14WP 06 FIRST TEST Hitachi

6/6/05

12:12 pm

Page 20

FIRST TESTS
We check out the latest crop of plasmas and LCDs to land on our test benches

FEATURES

Picture Master processing; 600:1 contrast; 500cd/m2 brightness; brightness and contrast boosting; edge enhancement; 10-bit colour processing; noise reduction; PAL comb filter; black enhancement; colour management; colour decoding; matrix surround; backlight adjustment; auto tuning; black; dynamic bass; headphone volume; screen wipe CONNECTIONS HDMI in; DVI in (no HDCP); Scart x3 (2 RGB); component video in; PC in; S-video in; composite video in x 2; PC audio; stereo audio in; headphone jack; composite video out; stereo audio out; RS-232; RF jack CONTACT Hitachi 000 www.hitachidigitalmedia.com
Only a touch of contrast away from delivering the ultimate LCD picture performance

Hitachi 32LD7200

With this HD-ready 32in, can Hitachi do to LCD what its done to plasma? THE FLAT FACTS

I 32IN 16:9

ou wake up at home. Amongst all your Swedish sofa units and serene green stripe patterns is this gloss black-and-silver-rimmed Hitachi LCD. Its facing away from you. You pick up the remote control and hit the swivel button. It turns to face you. Its shiny. Its perfect. Its you. A TV that swivels on its desktop stand would generally be considered a luxury model, and wear a hefty price tag to match, but on this low-priced, top-spec 32in LCD, its just an extra.
LCD TV I 1,500 I HD-READY: YES I RESOLUTION 1,366 x 768 I SPEAKERS: YES I TV TUNER: YES I SCARTS: 3 (2 RGB)

Family fortunes

Hitachi is on to something here. We know this and Hitachi knows this. Last month we raved about its HD-ready 42in plasma, the 42PD7200, so we could well be about to spray silky adjectives the way of the 32LD7200. But what are the differences? Well, this ones an LCD traditionally not Hitachis strong point but it does have Hitachis Picture Master processing cargo, the first LCD from the brand to do so. Which means it should put up a good fight. More of that later for now lets stay with the Picture Master aspect, because it evidently doesnt just refer to the insides of the 32LD7200 its a picture to look at on the outside, too. It is gloriously clad in glossy black, rimmed in silver and includes
detachable, side-mounted speakers. The swivel-stand gimmick completes a super-stylish screen. The good news continues when it comes to connections, which, as on its plasma cousin, include digital inputs galore (well, two) that will make Skys upcoming highdefinition TV services in 2006 well within reach of the Hitachis HD-ready 1,366 x 768 resolution panel. As well as HDMI and DVI digital inputs (only the former of which can carry HDTV, however), there are component video inputs, three Scarts and PC inputs. And so to the 32LD7200s viscera that Picture Master picture processing technology. Boiled down, the essence of Picture Master is that it scales and processes an entirely digital signal, adds pixels, harvests over a billion colours and blackens blacks all with enough velocity to prevent blurring or ghosting during footage comprised of fast motion (often the chink in LCDs armour). Brightness and colour have also been inflated thanks to something called In-Plane Switching.
squat, our DVD brilliantly illustrated the 32LD7200s talents with blacks. As Edward Norton and Brad Pitt hop the fence of the liposuction clinic and prepare to get raw material for their soap factory, for instance, the level of detail apparent even in this gloomy scene was simply stunning. Theres a depth to the pictures thats quite rare on a LCD, together with a complete lack of picture noise.

Morning glory

Fight Clubs two main characters do venture out of the darkness and into the daylight world occasionally, and its here that we got to see colours looking vital and lively, with Tylers tan jacket in particular getting a wonderfully textured treatment. Whats more, the screen dealt just as well with the dank goings-on down in fight club, sucking out more than enough detail from the shadows. In fact, its only a touch of contrast away from delivering the ultimate LCD picture performance. The Hitachis audio is a lot more impressive than we expected. Deep and wide, the soundstage was remarkably susceptible to even slight swivels of the stand (yes, were still playing with that!), which is testament to the level of detail available. Bassy and perfect with dialogue,

Control freak

Despite running our frenetic test disc Fight Club, we observed very little mayhem in the Hitachis picture performance. A dark film shot in murky basements and a dismal
20 WHAT PLASMA & LCD TV

ISSUE 14

Page 21

FIRST TEST

Rival buy
For a shade less than this Hitachi, Viewsonics 32in N3200W has a high-def-ready DVI input and gives almost as good pictures. Thats not surprising it uses an Hitachi panel!

