Choosing A Hitachi Plasma TV

Peter Thomas
In this busy day and age, spending what free time you have needs to be as enjoyable and relaxing an experience as possible. Nowhere is this more relevant than with your TV, whether it's for watching a DVD, or using it to play the latest games on your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 on. With the features on the latest models, choosing a Hitachi plasma TV can offer the solution that you've been looking for.
With Hitachi's new Platara range of plasma TV's, picture and sound quality has never been better. Even with the largest 42" model, Hitachi has managed to maintain a depth of only 90mm deep, so it won't take up any major space in your living room, whether you let it sit freely or decide to wall-mount it. Despite the relative slimness of the model, it's still fully laden with features.
Using Hitachi's patented ALIS technology, which offers bright yet bold pictures displayed in high resolution, their flagship 42" model, the 42PD9700 contains a wealth of features, including:
ท Picture Master HD Technology, for the sharpest pictures yet ท Integrated Digital TV (IDTV), offering digital transmissions from the box, without the need for a separate cable or satellite connection ท High Definition ready, offering future proof upgrading ท Motorized swivel stand
However, if this model appears feature packed, then the new Hitachi Ultravision Plasma HDTV range is the nest level up in plasma TV's. With patented technology, these models offer the ultimate in plasma picture quality. Incorporating the world's first true HD display of 1080i, the 42HDX99 also impresses with:
ท Picture Master HD III Video processor, which scans every single frame of movement to provide a crystal sharp image
ท Day & Night Picture Memory, allowing easy switching between preferred screen settings
ท Film Quality Image Tuning, which improves the detail in both highlight and shadow
ท Natural Color Deep Black Anti-Reflective Glass Screen, which reduces the effect of sunlight on the screen and allows far superior pictures
ท Digital Color Management III, which automatically re-tunes its settings when attached to a digital camera to match that objects color display
However, even this phenomenal set is outshone by its bigger brother, the 55HDX99 Ultravision Director's Series. With all the features of the 42" model and more, this truly is the pinnacle of plasma TV's and will enhance anyone's living area beyond compare. With intelligent remote controls that allows you to tune your whole home cinema system to your TV remote, and an HDMI interface for connecting superior products such as HD DVD players, this really is the next generation of not just Hitachi's plasma TV's, but any of its competitors as well.
About The Author
Peter Thomas is the marketing manager for http://www.plasma-television.co.uk - the UKs leading plasma & lcd tv price comparison website

Are All Plasma Televisions HDTVs?

The short answer to this question is "NO". Here is why:
In order for a Television to be classified as an HDTV or HDTV-ready the television must be able to display a vertical resolution of at least 720 lines. Some of those "budget" Plasma televisions that are "selling like hotcakes" only display a vertical resolution of 480 lines. These sets are referred to as EDTVs (Extended or Enhanced Definition televisions).
EDTVs typically have a native pixel resolution of 852x480। 852x480 represents 852 pixels across (left to right) and 480 pixels down (top to bottom) on the screen surface. The 480 pixels down also represent the number of lines from the top to the bottom of the screen. This is higher than standard television, but not HDTV resolution. The images on these sets look great, especially for DVDs and standard digital cable, but it is not HDTV.

Plasmas that are capable of displaying HDTV signals have a native pixel resolution of 1024x768 (where 768 also represents the number of lines from the top to bottom of the screen) or higher.
Since Plasma televisions have a finite number of pixels (referred to as a fixed-pixel display), signal inputs that have higher resolutions must be scaled to fit the pixel field count of the particular Plasma display. For example, a typical HDTV input format of 1080i needs a native display of 1920x1080 pixels for a one-to-one point display of the HDTV image. However, if your Plasma television only has a pixel field of 1024x768, the original HDTV signal must be scaled to fit the 1024x768 pixel count on the Plasma screen surface. So, even if your Plasma television is classified as an HDTV because it displays 1024x768 pixels, some HDTV signal inputs will still have to be scaled down to fit the Plasma Televisions pixel field. By the same token, if you have an EDTV, any HDTV signals will have to be scaled down to fit an 852x480 pixel field. In essence, the resolution of the image actually viewed on the screen does not always correspond to the resolution of the orginal input signal.
In conclusion, when shopping for a Plasma Television, make sure you check to see if it is an EDTV or and HDTV-ready unit. Currently, most Plasma Televisions priced below $2,500 are of the EDTV variety, but there may be exceptions. Of course, this will change as prices come down for Plasma televisions in the coming year(s).

