Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the XBV342 stands ready to deliver the full potential of DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, providing higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

Top-of-the-line component-video outputs help minimize digital and line-scan artifacts on compatible advanced televisions, while composite- and S-video outputs bring compatibility with nearly any television. Other features include 4x and 16x moveable zoom, variable high-speed scan (2x, 4x, 16x, and 100x), parental locks, bookmarking, 20-track CD programming, and repeat and resume play.

The VCR section offers four heads (for clear slow-motion and stop-action features) and stereo sound. The deck's 19-micron video heads maintain clarity during recording or playback in EP (extended play) mode, auto digital tracking adjusts for optimal picture settings for every tape you load, and auto clock set maintains the correct time and even adjusts for daylight savings. You can't program the unit to record at specific times, but it does come with a handy Instant Recording button.

For the simplest hookup with a TV, you can use a single RCA composite-video connection to handle both DVD and VCR outputs. If you want a higher-quality connection from the DVD player, use a component- or S-video cab