Hitachi L32S02A LCD TV

It's been a while since we reviewed a straight up 32-inch LCD - something for the entry level consumers in the HDTV market. The last time we covered Hitachi, it was for their Ultra Thin series, which was superb but pricey. Now we have a no frills 32 incher by them, called the Hitachi L32S02A LCD TV.

Design and Features
It seems Hitachi has cordoned off all their design ideas and fancies to their UT series, as this model is quite a basic looking piece, and could use a bit of pizzazz. It’s got a gloss black bezel, with a old fashioned speaker grille on the bottom panel. This is something that should have been concealed better. There is a silver strip outlining this grille, plus we have the Hitachi logo etched bang on center, also in silver. The stand is oval and of the same gloss black finish.

The back panel is bare, with the input terminal window facing downwards, another iffy for me. Though it's not such a big deal, a little bending backwards doesn’t hurt. Speaking of inputs, we have 2 HDMIs, one VGA in (mini D-SUB) for PC, 2 component ins and a couple of composite video inputs. There is a set of input on the left panel too: a headphone out and a composite video in. The model might be new, but the design sure seems old.

As for rated specifications, we have native contrast at 1000:1, resolution of 1366 x 768, with a 500 cd/m2 brightness. Response time is 5 ms, and the main thing with Hitachi LCDs that is advertised in bold: an S-IPS panel. This technology boasts very good viewing angles, and they actually do have good angles, though backlight bleed can be an issue, something we have observed in past reviews.