Thanks for your reply. I don't stretch when watching 4:3 aspect DVD or broadcast

How long have you had the TV and how do you like it so far? Likes and dis-likes?
Any issues you are living with?

Had it since March 8 and no problems. Don't' ask me how many hours during so-called break-in because I don't know. But, during first many, many hours what dawned on me was majority of wide screen DVDs were long 2:35 movies such as "Pulp Fiction", "Lawrence of Arabia" and a lot of old Fox 2:35 (CinemaScope era) DVDs so black bars at top and bottom. Ran brightness at 50% (now 54%) and contrast at 100%. No IR! Have five DVD players hooked to and two are upconverters so picture quite impressive. But, another negative must use one way cable card due to lousy SD PQ on Comcast STB. With CC excellent but can't timer record unattended due to no STB. Thus, nice unit but hassle to use due to compromises.

Just tired of scrolling through Video to reset black bars for 4:3. Actually, fell in love with new non HD CRT 32" 32MT6015D 4:3 digital/analog tuner Magnavox. Just turn it on and enjoy 4:3. And, can record with timer due to use of STB. Bought this unit because is gray cabinet when all other CRTs are silver. What movie theater masks its screen in silver? None!

slannes

Had it since March 8 and no problems.

The technology is new so we will have pains but can still enjoy.
Most folk (including myself) are less likely to post unless there is a complaint or question.

Myself, I don't watch tv like a pro sitting all up close with a magnifying glass attitude but am glad they are out there doing it.

Have you experienced the scene in Gladiator where after the sword sticks he throws his sword at the soldier on horse back, with rear center channels? Heh.

No although I have seen GLD. Bought a suround sound system but never hooked up and sent back. Was totlaly satisfied with TV sound system. Live in a condo. Sound in Pulp Fiction' 2.35 great and 100 tap dancers in Lullabye of Braodway number in 'Gold Diggers of 1935' 4.3 so gray bars converted to black--------wild with ramastered audio.

slannes

Iserum,

My open box had 3300 hours on it and I was not comfortable with that many hours. When I went to exchange it and buy a new one they were out. I ended up trading it for one with 150 hours and I couldn't be happier.

Has anyone tried tweaking settings in the service menu?
[EDIT]
Hitachi 42HDS69 has silver speaker and bezel but it does not look cheap like panny 60U series, it matches very well with by Definitive Tech mythos speakers.
PQ is very good for 42 inch plasma TV i need to tweak setting to get best PQ.
Swivel stand will help me a lot as tv is sitting in the corner of room (powered would have been nice but Hitachi included it in HDS79 model coming soon)

All right guys I;ve got a setup question. My hitachi is in a built in my living room. Behind it was a white wall I hung a black piece of fabric to hide wires. Should I have gone with lighter color piece of fabric? Or will some ambient light help with the picture?

how does the 55HDS69 look with the silver trim? I like the look of the all black model. CC says they have the 55HDS69 in there wharehouse and can have it delivered in a day or two but they dont have a floor model I can physicaly see at the moment. want to buy it, but not sure if i want to do it sight unseen.

I just got the 55" Director Series and the HD picture is incredible. Spent some time w/Digital Video Essentials. The PQ on Comcast Digital is ok - not blurry, but not as crisp as on my Sony 55" LCD. Also, I hate to stretch the picture to fill the screen because it causes an additional loss of clarity. So I shrink it to 4:3 on standard TV w/gray bars. But the manual says not to do this because it can cause image retention (burn in). I called Tech Support and they indicated that so long as you use the Gray Bars, not the Black Bars that there should be no burn-in.

I'm picking up a 42HDT52 in my truck. I need to know how high the box is lying flat on its side. I have a taunau cover and need to know if I can cover it or have to take a tarp to keep rain off.

I'm picking up a 42HDT52 in my truck. I need to know how high the box is lying flat on its side. I have a taunau cover and need to know if I can cover it or have to take a tarp to keep rain off.

I think they advize against laying it down and transporting it on its side. Just to be safe truck it upright and take your cover off.

made a thread for the new hitachis (hds69, hdt79, hdx99)

LINK: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=685075

I just bought the 42HDS52 and I also see that there is a 42HDS52A. What's the difference between the two?

Also, concerning the remote, I've seen the posts on here about the remote being horrible and I have the same problem. I tried new batteries and it still sucks BAD.

I just bought the 42HDS52 and I also see that there is a 42HDS52A. What's the difference between the two?

Also, concerning the remote, I've seen the posts on here about the remote being horrible and I have the same problem. I tried new batteries and it still sucks BAD.

I went ahead and put my own batteries in the remote from the get go. I have no complaints. I can point it at the roof and it responds.

As for the TV, WoW! I have only viewed and played with it for an hour but man I am loving it.
It was mfg'd in May - 06 so she is hot off the line.
SD is better right out of the wall but going through the SA 8300 STB is not too bad either. HD is jaw dropping.
I will report again after the break-in.

dragoon101,
I believe that Hitachi rebranded the name with an 'A' to denote the 'A'mericas. I rarely use the remote. Mostly use my Harmony 676. It looks like our remote beats the snot out of the hds69, hdt79, hdx99 series.

thanks guys.. i'll try another set of batteries.

Also, does anyone know how I get the updated firmware (if available)?

And... to those of you who don't already own this TV, Circuit City has it right now for $2000.. which is a steal.

Call Hitachi service for the update. I have not updated my set. Enjoy!

HDMI and Dolby Digital..

if i run hdtivo and my upconverting dvd player to the 42hds via HDMI, will i/can i get dolby digital out of the optical of my hitachi? it seems the option is greyed out in the audio menu and my HK receiver doesn't recognize the stream as DD. also i made sure both are set to output DD. right now i have opticals out of both which works but have run out of optical inputs.any help??

Hi All,

I have recently (past couple of days) noticed that when I am watching HD channels, that the pictures seems to be cropped slightly. I have double check the aspect (would be a typical thing for me to leave it on zoom) and it is at standard. On ESPNHD for instance, I could only see the bottom score (of the box) of the Sox/Yankees game last night and this morning, the bottom portion of the Today show bar that runs the bottom length of the screen is slightly cutoff.

Is this typical of HD channels, signal problem, tv problem, or what? Any info/advice is greatly appreciated.

HDMI and Dolby Digital..

if i run hdtivo and my upconverting dvd player to the 42hds via HDMI, will i/can i get dolby digital out of the optical of my hitachi? it seems the option is greyed out in the audio menu and my HK receiver doesn't recognize the stream as DD. also i made sure both are set to output DD. right now i have opticals out of both which works but have run out of optical inputs.any help??

I believe that I remember seeing that it would only pass DD when using the Cable Card. Do you have the audio options from other inputs like AIR or Cable? Any COAX Digital inputs on your receiver for outputs on your DVD?

Hi All,

I have recently (past couple of days) noticed that when I am watching HD channels, that the pictures seems to be cropped slightly. I have double check the aspect (would be a typical thing for me to leave it on zoom) and it is at standard. On ESPNHD for instance, I could only see the bottom score (of the box) of the Sox/Yankees game last night and this morning, the bottom portion of the Today show bar that runs the bottom length of the screen is slightly cutoff.

Is this typical of HD channels, signal problem, tv problem, or what? Any info/advice is greatly appreciated.

Are you using a HD STB? If so check the setting on it to change what it is pumping out.

With respect to the optical out of your Hitachi, it will only pass Prologic (2 channel) to your receiver (I have the same model Hatachi and HDMI connections). To get real DD, DTS, etc, you must connect your STB, DVD players optical or coax out to your amp's input.

I was also under the impression that optical connections would pass all DD formats before I purchased my Hitachi. But when I played any DVD that had, lets say DTS, my amp would only indicate PrologicII. Later on reading the manual, it stated that only two channel prologic would be passed.

thanks for the DD advice. most of my dig equip has optical. my only coax is an old DAT machine. running out of space in the rack and and inputs, go figure.....

Time to upgrade Jake. I've had my eye on this HK (http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail.aspx?Region=USA&Country=US&Language=ENG&cat=REC&prod=AVR%20745&sType=C) receiver. I would love to upconvert and switch. Hmm.. I think my old HK receiver is failing... :)

Does anyone have DVD player experience/recommendations for a 42" Hitachi with the ALIS-A3 plasma screen (1024x1024)? Mine is an overseas model with the PictureMaster video processor (which appears to be the same as the VirtualHD 1080p II)

I am looking at either the OPPO DV970HD or the 971H? When I use std def TV signals or a cheap DVD player I see a lot of macro-block/pixelization. I've heard that may be a problem with the the 971H w/ Farouja processing. ?

As for the 970HD, according to Hitachi, it takes a 480i input over HDMI or DVI, but I don't know if the Picturemaster de-interlacing/scaling would be better than the Farouja. Thoughts?

I noticed that CC has the 42HDS52 on their web site. The item can't be shipped and local store pickup has to be arranged. None of the stores in my area have it in stock other than display models. The sales guy at a local store told me it was in stock centrally and could be special ordered and received in a few days.

I went into the store and ordered it. I noticed that they had the 42HDS69 on the floor. This surprised me because its not listed on their web site. The sales guy asked if I would be interested in taking it home for only slightly more than the price of the 42HDS52. I passed since I prefer the black of the older model 42HDS52. Did I make a mistake passing on this model? The specs look nearly identical to me other than the extra HDMI connector.

rjk55425,

The forum gods may zap your post :D but yeah the prices are falling. I may be jaded because I own the 42HDS52. Black is more beutiful (I'm actually a pasty white man). Silver is too Panasonic like. No power swivel & cheaper remote. More HMDI inputs on the newer model. Good luck and keep us posted.

Not sure if everyone heard, but Magnolia is dropping the Hitachi Director's Series line from their stores. I walked in the store over the weekend and saw our 55HDX62 marked down to $X,XXX.XX, so if you're interested in a good price, I'd jump all over this and ask for an additional 10% off that as they are trying to clear their stock. They may also have 42" models seriously marked down.

They did this with the Figitsu line as well when they stopped carrying them as well.

I for one am happy with the two 55" models I have, just wish their tech support knew their product a little better when you call in for questions.

Hi all, I posted this in another location yesterday because I couldn't find this Hitachi thread. Someone did bring it to my attention so I wanted to repost it here since you all have been where I am going.
I just bought (yesterday) a 42HDX62A from BB, it is ordered so I won't get it till probably next week. Can someone tell me something about it? I can find so very little online about it. Price seemed excellent at the store, sales person told me it was marked wrong and from what I have found online at two stores it does seem like it was a great deal.
I am being led to believe it is last years model. Seems rather heavy from some of the units I have seen shopping around but I have had good success with Hitachi in the past. The motorized based seems cool but I think that will get old quickly and also will go out the window if I walll mount it.
What is the suffix letters and numbers? For example, the X62A must have some meaning since I have seen so many varations on this board.
I appreciate any knowledge you would share with me on this topic and please feel free to email me if you wish.
In advance, thanks for your help and assistance.

X= Director series and yes its a model being phased out. Not sure what A means could be numerous things.

Hitachi still lists it on their site:
http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/directors/director_index.shtml

Has anyone tried the new OPPO 970HD DVD player with the Hitachi? I'd like to know how well 480i HDMI works with the internal processor. Considering it vs. the 971H with the Farouja processor.

Hi all, I posted this in another location yesterday because I couldn't find this Hitachi thread. Someone did bring it to my attention so I wanted to repost it here since you all have been where I am going.
go out the window if I walll mount it.
What is the suffix letters and numbers? For example, the X62A must have some meaning since I have seen so many varations on this board.
I appreciate any knowledge you would share with me on this topic and please feel free to email me if you wish.
In advance, thanks for your help and assistance.

I have the 42HDT52. The base is well suited to my application. If you do not use the base you can most likely sell it because they are a three hundred dollar add on to a larger Hitachis that are able to use it.

Just wondering about the firmware updates and if anyone has info on what they address?

Mine was mfg'd in 5/06 and has V:0102.0001.
The latest for mine is V:0113.0001.

Everything seems OK. Should I try to get it?

Made the plunge tonight and picked up the 42HDT52A for a great price!! I was on the way to get the 42HDX62 at MagAV in Seattle (Southcenter), but Video Only had just got in the HDT and was clearing out the only two in stock. Was able to buy the demo model (mfr'd in 4/2006) w/ 4-yr warranty for under 2Gs. I just couldn't justify the extra 550 bones for the HDX model. Heck, maybe I can get it professionally (ISF) calibrated for about half the difference in the cost savings.

Quickly hooked it up and turned down all the settings so that it closely matches my DVE-calibrated 34" Sony tube. I must say I thought the Sony had a great picture, but I'm already seeing a bit more detail on the HDT. I'm sold... :D

I'll download the burn-in disc and get that going over the weekend, then do a "home brew" calibration with DVE...

VERY happy with the purchase! Thanks to everyone on this thread for your great info on this line of Hitachis!

Made the plunge tonight and picked up the 42HDT52A for a great price!!

Congrats on the TV. You will enjoy.
I too got a great price, and the ones left around are still going for three hundred more than I paid.

Congrats on the TV. You will enjoy.
I too got a great price, and the ones left around are still going for three hundred more than I paid.

I just spoke with another Hitachi rep this morning - he says V0113 is the latest software for the 42HDT52 model while V0102 is the latest software for the 42HDT52A. Can anyone else confirm this? It seems like they should both be currently using the same software, but that's just me...

He also said the "A" designation had something to do with how the parts were sourced, so maybe they switched vendors during the regular production run? My tv was mfr's in April 2006.

I just spoke with another Hitachi rep this morning - he says V0113 is the latest software for the 42HDT52 model while V0102 is the latest software for the 42HDT52A.

I will get with Hitachi to confirm for sure as I have the "A". I have the V0113 comming and will not load it until I am sure.

Thanks!

I will get with Hitachi to confirm for sure as I have the "A". I have the V0113 comming and will not load it until I am sure.

Thanks!
Let me (er, everyone) know what answer you receive! Ask 10 different tech support people, might get 10 different answers... ;)

...now cycling about hour #12 with the break-in disc! I set up a small fan behind to keep 'er cool during this long process...

I can't seem to find anything about what the contrast ratio is on this unit. I have checked Hitachi and a number of other sites and nothing gives this spec (I have also ran into differences about weight without the stand).
Does anyone have any knowledge to these specs? I would love to know what I am buying.
PS. I went out looking today and found a lot of sales people were pointing me to either Panasonic or Samsung....HELP!!!!

May be a dumb question but hopefully an answer from this forum can provide why answer is no if I presume it is or solution if can be done. I am using a Cable Card with my 42HDS52A due to Comcast Standard Definition picture quality not good through STB. However, if I attempt to timer record a program with set off it will not. I tried to no avail doing so with Quick Start on under the presumption although TV was off tuner was on so last channel would pass through CC to DVD recorder. The reason I am revisiting this question is prior to use of CC Comcast digital STB had to be on with the to be recorded channel selected. However, STB prior to digital STB did not have to be on for unattended timer recording---------------only last channel viewed selected before turning off. Thus, is there any trick, setting, connection or DVD recorder for 42HDS52A that can make if record unattended?

Thank you in advnce for reason why not or if possible how.

Slannes

PS. I went out looking today and found a lot of sales people were pointing me to either Panasonic or Samsung....HELP!!!!
I've seen the 42HDT52 and Panny x60 side-by-side, and the Hitachi has slightly better resolution. The Panny's colors seem to be more saturated (probably the vivid setting), so this might make one believe it's a better picture. I would think most of the people on this forum would prefer an accurate picture, not one enhanced to grab your attention.

I thought the Sammy also had a slight edge over the Panny, with the Hitachi taking my personal top spot. Don't get me wrong, the Panny does have a great picture, but the lesser detail would surely give me buyer's remorse, knowing what I was missing...

I was really considering the Sammy HP-S4253, and had decided to buy the Hitachi 42HDX69 from MagAV in Seattle for a few hundred more. On the way to Mag on Thursday, I made the "mistake" of swinging by Video Only one last time - and they had the 42HDT52A on clearance! After some haggling, I bought it on the spot and was out the door for 550 bones less than the HDX would have cost - a deal I was very happy with...which included an extended 4-yr warranty for free (so to speak). Costco had the Panny in stock, but it was still 250 bones more than the VO deal...

I have the Hitachi and my current Sony KV34HS510 both hooked up to my Yammy DVD-CX1 changer, both TVs connected with AQ YIQ-1 component video cables. I am truly amazed at the increase in detail the Hitachi has, even only being "eyeball calibrated". Maybe this is due to the 1024x1024 panel? Plus I actually see a bit more of the movie itself on the left and right edges. The Sony seems to cut off just a slight amount... I'll be glad when someone buys it from me off of eBay, listed about an hour ago. If I had room for both I'd keep the Sony, but no need for two large TVs in such a small living room...is there? ;)

Plus the Hitachi all-black cabinet looks way better than the cheap, silver, plastic-looking Panny, and the power swivel might just come in handy one day... ;)

Good luck!

I've seen the 42HDT52 and Panny x60 side-by-side, and the Hitachi has slightly better resolution. The Panny's colors seem to be more saturated (probably the vivid setting), so this might make one believe it's a better picture. I would think most of the people on this forum would prefer an accurate picture, not one enhanced to grab your attention.
And the power swivel might just come in handy one day... ;) Good luck!

mak99 and I are on the same page. The above quote is as if he read my mind.
As for the over saturation, I tried all the settings I could to get the panny's display to show a baseball fields grass to look as accurate as the Hitachi did.

I did the not so smart thing and ordered the panny 4260U sight unseen (it was not in stock or on display) due to reviews and posts. Then went to see it. It was OK but I was not floored and did not get excited about the look of the TV. I kept getting drawn to this black unit two TV's over. Long story short, I canceled the panny and went with the Hitachi.
Funny thing is our family (Myself. my Parents, Brother, and my Daughter have all owned Hitachi large screen 4:3 Ultravisions for years. Can't get away from a good thing I guess.

