Westinghouse Packs DVD into 40-inch HDTV

May 23, 2008 By Geoff Duncan

Westinghouse's new VK-40F580D offers a 40-inch LCD HDTV with a built-in slot-loading DVD player, and two auto-sensing HDMI inputs.

Westinghouse may not be the most-recognized name in the flat-panel television game, but they’re doggedly trying to appeal to consumers who want straightforward, multi-functional entertainment. The new VK-40F580D tries to appeal to folks who want things simple, combining a 40-inch 1080p LCD flat-panel television with an integrated slot-loading DVD player and two HDMI inputs that can automatically detect when an external video source is activated.

The VK-40F580D offers a 1,920 by 1,080-pixel resolution, an integrated NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM tuner, and can function as a PC display at a variety of resolutions. The display touts an 1,800:1 contrast ratio, a 176° viewing angle, and an 8ms response time. The unit also features deep calibration capabilities and a series of preset video modes that customize the display to particular purposes like movies and gaming. The integrated slot-loading DVD player does not offer upscaling—so you’ll be seeing ordinary “DVD-quality”—but it does offer Westinghouse’s PixelDirect technology that puts DVD video to the display on a direct path, so you don’t have to worry about supposedly-intelligent video processing messing up your content. The unit also features two video inputs, antenna and component inputs, analog and S/PDIF audio output, all mounted using Westinghouse’s “SpineDesign” so users don’t have to muck around behind the unit: all ports are accessible on the sides.

The VK-40F580D is available now at a suggested retail price of $1,149.

Showing 5 comments

versican at 12:05pm 2nd June 2008 We have a 32" Westinghouse from a couple years ago and love it, but it's too small for our room. Westinghouse works well with our computer and I love the easy access to the ports. I would be interested in this as I dislike the look of components (we have a stack of them -- cable box, receiver, dvd, Wii). So anything to reduce the stack of components is great. And if the dvd goes out in the unit, we'd just plug in our dvd player.
Philip at 2:09pm 25th May 2008 Would pass on this one. WestingHhouse is known for having deep discounts online though, so if you do want this TV because of the integrated DVD player, you can probably get it cheap.

Toshiba also offers sets with built-in DVD players too though.
Tim Stevens at 1:09am 25th May 2008 The cost of the TV would go to high if it had a blu-ray player. Most people buying a westinghouse tv wouldn't plop down the money for a blu-ray player unless the price was under $100, and the if the discs were the price of a normal dvd.
Jake in LA at 11:41pm 24th May 2008 Why didn't they make this a Blu-Ray player? what were they thinking?
Tim Stevens at 11:10pm 23rd May 2008 I wouldn't buy this. What happens when the DVD player breaks? Do you have to replace the whole TV? Why not just buy a cheap $80 DVD player.