How high-def?

This Hitachi is high-def compatible because it has over 720 lines (its got 768) and an HDMI input, which keeps everything digital. It can also show copyright-protected high-def TV.
theres enough here to deliver very effective stereo, and even suggest the occasional surround sound moment. Its more than good enough to tide you over until you can get a dedicated speaker system which is what a TV of this calibre deserves. We see a lot of LCDs, but this ones different. Sure, the rock-bottom price has a lot to do with that, and a lot of people will still prefer the deeper blacks of plasma over LCD. For those after an LCD, however, theres really no reason to buy any other. Rival manufacturers take note LCD has evolved. Theres work to be done. WP

RATINGS

PICTURE.##### SOUND.##### CONNECTIONS.##### FEATURES.##### EASE OF USE.####$ VALUE.##### HD-ready and sparkling. Just a touch of contrast away from perfect LCD pictures

VERDICT #####

WHAT PLASMA & LCD TV 21

296wv04 Hitachi 32LD7200

31/5/05

11:49 am

Page 050

On test

32in LCD TV G Approx price: 1,500

Hitachi 32LD7200

Another month, another stunningly well-specified affordable flatscreen TV from Hitachi. Jim Findlay wonders if lightening can strike for the umpteenth time
e're going to run out of superlatives if Hitachi keeps knocking out sets with this kind of spec for ever more unlikely price tags.The 32LD7200 is the company's latest foray into high-def TVs and if it's anything like its illustrious stablemates, should have hands reaching for cheque-books with almost indecent haste.

looks & features

The Platara series has always kept effortlessly abreast of modern tastes and each incarnation has been a model of understated class. The 32LD7200 maintains this fine tradition with another perfectly proportioned panel sporting a tactile, matt-black surround and a pair or removable silver
Scart sockets (two RGB capable) handle everyday digibox and DVD/VCR duties. As with the 42in set reviewed last month, this version comes with the ingenious 'floating cluster' of secondary AV inputs that clips onto the frame when required.The designers have also, in a moment of frivolous, Bang & Olufsen-style abandon, stuck a motor in the pivoting desktop stand, enabling you to swivel the set to your liking with the remote. Utterly pointless, of course, but bags of fun and absolutely irresistible to idle thumbs. The big news, though, as Hitachi would be keen to stress, is on the inside.The 32LD7200 benefits from the company's Picture Master
Capable of the kind of performance youd expect from a screen costing twice as much
speakers.The inputs are built into the chassis, rather than housed in an external multimedia box and this is likely to delight anyone short on space, but infuriate those who want to wall-mount the TV and connect more than one appliance to it. The connections themselves are more than generous, with HDMI signalling this set's high-definition credentials. DVI is also included, but this time it's aimed at PC users rather than AV fans. Component video enables top-class analogue signals, meanwhile, and three image engine.This gives you digital scaling and boasts technology that analyses each pixel individually, adding extra ones where it deems necessary to beef up sharpness. Something called Super Dynamic Contrast also boosts your blacks, while a colour management system keeps an eye on no fewer than 68.6 billion hues.
language before they'll deign to provide picture and sound together, separately, or in some cases at all. The Hitachi couldn't be friendlier, however. Just get it out of the box, connect up your aerial and video equipment and you'll switch on to find everything in perfect working order.The automatic tuning takes just seconds and all five analogue channels are labelled and stored accurately first time. The menus are perfectly straightforward and intuitively navigable, while managing to be impressively comprehensive in the tweaks department.You'll find all the usual pre-sets to make your pictures more or less movie-like and corresponding modes for the audio, including the dreaded virtual surround, this time of the Matrix variety. Both sets of pre-programmed flavours are brought to your fingertips via 'hot keys' on the thoughtfully designed and stylish remote control.You can also adjust the strength of the backlight to suit your surroundings a handy means of eking out the most contrast, whatever the situation.
The 32PD7200 is a model of understated class

