The DP42SM accepts inputs in all major DTV formats (1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i). It produces an astoundingly bright picture with 600 candelas per square meter. It has five selectable picture modes for excellent performance in a wide variety of lighting conditions (4:3, 16:9, Panorama, Zoom1, and Zoom2), five sound modes (standard, movie, music, news, and user selectable), and a 3D digital comb filter for enhanced color purity.

Its built-in stereo speakers produce 16 watts of power each. It has a good assortment of connectivity options on the back of the set, including a 15-pin PC input, 2 component inputs, 2 component-video inputs, 2 composite A/V inputs, and external speaker outputs.

Tech Talk
EDTV: Abbreviation for enhanced-definition television, which is a subset of the new digital TV specification. This format produces 480 lines of progressive-scan resolution (or 480p). Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio refers to the shape of the video image. Standard television has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is almost square in appearance. Digital television will have either a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio, which is widescreen and appears rectangular, looking more like a movie screen and filling more of the viewer's field of vision for a more lifelike viewing experience.

Scanning method: Frames of video are made up of many lines of video that are scanned onto a television screen so closely they appear to be a solid picture. The scanning method can be either interlaced or progressive. Interlaced scanning (also used in today's analog TV), indicated by an "i" in the video format, fills in the odd number lines (1,3,5,7...) and then fills in the even number lines (2,4,6,8...) until the frame is complete. Progressive scanning, "p," fills in each line consecutively until the frame is complete, like a computer display.