http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/ Engadget HD Comments for Hitachi's new loaded plasma - 42HDS69 http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/May 1st 2006 1:43PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/]]>May 1st 2006 1:59PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/this means its native resultion is below the min width 1280 for 720p HD definitions.

I am against any TV calling itself HD and haveing less than 1280 pixels across.]]>May 1st 2006 2:02PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/May 1st 2006 3:01PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/
While the specs read good the design sucks., with all that silver and the non-motorized swivel stand it looks like thouse cheap flat panels. There's another cheapo Hitachi already available on Wal-mart's website the 42HDF39 it's selling for around $2,000. ]]>May 2nd 2006 2:28AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/
What IS new is HDBeat calling this a 1080i TV. You guys were leading the charge of not allowing manufacturers to call a 1024xANYTHING TV "HD".

What's notable is that Hitachi is calling this a 1080i TV. That means that, while handling 1080 lines of resolution, it will only accept a 1080/60 interlaced signal. It is not a 1080p set (I know nobody claimed it was, I'm just saying). They admit as much when they tak about their "PictureMaster 1080p Video Processing." The only thing it references is de-interlacing.

Bottom line: there is a lot of funky scaling going on with this TV and its crazy rectangular pixels. You are not getting a "true" 1080i picture. The 1920x540/60x2 fields signal is being deinterlaced to 1920x1080/30, then scaled to the rectangular pixels. Prolly looks better than 1080i on a 768 plasma, but still not going to match a true 1080p display.]]>May 3rd 2006 12:46PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/
That said, I really want this TV, but i'd like to see some reviews first.

Anyone know the contrast ratio? 8000:1? 10000?

The 36 watt speakers are something I'd like someone to review.

Jury out, but this one sounds pretty sweet so far.]]>May 16th 2006 8:42PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/
It just arrived in stock today at J & R. The reviews should be coming in very shortly.

*prays for good reviews*]]>May 17th 2006 11:25AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/Hitachi/Fujitsu Plasma Display makes arguably the best (and most expensive)Plasma panels on the planet. Their ALiS (Alternate lighting of Surfaces) design which incorporates the 1024x1024 structure in my opinion has one of the smoothest most cinema like pictures available on a consumer device today. A Panasonic for example, with traditional 1024X768P has a great picture, but there is still more evident pixel spacing.

The best way I can describe it is the difference between the Trinitron and the regular Invar Shadow Mask back in the day. No one who saw a Trinitron in my experience ever wanted to go back to a regular shadow mask television. Ironically, when Sony was producing their Plasmas until 2005, all of their panels were Hitachi/Fujitsu sourced up to the 42 inch size.

So its not just some trivial difference, the ALiS design, while not quite up there in black level with some of its competitors, is overall the smoothest picture because of the incredibly tight pixel spacing.

Ian.]]>Jun 6th 2006 12:54PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/05/01/hitachis-new-loaded-plasma-42hds69/prudency@outgun.com]]>Jul 3rd 2006 11:04PM