Hitachi VS810 Owner's Thread - Page 21

My reaction is that CNET sold this set way too short, and is casting a cloud over a set that should be given SERIOUS consideration by everyone shopping in this size/class/price.

I conducted an exhaustive search for my new HD set, which started with the Samsung DLP and ended with the Hitachi 50VS810. The best DLP I saw was the Mistubishi 725 series, but it like ALL DLP's exhibited some deal-breaker issues: 'crawl' during nearly every scene, rainbows, and headaches induced by 5 minute viewing sessions.

I considered the JVC LCOS/D-ILA box, but it has substantial issues with 'bleeding' highly contrasted colors (red on top of white tends to break up and not maintain a clean edge) and odd abhorations in RED sections of images. Red's tended to look blotchy, pixelated and unnatural on several sets I viewed.

Plasma sets are nice, but given the burn-in and life-cycle issues vs. price point, I wouldn't buy one unless I absolutely needed to hang my screen on the wall.

Direct-view LCD's are great, but they can be hard to look at for a long period of time due to the backlighting, and the expense is too high. Still, it's currently the most promising slim technology.

RP CRT's are outdated in my opinion. Large heavy cabinets, burn in concerns, viewing condition impact (ambient lighting, seating angles) and a tendency to exhibit 'flicker' take down an otherwise strong contender, especially given the VERY low costs.

RP LCD fit the bill for me. No burn in concern, bright detailed images from a mature technology in a large format, lightweight, and plasma-looking cabinet. Sure, black levels aren't as good as other technologies, but you'll never notice except during viewing with the lights out and very dark scenes. The Hitachi 50VS810 is the best of the current crop of LCD sets because of Picture quality, features, and design aesthetic.

Given the strengths and weaknesses of the various display types, this set provided the best performance for the dollar.

Hey guys.... Close to purchasing from CC and would like to know the dimensions of the box for the TV... Was curious if it would fit in my SUV....
Thanks, and keep the forum alive.......

The dimensions for the set are listed on the Hitachi website. Add about 4 inches in each direction for the approximate box dimensions. You should have no problems getting the 50" set in the back of an SUV as long as the rear seats fold down. I have the 60" model and I believe it would fit in an SUV with the rear hatch open.

The dimensions for the TV are roughly 29" tall
55" wide
16" deep

So basically with the box I am looking at 33" tall
59" wide
20" deep ??????

Does that sound about right??? Also does the box have a ( THIS SIDE UP) label on it, or can I carefully flip it so that it would fit???

Anyway, do the more recent production runs have less problems than the early ones.... If so, what is the best way of knowing when the TV was manufactured??

It wouldn't fit in my Jeep Grand Cherokee. The box is about 35.5" tall and must be kept upright. Length: 64.5", width: 26".

The date is written right on the tag on the back of the set.

Hello;

Well I pulled the trigger and purchased the 60VS810 from CC. I have to say that the HD picture is very good. I have a relatively dark room but this display is not very bright. I think its just average and could be alittle brighter.

Anyway my problem is in the upper right quadrant about 2 o'clock there is a 2 inch in diameter round dark spot. It is only noticeable with a white or light background. I noticed it 2 minutes after the set was first powered.

Does anyone else have this problem? It looks like a dirty lens or maybe the screen itself.

Should I exchange it for another unit or move on to something else?

Thanks

Kevin

Thanks Phousley,

I have a Grand Cherokee also.... 2003 model and I am pretty sure that that won't fit.... I think I only have about 30 to 31 inches in height at the litfgate... I will probably just borrow my friends truck... I really appreciate the info.... Once I purchase later this week, I will update you guys on my experience.....

I haven't pulled the trigger yet but I would try to exchange it for another one first... For the amount of money we spend on these TV's it is imperative that we are near 100% satisfied... Through reading this whole thread I have noticed that there are some bad apples out there. However, there are many that are just in awe of this series of TV's and couldn't be happier. Some of the owners have noticed a smear like blob behind the protective screen... I think there is a screen wipe function that allows your TV to display a all white screen so you can analyze just how bad the dark area is... Not sure if it could correct it though....

