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General discussion

HDTV on 1999 set?

Sep 18, 2005 3:15AM PDT

I purchased a Hitachi 60'' widescreen #60SBX78B and also a Mitubishi 36'' screen CS-36509 back in November of 1998 and was told they were 1999 sets. I could swear at the time that I was told I could buy a converter box ''...down the road.'' if I wanted to convert these to HDTV at some future point. They pointed out that that is what the S-video was for. I can't find anything anywhere in the owners manuals of these two nice TV's about HDTV. I don't want to replace the sets, but I'd like to see if they will even handle HDTV, because I'm afraid they don't. I don't even know if HDTV was even around at the time.
Any help is greatly appreciated....

Discussion is locked

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Your are on the right track
Sep 18, 2005 10:30AM PDT

You're set's are not HD. Unfortunately some unscrupulous salesmen BS people into thiking that you can upgrade a tv to HD. Entirely untrue. S-video is not HD.Component, DVI, HDMI are the only cables that will display HD. In order of quality it goes like this. Composite, S-Video, Component,DVI and HDMI.

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great set but not HD...
Sep 18, 2005 12:51PM PDT

here is a press release for the sets in question...

http://www.businesswire.com/webbox/bw.062298/729588.htm

as you see... it was a great set for its day but digital HD had not hit the mainstream in 1998. Still you should get great picture quality from dvd and any other source you can hook up via component video connectors. For a set this old you might look into a quick internal dusting job and vacuum off the lens assemblies. This should only be done by someone who knows what they are doing as you can get a strong shock, even off an unplugged set. Rule of thumb also is that you never use ammonia based cleaners on the plastic screen or internal mirror as it will cause clear plastic to cloud up. laptop LCD screen cleaners are the best choice.

grim