Is The Hitachi 32LD9700 LCD TV Possibly The Best Flat Screen TV Available?

Who would have thought from viewing those early images of shadowy wriggling fingers broadcast in 1925 in the earliest TV sets that television would eventually become the multi-dimensional, full colour systems that Liquid Crystal Display (LCD TV) provide today. Ask most people to list their most essential item or possession and a large number will list their TV as very high up on the list.

So having established where and when television arrived in our daily lives, just what exactly is TV and how does it achieve the things that it does do if that is not too technical a description (joke)? Since its inception as an electromechanical system of receiving and broadcasting information the term television has become broadly synonymous with both the unit required to receive and play the information and also the technique and medium for broadcasting the data in the first place.

Like most forays into a technical arena nowadays it is very easy to get confused by the wide range of technical phrases and terminology in use within the industry today.

Rather than continue with a basic history of the industry, it might be best to stop and take a look at the latest developments within the industry mainly that of digital television, what digital television actually means, its formats, bandwidth and the technical terminology and jargon used today.

So an accurate definition of Digital TV is what? Whereas traditional analogue technology and television was reliant upon transmission of its pictures and sound files via analogue channels newer digital television handles all of its broadcasting and transmission via digital signals which are much smaller, use up less bandwidth and are more accurate.

So what is it exactly that we have to look out for with a Digital TV? Let us use one of the newer LCD TV�s available to help us as we detail what exactly this all means.

The LCD TV that we shall use for our illustrative purposes here is the Hitachi 32LD9700 LCD TV.

Now the key items of information that we need to be familiar with are as follows.

The Screen resolution of the TV is possibly the most obvious place to start. In this case it refers to the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed.

Whether the TV is Hi-Definition Ready would be the next thing to look at. By Hi Definition Ready we mean that is the TV is ready and suitable to take advantage of the latest Hi Definition TV pictures that more and more programmes are being broadcast in.

The next item that we would need to look at is what types of connectors are used between the peripherals used alongside the main Digital TV?

We are referring here to the exact nature and number of the Scarts Sockets and Plugs in use. SCART stands for �Syndicat francais des Constructeurs d�Appareils Radio et Television (SCART).

Lastly on the technical side we would need to look at what types and what numbers of High-Definition Multimedia Interfaces (HDMI) are being used. Here High Definition Multimedia Interfaces (HDMI) refers to the audio/video connector interface that transmits the uncompressed digital streams of information between two or more digital components such as a HD DVD Disc player, a Blu-ray Disc player, a Personal Computer or Video Console.

The 32LD9700 is a 32in LCD TV and the prices for these are around 1000 pounds sterling or 2000 US dollars. The resolution of the screen is 1366 X 768 and with regards to being HD Ready the answer is yes. The Hitachi has 3 (2 RGB) scarts and the type and number of Multimedia interfaces the 32LD9700 uses is HDMI and 2. The type of Tuner for this TV is Analogue and Digital and the Hitachi is available from a wide variety of outlets.

All these points being taken into consideration, how would we view the Hitachi 32LD9700?

The most obvious place to start with as far as TV's are concerned would be the picture quality and our score here would be 10, and closely tied in to the picture quality is the sound quality and our score for this would be 10. Taking a look at the number of relevant connections and their availability, our score would be 8. As far as overall features are concerned we would give it 10 and for ease of use and overall value for money we would give it, 10 and 10 respectively.

The overall verdict would be WOW what can you say but that this is one of those TV's that excel in almost every thing it is supposed to do. Described as a "Superb All-rounder", there is not much that this TV does not achieve. If you can get your hands on one of these then go for it.

Please bear in mind the prices that are quoted in this article and take note that they are there purely for illustration and though valid at the time of the writing of the article may vary from time to time and also depending on the time of year when you make your purchase.

Stephen Morgan writes quite regularly on the Internet about TV and Home Entertainment issues and more on the above can be found at cheap lcd flat screen tvs and also at http://bestflatscreentv.biz