I have been looking at the 42HDX62A. I am very impressed. Can anyone tell me what the numbers and letters mean? X vs S and T etc and the 62A. I am on the verge of purchasing this but have not been able to do side by sides with other screens and types like the LCOS Sony variant. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Tried to get the info for you but it's too much digging. You should go to Hitachi's site and look at the plasma page. Thay are all there. You will have to compare specs and features.
I believe the director series is just cosmetics but not sure.

http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/plasma/plasma/plasma.shtml

I compared the features and the X has a longer warrantee by one year along with some other features so thanks your idea worked. I should have thought of that as well

I have been looking at the 42HDX62A. I am very impressed. Can anyone tell me what the numbers and letters mean? X vs S and T etc and the 62A. I am on the verge of purchasing this but have not been able to do side by sides with other screens and types like the LCOS Sony variant. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Pearl85, if you go up a few post you will find that I asked the exact same question a few days ago. I did buy the unit at BB (I am in Baltimore, MD). I will agree with the above post, the X means it is director series. I can't find out anything about the A. Where are you looking at it? If it is BB someone suggested to me it is their suffix added so you can't find the same model to do a price comparison with.
Have you ran into any power specs on the unit....how many watts does the thing use? There is alot I still have not found out but I am not supposed to get the tv till Wed or Thursday.
Bruce

PS. Went back to the store today and told the sales girl I could find so little info on the tv, I also told her I was sure I had gotten a great deal and was happy with it, drooling waiting for it to come in. She went to Hitachi's website and asked me if there was where I had looked. I told her yes. She clicked on the owner's manual (105 pages) and I told her I had not looked at that. She asked me if I wanted her to print it out. I asked "wouldn't anyone get upset printing out such a large file?" She said it was ok, I said sure. Don't know about the rest of the BB team but this young lady has really impressed me. Any future needs I will return to her (even though I don't believe they get any type of commission)

Hi Everyone,

Well after reading this thread plus about 3 other ones on this forum
I took the plunge and got the 42HDS52a.

I saw one for sale at a REX audio & video store for [EDIT] and was
about to buy it but decided to go to CC one more time.

CC had Hitachi's but none of the S52 models out so i asked the salesman,
"Hey do you carry the 42hds52 model because i don't see it on your floor?"

He said let me check computer. He had one 42hds52a in stock in the warehouse that was still in box brand new and on sale for [EDIT].

so i got that plasma plus had a 10% off card CC sent me yesterday so that lowered it to [EDIT] and then they gave me another $150 dollar store credit so I bought the monster hdmi cable and some screen cleaner with that credit.

I am totally excited and am waiting for cable company to come and hook up
my cable in new apartment so i can set up the plasma.

I will come back and let you know what I think of the tv, picture, etc...

thanks everyone for your opinions, etc...

Peter H.
carbuyingscams com

I will get with Hitachi to confirm for sure as I have the "A". I have the V0113 comming and will not load it until I am sure.

Thanks!
If you do install the upgrade and notice improvements, let us know!

I'm going to purchase the new 42" director's series when it comes out *crosses fingers for August* It comes with a 2 year warranty, would you recc. purchasing the extended warranty (which can add quite a chunk of change to the purchase price) or take it as is? Some people have said "if nothing goes wrong in the first 2 years, you should be ok." That's a pretty big SHOULD. Thoughts????

Oh, and to the poster who didn't know what else the director's series does:
It offers enhanced color management, meaning you can tweak individual colors as opposed to one "master" color setting. A pretty big option IMO. But if you don't care about it, then save 500 big ones =)

I'm going to purchase the new 42" director's series when it comes out *crosses fingers for August* It comes with a 2 year warranty, would you recc. purchasing the extended warranty (which can add quite a chunk of change to the purchase price) or take it as is? Some people have said "if nothing goes wrong in the first 2 years, you should be ok." That's a pretty big SHOULD. Thoughts????
If you charge on certain Visa cards, that should give you an extra year of warranty. And it's free...

It's worth a call to your card issuer, or check the Visa website (http://usa.visa.com/business/cards/benefits/bft_purchase_security.html) for more info...

Extended Protection
Extended Protection doubles the time period of the original manufacturer’s written U.S. warranty up to one (1) full year on warranties of three (3) years or less up to a maximum of $10,000 per claim.

See Hitachi Email Support Reply Below,

Dear Sir,

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

The 42HDT52 and 42HDT52A do use different software. I have passed the information along so that we may get the correct software version sent to you.

If you have any further questions about any Hitachi product, please call our technical assistance number at 1-800-HITACHI. Please reference your e-mail address when you call in as a customer service file has been created based upon your e-mail contact. Again, thank you for your interest in Hitachi.

Ben

Hitachi Home Electronics

--Original Message--
allen campbell (10101@adelphia.net) on Saturday, June 17, 2006 at 13:14:08
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

DayTimePhone: xxx-xxx-xxxx

CountryRegion: us

CATEGORY: CINEFORM SERIES HDTV

How can we help you:
I recently call tech support and it resulted in a firmware upgrade being sent to me.
I cannot remember if I told the phone tech about my model number ended with an "A".
Please tell me if the 42HDT52 and 42HDT52"A" can use the same firmware or not. The firmware being sent to me is V:0113.0001. Is it OK for the "A" series?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
REMOTE_HOST: 151.145.63.123
HTTP_USER_AGENT: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; Brew_Browser_6.0_SP1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)

HI,

I bought this HITACHI plasma TV almost 1.5 months ago. Has anyone been able to access the RGB Gains and Cuts controls through the service menu.

I think this set shares same electronics as the 42 inch panel (HDT52). I do have access to one of the hidden Service Menus with the menu+8+select option. But the RGB option cannot be selected, I just have been able to tweak the white balance RGB drives and vertical position of the set...

Best regards,

I'm going to purchase the new 42" director's series when it comes out *crosses fingers for August* It comes with a 2 year warranty, would you recc. purchasing the extended warranty (which can add quite a chunk of change to the purchase price) or take it as is? Some people have said "if nothing goes wrong in the first 2 years, you should be ok." That's a pretty big SHOULD. Thoughts????

Oh, and to the poster who didn't know what else the director's series does:
It offers enhanced color management, meaning you can tweak individual colors as opposed to one "master" color setting. A pretty big option IMO. But if you don't care about it, then save 500 big ones =)

I for one don't really believe in extended warranties but in this case I did blow the bucks. If it dies on you I feel the cost to repair could be so high as to have to buy a new unit. In the past I always felt I would just fix it myself (I work as an automotive technician, have a degree in Computer service technology and also one in Digital electronics), things now days have gotten to the point that nothing can be fixed without replacing a board of some type since the electronics have gotten so small, this is all if you can diagnose the proper failure point. Should the screen go bad....another story all in itself.

Interesting question for the board here.

Has anyone had problems with their Hitachi that required repairs? Were you covered under warranty for this repair and if not how bad was the cost of repair?
How old was the unit when it broke down?

I will be interested to see answers to the above questions. I am still waiting on my 42hdx62a to be delivered.
B

Has anyone had problems with their Hitachi that required repairs?

A good way to find out is go to the Hitachi webb site and look for the page where you look up service centers in your area. Then call or visit them and ask about it. A live visit would most likley get you more info.
When I was shopping for a large screen TV I went to a local shop and just looking around the shop told a really big story.
There were DLPs, LCoS, and RPCRTs TVs all over the place and just two plasma's, and they were older Samsung industrial monitors. The RP CRTs were older and fewer with DLP's abounding. Lots of JVC and Sony.

I got such a good deal on my 42HDT52A I went in on a 4 year. Yes the plasma is high dollar to fix.

I am interested in hooking up an HTPC to the 42HDS52.

I sent Hitachi an email asking about the best way to do this and this was their reply:

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

Unfortunately, we would not recommend connection this unit or any plasma units to a computer. While it is true that you could possibly obtain a video card that would output HDMI or components, but there is a possibility that you could get "pattern burn" on your television by hooking a computer to it due to the static non moving images.

If you have any further questions about any Hitachi product, please call our technical assistance number at 1-800-HITACHI. Please reference your e-mail address when you call in as a customer service file has been created based upon your e-mail contact. Again, thank you for your interest in Hitachi.

Mike

Hitachi Consumer Electronics :confused:


Any thoughts on this?

What is the best way to hook up an HTPC to this TV? Has anyone done it? I hear that the resolutions on this TV are a bit non standard and that it makes hooking up an HTPC a bit of a chore.

Hey there, I just got my 55HDT52 and did some testing with it over the last week. Unfortunately it's out of commission right now while my contractor tears up my wall for a wall mount solution. (It is HEAVY.) I've hooked up my PC to it via DVI to HDMI - PC resolution set to 1280x720 and it looks awesome. I use Snapstream's Beyond TV to record standard def tv - the software interface looks unbelievable, but the sd video looks like crap of course. I tried to play one of my video games in HD, but the HDMI input will not accept 1280x768 - the HD resolution offered by the game - it didn't offer 1280x720, the resolution that worked. I couldn't get it to accept 1920x1080 either. I was also concerned about burn-in from the high contrast / static computer images from the PC, but I've made the following "fixes" to resolve my worries:
- Autohide taskbar
- WinXP desktop (not classic)
- hidden all icons on desktop with TweakUI (from MS site)
- made background image solid black
- set screensaver (blank screen) to activate after 1 min
- turned on the awesome Beyond TV 4 screensaver which dims the image by about 80% - set to activate after 1 min. If watching a show via Beyond TV it won't go off, but at the end of a recording it goes back to the menu - which has a lot of bright lines that are bad for plasmas as you all know. My kids are notorious for leaving the menu up, so this feature is huge.

I'm looking forward to watching some HD programming - Adelphia cable comes out in a couple of days. Woohoo!

I have the 42" version of your TV. I had a Sony and a Hitachi RP-CRT that had the bad SD untill I bypassed the SA 8000 STB and ran right from the wall. It was better but not as good as I see it now.
When the 42HDT52 came into play coupled with the SA 8300 STB using HDMI, the SD is fantastic. It is as good as it is delivered. Better than directly into the TV tuner for sure.

I know we can not talk pice on this Forum, but at my CC they have an open box 55 inch 55HDS52, on sale for what I think is a good price. What do you guys think about an open box? It is on display as well :( .

what % discount would you guys consider a good deal? For an open box and one on display? Also the 3 year coverage is 500.00 bones :eek: . this might be a case that it is worth it, but then the pice is up to what I saw it online for?

Anyhow just wanted to know what % would be considered a "Holly Cow" need to buy deal

Personally I like my stuff new. But if my budget really needed the break, to feel better about it I would have the get a better than online price and the Warranty for Free or I would save up for a new one. Personally that is.

Then there is the hours used issue. Go back, get the remote, and do a Menu, Menu, 8 , Select. Don't tell them you are going to do this or he may freak and not let you. This should get you into a service menu. I sometimes have to do this twice to get in. On the second page you can get to the hour meter.

How do they have it setup? Is the contrast and brightness maxed out?

Hello all.
Happy owner of a 42HDS52. I've been lurking and learning a lot from these posts for a while. Now need to ask two of my own questions:

1. Does anybody know if the two included IR blasters used for the A/V Net can be used to with another universal remote? DVD and recevier are in a closed cabinet beneath the TV and am wondering if I can use the IR blaster with a Harmony remote, or if I need to go buy another IR transmitter.

2. Programming that Harmony I was looking around for discrete codes for various input options. On the Hitachi website there's a PDF document about the remote that explains how to get to find discrete codes. I found what I wanted but I also noticed two functions I didn't understand: One for VirtualHD 1080i, one for VirtualHD 540p. And a third, a "VirtualHD Toggle." I've read about the set's VirtualHD 1080i, but I wasnt aware this was something that could be turned on and off. I trid toggling but couldn't notice a difference in picture quality and when I pressed Info there didn't seem to be any change listed. What am I missing here?

Anyway, the first question is more pressing as I really don't want to have to buy anything new if the IR blasters will work. The second, more of a curiosity, as the TV looks fine as it stands.

Many thanks for any help/advice.

and liking it very much. This TV is not my intro HD, it is my 3rd HD set and is by far the best. The overall performance of this set is amazing, even the SD has impressed me more than any other I have seen.

When I decided to get a plasma for my living room I initially did not even consider Hitachi. I was looking at the Panny, Samsung, and the Toshiba. So I set out to see as many as I could and let my eyes decide. I went to a local dealer and got a good look at all the sets I was considering but I kept coming back to this nice looking black set in the corner. I didn't know much about it except that it looked incredible compared to the rest (all were running off same feed). So of course I had to do some research on this set just to make sure those getting them were not experiencing major problems (thanks to all those posting in the hitachi thread, some good stuff). Looked around for a few more days and decided I had already found the winner...Most of my friends have plasmas and or lcd's and to my eyes this thing takes the cake.

Just a few questions for you all that have had the set for a while. While this is not by first HD set it is my first plasma and was wondering what precautions I should take to prevent IR, ie should I have the setting set a certain way during break in, if so how was yours set? or any tips in general. Also, my cable box has DVI out put to HDMI on the set, I have a DVI to HDMI cable, but how do I get the audio? I am currently running component cables. Thanks, Steve.

I'm using a Harmony 676 and the IR blasters work just fine linking to my satellite, av receiver and DVD player.

No idea about question 2...


Hello all.
Happy owner of a 42HDS52. I've been lurking and learning a lot from these posts for a while. Now need to ask two of my own questions:

1. Does anybody know if the two included IR blasters used for the A/V Net can be used to with another universal remote? DVD and recevier are in a closed cabinet beneath the TV and am wondering if I can use the IR blaster with a Harmony remote, or if I need to go buy another IR transmitter.

2. Programming that Harmony I was looking around for discrete codes for various input options. On the Hitachi website there's a PDF document about the remote that explains how to get to find discrete codes. I found what I wanted but I also noticed two functions I didn't understand: One for VirtualHD 1080i, one for VirtualHD 540p. And a third, a "VirtualHD Toggle." I've read about the set's VirtualHD 1080i, but I wasnt aware this was something that could be turned on and off. I trid toggling but couldn't notice a difference in picture quality and when I pressed Info there didn't seem to be any change listed. What am I missing here?

Anyway, the first question is more pressing as I really don't want to have to buy anything new if the IR blasters will work. The second, more of a curiosity, as the TV looks fine as it stands.

Many thanks for any help/advice.

Just a few questions for you all that have had the set for a while. While this is not by first HD set it is my first plasma and was wondering what precautions I should take to prevent IR, ie should I have the setting set a certain way during break in, if so how was yours set? or any tips in general. Also, my cable box has DVI out put to HDMI on the set, I have a DVI to HDMI cable, but how do I get the audio? I am currently running component cables. Thanks, Steve.
Read the thread "break in DVD" here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=583089) and learn a ton! Also read the sticky here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=608677), though it's 50 pages and counting... First thing is to crank the brightness and contrast waaaaay down for the first few hundred hours.

I also bought the 42HDT52A two weeks ago and am loving it. Just hooked up my HD DVD player tonight - very happy indeed!

and liking it very much. While this is not by first HD set it is my first plasma and was wondering what precautions I should take to prevent IR, ie should I have the setting set a certain way during break in, if so how was yours set? or any tips in general. Also, my cable box has DVI out put to HDMI on the set, I have a DVI to HDMI cable, but how do I get the audio? I am currently running component cables. Thanks, Steve.

I did the same thing. Went looking for a Panny and seen the Hitachi 42HDT52A and took it home.
I went with 48% and below on brightnesas and contrast for 100 hours with the color way down also. I am now just above 50% on both and color is up some too and I'm happy. No regrets. When I first bumped it all up she seemed washed out a tad until I added more color.
I am HDMI to HDMI and get my audio via optical cable to my reciver from the SA 8300 STB.

Thanks for the info. I figured out the audio, since this box does not have HDMI I am running DVI to HDMI and running the audio through component cables. I will be going to comcast to see if I can get a box with HDMI output. I turned the settings down, currently running 46 on both contrast and brightness 41 on color. The more I watch the more I like what I see, could not be more satisfied with this set.

How are you guys mounting your TVs? I'm looking at the 55HDT52 and want to wall mount it. The side of the TV will be clearly visible from the front foyer, so the less clutter, the better. I really like the Chief PAC-500 with one of the swing arms, but the MSRP is near $700. Has anyone found anything as good, but for a better price?

Thanks,
CJ

I have yet to find the HDS52 on-line. The only place to get it is at CC. If anyone knows of another vendor, please forward along. This set has great pq and some nice features. Can't figure out why Hitachi does not spread the wealth a bit more.


I've found another source; however, it's a membership-only direct-retailer (for some reason, BestBuy is not a fan of Hitachi products, as they don't carry any of them, not even their disk drives). I have the 42HDS69 on my radar. You can also check [EDIT] (SEARS Online).

I have been looking at the 42HDX62A. I am very impressed. Can anyone tell me what the numbers and letters mean? X vs S and T etc and the 62A. I am on the verge of purchasing this but have not been able to do side by sides with other screens and types like the LCOS Sony variant. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.


The X is the top-drawer UltraVision CineForm Director's Series (equivalent to Sony XBR3 series due in September in the US). The T is the UltraVision CineForm (Sony XBR2 series, also due in September). S is the *standard* UltraVision (non-XBR BRAVIA). Other than the screen types (the UltraVision models in all three groups are plasmas, while all BRAVIAs in this size range are LCDs), the other big difference is that the UltraVision models all support CableCARD, while the post-September BRAVIAs do not (the discontinued XBR1 models *do* support CC, so if you want a BRAVIA and need CC, get an XBR1 while you can). Also, the surprise is that I'm seeing the T series selling for *less* than the closest-sized BRAVIA XBR1 (let alone the XBR2, which has a higher SRP): example being the 42HDT52 undercutting the KDL-V40XBR1 by a significant sum.

I haven't heard anything about Hitachi coming out with new models in two months, so what's with the pricing drops? It's like all of a sudden plasmas have decided to get into a serious *price war* with LCDs (I never thought I would see the day when a new non-ED plasma would actually cost less than a smaller LCD).

BestBuy is not a fan of Hitachi products, as they don't carry any of them, not even their disk drives).

Mine does and so does Bestbuy.com :confused:

[EDIT]

I just bought the 42HDS52 for a KILLER price i couldnt pass up, with a FREE 3 yr warranty!
Anyhow i was wondering what i need to do to get OTA HD channels, or do i need some sorta of cable box to get them? I have a digital cable box from cox, and theres HD channels in the 700's, but they never show up on the TV. Any advice, suggestions and help would greatly be apperciated. Thanks in advance.

