Hitachi unleashes large 1080p LCDs, plasmas

Hitachi on Thursday made one of its most substantial TV upgrades in recent months with both LCDs and plasma sets receiving a major improvement. Unlike some launches, every model in the upgrade is capable of a 1080 vertical resolution and focuses on large screens, the company says. Topping announcements is the Director's Series P60X901: at 60 inches, the plasma TV is the largest ever from Hitachi in the class and displays a full 1920x1080 picture. It also debuts a new interpolation technique, dubbed Reel60, that eliminates the juddering effect created by pulldown conversion of 24 frames-per-second film rates to the TV's native 60-frame speed. The 60-inch model and a smaller but equally specified 50-inch P50X901 will ship in August at prices of $8,000 and $4,300 respectively.

Four more conventional plasmas also join the lineup today. The P50V701 keeps most of the features of the Director's sets, including Reel60, but drops its price to $4,000 for its August launch; an S-series equivalent known as the P50S601 drops the advanced processing for $3,500 in July. Two economy 55-inch sets in the H-series (P55H401) and T-series (P55T501) use wide pixels at a 1280x1080 resolution to achieve a near-1080p effect at a lower price and ship in September for $3,000 and $3,300.

Hitachi also boosted the size of its UltraVision LCD series, making it more viable for those who opt against cost and size of plasma. S-series and V-series models will be available in 42- and 47-inch sizes, all of which should feature true 1080p and the company's latest video processing. The company chose not to explain the differences between models but notes that the V-series asks only a slight premium over the frugal S, with the more expensive models adding $200 more to the $2,300 and $3,000 prices of the S-series displays. All LCDs appear in September.