Quite possibly the most overused marketing term in audio/video, the word "professional" is attached to myriad products never intended for true business-to-business trade. It often means nothing more than a set of rack-mount ears attached to an otherwise consumer-oriented product.

At one time a player in the consumer CRT television market and also a leader in the computer desktop monitor business, NEC exited the first back in the 1990s and then later on sold off the monitor business to Samsung, and for the most part has been absent from A/V retail showrooms until this year. The company has introduced two LCD flat-panels under the Multeos moniker; both claim professional status. The 46-inch model and the 40-incher tested here are full-on 1080p high-definition specification and are available in three versions. The base version includes connections for component analog and PC-type RGBHV signals, while the mid-line offering adds additional connections including a single HDMI digital video input. The top variant in the range adds another input module, incorporating analog and digital over-the-air tuners for standard and high-definition broadcasts. Those who have cable or satellite will find the mid-line version fits the bill nicely—and it saves you $300 you could spend on a nice remote control to replace the disappointingly generic one NEC supplies.

All three Multeos variants include pro-style features that probably won't find favor in the residential environment, including vertical orientation capability for digital signage, and RGBHV pass-through for serial display purposes (multiple monitors placed in various locations in a commercial venue). None of the Multeos incorporate loudspeakers, NEC wisely bowing to the wisdom of not providing (nor charging extra for) a feature that custom installers don't need. Metalwork predominates the chassis, a nice upgrade from the plastic sheeting most consumer flat-panels employ. Thermostatically controlled fans allow for in-cabinet placement; they never seem to come on when the unit is placed freestanding.

Test-pattern analysis and color-temperature measurements reveal a number of (mostly pleasant) surprises. The Multeos offers a broad range of color-temperature choices, from the bottom-of-the-scale sunset-reddish 2,600 degrees Kelvin all the way up to an expectedly bluish 10,000 degrees. At the ideal 6,500 degrees setting, the color analyzer reports that the TV stays within 10 percent of this target over most of the gray scale, deviating toward blue in the blacks and deep grays. RGB drive controls for tweaking the white balance hide in a service menu reached through an unpublished code. This "secret" menu stands in stark contrast to the majority of consumer high-def displays, which provide these essential controls in an "advanced" or similarly named menu choice. NEC assures me that dealers and calibrationists will be provided the access code on request.

Once I'm in the Expert menu, I find a global set of red, green, and blue color adjustments, not the usual low-level (black) and high-level (white) adjustments for each color that most other displays provide. Nonetheless, I'm able to adjust the gray scale to within a hair's breadth of the 6,500-degree ideal, and even though the adjustment is at a single point (at the brightest white), I find that after calibration, the blue tinge in the dark parts of the picture is significantly tamed. The adjustments aren't in the usual 0-100 or somesuch range, but instead allow an unprecedented range of 32,767 adjustment increments for each of the three primary colors. While this abundance slows down the adjustment process, the added precision pays off.

The next surprise comes when I examine the Multeos' deinterlacing performance. With both standard-definition and 1080-line interlaced high-definition signals, the set provides by far the best deinterlacing and subsequent scaling I've ever seen. NEC chose the top-performing 10-bit Faroudja chip for the deinterlacing duties, pairing it with NEC's own custom chip for the upscaling function. The combo provides the smoothest, most jaggie-free picture I've yet seen, even compared with another 1080p LCD display I have on hand that incorporates the vaunted Silicon Optix Realta HQV chip. And the results are as good for standard-definition sources as they are for high-def—with either, the Multeos is equally adept at providing sharp detail as well as artifact-free smoothness.

The Multeos is refreshingly free of most of the picture "enhancement" functions found on its consumer-oriented competition—which strikes me as a plus, not a minus, as I've often found those features to be more detrimental than beneficial to picture quality. While the Multeos lacks such common niceties as adjustable backlighting and side-mounted inputs for convenient video game or camera hookup, it still leaves me with the impression that its professional heritage only adds to its appeal. It's like a top-notch audiophile preamplifier, equipped with only the requisite functions to do the job and do it properly.

DESCRIPTION
LCD flat panel 40-inch HDTV with tabletop non-swiveling stand; can be wall-mounted with optional bracket

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Widescreen 16:9 LCD display features 1080p resolution. Accepts 720-line and 1080-line progressive HDTV, 1080-line interlaced HDTV, 480-line progressive and 480-line interlaced signals, and computer resolutions up to 1920 by 1080

RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080 pixels

CONNECTIONS
Component video input, S-video input, two composite video inputs, HDMI digital audio/video input, DVI-D digital video input, DB-15 analog video input for PC connection, RGBHV analog video input with RGBHV video output for daisy-chaining, RF input for analog (NTSC) and digital (ATSC) broadcasts, two analog stereo audio inputs; composite video output, optical digital audio output, stereo analog audio output, one pair speaker outputs, two RS-232 serial ports for external control and pass-through

DIMENSIONS
22.9 x 38.7 x 5.6 inches (hwd, display only)
24.7 x 38.7 x 15.7 inches (hwd on supplied stand)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: $3,599 for M40-AVT version
CONTACT: 800.632.4662, www.necdisplay.com