How to Buy a DVD Player for Video

DVD, or Digital Versatile Disc, is a compact disc that holds movies instead of music. Because the format is digital, the picture and sound are extraordinary and rival that of a movie theater. A movie can be stored on just one side of the disc, so there is no need to turn the disc over as with the earlier laser discs. DVD also offers scanning, pausing and chapter access, which VHS cannot. Moreover, DVD can be loaded with a foreign language track, subtitles and other material.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• DVD Players

1. Consider your budget. A DVD can cost as much and possibly more than $1,000. But units can be found in the $500 range as well. Yet like all new technology, prices are dropping continually.

2. Read audio-video magazines to investigate reviews and features.

3. Check your television to determine what kind of video and audio inputs it has so that you can choose a DVD player that is compatible.

4. Choose a player that has a minimal number of controls on its face. A few players have a lot of buttons, switches and dials, which can make things confusing. All you really need are the open/close button and the play button. You can do the rest with the remote control.

5. Consider what features you want on the player. Most players support these standard features: language choice for automatic selection of video scenes; audio tracks; subtitle tracks and menus (this feature must be supported with additional content on the disc); special effects playback, including freeze, step, slow, fast and scan; parental lock for denying playback of discs or scenes with objectionable material (this feature must be supported with additional content on the disc); programmability; playback of selected sections in a desired sequence; random play and repeat play; digital audio output; and compatibility with audio CDs.

6. Choose a DVD player that has an A/V receiver with a built-in Dolby digital decoder to take full advantage of the digital sound. It will also allow you to upgrade your sound system to surround sound later.

7. Select a DVD player that has good video outputs. (Make sure the outputs are compatible with your TV, though.) All DVDs have both composite and S-video output jacks and many higher-end models have component video outputs.

8. Choose the best of a variety of audio outputs that are compatible with your TV. Most lower-end models support analog stereo surround sound or Dolby Pro Logic surround sound only. Higher-end players can be connected to a Dolby digital receiver to produce multichannel surround sound using five or more speakers.

on 2/4/2008 Consider using the DVD-ROM purchased with your computer. Check if your video card is able to supply a TV signal to watch the movie on your TV.
Video cards from ELSA (www.elsa.de) are brilliant and ELSA even provides the software to play movies ($20)!

on 11/22/2005 If you have a CD changer, eplace it with a DVD changer. You will still have the same amount of compenents, remotes, and outlets used, but now you will have the magic of DVD movies. I made the change and couldn't be happier. DVD absolutely rocks!

on 11/22/2005 Be assured that the DVD that you're able to play in one part of the world may not be usable in other parts. There is coding associated with the DVDs. For example, US/Canada is code region 1. India and other Asian is code region 5 (or is it 6?)