Digital Trends

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

Testing

The best way to evaluate a High Definition TV is to watch HD programming, and the Hitachi 60VX915 allows for easy toggling between NTSC and ATSC signals handling all HD signals quite well from broadcast to cable to satellite and beyond.  Displayed images were clean, smooth, and quite natural looking with excellent contrast and brightness levels.  Consistently, colors were very vibrant and similar from all signal sources (off-air, cable, satellite, and progressive scan DVD player).  I've said it before, but it's worth noting again that watching HDTV is like looking out of a window at action unfolding right on the other side of the glass.  In other words, the bottom line — the HD signals viewed from the 60VX915 were very realistic and life-like.

Since my satellite box also has an ATSC tuner included, I was able to toggle back and forth between Cable HD and Over-the-Air HD signals.  Unfortunately, over-the-air signals in NY are fairly hard to receive in Westchester County (30 miles north of Manhattan), and I can only receive CBS-HD, FOX-HD, and ABC-HD.  So, I was able to easily compare ATSC vs. QAM signals.  Personally, I thought that the ASTC signals looked slightly cleaner and robust from my roof antenna than did the Cable HD signals.  That said however, cable provided me with all of my local channels.  So, it's a tradeoff.  In each case however, the Hitachi 60VX915 produced sparkling HD signals.

Certainly, the 60VX915 produced high definition images from one of my Satellite HD set-top boxes (the LG LS-3200A using DVI to HDMI connections via Tributaries HDMIDVI-20B cables) viewing DirecTV's HDNet, DiscoveryHD Theater, HBO-HD, and Showtime-HD.  Colors were vibrant, life-like and quite natural looking.  Watching original programming like Huff (shot in HD), for example, on Showtime makes it very apparent that you are watching HD as the program source as it has a more film-like appearance in HD than SD.  While noise and digital artifacts are somewhat visible in SD even on satellite, it's non-existent in HD; and, as you toggle back and forth, it really becomes apparent.  In HD, the images truly come to life, as they appear somewhat flat in SD.  Think of it as comparing images that are 2-Dimentional to those that are 3-Dimentional.  In HD, the images “pop” right off the screen. 

Of course, premium movie channels also broadcasts the audio portion of the program in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, which further enhances the viewing experience. Programming like Lost allows you to become part of the island with its myriad of different sounds on ABC-HD.  On HBO-HD, The Wire looked absolutely stunning!  Maybe a bit too realistic for some tastes!  Of course, the same could be said of the various C.S.I.-type shows on both CBS-HD and NBC-HD.