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Introduction to DVD Players and Recorders

Choosing a DVD Player

The essential home theater source component, a DVD player is also one of the best entertainment values today. It delivers digital picture quality that until recently you would only have seen in a TV broadcast studio. You’ll hear digital-quality surround sound. You’ll enjoy over thirty thousand titles including movies, concert videos, children’s programs and more. Plus today, more and more DVDs include not only the original movie, but also extra content like director's cuts, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, outtakes, and more. Of course, compared to videotape, DVDs are more compact, more durable and offer much faster access to individual movie scenes no rewinding and precise search features. Features to look for:

Progressive Scan

This feature effectively doubles the picture quality. To get the benefit of progressive scan, you'll want to connect your DVD player to a "high scanning", "High Definition monitor" or "High Definition upgradeable" television. If you own or you're thinking of buying one of these televisions, then a progressive scanning DVD player is a must.

3:2 Reverse Conversions

After you’ve selected a progressive-scan player, be sure to choose a model with 3:2 pull down processing 3:2 reverse conversion is a technology employed in the better progressive scan DVD players. It retains the integrity of the movie’s original film frames. You’ll see a clearer picture, especially on scenes with movement.

Component Video Outputs

Component (Y/PB/PR) outputs are a must for progressive scan DVD and they're highly desirable for all other layers. They do the best job of preserving the picture quality. Component video outputs (Y/PB/PR) are the best way to convey the full quality of the signal from the DVD player to the television.

DVD-R/RW, CD MP3/JPEG Playback

Most of today ’s DVD players can handle all the different types of discs you'll want to play. Newer DVD players have added the capability to play DVD formats like DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. These are the formats usually associated with DVD burners for your computer and DVD recorders. You’ll also want to make sure that they player can play back CD-R and CD-RW discs embedded with MP3 or WAV music files and JPEG photos because it is this ability that will turn your DVD setup into a true entertainment center.

Super Audio CD Playback

Higher-end models are also able to play either DVD-Audio discs or Super Audio CDs (SACDs) and a few can play both. The perfect complement to multi-channel home theater speaker systems, these high resolution discs provide the best sound quality available today capturing subtle details that make music sound richer and more real. Both are capable of delivering 5.1-channel music that places you in the center of the performance when you listen through a home theater system. There are thousands of DVD-Audio and SACD titles available.

DVD Changer Capability

This lets you load any mix of up to 5,100,300 or 400 CDs and DVDs for pushbutton access to all your music and movies. No more rummaging through the shelves. No more fumbling with jewel boxes. You can save a lot of shelf space by simply storing your CDs and DVDs in the changer.

Plus, DVD players are so good at playing music CDs that you'll no longer need a separate CD player. Choose from carousel models that hold a handful of discs, or bulkier mega changers with room for up to 400 discs.

Picture Zoom

Some players feature a picture zoom capability, with different magnification levels, so you can study the scene in detail. Some will even allow you to pan up/down and left/right in order to enlarge specific areas of the screen. If you have a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio TV, some DVD players have a 4:3 TV zoom feature that will enlarge the letterbox format picture to get rid of the black bars at the top and bottom of your TV screen. Just like "full screen "DVD version of widescreen movies, you lose about 33% of the picture area due to cropping of the sides, but at least you will no longer have those black bars that can be annoying to some viewers.

Digital Audio Outputs

For utmost flexibility in a home theater system, be sure your DVD player includes both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs. This allows the player to pass the "raw" digital audio signal for outboard Dolby Digital and/or DTS surround sound decoding by a receiver or preamplifier. A digital audio connection is best, as the digital audio signal is less subject to degradation and interference than the analog counterpart. The optical digital connection uses laser (light) pulses to transmit data in a fiber optic cable. In contrast, the coaxial digital audio connection uses a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal and a specialized cable that looks like an RCA-type connection.

On-Board Decoders

Some DVD players can perform on-board decoding of the Dolby Digital or DTS signal and pass out the 5.1-channel decoded analog signals (five full frequency channels and one low frequency effects ".1"channel).

This feature is worthwhile only if you have a "digital ready" or "5.1-channel ready" receiver. If you have a Dolby Digital receiver, then you should use one of the digital audio outputs and let the receiver perform the decoding. One reason is that the digital signal is less likely to be degraded when passing between the DVD player and the receiver or preamplifier.

