzie still with the Packers? He was a great player for Memphis.

Well, if the 60VX915 can be had somewhere below $4500, I might consider it. If it is higher than that, I can't see doing it, unfortunately...

McKenzie is still with the team, but is "injured". There is speculation that he is overstating his injury so that he can stick it to the team and still get a paycheck...

I wonder where in Milwaukee (and when) I'll be able to see a 915...

pittdog1, thanks for the settings. I will give it a shot as a starting point.

My local Director Series dealer expects 3 60vs915s in their warehouse in a couple of weeks and nine the first week of November. He said it is most likely to be considered a special order item. The set is going to be sold at MSRP, $5,499, ouch! Negotiating down from MSRP may be difficult with this dealer, especially if they consider it a special order product. The vs810 is looking like a viable option based on price. Given the small number of differences between the two sets, the price jump from the 810 to 915 is steep.

Originally posted by PackFan
I wonder where in Milwaukee (and when) I'll be able to see a 915...
Call 1-800-HITACHI to get name of dealer close to you that sells the Director's Series.

Owners of the VS810:

How are reflections on this set if you have windows opposite the TV?

Originally posted by dsierra
Call 1-800-HITACHI to get name of dealer close to you that sells the Director's Series.

I just called and there is nowhere in Wisconsin that carries the Directors Series... :(

Originally posted by PackFan
Owners of the VS810:

How are reflections on this set if you have windows opposite the TV?

Will let you next weekend when my 60" arrives. I will have windows opposite and to the side of the TV. Based on what I've read in this forum, I'll need to invest in some blinds to get the best picture. If I hadn't convinved myself that I needed a 60" instead of a 50", I probably would have spent the money on a VX915. However the 60VX915 is more than I can afford...regardless of the ant-glare benefit. My local CC gave me 13.5% off of the MSRP for the 60VX, but then charged me a hefty $599 for the 4 year warranty. The gift card deal was over..so I didn't get the $300-400 worth of free accessories. Buy the time I purchase a stand, HDMI cables, etc..(which they have promised to fgive me a deal on), I will have spent a bundle. Most of my TV viewing is in the evenings and at night anyway...I'll just have to resort to "blind management" for weekend viewing.

I called the 800 number and for the 4th largest city in the US (Houston) I'll have to travel to Fort Worth (Dallas) to see one. Looks like a road trip.
Sound Idea is the dealer

Re: Director Series dealers...

"I just called and there is nowhere in Wisconsin that carries the Directors Series..."
"I called the 800 number and for the 4th largest city in the US (Houston) I'll have to travel to Fort Worth (Dallas) to see one. Looks like a road trip."

Now that's what I call a "select" dealer network! They probably aren't authorized for sale through the internet either like Pioneer Elite.

Originally posted by HiContst
The gift card deal was over..so I didn't get the $300-400 worth of free accessories. Buy the time I purchase a stand, HDMI cables, etc..(which they have promised to fgive me a deal on), I will have spent a bundle. Most of my TV viewing is in the evenings and at night anyway...I'll just have to
resort to "blind management" for weekend viewing.

I suggest you keep monitoring CC's prices & specials for the next 30 days. Their price protection applies to their own prices. I got an email from CC a week after I bought my 810 offering a gift card for 5% of the TV price plus free delivery. Went in, got a credit for delivery, plus a gift card, which I will use on the warranty.

Originally posted by pittdog1
There is no need to let the bulb burn in on these or any other bulb driven set. so go ahead and do it now.
Before you start, plug in these settings to get you close so you don't have to make gigantic adjustments. I copied a PM from someone here that i replied to. I won't mention names but he was a big help and can come forward if he wants to , to say it was him. He calibrated with Avia and i calibrated my buddies with DVE. The settings were almost identical between the two.


Thanks Pitt; glad to have helped. I have since tweaked my settings:

Contrast 53%
Brightness 54% (a little brighter than what I should have used as per AVIA, but it helps reduce SSE a bit)
Color 23%
Tint 0 Change
Sharpness 0%
Color Temp High
Black Enhancement Medium
Color Decoder: red 51% Green 51% Blue NC
Noise reduction Off


Overall, I'm still very happy with the PQ; I have a bug with mine (as posted yesterday) and Hitachi was going to send a Tech out ASAP, but I'm still in my CC 30-day window, and the guys in the Wayne store were great about it; they are sending someone out to swap the set.

Originally posted by gammadude
Re: Director Series dealers...

"I just called and there is nowhere in Wisconsin that carries the Directors Series..."
"I called the 800 number and for the 4th largest city in the US (Houston) I'll have to travel to Fort Worth (Dallas) to see one. Looks like a road trip."

Now that's what I call a "select" dealer network! They probably aren't authorized for sale through the internet either like Pioneer Elite.
Yeah, it's select. I found a list one time of the Director Series dealers and, as I remember, there are only something like 20-25, if that many, of them nationwide.

Originally posted by dsierra
Yeah, it's select. I found a list one time of the Director Series dealers and, as I remember, there are only something like 20-25, if that many, of them nationwide.

I guess Hitachi doesn't want to sell those sets ???

