[ericX]

I recently purchased 2 plasmas (yes, I feel lucky), the Hitachi 42HDT51 (for the bedroom) and the panny 50PHD7UY (for the family room), and so have been able to do somewhat of a direct comparison:


BASIC DIFFERENCES:


Hitachi - 42 inch - owned just under 30 days

Panny - 50 inch - owned 1 1/2 days


SETUP:


Hitachi - HDMI to HDTivo

Panny - Component to HDTivo (DVI blade was not available)


Sets are in different rooms, so I do have to run back and forth. But the material sent to them is the same.


FLAWS:


Hitachi arrived with 1 dead pixel. None observed on the Panny.


MISC. FEATURES, ETC.:


The Hitachi is a consumer model, and seems more feature rich. The remote and menu is much more intuitive. A main advantage of the Hitachi is the ability to stretch HD material that was recorded in 4:3 with side bars or to zoom slightly on letterbox format. With the Panny, I can't find any way to modify 1080i inputs. I also like the ability to set different settings on the Hitachi for night or day, or different sources. Of course, I've been playing with the Hitachi for a month, and the Panny for only 1 day.


The Hitachi has a built in tuner (which I never use) and speakers (which are convenient for the location).


I've decided I dislike the separate Media box of the Hitachi receiver, only because the cable that comes with it is too short and hangs in an obtrusive way.


This is more "buzz" with the Hitachi than the Panny.



SUBJECTIVE PICTURE QUALITY:

(The most important comparison)


Hitachi - Sharp image, bright vibrant colors, but a lot of digital noise and false contouring. Contrast is good, but there is a fair amount of "black crush". To get detail, I need to increase brightness, but then black isn't as black.


Panny - Softer image, almost film like (I assume the DVI will sharpen this up a bit). However, there is still more detail than the Hitachi, with much less noise. After minor adjustments ("steaming rat" settings posted on the forums for the 6UY), the Panny has a very natural look. Blacks are great (not perfect), with clearly more detail in the shadows. The Panny is the clear winner.


SD Material - both are about the same.


While I've been looking for hours back and forth between the two for all the differences, my wife needed only 5 minutes to say the Panny was better. So this morning I called CC, and the Hitachi is being returned (I feel a little guilty). I now have the go ahead to get a second Panny, and she even thinks the 50 inch would work in the bedroom. The amazing thing is that the 50 inch Panny costs less that the 42 inch Hitachi!


-

 

[BruZZi]

Thank for the comparison ericX.


Can you please tell me which settings are you using on the Panny ???


Picture Mode.

DNR (on/off).

Gamma Settings.

 

[xtdoc]

Quote:

Hitachi - Sharp image, bright vibrant colors, but a lot of digital noise and false contouring. Contrast is good, but there is a fair amount of "black crush". To get detail, I need to increase brightness, but then black isn't as black.

Eric,

I am in a a similar situation.

I have had a hitachi 55hdt51 for a month (living room) and have a 7 series 50 inch panny (study) arriving tomorrow. I wanted a big bright picture for the brightly lit living area and the best black levels for my dark study.


I also have a HD TIVO. I also had problems with noise and black crush on the hitachi when I used the HDMI output from the HD TIVO. These problems went away when I used component instead. There are many posts on the TIVO forum of users that have had the same experience. You should try the component inputs before returning the hitachi! Let me us know what you discover.


I use a dennon 2910 DVD player on the hitachi and conversely get a better picture with HDMI than component, so I think it is the HD Tivo causing the problem and not the hitachi plasma


Scott

 

[ericX]

I had tried component on the Hitachi a while back, but tried it again this evening. Really no difference. With the component there was probably more noise and false contouring. Maybe the black was just every so slightly more black, but there did not seem to be any more detail. The nice thing about Tivo is that I can pause HD. On the Hitachi, a black blazer appeared as a solid blob of black, whereas on the Panny I could even make out the pocket.


My wife was looking as well. She said there was no comparison, the Hitachi is going back, and to replace it with the 50 inch Panny. I'm happy.


Scott, let me know when your Panny arrives and what differences you observe.


I imagine conclusions might be a bit different if you are not using HDTivo (but I'd give up my Plasma any day over my Tivo!). However, the comment about "back-crush" with HDTivo does make me wonder. I was planning on getting the DVI blade for the 7UY when it gets in stock. Does anyone have experience with Component versus DVI with the HDTivo + Panny?

 

[ericX]

The settings I used were from Harkness (Steaming Rat) in the linked excel spreadsheet.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=367647



I realize this was for a different model, but they seem to work pretty well. I'll probably do more tweaking later.


Eric

 

[BruZZi]

Thanks again ericX.


Have you played with the Video Noise Reduction ???


I'm curious to know if it makes any difference.

 

[xtdoc]

Quote:

I had tried component on the Hitachi a while back, but tried it again this evening. Really no difference.

Eric,

Interesting. My hitachi is a 55hdt51 vs your 42hdt51 so maybe our differing experiences reflect a difference of the glass. Regardless, I don't think any plasma has the details in dark scenes as the panny/fujitsu. But I will let you know my impressions of the 50 Panny vs the 55 Hitachi. I will have a HD tivo hooked to both so I can compare as you did--freeze a HD picture and compare room to room.


