Westinghouse on Thursday broke some new ground with its VK40F580D HDTV, the first from the company to feature a built-in DVD player. Unlike most such combos, the DVDs slide in via a front-mounted drive, and not on a side-mounted and reportedly harder-to-reach slot. The 40-inch LCD HDTV delivers 1080p resolution via its two HDMI inputs, and also sports a USB port for connecting portable or flash memory drives, digital cameras or digital audio players, among other compatible devices.The built-in DVD player in question will upconvert standard definition movies to 1080p and automatically turn on the TV and set the proper input once it detects a DVD is being inserted. Westinghouse has also included an ATSC/ClearQAM tuner for HD broadcasts but has declined to immediately reveal contrast ratios and other image quality details.
The VK-40F580D is shipping now and sells for about $1,049.



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