While we don't yet have test discs to check for a set's conversion of a 720p or 1080i high-definition input to 1080p, most of the time the Mitsubishi did a respectable job of this, judging from normal program material. However, I did occasionally spot subtle flicker in horizontal details, or a trace of moiré in images of complex structures, such as large buildings with a well-defined pattern of windows. I didn't find these effects serious enough to be distracting, but they weren't hard to see. My tests did indicate that the Mitsubishi does a proper job in converting 1080i to 1080p. That is, it deinterlaces the source correctly and does not "bob" it.

The Good Stuff
Despite the issues I've described above, this Mitsubishi produced some of the most compelling images I've yet seen on a rear projection set. On standard definition DVDs played on a good upconverting DVD player, and particularly on true high-definition material, it excelled in color, detail, and lack of distracting artifacts. It's only significant real-world weaknesses are black level and contrast.

Most filmed dark scenes contain enough highlights to provide respectable subjective contrast on any decent set, and the Mits performed satisfactorily with this type of image. But on scenes that range from black to dark gray, with few or no highlights, the set was not as effective. It's true that such scenes give most video displays a hard time. They work best on CRTs, but some digital sets do better with them than others. I would grade the WD-57731 well below average on such material. And the set's measured peak contrast ratio was nothing to write home about (see "Tests and Calibration").

Fortunately, unless you're a devotee of film noir and little else, there aren't a lot of shots in most films to make this a persistent issue. But you need to be aware of it. Mitsubishi offers a feature on its more upscale sets, called DarkDetailer, that is designed to address this problem, but it isn't included on the 731 series.

In all other respects, however, this Mitsubishi, after calibration, produced a picture that was more than a match for the best I've yet seen from a rear projection digital display. One of the first DVDs I pop into my player as I begin evaluating any new display is Charlotte Gray. I can describe many of the scenes in this movie from memory. While there are sharper DVDs in my collection, this one is by no means soft and has all the best characteristics of a true, film-like transfer. In the opening shots I spotted some noise in the blue sky and green foliage of the English countryside, but it didn't call particular attention to itself for the rest of the film. The greens were a bit too intense in the way of most digital displays. But in general the colors were clean and richly saturated, with particularly good flesh tones. A few of the darker scenes did look a little pale, but the black level concern expressed above was never a serious distraction. The detail was crisp without looking artificially sharpened. I did see occasional rainbow artifacts, but they weren't serious enough on this or any other program material to bother me.

The new 16:9 DVD transfer of Crimson Tide is superb, and most of its strengths were evident on the Mitsubishi. It's crisply detailed, and only occasionally looks soft or edge-enhanced. There are many dark scenes, but they're mostly well defined by bright highlights. The WD-57731 handled them with little trouble apart from a subtle graying of the image on the most difficult shots that resulted in less snap and dimensionality than you'll see on a set with superior contrast. The colors were good, though the ship's strong red emergency lighting smeared a bit.

Even DVDs that are slightly soft looked fine on the Mitsubishi. The vividly colored costumes and detail-rich sets in Casanova were striking, and while it was obvious that this film really needs to be released in high-definition sooner rather than later, what I saw from the DVD on the Mits didn't disappoint me in the least.

High-definition
The Mitsubishi's onboard high-definition tuner performed superbly. With an amplified, roof-mounted antenna it received 31 over-the-air DTV stations, including secondary DTV stations and primary standard definition DTV broadcasts in my difficult reception area. (The local LA transmitters aren't that far away, but my direct line-of-sight to them is blocked by a small mountain ridge.) That number handily bests the 22 stations received by the discontinued Zenith HDR230 tuner/DVR, still one of the best set-top boxes ever made. In fact, the Mitsubishi received the primary and secondary HDTV/DTV broadcasts of the local NBC affiliate, while the Zenith did not. While I ultimately did most of my HD viewing on cable, the over-the-air reception from the Mitsubishi looked superb.

And it was on high-definition that the WD-57731 really came into its own. I was rarely disappointed in what I saw, and often very impressed. The set could easily distinguish between the average HD quality of HBO and the (generally) superior quality from HDNet, HDNet Movies and Discovery HD Theater. It could do nothing to remove the annoyance factor from TNT's frequent, simulated widescreen HD broadcasts in which they simply apply a 16:9 stretch to native 4:3 material. But at least these broadcasts looked clean and, on their occasional true widescreen offerings, good as well.

While surfing around the dial on the dozen or so HD stations my cable system carries I often found myself getting wrapped up in programs that I would not otherwise have bothered with. But HBO's two-part Elizabeth I was definitely a show I had been waiting for the right time to watch. It would have been riveting to watch for its detail alone; its absorbing drama and performances were bonuses. The four hour miniseries had been sitting on my DVR for about two months when I finally gave it a spin, and I would have happily watched all of it on the Mitsubishi in a single sitting if it hadn't been 1:00 AM when I got to the halfway point!

As fine as the set looks with cable and broadcast HD, it reached another level with HD DVD. Phantom of the Opera looked even sharper and more detailed than it did on the Yamaha DPX-1300 DLP projector. True, the Yamaha is only 720p, but it does include one of the best scalers in existence, the Teranex-derived Realta by Silicon Optix. It's also true that a much larger projected image will be superior at revealing detail, but at the same time can look less crisp because of the added magnification. Nevertheless, on the finest details—check out the jewels in La Carlotta's (Minnie Driver's) headdress in the opening rehearsal scene—I saw more obvious definition on the Mitsubishi. And the set's color on this HD DVD was spectacular.

Nor did I find much to complain about in the images I saw from The Chronicles of Riddick. Yes, I did notice a few moiré artifacts, and occasional flicker on horizontal lines. But apart from that, the picture was superbly crisp and natural looking, easily confirming what I already knew: this is a prime candidate for the best looking of the early HD DVD releases.

Not that U571 is exactly chopped liver. While the black level limitations of the WD-57731 were more apparent on this disc than with the other program material discussed above, the dark scenes here (most of which have at least a little inherent contrast of their own) didn't detract from my enjoyment. Some noise was visible in large, bright areas of solid color (think blue sky), and facial close-ups did not look quite as natural as they do on the Yamaha projector. Some were just a hair too edgy. It's possible that the Mitsubishi's non-defeatable vertical sharpening was raising its usually inconspicuous head here, possibly working in combination with some similarly subtle sharpening in the HD transfer that was also not apparent by itself.

Conclusion
I would definitely prefer to see richer blacks and a more reassuring peak contrast ratio from a rear projection set than the Mitsubishi offers. I suspect that Mitsubishi's upcoming higher-end sets may offer both.

But in all other respects Mitsubishi has hit a home run with the WD-57731. You won't see it at its best as delivered. But give it some attention by proper adjustment of the user controls and, even better, a good calibration, and watch your viewing time soar.

Highs and Lows

Highs
• Sharp, detailed picture
• Rich, vivid, yet natural-looking color
• Excellent HD tuner

Lows
• Blacks and contrast ratio well below average
• De-interlacing and scaling only fair
• Non-defeatable vertical image sharpening