Think Samsung 27 HDTV When You Think Affordable

Dean Iggo

The Samsung 27 HDTV is very affordable. When most people think of HDTV, the first thing that happens is they see dollar signs spinning like a casino slot machine. So many of the top HD sets out there cost thousands of dollars and are steeped in a kind of almost mystical technology that the average person doesn’t understand. But HDTV doesn’t have to break the bank, or the mind. This Samsung 27 HDTV is a great example of that.

The Samsung Tantus TXN2798HF 27" HD-Ready TV with DynaFlat Screen is one of the top sets on the market. And the price is the best part. Amazon.com is currently selling this very model for only $355.00.

Taking a closer look at this great set, it comes with a full 27 inch HDTV screen that works with both the 480p and 1080i formats. It comes with DVI input so that you can use a DTV receiver if you want. The set measures out at 27 inches wide, 24 inches high and 21 inches deep.

The trademark Samsung Dynaflat HD screen is used with this model and it shows. Even though this is an old fashioned CRT-style set, the display looks great and it essentially flat, not curved like an old style set.

The computer chipset inside this set is the Pro Chip Plus, which changes over normal analog TV signals and shows them at a higher quality. While it can’t make analogue signals look like HDTV, it can make them look better than they would on your old television.

This set puts out some top quality sound, as well. There is a pair of 10-watt speakers plus a hefty 25-watt subwoofer for that natural bass sound that all good sets need.

Last but not least, there is a great picture in picture feature that can be huge when you’re trying to follow two ballgames at once.

If you’re looking for a great HD-ready set that doesn’t break the bank but still gives you your monies worth, you could do a lot worse than this Samsung 27 HDTV. This set is proof you don’t need to take a second mortgage to have a great HD experience at home.

Think Samsung 27 HDTV When You Think Affordable

Dean Iggo

The Samsung 27 HDTV is very affordable. When most people think of HDTV, the first thing that happens is they see dollar signs spinning like a casino slot machine. So many of the top HD sets out there cost thousands of dollars and are steeped in a kind of almost mystical technology that the average person doesn’t understand. But HDTV doesn’t have to break the bank, or the mind. This Samsung 27 HDTV is a great example of that.

The Samsung Tantus TXN2798HF 27" HD-Ready TV with DynaFlat Screen is one of the top sets on the market. And the price is the best part. Amazon.com is currently selling this very model for only $355.00.

Taking a closer look at this great set, it comes with a full 27 inch HDTV screen that works with both the 480p and 1080i formats. It comes with DVI input so that you can use a DTV receiver if you want. The set measures out at 27 inches wide, 24 inches high and 21 inches deep.

The trademark Samsung Dynaflat HD screen is used with this model and it shows. Even though this is an old fashioned CRT-style set, the display looks great and it essentially flat, not curved like an old style set.

The computer chipset inside this set is the Pro Chip Plus, which changes over normal analog TV signals and shows them at a higher quality. While it can’t make analogue signals look like HDTV, it can make them look better than they would on your old television.

This set puts out some top quality sound, as well. There is a pair of 10-watt speakers plus a hefty 25-watt subwoofer for that natural bass sound that all good sets need.

Last but not least, there is a great picture in picture feature that can be huge when you’re trying to follow two ballgames at once.

If you’re looking for a great HD-ready set that doesn’t break the bank but still gives you your monies worth, you could do a lot worse than this Samsung 27 HDTV. This set is proof you don’t need to take a second mortgage to have a great HD experience at home.

