Just bought my first Digital Set (1 Viewer)

[DennisP]

I posted a thread a few days ago regarding the Circuit City price of the Hitachi model 32UDX10S HDTV for $999.00. Today I went back and purchased the set and found out that they also offer a $50 in store gift card when you purchase a 32" or larger set. So this unexpected wind-fall paid for a set of Monster component cables. I had been viewing a Sony 27" set which I purchased almost 10 years ago. I still had the sales receipt (from Best Buy). We paid $888.61 for it. When I bought this set, we searched everywhere for the best price before buying it. Now, 10 years after, I'm buying a set that's 40% larger with much better technology for a tad over $100 more.
I can't be happier..it will be delivered tomorrow afternoon and I have a place of honor all ready for it. I can't wait to see how my DVD's will this unit.

 

[Todd smith]

Congradulations! I might be doing the same thing. I think this is the best overall direct view hdtv considering the geometry issues with the flat screens. AWESOME colors on this set! Give us a report when you get it set up and going.

 

[DennisP]

Thanks Todd
I'll let ya know how it performs...

 

[TimG]

I have also been debating getting that set. I had my mind set on a wega, but figured for a couple hundred more I could get into an HDTV set. It is now between the Hitachi and the 32" Samsung. I think the squeeze on the Samsung may give it the edge though. Let us know how it works out.

Tim

 

[george king]

I have the 36" version and love it. The colors are amazing. Let us know how you like it. Remember, when you set this up, put it in Movie mode, as this is the only mode that activates 3:2 pulldown.

TimG, the Hitachi also does the squeeze.

Hope this helps.

 

[Andrew Chong]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I think I'll wait for a wider selection to come down in price.

 

[DennisP]

Well Guys, The set showed up about 1 hour earlier than I expected...not big deal..the guys for Circuit City were great, moved my old 27" out and slid the 32 in it's place. The only glitch they had in setting it up was them telling me the "S" video had to be hooked up for the DVD player to work. I explained to them that the component cables replace the "S" video...they didn't want to hear it. So I waited for them to leave and did the component cabling myself. I now wonder how many people have HiDef sets installed by Circuit City and are only using the "S" Video hookup. Oh well, enough on that subject.
Remote on this set is rather strange..you do most of the menu selecting using a joystick type button to select options. This was driving me nuts for a while...kept making wrong selections and changing to different menus I didn't want. I finally got the "hang" of it and it does work reasonably well. Although I still find it pretty strange.
The first changes I made to the set was get into the theater portion of the menu, and select "Movie". This enables the set's 3:2 pulldown. I popped in a Superbit DVD of "The 5th Element" and was treated to the most film like TV picture I've ever seen. The color were nothing short of spectacular and the contrast between darks and light were outstanding. Next quick test was a copy of "Mask of Zorro"....again I was blown away by the colors and film like quality.
I have Comcast Cable where I live and the quality of the picture in this area is only "passable" at best. I didn't have very high expectations when I started to channel surf. Again, major surprise...the picture quality was very good..even on the lower channels where I normally see snow and crawling lines. The cable picture quality on this 32" Hitachi is better than I had on my 27" Sony and a 20" JVC.
So far this set has exceeded my wildest expectations, and I haven't even started to tweak the picture settings. I have to buy the AVIA disc now.
I'm not sure if I have the "squeeze thingie" on this TV, set properly. I have my DVD player set to 16:9 and have the TV set to 4:3. The black bars are greatly reduced in size and there doesn't appear to be any picture distortion. Can anyone tell me if this setting is correct? I used this same setting on my old Sony and got a good picture but a slightly elongated picture.
I have only spent about 40 minutes fiddling with the set but I just had post this first report. The owner's manual is pretty detailed and chock full of information, I may have to spend a hour just reading it before I do more fiddling. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Happy

 

[James Zubb]

The Circuit City guys that delivered mine were pretty knowledgable, they actually knew where to hook everything up.

