I'll admit that the above discussion is a bit oversimplified just to try and get across some of the big ideas, so I’ll briefly describe a few more things that you may need to be aware of before buying your first DVD player.

First, there are other video connections that give you a better picture than the AV connections described earlier. If the TV set you’re connecting the DVD player to has a place for an S-video input, you’ll probably want to buy a DVD player that has S-video output because this connection will give you a picture superior to that provided by an AV connection. For a better picture yet, if the TV set has a place for component video input, you’ll probably want to buy a DVD player that has component video output. And for the best picture of all, if the TV set supports progressive video, you’ll probably want to buy a DVD player that has progressive-scan output. Currently, most of the popular new DVD players support at least AV output and S-video output and many also support component video output, but only the more expensive DVD players support progressive-scan output.

Second, you should be aware that all of the currently available DVD players can also play music CDs. If you think you’ll want to use your DVD player to play CDs, you’ll need to decide if you should buy a player that holds more than a single disc. A typical DVD player with this feature offers a five-disc DVD/CD changer, but you can also buy jukeboxes that hold up to, say, 200 discs. Of course, the capability of holding more than one disc adds to the cost of the DVD player.

Third, you should probably know that many DVD players provide support for features that most people still have not thought much about, such as music recorded in MP3 format, video CDs, audio DVDs, interactive games, and karaoke. You’ll just have to decide on your own which, if any, of these features are important to you when buying your first DVD player.

Fourth, if you’re really into sound when you’re watching a movie at home, you’ll have to think about how the DVD player you’re going to buy will fit in with your sound system, which will presumably consist of five or six speakers and probably an A/V receiver. But this means you’re into home theater, which is way beyond the scope of this little article, and I’m really not qualified to offer you any help.

Finally, you may need to be aware of the fact that, generally speaking, DVD players bought in one geographical region (say, Europe) will not play a DVD bought in another geographical region (say, the United States). However, it is possible to buy "region-free" DVD players, that is, DVD players that will play most DVDs bought in any geographic region. Particularly for those of you who live outside the U.S. and Canada, you might want to think about whether or not this is an important feature for you.

Any thoughts about buying DVD players? Stop by the Home Video/DVD Forum and share your thoughts and experiences.

Previous Page Buying Your First DVD Player Page 1, 2