Originally posted by dsierra
Yeah, it's select. I found a list one time of the Director Series dealers and, as I remember, there are only something like 20-25, if that many, of them nationwide.

Hitachi Canada is not even bringing the Director's series into the country so out of luck up here. No warranty for any set not purchased in Canada either so risky bringing one across the border.

Checked out the 60VS810 at a local store and the reflections are not nice even in their darkened show room. They were quite visible even on fairly bright scenes. A Sony 620 series set was on display nearby and did not exhibit the reflections problem. Hhhmmmm!!

More research required it would appear.

Originally posted by Zeagle
I have been having a rather interesting issue with my 50VS810 and I am now on my third set in less than 2 weeks. The issue is only with the component inputs and any signal at 480p.

While watching DVDs any sudden change from a light to dark frame, dark to light frame, or a bright flash such as an explosion or gun firing causes the tv to lose synchronization. That is the tv picture flashes for a brief second as if a power surge has hit the tv or the sceen will go totally black for a second or two. In each case the input display flashes in the upper right hand corner as if I had just switched to that component input.

I have tried 3 different brands of dvd players, new cables, routing the dvd player cables through a receiver and directly to the back of the television all of which produce the same results. I even purchased a Samsung 841 dvd player to test it. I had the same problem with the componet outs, but oddly enought the DVI output at 480p did not have the issue.

After spending about 40 minutes at CC the sales manager was also able to reproduce what I have been seeing at home on the Display 50VS810 in the store. They had to rewire the display. Evidently they had only been sending an interlaced signal to the tv and not a progressive signal. But once the Manager was able to see what I had been describing all he could offer was to send a Tech out to look at my 3rd 50VS810 and it has not even been 30 days.

I am really trying to keep this TV as the picture is stunning, however I am concerned about the issue with the component inputs and a 480p signal. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Setup:

Hitachi 50VS810
Kenwood VR-5700 receiver
Kenwood DV-5700 DVD player Zeagle, I just saw the same problem on a set at CC. I thought I had noticed it before,and went back to see it and the set was doing the same thing you described, as it is only hooked up to DVD. Did you finally get a set that works? Also, I am still deciding on this set as I have the green bleed problem in dark scenes only on my GWIII that I will be returning. I therefore am worried about the same thing on this set. I went to a screen wipe on one yesterday (Sony does not have this) and the set displayed very faint purple from the left side and a faint yellowish-green curvy band on the right on the white screen. Do others see a completely clean white screen, or is there some minor bleed of other colors? I am starting to think that no LCD can produce a completely uniform background across the entire screen, and it may just be a hit and miss thing as I have seen in the Sonys. Lastly, is everyone fairly pleased with SD on the set? I am still battling between the 60VS810 and the HLP5685. Don't really want to go down to 56" though, as I presently own a 60" Sony. Thanks for any help.

Originally posted by rotty2
Also, I am still deciding on this set as I have the green bleed problem in dark scenes only on my GWIII that I will be returning. I therefore am worried about the same thing on this set. I went to a screen wipe on one yesterday (Sony does not have this) and the set displayed very faint purple from the left side and a faint yellowish-green curvy band on the right on the white screen. Do others see a completely clean white screen, or is there some minor bleed of other colors? I am starting to think that no LCD can produce a completely uniform background across the entire screen, and it may just be a hit and miss thing as I have seen in the Sonys. Lastly, is everyone fairly pleased with SD on the set?

In order to check out the bleed issue (my last set, since returned, had a bad green problem), I went to the "camera" input mode of the 810 without attaching a camera, which displays a gray background, and eliminates any possibility of issues with the input cables. I also did this at night in a dark room. If I look really really hard I might be convinced that there are some very slight differences across the screen. But it's very very subtle and does not impact the overall picture when viewing sd/hd input. FYI... I appear to be able to change the characteristics of the problem by using other than the "standard" color temperature mode. -- play around with this if you want.

Overall, the SD picture is quite good -- better than I had on my hlp5063w (which I returned due to rainbows). I'm using a Dish 811 HD receiver, which I've set to output SD/HD in 720p (which matches the final display resolution of the Hitachi).

Enjoy!

I called the Hitachi number and there are 3 stores carrying the Director series in the Minneapolis area. Two of the stores are Sears? I questioned the rep and restated that I was looking for the Director series LCD RPTV and he confirmed his answer. Somehow I have a feeling he was wrong.

You can actually do a search for dealers from the Hitachi web site. Put Directors Series Televisions as the product.

Only one person in this thread posted about playing xbox on the set, has anybody else played xbox, ps2, or gamecube games on this set? Please give your impressions if so.

I tried the dealer search function but came up empty. I e-mailed Hitachi from their customer page to find a Director's Series dealer in the Boston area.

Sears does seem strange as a Director's Series retailer since they tend to be specialty AV shops. Call the Sears stores to confirm.

It doesn't list the current LCD models if you try a search on Model number. I called the Sears store and they have nothing in their computer that suggests they are going to carry the Director Series.

Originally posted by arc03
Only one person in this thread posted about playing xbox on the set, has anybody else played xbox, ps2, or gamecube games on this set? Please give your impressions if so.