Heres the description from CC:

HDTV: The built-in high-definition tuner makes it simple to access brilliant HD programming. TV shows, movies and sporting events will take on a whole new life.

All three series have QAM support and support CableCARD. If the set has multiple RF inputs, you would use the non-antenna RF input for cable (including *unencrypted* digital cable). If all the HD channels are encrypted (which is typical Cox policy) then get a CableCARD from Cox.

Why burden yourself with the BBB (Big Bulky Box) when you don't have to?

Hi PGHammer,

Could you PM me with the "source" you found?
I am shopping for a FP right now......

Thanks!

JL

Hi PGHammer,

Could you PM me with the "source" you found?
I am shopping for a FP right now......

Thanks!

JL



You have PM, fella.

Here's the situation: I have *both* Hitachis on my radar, and they are priced *less* than $200 apart, though neither is on sale. Both have all the features I would want (so deciding based on feature set does me no good at all). Both sets support CableCARD, and while the HDT52 includes the powered stand, I'll be wall-mounting the TV, so the stand does me no good. I've seen the S model, but I have not seen the T anywhere. The set will be viewing a mix of SD and HD (more SD than HD for now), but will also be connected to a Toshiba HD-A1 via HDMI (which will be purchased at the same time as the set) Viewing distance will be, at worst, eight feet (bedroom). Given the source mix, which would be the better purchase?

PGHammer,
I think your choice may come down to aesthetics. Being slightly biased (I have the S52), I just don't like the silver frame on the S69.

Happy hunting.

[QUOTE=PGHammer]Here's the situation: I have *both* Hitachis on my radar/QUOTE]

Don't let the swivel stand run you off. I'll bet you can get 200 or 300 for it here. It will fit the larger HDT plasmas' as well. I would save it. I use it allot.
I have the 42HDT52A and love it. It has all the features one could need. Great picture. Great HD&SD.

Does any one know if there is a way to hack into a 42HDS52A and change side bar default from ugly light gray to black? I'm not concerned with burn-in when using black side bars which I do use frequently. I'm just tired of having to scroll through video menu and set side bars to black every time I watch 4:3 aspect movie or program.

Thanks,

slannes

Hey all,
I've read through about 40 pages of this thread, but am running out of time to get a question answered - so I thought I would go ahead and ask it. Is there a firmware version for the 42HDS52A more current that V0100.0003? I still have the contrast flicker issue that many were annoyed with back in the earlier pages of this thread. My panel is a December 2005 build and I purchased it from CC about 20 days ago. All told, I love the display and the imagery that this panel provides - just still grating over the flicker while viewing dark scenes. If you have a 42HDS52 and have received a firmware update - could you PM me or post on the thread to let me (and maybe others) know. Thanks.

-Coleslaw
42HDS52A owner

Does any one know if there is a way to hack into a 42HDS52A and change side bar default from ugly light gray to black? I'm not concerned with burn-in when using black side bars which I do use frequently. I'm just tired of having to scroll through video menu and set side bars to black every time I watch 4:3 aspect movie or program.

Thanks,

slannes

Not sure if you can but you can look around the service menu at, menu, menu, 8, select. Be carefull in there.
Let us know.

Hey all,
Is there a firmware version for the 42HDS52A more current that V0100.0003? I still have the contrast flicker issue that many were annoyed with back in the earlier pages of this thread. My panel is a December 2005 build and I purchased it from CC about 20 days ago. All told, I love the display and the imagery that this panel provides - just still grating over the flicker while viewing dark scenes. If you have a 42HDS52 and have received a firmware update - could you PM me or post on the thread to let me (and maybe others) know. Thanks.

-Coleslaw
42HDS52A owner

Mine is a May of 06 "A" unit. The firmware is V0102.0001. As per Hitachi as of last week this is the latest version for the "A" units.
If anyone calls Hitachi, you need to be sure they understand if yours is an "A" model or not. They do not share the same software.
I have no dark scene flicker.

Mine is a May of 06 "A" unit. The firmware is V0102.0001. As per Hitachi as of last week this is the latest version for the "A" units.
If anyone calls Hitachi, you need to be sure they understand if yours is an "A" model or not. They do not share the same software.
I have no dark scene flicker.
I seem to have the dark scene flicker issue on rare occasions. I also have the "A" version/April 2006/firmware?? as I'm not home at the moment...

I think I do have the latest firmware, though...

EDIT: Firmware is V0102.0001, which is supposedly the latest for the 42HDT52A series... Note the 42HDT52 has a different latest firmware listed elsewhere within this forum.

Has anyone tried the new OPPO 970HD DVD player with the Hitachi? I'd like to know how well 480i HDMI works with the internal processor. Considering it vs. the 971H with the Farouja processor.


I too am interested in Oppo 970. I'm going to pull the trigger on either the 970 or 971, but would like to hear everyone's (anyone's) oppinion (punn intended :D )on the 970 vs the 971. I have the 42HDT52.

Thanks

I too am interested in Oppo 970. I'm going to pull the trigger on either the 970 or 971, but would like to hear everyone's (anyone's) oppinion (punn intended :D )on the 970 vs the 971. I have the 42HDT52.

Thanks

Would also like to hear which Oppo for too choose for a given application.

I know it's been less than half a day, but nobody on this thread or the 970 thread seems to have the HDT52 ---> 970 combo, so I pulled the trigger on the 970. I should have it Monday. Once I get it hooked up, I'll post my impressions. Don't get too excited yet - I'm a wanttabe Video/Audiophile and am still learning the ropes. I've used the THX optimizer to "calibrate" my 42HDT52, but I'm not 100% satisfied w/ the settings yet. I know there are 2 dedcated disks that everyone seems to be using - what are the pros/cons of each. Either one better for calibrating the HDT52 series?

Cheers - Josh

Thanks all,

Okay - I emailed Hitachi support and they suggested that I call them direct as they have noted the problems that I had reported (the contrast flicker) and created a customer service file. I'll let you know what I find out after talking to them.

Coleslaw
42HDS52A owner

Not sure if you can but you can look around the service menu at, menu, menu, 8, select. Be carefull in there.
Let us know.

Thanks, but I don't dare play around with the service menu unless I get report from this thread that switch from default gray side bar to black has and thus can be done.

Thanks again,

slannes

Thanks, but I don't dare play around with the service menu unless I get report from this thread that switch from default gray side bar to black has and thus can be done.

Thanks again,

slannes

Slannes - which model do you have? My 42HDT52 has that as a standard feature. Page 46 of the manual tells you how to turn on/off the blackbars. You should have the option of "Black Side Panel" in your video menu (std menu, not system menu). Just turn it to "on" to get the black side panels. I think this only comes into play if you're watching 4:3 content. Also, if you're image is coming from a STB, make sure that doesn't have a function that is overriding the Hitachi options - my Dish box tries to do this.

**EDIT**
Just read that you have the HDS model - no idea if that's an option or not. sorry :(

Slannes - which model do you have? My 42HDT52 has that as a standard feature. Page 46 of the manual tells you how to turn on/off the blackbars. You should have the option of "Black Side Panel" in your video menu (std menu, not system menu). Just turn it to "on" to get the black side panels. I think this only comes into play if you're watching 4:3 content. Also, if you're image is coming from a STB, make sure that doesn't have a function that is overriding the Hitachi options - my Dish box tries to do this.

**EDIT**
Just read that you have the HDS model - no idea if that's an option or not. sorry :(

Yes my 42HDS52A does have same option to convert gray side bars to black by scrolling down video menu to change default setting but only each time unit turned on. My hope was a way of changing gray default side bars to black permanently. But, appears there is no method to do so. I see no difference between Image Retention or Burn-In from default black horizontal bars determined by program content which does not default to gray by unit when running 2:35 content opposed to gray defaulted by unit instead of black side bars for 4:3 content. Was just trying to save a redundant step every time TV turned on. HD broadcasts in 4:3 do have black side bars which override gray default but DVDs and all non HD channels 4:3 content require changing gray to black manually. Thus, I give up ---------apparently can't be done! :mad:

slannes

Yes my 42HDS52A does have same option to convert gray side bars to black by scrolling down video menu to change default setting but only each time unit turned on. My hope was a way of changing gray default side bars to black permanently. But, appears there is no method to do so. I see no difference between Image Retention or Burn-In from default black horizontal bars determined by program content which does not default to gray by unit when running 2:35 content opposed to gray defaulted by unit instead of black side bars for 4:3 content. Was just trying to save a redundant step every time TV turned on. HD broadcasts in 4:3 do have black side bars which override gray default but DVDs and all non HD channels 4:3 content require changing gray to black manually. Thus, I give up ---------apparently can't be done! :mad:

slannes

Forgot to mention ---------no I do not use STB due to lousy SD Comcast PQ. So uses Cable Card.

slannes

Forgot to mention ---------no I do not use STB due to lousy SD Comcast PQ. So uses Cable Card.

slannes

Further comment:

Hitachi's and, as fact, all Plasma manufacturers discourage black VERTICAL side bars for 4:3 content unless 15% or less of viewing. But, none discourage black HORIZONTAL bars which can't be changed to gray or defaulted to, fortunately. My very first DVDs run on unit during first 100 hours, in fact first hours were long movies 'Pulp Fiction', 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Kill Bill II'. All three 2:35 DVDs had black horizontal bars. No image retention or burn-in whatsoever. My contention is Hitachi and all other Plasma manufacturers don't discourage viewing content with black horizontal bars because they have no gray horizontal default, only gray vertical bars default, and zooming 2:35 to 1:69 cuts off much of content. So why not option of changing gray side bars default to black? I must presume burn-in of horizontal bars could not result in warranty denial due to warnings coffined to side bars only. Absurd! :eek:

slannes

.......... may have your side bar answer but you need to know how.

The top black bars are mostly apart of the incomming content, not produced by the Tv, being is the case most of the time.

That's strange, because on the HDT52, once I set the black bars to "on," they stay on. I still end up stretching/zooming 4:3 content to fill the screen because I'm a victim of burn-in paranoia. Just call me Rain Man - "Yeah, gotta be zoomed, definitely zoomed" :p Good point about the horizontal bars - never thought of it like that. Anyone out there have a valid explanation why vert is bad but horiz is ok?

I've experienced a lot of ghosting from the Dish menus/guides. I also hate the fact that their HD STB (the 811) has the worst graphics for a plasma (compared to their SD receiver). I've actually moved the 811 to my smaller Olevia LCD screen because the non-HD reciever has more "movement" in the graphics, especially w/ the Sirius stations. I'm somehow surviving w/o the 4 or so HD channels (only 2 of which are worth watching) on the Hitachi. I wish Dish had a cable card, although the DVR feature is nice. It's not available in the 811 unless you pay the $200 "upgrade" charge.

Guess horizontal black bars is a general burn- in concern too------

http://www.plasmasaver.com/burnin.html

------------ but again, no horizontal black bars mentioned in Plasma warranty exclusions.

To me black is black wherever from and wherever on display ------ sides and/or top and bottom Plasma display acreage since in my opinion------- uneven wear is uneven wear.

Any help to permanently change my gray sidebar default to black greatly appreciated. The risk of burn- in is all mine. My condo's trash bin will easily accommodate dumping my 42" Hitachi 42HDS52A Plasma in if I get burn-in (due to "vertical" black side bars not covered by warranty if used 15% of time ----- so 14.999% covered --who clocks use? ) and will accommodate packaging from it successor -----an LCD.

Thanks again for input.

slannes

To comply with 15% black side bars warranty limitation--------- suppose I can watch

HEIST
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Run Time: 111 minutes

approximately seven times so I can watch once with black bars:

WHITE HEAT
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Run Time: 113 minutes

Insane compromises to enjoy movies on plasma displays marketed for enhanced viewing enjoyment!

slannes

Good point about the horizontal bars - never thought of it like that. Anyone out there have a valid explanation why vert is bad but horiz is ok?


Sorry, my point on the horizontal bars is they cannot be controled by the menu.

Yes my 42HDS52A does have same option to convert gray side bars to black by scrolling down video menu to change default setting but only each time unit turned on. My hope was a way of changing gray default side bars to black permanently. But, appears there is no method to do so. I see no difference between Image Retention or Burn-In from default black horizontal bars determined by program content which does not default to gray by unit when running 2:35 content opposed to gray defaulted by unit instead of black side bars for 4:3 content. Was just trying to save a redundant step every time TV turned on. HD broadcasts in 4:3 do have black side bars which override gray default but DVDs and all non HD channels 4:3 content require changing gray to black manually. Thus, I give up ---------apparently can't be done! :mad:

slannes
Go into the menu, there should be an option to "RESET VIDEO SETTINGS" or something like that. Select "NO" so that it does not revert back to factory settings after powering off. My 42HDT52A does have that option, the HDS should too. Refer to the HDT's manual on page 46 (easily downloaded from the Hitachi website here (http://www.hitachi.us/tv/resource/prodsupport/ownmanuals.shtml)).

Go into the menu, there should be an option to "RESET VIDEO SETTINGS" or something like that. Select "NO" so that it does not revert back to factory settings after powering off. My 42HDT52A does have that option, the HDS should too. Refer to the HDT's manual on page 46 (easily downloaded from the Hitachi website here (http://www.hitachi.us/tv/resource/prodsupport/ownmanuals.shtml)).
Thanks. I tried but to no avail. Gray side bars still there on next power up regardless of selecting NO. So is default that must be changed every time powered on. Possibly a warranty out for Hitachi if IR or burn-in results from trying to override this strict embedded default. All other settings, contrast brightness etc. do not reset to factory settings when selecting NO but do when selecting YES so Reset Video Settings menu selection does work. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/icons/icon8.gif
Angry

Thanks again,

slannes

Go into the menu, there should be an option to "RESET VIDEO SETTINGS" or something like that. Select "NO" so that it does not revert back to factory settings after powering off. My 42HDT52A does have that option, the HDS should too. Refer to the HDT's manual on page 46 (easily downloaded from the Hitachi website here (http://www.hitachi.us/tv/resource/prodsupport/ownmanuals.shtml)).

Thanks. I tried but to no avail. Gray side bars still there on next power up regardless of selecting NO. So is default that must be changed every time powered on. Possibly a warranty out for Hitachi if IR or burn-in results from trying to override this strict embedded default. All other settings, contrast brightness etc. do not reset to factory settings when selecting NO but do when selecting YES so Reset Video Settings menu selection does function.

Thanks again,

slannes

Thanks. I tried but to no avail. Gray side bars still there on next power up regardless of selecting NO.
Weird - that's too bad. Hopefully it won't be an issue down the road...

Sorry, my point on the horizontal bars is they cannot be controled by the menu.

I get that, but then why don't all of the plasma manufacturers warn you that you need to zoom, etc any letter box content or limit it to 15% of your viewing. According to most of the posts I've read, you "void" your warrantee if you watch more than 15% black bar.

Oppo showed up on my doorstep this morning, right after I left for work. Just got home from work and haven't hooked it up yet. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to wait until tomorrow for my "review".

Hey Fellow Hitachi Owners:

I have a 42 inch HDS52A, bought in January and I've had nothing but problems with it. I too have the "flicker" that many forum members complain about. What more annoying is, and what seems unique to my TV, is that I have this white/green band or streak that you can see on the sides of my screen. It appears like a white haze during dark movie scenes, and like a light green images during very bright white scenes.

I have called hitachi numerous times, and had a service provider actually take the tv in to their shop. After being in the shop for three weeks, the technician called me saying that he could find nothing wrong with my TV. He theorized that it might be some interference inside my home. When they returned the TV, there was a nick on the glass. Fortunately, they were good about it and replaced the glass screen. I was just happy to finally get my TV back that I ignored this growing problem for a couple of months, but now its irritating me again.

Unfortunately, the problem has not gone away, in fact it might have become worse. The flicker does not annoy me as much as more as the white/green band. The problem is not with any of my cables, since I have both cable and satellite with Component/hdmi connections. I'm reluctant to call Hitachi back, because Im afraid that they would just take my TV again for almost a month just to find nothing wrong. My question is: Could there be anything Im doing that is causing this band/streak image problem? I tend to doubt it, but I want to check with fellow owners before I call Hitachi back. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :mad:

Hey Fellow Hitachi Owners:

I have a 42 inch HDS52A, bought in January and I've had nothing but problems with it.
Sounds horrible. I would be raising the roof for a replacment. Call Hitachi. Check you temper if you have one. Flys, will not come to vinagar. Tell them the service people could not fix it so they claimed not to see it. Ask for a better service person to come to your home and see the problem as is. Tell them about the chipped glass thing.

Good Luck!

I recently purchased the 42" 42HDT52a and wall mounted the unit. Thus, I have an unused electric Power Swivel Stand available. It's in brand new condition and has been used exactly once -- when I removed the TV from the box, I tested to confirm it was in full operation order.

The base comes with the power cord. Not sure if it's the same base for the 55" TV, but it should fit any of the 42" Hitachi CineForm plasma. However, check with Hitachi if you have any doubts.

If you're interested, check out item number 230006567084 on e bay. Or, drop me a line at 310-597-6091 and we can talk.

Jim

Hey Fellow Hitachi Owners:

I have a 42 inch HDS52A, bought in January and I've had nothing but problems with it. I too have the "flicker" that many forum members complain about. What more annoying is, and what seems unique to my TV, is that I have this white/green band or streak that you can see on the sides of my screen. It appears like a white haze during dark movie scenes, and like a light green images during very bright white scenes.

I have called hitachi numerous times, and had a service provider actually take the tv in to their shop. After being in the shop for three weeks, the technician called me saying that he could find nothing wrong with my TV. He theorized that it might be some interference inside my home. When they returned the TV, there was a nick on the glass. Fortunately, they were good about it and replaced the glass screen. I was just happy to finally get my TV back that I ignored this growing problem for a couple of months, but now its irritating me again.

