Hitachi 32UDX-10S (1 Viewer)

[Taka]

I'll be picking up one of these sets in a few days and just wanted to see if anyone else already has one and has any suggested tweaks/tips to get it properly setup.
I'll be picking up one of the calibration discs as well as some more cables.
It looks like a really sweet setup- 1080i capable, built-in line doubler, all for $1199. Nice picture- even though the screen isn't flat, the picture quality far surpasses anything else I've seen in that price range, esp. considering that the line doubler makes it look far better than anything short of an XBR450.
Any comments?

 

[Rick Radford]

Taka,
I bought one of these last week.. and have been struggling with a couple of issues.. maybe related.
My set cuts off an inch or two on the left side.. overscan, I'm told. Avia measures 8% left and 4% right overscan.
Also, faces appear out of proportion (to me)... a little shorter than I think they should be.. not exactly fat.. but somehow not quite right... with both analog cable and DVD.
I went back to the store last night and took Avia with me.. tried to check the store set out.. and didn't notice the proportion problem. Also, Avia checked out good w/r/t the pic being centered. I don't think I ran the overscan test though.. wish I had.
Anamorphic DVDs look stunning on this set. Analog cable also looks great.
Thinking I had a problem with my set, I exchanged it tonight for another one. This one is worse. Cable source just sets the display scrolling and the adjustment menus are partially off-screen. This set also measures 8% left and 4% right overscan.
However, with DVD source input, the menus are fine and so is the pic... with the exception of the overscan.
I think I'm gonna try one more set, but I'm pretty unhappy right now.
This is the cheapest 32" HDTV that I know of. Sure wish I could resolve the problems I'm having.
Best of luck with your purchase.
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--RR
[Edited last by Rick Radford on October 18, 2001 at 03:41 AM]

 

[Rick Radford]

Update to my saga:
I returned set #2 and retrieved set #1. A tech is supposed to come Monday and we'll see if he can fix the overscan issue. It's not severe.. but I'd really like to get it fixed.
I think the Hitachi is going to work out just fine.
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--RR

 

[Taka]

Rick,
I don't have any calibration discs, so I'll have to go find one and buy it. However, I can't see any overscan that you speak of, at least by visual inspection only. I have noticed that my letterbox looks slightly bowed at the ends, though- I'm not certain if that's an optical illusion or a real defect- when I get the AVIA disc, I'll know more.
As for anamorphic DVDs- I've found that I need to manually set the aspect ratio on the screen, then the discs looks awesome- otherwise, the proportions are streched vertically.
I also set my DVD player to 16:9 mode- have you done this already? I assume so. I have not noticed any problems in 16:9 mode- love the TV so far.
Taka

 

[Rick Radford]

Taka,
I finally figured out my left shift problem. It was my RP91 DVD player. There's a trick to correcting the shift which I've now done. My picture is nicely centered now.
I still have 6% overscan left and right, but at least it's equal. I'm trying to locate a service manual and hope to reduce the overscan some.
You can get Avia from digitaleyesdvd.com for ~$37-$38 shipped, iirc.
Regarding the squeeze, I finally figured out (with help from this forum) that I needed to have my DVD player in 16:9 mode. Now I just have to select the right AR if it doesn't come up in the correct AR. Before, with either of the 4:3 modes, the picture always came up with the right AR.
I didn't understand that 16:9 mode was a critical part of the process. I thought those modes just had something to do with the display format or something.
Thanks for the tip.
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--RR

 

[Taka]

Rick,
If you get your hands on a service manual, please let me know- I'd like to tweak this set to the best possible picture.
I may go ahead and plunk down the $175 for ISF calibration that is offered by my dealer. However, I'll probably get a better DVD player before I do that- currently using a 1st gen. Sony 550D.
When you're in 16:9 mode, do you notice two "letterboxes"? I read about this in another thread- my set shows a letterbox done by the TV and another letterbox inside that is done by the DVD player, but the blacks don't match so I can see two letterboxes. Kind of annoying.
What cables are you using? I'm using Monster M550 1m component from the DVD direct to the TV, so hopefully I'm getting pretty good signal to the TV from the DVD.
Taka