I can't remember if I posted this or not, but I have played several x-box games, including Halo, NFL2k5, serious sam & Dragon's lair 3d (weak game, but the 1080i is insane). PQ was excellent, esp. on the 480p and 720p games. Occasionally on Halo, I'd notice a jagged edge here and there, but not with other games; it had been years since I finished the game so I can't remember whether I had similar problems with my last set.

No lags or apparant motion blurring. Just wish Halo offered a vertical split screen instead of a horizontal split.

I'll try to post pictures of Halo and Freedom Fighters (720p) tonight.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ad10ad
I suggest you keep monitoring CC's prices & specials for the next 30 days. Their price protection applies to their own prices. I got an email from CC a week after I bought my 810 offering a gift card for 5% of the TV price plus free delivery. Went in, got a credit for delivery, plus a gift card, which I will use on the warranty. [/QUOTE
]
Thanks for the tip ad10ad . Will do. Must admit to having a bit of buyer's remorse. Seems many are experiencing glare problems, green bleed problems and a host of other ills with the 810. I had originally bought the latest dlp mitsubishi 62" LCD...but before it arrived, learned of tilt screen problems, "firmware" problems, etc. So, I canceled before delivery. At this point, wondering if there is such a thing as a trouble free viewing experience. I suspect that if I looked into the "kirk" there'd be problems there as well. Manufacurers should give those of us who buy new technology an "early adopter" discount or something to compensate us for the woes we experience while they perfect these things. I did get free delivery, but you can bet I''ll be on the lookout for anything else my CC does within the next 30 days to help ease my pain. Until then, a glass of scotch will have to do.

Sadly, any early adopters get stuck paying premium prices for R&D costs while the later buyers reap the lower prices and updated technology. That's the price for being the first kid on the block to have the newest toys. However, both LCD and DLP technology are in their 3rd or 4th generation by now so there have been vast improvements on both fronts since the first models. They may not be perfect but they're pretty darn good in my book.

I looked at my first Hitchi 810 a few weeks ago and was captivated by the picture even though I saw a few shortcomings. A few more trips to CC and some fiddling with the settings and I was eventually sold on the set. I opted to wait for the 60" model to hit the streets as I figured if I was going to bite the bullet and make a major purchase such as this I might as well go the extra mile and get the largest set I could afford (and my viewing distance would allow).

I just got the e-mail I've been waiting for from the dealer I've been working with and he has informed me that my set is now in stock. Now I've just got to figure out what the heck I'm going to do with my 50" Mitsubishi SD RPTV.

Originally posted by captain_video


Now I've just got to figure out what the heck I'm going to do with my 50" Mitsubishi SD RPTV.
Hey Captain. How about using it for a boat anchor. Just kidding.

Originally posted by HiContst
[QUOTE]Originally posted by ad10ad
[B] Must admit to having a bit of buyer's remorse. Seems many are experiencing glare problems, green bleed problems and a host of other ills with the 810. I had originally bought the latest dlp mitsubishi 62" LCD...but before it arrived, learned of tilt screen problems, "firmware" problems, etc. So, I canceled before delivery. At this point, wondering if there is such a thing as a trouble free viewing experience. I suspect that if I looked into the "kirk" there'd be problems there as well.

You are not alone. After shopping since May, and waiting for the new models to come out, I've run the gamut. Almost got the 525 and backed off because of the Tilt problem. Even after getting my 810 I have continued to spend time @ home viewing the 810 critically, and on this forum and at CC making sure I'm happy with my choice & that I won't regret not getting the Kirk...and I've had problems with my 810 (new set coming Friday).

That said, assuming I can resolve the green bleed problem, I think the 810 is a keeper. Having had it for 3 weeks, and having spent several hours recently looking at the 525, Panny DLP, and Samsung 85 and 63 series (I'm helping a friend with a purchase), I'm still happy with my choice, and have overcome any remorse about not getting a kirk. As my girlfriend pointed out yesterday while we were in CC arranging for my new 810 to be delivered, the skin tones & overall PQ of the 810 look more realistic. Also, the Panny DLP, while very nice, also has SSE, at least the one I saw did. So, in short, you're right, there is no perfect set. If you want a big screen now, though, you have to decide which shortcoming(s) you can live with.

Best of luck, and if you don't like it, you can always take it back.

As promised, here are some x-box shots. First up, NFL2k5 running in 480p. Actual PQ is even a bit more detailed, but I didn't want to use a flash, so it's a little on the dark side.

Next up is Freedom Fighter. Looks great in 720p. My copy of Halo is out on loan, so I'll have to wait this weekend to post more.

Well, I got the e-mail I've been waiting for last night titled "Your TV is in!" I placed my order for the 60VS810 so now I'm just waiting on the shipping info so I'll know when to expect it. I guess I'll put an ad in the local Pennysaver to see if I can unload my 50" Mitsubishi.

