Hitachi P50T01U review

Weaknesses
Although the P50T01U has many features, it's slightly disappointing to find that the set doesn't support the 1080p/24fps format now output by a few HD disc players.

But sadly, the bulk of our problems with the P50T01U concern its picture performance. The toughest thing to accept is the set's surprisingly unimpressive black level, which bottoms out into grey considerably earlier than its best rivals. This is hardly what you want when you're trying to spot the monster lurking in a dark corner during Ridley Scott's Alien.

It's also depressing to see dithering noise over people's faces as they move across the screen, harking back to an old plasma problem which most other brands seem to have more or less completely cracked now.

Next, the picture generally doesn't seem as vibrant and bright as those of some current rival plasmas. And finally, standard definition images tend to be afflicted with some video noise, despite the best efforts of the Picture Master Full HD system.

Conclusion
Once upon a time, Hitachi made pretty much the only really affordable plasma TVs worth bothering with. But with the P50T01U, costing around £1,000, there's just no avoiding the fact that the brand doesn't seem to be advancing its plasma technology as fast as most rivals. Time to get more people in the Research & Development labs pronto, wethinks.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Jon Squire