Hitachi 55PD9700 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Good
Impressive build quality, overall picture quality.
The Bad
Colour lacks a little vibrancy, black levels a little disappointing.
Design
The Hitachi is quite an impressive sight with its glossy finish and platinum look speakers on either end. The screen sits on a revolving powered stand (operated via the remote) so far so groovy.
Features
Screen size & shape: 55in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound system: Nicam Resolution: 1366x768 HD Ready: Yes Contrast Ratio: 1600:1 Brightness: 500cd/m2 Weight: 49kg OTHER FEATURES: Picture Master HD system, e-Alis technology SOCKETS: 2 HDMIs, component video input, 3 scarts (2 RGB), S-video/USB and composite inputs, stereo audio inputs, CAM slot, VGA PC input, PC audio input, RF jack, SD card slot, headphone jack
The 55PD9700 carries a built-in digital tuner, and sports two HDMIs and a component video input. Other connection highlights include an SD memory card reader for playing JPEG pictures, a PC jack and a USB input for adding a multi-format memory card reader.
Picture processing for the 55PD9700 includes Picture Master HD which is a refined version of Hitachis previous picture master system. It handles digital image scaling, enhanced motion handling and brightness/colour optimisation.
Also worth mentioning is the use of e-Alis technology which cuts down on electrode density by sharing a single electrode between two scan lines.
Performance
With the right adjustments the colour on the Hitachi 55PD9700 looks superb. Colours are much more natural than on previous models, and skin tones have gained a realistic subtle appearance.
Standard definition looks pretty good on the 55in screen although black levels are a little disappointing. Also, horizontal motion on standard definition can suffer fizzing.
Ten speakers for the sound system of this screen and are more than up to complementing the large picture size.
There are better performers out there in certain areas but as an overall large screen plasma package the Hitachi 55PD9700 is hard to beat.