Hitachi Introduces 50-Inch Plasma Television

[Gregg Lengling]

The Home Electronics Division of Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), announced the release of the company's new 50-inch plasma television. Featuring Hitachi's new VirtualHD™ 1080p circuitry which upconverts signals to 1080p, the 50-inch UltraVision Digital™ 16:9 50HDT50 extends Hitachi's current plasma television line, which already features 42- and 32-inch screen sizes.

"Hitachi's plasma sets have received critical praise from the industry, and the new 50-inch model will naturally appeal to those who are looking for the same outstanding performance but desire a larger screen," said Leo Delaney, Vice President of Marketing for the Hitachi America, Ltd. Home Electronics Division. "Hitachi's improved VirtualHD processes and upgrades all sources to fully utilize the high-definition capabilities of the new 50-inch plasma television."

Hitachi's VirtualHD 1080p digital video processor upconverts all incoming non-1080i signal sources to 1080p. The processor also adds new automatic 3:2 film correction, new 26-point advanced video processing, six new aspect modes plus HD zoom, and the new Pure Digital Color Management feature which examines and enhances each pixel's color in real-time. The new VirtualHD has double the processing power of the previous generation.

Hitachi's new Learning AV NET system allows users to control four system components by means of intelligent on-screen "soft keys" accessed through the set's universal remote control. Learning AV NET transfers digital commands from the on-screen soft-keys to special IR flashers at the user's separate components.

The set also features Hitachi's new Day and Night Memory by Input. Users can adjust and save contrast, brightness, color, tint, sharpness, color temperature, black-level enhancement, edge enhancement, color management, color decoding, auto-color, noise reduction, and automatic 3:2 pulldown correction settings by input. Additionally, each input allows separate day and night settings, letting users individually adjust and save picture settings for bright daylight or darkened room conditions. A Day/Night button has been added to the remote for toggling between the two settings.

A single nine-foot cable connects the monitor to Hitachi's slim AV Center, which houses the set's dual NTSC television tuners, VirtualHD circuitry, and all audio and video inputs and outputs. Since the remote control IR operates through the sensor on the panels, the AV Center can be hidden away from the set.

The set provides various connectivity options including DVI-HDTV input, two sets of wideband component video inputs, one RGB 15-pin D-sub analog input with audio, four composite video inputs, three S-video inputs, two antenna (RF) inputs, variable audio output, headphone output, and subwoofer output.

Other features of the 50HDT50 include Advanced HD Digital Window™ split screen, six aspect modes plus HD Zoom, four-color temperature memory, black-and-white film color temperature, four-step black enhancement, and digital 4 MB 3D Y/C comb filter.

The 50HDT50 has a suggested list price of $10,999.99.

For more information about Hitachi America, Ltd., Home Electronics Division, visit //www.hitachi.com/tv.