DVD Players & Recorders

A DVD player uses a laser diode to read the disc. The data that is seen is then transferred into the electronics and transmitted out of the player and into the TV as both video and audio. A...

Blu-Ray discs stand poised to overtake DVDs as the primary video technology of the 21st century. Although they work in a manner similar to DVDs, Blu-Ray discs can hold much more information.

There are a number of problems that could cause a DVD drive to fail, from a sudden lack of power to everyday irritations like dust and dirt. Luckily, there are a few easy and inexpensive ways to...

DVD writers can be fickle machines. Sometimes when trying to record a DVD the DVD player simply will not read it. Sometimes the case is that there is something wrong with the DVD writer or one of...

Blu-ray Discs represent the next step in home entertainment. They are essentially the same as a DVD; each disc contains a movie and a number of special features encoded into it, that can be...

Mintek DVD players are priced on the lower end of the spectrum in the portable DVD market. Troubleshooting problems yourself is probably a better alternative than going to a repair shop, which may...

You have rented the movie you've been dying to see. The film is closing upon a wild ending and your attention is undivided---then the skipping starts. Your first reaction may be to curse the video...

Blu-ray DVDs function in the same way as regular DVDs, with the only difference being efficiency and quality. All DVDs are known as optical discs; that is, they are read by lasers. A spiral track...

The arrival of high-definition has brought a new format for watching movies: Blu-ray. While Blu-ray has been somewhat slow to gain the acceptance enjoyed by DVD, lower prices for players and a...

A laser diode, similar to a light emitting diode (LED), is comprised of a junction between two semiconductors (one positive, one negative). This junction is known as a p-n junction...

Blu-Ray electronics are the next generation in home video and audio entertainment. A Blu-Ray disc is like a DVD in that it contains a movie or television show, but the storage space on the disc is...

Laser diodes appear in almost every disk reader now available. The diodes also play a significant, and fun, role in everyday activities---but how exactly is it that such a small device can produce...

First it was VHS, then it was DVD, and now it's Blu-Ray. It seems like every few years a new format comes along and complicates the home-video market. You can play Blu-Ray discs in not only...

Blu-Ray technology is essentially no different from DVD technology. Both utilize flat circular discs that carry encoded information, which the player translates into the audio and video components...

In essence, Blu-Ray technology differs little from DVD technology. Information is stored on a disc, which is accessed through a laser beam and translated into images and sound on your TV screen....

Blu-Ray "video" is a deceptive term, for Blu-Ray discs have very little in common with the VHS video cassettes to which the term is normally applied. As of this writing, they represent the...

Blu-ray is popular technology that was designed by Sony. It upgrades the standard DVD player to a new level of sharp imagery and storage capacity. It is being used for DVD players, PC data storage...

Making a very powerful burning laser from an old DVD burner is easy. It will light matches, burn through cardboard and melt plastic (burning through it if allowed). The light is very intense.

A laser diode, similar to a light emitting diode (LED), is comprised of a junction between two semiconductors (one positive, one negative). This junction is known as a p-n junction. There is also...

Blu-ray technology is no different in essence than CD or DVD technology. It simply applies improved technological advances to the same basic principles. The distinction is essentially one of data...

DVD stands for digital video disc, which describes both the format itself and the way it delivers information. In some ways, it's like a high-tech version of an old 78 record player, with...

Mini DVD technology, also known as compact DVD (or cDVD), was originally developed for use in hand-held video cameras to improve the cameras' portability. Mini DVD discs are only two-thirds the...

Blu-ray is a type of DVD that features increased storage and can therefore accommodate high-definition picture quality as well as sound quality not possible on traditional DVDs.

A DVD player operates according to the same basic principles as a CD player, a laser disc player and similar types of electronics. The only difference is the amount of information encoded and the...

The DVD cannot be read by a player unless it is spinning. Every DVD player, whether a standalone model or one placed into a computer, has a drive motor that is set for ultimate precision. The rate...

Listening to music on a CD player that skips no matter what CD is being played or, worse, a player that cannot "find" the disk inside is frustrating. The fix may be as easy as cleaning the device...

The key difference between a Blu-Ray player and a DVD player is that the Blu-Ray uses a blue optical laser instead of the red laser used by a DVD player. The blue laser has a smaller wavelength...

A DVD is made up of several layers of plastic that is 1.2 mm thick. Each layer of the disk is impressed with billions of very tiny bumps, often called pits. These bumps are where all the video,...

A DVD recorder is a device for writing data onto a disc. DVD recorders are most commonly used to record copies of movies and TV shows, and so many people think of them as the next step up from the...

A basic way to understand how a DVD player works is to look at its predecessor, the record player. With a record player, you can actually see a needle reading the grooves in the vinyl. The DVD...

Let's face it: simply watching movies on iPod is boring. Who would stay watching the NARROW movie when he or she has free access to watch it on a widescreen? Nobody. I bet it. However, most...

This brief walk-through will teach you a quick and efficient way to clean your dvd player, as well as tips to keep it maintained.

Enjoy the rich sound and beautiful picture of your DVD player longer by using the proper maintenance. Like the engine on your car, the more miles you put on a DVD player's laser, the more likely...

Is your DVD player malfunctioning? If you’re getting a no-disc error, you may need to clean the DVD player’s laser pickup. The laser pickup is what reads DVD's and allows you to view them on your...

Tired of seeing the no-disc error every time you try to watch a movie? No-disc errors are usually caused when the DVD or the laser-lens pickup has become dirty and causes the DVD player to not be...

If your DVD player is giving you a lot of noisy playback or poor tracking, your laser could be losing strength and need adjustment. If you've tried other alternatives and believe you have nothing...