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Consumer Reports – DVD

The DVD has come to dominate video even faster than the audio CD conquered in the 1980s. Together with change from what we see – instead of tape drives – DVD are changing the way we look. The digital format makes it easy to go directly to the sections you want a movie, image and sound quality than what you get with a videotape. One DVD can store a complete film of two hours-plus with a Dolby Digital or DTS soundtrack with six to eight channels of audio. There is also space for extra material such as various languages, behind the scenes documentaries and director's commentary or actors. Players HD DVD is expected to hit the market in early 2006.

DVD players can play standard audio CDs, and some models fully support DVD-Audio or SACD, two competing audio format that offers high-resolution multichannel audio.

While DVD players are playback-only devices, DVD recorders record and a game. Recorders prices have fallen steeply in recent years, with models entry level now selling for under $ 200.

WHAT'S AVAILABLE

Apex, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba are among the best-selling brands DVD players. Virtually all new DVD players are progressive scan models. When used with a conventional TV, these players provide the usual DVD image quality. With a TV that can display high definition (HD) or enhanced definition (ED) images, the image quality is slightly better. This is due to HD and ED sets the player support 480p progressive-scan mode, drawing 480 consecutive lines on the screen. Compared with a conventional TV each line is drawn and then interlaced or combined, a resolution called 480i. A player can be connected directly to the TV for watching movies or routed through your receiver to play movies and audio CDs on your sound system.

Progressive-scan models come in a single disc and multi-versions. The no progressive scan few players in the market are mostly single-disc models, which tend to be the cheapest type.
From a single console disc. Even low-end models usually include all the video outputs you might want. Price Range: under $ 60 to more than $ 300.

Multi consoles. Like CD changers, these players accommodate more than one disk at a time, usually five years. DVD jukeboxes containing approximately 400 records are also available. Price Range: $ 100 to $ 800.

Portable. These DVD players generally come with a small LCD screen and wide format batteries that claim to provide three or more hours of playback. Some low-priced models do not come with a screen, but are intended for users who plan to connect the device to a TV. You pay extra for portability either way. Price Range: $ 150 to $ 800.

IMPORTANT FEATURES

Based on DVD movies often come in various formats. Aspect ratio control lets you choose between the 4:3 format of conventional TVs vision (4 inches wide each 3 inches high) and 16:9 in the new, wide-screen sets.

A DVD player gives you any control over the image of control may never have known that it is necessary. Picture zoom lets you enlarge a specific image. Black level adjustment reflects the detail in dark parts of the screen image. If any ever wanted to see some action scenes from different angles, multi-angle capability that gives that opportunity. Note that this feature and some others work only with certain discs.

A DVD player lets you browse the disk in a number of ways. Unlike a VHS tape, most DVDs are sectioned. Chapter preview lets you scan the first few seconds of each section or chapter until you find what you want, a related function, chapter gallery, shows thumbnails section or chapter of the initial stages. Go to time allows you to enter the number of hours and minutes on the disc to skip. Marker functions allow indexing easy specific sections.

To get the most from a DVD player, it is necessary to connect to TV with the best connection available. Video link TV compound can produce a Very Good image, but there will be some loss of detail and some color artifacts such as adjacent colors bleeding into each other. Use output S-video TV can improve image quality. It keeps the black and white and lots of color signal separated, producing more image detail and color fewer defects than standard composite video.

component video, sometimes not provided in the lower level models, improved S-video signal split color, resulting in a wider range of colors. If you connect a DVD player via an S-video or component, do not be surprised if you have to adjust the TV picture settings when you switch to a picture from a VCR or cable box that uses a radio frequency (RF, also known as the antenna or cable) connection or a composite connection.

Two new products are in some players, digital video interface (DVI) and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), are intended for use with digital TVs with DVI inputs. They can be used to pass digital 480p signals to high-resolution video converted. These products potentially allow content providers to control their ability to record content.

Another benefit of DVD players is the ability to enjoy movies with multichannel surround sound. To enjoy the full experience of sound encoded audio DVD titles, you will need Dolby Digital receiver and six speakers, including subwoofer. (For 6.1 and 7.1 soundtracks, will have seven or eight speakers.) Dolby Digital Decoding refers a DVD player that decodes the multichannel audio before the audio receiver, without the built-in circuits, you need to have the built-in decoder the recipient or, in rare cases, use a separate decoder box to take advantage of the audio. (A Dolby Digital receiver to decode an older format, Dolby Pro gamers Logic, too.) Also support Digital Theater System (DTS) decoding for titles with six or seven-channel encoding format. When you watching DVD movies based on controlling the audio dynamic range helps to keep the explosions and other noisy sound effects seem too strong.

Also of commercial DVD titles, DVD players often support playback or display of a number of other disc formats. Includes CD recording CD-R/RW Audio standard, the recordable DVD formats DVD + R / RW, DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM, Video CD (VCD) and DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD). You Can also play CD-R/RW discs with MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) files and JPEG images. Make sure a model you're considering plays the discs and formats you use now, or you can you want to use in the future.

DVD players also offer features such as multilingual support, allowing you to choose dialog or subtitles in different languages for a given film. Parental control lets parents "lock" the films for their classification code.

HOW TO CHOOSE

Buy a progressive scan model unless the lowest price is your highest priority. Although you will not see progressive scan image quality in a conventional analog TV, is worth spending a little more than a progressive scan player if you might get a digital camera (probably HD) in a time. You will have many choices of products as well as almost all new players are progressive scan. It's definitely worth having a progressive-scan player for use with a digital television, which is able to show the softer image that these players can deliver.

Choose a multi-model if you want continuous music. A single-disc player is fine for movies and CDs one at a time. But if you want this to be your main music player, consider multiple disc player. Note, however, that multiple disc models are usually 1-2 inches tall and 6-7 inches deeper than the players on a single disc.

Make sure there are enough connections. Virtually all DVD players now have outputs for optimal connection most televisions. Some players have a DVI or HDMI connectors that are compatible with some new TVs, but they do not necessarily offer a better quality image. If you want to use digital audio connections from the DVD player to a receiver, make sure digital audio outputs on your DVD player matches the receiver inputs. Some receivers use a coaxial input, while others, an optical input. If you have an older receiver that lacks 5.1 surround sound decoding sound, look for a player with a Dolby Digital decoder.

Consider that, if any, special playback formats matter. All DVD players can play DVDs and CDs. Most models also have various types of discs that you record, such as DVD-R, DVD + R, and CD-R/-RW. The Most can read DVD + RW, but the ability to read DVD-RW depends on how they were recorded. Some can also play DVD-RAM discs. Most models play music from CD-Audio and MP3 recorded discs you burn. You will need to shop around more if you want to play Windows Media Audio (WMA), Video CD high-resolution SACD and DVD-Audio discs in their original format.

Do you want to present slide shows on your TV? Then choose a model that can read memory card for your camera or JPEG image files from a digital camera or scanner that had been burned to a disc.

Copyright © 2002-2006 U.S. Consumers Union, Inc.

For the latest information on this and many other products and services, visit www.ConsumerReports.org.

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