Black Boxes: Hitachi 51SWX20B 51" Rear-Projection TV

by Charles Fulton
Summer/Fall 2003

COMPANY: Hitachi America Ltd. Home Electronics Division
CONTACT: (800) HITACHI
WEB SITE: www.hitachi.com/tv
PRICE: $3,000

The Hitachi 51SWX20B is a 51" rear-projection television that can handle both standard- and high-definition video. It has a boatload of inputs and supports 16:9 aspect ratio to get the most from high-def sources. Like other rear-projection televisions, it doesn't have the svelte glamour of plasma or LCD televisions, but then again, it doesn't cost as much as a used car either.

Set Up the Set
Uncrating the 51" set wasn't nearly as difficult as we thought it would be. The unit is on casters, making it easy to negotiate into position. The rear-panel connections are reminiscent of a high-end audio receiver, with a large quantity of inputs and outputs. Just connect your components and turn it on. The manual recommends warming up the set for twenty minutes before trying to make any convergence adjustments. After warming up, we pressed the Magic Focus button once to perform the convergence adjustments. It worked like a charm.

Bright Projections
As with all projection televisions, this one was best viewed in a very dark room. The screen was viewable from a reasonable range of angles, but was distinctly brighter when we sat horizontally level with the picture. Considering the size of the screen and the relatively low weight of the system, we very impressed with the picture quality, especially for our digital and 16:9 sources.

AV Network
Hitachi's AV Network is a way to control other devices via Hitachi's remote, not by programming the remote itself, but by programming the TV, which, in turn, blasts the appropriate IR commands to the device that you want to control.

Setup was a piece of cake. Just use the table of codes in the instruction manual to input the code that corresponds to your device, then use the remote's thumb stick to test your selections. You can control VCRs, set-top boxes, cable boxes, amplifiers and DVD players. Once you have found all of your codes, you can control everything with Hitachi's itty-bitty, ergonomically-designed remote control.

To send the commands to the appropriate device, just use the arrow keys (on the small remote) to navigate to the function you want to send, then press select to actually send the command. Using AV Network you can perform almost every function that your original remotes could do. However, there are certainly some situations where it's important to be able to start the VCR at the right time, or when you want to change the channel in a hurry.

Projected
We'd say $3,000 is a very fair price for a TV of this magnitude. The display was bright when compared to other projection systems and it's ready for whatever the digital TV future holds. The AV Network features are really promising and we look forward to seeing how it evolves in the future. All together, this set packs a pretty good bang for your buck.

SMART SPECS
Display type: rear-projection
Inputs: Component video (YPrPb, wideband): 2 rear
S-Video: 2 rear, 1 front
Composite video: 2 rear, 1 front
RF (air/cable): 2
Stereo analog audio: 4 rear, 1 front
DVI: 1
Outputs: S-Video, composite video, RF, stereo analog audio
Other connections
IR blaster: 2
Dimensions (inches): 50.2 (h) x 48.8 (w) x 25.1 (d)
Weight: 238 lbs