Unfortunately, the problem has not gone away, in fact it might have become worse. The flicker does not annoy me as much as more as the white/green band. The problem is not with any of my cables, since I have both cable and satellite with Component/hdmi connections. I'm reluctant to call Hitachi back, because Im afraid that they would just take my TV again for almost a month just to find nothing wrong. My question is: Could there be anything Im doing that is causing this band/streak image problem? I tend to doubt it, but I want to check with fellow owners before I call Hitachi back. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :mad:

I'll tell you what man, I will never ever, EVER buy another Hitachi product after my run ins with their sub-standard customer service. Basically I had a similar issue, but unlike you, they've had my set since January 12th!! I've talked politely, screamed, begged, and even threatened, and finally I am to receive a new display tomorrow after 7 months with an empty mounting bracket on my wall. The set I purchased initially was the 42hdf52(all black unit), and they are replacing it with the s69 model(gray), wich erks the hell out of me. I have no choice in the matter I'm told. The whole ordeal is the most ridiculous thing I have ever dealt with in my life, and feel as though its my duty to let others know about the shotty service I received. I even had a regional manager from Circuit City tell me that they are trying to pull Hitachi from their stores due to this exact problem.

Anyone interested in a brand spankin new in the box 42s69??

I'll tell you what man, I will never ever, EVER buy another Hitachi product after my run ins with their sub-standard customer service. Basically I had a similar issue, but unlike you, they've had my set since January 12th!! I've talked politely, screamed, begged, and even threatened, and finally I am to receive a new display tomorrow after 7 months with an empty mounting bracket on my wall. The set I purchased initially was the 42hdf52(all black unit), and they are replacing it with the s69 model(gray), wich erks the hell out of me. I have no choice in the matter I'm told. The whole ordeal is the most ridiculous thing I have ever dealt with in my life, and feel as though its my duty to let others know about the shotty service I received. I even had a regional manager from Circuit City tell me that they are trying to pull Hitachi from their stores due to this exact problem.

Anyone interested in a brand spankin new in the box 42s69??

7 months!!! Are you kidding me, and you are getting a different model now?! That sucks! Unfortunatley, you are experiencing my worst nightmare, If I report my problem now, I wont see my TV again for months!

You said that you had a similar issue like mine, did you have that green/white band I wrote about? If so, did Hitachi ever tell you what the problem was? I keep hearing that it might be my power source, though I dont think so. Has Circuit City experienced the same problem we have?

Good luck man.

I'll tell you what man, I will never ever, EVER buy another Hitachi product after my run ins with their sub-standard customer service. Basically I had a similar issue, but unlike you, they've had my set since January 12th!! I've talked politely, screamed, begged, and even threatened, and finally I am to receive a new display tomorrow after 7 months with an empty mounting bracket on my wall. The set I purchased initially was the 42hdf52(all black unit), and they are replacing it with the s69 model(gray), wich erks the hell out of me. I have no choice in the matter I'm told. The whole ordeal is the most ridiculous thing I have ever dealt with in my life, and feel as though its my duty to let others know about the shotty service I received. I even had a regional manager from Circuit City tell me that they are trying to pull Hitachi from their stores due to this exact problem.

Anyone interested in a brand spankin new in the box 42s69??

No excuse for the time lag but you are going from an ED to an HD set.

Sorry to hear about everyone's issues, but I've been happy as hell w/ my set. The low light flicker does occasionally annoy me, but the setting that someone posted above helped with that issue. It's still there, but definitely not as noticable.

Anyway - I was hoping to be able to submit a decent review on the Oppo HD970/Hitachi 42HDT52 combo. However, I have a 4 month old at home that occupies most of my time, so I'll just give my initial impressions (have not yet calibrated display w/ this DVD player). Overall the picture is a huge improvement over the old Pio I had. The picture is much more film/life like. I left image settings on the player at the factory defaults and made only a few tweaks to my HDT52. I think the best two things I can say about the 970 were actually said by my wife, "Wow that is thin and cool looking" and "I can't believe the picture, even I can see a big improvement!". I didn't notice a big difference between 480i and the 720p inputs, so for now am running it at 720p. That may change once I have a chance to calibrate everything. Once I get a little more time to calibrate the vid settings, I'll try to post a more in depth review.

I also had a chance to play an SACD through it (Ray Charles) and was amazed at the sound. It really brought out the detail in the songs. I can now justify my recent purchase of some Paradigm Studio 40's - and I again got the "wow" look of approval from the wife. I did an "A/B" test with my Sony CD player (non-SACD) and the Oppo and I can say that I'll be listening to all of my hybrid CDs on the Oppo.

Overall I'm very happy with the player and I think you'll be hard pressed to find a better player, especially at $150.

I think the best two things I can say about the 970 were actually said by my wife, "Wow that is thin and cool looking" and "I can't believe the picture, even I can see a big improvement!".

Wife factor is always important. I too have had next to no problems with my plasma.

With everyone so happy with upconverting and the rollout of HD channels and HD content so slow, I am wondering if I should go the upconverting route.

A nice Harmon Kardon AVR745 could upconvert all my video sources. The problem is it costs almost as much as my plasma. Not sure the wife factor would buy in. ;)

No excuse for the time lag but you are going from an ED to an HD set.
Nope - these are both HD sets:
42HDF52 (http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/plasma/plasma/42hdf52.shtml) = 1024x1024
42HDS69 (http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/plasma/plasma/42hds69.shtml) = 1024x1080i

Both still better than everyone else's 1024x768.

JBH, I hope you have better luck w/ the HDS69, should you keep it. Personally, you should bark up the food chain a bit more a demand the 42HDT79 - or better yet, the 42HDX99... It's the least they could do for all your frustration.

Odd, I always thought the F series was ED. They surely did not compare to the S or above on features and PQ.

So how about 3 HMDIs to 1 DVI input.

Seriously, I hope I can stay happy with Hitachi. These plasmas cannot be factored into my disposable income category.

You said that you had a similar issue like mine, did you have that green/white band I wrote about? If so, did Hitachi ever tell you what the problem was? I keep hearing that it might be my power source, though I dont think so. Has Circuit City experienced the same problem we have?

Good luck man.

The pproblem I had was ghosting/hazing related. Basically I had a bad display out of the box. What sucked for me was I had it in storage past the warranty period from CC and was forced to deal with Craptachi.

I like your guys suggestions about the possibility of an upgrade to the "t' or even "x'' series, but at this point I just want my damn display. Hell I would have been happy with an exact replacement.

Wife factor is always important. I too have had next to no problems with my plasma.

With everyone so happy with upconverting and the rollout of HD channels and HD content so slow, I am wondering if I should go the upconverting route.

A nice Harmon Kardon AVR745 could upconvert all my video sources. The problem is it costs almost as much as my plasma. Not sure the wife factor would buy in. ;)

I'm also frustrated w/ how slow HD content is coming out for cable/sat. I really am finding it hard to justify the extra cost for a few channels I almost never watch.

There has been a ton of postive feedback from folks using external converters over on the Oppo HD970 thread. I'd love to go that route, but can find a lot of other upgrades I'd rather make for the money.

I've found that with the WAF, if I just go ahead and make the upgrade - she usually likes the results. When I went from 2 channel (Yamaha RX770) to surround (Yamaha RXV1000), she thought I was crazy for spending that much. Now she loves it. Same thing when I added an external amp and then upgraded speakers (4 upgrades since we been together). Although I think I'm done now that I have the Studio 40's. Now I just need to convince her to let me run the Studio 20's for surrounds. The HD970 is one of the first upgrades I didn't have to sit her down and "make her pay attention" to realize the difference.

The set I purchased initially was the 42hdf52(all black unit), and they are replacing it with the s69 model(gray), wich erks the hell out of me.

Anyone interested in a brand spankin new in the box 42s69??

I finally got to see this set in person. It's not gray, it's actually like brushed aluminium and the bezel is really narrow. It looks really clean, and high quality, like an Apple notebook. Honestly except for the panel itself being a lighter smoky color when turned off than some of the super black panels, I think it's probably the best looking set I saw in the store. I was watching up converted DVDs on the set and the picture was really great. The only set that looked better in the store was a 40inch from HP (go figure). It was even better than the Panasonic everyone raves about. It didn't crush blacks. My only gripe was that the picture looked a little noisy on House of Flying Daggers epecially on scenes that had highly detailed backgrounds with lots of different colors. Episode III, Stealth, and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the Incredibles, looked, well, Incredible. The HP plasma was just a bit more saturated and sharper. Still this was all SD content that was up converted.

Which brings me to my question. Anyone owners care to give long winded opinions about this set? I'm shopping for my first HDTV and I'm really liking this one, but trying to justify the purchase to myself. What other sets are comparable in the 2300 or less range? How is this set for HD content?

asswipo,
Sounds like you can get an s69 from jbh613 cheap.

I have plenty of time with the TV now and would like to report what it looks like from my house.

Adelphia Cable HD is Great.
Adelphia Cable SD from wall is good.
Adelphia Cable SD through the SA8300 STB is Great.

Usually I do better SD with a straight to the TV tuner but going from a SA 8000 to the 8300 has made an improvment over the TV's tuner.

Another thing I do to make SD even better is take the time to menu into the 8300 and change from HDMI default source to upconvert 1 or 2. This changes the 480i to 480p. A noticable change at my house.

Great TV.

Hey people, haven't been on for a while and was just going thru new post here. Do love my new plasma but haven't had the time to really get into it.
Someone here mentioned accessing a service menu thru menu-menu-8, I can't seem to find this on my unit. Pressed menu twice and nothing happens. I would be interested in seeing this as for one thing it looks like it contains timers for how long the set has been on.
Also, my firmware is V0102.0001 which seems as though everyone says in the current edition. I have looked at Hitachi's site an been unable to find this info. Can someone pm me or post it here where to find the latest version available?
And finally, can someone point me to a location for suggestions on wall mounting the unit. My house will be especially hard since I have 3/4" plaster, 3/4 furing strips then double brick walls. Wall mounting was a big factor in this purchase and something I definitely want to do, just have to figure out the easiest way to accomplish it.
Thanks in advance for all your help!
B

menu-menu-8 then select, on my 42HDT52A anyway. Sometimes I have to do it 2 or three times to get it to take. It's not instant, taking a second or two to show up.. Again your model may be different.

Wall mounting? Tell about the double brick.
Are they hollow or have holes?
What is on the other side?

menu-menu-8 then select, on my 42HDT52A anyway. Sometimes I have to do it 2 or three times to get it to take. It's not instant, taking a second or two to show up.. Again your model may be different.

Wall mounting? Tell about the double brick.
Are they hollow or have holes?
What is on the other side?

I'll have to try the menu-menu again and let you know what I get.
As for the wall, it is a layer of brick then a second layer of brick which is the outer layer of brick. No hole, solid red brick from the early 50s.
Since they only put up the 3/4 furing strips you can see insulation was not even thought about in 1951.
Suggestions are appreciated!!
B

Im looking to buy the Hitachi 42HDF39....anyone got any feelings on this one?

Hello Stephen,

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



Yes, that is the current software version



If you have any further questions about any Hitachi product, please call our technical assistance number at 1-800-HITACHI. Please reference your e-mail address when you call in as a customer service file has been created based upon your e-mail contact. Again, thank you for your interest in Hitachi.



Dollie

Hitachi Home Electronics


--Original Message--
From: lannes@earthlink.net
Date: 7/19/2006 7:15:19 PM
To: customerservice.ce@hhea.hitachi.com
Subject: Hitachi Contact Form

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
STEPHEN LANNES (lannes@earthlink.net) on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at 17:12:37
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

zipCode: 95062-2764

DayTimePhone: 8314794329

CountryRegion: USA

CATEGORY: none

How can we help you: FOR MODEL: 42HDS52A
SERIAL NO. V6B011793

SOFTWARE VER. V0100.0003
IS ABOVE THE LATEST VERSION?

Hi everyone,
How does the numbering for the software/firmware versions work? I know that sounds like a really basic question, but I'm confused by what I'm reading compared with my own experience. First off, I do understand that there is a difference between the HDS52 and HDS52A lines, and I have a 42HDS52. I had reason to speak with a Hitachi tech yesterday (see my saga on the Burn-In thread if you're interested), and was told that my version of V0108.0004 was not the latest. This surprised me since I've seen numbers thrown around on this thread of V0102 and so forth, and I just assumed the numbers would be ascending. But the numbers I've seen on the forum were for the "A" line, so I really didn't think anything else of it. But now today I see a post from a user getting a reply directly from Hitachi that the current version is V0100 (again, for the A line I realize). The "current" version numbers seem to be getting "smaller." What's the deal?

Thanks,
-Brad

Is any one having sync problems on HD channels?

I have the 42HDS52 and use a cable card. On the HD channels, there's a noticeable audio/video sync problem. It's only on the HD channels.

Had the cable tech in who put a box in and the problem went away. Replaced the card and the problem returned.

Could get the box, but why pay the cable company the extra money when the card does the same thing (except for VOD which I don't want/need).

Do the Hitachi engineers read this thread? Is this a common problem? How can I resolve it?

thanks in advance.

don

Is any one having sync problems on HD channels?

Hi Don,
Do you notice the problem also when you watch DVDs? If so, what you're experiencing is most likely not a function of your specific TV, it's an extremely common and known issue with digital televisions in general. In higher resolution sources, like progressive scan DVD or HD television programming, your TV has to do a fair amount of digital processing of the video signal behind the scenes. But the audio has a less complicated "path" to follow to get to your speakers and arrives there before the video is displayed to you. The only solution I've heard of (and the one that works for me) is to delay the sound output to the speakers to allow the video to "catch up." I'm fortunate enough to have a receiver which has a global speaker delay, and I route all my sources through the receiver. The delay can be set in millisecond increments from 0 to 100, and I have to adjust based on the source. Typically I set it to 85 for DVDs, which seems to sync things up nicely. I've heard there are aftermarket devices that do the same thing that modern receivers will do, but I have no experience or recommendations for them.

Hope this helps,
-Brad

Is any one having sync problems on HD channels?

I have the 42HDS52 and use a cable card. On the HD channels, there's a noticeable audio/video sync problem. It's only on the HD channels.

Had the cable tech in who put a box in and the problem went away. Replaced the card and the problem returned.

Could get the box, but why pay the cable company the extra money when the card does the same thing (except for VOD which I don't want/need).

Do the Hitachi engineers read this thread? Is this a common problem? How can I resolve it?

thanks in advance.

don



I had similar problem with cable card. It worked well for a few months, then sync problems on a few channels, HD channels only and not all of them. Changed card, problem gone 1 day then back again. Went to box, no problem. Tried to get cable company to give me a reduced rate...best they would offer is credit for time the card gave sync problems.

I had similar problem with cable card. It worked well for a few months, then sync problems on a few channels, HD channels only and not all of them. Changed card, problem gone 1 day then back again. Went to box, no problem. Tried to get cable company to give me a reduced rate...best they would offer is credit for time the card gave sync problems.
I also have a Hitachi model 42HDS52A with CC which I must use due to inferior SD PQ with Comcast current STB. Won't have all digital STB unit 2007. In fact Comcast tech said better to wait than deal with bad SD PQ.

Only stations out of sync were local PBS station and occasionally Discovery. HBO and ESPN HD never out of sync and PBS has improved. I never bothered to have Comcast do anything to try to resolve, although they would have, since CC itself is brand carried by and installed by cable provider -----not Hitachi. I do miss VOD, TVGOS, Pay Per view etc but will not compromise with bad PQ by getting current STB. Don't watch that much HD anyway -------- tired of snake venom into bottles, lizards, flowers, travelogs etc. on Discovery, limited programming on PBS, don't watch sports and HBO usually GP family movies. I watch DVDs, TCM and other movie channels of which SD with CC outstanding and all in sync.

slannes

menu-menu-8 then select, on my 42HDT52A anyway. Sometimes I have to do it 2 or three times to get it to take. It's not instant, taking a second or two to show up.. Again your model may be different.
Any hints to make this work? I cannot get my TV ("A" model as yours) to accept this... :confused:

TV on, I assume?
Any specific input?
Press & hold buttons, or press & release?
Press quickly in succession, or wait a few seconds between presses?

Any hints to make this work? I cannot get my TV ("A" model as yours) to accept this... :confused:

TV on, I assume?
Any specific input?
Press & hold buttons, or press & release?
Press quickly in succession, or wait a few seconds between presses?

With TV on, I press Menu twice, then 8 once then Select once. I do it as fast as I can but with a deliberate press of the buttons and carfull aiming.

The user menu will come up on the first Menu press and go away after I hit select with a short pause before the service menu screen comes up.
The normal exit button closes it out.

With TV on, I press Menu twice, then 8 once then Select once. I do it as fast as I can but with a deliberate press of the buttons and carfull aiming.

The user menu will come up on the first Menu press and go away after I hit select with a short pause before the service menu screen comes up.
The normal exit button closes it out.
Thanks, will give it another try this evening. My exp. is that after the 2nd MENU press, the normal menu stays on screen, pressing 8 does nothing, then pressing SELECT just chooses the Video settings for the current input.

Hopefully I get your successful results tonight!

Thanks, will give it another try this evening. My exp. is that after the 2nd MENU press, the normal menu stays on screen, pressing 8 does nothing, then pressing SELECT just chooses the Video settings for the current input.

Hopefully I get your successful results tonight!

............what happens.

............what happens.
Still can't get this to work! I must be some kind of goof...

MENU -MENU-8 SELECT JUST OPENED SERVICE MENU ON MY 42HDS52A. BUT I FOUND NOTHING I NEEDED TO DO ONCE IN S/M MODE. I WAS HOPING I COULD FIND METHOD TO CHANGE SIDE BARS GRAY DEFAULT TO BLACK SO I DON'T HAVE TO SET EVERY TIME I WATCH 4:3 STD ASPECT CONTENT. EXIT BUTTON DID CLOSE S/M OUT.

slannes

MENU -MENU-8 SELECT JUST OPENED SERVICE MENU ON MY 42HDS52A.
Lucky! I haven't tried this again (I didn't turn the TV on last night - GASP!), but will later this week. Glad that it worked for you!

Did you notice an hours counter??

