I have recently purchased this set and found that
PQ in standard defination to be disappointing (grainy
and fuzzy). However PQ when playing DVD is great.
Anybody with any views?

Most of these CRT RPTVs are going to look pretty sad on SD. The good news: you will get used to it.

I have just purchased the 51F520. So far I am really impressed. The set is quite cable of running a sharp picture off my Pioneer dv-433 (non progressive scan dvd player) with a composite video cable. When I get my BEV 6120 next week, I swap the component cable from the receiver to the dvd player and see if it is worth buying the component cable.

Off regular cable, the set isnt that impressive, as its garbage in garbage out.. (magnified).

The set has a great OSD interface and a straightforward remote.

I think its a good value for the money.

This set is awesome!. With BEV HD the picture is incredible. My seating position is 8-10 feet away and I am very impressed with the performance of the set. SD programming from BV gives quite decent pq as well.


By using a svideo cable from my dvd player (instead of a composite cable) the pq increased noticably.

Reeve, glad you like your set. I'm waiting for delivery on my 57F520 which is supposed to come next week.
Did you perform any of the tweaks and adjustments posted here?

I didnt go for the professional adjustment.

I did however take a really subjective look at the pq on all of the inputs. The set allows you to configure the video from each input individually. Spend the time configuring with a reference dvd (I found one from the library by Ovation). There is tons of information here on the forums and they have been really helpful.

The biggest improvements in pq have been

1) good signal quality -- upgrading to BEV from cable and HD was a total good deal for me
2) choosing the best type of connection I could afford. (ie. changing the composite video cable connection from my dvd->tv to an s-video cable. Once I get a progressive scan dvd I will change that connection to a component cable and I will connect my 6120 BEV via DVI/HDMI cable.
3) torch mode sucks.

Reave, I would suggest you to buy one of those upconversion DVD player. It's about $150 at FS or BB when it's on sale OR better yet, go to Costco it's always $150. You won't regret it.

Just my 3cents.

We purchased one of these sets this past November. Initially we were very pleased with the HDTV and DVD display. The analog channels were quite poor. Since that time our cable company has switched to totally digital which improved the picture a fair bit. Another thing that helped was using a S cable for the digital channels and setting them on input 1. Input 2 is for the DVD player and input 3 is used for HDTV with a HDMI/DVI cable. We are very pleased with this set and would not hesitate to buy one again. Price was $1444.

Does the HDMI cable make a big difference compared to component video (from your HDTV source)?

TIA

Yes, switching to HDMI cables did make a noticeable difference. One thing I would do differently this time would be to shop around before buying my HDMI cable. I had bought an Ultralink that cost me $130 and I have read up on various forums that you can purchase HDMI/DVI cables for a lot less and they are just as good.

I called Hitachi about hooking up my PC video card which has a dvi outrut using a dvi-to-hdmi cable. The guy said it would slowly damaged the 51f520,which I bought after reading favourable comments, esp by RNA chemist,(thanks).
Is this correct or, as a friend suggested, Hitachi does not wnt to support HTPC?
Can anyone tell me what settings should be used foer the video card (Invidia 5500 with 256 megs)?

I called Hitachi about hooking up my PC video card which has a dvi outrut using a dvi-to-hdmi cable. The guy said it would slowly damaged the 51f520,which I bought after reading favourable comments, esp by RNA chemist,(thanks).
Is this correct or, as a friend suggested, Hitachi does not wnt to support HTPC?
Can anyone tell me what settings should be used foer the video card (Invidia 5500 with 256 megs)?

I dont think you are going to have a problem as long as you follow some of the proper setups (see the faq's re: what to do to your new HDTV). Your set may be in torch mode... your htpc isnt filling the screen (beware of burn in)...



Just a note.. the mods are quite active here and they will certainly point out that your request for help is duplicated (exact message on more than 1 thread)

Have fun with your set. I love mine.

I dont think you are going to have a problem as long as you follow some of the proper setups (see the faq's re: what to do to your new HDTV). Your set may be in torch mode... your htpc isnt filling the screen (beware of burn in)...



Just a note.. the mods are quite active here and they will certainly point out that your request for help is duplicated (exact message on more than 1 thread)

Have fun with your set. I love mine.

Thanks for your reply.

My apologies for posting the same question on more than one thread. I didn't realise the error of my ways.

No problem...