This Is a unique looking deck. No display can be seen at first, and there are very few buttons on the faceplate. Press the "Open" button and out pops the display screen. It's semi-automatic; after it glides out you lift it into position. Once open, the monitor serves as an interactive display, you touch icons on the screen to switch sources, select tracks/channels/chapters, and adjust the audio. When you want to stow the screen, you just push it down till it is horizontal and it automatically slides back in. The look of the control surface is ultra-slick; 336,960 pixels provide a huge area for the animated graphical user interface, which has multiple screens that slide into place as you select various functions.
Multiple formats are supported in the disc player; DVD, VCD, CD, CD-R, and CD-RW discs can all be used. Both Dolby Digital and DTS encoded discs can be played back, although if you want 5.1 surround you will need to add the optional KDS-P901 decoder. The 16:9 aspect ratio screen lets you view widescreen DVD movies in their native format, and the screen also has a setting for the normal television ratio of 4:3 to prevent image distortion when viewing television signals. In addition, there is a "Zoom" mode, which gives a closer look at 1/4 of the image, and can be scrolled around.
There are three sets of six presets for the FM band, one set of six presets for AM, and two sets of six presets for TV, including VHF channels 2 thru 13 and UHF channels 14 thru 69. Reception in all bands is excellent, including the television bands, which are fed by a 4-channel, powered diversity antenna. Three seek modes give you the ability to seek to the next receivable channel, the next preset, or the next frequency step. Each preset group can be memorized automatically with a scan function that grabs the next six stations that have signal. An optional Sirius Satellite Radio unit can be controlled from the screen as well.
Bass and treble controls have 9dB of gain, with adjustable center frequencies and adjustable Q on the bass frequencies. A bass extension feature adds 20% to the low frequency extension, and external Kenwood amps can be boosted 6dB or 12dB in the low frequencies via a control in the Audio Setup screen. There is a volume-dependent loudness control that boosts the bass and treble more as the volume is reduced. With the addition of the optional KDS-P901 unit, you get a 4-band parametric EQ, delay controls for each of the five surround speakers, and adjustable highpass and lowpass controls for the front, rear, center, and subwoofer outputs. The stock unit has highpass filters for the front and rear outs, and a lowpass filter for the non-fading output.
The remote that comes with the piece has a central joystick for selecting bands/channels/tracks/chapters, and for controlling playback. A three-position switch on the side of the remote changes the function of the buttons depending on the source you are using. The volume control is an up/down paddle that is very easy to find. A panel opens to reveal the numeric keypad which can be used for direct selections.