Television Purchasing Guide

Among the hottest HDTV trends is slimming down already skinny flat-panel televisions. At CES 2009, there have been loads of prototypes of ultra-slim plasma and lcd TVs, shrinking overall thickness from around 4 inches to 1 or less. Hitachi is incorporated in the vanguard of this trend with its much-publicized 1.5-inch-thick series of Lcd HDTVs, that are around these days. Now, is often a supermodel-thin set the way to go, or is an “obese” 4-incher the answer? Hitachi sent us a 37-inch UT37V702 to find out…

There’s no getting away from it – the UT37V02 is often a beautiful flat-panel set. With its anthracite pearl crystal frame, curvy stand, and thin display, it surely looks like it belongs in an expensive loft setting, or in a Hollywood flick featuring folks with martini glasses in hand chatting with European accents. It just reeks of money. (Now if only the economy would rebound so individuals could acquire those fancy apartments and HDTVs, things would be wonderful!).

The secret to Hitachi’s good looks is a bit of engineering legerdemain. That appealing 1.5-inch thin screen is really a monitor, which means all the key – and bulky – electronics are in the separate box. This is like taking a ride within the wayback machine, because the legendary Sony Profeel monitors from the early ‘80s did the same – except back then a 37-inch Lcd display was nearly as fantastic an idea as some of Dr. Walter Bishop’s ravings in Fringe. In fact, we owned a “huge” 25-inch CRT-based Profeel and utilized a separate Proton MTS tuner to receive about a dozen analog over-the-air channels using rabbit ears. Quaint, no? Since that is 2009, the Hitachi is really a 1080p display having a 120Hz frame rate, placing it in the upper performance ranks of Liquid crystal display models. In fact, it’s among the very handful of 1080p 120Hz 37-inch models. And, of course, there are zillions of digital channels to watch onscreen—without rabbit ears.

The monitor portion of the Ultravision is extremely nicely styled, with its gray frame and unobtrusive, non-lit logos about the bottom. There is a cool blue accent light once you power up, and a chrome accent bar. The surprisingly great integrated speakers are located consecutively about the lower bezel. The display screen unit measures 36.87 x 23.87 x 1.56 (WHD, in inches) and weighs 32.1 pounds. It’s slightly a lot more than the touted “1.5” thickness, but pretty darn close. If you’re not hanging this about the wall, you’ll require shelf space for at least a foot to handle the built-in stand. One of several actually appealing items about this display is it can also be mounted on an optional floor stand, so it can be genuine architectural statement befitting that $1 million loft.

Because this is a two-piece unit, the majority of the jacks found on thicker flat panels are on the separate electronics box called the Audio Video Center (AVC08U). You can find only a few on the display itself, including a single HDMI, analog RGB and RS232C, and also a three.5mm stereo input for computers. Because everyone has much more elements than this, you’ll need to connect the AV Center, that is attached by a supplied HDMI cable if you do buy a “kit.” This box measures 11.75 x 2 x 8.five (WHD, in inches) and includes a sophisticated look that matches the display. There’s only a power on/off button about the front, in addition to a silver accent, whilst the rear has a typical assortment of inputs/outputs (3 HDMI plus a single for the link to the display, a couple of component, digital audio out and a couple of analog inputs). The AV Middle has a built-in digital tuner to help you get local HD channels if you connect an antenna.

Web site of basic controls tucked beneath the bottom with the display which includes menu, input, volume and so on. You’ll never use them, as the remote will be your crucial interface (more on this inside the Overall performance section). There are no other inputs, so forget about quickie game or camcorder hookups—you’ll have to use the AV Center. And – bummer – there’s no SD card slot for viewing JPEGs or AVCHD video clips.

The UT37V702 comes with the basics combined with display screen, stand and AV Middle when you acquire the two-piece package. You’ll get an OK multi-language manual, remote with batteries, power cord, HMDI cable plus numerous screws and cable cushions and straps.

The supplied remote has a very straightforward layout, with key controls readily accessible. It is able to learn the codes of four elements such as your cable or satellite box, BD player, receiver and so forth. The remote is not nearly as sexy searching as the television, which can be some thing lacking on practically all high-end HDTVs, including Pioneers and Sony XBRs. We surely wish to see Liquid crystal display readouts and touch controls, but you’ll have to go elsewhere to get them (Harmony, Pronto et al.). As you well know, better Liquid crystal display HDTVs feature a faster 120Hz frame rate to eliminate blurring of subjects for example basketballs heading for that hoop. The Hitachi did a fine job with a recent Tennessee-Florida contest, mogul skiing in addition to some hockey games, and we didn’t see any annoying “comet trails” for other action material.

Black levels, something for an excellent picture, were—in a word—excellent. In truth, they had been extremely near the Sony XBR recently reviewed, which has some of the finest black levels of any Lcd HDTV other than those with LED backlighting. Working off of this solid foundation, the rest of the colors had been as accurate as you’d want. Everything just looked proper. The “Battle For Narnia” scene from the The Chronicles of Narnia BD disc was terrific, with nice reds, as well as the Witch was as white as she must be. The fast frame rate handled the leaping animals with no difficulty. The dim atmosphere of The dark knight BD disk was replicated nicely. Close-ups of the Joker’s makeup during the classic interrogation scene had been also outstanding.

To tell the truth, the Hitachi Ultravision UT37V702 at a list price of $2,799 is really 2008 (prior to the financial crash). It’s a beautiful-looking television that’s as stylish as can be. Hello, Wall Street Masters of the Universe. Picture quality is superb, with deep blacks, solid sound and overall it just works properly. That mentioned, $2,799 for a 37-inch Liquid crystal display HDTV is far too expensive manufactured from when Wal-Mart and Costco rule, although Neiman-Marcus and Saks are on life support. We’re all for thin screens, but to our minds, it truly doesn’t matter once you’ve made the move from CRTs to plasma or Lcd if your HDTV is four- or 1.5-inches thick. It’s still flat, and relatively thin. Nevertheless, the $2,799 list cost is totally bogus. This really is 2009, within the depths of a recession, plus a quick search observed the display screen alone for under $1,000. Who mentioned economic downturns had been all bad? Buyer beware: be sure you get the AV Center while using screen otherwise you’ll have really handful of inputs. It costs an additional $200 or so. Caveat emptor – for actual. By comparison, you are able to pick up a 37-inch 1080p Samsung HDTV for under $900 (without the 120Hz frame rate,) but it does have an integrated digital tuner and inputs. Also note that at CES 2009, a number of companies – which includes Vizio – announced 37-inch 1080p 120Hz HDTVs for delivery later this year.