High Definition TVs Become Mainstream

Mikael Rieck

HDTV or high definition televisions are finally entering the arena where it can be considered mainstream। Literally every single day we see that the prices on high definition television sets are falling or even dropping। Luckily the available supporting technology like the digital video recorders has no problem handling HDTV programs।
Today, in at totally different industry, we see that the video game systems are using the advantage that high definition technology provides. And as a bonus we are seeing that more and more channels become available in the HDTV format now than ever before in the history of the technology.
While all of this is considered good news in the of the high definition television market a few of the giant technology companies are fighting a format war in the market for the HD digital video disc. As in the old days with the Beta-max vs. VHS format war there are now two opposing formats that both utilize the blue laser technology in order to encode enough data for a full length movie in high definition. And on top of that there are the bonus features and materials that are added onto a disc that's the same size as a normal DVD. The challenge is that most of the available players of today are only supporting one format and therefore won't play discs in the other format. You can say that the formats are incompatible.
Consumers avoiding the Beta-max failure
Due to this conflict there is currently a lot of trouble in regards to the widespread adoption of just one of the formats. Consumers can easily remember the last time there was a format war and where many people got stuck with a bunch of useless Beta-max cassette players and tapes. Therefore we are now seeing consumers being more cautious and are therefore holding out to see which of the two formats that comes out on top before investing into new technology.
The technical specifications of the two formats are pretty close to being equal, but the Blu-ray disc format from Sony is the winner in terms of the amount of data that it can store. On a disc from Sony you can store up to fifty gigabytes or as much as twenty five gigabytes on each side of the disc. On the other side you have rival of Toshiba with their HD-DVD format. It can only store fifteen gigabytes per side for a total of thirty, but it has the advantage in terms of players being sold about half the price of Blu-ray disc players.
Due to the fact that the Blu-ray format can store the most data, it would seem obvious that it would be the winner on purely technical grounds. However time has shown us that the market for these things isn't quite that simple. In order to win the battle both Sony and Toshiba are trying to win by making their technology more attractive than the other's which in the end will only benifit the consumers.
To make the picture complete one must know that there are some really big names in the electronics, software, and movies industry have gotten behind each of the two formats. On one side the huge company of Microsoft favors HD-DVD and offers an HD-DVD drive that attaches to its popular Xbox 360 gaming system
On the other side there are the major movie studios like 20th Century Fox that are currently releasing a lot of movies on Blu-ray disc while yet other movie companies are releasing movies on HD-DVD. Some of the major film producers are going the safe route and are releasing movies in both formats just to hedge their bets.
So when it looks like high definition television is ready to become mainstream the DVD format war is becoming more and more ugly every day and at this point it doesn’t seem like there will be found any solution in the near future.

DTV vs. HDTV

The Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) has set voluntary standards for digital television. These standards include how sound and video are encoded and transmitted. They also provide guidelines for different levels of quality. All of the digital standards are better in quality than analog signals. HDTV standards are the top tier of all the digital signals.


Standard vs. high-definition aspect ratio



The ATSC has created 18 commonly used digital broadcast formats for video. The lowest quality digital format is about the same as the highest quality an analog TV can display. The 18 formats cover differences in:

Aspect ratio - Standard television has a 4:3 aspect ratio -- it is four units wide by three units high. HDTV has a 16:9 aspect ratio, more like a movie screen.
Resolution - The lowest standard resolution (SDTV) will be about the same as analog TV and will go up to 704 x 480 pixels. The highest HDTV resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels. HDTV can display about ten times as many pixels as an analog TV set.
Frame rate - A set's frame rate describes how many times it creates a complete picture on the screen every second. DTV frame rates usually end in "i" or "p" to denote whether they are interlaced or progressive. DTV frame rates range from 24p (24 frames per second, progressive) to 60p (60 frames per second, progressive).
Many of these standards have exactly the same aspect ratio and resolution -- their frame rates differentiate them from one another. When you hear someone mention a "1080i" HDTV set, they're talking about one that has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and can display 60 frames per second, interlaced.

The 18 Primary DTV Standards



Broadcasters get to decide which of these formats they will use and whether they will broadcast in high definition -- many are already using digital and high-definition signals. Electronics manufacturers get to decide which aspect ratios and resolutions their TVs will use. Consumers get to decide which resolutions are most important to them and buy their new equipment based on that.

Until the analog shutoff date, broadcasters will have two available channels to send their signal -- a channel for analog, and a "virtual" channel for digital. Right now, people can watch an over-the-air digital signal only if they are tuned in to the broadcaster's virtual digital channel. After analog broadcasting ends, the only signals people will receive over the air will be digital.

However, even though a digital signal is better quality than an analog signal, it isn't necessarily high definition. HDTV is simply the highest of all the DTV standards. But whether you see a high-definition picture and hear the accompanying Dolby Digital® sound depends on two things. First, the station has to be broadcasting a high-definition signal. Second, you have to have the right equipment to receive and view it. We'll look at how to get an HDTV set and signal next.

MPEG-2
DTV usually uses MPEG-2 encoding, the industry standard for most DVDs, to compress the signal to a reasonable size. MPEG-2 compression reduces the size of the data by a factor of about 55:1, and it discards a lot of the visual information the human eye would not notice was missing.