Hitachi spares no expense in ensuring that the TV is well insulated and supported in the box. I delivered my first one on its side with no problems in a pickup truck. The tv is supported by huge pieces of styrofoam to ensure no movement within the box, that said, it is large. I know my 60" would not fit in any SUV, ok, maybe a Hummer, perhaps the 50 might.
My tip of the day (learned the hard way), the box is actually the lid for the base and lifts right off . My first set I opened like a box for a childs toy, pulling massive staples, tape etc..lol...wadda mess...

glenn

I have pulled the trigger!!!! So far I am thrilled with everything... The out of the box settings are pretty darn good as well... I have no green bleed, no red push, no blobs, no pixel problems,....... nothing..... I used screen wipe to display the white picture and tried my best to find something wrong..... I haven't messed with the video settings too much yet.... I want to but I would like to know the best settings first.... All I have is basic Time Warner Cable with no Digital box and I am able to get all my local channels in HD... I bought an antenna and it worked well but I don't need it since I found CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, PBS, UNC-TV, and others out of Charlotte in HD through just the coaxial cable. If I want Discovery HD or ESPN HD and others, I will need to call to get a Cable Card.... I will probably do that pretty soon... Reagular cable looks pretty darn good too...
I bought a Sauder stand which is about 3 inches taller than the Hitachi stand... I liked the Hitachi stand but I wanted the TV a little higher which helps alot with the viewing angle... The middle of the picture is exactly 39 inches high from the floor... This is the exact height that my eyes are sitting in my Lazy Boy, 7 feet away..... The manufacturing date is October 2004.... Do I need any software upgrades????????

Mheav - Congrats on your new purchase. I unfortunately will be returning mine back to CC. The black spot or smudge is quite annoying and the service people I spoke with said its not normal and to return the set. I also have noticed while watching any black & white material that the lower right quadrant is light brown. At first I thought is was the program material but not.

Thanks for the tip on the WIPE function. The smudge and brown area is very noticeable. Hope you have better luck. I am going to purchase a SONY XS.

Later

Hope you have better luck with the Sony... I am dissapointed that some have had problems with this set.... I really think that once you get a good one, this is the set to have... However, I have to admit I did give the Sony a really good look and I liked it very much..... (55xs955).. I will keep you guys posted on any problems that occur.... Currently (day 2) everything is perfect... I am surprised at just how bright my picture is....Right now I am watching Michigan and Texas in 720p..... The picture is unbelieveable... Can't wait to see the NFL on CBS tomorrow in 1080i....

Has anybody with the green bleed problem had their TV fixed and the problem go away? If so what exactly did the tech repair person replace or do to the TV. I am on number 5 for swap out and still the green bleed is on every set.

For those with green bleed problem...... Did you notice it right away, or did it occur over time? Just wondering if I may be out of the woods. I still cannot find anything wrong with my set. (Day 3)

For those calibration finatics..... Do you use the same settings for HD as you do with SD.... I still haven't played with the settings yet.....

I finally got around to using DVE to calibrate my 60VS810 over the holidays and I have some questions for anyone that has used this DVD to calibrate their VS810. I'm using the latest version that's supposed to cover HDTV sets as well as older SD sets. My DVD player is a Marantz DV-9500 with HDMI output.

First of all, I'm trying to determine the best way to adjust the settings using the HDMI inputs. The tutorial on the DVD shows how to look for blooming in the scan lines when using the component or other analog inputs during the contrast adjustment but this doesn't seem to occur when using the HDMI connection as there are no scan lines to speak of. In fact, the instructions seem geared more towards using the analog inputs on the set and doesn't seem to address either DVI or HDMI inputs at all.

I can get the color and tint to adjust to where the display looks correct through the blue and red filters but the green seems to be way off. I've used settings posted by other members in this thread but they don't seem to be correct for my display. The resulting picture is extremely dark and details are getting lost in the shadows. There is no supporting documentation on using the vast arsenal of display patterns available on the DVD and the DVE website doesn't appear to have any additional helpful info.

