Hitachi launched the 42HDS69 as it’s new 42″ Plasma Display for 2006. Hitachi proclaimed it the “World’s Highest Resolution 42″ Plasma HDTV”. How is this possible? Normally 42″ Plasma Displays are some variation of 720p. Hitachi managed to make 1080 horizontal lines of resolution. However this came with a cost of only being 1024 vertical lines. So by that claim they would be 1024×1080 = 1,105,920 pixels. Versus a 1366×768 resolution which equals 1,049,088 pixels. As you can see the Hitachi has more pixels than your typical 42″ Plasma Display. The biggest questions asked is well if the resolution is 1024×1080, how is it a widescreen display? Wouldn’t that be a square? Well the answer is the 42HDS69 display uses rectanglar pixels in order to achieve this resolution.

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For those of us with Hitachi Plasmas, you can find firmware updates for the 42″ models at JBMAudio.

 Step by Step instructions are also in each section for your specific model.  Keep in mind, that you always run the risk of ruining your display by updating the firmware.  This Firmware is supposed to contain the fix for the “Flicker” issue.  See here or here for more details about the Flicker issue.

As with any technology, the user runs the risk of having issues with functionality of their new display.  The Hitachi 42HDS69 is no stranger this.  The common issue that arises (if any) is the dreaded “flicker”.  (more…)

For those of you unfamiliar with this model, to enter the service menu, you need to press “Menu”.  Then wait for the Menu to appear.  Once the menu appears, press “Menu, 8, Select” in fast order.  Once that happens, you are now in the Hitachi Service menu.  Please note, that you can potentially mess up your display by playing around in the configurations.  Always make note of anything that you change so that you can undo them.