The DVD-HD860 upconverts a standard DVD's native resolution (480p) to output close to high-definition formats (720p/1080i). To achieve that higher resolution, the player fills in additional image data by assessing existing pixels and intelligently predicting what the surrounding pixels should look like. Because the upconversion process occurs in the digital domain, no data is lost (compared with analog conversion) and the resulting image is close to pristine. To produce an upconverted picture, your high-def TV must have an HDMI connection (and HDCP support)--the 720p/1080i choice is only available when using the HDMI cable (which is not included). Also note that the DVD-HD860 is not a high-definition DVD player (i.e., not to be confused with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players, which play specially formatted high definition discs), so it will work with your existing DVD library.

This player is compatible with a wide range of disc formats, including DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW, VCD, and SVCD, as well as MP3, WMA, and JPEG file formats. Compression rates supported for MP3 are from 128-192 kbps and for WMA from 64-192 kbps. JPEG files can be seen in a slide show with intervals of 6, 12, or 18 seconds between images; and you can zoom in (2x or 4x) on an image or rotate it 90-degrees cloc