I'd appreciate any tips for proper use of the DVE disc so I can get this set properly adjusted. Right now I sem to be taking shots in the dark with it. I do have a slight green tint issue with this set but it is very subdued and restricted to the lower left quadrant of the screen when displaying a full white background. Flesh tones tend to have a green tint in the shadowy areas of characters' faces but I think that's more due to the green imbalance than any green tint problem like so many others have described on their 810s. Perhaps the two issues are related.

I think blooming is really only a CRT issue. I think, but it has been awhile, that AVIA says with LCDs, you won't really see blooming. You should adjust the level so that the 5 bars have the most amount of contrast with each other and the black background.

It may be helpful if you post your settings here so we can compare. I posted my settings (as per AVIA) way way back on this thread and many have PM'd me that they were within a few % of mine when they calibrated, so you might want to do a search. I've since tweaked mine a bit as well to get more black detail. Off the top of my head, I think my nightime settings are as follows: contrast 51%; brightness 54%; color 25%; color temp high (although I think medium is closer to 6500k, high looked better to me); black enhance is at medium; sharpness is at 10%; tint no change; I think I dropped the green decoder about 10%.

I too recently purchased a vs810 and was trying to calibrate it using Avia and the HDMI inputs from my DVD player outputting 720P. My problem has been setting the contrast level. Avia eplains that LCD's do not have power supply or blooming problems, but they can "Crush" whites.

The brief instructions tell you to set contrast so that the vertical lines, which move left and right in the upper black part of the pattern and the lower white part, are still visible and the vertical steps are equal brightness. However, using the HDMI output, there is never a point where I can see the vertical lines in the lower white area. Am I missing something?

I AVIA tells you to set brightness very low or off first, although I could be confusing AVIA and DVE. Try lowering your brightness setting to see the white bars, then calibrate brightness after Contrast.

My settings are pretty close to what you have except that I believe I have black enhance set to Off. How did you make changes to the green decoder without changing the tint settings? Did you do it via the service menu?

No need to touch the service menu. If you go to the video settings (where you adjust contrast, etc.) scroll down to the second menu page. There is a color decoder menu, where you can adjust Red Green and/or Blue levels. I adjusted the settings using the AVIA color decoder test. When I initially calibrated, I used the MEDIUM color temperature setting and I think there was a 5-10% red push that I had to correct. Using the HIGH color setting, I think the red was ok but there was a 5-10% green push, which can be corrected in the decoder menu.

There's a separate menu where you can adjust 6 colors (cyan, magenta, etc.) but I haven't had enough time to start playing with that yet.

I have a Yellow issue in my attempts to calibrate the set. Yellows tend to 'scream' a bit and are maybe a bit red.

Someone please repost the best settings currently found and your opinion as to whether it calms the yellows. Thanks!

Hey guys, this might be a dumb question but are you using the settings you are talking about on all inputs? I mean, do you use the same settings for HDTV viewing that you use for watching DVDs?

Each input on the 810 needs to be calibrated individually for the type of connection you plan on using. In other words, if you decide to use the HDMI connection on input 1, the component connection on input 2, the S-video connection on 3 and the composite input on 4 then you'd have to calibrate each input through the connection type you assign to it. Even if you decide to use the same connection type for each input you'd still have to calibrate each input individually. Once you've done the setup on one connection the rest are easy since by then you'll know what to look for.


Thanks. I had completely forgotten that there was another part to the Video menu. I'll give that a shot to see if I can cure the green push I'm seeing.

Based on my extensive auditioning of the vs810 and the vx915, the Color Decoder menu is specific to the color temperature setting (High, Medium, Standard, Black/White). So, if you use High for two separate inputs, any changes to the decoder settings for High will impact both inputs.

Also, the Color Management settings (Magenta, Yellow, Cyan, Red, Green, Blue) are global for all inputs.

Michael

It is pretty hard to take good photos of the picture on the my tv but here is a commercial on Discovery HD....

here are others....

Football game.... Pics aren't great, but trust me, the real picture is crystal clear..... I used my digital camcorder to take photo stills.... I don't have a real good camera yet..... The pics are 640x480 max resolution...

50vs810