When thinking about big-screen TVs, the name Hewlett-Packard usually doesn't come to mind. But based on our tests of the company's 58-inch MD5880n DLP set, maybe that perception should change.

Photograph: Rick Rizner, Chris Manners

What sort of RPTV can you expect when an American computer-equipment manufacturer with an eye for accurate images decides to enter the home-theater market? In the case of Hewlett-Packard, it's a television made with some welcome American planning and...

HP makes many of the world's computer products. It would stand to reason that if there were going to make a foray into the home theater world it would be through the video server or home theater PC market. Which is precisely what they did. And we...

But some companies, while new to the video display business, are household names. HP—the now-preferred moniker for the company formerly better known as Hewlett Packard (sort of like KFC without the crispy coating)—is one of the market leaders in...

These days, you can't tell the players in television manufacturing without a scorecard. At every CES, including this year's, new names sprout like kudzu. Some are strange and unfamiliar. Others are old standards, but under new ownership. Many will be...