Advanced technologies like plasma, LCD and DLP dominate the big-screen HDTV market, but traditional CRT projection sets like Hitachi's 65F59 still offer strong performance at much more sensible prices. While they may not have the flashy style or garner the same hype as their high-tech brethren, CRT projection sets offer affordable performance that, in the proper light conditions, equals and even surpasses that offered by the significantly more expensive models.

There are some drawbacks, of course, the most obvious of which is the large cabinet size. The 65-inch 65F59 is more than 25 inches deep and weighs in at a whopping 259 pounds, but the cabinet thankfully comes in two pieces and has built-in handholds to make moving and positioning easier. Another negative to this particular model is the lack of a QAM tuner or CableCARD slot, so the 65F59 is not digital cable-ready.

The 65F59 has an integrated ATSC tuner, so it can process incoming 480i, 480p, 720p and 1,080i signals. Hitachi's high-brightness lens system and digital signal processing produce a sharp picture that stands up to most light conditions, and the CRT design delivers rich blacks. A 3-D Y/C digital comb filter reduces cross-color interference, and there are six preset picture formats for standard content and three for HD content. Automatic digital convergence can be engaged with the touch of a button.

The full-range speakers produce a total of 24 watts of stereo sound, which is somewhat underpowered but average for a TV of this size, and audio options include volume leveling and simulated surround sound. The 65F59 has day and night settings for each input source, and a timer will automatically switch between settings depending on the time of day. This HDTV has a full complement of PIP functions, but you must connect a second tuner to enable full PIP functionality. Other useful features include sleep and on/off timers and a full-screen picture freeze function.

The input/output selection is somewhat limited for such a large HDTV, as it includes only one RF input, two wideband component video inputs and one HDMI input, as well as five composite video inputs (one on the front panel), three S-video inputs (one front), a center-channel speaker input, a fixed/variable audio output and an optical digital audio connection.

Despite its lack of some important features, the Hitachi 65F59 is an advanced CRT projection HDTV that produces a good picture for a reasonable price.


Pros:  Rich blacks and accurate colors, one-touch digital convergence, good value
Cons:  Not digital cable-ready, large and heavy cabinet, only one RF input, second tuner needed to enable PIP functions

Warranty
1 year parts and labor, 2 years picture tube