While most manufacturers are working on their first or maybe their second generation of HD-ready products, Mitsubishi is releasing their third-generation line of displays. The WT-46807 is the first in this new line, and some great new features demonstrate how the company's experience has paid off.

The WT-46807 is a widescreen display that includes an improved line doubler for NTSC images and greater aspect-ratio flexibility for high-resolution sources. Combine this with Mitsubishi's continued use of an excellent comb filter and the TV's ability to accept high-definition images from an external tuner, and you have the makings of a great product.

Our recent Face Off (September '00) showed that Mitsubishi is keen to the public's need for features, and the WT-46807 accommodates that need accordingly. For starters, there are four audio and video inputs (three on back, one on front) that include composite and S-video connectors. Next, there are three (yes, three) additional component inputs. The first two accept both 480i and 480p scan rates. The third input accepts either component or five-wire RGB signals at 480i, 480p, and 1080i scan rates. Added to this are two RF antenna inputs, an RF loopthrough for your cable box, audio and composite video outputs, and additional audio outputs for the picture-in-picture source. That's more than enough options to integrate the set into any system.

Additional features include two IR outputs that enable the TV to be connected to and communicate with other Mitsubishi products. Hook up your Mitsubishi VCR and receiver to the TV, and the three will work for you, instead of the other way around. Pressing play on the VCR automatically switches the TV and receiver to their appropriate inputs, keeping you from fumbling for remotes. This can make a system extremely easy to use. It's too bad this doesn't work with different manufacturers' products.

A feature that does work with products from various manufacturers is the display's aspect-ratio function. No matter what DVD player you connect, be it a regular or progressive-scan, the TV can play the image back in whatever aspect ratio is appropriate. In fact, the same goes for standard-definition TV images (non-HD digital transmissions), which can be broadcast in either a 1.33 (4:3) or 1.78 (16:9) shape. This option is unavailable on a wide number of products, including Mitsubishi's previous displays.

The major need for this option is to control progressive-scan DVD players or external line doublers, which might improve upon the set's internal processing. However, Mitsubishi's new line doubler, the DPM3 (or DiamondDigital Pixel Multiplier—third generation), is good enough to minimize the desire for said improvements. The new internal processor recognizes film sources, which start life with 24 frames and are bumped up to 30 frames when converted to video in a process called 3:2 pulldown. By recognizing the added frames, the processor can eliminate the motion artifacts that occur in other systems that otherwise ignore the added frames. Oddly enough, the processor does a better job of this with actual video than it does with test signals. Extremely fast vertical motion and places where the 3:2 pulldown sequence gets interrupted can trip up the processor briefly, but overall the picture looks great. While the die-hard might still want a progressive-scan DVD player, the rest of us can rest assured that we're getting nearly as good a picture.