Ironically, I never knew how good my Mitsubishi could look until I fed it the 480i output from my HDTivo while tuned to an OTA local HD broadcast. The picture was absolutely amazing for a SD RPTV. I thought it was even better than the output from my DVD player. It's still no match for the 810 but I never had a clue how good this set really was until now. Switching between a DTV SD feed from last night's Ravens fiasco to the HD feed was a real eye-opener. The SD signal was total crap by comparison.

Originally posted by rotty2
Zeagle, I just saw the same problem on a set at CC. I thought I had noticed it before,and went back to see it and the set was doing the same thing you described, as it is only hooked up to DVD. Did you finally get a set that works? Also, I am still deciding on this set as I have the green bleed problem in dark scenes only on my GWIII that I will be returning. I therefore am worried about the same thing on this set. I went to a screen wipe on one yesterday (Sony does not have this) and the set displayed very faint purple from the left side and a faint yellowish-green curvy band on the right on the white screen. Do others see a completely clean white screen, or is there some minor bleed of other colors? I am starting to think that no LCD can produce a completely uniform background across the entire screen, and it may just be a hit and miss thing as I have seen in the Sonys. Lastly, is everyone fairly pleased with SD on the set? I am still battling between the 60VS810 and the HLP5685. Don't really want to go down to 56" though, as I presently own a 60" Sony. Thanks for any help.
I have updated my original thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4460344) about my issue with the 50VS810. I am on my 4th set now the last one purchased from HH Gregg and it has the same issue. I am looking at the Sony KDF-55XS955 now if Hitachi can not provide an answer to the issue. The image looks great to me on the 50VS810, no green bleed, black levels are excellent, just want the issue resolved with sync problems on the component input.

I saw in your initial post that the problems seems to occur when there is a scene shift (i.e., dark to light). Can you give a few examples of movies/scenes that seemed to have triggered the sync problem?

So delivery is set on my new 810 for Friday afternoon. Hopefully the new set will not suffer the green bleed problem. I hope to post an update over the weekend.

First off, thanks to all of you for your extremely knowledgeable and helpful information. Based on that and my own research, I just purchased a 50vx915. Should be delivered around the 20th.

I originally was sold on Sammy's Kirk, but when I saw the 810 in CC, it blew the Kirk away. Apparently, the recent hurricanes here in FL damaged CC's satellite feed, so they only had one cable running all of their displays. Every tv but the 810 looked grainy, including the Kirk, while the 810 looked like it was showing a 480p dvd.

Anyway, I did have one question for you all. Hitachi couldn't confirm that the screen on the 915 is not the same as the one on the 810. After a lengthy (but very helpful) 25 minute conversation with them regarding the two, the guy I spoke with stated that he "was almost certain" that the screen on the 915 was different (more anti-glare??), but couldn't find anything in the specs. Has anyone actually seen the two? I'm just curious. After some further investigation, he (the Hitachi rep) seemed to think that both screens were identical, but the 915's was referred to differently for marketing purposes. This was just a guess on his part, but now I'm wondering if the screen is in fact the same as the 810's. Anyone have any first-hand knowledge?

Thanks in advance. Also, I'm aware that perhaps this is the wrong place the post this (a 915 question in an 810 forum), but it's the closest I can find.

If you do a search, I'm sure you'll find a posting here from someone who saw the two side-by-side discussing the 915 and the 810 and the fact that the 915 had an anti-glare screen.

The 915 has an anti-glare screen and firewire. I wish the 810 shared the same screen as the 915.

Originally posted by ad10ad
If you do a search, I'm sure you'll find a posting here from someone who saw the two side-by-side discussing the 915 and the 810 and the fact that the 915 had an anti-glare screen.

No search indicated that anyone has seen the units "side by side," however I have found that online descriptions state that the 915 has added a "Deep-Black Anti-Reflective Shield" vs the 810's "High Contrast Anti-Reflective Shield, " hence my original question; has anyone actually seen the two, and can they declare for certain that the 915's screen is "more" anti-reflective?


According to the very limited information available on the 915, it has some sort of 'added' anti-reflective screen, I'm just curious to know how different it is compared to the 810.

A couple of weeks ago, I originally posted my experience with my first 50VS810 that suffered from horrible black levels and green bleed. Since then I have received and returned another unit for similar but different problems. The replacement solved the black level issues completely, but it still suffered from minor green bleed, mis-convergence by about 1 pixel (white text on a black background such as in the menu had a 1 pixel wide green stripe on the left side and 1 pixel wide magenta stripe on the right of the letters, see attached picture), the entire image was rotated about 1 degree counterclockwise, and there were what looked like smudges behind the protective screen that were visible on an all gray screen.

Yesterday, I loaded up the second 810 into my SUV again for another trip back to CC and was pretty concerned about getting a third unit that would have similar problems. CC was accommodating in that they allowed me to take the new tv out of the box and plug it into the wall so that I could look at the menu for mis-convergence and also look at a screen of "snow" to look for green bleed. Although their wasn't perfect convergence, it was nowhere near a 1 pixel shift. I have looked extensively for green bleed now that I have the tv home and I haven't noticed any.