The squeeze is very easy to use. You set the DVD player as 16:9. The Aspect button on the remote changes the TV from 4:3 to 16:9, so you don't need to bother with what it is set as in the menu. There is no indication onscreen of aspect change so you need to look at the menu to see what it is set at, it should be pretty easy to tell though. When playing anamorphic discs you switch to 16:9, when playing non-anamorphic you leave it at 4:3. With anamorphic discs you will have an elongated picture in 4:3 mode, so if you are not seeing that I wonder if you do have everything set right?

 

[TimG]

So the Hitachi does the squeeze also? Is it done with a button on the remote like the Samsung? This is good news, maybe I don't need a flat screen after all. (If it saves me 200 bucks to get the Hitachi.)

Tim

 

[Todd smith]

Glad you are enjoying your purchase! Let us know if anything changes.

 

[Steve Kramzer]

I'm really interested in this tv, but I read a review of the tv that said the velocity scan modulation could not be turned off from the menus. It also said that it may be possible to physically turn off the vs modulation, but that it would probably void the warranty. I was wondering if anyone has done this to their tv or even knows how to do it.

 

[Tony Mc]

Steve



Sorry, I've no idea what velocity scan modulation does. What does it do or don't do for overall PQ?

All I know is that the PQ is great on my 32UDX10S. DVDs and my analog cable connection are fantastic. Hopefully other members here can answer you inquiry about velocity scan modulation.

 

[Steve Kramzer]

from audiovideo101.com

"Technique employed on some cathode ray tube television sets for slowing down or speeding up the electron gun as it scans or paints each horizontal line of information. The beam is slowed down to reproduce areas of bright light and sped up on areas of low light or low brightness.

The process of scan velocity modulation causes distortion in the output if dark and light colors are close together or contained within one another. Dark areas tend to become larger and light areas smaller than they should be. The technique causes phosphors in light areas of an image to be overdriven and produce too much light output (blooming) and reduce detail.

Scan velocity modulation is sometimes listed as a valuable feature, but in fact it causes picture distortions. It is best to look for a television that does not use this technique or on which the technique can be turned off."

 

[Tony Mc]

Just went to the Hitachi website and saw this feature is on the UDX10S - "Advanced Scan Velocity Modulation".

Here is Hitachi's glossary definition:



The manual does not mention how to access controlling the "Scan Velocity Modulation operation". I guess that it may be accessible via the "service mode".

I accessed the "service mode" (by selecting the Power button and Input on the TV, simultaneously) and here are the menu selections:

ADJUST MODE MF0912

SUB Brt

SERVICE

DEF RESET

V/P RESET

3DYC RESET

FLEX RESET

TA1317 RESET

CCD RESET

FACT RESET

MEMORY INITIAL

Since I have no idea what these settings do to the TV, I'm not about to mess with them.

With the pleasing PQ on this TV, my screwing around with a velocity scan modulation setting, would probably worsen the PQ. As is, the PQ is sharp and detailed, whether there is bright light or low light.

I would have to see what the difference/variances are gained by adjusting the velocity scan modulation.

 

[James Zubb]

Those are reset switches, haven't really played with those. That is actually only the first page of options. As you scroll up or down off the page with the thumbstick it flips to another page of options. There are a lot of them, like 10-15 pages of values. There are 2 VSM looking values, VSM GA and VSM PH. I don't know if these are actually for VSM or not, I cannot tell what VSM looks like. Are there any sample images on the net? I have VE is there any test image on that which displays the problem?

 

[DennisP]

For anyone who is interested. You can download the actual owners manual for this TV set on the Hitachi website and view it using the Adobe reader. I did that before I bought my set..just to get and idea of the set's features.
During setup of my TV..I selected SDTV/DVD rather than HDTV in the Component Set menu. I didn't notice any real difference in the picture quality using either setting. Any explanations?
I'm loving this set more and more each day