There's a command to display the current firmware version on your TV with a little menu pop-up (need to be on a video input that uses s-video or composite, like the front input). With the unit turned on and set to an appropriate video input, press menu and mute buttons on the front panel at the same time. That will tell you what the firmware version is.

Whenever the 970 acquires a new digital audio signal (such as changing from disc menu to program on a DVD, switching inputs on the 970, or even changing channels between a Dolby 2.0 station and an HD channel with Dolby 5.1), the display will briefly identify what the incoming signal's format is before switching back to displaying what the current processing mode is. That signal format will be listed as 48kHz PCM (for sources like CD's) or some form of Dolby Digital or DTS. The Dolby and DTS signals will have a series of numbers identifying how many channels are included in the signal. The format for that is x/y.z, with "x" representing the front three channels (left, right, and center), "y" representing the side surrounds, and "z" representing the LFE track. So "3/2.1" is a 5.1 channel signal (Dolby or DTS), while "2/0.0" is Dolby 2.0 (left and right channels only).