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“The good bits regarding the Hitachi 42PD7500 Plasma TV: ”

written by thehead on 17/01/2006

Good Points
This is a 42" HD Ready Plasma TV with Analogue and Digital Terrestrial (DTT) Tuners

The performance of this TV in analogue and digital mode meets all the criteria which a serious viewer might set for the quality of reception, pictures and sound.

If you like to be in control then you will simply love it. There are more settings to explore than you would ever spare time to shake a stick at.

If you are not technically inclined, or if you want an easy life, Hitachi have preset everything anyway. You can get their factory settings back very easily if friends or family fiddle with it and make a mess of things.

The unit has a wide selection of inputs and outputs to accommodate all the usual suspects viz. SCART's, PHONO's, DVI, D-Sub and HDMI.

Bad Points
It has one serious drawback as it fails to cater for purchasers wanting to use it's audio only capabilities e.g. Freeview radio; playing CD's on DVD players' and using "audio" inputs without a video signal.

The Hitachi manual does not match this TV's own high specification.

General Comments
The good bits regarding the Hitachi 42PD7500 Plasma TV:



As you might imagine, plasma TV's come in very large boxes but, Hitachi have thought this problem through to come up with a beautiful solution that makes the task of unpacking it easy and unassuming. If you rely on first impressions, their box will grab you immediately.



The Hitachi 42PD7500 lifts from the box easily, as most of it is a lid. Please note that lifting requires two people as it is already attached to it's motorised stand.



Here are some essential dimensions that Hitachi neglect to publish! (all are approximate measurements) Base footprint - W 52 by D 36 cms; Picture bottom edge to table top - 16.5 cms; Picture height - 52 cms. Now you have the information you need in advance of delivery to choose a TV table which meets all your creature comforts!



Plugging basic things into the back requires dexterity, endurance, good eyesight and the skill of a contortionist. Two SCART's (AV1/2), most of the Composite/RGB and output PHONO's (AV3), and an HDMI (AV5) are upside down on the back. If, like most of us, your TV is in the corner of a room well away from the window on a small table ... well you can guess the rest!



Fitting these plugs is only half the story. Each cable must be tethered using one or two special, but fiddly, ties. This is an essential step, since when the screen is rotated using the remote control, SCART plugs may work loose and pull out! The 2 common interface sockets, for use when Pay TV arrives with special £20? (Ref.: House of Commons Select Committee discussions in 2005 on Introducing Digital TV) modules, are both upside down too!



Plugging in the DVI and D-Sub plugs is much easier, since they are located side by side and face the rear. A separate set of S, composite PHONO's (AV4) and a headphone socket are extended and mounted on the side of a speaker. This makes plugging in XBox's and digital camera's for instant use, very easy indeed.



Automatic tuning programmes for each tuner do everything for you. Sit back and watch each do it's thing. If you want to go back later you can tweak just about everything set for you. Add your own titles, delete channels, fine-tune, or tune in new ones by setting a TV channel number and searching for the broadcasts channel number, S-band number or frequency, if that is your thing.



The on-screen menu system is easy to use. It changes nearly every parameter under the sun. There is a memory for each input, each sound mode (SPEECH/MUSIC/MOVIE) and each vision mode (NATURAL/DYNAMIC/MOVIE).



The TV and Video "Picture Menu" has 32 items available for PAL viewers. 13 of them set 13 options selected from 13 lists, which together, contain 42 different options to choose from (e.g. Cool, Normal, On, Low, Warm etc.). Each of the 19 others sets a number to plus or minus on it's own sliding scale (e.g. for: Brightness; Colour; Contrast; Colour temp amplitudes & cut-offs; Colour decoding for 3 colours; Colour management for 6 colours etc.).



In RGB mode 2 more menus are needed to make equivalent changes to the colours, picture positioning, input level and screen scanning rate. With 20 fixed options, 1 automated adjustment and 8 slider options, you may just run out of steam before completing your task. But then ... I think you get the picture!



The DTT programme information system is comprehensive and works at five different levels:



1) An on-screen menu lists all channels by name and number. Skip through it to select a channel to watch or edit. Edits include DELETE/FAVOURITE/LOCK/EDIT channel title or number. (LOCK applies a parental control PIN).



2) If you change channels, a 3 second banner displays: channel name & number; a signal strength thermometer; the time; the Now & Next programme times and titles. A remote "Recall" button brings the banner back if you need more time to take it all in.



3) The "Guide" button replaces what you are currently watching with a silent "Blue" 7 day electronic programme guide (EPG). It has the time and date and, initially, I found it confusing because it lists programmes alongside a list of channels. I soon got the hang of it when I realised the programmes were all on one selected channel.



4) With the 7 day EPG on display, pressing the "Menu" button retrieves the programme you were watching previously and shows it in a small box in one corner. Meanwhile the 7 day EPG turns into a "Now & Next" EPG.



In both EPG's, when you navigate each programme title a detailed description is displayed in a special box. If the description is too long it rolls upwards like a film credit ("To Boldly Go" etc.)



5) If you select a programme on either EPG and press the "OK" button, it is marked for later viewing by a clock icon. If you are watching a different channel when a marked programme is due to start a warning banner will appear. After selecting "YES" the DTT switches to the required channel.



Some Faults:



The 7 day EPG exhibits minor flaws. It's difficult to tell if this is software, or due to the time taken by the DTT to extract text. Sometimes this EPG shows "not available" where the list of programmes should be, even though the "Recall" banner and the "Now & Next" EPG have this information. Checking other channels using the 7 day EPG shows they have their own programme information, and moving back to the original channel usually reveals the missing details.