Choosing a DVD Recorder

DVD Formats

The major DVD formats are DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD - RAM. DVD-R/RW is backed by Pioneer and supported on the computer side by Apple; DVD-RAM is backed by Panasonic with support by Toshiba; DVD + R/RW is backed by Sony and Philips, with support from Hewlett-Packard.

DVD - R and DVD + R are write-once formats, while DVD-RW, DVD-RAM are rewritable i.e. you can record more than once onto the same disc. DVD - RW and DVD + RW discs can be erased and re-recorded about 1,000 times, while DVD-RAM discs can be re-recorded up to 100,000 times! The + and - varieties are not compatible, however here is no difference between +and -in terms of quality, although for some reason,-discs tend to be cheaper. DVD+R/+RW recordings are always DVD-Video compatible .With a DVD+RW video recorder, you don't have to worry about the various recording modes and options. All discs that are produced by the DVD+RW video recorder, both DVD+R and DVD + RW, regardless of their playing time or picture quality setting, are written in a compatible mode and therefore can be played in the vast majority of standard DVD- Video players.

DVD-R is the format that's most compatible with current players and drives. DVD-RAM is the least compatible it will only play on DVD players specifically designed to handle it. However DVD-RAM does offer some unique capabilities; the discs are double-sided and therefore have a greater capacity. They also allow 'time-shifting’, watching the beginning of a recording while still recording the end, pausing live TV etc.

DVD recorder machines have come a long way in the past year or so. The prices on these stand alone units have dropped from around $1000 to 200 - $300.There are many different brand names available (Denon, Go Video, JVC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony and Toshiba) for a DVD recorder-and most of them are going to be an excellent choice.

Finding the right DVD recorder for you isn't as hard as you might think. Although the choice is bewildering (and becoming more so each day) you'll find it hard to buy a bad machine -and if you look around you'll find a great machine at a cheap price. Record TV shows and home movies and then watch them on a DVD player, or on your computer's DVD-ROM drive. Like a VCR, a DVD recorder has a built-in TV tuner, and a clock/timer for unattended recording.

Advantages of Recording to Disc

The advantages of recording video to DVD versus tape are the same as recording music to CD instead of cassette. You don't have to fast-forward or rewind to find an unused section of tape, or worry about unintentionally recording over another segment. The DVD recorder keeps track of the size and location of any available space on the disc. To start recording, you simply push the Record button. Arranging and editing video segments with a DVD recorder is as easy as creating a mix CD on a CD recorder.

DVD discs are a much more durable and robust medium than magnetic tapes. This makes them ideal for archiving programs recorded on tape, or for transferring precious camcorder footage. Disc-based recording eliminates worries about old or worn tapes getting stuck in your VCR or degrading over time. And although the technology in DVD recorders is very advanced, they actually have fewer moving parts than a VCR, for better long-term reliability.

DVD recorders provide anywhere from one to six hours of recording time on a regular 4.7GB single-sided blank DVD. There are differences depending on which recordable DVD format you use, but you can generally expect to record 1-2 hours of studio-quality video, or up to 6 hours at VHS quality. The highest-quality mode yields recordings with picture and sound quality that are virtually indistinguishable from the original.

HDD Recorders

DVD HDD recorders offer flexibility and convenience: they allow you to record directly onto a high-capacity hard drive disk perfect as a temporary storage and the ability to record to DVD disc, ideal for more permanent storage. The greater the size of the hard disc, the more TV you can record, so go for the biggest you can afford. It’s bound to fill up quicker than you think.

The hard drive is normally accompanied by DVD-RAM, or DVD-R compatible recording capability. In addition to more flexibility in storing the programs, there is also greater flexibility in viewing the shows with most of these recorders. For example, you can watch a recorded program and simultaneously record a new program into the disc.

Also, you can stop live picture and the recorder keeps on recording, and you can resume watching the program as you please.

The DVD hard disc drive recorders work much like the computer drives used in personal computers. The amount you can store in the hard drive unit of broadcast programming depends on how big the storage space is and what type of recording mode you use. For example, an 80 GB had disc drive in select Toshiba models gives you up to 75 hours of recording time on a LP mode. The quality of the recording is deteriorated somewhat from the original in this mode, however.

Most DVD hard drive recorders also have smart recording unit, which will record, if the DVD disc hasn't got enough space, the remainder of the program onto the hard drive.

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