I also agree that the HD Tivo is the most important piece of equipment.


IE, HD Tivo + DLP > cable + Plasma..IMHO


Scott

 

[ericX]

I briefly tried the noise reduction with the Hitachi. Maybe you get slightly fewer dancing pixels, but the same amount of false contouring and other issues. Not really much difference.


Eric


Quote:

Originally posted by BruZZi Thanks again ericX. Have you played with the Video Noise Reduction ??? I'm curious to know if it makes any difference.

 

[BruZZi]

Quote:

Originally posted by ericX I briefly tried the noise reduction with the Hitachi. Maybe you get slightly fewer dancing pixels, but the same amount of false contouring and other issues. Not really much difference. Eric

Sorry I wasn't clear...


I meant the Panasonic Display (New Feature on the "7UY" Models)????

 

[xtdoc]

Quote:

Scott, let me know when your Panny arrives and what differences you observe.

I now have a 55hdt51 Hitachi in my living room and a TH-50PHD7 in my study.



I am very happy with both and have compared the same signal with both. Overall to my picky eyes once properly setup, the HD PQ is equal with both. The colors on the Hitachi are a bit more punchy than the panny though I find the colors of the panny accurate and excellent. The black levels and details in dark scenes with the panny looked good right out of the box. The black levels and details in dark scenes were not as good out the box with the hitachi. But once I experimented and found the best hookups for my HD TIVO (component much better than HDMI) and my Dennon 2910 DVD (HDMI much better than component) and tweeked the picture settings on the plasma, the black levels on the Hitachi were outstanding and to my picky eyes as good as the Panny. Also, once hooked up this way, macroblocking and and artifacts were not manifest on the Hitachi.


With an SD source (480P from the Directv HD TIVO), I find the hitachi has a better picture than the panny to my eyes. Both are good but the hitachi gets the edge in my book.


Both are great units. I love both of my plasma kids the same.


Here is a quick strength list for both IMHO


TH50PHD7

Excellent HD PQ

Good SD PQ

Great Value

Flexible inputs by changing blades

Great PQ with leading black levels

No speakers if you don't want them

small bezel and lighter, works great with articulating mount.

easy to buy online or in commercial video B&M stores


55HDT51

Excellent HD PQ

Excellent SD picture

Bigger

Good value for size

More inputs (firewire, hdmi, usb)

Good speakers if you want them

Separate Media Box

Great PQ with great colors

Great black levels after tweaking

Did I mention bigger


The only real criticism I have with both is the reflectivity of the screens. Both act like mirrors in certain lighting conditions.


Scott

 

[htran]

xtdoc, if you only could have one, which one?

 

[mangopony]

Personally, I believe no one should use 'settings' from others here. I have found out that these settings vary all over the place. It may take weeks, that is true, but take the time and do let your eyes be the deciding factor in how your 'final' settings are set. Begin with factory settings and make small moves, taje your time. Generally, on most settings go to a 'minus' (-) setting. Do not stray to far from '0' or dead center. The settings you see here and from visual aids are alright to consider. But do feel completely free to reach your own final settings from what you (and your family) see. Good luck!..and do take your time.

 

[xtdoc]

Quote:

xtdoc, if you only could have one, which one?

It depends..........


For a viewing distance less than 10 feet and a darkly lit room...I would get the panny 7UY. This plasma shines for for example watching an HD feed of matrix reloaded 7 feet away in a dark room...I did just that last night.


For a longer viewing distance and brighly lit room and a fatter wallet, I would get the 55 hitachi. The extra 5 inch diag. makes a bigger difference in subjective image size than you would think. This plasma shines for example for a superbowl party in a big room with 50 people.


As far as cost I think both are a good deal. The 7UY is a better value but if you want apples to apples, don't forget to add the blades and speakers if you need them.


But rougly, the 55 hitachi will cost 50% more than the 7UY which is certainly significant.


Lastly wanting vs not wanting a separate AV box may steer you strongly one way or the other.


Scott

 

[technogeek]

Hi! I am new here and just bought a Hitachi 42PD300TA (42EDT41).

I chose this over a Panasonic 7UY. There were really limited choices in my area and I narrowed down my choice to these two because of these reasons:

1. the other brands Pioneer, Sony, Philipps were in the 1028x768 res. Only Panasonic and Hitachi had the EDTV res which my budget could afford.

2.I chose the Hitachi because the Panasonic is monitor only, no tuner and speakers, while the Hitachi is complete. To add the speakers and tuner would make the Panasonic more expensive. The image on either was great.

The Hitachi had a slight advantage on sharpness and color at default, as far as my taste is concerned.

I wonder if Hitachi is good, as far as the EDTV range is concerned.

I watch mostly standard cable tv and dvd.

 

[igreg]

Quote:

Originally posted by ericX The settings I used were from Harkness (Steaming Rat) in the linked excel spreadsheet. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=367647 I realize this was for a different model, but they seem to work pretty well. I'll probably do more tweaking later. Eric

This message has been removed from the forum. Do you have the settings elsewhere? Thanks.

 

[BruZZi]

Quote:

Originally posted by igreg This message has been removed from the forum. Do you have the settings elsewhere? Thanks.

Simply replace "www" with "archive".

http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/s...hreadid=367647