A different problem also affects the 7 day EPG. It divides each day into two hour slices and lists all the programs which end or start within each time-frame. It also marks one as (Now). Sometimes a (Now) programme mysteriously disappears from a list, sometimes the programme following it is missing too. Both programs are revealed by the "Recall" banner and the "Now and Next" EPG, but under these circumstances, the 7 day EPG seems unable to rectify itself.



Other Good Trivia:



For the pessimistic amongst you, there is plenty of flat metal on the back cover of this TV to apply your "name and post code" using a security marker-pen!



The remote control can be programmed to manage 2 other devices (DVD/SAT) sourced by up to 19 manufacturers.



Mislaid the remote? You can operate Power on/off (380W); Standby (3W); Volume change; Channel change; Menu and Input select using a control panel and a separate switch hidden upside-down under the plasma screen (That deaf dumb blind kid sure plays a mean pin-ball).



For the safety conscious there are timers that can power down to standby after a fixed period (5 options - 1 minute to 2 hours). Or power the TV up from standby at a specific time, or after a set period of hours and minutes (I have not tested these yet).



DTT software upgrades, when they are available, can be downloaded manually or automatically in standby mode whilst the TV is not being used.



When set to "Favourite" mode, only these select channels pass by when using the channel "up/down" buttons.



The Not So Good, The Bad & The Ugly:



An instruction book (63 pages) is commendably, all in English. Even so, it is often difficult to locate specific items. What you also get, when you find it, is not always what it should say on the tin. All too often it reveals a "Lost in translation" moment!



Starting early on with a dubious "After twisting the screws off as shown" it develops in technicality and complexity towards "When the input on B (right picture) is AV5 during the 2 pictures mode, even though "B" is selected from "Audio Menu, Headphone select", the audio is not fixable at B (right picture) but output from the selected picture (A/B)"



Did you get that or should I read it through again?



Some sections are rich in detail and littered with technical terms. It has at least one tabulation which appears, superficially, informative yet becomes incredibly obscure in it's interpretation (Page 27 "4 Pictures" table).



A more supportive document might put fewer people off reading it, and would be greatly appreciated if it still contained the same level of detail.



If you would like to take a turn at scratching your own head, try downloading this model's pdf file from Hitachi's plasma TV web site.



As we introduce new technology, or change the way existing applications are used, we often take old traditions for granted and miss out or overlook new possibilities.



The design team for this plasma TV adopted a whole raft of strategies to prevent "plasma screen burn". The manual gives quite specific and repeated warnings about it, even though the overall design concept ignores "plasma screen burn" in two other areas.



Listening to Freeview Radio Programmes:



The DTT receives digital radio programmes (Freeview), but has no screensave facility! This means the screen is always on while listening to Freeview radio channels. Each BBC radio programme (except BBC World Service) allows listeners to press "red" and then select "0" to implement a nifty BBC screen saver (Well done BBC!).



No other digital radio stations do this! Their bold centre screen logos like "SMOOTH FM" or the cloned advertising screens of "Kiss FM and family" are distracting, and may also burn your screen if you listen to them all day every day.



Convergence of TV with hi-fi:



Living rooms have been cluttered with separate TV and hi-fi systems for far too long. TV is in stereo now (analogue/NICAM, digital/Freeview, and Sky etc.). In the future HDMI promises multi-channel sound with High Definition TV (HDTV).



This TV is HDTV ready! It has a stereo amplifier and a top rate pair of speakers, but these cannot be used with the plasma screen switched off! This TV should have provided us with an opportunity to throw out our hi-fi stuff and use it on it's own to listen to CD's played on a DVD player.



Well think again! It's that old "screen burn" problem, and it stands in the way of any seriously minded audio user.



As I see it, if you plug in a DVD player it always provides a sync signal to show a static image on a TV screen. You cannot remove the image easily. My trusty Philips DVD has a screen saver, but it only works in "STOP" or "NO DISK" modes. It persists while the disk plays singly or in repeat mode.



There seems to be only one partial solution to "screen burn"... Sacrifice one of the 3 picture modes on the DVD input. Use the "Picture menu" to turn everything down as far as it will go, and select this mode to play CD's. The screen stays on, power is consumed, and all the strongest highlights remain static.



This is rather like using your car to get from home to visit "them next door"!



I also tried connecting the DVD audio leads to a second input (S-composite red & white) thinking the screen would stay in a neutral "no signal" grey state. This TV is paranoid about detecting sync-input and seems to eat nothing else. With my audio input selected and my CD playing, it reported "no sync signal" and promptly switched itself to standby mode. So no screen and no sound either!



SUMMARY:



The Hitachi 42PD7500 is a serious bit of kit for your averagely unbalanced spender. It has severely complicated multi-dimensional functionality, with a weak manual that can hide from you solutions to problems like those I set out as "audio only" and "screen burn".



If you must have cutting edge, and you are prepared to take these challenges on board. If you will accept all the niggles and minor distortions normally associated with something as new and as exciting as this, then you should consider this plasma TV very seriously.



DISCLAIMER:



Though not a competition, you may notice some familiar phrases appear to have embedded themselves inside my review. The writer wishes to point out that similarity with real phrases either living or dead is purely coincidental, and that no animals were harmed during the making of this review. All digital effects were produced by Hitachi Ltd.