Digital Trends

Hitachi 60VX915 December 12th, 2004 | by Dennis Barker

Installation/Ease of Use

One of the best parts of the 60VX915 is its ATSC/QAM tuner.   Simply plug in your incoming signal cable (from your off-air antenna or cable company) into Antenna A, which feeds the signals directly into the high definition tuner.  Within the set-up menu's Channel Manager, simply tell it how you receive your signals -- via antenna or cable.  Then, at the touch of a button on your remote, it automatically programs all receivable HD and standard definition channels in your area both over-the-air and in-the-clear cable    

As we mentioned, the 60VX915 is CableCARD-enabled.  You should be aware, however, that you cannot do pay-per-view (PPPV) and video on demand (VOD) via your remote on a CableCARD-enabled television.   It took CableVision (my cable company in Westchester County, NY) two weeks to send a technician to the house to bring the CableCARD.  For some reason (my guess is so that they can charge an extra fee), CableCARD must be professionally-installed by the Cable Company.  It looks a lot like a satellite access card.  Even though it looks similar, it has additional circuitry built-in to it.  Installation of a CableCARD can take between one and four hours (according to the installer).  While it's a simple matter of slipping the CableCARD into the set, it takes several minutes for the TV to recognize the CableCARD.  Once recognized by the TV, a screen pops up giving the model number and serial number of the CableCARD.  Then, the technician had to call CableVision headquarters on Long Island, NY to activate the card.  Since the cable company doesn't' seem enthused about DCR TVs, this part of the installation can take awhile.  It seems that they only have two people (in the entire company) who can activate CableCARD.  So, this person had to call the installer back. 

Fortunately, it didn't take very long for her to return his call.  Then, the technician had to give her model numbers for the TV and CableCARD as well as serial numbers and other numbers that appeared on-screen.  This information had to be keyed into CableVision's central computer for it to ‘activate' the card.  Presumably, a specific signal can be sent via fiber optic to the individualized CableCARD.  Fortunately for me, the activation took about an hour allowing me to receive all of the HD programming available (as long as I pay for the packages).   So, the CableCARD costs an additional $1.25/mo. along with Digital I/O service (required) @ $9.95/mo.  With the CableCARD in place it allows me to receive CBS-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD, ABC-HD, UPN-HD, WB-HD, and two PBS-HD (Channels 13 and 21 in NYC) as well as premium stations like HBO-HD, ShowtimeHD, DiscoveryHD, ESPN-HD and etc..  If a particular local station also offers multicasting as do the PBS and ABC channels in NY, for example, you will also receive them. 

Housed in a finely crafted high gloss black cabinet featuring black trim around the screen, the 60VX915 gives the appearance of a plasma TV from the front.  This was done on purpose by Hitachi to give the set a familial look and feel to its Micro-Display HDTVs.  And with a reduced depth of under 20 inches, this set can be placed into your own cabinet or onto its optional two-shelf base that is big enough to store all of your gear including a center channel speaker.