Hitachi 61SWX01W 61 in. TV
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- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 16:9 Enhanced
- Weight: 255 lb.
- Screen Size: 61 inch
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Large, Expensive, but worth it !
Pros
Large screen, Bright Picture, Attractive Cabinet, Functional Multi-brand Remote, Remote lights up, Easy On-screen menu's setup, 4 Aspect ratio settings, Rollers/Wheels for ease of moving it around, AUTOMATIC CONVERGENCE - (MagicFocus) !!!
Cons
Very Heavy to lift, (mod-fix problem spoken about above), lack of digital out - coax/fibre, screen shield not perfectly flat, screen blackout delay when changing channels
Recommended it?
Yes
Originally it all started with buying a Pioneer DV-434 DVD player and noticing that all DVD's provide a "letter-box" display. My TV at that time was a 29" set that just didn't cut it anymore, since now because of the letter boxing, the picture was much smaller.
Since my DVD player produces a progressive scan, I wanted to get a large-screen TV that could handle it.
I must admit that I didn't really do a lot of shopping around for a new TV, but one night I went into "Stereo Plus" and looked at various large screen projection TVs.
I looked at a 50" Sony that was not bad, but when I compared it to the 53" Pioneer HDTV (Wide Screen), I then made the decision to go for a Wide Screen 16:9 aspect ratio instead of the normal shaped 4:3 aspect screen.
The Pioneer was impressive (I thought), as the store owner was showing me its various functions. He also showed me its "Convergence" adjustments. At this point it looked like a lot of work.
As I wandered through the store I found a separate room where the HITACHI 61" HDTV was set up. Wow, this TV was impressive ! Not only did it have a large, wide screen, but it was Noticeably TALLER than the Pioneer HDTV. This made it seem even bigger, and also more like being in a Theatre where you have to look UP, slightly. Well, lets just say that after getting a nice long demo in the store, I ended up buying it, (and OUCH, making payments).
The Hitachi TV was delivered a week later and I dove right into the manual to figure it out as fast as possible. After setting up the TV (which was a breeze due to the very user-friendly on-screen menus), I tested it out.
Unfortunately, there were TWO DEFECTS with my tv (which were fixed...but more on that later):
1. There was some sort of circular pattern, like a bullseye in the center of the screen that was visible during very bright scenes on solid colors.
2. When viewing a DVD in Progressive Mode, a transition from a very Dark scene to a very bright scene would cause the TV to "black-out" the screen temporarily, and then come back.
The store I bought the TV from was very helpful throughout the process.
It turns out that the circular pattern in the screen was some sort of manufacturing defect, and should not have been there.
The screen "black-out" problem when viewing DVDs in Progressive Scan mode was fixed with a "Mod"ification by HITACHI. They knew about the problem and fixed it by installing some sort of capacitor on the video board.
MY HDTV set was REPLACED by the store, (complete with the Hitachi MOD fix).
After that point, there have been NO problems at all, and the Hitachi HDTV has worked FLAWLESSLY !
As opposed to the Pioneer HDTV where you had to MANUALLY do the convergence, the HITACHI has a cool feature called MAGICFOCUS, which digitally does all the convergence automatically at the touch of a button ! This is GREAT !
The picture is super bright. In fact, I had to turn the brightness way down because it was too bright to look at !
The sound is super out of the built in speakers. In fact, you don't really need a surround sound system, because this TV has all of those processors built in ! Just hook up your speakers and subwoofer and you are set !
The best thing, though, was the ability to change the aspect ratio of whatever you are watching from normal 4:3, to Full, to Fill, to Smooth Wide. Smooth Wide can be a bit weird, as it tries to do a smooth-stretch of the screen, but once you're used to it, its ok.
The only thing I am undecided about is the screen-shield. When the tv is not in use, it casts reflections of the surrounding light that show the screen to be much LESS than perfectly flat. It almost appears warped. This is not noticeable when the TV is ON, however, but I wonder if HITACHI could have made this screen more rigid, so it stays perfectly flat instead of warping under its own weight ?
To watch DVD's on this set is a dream. It was a great investment, and for what I paid for it, it has to last me a long time.
I may think of more to write about it, but for now that's it !
Since my DVD player produces a progressive scan, I wanted to get a large-screen TV that could handle it.
I must admit that I didn't really do a lot of shopping around for a new TV, but one night I went into "Stereo Plus" and looked at various large screen projection TVs.
I looked at a 50" Sony that was not bad, but when I compared it to the 53" Pioneer HDTV (Wide Screen), I then made the decision to go for a Wide Screen 16:9 aspect ratio instead of the normal shaped 4:3 aspect screen.
The Pioneer was impressive (I thought), as the store owner was showing me its various functions. He also showed me its "Convergence" adjustments. At this point it looked like a lot of work.
As I wandered through the store I found a separate room where the HITACHI 61" HDTV was set up. Wow, this TV was impressive ! Not only did it have a large, wide screen, but it was Noticeably TALLER than the Pioneer HDTV. This made it seem even bigger, and also more like being in a Theatre where you have to look UP, slightly. Well, lets just say that after getting a nice long demo in the store, I ended up buying it, (and OUCH, making payments).
The Hitachi TV was delivered a week later and I dove right into the manual to figure it out as fast as possible. After setting up the TV (which was a breeze due to the very user-friendly on-screen menus), I tested it out.
Unfortunately, there were TWO DEFECTS with my tv (which were fixed...but more on that later):
1. There was some sort of circular pattern, like a bullseye in the center of the screen that was visible during very bright scenes on solid colors.
2. When viewing a DVD in Progressive Mode, a transition from a very Dark scene to a very bright scene would cause the TV to "black-out" the screen temporarily, and then come back.
The store I bought the TV from was very helpful throughout the process.
It turns out that the circular pattern in the screen was some sort of manufacturing defect, and should not have been there.
The screen "black-out" problem when viewing DVDs in Progressive Scan mode was fixed with a "Mod"ification by HITACHI. They knew about the problem and fixed it by installing some sort of capacitor on the video board.
MY HDTV set was REPLACED by the store, (complete with the Hitachi MOD fix).
After that point, there have been NO problems at all, and the Hitachi HDTV has worked FLAWLESSLY !
As opposed to the Pioneer HDTV where you had to MANUALLY do the convergence, the HITACHI has a cool feature called MAGICFOCUS, which digitally does all the convergence automatically at the touch of a button ! This is GREAT !
The picture is super bright. In fact, I had to turn the brightness way down because it was too bright to look at !
The sound is super out of the built in speakers. In fact, you don't really need a surround sound system, because this TV has all of those processors built in ! Just hook up your speakers and subwoofer and you are set !
The best thing, though, was the ability to change the aspect ratio of whatever you are watching from normal 4:3, to Full, to Fill, to Smooth Wide. Smooth Wide can be a bit weird, as it tries to do a smooth-stretch of the screen, but once you're used to it, its ok.
The only thing I am undecided about is the screen-shield. When the tv is not in use, it casts reflections of the surrounding light that show the screen to be much LESS than perfectly flat. It almost appears warped. This is not noticeable when the TV is ON, however, but I wonder if HITACHI could have made this screen more rigid, so it stays perfectly flat instead of warping under its own weight ?
To watch DVD's on this set is a dream. It was a great investment, and for what I paid for it, it has to last me a long time.
I may think of more to write about it, but for now that's it !