Didn't notice as I darted in and out and was just looking for any way to change gray side bar default to black. I didn't want to play around in it since for all I know it may require sub codes to access and change settings. Best for me to leave well enough alone.

slannes

Didn't notice as I darted in and out and was just looking for any way to change gray side bar default to black. I didn't want to play around in it since for all I know it may require sub codes to access and change settings. Best for me to leave well enough alone.

slannes

I entered Service Menu again but did not see any item or submenu referencing hours used. I imagine opening one of the many items might show various settings. Perhaps, its in an interesting item entitled "Maintenance." There is an item called clock set or something else— I can't recall exact name. But, again, I did not want to tamper with any settings without some guidance which is, of course, not in the Owners Manual.

slannes

I entered Service Menu again but did not see any item or submenu referencing hours used. I imagine opening one of the many items might show various settings. Perhaps, its in an interesting item entitled "Maintenance." There is an item called clock set or something else— I can't recall exact name. But, again, I did not want to tamper with any settings without some guidance which is, of course, not in the Owners Manual.

slannes

Now that my curiosity is in place — I ordered Service Manual from
http://www.asm-service-manual.com/List/Hitachi%20List%20ASM.htm

slannes

Hi All,

Has anyone experienced a low "popping" noise from their units? It is not a static sound but almost a rhythm. I use TWC cable and have their HD SA 8300 box. The sound is noticeable when the tv is off.

Any ideas?

Hi All,

Has anyone experienced a low "popping" noise from their units? It is not a static sound but almost a rhythm. I use TWC cable and have their HD SA 8300 box. The sound is noticeable when the tv is off.

Any ideas?

On my 42HDT52A I get a snap or click a couple of minutes after shut down. Almost sounds mechanical. Just one.

Does anyone have the service menu key sequence for the HDT or HDL 51 series?

Now that my curiosity is in place — I ordered Service Manual from
http://www.asm-service-manual.com/List/Hitachi%20List%20ASM.htm

slannes


Useless as is just an addendum. Yet, too large to download to this site. So will have to order full version.

slannes

I'm officially making the plunge in the next 48 hours and buying the Hitachi 42HDX62 [EDIT]. Using a Delta Sky miles Gold Car to get that third year of warranty. Before I purchase, can anyone tell me reasons NOT to buy this model? I do realize that the Hitachi 42HDX99 is coming out in a month and will be about $3000 online and it has 16 percent better picture, a Virtual III processor and a third HDMI slot, but I'd rather save the $700 I think.

I'm officially making the plunge in the next 48 hours and buying the Hitachi 42HDX62 for $2300 plus tax at my local dealer. Using a Delta Sky miles Gold Car to get that third year of warranty. Before I purchase, can anyone tell me reasons NOT to buy this model? I do realize that the Hitachi 42HDX99 is coming out in a month and will be about $3000 online and it has 16 percent better picture, a Virtual III processor and a third HDMI slot, but I'd rather save the $700 I think.
The 99 is a 1024x1080i panel while the 62 is 1024x1024. Not sure if it's worth the extra cost...that's a great price on the 62. Is that NIB or demo/open box?

I also think that the new Virtual III processor is the exact same technology as the Virtual HD 1080p II one. It's simply renamed to eliminate the misleading "1080p" statement. I read that somewhere, some time ago...

The 99 is a 1024x1080i panel while the 62 is 1024x1024. Not sure if it's worth the extra cost...that's a great price on the 62. Is that NIB or demo/open box?

I also think that the new Virtual III processor is the exact same technology as the Virtual HD 1080p II one. It's simply renamed to eliminate the misleading "1080p" statement. I read that somewhere, some time ago...


I talked to the Hitachi rep who said the Virtual III is even better at upconverting SD.

[EDIT]

I can't find a better 42 inch for [EDIT on the market that comes with a two year warranty -- bumped up to 3 years by a gold card -- can you?

I got my 42HDT52A [EDIT]

Just installed my 55HDS52, man is that thing heavy. Anyway, I'm using the built in Qam Tuner and am not really impressed with the PQ from it compared to my LG LST-3510A Tuner. Does anyone who has this set know if the PQ is better with the CableCard over the Qam Tuner. Was thinking about calling Comcast to have one installed but wanted to get some feedback from here before I do. Any response is much appreciated.

Very happy with PQ provided by Comcast HD STB. Even Tivo looks good.

42HDS52

Hope it works out for you.

Just installed my 55HDS52, man is that thing heavy. Anyway, I'm using the built in Qam Tuner and am not really impressed with the PQ from it compared to my LG LST-3510A Tuner. Does anyone who has this set know if the PQ is better with the CableCard over the Qam Tuner. Was thinking about calling Comcast to have one installed but wanted to get some feedback from here before I do. Any response is much appreciated.

The QAM on mine is is great. However, the SA 8300HDDVR is fantastic on SD on up.

Got the exact model at [EDIT] - which included the 4-yr extended warranty. Right place, right time I guess! VERY happy with the purchase overall, except for the flicker issue which seems to have improved, er gone away...PQ is unbelievable, esp. with my also-new HD DVD player.


Very happy with PQ provided by Comcast HD STB.
I have the same, too. Can't wait for the NBA to start back up as Comcast recently added ESPN2-HD & TNT-HD!

Thanks for the responses, I must say I also love the PQ on the Hitachi thru my 3510 but not with the built in tuner, to me it is only average. However is anyone using the CableCard, thats what I'm really interested in to find out if there is a big improvement when using this feature.

Lucky! I haven't tried this again (I didn't turn the TV on last night - GASP!), but will later this week. Glad that it worked for you!

Did you notice an hours counter??

Since file too large to fully attach - as you can see from attached excerpt Service Menu code is correct. I'm still trying to see if I can get default side bar gray bars converted to black default. Hundred of OSD settings through SM but I don't want to chance.

If any expert can help me to achieve side bar gray to black as default I'd sure appreciate.

slannes

Since file too large to fully attach - as you can see from attached excerpt Service Menu code is correct. I'm still trying to see if I can get default side bar gray bars converted to black default. Hundred of OSD settings through SM but I don't want to chance.

If any expert can help me to achieve side bar gray to black as default I'd sure appreciate.

slannes

I forgot attached page from Service Manual . Anybody know if through SM "Off" can be changed to "On" to convert side bar default to black? That is my sole goal.

Thanks,

slannes

Well I'm enjoying my 55" plasma but have started noticing that flicker problem during dark scenes on both cable and DVD. Does this eventually go away or is there a remedy out there to correct this issue. Any input would be appreciated.

Well I'm enjoying my 55" plasma but have started noticing that flicker problem during dark scenes on both cable and DVD. Does this eventually go away or is there a remedy out there to correct this issue. Any input would be appreciated.

Check your firmware against what has been published in this thread. If it is out of date start there.

I have not had to update my 42hds yet. Good luck.

My 42HDS52 is going to be replaced by Hitachi, under warranty, through Circuit City. In leu of a replacement, I'm thinking of upgrading, paying CC the difference in MSRP between the 42" and 55". I'm wondering if this would be a step down in PQ. While getting bigger, I would be going from 1080i to 740p. I know the the S52 is not a true 1080i, it's done electronically with smoke and mirrors, but in any case, I have been relatively happy with the PQ. In the show room, it seems the 42" is a little sharper PQ, but it's hard to tell there, for a number of reasons. Also, if I decide to stay with the 42", how much better is the 42HDS69 than the S52? If it is a big improvement, I will try to get them to give me one of those as a replacement...about the same msrp it looks like.
Edit: Looking at the Hitachi website, the S52 may no longer be available. The S69 is white, not black like mine. The rest of my gear is black and the cabinet it sits on is dark cherry. White would not look good. Also, I would lose my powered swivel. Would I be unreasonable to demand a 42HDT79 Ciniform? That would get me back in black with a power swivel.

I don't think you would be unreasonable. Why they picked silver and got rid of the stand is beyond anyones guess. Those were features that clearly seperated them from the pack. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum, I just recently bought the 42HDS52 model at Circuit City here at St. Louis MO 2 months ago. I've been wanting this TV for 7 months and I finally got it when Circuit City was getting rid of this model and replacing it with the silver S69 model or whatever it is. I got at a great price too for only $1,400, it was the last one they had at the store in there back room, they also couldn't find it anywhere else in the Saint Louis area, so I got a discount for it being discontinued and they had a sale going on that weekend on top of that also, so that was great, I got my dream TV. I love this TV so far, but I have a couple of problems:

If anyone can please help, what are the best Day and Night Video settings for this TV, its been out long enough where I know someone has to know the best settings by now, by tweaking the settings or using the AVIA DVD guide. Please help me on this, I've turned down the contrast, brightness, etc. but I still think think I can make the TV look better, plus this only for the day settings, I haven't messed with the night settings yet. So everyone please give me as much input on this TV as possible. Let me know anything you guys have learned about this TV that will help me.

Second, when I was looking through this forum I found this -

(Hey Fellow Hitachi Owners:

I have a 42 inch HDS52A, bought in January and I've had nothing but problems with it. I too have the "flicker" that many forum members complain about. What more annoying is, and what seems unique to my TV, is that I have this white/green band or streak that you can see on the sides of my screen. It appears like a white haze during dark movie scenes, and like a light green images during very bright white scenes.

I have called hitachi numerous times, and had a service provider actually take the tv in to their shop. After being in the shop for three weeks, the technician called me saying that he could find nothing wrong with my TV. He theorized that it might be some interference inside my home. When they returned the TV, there was a nick on the glass. Fortunately, they were good about it and replaced the glass screen. I was just happy to finally get my TV back that I ignored this growing problem for a couple of months, but now its irritating me again.)


Man I've got the same problem as you. I noticed it first the second day I got the TV, but its not that bad, cause you only see the white haze on my screen on both sides on the TV and on minds it looks like two halves of the letter H or something on each side of my screen during dark scenes on movies or switching inputs and the screen is dark. None of my friends really trip off of it but I do cause I notice it more since I look at it every day.
Also I see that green image a little also but ony when I use the power screen saver option in the display menu. I don't know what causes that, has anyone figured this out? I don't want to take it back to CC, cause they probably can't fix it or would want me to just upgrade to the new S69 silver model, and to me the model I got looks better and has the swivel. When I read about that guy having the same problem as me, I totally felt his pain, mines is not that bad but its annoying after awhile. So any can help or suggest anything, I'm listening.

Also this is my most important question- I guess this could be called burn-in what we may have, but is it true that a way to fix this is buy putting your TV on Air broadcast and having no attena hook-up which would cause a constant snowy or static picure (like having cable disconnected), will fix this problem or other burn in problems? I've read this on wikepidia website and other forums that by doing this for a hour on your TV will depolarising the gas particles on a plasma and clear this up. One one website on guy explained that a TV Technician told him that at there shop they leave it on a plasma TV for 24hours to fix this. Is this true? Or has anyone tried this yet, if so what where the results? I know this is a long post but this is my first Plasma and I need help on it, please answer whatever questions you can guys, thanks.

Also this is my most important question- I guess this could be called burn-in what we may have, but is it true that a way to fix this is buy putting your TV on Air broadcast and having no attena hook-up which would cause a constant snowy or static picure (like having cable disconnected), will fix this problem or other burn in problems? I've read this on wikepidia website and other forums that by doing this for a hour on your TV will depolarising the gas particles on a plasma and clear this up. One one website on guy explained that a TV Technician told him that at there shop they leave it on a plasma TV for 24hours to fix this. Is this true? Or has anyone tried this yet, if so what where the results? I know this is a long post but this is my first Plasma and I need help on it, please answer whatever questions you can guys, thanks.
Hi waitsone,
First, welcome to the forum! Regarding your burn-in question, there is a (very long) thread devoted just to this problem, which can be found here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=608677). As of this morning, it's at 58 pages, so as you might guess this is a well-discussed topic. For my two cents, I'd say that your screen static idea would be fine, but probably wouldn't be any better or worse than either the screen wipe function or just leaving it on some colorful programming that fills the screen and has little or no logo/ticker presence. DiscoveryHD seems to be a favorite for this task, as the logo is translucent and temporary. It's also more interesting to watch than the static screen, at least IMHO. ;)

Another thing you'll learn if you spend any time in that thread is that there's a difference between image retention (IR) and burn-in. The tricks for getting rid of the retained image will get rid of IR, but if you have burn-in, it's permanent--and never covered by any manufacturer's warranty. The only "cure" for burn-in I've seen is to make a screen that is the exact negative of your burned in screen and then burn in the rest so it matches. I'm not saying I would be interested or willing to try this myself, but I have seen it suggested.

You also asked some questions about video settings. I tried calibrating my set (same model as yours) using Avia, but that disc was not made with flat panel displays in mind. After calibrating, my brightness and contrast settings were WAAAAY too high for a new plasma, so I left the color calibrations the way they came out and dialed the brightness and contrast down to about 45%. My viewing room is fairly dark all the time, so I don't know how the daytime setting would be affected by these levels. Also, as cool as the "dynamic contrast" theory is, you'll probably get better results if you turn it off. Many of us, myself included, have noticed distracting mid-scene black level correction occurring during dark scenes in movies. We Hitachi owners are never going to win the black level argument with the Panasonic owners, but I haven't really had any black level complaints since I turned dynamic contrast off.

Hope some of this helps. Enjoy your set.
-Brad

Thanks man, I just tried the static/snow picture trick for a hour and the image doesn't look as bad anyomre, but its still noticble. I don't think its actually burn in though, cause it looks more like a faint white ghost image? So who knows. I'm the only person that notice this on my TV, guess cause I watch it the most. But I love this TV, my videogames also play very well on it, no lag so far, cant wait to use the 2nd HDMI for the PS3 when its released, I have the first one connected DVI-HDMI to HDcable box. Your right about that contrast option, its better on normal than dynamic. I think there is a way to get rid of that ghost white image on both sides, cause now I notice its not as much on the left side as it is on the right. Maybe I just have to play around with the settings.

About the day or night settings. First of all, in my neighborhood the sun sets gradually. I feel this is just a bell and whistle thing. I only use one of them for all my viewing. Unless your room is bright as the sky durring the day it will not be that applicable.
If in doubt set the tv back to factory settings and start again.
My 42HDT52A does not flicker.

I guess this is kind of a dumb question but, the night settings for color, contrast, brightness,etc. do you think they should be a little higher than my day settings, lower, alot higher. I have my video settings in around 48- 42, except contrast is at 38 for daytime. I still have my night a default, but my TV is set to use only the day settings, I guess I'm just asking what are some really good night settings someone has used?

Thanks man, I just tried the static/snow picture trick for a hour and the image doesn't look as bad anyomre, but its still noticble. I don't think its actually burn in though, cause it looks more like a faint white ghost image? So who knows.
So when I was reading my owner's manual, I noticed that it says to use the screen wipe for something like "up to 10 minutes." That's ridiculous. You're not going to get rid of even moderate IR in 10 minutes, and as you noticed, even an hour is often not enough. What many suggest is that you pick something suitable and let it go overnight. Don't use a DVD movie, unless you are absolutely sure it won't go to the menu and stay on that for hours. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say it's good to hear that your problem seems to have lessened -- that's a really good sign that what you have is IR and not burn-in, and it will probably eventually go away, even if it takes a while. Theory is, as plasmas get more hours in them (up to 100-200), IR is less of a problem and goes away faster. I've noticed that myself.

I guess this is kind of a dumb question but, the night settings for color, contrast, brightness,etc. do you think they should be a little higher than my day settings, lower, alot higher. I have my video settings in around 48- 42, except contrast is at 38 for daytime. I still have my night a default, but my TV is set to use only the day settings, I guess I'm just asking what are some really good night settings someone has used?
I hope you take this the right way, and understand that I'm just giving you a little good-natured ribbing, but this is like asking a group of 100 people what the best kind of cookie is. :D You're probably going to get 100 different answers. The best thing to do is calibrate in the brightest light you expect to enounter under the "day" settings, then calibrate again at night with the lights off under the "night" settings. You can then do some minor adjustments if necessary when your lighting is somewhere between the extremes. You may not even find the numbers to be that different, but the point is they will be YOUR settings the way you want to see your new TV. Don't let anyone tell you the "right" settings -- my perception of green might be slightly different than yours, and so on. Now having just told you not to listen to anyone else, listen to me when I reiterate that you do need to keep that brightness and contrast down during the break-in period, especially since you mentioned that you play some games. You will retain some scoreboard/health meter/etc. panels when you play even at reduced settings, but you will burn those patterns in permanently when you play on a new TV at factory defaults.

Enjoy!
-Brad

I have a Denon A/V receiver that generates a menu back to the tv. To avoid burn in from these high contrast menu graphics I put the tv in night mode anytime I am messing with the Denon menu. So I have my night mode brightness and contrast way down. Like in the single digits. I keep the room pretty dark even in the daytime, with the blinds closed, so I don't feel the need to use the night mode for regular viewing.

Thanks for the input I will try some of these things out. Another question I was wondering is has anyone compared or know is the new silver S69 Hitachi model better than the 42HDS52 model that was replaced, a worker at circuit city said that the picture is a little better on the new model, is this true?

Given the choices we have today(i.e Aug 2006) which one of the following would you folks suggest?
1. This years 42HDS69 or
2. Last years 42HDX62 (yes the Director's Series) for $200 more than the 42HDS69

The reason I lean towards last years model is beacause of 2 RF inputs instead of one.

thanks in advance.

Given the choices we have today(i.e Aug 2006) which one of the following would you folks suggest?
1. This years 42HDS69 or
2. Last years 42HDX62 (yes the Director's Series) for $200 more than the 42HDS69

The reason I lean towards last years model is beacause of 2 RF inputs instead of one.

thanks in advance.


It's a no brainer for me. I just bought the X62 because of the two year warranty that comes standard (instead of one on the S69) and because I used my gold card, it's now a THREE year warranty. I also think that the picture is a little better. Now ask me about the model that is replacing the X62 (the X99) and we will have an argument. But the X62 costs $2500 to your door right now and I'd rather save the $600 over the X99, even though the X99 has the Video III processor.