Details

FEATURES
Screen size & shape: 32in, 16:9 Tuner: analogue Sound system: Nicam Resolution (pixels): 1,366 x 768 HD Ready: yes Quoted contrast ratio: 600:1 Quoted brightness: 500cd/m2 Screen dimensions: 1,015(w) x 320(d) x 616(h)mm Weight: 25kg

SOCKETS

HDMI input; DVI input; PC RGB input; RS-232 input; 3 Scarts (2 RGB); S-video input; 2 composite video inputs; stereo audio input; headphone jack; composite video output; stereo audio output; PC audio in; component video input; RF jack

performance

Hitachi is currently on something of roll with its LCDs and the 32LD7200 more than keeps the momentum going.We tried it out with a variety of sources ranging from bargainbasement daytime broadcast stuff to high-definition test material, via the standard resolution, but nonetheless demanding, The Matrix: Revolutions disc and everything we chucked at it scrubbed up immaculately. Even analogue housewife-fodder, the

CONTACT

www.hitachidigitalmedia.com

TEST DATA

For a full explanation of test data, please see page 118

ease of use

It's so nice when things just work. We've seen far too many sets that have required a manual, a furrowed brow and a liberal amount of bad

Key connections

Scart inputs
Two of this TVs Scart inputs are equipped to handle RGB
Test Colour Geometry Frequency response Resolution
Rating Very good Excellent Good Excellent

Component video

Still a must-have connection for standard-res DVDs

HDMI input

High resolution digital pictures and sound via one small socket
050 I What Video and Widescreen TV I Issue 296

11:51 am

Page 051

Also Consider >>

TOSHIBA 32WL48P Marginally more expensive and not quite so well equipped, but the picture is superb Reviewed: Issue 290
SONY KLV-32M1 A very accomplished performer, but substantially more expensive and without high-def compatibility Reviewed: Issue 290

Remote

Simple to use, hugely versatile and looks the business: all you could ask for from a zapper
Looks ##### Layout ##### Labelling #####

Fact file

I 32in LCD TV I HD Ready I HDMI input I Picture Master processing I Digital image scaling
televisual equivalent of supermarket food in blue-and-white-striped packaging, looked vibrant, dynamic and relatively noise-free. DVDs via component were a treat, with endless detail resolved on that pixel-packed panel. Check out the machines assault on Zion in the final Matrix flick to see how best to go about the tricky task of rendering thousands of malevolent metal squid-things in a convincing fashion. Colour is also absolutely naturalistic, with shades rendered with the kind of lifelike precision more commonly associated with CRT or plasma. Contrast is fair, rather than outstanding, with good work done by scorching peak whites rather let down at the other end of the spectrum by some slightly weedy blacks.The set also struggles to differentiate between varying shades of darkness and degrees of black tend to bleed into one another.The fuchsia-shirted but dark-suited Merovingian reclining on a dark seat, for example, resembles a disembodied head with a tadpole-like pink tail. Still, its handling of brighter scenes is a blast: punchy, accurate and totally absorbing.

Things get even better with high-definition material, with our sample footage of the last Newport Jazz festival looking uncannily realistic.The problems with blacks remain and a slight glitchiness with motion that was present on standard resolution stuff is more noticeable here. The all-round verve more than makes up for the few shortcomings, though, and the Hitachi is capable of the kind of performance you'd expect from a screen costing twice as much. Audio is also perfectly respectable, with an adequate amount of grunt combined with a precise, well-defined soundstage that does about as much justice to digital sound as you can expect from stereo. Good job the speakers are detachable, though, as those pictures deserve the full separates treatment.
Ray Charles was chosen to test the worlds first edible microphone

Ratings

WHATS GOOD
Colours and detail; features; design

WHATS BAD

Matrix surround; slightly lacklustre blacks

conclusion

We're not sure how Hitachi is doing it, but this is yet another excellent screen for what seems like a ridiculously low price. It's not absolutely perfect, admittedly, but it comes pretty damn close for a grand and a half.Affordable high-def LCDs are slowly becoming a reality this one's a dream I
Picture Sound Features Ease of use Value
##### ##### ##### ##### #####

OVERALL VERDICT

Not without flaws, but an immensely capable set for the price and an irresistible HD Ready proposition
Issue 296 I What Video and Widescreen TV I 051