 

[Rick Radford]

Taka,
No, I don't see 2 LBoxes. But I have done the video calibrations with both Avia and VE. (BTW, you can pick up VE for under US$20 shipped from here ... that's where I got mine.)
You shouldn't have any problems once you get the black level set. Oh, and I left the set in Movie mode since that engages 3:2 pulldown.
For reference (but each set will likely be different):
Contrast: 65%
Brightness: 51%
Sharpness: 10% (although I couldn't see much difference in the sharpness tests while running the sharp control from 0 - 100)
Color and tint will vary from set to set.
My current set is:
Color: 30%
Tint: + 2 steps
By way of reference, when I had the 2nd set here, it used about the same settings for contrast and brightness, but the color and tint were considerably different. Color was 16% and I can't remember tint... but I'm thinking it was +5 steps.
Running the video tests, I never noticed any blooming nor any line bending on the needle pulse tests. So the 65% contrast setting was pretty arbitrary.
Brightness is set with the pluge test. I can't remember how Avia explains it, but the VE explanation is quite clear.
My cables are (relatively) inexpensive Liberty brand. I connect directly to the TV from the DVD player. This way my wife can use the DVD player in my absence without having to deal with cranking up the receiver, selecting the right input, switching video modes, etc.
I also have the TV audio outs going to the reciever so I can use the HT speakers for TV sound if I want. Naturally, the DVD player is connected via digital coax to the receiver too for HT sound!
I have AudioQuest interconnects for digital coax and receiver sub out to the sub amp.
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--RR
[Edited last by Rick Radford on October 24, 2001 at 08:40 AM]

 

[Rick Radford]

Taka,
A tech came out today (surprised me.. I thought we'd cancelled) so I had him look at my overscan.
It's a bit tricky.. but fairly simple to get into the service menu with this set. And we found a picwid setting which we changed to get me to 4% overscan on both sides. Top and bottom were already at that value.
I need to go in and write down all the various settings when I have some time. But as far as a service manual is concerned, no joy thus far. The tech said he'd stay in touch and try to get me a copy.
He said mfgs tend to ship out sets for sale long before they manage to get the service manuals out to the shops. Go figure.
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--RR

 

[Taka]

Rick,
Thanks again- let me know if you figure out the ins/outs of the service mode and if you get a service manual.
Do you notice much of an improvement on broadcast TV? I've noticed what appears to be digital artifacts on my DirecTV connnection as well as with the regular "rabbit ears" antenna. However, the picture is amazing w/ DVDs going through the component input.
I suspect some of the problem may be due to the fact that my receiver's S-video connection seems a bit flaky.
Taka

 

[Rick Radford]

Taka,
I can tell you how to get into the service menu, but not much else. The service manual remains elusive.
Broadcast TV? If you mean analog cable, then yes, I saw a distinct improvement over the analog set with cable. I don't have any OTA reception at the present time. HDTV broadcasts aren't to begin in my area for at least another year.
I can't give you any feedback on DISH as my dbs receiver got fried by lightning and I haven't replaced it yet.
What DVD player are you using?
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--RR

 

[Taka]

Rick,
What I meant by broadcast TV were my two TV sources- DirecTV via a cheap Hughes receiver as well as rabbit ears antenna for signal.
I think I may revert to composite cables for my TV viewing, because I've read stuff about S connections being worse if the comb filter is poor in the source unit- I imagine the Hughes receiver I have is really poor, as it looks worse than when I had composite connections.
My DVD player is an old Sony 530D, IIRC. 1st generation player. I plan on upgrading to at least the Sony 700P progressive or the Panasonic RP-56, unless I can swing the Denon 2800.
No one locally sells the Avia disc, so I'll be going to amazon to buy it. What a PITA.
Taka

 

[Rick Radford]

w/r/t Avia, www.digitaleyes.net has it for under $40 shipped. I bought some stuff from them recently and got it in a couple of days.
But if you have a coupon from Amazon, it may be about the same price.
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--RR