It's a no brainer for me. I just bought the X62 because of the two year warranty that comes standard (instead of one on the S69) and because I used my gold card, it's now a THREE year warranty. I also think that the picture is a little better. Now ask me about the model that is replacing the X62 (the X99) and we will have an argument. But the X62 costs $2500 to your door right now and I'd rather save the $600 over the X99, even though the X99 has the Video III processor.
Thanks turko that makes me feel good about emptying my wallet yesterday at the local magnolia. They are expecting a stock of about 20 and i got in line. i used the knowledge and confusion garnered from this thread in getting the amount reduced by a piddly 75 bucks. i was initially considering...in fact had made up my mind...of only going thru online...but a. this tv is scarcely available online and even so in the range of 3K. and b. i like the 30 day no Q asked magnolia policy...which i definitely think might come in handy in case of major issues...also wanna sit on it a while to see if any newer 1080p models release with a better pricing.
mostly i couldn't wait any longer and i needed more than the 25# inches of real estate that my Admiral(yes its a brand) gives me.
The 42HDX62 looked the most beautiful at the magnolia which also had the contemporaries of this tv along with the 60U panasonics. the folks there though had cunningly placed it right next to a Panny EDTV(ugghh what is that??). With my knowledge i was able to butt into several conversations and in fact was able to convince a couple to jump for the hdx62. when i told them it came with 2 remotes they just made an order on the spot ! the salesman was impressed too...hence the $75 discount for me :rolleyes: the credit infact goes to all of you. i wish i could throw an ice-cream party to celebrate all the ups we've had in this forum and the steadfast lovers of hitachi. i mean the rallying around to get hitachi to fix the flicker issue is just admirable. but party has to hold until my set works fine :p

Thanks turko that makes me feel good about emptying my wallet yesterday at the local magnolia. They are expecting a stock of about 20 and i got in line. i used the knowledge and confusion garnered from this thread in getting the amount reduced by a piddly 75 bucks. i was initially considering...in fact had made up my mind...of only going thru online...but a. this tv is scarcely available online and even so in the range of 3K. and b. i like the 30 day no Q asked magnolia policy...which i definitely think might come in handy in case of major issues...also wanna sit on it a while to see if any newer 1080p models release with a better pricing.
mostly i couldn't wait any longer and i needed more than the 25# inches of real estate that my Admiral(yes its a brand) gives me.
The 42HDX62 looked the most beautiful at the magnolia which also had the contemporaries of this tv along with the 60U panasonics. the folks there though had cunningly placed it right next to a Panny EDTV(ugghh what is that??). With my knowledge i was able to butt into several conversations and in fact was able to convince a couple to jump for the hdx62. when i told them it came with 2 remotes they just made an order on the spot ! the salesman was impressed too...hence the $75 discount for me :rolleyes: the credit infact goes to all of you. i wish i could throw an ice-cream party to celebrate all the ups we've had in this forum and the steadfast lovers of hitachi. i mean the rallying around to get hitachi to fix the flicker issue is just admirable. but party has to hold until my set works fine :p

great news! What did you pay for the X62 by the way? I got it for $2500 out the door. And what is your set up?

My setup: HDTV/Sony HDMI Receiver/TIVOSERIESII/OPODO DVD -- great video and audio components courtesy of ramelectronics...

turko,
i got it for exactly the same price as you (maybe couple bucks cheaper ;) ) which included CA tax and the $10 recycle fee. However shipping is not included. I plan on bringing it home in my honda accord. Might have to take it out of the box for it to fit.
The Magnolia dude also told me that he would price match with anyone (except online) within the 30 day return period. My 30 days will start when the tv arrives. The scheduled arrival at the store is 8/20/06. He said it might take 5 days for stuff. So I expect to receive this beautiful director's series by 8/25/06. I hope I have enough fingernails by then to open the packaging :p
My humble Setup:
-Panasonic(silver :rolleyes: ) 5 DVD progressive player which i intend to connect with component.
-Comcast basic expanded *without* any box which i intend to plug into the cable in RF. I might split it and feed it to the AIR RF too, but dunno if it'll make any difference. If I don't get any HD channels either way then I will try a good quality(definitely grounded) antenna for OTA HD.
-PS2
BTW do you think this is a good price considering Black Friday is approaching fast ? Honestly I can't wait another day without getting onto the big screen bandwagon. My buyer's remorse will be extreeemly reduced if I could somehow shave off about $300 off this price.

great news! What did you pay for the X62 by the way? I got it for $2500 out the door. And what is your set up?

My setup: HDTV/Sony HDMI Receiver/TIVOSERIESII/OPODO DVD -- great video and audio components courtesy of ramelectronics...

turko,
i got it for exactly the same price as you (maybe couple bucks cheaper ;) ) which included CA tax and the $10 recycle fee. However shipping is not included. I plan on bringing it home in my honda accord. Might have to take it out of the box for it to fit.
The Magnolia dude also told me that he would price match with anyone (except online) within the 30 day return period. My 30 days will start when the tv arrives. The scheduled arrival at the store is 8/20/06. He said it might take 5 days for stuff. So I expect to receive this beautiful director's series by 8/25/06. I hope I have enough fingernails by then to open the packaging :p
My humble Setup:
-Panasonic(silver :rolleyes: ) 5 DVD progressive player which i intend to connect with component.
-Comcast basic expanded *without* any box which i intend to plug into the cable in RF. I might split it and feed it to the AIR RF too, but dunno if it'll make any difference. If I don't get any HD channels either way then I will try a good quality(definitely grounded) antenna for OTA HD.
-PS2
BTW do you think this is a good price considering Black Friday is approaching fast ? Honestly I can't wait another day without getting onto the big screen bandwagon. My buyer's remorse will be extreeemly reduced if I could somehow shave off about $300 off this price.

Hard to find it less than $2300 (Which is what I paid plus tax). Think the 2 year warranty makes up for it and cable card from home warner should be sweet...if you do take it out of the box, make sure you have a ton of padding and have the screen right side up

Its hard to explain this price to some naive people.For instance, i told a dude today that i got this for such and such and he bluntly commented that its too much. His theory(and i don't blame him) is that you should be able to get a 42" plasma for 2K or less nowadays. Even though it is the top of the line Director's series i find it hard to justify the $500 differential. Still have my finger's crossed for price to come down within the 30 days.
But what do you say to such people? I know blah blah blah you know it enjoy it. But seriously we live in a real world so such crackpots will always take potshosts at you from the peaNUT gallery. So what do you say to these people?
Oh yeah and thanks for the advice on the padding and right side up.

Its hard to explain this price to some naive people.For instance, i told a dude today that i got this for such and such and he bluntly commented that its too much. His theory(and i don't blame him) is that you should be able to get a 42" plasma for 2K or less nowadays. Even though it is the top of the line Director's series i find it hard to justify the $500 differential. Still have my finger's crossed for price to come down within the 30 days.
But what do you say to such people? I know blah blah blah you know it enjoy it. But seriously we live in a real world so such crackpots will always take potshosts at you from the peaNUT gallery. So what do you say to these people?
Oh yeah and thanks for the advice on the padding and right side up.


obviously you can find 42 inch plasmas for $1500 right now, so that's a savings of $800. But they are almost always in silver, which I hate, they have one year warranty, which is not good enough, they don't have an upconverting processor like the Hitachi (although LG does, but their products are not as good, in my opinion), don't have two HDMI slots, don't have in-home warranty care, and, most importantly, don't have the HX62's picture. I just set it up last night and watched RED EYE and it was superb, and this was before I attached the speakers. The sound on the Hitachi, by the way, is supposed to be one of the best.

I also love that the stand is five times as good as any other stand, swivels electronically unlike 99 percent of those out there, and thus you don't have to spend $600-800 to wall mount it. Couple that with the fact that you get an extra year warranty that would cost you $200 and I think you havea compelling case. And I would also argue that the wife or SO would want something aesthetically pleasing and the X62 is the best looking model out there.


Still, to many, it's all about money. And it's hard to argue the fact that you can buy a 40 inch LCD for $1500, a 42 inch plasma for $1300-1500, and a 37 inch LCD for $1100 and why would you spend so much more for a 42 inch? I would simply say, that is why some people drive Corollas and some drive BMWs.

i feel much better turko :p BTW seems like we are the only ones left here :rolleyes:
So turko are you considering to have an ISF calibration done? I read somewhere that its best to have it done once you are past the 30 day return and are sure that you are gonna keep it. Did you do the AVIA or any other breaking in stuff? How is the SD content? These models are supposed to be one of the best in terms of rendering SD.
And also if possible can you please send me the outer box measurements? I need to see if it'll fit in my car with the box. And what would you recommend for padding in case it does not.

i feel much better turko :p BTW seems like we are the only ones left here :rolleyes:
So turko are you considering to have an ISF calibration done? I read somewhere that its best to have it done once you are past the 30 day return and are sure that you are gonna keep it. Did you do the AVIA or any other breaking in stuff? How is the SD content? These models are supposed to be one of the best in terms of rendering SD.
And also if possible can you please send me the outer box measurements? I need to see if it'll fit in my car with the box. And what would you recommend for padding in case it does not.

I don't know the outer box dimensions since I tossed it. It fit into my Volvo V70 with the seats down. Not sure it'll fit into your car, although it could fit on the floor in the back seat, which would keep it upright.

I am not a big fan of calibrations. Think they are a waste of time. The Magnolia people will go through the set with you. I have already changed the picture to my own pleasing dimensions (basically about 55 percent for everything) and toned down the Dynamic and High settings to Normal and Standard, as those are set for store display and not home use. If you are going to put it in a dark room, you can play with the settings a bit, but this TV has a great interactive feature that allows me to find my optimal settings.

On a down note, my TIVO won't work with the cable card so I'm back to buying the Time Warner High Def DVR box (rent is the more appropos term) and junking my tivo. At least I can watch High Def shows back in High Def which is cool. So now I have a Sony receiver, an oppo dvd player which I love, and the High Def DVR box and Velodyne speakers...am very happy. Also I got some choice cables from ramelelectronics that are 60 percent cheaper than the ones Magnolia sells.

Oh -- as far as SD goes, it's much better than Panasonic and a little better than LG, but still ******. You WILL notice a huge drop off in SD. But that's just for a couple years anyway. The HD programming is awesome.

The Magnolia people will go through the set with you.

Do I have to tell them for doing it? Where will they do this? At the store or at my place? What was the scenario in your case? Ok final question ... did you call around to see if the prices went further down? On the internet i havent seen anything lower than two point eight k.

Too bad on the tivo side. Am not a big fan of TiVo'ing stuff anyways.

i feel much better turko :p BTW seems like we are the only ones left here :rolleyes:
Don't worry - you're not alone...

And also if possible can you please send me the outer box measurements? I need to see if it'll fit in my car with the box. And what would you recommend for padding in case it does not.
My box is in storage, otherwise would be glad to give you the info. The box was about an inch too tall to stand upright in my 2001 Cherokee, so transported lying down (screen up) and drove carefully home - arrived in perfect condition. If you have to remove from the box, use soft cotton padding or something scratch-free. Might want to have a buddy along for the ride to keep a steady hand on the TV. You never know when you have to jam on the brakes...

BTW, I own the 42HDT52A and have been very happy with it!

Don't worry - you're not alone...BTW, I own the 42HDT52A and have been very happy with it!
Thanks for the tips mak. Now for some more peaNUT gallery stories. I've gone thru the entire thread before making this decision. Again today spoke to another colleague dude...I dunno why i do this...He is the deal-dude here where i work. He says I could get a 42" plasma for about 1k cheaper from costco...And I did have a hard time convincing him. when i told him this tv was msrp at 5.5k last year that did have some effect on him. but 1024x1024 didn't cut ice. pixels would be rectangular..blah blah blah...swivel feature also seems cool...I did read some other reviews which were written when this tv came out last year. They all seem to suggest that the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired....i dunnooo...thinking loud...again i won't be convinced until i check a puppy out myself at my home in my conditions...and then i'll play with it for 30 days and keep comparing to this years models...

Costco here in Seattle had the new Panny x60 series for two point two grand for the 42" model. They have the 50" Toshiba for about five hundred more. With their "unlimited" return policy, they might be your best bet...

The Hitachi pixels also have less "dead" space between the pixels - tell your deal dud - I mean dude - that! The Hitachi just had a more lifelike, realistic picture than the Panny. And this was comparing both side-by-side at VO in Seattle.

Good luck!

Costco here in Seattle had the new Panny x60 series for two point two grand for the 42" model. They have the 50" Toshiba for about five hundred more. With their "unlimited" return policy, they might be your best bet...

The Hitachi pixels also have less "dead" space between the pixels - tell your deal dud - I mean dude - that! The Hitachi just had a more lifelike, realistic picture than the Panny. And this was comparing both side-by-side at VO in Seattle.

Good luck!
yeah i told him about the lower pixel spacing too...makes a difference when you are close to the tv. in any case am gonna stick to it for now and see what happens...i like the aesthetics of this tv and it looks beautiful when off too...imagine that on the ugly silvery panny. styling is for sure one of my criteria and thence i chose this beauty...anyway for some duds it is always about saving the money first and caring about everything else later. my other criteria for picking this was also the 2 RF inputs...which is also why am not thinking about the newer hitachi's where they have dropped this. if only there was a PC input. oh well one can't have everything in life...decisions decisions...

Anyone here own either the 42HDs69 or the 42HDT79? If yes, have you noticed the flicker that people are reporting? I want to buy one of these sets, I like the S69 because I can get it for exactly 2k shipped but I'm not sure if that is affected by the flicker issue. Can anyone help?

Do I have to tell them for doing it? Where will they do this? At the store or at my place? What was the scenario in your case? Ok final question ... did you call around to see if the prices went further down? On the internet i havent seen anything lower than two point eight k.

Too bad on the tivo side. Am not a big fan of TiVo'ing stuff anyways.


they will do it for you in the store. That's where I did it. They showed me how to do it and what's the best settings for day and night and then I replicated that when I got home.

I have only seen 2.8 as well. the X99 will go for $3199 next week.

My PC has a S-Video interface. Is it possible to connect it to these hitachi's through the S-Video inputs? I don't have the DVI interface on my PC so I dunno how I'll connect my PC to the HDX62.

bleary,

You CAN hook it up using the S-Video input, but it'll look like crap. I don't think the XXX52's and XXX62's have a method of hooking a pc to it, which is a bummer, because the 51's were an awesome pc monitor. You could maybe (with a bunch of hassle of getting it to fit to the screen) connect it to one of the HDMI ports using an HDMI to DVI cable and a DVI output card from your computer. I'm sure someone here has probably done it and can tell you more.

Good luck,
Mark

bleary,

You CAN hook it up using the S-Video input, but it'll look like crap. I don't think the XXX52's and XXX62's have a method of hooking a pc to it, which is a bummer, because the 51's were an awesome pc monitor. You could maybe (with a bunch of hassle of getting it to fit to the screen) connect it to one of the HDMI ports using an HDMI to DVI cable and a DVI output card from your computer. I'm sure someone here has probably done it and can tell you more.

Good luck,
Mark

Thanks Mark. I would mostly(actually only) need it to watch some streamed games online(which look like heck anyways). So it'll be heck multiplied by two :rolleyes: But still as long as I can do it using S-Video I don't care about the picture quality. I don't wan't to go about the trouble of installing a new card into my Fujitsu Laptop.
Any possible way of using my computer VGA output? Can I do a VGA to HDMI? I believe that would involve some sort of a Analog to Digital adaptor and could be costly. Still for me it would be cleaner than messing around with internal cards.
Any insights into this appreciated. BTW I pick my 42HDX62 today !!!! real excited... would immediately go into buyers remorse though cos its the last years model...still 1K is a big deal and i definitely need those two RF inputs.
One more query. Can the RS232C input on the tv be used for connecting the PC to TV? What is its real purpose. I know control interface...but can someone explain in clear simple english? Used for controlling what?
thanks in advance.

here's my problem --

got the hitachi x62 with the home warner hdreceiverDVR and it works great. I have high-end video components from the TV into my Sony Receiver. I have an optical digital line from my receiver into my opodo dvd and a hdmi cable from my dvd to my x62. All works EXCEPT I can't get my Sony Receiver to play music from my opodo. Do I need to attach more cables from my Opodo DVD to my Sony or have I not programmed the Sony correctly?

I do think there is a vga-hdmi adapter, although I'm not familiar with them. The RS-232 is for 2-way communication for a high dollar control system like a crestron system. You can't connect the pc using it. I don't know why Hitachi took away the vga input for their plasmas. My 55HDT51 had one, and it was an awesome computer display. No image retention even if I left the desktop up for hours. I can't say the same for my NEC. I'm looking hard at getting the new pioneer 6070hd. I'm going to buy it from TVAuthority so I can return it if there is any image retention. But anyways that's neither here nor there... Good luck with your new set, and have fun.

Mark

Brought home the dream machine...I thought the model would be 42HDX62 but it has the A in the end(42HDX62A). Its manufactured date is July 2006. Its simply beautiful and I have no complaints !!

Good things:
- The TV Guide worked nicely after leaving off overnight.
- Got plenty of digital music channels and some other digital channels when i auto-scanned after plugging in the cable straight from the wall. I do not own any set top box or cable box or cablecard.
- Got all the network HD channels ! So the QAM tuner works purfectly. It picked the FOX(2-1 at 720p) and CBS(5-1 at 1080i) within the Analog listing. The others were picked during the digital channel scanning...NBC in 1080i, ABC in 720p, PBS in 1080i, KRON(channel 4 in the SF bay area) in 720p. And was pleasantly surprised to even get the ESPN2HD in 720p whoooohoooo. The reason why am getting all these could be cos i have the internet service and i split the feed to the tv.
- The best of all...got some tight warm hugs from wifey ;) So it definitely has the WAF
- The PQ quality on SD is awesome. The HD is very awesome.
- the anti-reflective sceen works ! but when tv is off it reflects which i think all tvs will do.
- The stand is sturdy and the swivel feature works very nicely and easy to control using the remote...just press the < or >.
- Both Remotes are cool. The second one is a teeny tiny one for the times when you want to snuggle on the couch ;)
- Haven't tested DVDs yet but dark scenes appear ok to me(even with low contrast and other settings). There was a music concert in black and white on PBS at 1080i and it looked awesome.
- Sound is very rich, crisp and theater-like...of course depends on the channel you are watching too. I may not even hook up the receiver for a long time.
- Everything on the tv speaks of quality. Whatever I have tried worked on the first attempt.
- The picture input(usb) works nicely.

