Topping this amazing player's feature set is its ability to perform true 3:2 pulldown through its component-video outputs, a true videophile feature.

What is 3:2 pulldown? Some context: while movie film runs at 24 frames per second (fps), NTSC television signals run at 30 fps, requiring film's 24 frames to be adapted to 30 frames before you can watch movies on standard (U.S.) television. The solution developed by the video industry exploits the fact that the NTSC format uses two "fields" per frame of video.

During the film-to-tape transfer, the telecine engineer mixes alternating sets of 3 and 2 video fields: the first frame of a second's worth of film is placed on 3 fields of video; the next frame is placed on 2 fields, and so on, until all 60 fields of a single frame of a 30 fps signal are complete--resulting in a gentle "stretching" of the original 24 frames.

While difficult to detect, this stretching is technically a distortion, and 3:2 pulldown digitally corrects this distortion, removing the redundant information to display a film-frame-accurate picture on your component-video-equipped direct-view or projection TV or monitor.

The unit also offers standard component- and S-video outputs, and a 10-bit video digital-to-analog converter ensures precision playback of high-resolution DVD signals.

In the audio realm, the DVD-P401's Spatializer N-2-2 sound circuit simulates surround sound through your TV or stereo speakers, while its 96 kHz/24-bit audio converters deliver pristine audio quality from DVDs and CDs. The back-panel Toslink optical and RCA coaxial terminals each pass a 96 kHz/24-bit audio stream for use with the latest high-end audio recordings (though be aware that your receiver must be able to decode your 96 kHz recordings if you use a digital connection there).