I can finally say that I am a very happy owner of an 810 and am quite pleased with the product I ended up with. This tv has to be one of the best looking tv's outside of plasmas that I have seen. The black levels are great and watching football and others show in HD is truly an eye-opening experience. In fact, I think the picture is clearer than if you were at the game yourself since you aren't relying on 20-20 vision. I should also mention that the Z-Line Designs tv stand (Model ZLN 23541S) and matching component stand from CC are a perfect fit for this tv. Although the tv is wider than the stand (the side speakers hang over the edge on both sides), I like the look. The stand has shiny black glass with a black and silver metal frame which match the silver and piano black case of the 810 perfectly. I'll try to post a picture of that as well if I get a chance. Thanks to everyone here at this forum, it's been quite comforting to hear that others were experiencing similar problems to mine and that they were resolved by exchanging for another tv.

Just as an update, My buddies 810 has had no flaws. It's been a week ot two since i've been over to check it out again, but he is still extremely pleased with this set. Sorry to hear about some of you guys having to exchange sets for new ones. I guess we just got lucky on his or you guys had bad luck. As though of you who have gotten a good one(either the first time or after a swap) know, this is an awesome set. Great black levels and detail for an LCD, and outstanding PQ and WAF. Enjoy these sets and next time i'm over there to check it out again, i'll post more info if needed.

Originally posted by azran
A couple of weeks ago, I originally posted my experience with my first 50VS810 that suffered from horrible black levels and green bleed. Since then I have received and returned another unit for similar but different problems. The replacement solved the black level issues completely, but it still suffered from minor green bleed, mis-convergence by about 1 pixel (white text on a black background such as in the menu had a 1 pixel wide green stripe on the left side and 1 pixel wide magenta stripe on the right of the letters, see attached picture), the entire image was rotated about 1 degree counterclockwise, and there were what looked like smudges behind the protective screen that were visible on an all gray screen.......


Sorry the picture of mis-convergence didn't get attached previously, so here it is

Well, new 810 arrived on Friday. Green bleed problem is worse. Noticed it the minute they hooked it up. There is a almost solid green patch in the lower right corner and some faint, but present green bleed in the left corner. I'm getting frustrated because the picture on the 810 is great, and the SSE seems lessened on this set (or I'm getting used to it) but the green bleed is horrible. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Since I have another 28 days on my CC return, I may try to get Hitachi out here next weekend. If nothing else, they can have someone see for themselves a problem that seems to be plaguing at least a batch of their sets.

sorry to hear that ad10ad. I'm having a Hitachi certified tech out to look at my set in a couple of days to gather an opinion on SSE. I'm supposed to report back to the Hitachi rep what the tech finds, and as always I'll keep you folks updated.

How tall is this tv with the Hitachi stand?

Hi All -

Just wanted to add nmy two cents here. I purches my 50vs810 over labor day weekend at my local CC in Sacramento, CA. I have yet to recognize the green bleed problem described in this forum.

Did I luck out? Or pehaps this problem just affected a batch of sets distributed to certain areas?

If there is a tell-tale way to determine if the set exhibits the problem please let me know and I'll check it out on mine.

Thanks,

-Bill

Originally posted by bclements3
Hi All -

If there is a tell-tale way to determine if the set exhibits the problem please let me know and I'll check it out on mine.

Thanks,

-Bill

Thanks Bill & Wup.

With my first set, the problem was noticable primarily on 4:3 programming with grey bars on the side. You could also see it if you ran the screen wipe function. If you tab back to page 7 of this thread, my post of 9-29-04 has a picture of the problem w/ grey bars. The problem was only occasionally noticable w/ regular programming, if for example, there was a white object (snow, etc.) in the bottom right corner. I tried a screen wipe but to no avail.

With the second set, there is a similar, but less pronounced problem in the bottom left corner, and a more pronnounced problem in the bottom right corner. The concentration of green in the right corner is more localized, but also more dense, and you can even see it during regular programming. I'll post a picure later tonight.

Hitachi is closed today for Columbus Day; I hope to call for a tech tomorrow.

The 810 beats all others except for one thing. Great Pic's and Blacks

There is something wrong with it.

Green Bleed.

After 3 different 810's that I returned and the 2 different CC that I when to, I had to return the TV and went with something else.

Best way to describe it is that the skin tone on a 5 o'clock shadow has a yellow to green tint.

Movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) when Johnny is under the small canoe trying to get to the ship. If you pause it and look at his face you will see what I'm talking about.

So out of six different 810's all of them had the same problem.

I called Hitachi and they had not heard of the problem and wanted a tech to look at it. My 30 days were coming up and said that I would be returning the 3rd 810 today.

Good luck

Ok, as promised, photos of green bleed on set # 2. The first is a full screen shot of Letterman on CBS, with the grey bars. The green is most prevelant in the lower right corner and lower left side. Note the blotch is not a shadow caused by the camera, as you can see in the next picture, which is a close up.

I'm at a loss. Hopefully I can get some answers from a Hitachi tech.

Close up of the green bleed. I noticed tonight that the pattern does seem to change. Tonight it seemed more dispersed and less concentrated. Previously, it was darker (ie more concentrated), but covered a smaller area.

No bleed issues at all. The latest Discovery HD fiber system camera undersea clips are STUNNING !

