Hitachi Ultravision 42HDS69 42-Inch Plasma HDTV

Other products by Hitachi

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 45.8 x 4.5 x 25.5 inches ; 75 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 111 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B000FKDLN8
• Item model number: 42HDS69
• Batteries: 2 A batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,247 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 1, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Get the most out of your high-definition plasma television purchase with the 42-inch Hitachi 42HDS69, which offers a wealth of advanced technological features that will ensure superior picture and audio performance for years to come. Its blend of refined aesthetics is ideal for any home while its fully high-definition display--with 1080 vertical lines of interlaced resolution--provides stunningly vivid and colorful entertainment. The set's built-in ATSC (DTV) tuner pulls HD signals (480p/720p/1080i) right from the airwaves, and its QAM tuner is fully compatible with unscrambled HDTV cable reception. The set's CableCARD port means the set will also receive digital cable television systems services directly from a compatible cable operator without requiring a bulky, external cable box. A standard analog NTSC tuner receives standard-definition (SD) programming. It comes with a manual swivel tabletop stand.

Plasma display technology offers the widest viewing angle of any type of television. The wide viewing angle makes plasma the ultimate choice for wall mounted television. Plasma television performance is also exceptional for producing high quality images of fast motion content, like sports programming.

Hitachi's original ALiS (Alternate Lighting of Surfaces) technology minimizes the barriers between picture elements or pixels to deliver a smoother, more film-like picture. Using more than one million pixels, ALiS can reproduce more detail than any plasma in its class. ALiS is also unique in that it is designed to match closely to the 1080i HDTV system for a sharp, smooth and seamless image.

This set's video is powered by the PictureMaster HD III processing technology, which features third-generation 1080p processing and new histogram processing for enhanced contrast, sharpness, and color for a clearer, sharper picture. It also offers extended color capabilities to reproduce the purest reds, greens and blues, a maximum 16-bit/281 trillion color capability, and a 16 percent brighter panel.

The 4 MB, 10-bit digital 3D Y/C comb filter separates brightness and color signals better in 3D domain to eliminate cross-color, cross-luminance and dot-crawl distortion. It performs field-by-field comparisons of the television image to accurately separate the color from the black-and-white information and remove both horizontally and vertically hanging dots, as well as dot crawl, resulting in a razor sharp image. This set also performs automatic 3:2 pulldown detection and reversal, too--a handy feature for watching progressive-scan movie programs in their native 24-frame format. To adapt 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video, frames in the original movie must be duplicated; 3:2 pulldown digitally corrects this duplication by removing the redundant information to display a frame-accurate picture.

The 42HDS69 has a 1024 x 1080-pixel resolution, three color temperature settings, four-step black enhancement, multiple aspect ratio formats (four HD, six SD), and split-screen/picture-in-picture functionality. The anti-reflective, high-contrast screen effectively absorbs ambient room light, reducing reflections and producing richer blacks, vibrant color and increased detail in shadows and highlights. Other convenience features include on/sleep timers, closed caption decoder, V-Chip parental controls, several screensavers, and three-language on-screen display (English, French, Spanish).

It has a three-way, 36-watt speaker system that can produce simulated surround sound and a bass boost. The set can also be used as a center-channel speaker in a full surround sound system. It includes the following video and audio connections:

• Composite A/V: 4 rear, 1 side
• S-Video: 2 rear
• Component Video: 2 rear, 1 side
• HDMI: 2 rear, 1 side
• RF: 1
• Digital audio output: 1 optical

Tech Talk
HDMI is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any audio/video source (such as a set-top box, DVD player, or AV receiver) with your TV--all over a single cable. HDMI supports standard, enhanced or high definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It supports all ATSC formats--standard (SDTV), enhanced (EDTV), and high (HDTV).

What's in the Box
Plasma TV, remote control (with batteries), manual swivel tabletop stand, printed operating instructions

Product Description

Hitachi Ultravision 42HDS69 42" Plasma HDTV

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic TV, July 21, 2006

By	Big D (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

After months of reviewing plasma/LCD TV's I was set on buying the Panasonic 60U. Last month Hitachi came out with this native 1080i resolution TV. The picture beats Panasonic in every aspect. Rich blacks and true color will keep any viewer extremely happy. With 3 HDMI inputs, this TV is built for the future. I've only had the TV for a week, but I am very pleased.

I gave it 4 stars because there are better Plasma TV's on the market, but none for the price/value comparison.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this plasma, July 7, 2006

By	JES "riksco" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

I shopped for months before buying this new Hitachi. It's a great looking set with arguably the best picture available - especially in it's price range. HD images are sensational. And it's loaded with features - 3 HDMI inputs for example - and plenty of options for customizing your viewing preferences. The built in speakers are better than I expected although I will be primarily listening through my home theater audio system. I am very happy with my choice and recommend you give this baby a close look.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars awesome value, December 11, 2006

By	A. Freeman (CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pros- Price value is huge,I got mine for about $1,500 after taxes. Nice quality image with 1080i ability, stylish simple design, the swivel base stand is nice, outstanding connectivity choices including 3 HDMIs. The built-in speaker audio is above average for a flat panel, and low volume level isnt an issue. I have digital cable, and all of the non HD programing looked better than expected, while the HD channel viewing pleasures have ranged from very very nice to absolutely jaw drop stunning.

Cons- Not the best black levels but very acceptable. The remote is difficult to read in low light(grey font on black was not the wisest remote color scheme) In general this plasma can be oversatuated. You may want to lower the color down a lot in the video settings.

I highly recommend u spend the time and adjust ALL the video control settings to your liking. Experiment and see what looks best to you. Its worth the time and effort to tweak.

For those interested, I presently keep my set at : Picture Mode-night, Contrast-59, Brightness-53, Color-30, Color Temperature- medium, Black Enhancement-low, Contrast Mode-normal, Sharpness-40, Noise Reduction-low.

I find these settings work for me, and Im very pleased.

Overall, its a quality 1080i plasma. Beautiful HD
Enjoy!