Hitachi P50H401 50-inch Plasma

O ne of the major buzzwords around HDTV right now is 1080p (I know, that’s a number not a word). Flat panel TVs with 1080p resolution create the most excitement among videophiles, and command the highest prices from electronics dealers. Hitachi has a sound alternative in its HD1080 line of products. They offer most of the benefits of the 1080 resolution, but sell for less money. We scored the 50-inch P50H401, which lists for $2,499 (and sells for about $500 less), to see what this was all about.

Hitachi HD1080 plasmas use what’s known as ALiS (alternate lighting of surface) to create the pixel structure that makes the picture. In the case of this model, the pixel resolution is 1280 x 1080 whereas most 50-inch plasmas use resolutions of either 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768. All three qualify as high definition. The HD1080 or ALiS plasma has 40 percent more pixels (1.3 million total) than the others. Full 1080p panels on the other hand have a resolution of 1920 x 1080. All HDTV broadcasts are either 1080i or 720p. HD DVD and Blu-ray discs can be output as 720p, 1080i or 1080p. While it’s important to understand that there are different resolutions, the number of pixels isn’t the only, or often the most important, factor in picture quality.

Another benefit of Hitachi’s ALiS method is that it creates a much greater pixel density on the panel—the boundaries between vertical pixels are narrower, so you’re less likely to see the grid structure unless you get too close to the screen. The design also allows more light to come from the phosphors, theoretically making the TV brighter.

Aside from Hitachi’s unique plasma panel method, this TV includes a good assortment of user-friendly features. The speakers, located underneath the screen, blend in nicely with the bezel. All the front controls and ports are hidden behind a flip-up panel. The front inputs include one HDMI port. This makes attaching a high definition camcorder or Playstation 3 very easy. On the back you get two more HDMI ports, two component, 2 S-video, composite, and RS-232 (for control systems), one antenna/cable jack and an optical audio output for a surround sound receiver.

Using the Hitachi is a pretty uncomplicated experience. The built-in digital tuner quickly pulled in all the local digital stations from my antenna. There is no program guide, and channel switching is a bit slower than I’ve found in other TVs recently, but that only matters if you don’t use a separate set-top-box.

The picture menu offers mostly just the basic options, making this a good choice for a buyer who doesn’t want to spend time tweaking settings, but not as suitable for advanced home theater buffs. The menu itself is a bit slow to respond to the remote, but adjusting the individual settings such as contrast and color temperature works fine. After calibrating with a SpiderTV I found the standard color temperature dialed the TV in quite nicely and a few more tweaks put it spot on. It includes a few advanced picture settings such as black enhancement, MPEG noise reduction and day/night settings.

On broadcast HDTV the Hitachi looked great. When watching The View I could discern stray hairs on Whoopi Goldberg’s dreds and the dark roots on Elizabeth Hasselback’s blond ‘do. This TV does a particularly good job creating intense colors. Blu-ray movies, played through a Samsung player also looked fantastic. Would a TV with the full 1080p resolution show you more? That depends on a lot of factors.

Hitachi offers an interesting proposition in this TV. The pixel resolution puts it between the typical and the top panels, but offers it at a more competitive price coming from a major manufacturer—and that last point is worth repeating. Hitachi is a plasma manufacturer, not a company that buys its panels from elsewhere and puts a name on it.