In the '90s we had a porblem with 1,000 Fax units, they all had a strange mechanical problem. It was traced to the docks, seems the container was dropped 5 feet at unloading and noted as such on some docs.

Could be the issue here.....dan

Hi All -

Well I had the hardest time detecting this problem, but I finally spotted it watching one of my DVD's this afternoon.

Attached is a screenshot I took this evening, replicating the problem. As you can clearly see there is a large green/greenish patch towards the middle/bottom-right of the screen.

Boy am I glad I am still under the 30 day warranty!


http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php?photo=10361&size=big&sort=1&cat=503&page=1


-Bill :D

Bill
That was funny!
How do you like your tv, and that marantz 7400?

Bill,
Actually, there is a slight greenish cast on the shot I'm looking at. It's to left of his bicep in the shadow area on the ground. Unless this movie was shot with a green hue because of its storyline, it appears to have a green haze on it.

Hi, everybody!
I've also just bought Hitachi 810 set.
And I'm not really happy with the picture. Some channel look not as good as I expected.
I don't have HDTV yet to compare with the unit, than I've seen in CC.
The other problem, that I hear some noise when I'm watching my favorite HGTV....
Is it a problem of my unit or my cable company?
I am still under 30 days warranty.
Lena

Some new owners on here...

Do any of you have a lot of windows in the room with your TV? Is there a lot of glare off the screen?

The place I would have my TV for the first couple of months would have windows directly opposite the TV...

While we are at it there a difference in the glare form various lightsources?
Direct Sunlight
Sunlight.
Floruescent.
etc.

Where I want to put my new TV it will never get direct sunlight, but it will
see "daylight" from the sun.

Received my 50VS810 saturday along with the Marantz 7400.
Great Picture, I will be calibrating it using a do it yourself disc as delivery showed the contrast/shaprness and maybe 1 more all at 100%. (made a few adjustments myself first)
I have DTV and HDTV running into this at 1080i and it's fantastic. I'm sitting about 7.5 feet away and do not see any screen door effect.
I do believe that 8-10 feet would be ideal distance. I have 720p from the Sammy 841 running for DVD and it's even more phenomenal than the HDTV signal ( think this should be the case anyway ) Both set top box and DVD are running DVItoHDMI inputs directly to the TV. Yes there is a glare if it's in a highly sunlite room but it's about half as bad as the old crt ers, but has a "day/night" mode you can switch to to brighten up the picture, otherwise just shut the drapes/blinds. Other than the Pedastal Sammy The Hitachi along with it's matching stand is really second to none within the RPTV area and well worth the $$$ you'll pay for this top quality picture.

I finally got to see one of these in person over the weekend. They had Aladdin playing and the color looked great. The blacks looked black. They had a grand wega III right next to it and you could definitely see the hitachi had better pq. I really like the set, but I still want to see one of the xs grand wega models.

casscarr2002, I'm confused about the comment on your DVD looking better than your HD feed. That seems a bit backwards. I WISH my DVDs looked as good as my HD feed. Are you referring to local over the air signals? I'm also using an upconverting DVD player - the Denon 1910 running at 720p.

Originally posted by PackFan
Some new owners on here...

Do any of you have a lot of windows in the room with your TV? Is there a lot of glare off the screen?

The place I would have my TV for the first couple of months would have windows directly opposite the TV...

Yes I have windows opposite and to the side. Glare is a problem. I suggest you invest in some blinds PackFan. No green bleed...but other anamolies. When changing channels I sometimes get "dig:1" which pops up on the screen for a few seconds and then goes away. Next, sometimes the channel to channel transitions are not smooth .... there is a series of unrecognizable distortions before it tunes in. Finally, I get a super HD PQ, but the digital channels through Comcast are a lot grainier than anticipated. I watched Monday night football which I think is usually HD..but found the PQ to be less than. (I sure miss Direct TV0. By the way, I am using a DVI to HDMI interface with my Comcast HD set top box. and I have experimented w/the settings posted elswhere on this thread...stilll grainy on the digitals. Don't regret the buy, but not exstatic if you know what I mean.

I have blinds, but I find that enough light gets through to be distracting on my CRT TV... I'm wondering if it would be the same for the Hitachi...

After reading every post in this thread last night, I could not wait to go and look at one of these vs 810's. I would say over all it was my favorite rp lcd or dlp that I saw at circuit city. I asked about the vx910 and they said that they could not get that one. Aftwer seeing the 810 the only thing I did not like about it was the reflection off of the screen, so I was hoping to find a 915. The only other model I saw that was in the running was the jvc dila. Has anyone compared the two side by side, and what makes one better than the other?
Does anyone know of any retailers that are selling the 910? I called Hitachi today and they said that video only was in my area. When I got to video only they said "no we decided not to sell that one because the reflection on the screen was so bad, and the Toshiba is better for less money"
Any comments?
Thanks

I hadn't seen the 810 side by side with the DILA - and really didn't need to. My personal impression with the JVC was uninspiring to say the least. In my opinion it just looked like a beta product - and compared to the 810 the build quality looks Fisher-Price. I can tell you with a fair degree of certainty that HDTV on the 810 will match or exceed whatever competing set you throw at it short of a quality plasma. Plus, its SD performance is no slouch either. Had mine for a month and a half now - and everytime I go to the video store I say to myself "Yup. I got the right one baby!"

