AWESOME PICTURE PRODUCTION

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First of all, I would like to comment on the Plasma vs. LCD battle… If you are in the market for the highest resolution, punchy color, very grey-like blacks, and must run a computer on your new display, get an LCD. If you are looking for the most “realistic” colors, highest quality “true-to-life” picture, and silky smooth motion in even the fastest moving scenes, Plasma is for you. There were several that stood out amongst the myriad of seemingly ENDLESS choices. Picture-wise during my now 6 month hunt for the “right” TV to complete my Home Theater, none stood out more than the particularly sweet, fabulously fancy, and definitely stylish Hitachi. Their top of the line 55" UltraVision® CineForm™ Director's Series™ Plasma HDTV is exquisite in every way imaginable. Truly, this display was made as a work of art. I began my search by determining what my ultimate goal was. My preferences lent themselves toward a very realistically colored and smooth action picture. Therefore, LCD was a distant 2nd place (though they are catching up in response times, black level, and color, but not price at this size just yet). Pioneer’s PDP-5060HD, Panasonic’s TH-50PX50U, and Hitachi’s 55HDX61 were the final 3 competitors for my selection. This was going to be the one for me picture-wise… and then, I saw the Hitachi, and all the others melted away into little puddles of plasma & plastic goop. The 55” Hitachi 55HDX61 UltraVision® CineForm™ Director's Series™ Plasma HDTV is the best Plasma Display Panel in the world right now. Pioneer Elite’s are wonderful. But they are NOT the Hitachi. Panasonic’s are AMAZING, but they ARE NOT THE HITACHI. The only one that can come close to this set would be the Hitachi 55HDX62, which succeeds the 55HDX61 this year. Hitachi has placed all categories of the finest technologies together into an aesthetically pleasing package that easily meets with wife approval. The features on this set are so simple to use and are very familiar to those who have owned Hitachi Products beforehand. Even the worst quality signals from my cable box were reproduced on the Hitachi with a completely respectable picture. Black levels on this set are superior to the Pioneer. To be fair, I would say that the Panasonic black level was equal to the mighty Hitachi. But, where the Hitachi seemed to walk away with the PDP World Heavyweight Title was with details in motion and color. Using the same test DVD & player, the Hitachi simply looked better than the Pioneer and the Panasonic. And when I say looked better, I mean at any distance. This display panel was noticeably superior with regard to details, motion, and color accuracy. The Hitachi makes in-home calibration easy as it allows access to not only blue, green, and red values, but also magenta, cyan, and yellows. The colors on this set are stunning. The smooth picture is scintillating, even when close up to the set. This set has a separate tabletop box to hook all your interconnections to. Aesthetically, the TV looks as wonderful off as it does on. My wife remarked that she was shocked at just how much space our living room opened up once this monster was hung on the wall. And just how good is the picture? I suppose that depends on how you define “good”. I define a TV Picture by how realistic it is and how much it can mesmerize your optical senses. I suppose this would be a good example… my wife and I were watching a show called the Snake Handler, on Discovery-HD where a South African man runs around the wilderness and handles wild, very poisonous snakes. Anyway, we were both really drawn into the program by the quality of the picture and realism and clarity of the ambient colors, flesh tones, smooth moving transitions… when the camera man got too close to a rather large snake, the animal struck the camera so fast and hard that we both screamed and I must have jumped 2 feet out of the lazy chair… Now, if that isn’t realism, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS! I can not convey to you how deeply drawn in you can get while watching an HDTV program between this set and a quality sound system. The experience is as genuine as being there. The only thing I can liken it to would be the difference between listening to a home-theater-in-the-box style stereo during a movie, and then doing the same on an audiophile-quality system. There really is no comparison. All in all, I must say that in combination with the extra 5”, the Hitachi 55HDX61 easily walks away with my business and the PDP World Heavyweight Title. As larger PDP production becomes more reliable, I am looking forward to buying Hitachi’s next larger version and moving the 55” one into the bedroom (yes, the wife likes it that much). As with any Hitachi product, the thought placed into the user friendly menus, the care placed into packaging it, the exceptional picture reproduction, all packaged into the most aesthetically pleasing casing makes this a product well worth waiting4

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi CRT Projection, Panasonic TH-50PX50U, Pioneer PDP-5060HD