Undesirable things:
- The fan(due to the TV guide) makes small noise occassionally but this is in-consequential as i don't sleep in my living room and more-so cos my refrigerator makes even more noise. But I don't want to turn it off cos i need the TV guide.
- its weird but the remote makes some small noise when in use ???anyone observe this? don't care about it much...initially i thought it was the tv but i was surprised when i put my ear on the remote.
- no VGA input

Cost analysis:
- Everyone I talk to (maybe i need to move up in a higher circle :cool: ) say that its too much for a 42" plasma at this point of time. But I guess these guys just pick the ads and flip the pages and look at the low-end maxent's which becomes their benchmark. To them a 42" tv is just that...a box measuring 42" diagonally. When I researched I did not find any other tv which had all the things. Still i would've been happier had i paid 200-300 ducks lesser. The newer models lack the extra RF input which I totally need unless someone convinces me on why not.

Pending:
I still have to try out DVDs(need to get some cables) and PC connectivity.
Update
- DVDs work great ! Although have tried only 480p using my progressive scan DVD player.
- PC connectivity works using S-Video although have to figure out how to fill up the entire screen on the tv.

bleary...I want to know what you're using the RF inputs for? they offer the lowest resolution of any of them.

Brought home the dream machine...I thought the model would be 42HDX62 but it has the A in the end(42HDX62A). Its manufactured date is July 2006. Its simply beautiful and I have no complaints !!

Good things:
- The TV Guide worked nicely after leaving off overnight.
- Got plenty of digital music channels and some other digital channels when i auto-scanned after plugging in the cable straight from the wall. I do not own any set top box or cable box or cablecard.
- Got all the network HD channels ! So the QAM tuner works purfectly. It picked the FOX(2-1 at 720p) and CBS(5-1 at 1080i) within the Analog listing. The others were picked during the digital channel scanning...NBC in 1080i, ABC in 720p, PBS in 1080i, KRON(channel 4 in the SF bay area) in 720p. And was pleasantly surprised to even get the ESPN2HD in 720p whoooohoooo. The reason why am getting all these could be cos i have the internet service and i split the feed to the tv.
- The best of all...got some tight warm hugs from wifey ;) So it definitely has the WAF
- The PQ quality on SD is awesome. The HD is very awesome.
- the anti-reflective sceen works ! but when tv is off it reflects which i think all tvs will do.
- The stand is sturdy and the swivel feature works very nicely and easy to control using the remote...just press the < or >.
- Both Remotes are cool. The second one is a teeny tiny one for the times when you want to snuggle on the couch ;)
- Haven't tested DVDs yet but dark scenes appear ok to me(even with low contrast and other settings). There was a music concert in black and white on PBS at 1080i and it looked awesome.
- Sound is very rich, crisp and theater-like...of course depends on the channel you are watching too. I may not even hook up the receiver for a long time.
- Everything on the tv speaks of quality. Whatever I have tried worked on the first attempt.
- The picture input(usb) works nicely.

Undesirable things:
- The fan(due to the TV guide) makes small noise occassionally but this is in-consequential as i don't sleep in my living room and more-so cos my refrigerator makes even more noise. But I don't want to turn it off cos i need the TV guide.
- its weird but the remote makes some small noise when in use ???anyone observe this? don't care about it much...initially i thought it was the tv but i was surprised when i put my ear on the remote.
- no VGA input

Cost analysis:
- Everyone I talk to (maybe i need to move up in a higher circle :cool: ) say that its too much for a 42" plasma at this point of time. But I guess these guys just pick the ads and flip the pages and look at the low-end maxent's which becomes their benchmark. To them a 42" tv is just that...a box measuring 42" diagonally. When I researched I did not find any other tv which had all the things. Still i would've been happier had i paid 200-300 ducks lesser. The newer models lack the extra RF input which I totally need unless someone convinces me on why not.

Pending:
I still have to try out DVDs(need to get some cables) and PC connectivity.


===

Don't know why you are using RF either.

I can't figure out how to turn the TV off from the remote. What do you use the TV GUIDE For? Can you disable it? I don't need it if I have the DVR hooked up.

bleary...I want to know what you're using the RF inputs for? they offer the lowest resolution of any of them.

i don't own a cablebox or set-top-box or cablecard. i am hooking in the cable directly into the Cable RF in which tunes all the channels it can. With this one taken up I need the other one for OTA. This would be my future need since currently I am getting all the local HD channels(or so i think.). I will however hook up OTA on the other RF(AIR) and see if there are any other HD channels that it picks up which the QAM tuner missed. make sense?
I must add that I am more than satisfied with the quality. The TV tells me that the content is HD and since those are digital values I see no reason why the quality should be any different than any other input as far as HD or digital content is concerned.

===

Don't know why you are using RF either.

I can't figure out how to turn the TV off from the remote. What do you use the TV GUIDE For? Can you disable it? I don't need it if I have the DVR hooked up.

For why i am using RF please read my previous post.
For disabling TV GUIDE. I am sure you meant TV GUIDE and not just TV :rolleyes:

Click Guide on the remote. Then click Menu , Select "Service bar" and navigate to Setup. Hit Enter. There you will see the TV guide setup stuff. Select the one that sets it off. I did not try this to set it off cos i need it. Try it out and see if it works. I think someone in the thread mentioned a way to do it as well. I think it was something similar.

Oh yes...I use the TV GUIDE for exactly what it is :p something which tells me whats playing at what time in my area. But its not lsting the digital channels. I may try to switch the source it uses to AIR when I hook up my OTA.

As you folks can tell from this and the previous post the RF inputs and TV GUide features are pretty huge for a user like me.

I am not sure if this is the right thread but since the context is hdx62a this makes sense here than elsewhere. How do you make this work? I basically got a 12 ft S-video cable from Fry's and plugged one end on Input-5(on the side) and the other on my laptop. I switched the TV Input to 5 but theres nothing there. All blank. The TV simply displays nothing and then goes into Power Saving mode. Anybody ... any answers???
Update...I made some headway...now I get to see the wallpaper on my PC but nothing else. Anything else I need to do in Display settings or anywhere else??On my laptop the hotkey is Fn+F10 but it just refreshes the wallpaper. I set the resolution to 800x600. Mine is a Fujitsu (C series) with a ATI Radeon IGP(S-video out, firewire out).

Succcesss !!! Was able to hook up puter to tv using s-video. Found this link to be very helpful: http://www.weethet.nl/english/video_pc2tv_ati.php

Just have to figure out how to fill up the complete tv screen.

Also I am not able to enter the service menu using menu-menu-8 select.

how do you turn off the x62 with the remote

how do you disable the TV GUIDE (I use the DVR menu instead)

how do you turn off the x62 with the remote
:confused: :confused:
Um, the power button? Make sure the remote is set for TV operation (the buttons along the top, I think).

how do you disable the TV GUIDE (I use the DVR menu instead)
I did this to my HDT52A, but can't remember exactly how as I'm at work right now. Seems like I found that info somewhere here at AVS. If I remember, I'll PM you the 411...

............what happens.
BTW, I finally got the service menu to pull up just today! I've been reading the newer Hitachi plasma thread and met with success! Here's pics (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8292768&&#post8292768) of what my menu has - and I didn't change a darn thing!

I've asked before -- so trying again---any way to change gray side bars default to black ---hacking setting if in SM or whatever?

Thanks,

slannes

I've asked before -- so trying again---any way to change gray side bars default to black ---hacking setting if in SM or whatever?

Thanks,

slannes

I think it is a channel-wise setting with default being gray. You can the bars to black for any channel from the Video menu. But I don't know how to change it to gray by default. I think they set it to gray because it is good to have it as gray to prevent burn-in.

Hey, I'm trying to hook up and older stereo using those red and white cables, and I can't get it to work. I've hooked them up to the output on the back of the television, and the input on my stereo, but am not getting any audio.

I just purchased the Hitachi 42HDS69.

Is there a setting I'm missing or something?

Thanks.

Hey, I'm trying to hook up and older stereo using those red and white cables, and I can't get it to work. I've hooked them up to the output on the back of the television, and the input on my stereo, but am not getting any audio.
Which RCAs are you connected to on the TV?

I posted several messages in January 2006 about the “pink screen” problems on the Hitachi 42HDF52 Plasma TV we bought new in late 2005. When a pure white signal was placed on the TV the 4:3 section of the screen was pink. That pink tint was visible in any image in the 4:3 section. There were no retained images on the screen when the TV was turned off.

Hitachi refused to repair the problem under warranty because they claimed the pink tint was due to “burn in.”

The pink tint eventually disappeared and the TV image was great until early August. I wonder if that means the pinkness was not burn in?

The unit is now at a Hitachi repair facility because the screen keeps going blank. When the TV is on everything is fine but then the TV makes a loud “click/clunk” and the screen goes blank. The power light stays on but the screen is blank. The image never returns to the screen unless the unit is powered off for several minutes.

Hitachi had me unplug the power for five minutes and then turn the TV back on. The unit stays on from 30 seconds to several minutes and then clicks loudly and the screen goes blank.

The problem was intermittent in early August and by the end of August the unit would not stay on for more than 10 minutes.

If I am talking on a cordless phone, e.g. talking to Hitachi, and the TV clicks off the phone also receives a loud static burst that even the Hitachi technician could hear.

Is the “pink screen” problem related to the “blank screen” problem?

:eek:

hat even the Hitachi technician could hear.

:eek:

Its my hunch that the tv turning off is a power problem. Try getting a power stabilizer or somthing which keeps the voltage constant at 110V. You might be experiencing huge swings/spikes in the power voltage levels which the TV transformer is unable to handle and thus turns the tv off to prevent the circuit board from toasting.

The Hitachi repair site called me today to tell me that our 42HDF52 is consistently turning itself off while hooked to their regulated power supply. It will not turn back on until they remove the AC power and let it set for a while.

The technician says they are having trouble diagnosing the cause because the TV's processor is reporting NO ERROR CODE - the processor is unaware of the problem.

He has been talking with "Hitachi Engineers" on the phone but they are reluctant to just start sending him boards to replace one at a time. The local technician says that Hitachi claims they have never seen such a situation - TV turns off but no error codes.

The current estimate of repair time is "no idea - depends on how many boards we have to replace" to quote the technician.

I've now been without the TV for 8 days.

I will post this in both the HDT52 and HDT79 threads to see if others can produce this same weird effect...

EDIT: 42HDT52A/0102.0001

I just had the WEIRDEST thing happen. I was watching The Last Samurai on my week-old Toshiba HD-XA1 (thanks VE!) and noticed for the first time rows and rows of red dots EVERYWHERE on the screen! I did not remember seeing these when I had my RCA HDV5000 hooked up, so I immediately thought it might be a defective XA1. The red dots were apparent when the screen was completely dark. Each dot was spaced evenly both horizontally (~ 1/4" apart) and horizontally (~ 12 rows in 4"). The left side saw them go into a random pattern. I could barely see these red dots in the black bars from my viewing distance of about 10 feet.

FYI, the attached pic shows the dots, but might be hard to see as they look white. But you can see the scatterd pattern on the left and the regular pattern on the right.

So I did some troubleshooting, checking ALL the inputs for the same issue. Turns out my regular DVD player input also showed the red dots. Weird how I hadn't noticed on this input before too, but continued to check all settings. I checked all inputs with just the TV on - all other equipment (DVD players & STB) turned off.

FOUND THE PROBLEM - it was in the brightness setting. When the brightness is at 51, the screen is fine. But the next setting up at 53, the red dots would appear! This was consistent in all the various inputs I checked. The more you cranked up the brightness, the different the color and pattern became.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed this?? My concern is what if during my next calibration (hopefully ISF) the optimum brightness is 53? Yeah, I could turn down a notch to 51, but I don't think this weird pattern should show up EVER...

I have a similar thing happen on my NEC. It doesn't have anything to do with brightness though. Originally I thought it was the cable box, but it does it every once in a while with a DVD as well. I get green and yellow blocks across the screen and they shift randomly. They come and go at will, and we only see them once or twice a month and it only lasts a few seconds to a minute or so, but it's really troublesome. My 50XM5 is still under warranty, but I haven't been able to capture it on a camera, and I can't reproduce the problem... Probably won't happen permanently until the warranty expires...my luck.

Mark

MM896 - my issue was definitely related to changing the brightness that one click, with all other settings the same. Maybe I should have put the brightness to 53 and adjusted the contrast to see if it had any effect.

Oh well, for now I know where NOT to set the brightness...

I have an 42HDF52

Good: HD looks great

Bad: I have the tv on a news station a lot...the area where the news logo appears has a very slight burn in.

Aspect ratio is not kept when switching between HD and then back to SD

So far I have found no way of adjusting the saturation in HD

The contrast in SD is much higher. It would have been nice to have some way to equalize the contrast between SD and HD...if I set it good for one it looks bad in the other.


If anyone has any tips on how to correct these issues or if I am missing some magical solution please let me know.

Now for more general questions...

Given the set has one DVI input and I am currently filling that with the cable box output, If I purchased a upconverter DVD player how do I hook up the HDMI or DVI output? How do others do it given most sets I'm sure have only one DVI or HDMI input? Is there a passthrough on the DVD player? If so then does the DVD have to be on whenever you watch cable?

Upconverters...the DVD is definitely better quality than SD, but nowhere near HD. I am pretty pickey and most people that watch with me can't tell the differance between DVD and HD...but I can. I am using the component outs. Would I get a noticable boost in quality with an upconverter DVD player?

I purchased my Hitachi 42HDS52 last April from CC and let me start by saying I have loved the set since the moment it was powered up.

I have no issues with the set for the first 6 months until I noticed something weird last week.

Let me preface that I have my Contrast, Brightness and Color all set to around or just below 50%.

Last week I notice an odd "striping" or "band" effect moving on the screen from bottom to top. This is a slow moving band that continuously travels up the screen. It is about 2" - 3" in width and followed by a 1/4" band just behind it. When it gets to the top, it disappears and starts over again from the bottom.

The hue or color is about 3/4 as brilliant as the rest of the normal picture. Definitely noticeable to someone who consistently watches the screen.

Is this burn in?? I am not an expert, but thought burn in didn't travel on the screen. I thought it was constant in one spot.

Can anyone shed some light on this??

Last week I notice an odd "striping" or "band" effect moving on the screen from bottom to top. This is a slow moving band that continuously travels up the screen. It is about 2" - 3" in width and followed by a 1/4" band just behind it. When it gets to the top, it disappears and starts over again from the bottom.

Is this burn in?? I am not an expert, but thought burn in didn't travel on the screen. I thought it was constant in one spot.

I wish I had more to say about what this might be, but I can verify for you what it isn't, and that's burn in or image retention. You're right -- retention, either temporary or permanent, is on a per pixel basis. It doesn't move up the screen. Sounds like you've got some sort of electrical field interference. Please update us if you figure out what's causing the problem or have to get your set serviced.

I have the Hitachi 42HDT52a from Circuit City. Has anybody else experience that occasional "snap/crackle" sound while watching HD channels? Over the past few weeks, when I'm watching network HD over my cable, I get an audible, sharp "crack" sound. It's very brief, at the same volume of the television show and seems to recur every few minutes.

Just curious if anybody else has experienced this.

Jim

I have the Hitachi 42HDT52a from Circuit City. Has anybody else experience that occasional "snap/crackle" sound while watching HD channels?
(same TV)

I have not experinced this as you describe. I occassionally get it on CBS HD shows, which is usually sports. And I attribute that to crappy CBS broadcasting...

I have the Hitachi 42HDT52a from Circuit City. Has anybody else experience that occasional "snap/crackle" sound while watching HD channels? Over the past few weeks, when I'm watching network HD over my cable, I get an audible, sharp "crack" sound. It's very brief, at the same volume of the television show and seems to recur every few minutes.

Just curious if anybody else has experienced this.

Jim

I have had this happen to on my 'S' version. Sounds like static cling and it only occurs on the HD channels. I haven't gotten an hdmi cable yet - waiting on the mount to arrive so I thought it might be due to the component cables. I have also noticed that the UHD, HDNet, etc type of channels it doesn't occur. I would probably attribute it to the type of broadcast.

I have had this happen to on my 'S' version. Sounds like static cling and it only occurs on the HD channels. I haven't gotten an hdmi cable yet - waiting on the mount to arrive so I thought it might be due to the component cables. I have also noticed that the UHD, HDNet, etc type of channels it doesn't occur. I would probably attribute it to the type of broadcast.

I used to get that untill I had to reset to factory settings because I messed around in the service menue too much. After it booted up the first time I took advantage of electing not to use the TV Guide function.

No more pops.

If the screen blinks at the pop it is an over voltage thing, like the PC CRT monitors do when they get really dusty.

I went to sam's club just today and I happen to come across the 55 inch hitachi plasma (hds52 series), I know I can't mention price but it was a very good price for that size of a plasma t.v. I would like to know if this particular is a very good one, if there are more pro's and con's. So, hopefully those of you who have this model will be able to give me some good input. Thanks. :)

HDTVRookie,
Sorry for the delay. Is it a new set? I have the 42 and really like it. What is your status on this?

I have a 42hds52a and love it. BUT.... I cant get into the ta1366 menu in the service menu. I can go into the others by hitting -> but hitting select or -> will not let me in ta1366 to adjust color. Any ideas on a code or anything to get actually in the 1366 list??

I have a 42hds52a and love it. BUT.... I cant get into the ta1366 menu in the service menu. I can go into the others by hitting -> but hitting select or -> will not let me in ta1366 to adjust color. Any ideas on a code or anything to get actually in the 1366 list??
Try this guy (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8786163&&#post8786163), an ISF calibrator. He's been helping some of us troubleshoot the dreaded Hitachi "flicker" issue...

I have had my HDF52 since Dec 05 and have always used the component connection which looks really good.

When i got my S3 HD Dual Tuner Tivo I wanted to see what the DVI output would be like as compared the component and was suprised to see that it looks fuzzy as compared to component. It is not terrible. I would describe it as similar or just a little better than a SD feed.

I am using a HD channel via Comcast cable as fed through the S3.

Unfortunately I have no other source to troubleshoot this against to see whether it is the TIVO HDMI output or the Hitachi DVI input.

I have played with the TIVO forced 1080i vs the native resolution and don't see any difference there.

Anyone have any thoughts?

I just hooked up the S3 HD TiVo via HDMI and I notice that when the tivo begins to record a program while the TV is in standby, I can hear the show through the speakers even though the TV is not on.

If I turn the TV on and then off again the audio stays off until the TiVo begins to record a new program.

Anyone else experience this? Any suggestions/fixes?