If you have a shot at the 915 - by all means go for it. I'm sure it follows in the same footsteps as its not-so-little brother.

I haven't checked out this thread since i got my 60VS810, i wanted a unbiased look at it. My salesman at C.C. say's i got one of the first ones shipped, i got this one on sept. 28th and absolutely love it. I feel people looking on in this thread need to hear some good things about this TV. It is in my opinion the best RP tv out there right now.

I was originally worried about two things, glare and being to close to the TV set since it is the 60" version. I'm sitting 8.5 away, i'm not a videophile but I did my research based of this site and seeing tv's with my own eyes'. It took my two months to pick this tv. It may be that my eye just isn't trained to see all these problems people report but I have not noticed any with my set.

Glare: There is a glare, I have a huge window directly facing the set, when the tv is off, it makes for a great mirror, but once you turn on the tv, it all but goes away. I had a 36" crt sitting in the same spot, the glare was terrible, i had to shut the blinds. With the 810, i can actually leave it open, i like it closed just because i think it flushes out the contrast a bit in the picture and when i'm watching my new 4k beauty i like to set the mood right! If glare is all that is holding you back, buy this set. Packfan you've been talking about this set for at least a month. You just need to pull the trigger and sit back and enjoy. It sure will make watching the Packers a lot more fun then last night. I'm in Madison and the only reason i watched the whole game was because this TV made it a whole new experience in HD.

Digital effects: Sitting 8.5 feet away really worried me, i thought i'd see all kinds of problems but that hasn't been the case. HD is amazing, HD off the air(my local channels) i see more problems with the signal from the stations then with the TV, you get a good signal- TV looks great, get a bad signal and the TV will show it. HD signal = very small digital effects, you have to really look and then you'll see them every once in a great while. I believe a lot of us on this thread buy these TV's just to find problems with them or are trained to, when what we should be doing is watching the shows/movies/sports itself. If you just sit down and watch a show on this TV, it will blow your mind in HD. SD was far better then i expected, i heard a lot of horror stories which might have prepared me better. This tv isn't made for SD but i'm more then happy to watch SD if i have to.

Greenish tint: Nothing, i have not seen this at all, i've tried and tried. I've had friends over and ask them to look for this supposed green tint and nothing. I think if your witnessing this problem return your set and get one that is working right. I would be more then willing to try some scenes that people request to see this problem. I've tried hulk, not sure if THAT movie is the best to test for this, tried Empire strikes back, figured the white snow would show something, i slowed motioned it, i paused it, i left it alone....nothing.

DVD: I love watching movies, i'm still waiting for some of the new HDMI players to come out, Denon 2910, Panny s97, etc. so right now i have a four year old non-progressive scan Sony, with this piece of junk the picture has been really good. I wasn't expecting much with this player but the tv chip must be doing a good job of scanning because the picture looks great. A friend brought over his denon 2200 and it was awesome. The pq is more film like then i would prefer but none the less awesome. I didn't even calibrate and this setup just kicked.

I can't stress enough how great this set is, like i said i'm not a videophile just a person that loves movies and now loves HD programing. Can i get an amen for Bikini destination?! I had the HLP50 and i saw rainbows after i read how to see them from this set.....but the main thing i didn't like was the digital artifacts. The same distance away i could see all kinds of problems. In my opinion, it's either the kirk or the hitachi, forget the toshiba, panny, lg, sony.....this is a Hitachi owners thread and i couldn't be more happy with my purchase not to mention C.C. outstanding customer service.

I'm willing to test this set so if anyone has requests please post or email them to me. Specifics pictures, anything.....let me know.

Only my three cents.

BRO! Bikini Destinations was soooooooo sweet! I thought I was the only one. I recorded it just to show it to the fellas (ya right) when they come over - they're not gonna want to leave.

Originally posted by bclements3
Hi All -

Well I had the hardest time detecting this problem, but I finally spotted it watching one of my DVD's this afternoon.

Attached is a screenshot I took this evening, replicating the problem. As you can clearly see there is a large green/greenish patch towards the middle/bottom-right of the screen.

Boy am I glad I am still under the 30 day warranty!


http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php?photo=10361&size=big&sort=1&cat=503&page=1


-Bill :D

Hey All - Just wanted to clarify, I am NOT experiencing the green-bleed problem on my set. This was just lame attempt at a sense of humor :) MY sincere apologies if I threw anyone off!

Originally posted by mattburk
Bill
That was funny!
How do you like your tv, and that marantz 7400?

I like the marantz a lot. Funny thing though - the selling point for me on that receiver was the component video upconversion. I wanted to do the one-button thing for switching all my inputs.

