Hitachi 50V500 LCD Rear Projection TV - Calling all Videophiles!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Picture. 1080P upconvert. Advanced Features & Set-Up modes. Vivid color & Sharpness

Cons: None yet, except the TV is limited to one designated stand.

The Bottom Line: 
The best LCD on the market. Features Galore, 1080P auto upconvert, Remote Wizard contols all devices, Picture amazing, digital camera plug n play

Author's Review
I have been researching LCD rear projections, DLP, and of course Plasma. I've been doing so since before Christmas, so I have taken the time to read magazine articles, other reviews, product websites and visiting stores to do side by side comparisons. I spent many hours setting the up TVs the best I could in each store and watching both HDTV & standard signals etc.

I already had a 36" Sony VVEGA HDTV for 2 years, so I was happy to see the Sony 50" LCD rear projection, because with the exception of a couple of added buttons, the remote and all set ups were exactly the same as on my current set. Good right? I thought so at first, but then realized all it means is that Sony hasn't made much forward stride in technology in the past 2 years. A good & popular name brand, but then came along the superior Hitachi.

Honestly, before I speak about Hitachi, more history on my research. I was already sold on LCD/DLP rear projection over plasma based on my spending budget. I was not going over 5k on a TV. Therefore, cheap or refurbished Plasmas at that level just have too much Pixelation lag and grainy look. Until you can spend at least 9-10k, stick with the next best thing (LCD/DLP).

I had done in-depth research on mainly the Samsung DLP, Gateway DLP, Sony LCD & Panasonic LCD. Hitachi wasn't on my list basically to their low level of marketing their product, and the stores suit to follow. Everybody was pushing Samsung, Sony & Panasonic... even when the Sonys were on recall and back-order for their design flaw causing the lamp to blow after a month of use.

Gateway, more like no-way! What a terrible HDTV picture. It had the same pixelation lag I saw in cheap plasmas...especially the plasmas they carry, which were the worst plasmas on the market in my opinion.

Panasonic's LCD picture:I just couldn't set the picture to look as good as the Sony's LCD in any of the stores.

So I was basically down to Sony LCD vs Samsung DLP. The only reason I would go DLP was if I absolutely needed it to act as a PC monitor in addition to my TV (LCD cannot do this). Otherwise, I really liked the Sony's crisper picture. And I found Sony to be brighter than Samsung, although DLP is supposed to be brighter.

So there it was...finally I had chosen the Sony 50" LCD as the winner of my bonus check! THEN STEPPED IN HITACHI LCD!

I have to be honest..I didn't look into Hitachi ONLY because I never heard anything on it, nor did sales push it. Well, most smaller mom&pops only carried Sony and Samsung. In Circuit City & Sears...the set was always placed a few over and outside the "popular choice" arena of Samsung vs Sony.

I decided not to order the Sony yet, not until I looked into this Hitachi LCD set with the same price tag (3299). And, Holy cow, I can't even believe I almost bought the Sony. That would have been settling. I'm not going to go too deep. I'll give you the tool to research yourself.

http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/lcd/lcd_index.shtml

If this link doesn't work, copy and paste it into your browser. Click on find out more, then you'll see pages 0-4 which all have quick-time videos on each feature.

Features that are superior to Sony and that Sony does not offer. For true Videophiles like myself, we know how important it is to have control over picture set ups. Well Hitachi has the standard Video set-up page, but then you can go deeper. You have separate control over each of the several primary colors, and then can go even deeper to a feature that sets up flesh tones. Got a digital camera? Hitachi offers a plug n play front slot so you can set up a slide presentation. How many remotes do you have? I had 5 for years until 15 minutes after I owned this set. Now I have 2. Lets face it, your audio receiver has too many functions for any learning remote to control properly. No kidding, the remote wizard on this set is easy enough for my dad to use and he can't program his digital alarm clock!

Not enough?...how about Hitachi's 1080P auto up-convert of all signals. Sony & Panasonic upconvert to 480P. More? Each video input has both a day & night mode set up. More? This remote is awesome...did I mention I only have 2 remotes from 5 after 15 minutes of owning this set? And the remote has a button for each video input, so you don't have to toggle thru via one button as you do on Sony's.

More? okay... this picture is remarkable. As I mentioned, I already had HD on my 36" Sony. Only, now I have HD on my Hitachi. BIG difference. It has a 3D effect and colors with so much more life than my Sony. It's like getting a B-12 shot of bright, vivid picture and color. more? did you see that web-site? now go to Sony or Samsung. Look at those stagnant pictures of specs. Hitachi's website has so much information that's easy to use and video clips to explain the features. It has the user manual and quick steps to help you set up your TV. It really helped me understand the benefits of buying my hitachi

More? I love this TV. You will too.