UPDATE: I did a factory reset from the service menu and all is well now.

jackholexxxx

The Hitachi repair site called me today to tell me that our 42HDF52 is consistently turning itself off while hooked to their regulated power supply. It will not turn back on until they remove the AC power and let it set for a while.

The technician says they are having trouble diagnosing the cause because the TV's processor is reporting NO ERROR CODE - the processor is unaware of the problem.

He has been talking with "Hitachi Engineers" on the phone but they are reluctant to just start sending him boards to replace one at a time. The local technician says that Hitachi claims they have never seen such a situation - TV turns off but no error codes.

The current estimate of repair time is "no idea - depends on how many boards we have to replace" to quote the technician.

I've now been without the TV for 8 days.

New member here with the same issue. what was the final cause/outcome? Anyone else correct this issue. My 42HDS52 bought back in Oct 05 just powered off while watching and only does the "clicking noise" and will not power on. I do use a monster power strip and a very $$ voltage regulator on the plasma's power line. Any help would be appreciated since Hitachi Serivce is coming out next Wed for a look.

I have the Hitachi 42HDX62A and I'm having trouble retaining the settings. All settings are reset to default every time the TV goes into standby mode.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi -

I've had a 42HDT51 for a few years and really like it, but have a minor issue that I was wondering if anyone could help out with. I originally had the set hooked up to the cable box (a SA8300 HD from Time Warner) with component cables, but have also tried it with HDMI cables. The picture with the HDMI cables looks sharper and less noisy, BUT there is less detail in the blacks. For example, I have been unable to see all the different shades of black when using a calibration program such as from HDNET or INHD, but all shades are visible if using the component cables. Watching sports through the HDMI cables is great, but there's a real loss of detail in programs with dark scenes. The set can be calibrated (by me) pretty well with the component cables, but the picture does not have the same "pop" to it as with the HDMI cables, and only looks good with noise reduction turned up higher.

Anyone experienced anything similar? Any ideas or suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Steve

Is there a particular type/style of power cord to be used when replacing the factory? I finally have th tv mounted above th fireplace but need to get a longer power cord.

Thanks!

went into my local shop and my lord, the prices are a droppin. You can get the 42hdx99 director series 3 for $2299 and the 42hdx for $1699 and the 55hdx62 for $2499! Those are 1K off what they were 4 months ago!

:( Yesterday I noticed a red line on my 55hdt51. It is on the right side of the screen vertically about 18" long and about 3" from the right side. It was on there for about an hour and then today for about an hour. I called American Tv and Appliance yesterday because I have an extended warranty for 4 years (Thank God). They said they will call me Monday to look at it. I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen or what would cause it (stuck pixels?). It was doing it on all the inputs so its not the source. I took pictures and will try to post later but if anyone could respond with any help It would be very much appreciated. ;)

New member here with the same issue. what was the final cause/outcome? Anyone else correct this issue. My 42HDS52 bought back in Oct 05 just powered off while watching and only does the "clicking noise" and will not power on. I do use a monster power strip and a very $$ voltage regulator on the plasma's power line. Any help would be appreciated since Hitachi Serivce is coming out next Wed for a look.

========================================================

New Member also -- I had the exact same problem with my 42HDX99 which we purchased new only 4 days ago. The set worked fine for a few days. In fact, we are very pleased with the quality of the picture. However, last night it switched off for no apparent reason, no power whatsoever, after sitting, it would turn on for a second or two and then shut off again. Very distressing.

After seeing your posts this morning I immediately returned the set to the retailer and exchanged it for a different one, same model. Do not want to deal with what appears to be a nightmare repair situation. It seems that since I am the third person with the same problem, could it be some kind of manufacturing defect?? A relay problem??
Otherwise, the picture quality is excellent and we are pleased.

Hello everyone! I was wondering if any of you know where i can buy a swivel cable replacement? Ive been looking for it as i moved and i lost it. i cannot find it and it was such a nice feature. My model number is 42HDS52. thx!

:( Yesterday I noticed a red line on my 55hdt51. It is on the right side of the screen vertically about 18" long and about 3" from the right side. It was on there for about an hour and then today for about an hour. I called American Tv and Appliance yesterday because I have an extended warranty for 4 years (Thank God). They said they will call me Monday to look at it. I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen or what would cause it (stuck pixels?). It was doing it on all the inputs so its not the source. I took pictures and will try to post later but if anyone could respond with any help It would be very much appreciated. ;)
On my 55HDX61 I started seeing a blue vertical line on the left side. It was periodic at first and I attributed it to my cable box. Unfortunately, this periodic behavior became constant over about a months time and I called my dealer. They came out and diagnosed the problem as something wrong with the panel's electronics (I didn't exactly understand what they were trying to tell me). They said that they would need to order a part and it would be replaced under Hitachi's warranty.

It has has actually been about 6 weeks since they diagnosed this problem and they are still waiting on the part(s) to fix my screen. There is now a question with my dealer, the repair company, and Hitachi on whether we can get the part(s) at all. They are talking about replacing the entire unit with a current model which is good and bad since it's a semi-custom install.

Brian- I wasn't really going to post anything about this experience until it was solved, but your post prompted me to respond.

It's been since 11/24 and still without my 42HDS52. Extended service contract (on-site repair) is a joke - all that means is that they come and pick up the plasma and bring it back to their shop. Repair shop says it's the power circuit board - it's on backorder from Hitachi - so mayber ther is an issue. I'll keep you posted. I'm so frustrated I think I'll go out and buy the Pioneer pdp-5070HD (50 inch).

Hey Digital puppy, the service technician called back finally and diagnosed as a bad buffer board. Supposedly the new part is backordered and will be in in a week or so. Then they can't fix it for another week so I guess I'll be looking at a red line for Christmas. Good luck with yours. :rolleyes:

I'm having the exact same problem with my 55HDM71, but I am out of my warranty period. Does anyone know how much this repair actually costs?

Thanks,
Dan

Lagman, the buffer board is $300-400 plus labor. I would to lobby Hitachi customer service or technical support to do something. The set can't be that old. Good Luck!

I agree with Brian, but I'll ask my service tech when the panel is finally repaired. Thanks for the update btw.

I left the TV unplugged all night and had no problems all day yesterday.. Maybe it fixed itself? Anyway, I got lucky.. Since I used my Visa card to buy the TV, they doubled the warranty for me.

One more question though.. Did either of you ever have any problems with the red or blue line burning in before you decided to get it fixed?

Lagman, I'd still get it looked at. My line was sporadic in the beginning, but gradually became constant. And, no, I noticed no burn in issues early on...even now, the line seems to "chimer" and is very faint when watching HD - of course i can see it all the time, but visitors don't seem to notice it right away.

New member here with the same issue. what was the final cause/outcome? Anyone else correct this issue. My 42HDS52 bought back in Oct 05 just powered off while watching and only does the "clicking noise" and will not power on. I do use a monster power strip and a very $$ voltage regulator on the plasma's power line. Any help would be appreciated since Hitachi Serivce is coming out next Wed for a look.

Update from my 12-13 post: It's 12-20 and still no 42HDS52. Diagnosis is the "sub-digital PWI?" board - the main power board with Hitachi part # JP08511.
Bottom line is that Hitachi has no ETA to get this part -if ever - so the extended warranty company is replacing my broken 42HDS52 with an "equivalent" plasma.

FYI - for those of you with this problem - unable to power up with repeated clicking - it's bad news when the manufacturer cannot even supply the circuit board so you are in for a long wait (30 days for me). :mad: Now I just have to wait another 10-14 days for my "equivalent plasma' (Hitachi 42HDT79) to arrive.
Overall I loose out - spent around $3k 13 months ago + $300 for extended warranty - and now getting an "equivalent plasma" worth about $2k. I only hope the 42HDT79 lasts longer.

Actually - you are upgrading, and you have a new TV to boot! :)

The T series is a higher model line than the S series you had. The price then and now is apples and oranges. I have a one year old T series that I paid $3500 for - just bought this years model for my parent's for $2000 and it is a better set with more features according to the specs. The prices have dropped astromically in the past year, so don't let the price fool you. You can buy a 50" set now for what a 42" cost a year ago.

The wait in between is a bummer, but you are making out quite well in the end IMO. The down side is, depending on your extended warranty, it may now need to be repurchased - most warranties are done once an item is fully replaced regardless of how far into the warranty it is.

I left the TV unplugged all night and had no problems all day yesterday.. Maybe it fixed itself? Anyway, I got lucky.. Since I used my Visa card to buy the TV, they doubled the warranty for me.

One more question though.. Did either of you ever have any problems with the red or blue line burning in before you decided to get it fixed?


Haven't seen red line in a couple of days, but am still getting it fixed next week, HOPEFULLY! ;)

I had been looking at the 55HDT52 for almost two years, and could never pull the trigger. Loved the TV overall, but the PQ just wasn't in the same league as the Pioneers and Panasonics at the time. The Director's Series was not available in Canada until this year. And Hitachi improved the processing to 16-bit. When I saw the Director's Series in the stores, it compared very favourably to the Panasonic in particular, and anyone on this thread knows that Hitachi makes the best-looking plasmas at this, and maybe any, price point.

For anyone who has made the comparison, how did the 55HDT52 stack up against the Director's Series (HDX61 and 62) that were available at the time? The HDX61 and 62 received very favourable reviews, while the one I was able to find on the HDT52 was middling at best. And if anyone has seen this year's 55HDX99, how does the 55HDT52 compare? I was never able to do a side-by-side comparison, but I am curious as to how much improvement, if any, this year's Director's Series (and Hitachi plasmas generally) show over previous generations. I think they are much improved - just wondering if anyone else had thoughts on that.

When checking hours (414) on my 42HDS52A in Service Menu I accidentally changed GMS setting to 00. Trying to think what I did may be I was using left arrow to return to prior page in menu and instead it changed the number back one digit from 01 thus to 00 which resulted in washed out bright display. So I set to 01 and everything okay. Took a try at exploring the one other setting 02 and contrast too dark. So sure factory default is the 01. If any on this thread know for sure I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks,

slannes

Haven't seen red line in a couple of days, but am still getting it fixed next week, HOPEFULLY! ;)
Update on red line on 55hdt51. Service guy showed up and replaced the buffer board. Is it normal procedure to send 1 guy to fix a large plasma tv hung on a wall? I had to take off work to be there to help him get it down and hang it back up. :( He proceeded to tell me how the part he was replacing probably wouldn't fix the problem and that he would have to return 10 to 12 times with different parts before the store I bought it from would replace it! :eek: Hopefully it fixes the problem or I am a going to war. :mad:

Hi, I did compare both for a few hours before deciding on the 55HDT52 which I've now had for more than a year. I am sometimes amazed at the vivid colors it is able to reproduce.

I have looked at both Panasonic and Pioneer, and IMO, the improvements they offer (if ANY!), are negligible. Certainly, they will be forgettable once the sets are not being compared side-by-side...like in your daily viewing where you will be more likely to be lost in the content rather than the artifacts you are analyzing before making a purchase.

So, buy with confidence...and enjoy.


I had been looking at the 55HDT52 for almost two years, and could never pull the trigger. Loved the TV overall, but the PQ just wasn't in the same league as the Pioneers and Panasonics at the time. The Director's Series was not available in Canada until this year. And Hitachi improved the processing to 16-bit. When I saw the Director's Series in the stores, it compared very favourably to the Panasonic in particular, and anyone on this thread knows that Hitachi makes the best-looking plasmas at this, and maybe any, price point.

For anyone who has made the comparison, how did the 55HDT52 stack up against the Director's Series (HDX61 and 62) that were available at the time? The HDX61 and 62 received very favourable reviews, while the one I was able to find on the HDT52 was middling at best. And if anyone has seen this year's 55HDX99, how does the 55HDT52 compare? I was never able to do a side-by-side comparison, but I am curious as to how much improvement, if any, this year's Director's Series (and Hitachi plasmas generally) show over previous generations. I think they are much improved - just wondering if anyone else had thoughts on that.

Actually - you are upgrading, and you have a new TV to boot! :)

The T series is a higher model line than the S series you had. The price then and now is apples and oranges. I have a one year old T series that I paid $3500 for - just bought this years model for my parent's for $2000 and it is a better set with more features according to the specs. The prices have dropped astromically in the past year, so don't let the price fool you. You can buy a 50" set now for what a 42" cost a year ago.

The wait in between is a bummer, but you are making out quite well in the end IMO. The down side is, depending on your extended warranty, it may now need to be repurchased - most warranties are done once an item is fully replaced regardless of how far into the warranty it is.

Well the 42HDT79 showed up on Friday 12-29. Nice TV - only one problem. Hitachi warranty company gave me a 'refurbished" 42HDT79 - OK, it does state they can do this in the extended warranty's terms and conditions - BUT the refubished plasma only gets a 30 DAY warranty. I don't think this is very fair. A year ago I bought $3k TV with a $400 extended warranty. Now I get a refurbished plasma with basically no warranty unless withing the 30 days I buy another extended contract. I feel the refurbished 42HDt79 should have at least the standard 1yr warranty. What a rip. My lesson learned - don't buy the extended service contract. It does not give to the level of protection you think you are getting. Pay for any repairs yourself at a reputable repair shop - it may come out costing the same.
Lastly, the refurbished 42HDT79 may have one issue already. When I try to set the IMAGE POWER (min, medium and max) under the Screen Saver menu there is no visible difference in screen brightness when switching from min to Medium. Under Max setting there is a visible increase the screen brightness. Do I have a problem already? With my broken 42HDS52 there were 3 brightness levels when changing from min, med and max.

Hello:

Just brought home a Hitachi 42HDS69 and am having multiple problems. It's new year's eve and all I want to do is watch a movie and play a few games (sad I know).

So I get a (very nice) picture and sound for OTA TV (standard and HD) and picture and sound on my Oppo with a DVI-to-MDMI cable.

The problems occur with the following components:

Xbox 360 component cables - no picture, just sound
PS3 HDMI connection - no picture or sound
Toshiba HD-XA1 HDMI connection - no picture or sound

I have the latest firmware.

Please, please tell me this is something obvious I have overlooked.

Many thanks, Scott

The problems occur with the following components:

Xbox 360 component cables - no picture, just sound
PS3 HDMI connection - no picture or sound
Toshiba HD-XA1 HDMI connection - no picture or sound


XBOX360 - audio cables plugged into also, the red/white ones?
PS3 - configured it to output audio on the HDMI connection?
XA1 - same as PS3.

Update on red line on 55hdt51. Service guy showed up and replaced the buffer board. Is it normal procedure to send 1 guy to fix a large plasma tv hung on a wall? I had to take off work to be there to help him get it down and hang it back up. :( He proceeded to tell me how the part he was replacing probably wouldn't fix the problem and that he would have to return 10 to 12 times with different parts before the store I bought it from would replace it! :eek: Hopefully it fixes the problem or I am a going to war. :mad:

Brian, Lag, Dog: I, too, have the artifact on my display. It's the blue vertical line originating from the upper left side. It starts out clean at the beginning of the day, but appears within minutes and persists. Mine is well out of warranty and I did not purchase the extension. I guess I'll find out now if it was worth it. However, this is starting to look like a generic problem with this model. I'm sure we're not the only 4 individuals experiencing this issue. Hitachi should at least provide us with replacement parts.

RE: my 55HDX61 blue line.......They are picking my set up on Saturday (just in time for the championship game on Monday :rolleyes: ) The tech on the phone said it shouldn't really take that long to fix and I will probably have the set back no later than Tuesday. Still not sure if it's the buffer board that they are fixing on mine, but will report back when I know for sure.

Just giving everyone an update. Three days after the repair was made the line came back on. This time for at least four hours. (Its still there now) :mad: I am getting a little nervous at this point after doing a little more reading about how some of these extended warranties work :eek: Also considering that the repair guy told me that plasmas can't be repaired :eek: Well, back to phone tomorrow to see what's the next step. This kinda sucks after dishing out six grand for a tv and five hundred for a four year extention. What a sucker! :o Maybe we can move this to a separate forum so more people can see it. I gotta believe more people are having these issues. Maybe other people have had success getting things fixed or replaced.

Is there a way to make the info from the TV Guide appear when the Info button is clicked? Currently when i click info most of the info is blank. Only useful stuff is whether the source is 480/720/1080/i/p.

Maybe some more info. is in order...I do not have a cable box...the cable goes directly into the RF input on the tv...I ran a channel auto-scan...the TV Guide is populated with all the channels with up to date programming information.
It's kind of annoying to launch the TV Guide anytime I want to find out what program is currently playing on the current channel...The INFO button should do that job.
I tried the channel list manager. But there doesn't seem to be a way to edit the Channel ID. I am thinking if somehow the channel Id is set then the information could be gathered from the TV Guide.
But the Channel list manager seems to only allow editing FAV, OFF/ON and lock.

I've posted this in the newer thread too but still no response.

[QUOTE=bleary]Is there a way to make the info from the TV Guide appear when the Info button is clicked? Currently when i click info most of the info is blank. Only useful stuff is whether the source is 480/720/1080/i/p.

Try hitting the info button again. It works for ota. I don't have cable. Good Luck!

[QUOTE=bleary]Is there a way to make the info from the TV Guide appear when the Info button is clicked? Currently when i click info most of the info is blank. Only useful stuff is whether the source is 480/720/1080/i/p.

Try hitting the info button again. It works for ota. I don't have cable. Good Luck!

Tried it already...there's no description all blank...appreciate the response.

does anyone own the Hitachi 42PD8900TA 42 " plasma?

[QUOTE=Brian Boe]

Tried it already...there's no description all blank...appreciate the response.

If you have a cable card, then all this is stripped out (with Comcast).

If you do not have a cable card, then some of the info is there (with Comcast).

[QUOTE=bleary]

If you have a cable card, then all this is stripped out (with Comcast).

If you do not have a cable card, then some of the info is there (with Comcast).

Sorry I forgot to mention about CableCard.
I do have a CableCARD but I have it unplugged and I believe the TV Guide populated on its own from one of the PBS channels. I am sure it has not used cableCARD for this as I have that unplugged for more than a week.
But I still don't see any info. Strangely it shows only for some shows, like the Orange ball which was going on yesterday. And then still it showed only the start and end time and the Channel Id, but the description was all blank.