Well, then I went out and bought this hitachi on an impulse buy (labor day weekend sales and all). Now I am using the cablecard for HD/Digital Cable, and currently a samsung hd841 dvi dvd player. So I'm back to square 1 and programming macros in my universal remote again :(

So, when you have digital cable you can't send it to the component input 1?

stratman22,

Congrats on your purchase and thanks for the great post. Glad to hear no green tint/bleed on your set (BTW, the best way to see it seems to be on 4:3 format, with the grey bars in place; the green bleed, if you have it, will be visable in the bars). I agree that with the possible exception of the Kirk, this is the best non-plasma big screen out there. Hopefully I can get it worked out.

wupshaw

Yes for some reason the HDTV channels aren't quite as detailed as the Upconversion DVD player. Seems some of the channels are and some aren't, may just be the transmission. It's with Settop box Motorola 6208 but from what I've heard our Cogeco HDTV channels are fed from Detroit.
The HDTV channels come in as 1080i and the DVD upconverted comes in at 720p, don't know if that makes a difference or not. I guess I should have said, some of the Channels aren't as good as the DVD player. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to spend the extra $$$ to have this professionally calibrated.

Originally posted by casscarr2002
wupshaw

I guess I should have said, some of the Channels aren't as good as the DVD player. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to spend the extra $$$ to have this professionally calibrated.

Cass, none of my business but have you considered using one of the calibration disks? This TV is very tweakable and is one of the reasons I plan to buy one soon. Speaking of which, I am planning to go the local dealer who sells the 915 and buy one on Friday if I like the picture. I am sweating bullets over this. I almost think I should go to CC and buy the 810. If I buy one there, at least I know that I could get a hassle free return if needed.

Originally posted by mattburk
So, when you have digital cable you can't send it to the component input 1?

If I had a converter box, then yes I could use component 1. But since I am using the cablecard, the only input is the black coax cable into ant1 on my Set.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dsierra
[B]Cass, none of my business but have you considered using one of the calibration disks? This TV is very tweakable and is one of the reasons I plan to buy one soon.

Yes I have the Sound and Vision Tune up disk at home. The disc did not come with the blue plastic colour thing that's supposed to be used for colour adjusting. I'm going to buy another disc tonight but check it in the store this time first. I want the best possible picture I can get out of this set, and I really don't have the knowledge or feel confident enough that I can calibrate this with just a few tweaks, that's why I don't mind shelling out the $$$ for professional calibration.

Originally posted by bclements3
If I had a converter box, then yes I could use component 1. But since I am using the cablecard, the only input is the black coax cable into ant1 on my Set.
Are you on cable? If so, do you miss the guide?

Originally posted by dsierra
Are you on cable? If so, do you miss the guide?

Yes, if some one could explain this a little clearer to me too.

I do not have hd cable right now just digital cable that I connect via composite. If I connect this set up to the Hitachi do I lose the guide feature some how, or is that only if I use the cable card?

If I upgrade my cable to one that does hdtv, don't the new cable box's use component, so I could just run it through my receiver and to the tv, and then still be able to use the guide and info buttons on my cable?
Do you have to use that cable card?

Originally posted by dsierra
Are you on cable? If so, do you miss the guide?

Do I miss the guide? HELL YES. I can't lie, its taking some getting used to. Also, there's still like a 1-second delay when switching channels, so if our a "channel-surfer", it can be very frusterating. But I do like not having the extra component cluttering up my living room. Also, I find that I watch a lot more HD than I do SD because it just looks so good. So I really only flip through the 10 or so HD channels. In my area they are all numbered 9++. Currently I can watch:

903 --> Channel 3 (nbc)
906 --> Channel 6 (pbs)
908 --> Channel 8 (fOX)
910 --> Channel 10 (abc)
919 --> INHD 1
920 --> INHD 2
922 --> Discovery Channel HD
923 --> ESPN HD
930 --> HBO HD

So yeah, thats just like 9 chanels. Also I hear eventually 2-way cablecards will be out so you can get the guide. It looks like Hitachi already has hooks in there menus for a guide with the channel mgr and info options. I have not idea what the actual timeframe for this is though. Very few personnel at comcast even know what a cablecard is.

Originally posted by mattburk
Yes, if some one could explain this a little clearer to me too.

I do not have hd cable right now just digital cable that I connect via composite. If I connect this set up to the Hitachi do I lose the guide feature some how, or is that only if I use the cable card?

If I upgrade my cable to one that does hdtv, don't the new cable box's use component, so I could just run it through my receiver and to the tv, and then still be able to use the guide and info buttons on my cable?
Do you have to use that cable card?

Hi Mattburk,

Here's a rundown:

Cablecard: No component/dvi/hdmi cables or converter box. Cable company installs the cablecard, all you have is the coax running from your cable wall outlet to your TV. The intergrated tuner in the Hitachi does the rest. The con is the cablecard is 1-way, so you will not be able to order ppv or video-on-demand. You will also not get the tv guide to find out whats currently playing. You will however will be able to press the 'info' button on your remote to see what network you are watching.

No Cablecard: Here you would use the converterbox instead. You can connect the converter box to your hitachi either via component cables or via a dvi-hdmi cable. You get the guide, you get ppv.

Really, the only advantage to using the cablecard is that you don't need an extra converter box to watch cable.

I live in Seattle area, does anyone know of any retailer that sells the vx915 in Seattle or even WA state?