Decided on Hitachi - Wait for 2003 Models? Why? When?

MatthewB · 05-20-2003, 02:19 PM

After struggling for several months between Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi, I think I have finally decided on the Hitachi swx20b (still debating 51" or 57"). Does anyone know what the 2003 models will offer and when they will hit stores? Should I wait? Does anyone want to talk me out of the Hitachi?

Thanks for your help - this board is outstanding!

Matthew

MatthewB · 05-21-2003, 01:59 PM

No one knows anything about the 2003 Hitachi line?

Mike_Thor · 05-21-2003, 03:12 PM

I would like to know also. I'm ready to buy the same one but am wondering the same thing.

NealH · 05-21-2003, 06:59 PM

I have heard they may have firewire port

Derek S · 05-28-2003, 10:32 AM

I talked to the local AV guy and he showed me the new specs, he had a nice three ring binder that he got at some show. the 2003's will have fire wire. also they will do 1080p. he kinda went through everything pretty quickly,

supposedly there is gonna be some sort of Kelvin tester (greyscale) built in to the tv (certain models)

he also said it will do 720p, again, i saw the sheets and it did have 720p on it, but not sure if it said it will be native or just support it. he said it will. (but he also told me that 720p is not 16x9. and showed me on the XWX that with a 720 signal, the sides were cropped, can anyone exlain this to me)

there will be a slightly better crt in the 03's as well. improved focus and less bright spots he said.

the model i was interested in was a 65 inch and would be a step up from the SWX and maybe close to the XWX. the price he stated was around 3200. he is usually 2 to 3 grand cheaper then CC, Sears or Audio King. he also stated that only high end vendors will carry this model. the 65X500 ( i think that is what it was called) a lower model will be coming out as well, the brochure said those two sets will be out in July. the top of the line unit will be out later.

if I think of anything else the sets had i will post.

sounds like a nice set.

**HTF Ads**

Richard Paul · 05-28-2003, 04:07 PM

I tend to look at a company's press releases to find out about new additions. I recommend ALL those thinking of last year's models to wait at least a week longer since last year Hitachi released their official info on May 31 on their web site. It is always best to know what improvements are around the corner so you can decide whether or not their worth having.

Derek, 720p is always 16:9 so I believe your local AV guy had no idea what he was talking about. As for the sets doing 1080p I believe he meant that the ATSC tuners in the HDTV's can accept it which would be expected or that Hitachi has come out with some kind of LCOS RPTV. No CRT HDTV's I know of can do 1080p and almost all 1080p RPTV's have used LCOS (Well all 2 of them...).

Derek S · 05-28-2003, 11:00 PM

thanks richard, i was about 99 percent sure that 720p was 16x9. can you explain why the XWX would chop the sides of the 720p signal? we were watching some ABC show that was on during the day. and it was 4x3 although the TV said it was 702p. like most salesmen he talked like he knew what the heck he was talking about.

i would second that recommendation to wait a couple weeks.

Richard Paul · 05-29-2003, 02:05 AM

The reason that you saw a 4:3 program at 720p is since many stations will broadcast even standard definition programming at 720p or 1080i. This means they will use side bars which depending on the station can be black, grey, or any color they choose (I heard one Fox station even used blue side bars). Several primetime shows on ABC are High Definition (HD) but the majority of all programming on networks is still Standard Definition (SD). Though less likely it could also be that your local ABC doesn't deliver HD programming since all that's required for them to broadcast is digital signals. Networks should broadcast 4:3 SD programming at 480x640 since that would allow burnable displays to put up grey bars and non-burnable displays to put up black ones. Also 480p would be MUCH more efficient to record at then upconverted 720p/1080i signals since they can take up to 6 times the data rate.

Also when you noticed that it said 720p for the XWX model that means that you can send 720p into the HDTV and the signal will be upconverted to 1080i. Previously many HDTV's did not do this though it is quickly becoming common. Unfortunately I have never heard of any consumer HDTV that can natively show 720p and we may never see one. Newer flat panels may actually take over the CRT market before CRT's can be made to do 720p at a "reasonable" cost (To me reasonable is below $5,000).

Bruce Tritch · 05-30-2003, 06:29 PM

One other possibility is the source. For example, Dish Network can and will change ratios and resolutions. Then there is s-video output. It can be confusing on the Hitachi's to discern the difference between the input signal (which may be altered) resolution and Hitachi's processing and viewable resolution.
By the way, yes, I did read what I just wrote, and yes, it does seem hair-brained, but is never-the-less confusingly true!