Which Component DVD Player Is Right For ME?Apr 08 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Read my 'Verdict'
This review is referring to home theater systems and component DVD players... Ok, let's start with the basics. A component DVD player is component which means that it contains outputs that are used with A/V receivers. There are many different brands and different types of DVD players. This review will give you an overview of everything you need to know. No BS, just the hardcore info. -Component VS. Non-Component- *Component DVD players contain outputs, such as coaxial and optical for use with receivers. This will give you truly the best quality that you can ever get. A non-component DVD player doesn't have this. If you're looking for hardcore quality, then go with component. My whole review will be based on component DVD players... READ ON... -THE BEST AND WORST BRANDS...IT MATTERS- *There are very many different brands of DVD players. The big shots in the market are obviously Sony, Toshiba, etc... Now I will describe the best brands out of many. Sony: Sony is known for having high quality electronics. They really have great DVD players. You can find the DVPS360D for as little as $150. It's high quality components. Sony is a strong player in all the ranges of DVD players. It plays it in the low ranges, and in the high ranges. If you're looking for a good brand with great DVD players at all the price ranges, try Sony. Don't try Oritron or Samsung if you're going cheap, their players are terrible. Toshiba: Same as Sony, they are player in all of the ranges. They have great high quality DVD players. Onkyo: Onkyo has some of the best DVD players on the market. They unfortunately lack and players in the low range market. The cheapest one is the DV-S535, which has a price tag of ~$275, but all of their players are built to very high standards. Other great brands include Yamaha, Pioneer, and Panasonic. The worst brands are SAMSUNG and ORITRON, I found that these are the worst from experience. -OK, NOW WHAT KIND OF SOUND DO I WANT?- *Different DVD players have different sound features. In this area, it really depends on what you have. Let's first start off talking about an A/V receiver. You want to first see the type of decoders it has built-in. If it has DTS and Dolby Digital/Pro Logic, you're well set. If you have these decoders in the receiver, you would want a DVD player in the cheaper(?) price range without decoders. Make sure its DTS/Dolby Digital compatible though, most are though. Built-in decoders only cost extra in the player, some that don't have the decoders cost less and offer nicer video enhancements that are quite nice, such as twin-lasers and filters... The receiver is what matters most. If you don't have DD or DTS in your receiver, then you should go the extra mile and buy a DVD player with internal decoding, if you already have decoding, then this is just a waste of money. The sound overall on the DVD players is AMAZING. I played Gladiator in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1, and it sounded spectacular. There is another type of new decoding called THX sound, the same kind that they use in the Lucas Studios. Only $3,000+ receivers (at least of what I saw) have THX decoding. Even though I have never seen it in my life, if you ever find a DVD player from a good brand with THX EX decoding, don't hesitate to buy it. The best sound from any DVD players comes from Onkyo, who set minimal (quite high actually) standards for all of their DVD players. Yamaha is second in line, then Sony and Toshiba are right behind, and they all sound fantastic! -WHAT WILL THE PICTURE BE LIKE?- *There is normal scan and progressive scan DVD players. Progressive scan costs a whole lot more. The cheapest one I ever saw was I think the Pioneer DV-434 for $399, but the cheapest ones (other brands) cost $500. There are cheaper alternatives though. My Onkyo DV-S535 has filtering that makes it look just as good as a progressive scan player, and it didn't cost an arm and leg either. Some other DVD players from Kenwood and Yamaha have dual-lasers that make the quality a whole lot better. With optical output/filtering, dual-lasers, etc... You can get near progressive scan quality without that huge price tag. It also depends on your TV. Such as, the picture quality on a Sony XBR series (digital) would look better than the picture quality on any other analog TV. The picture quality really depends on what your player is loaded with, how it's connected to the receiver by either analog or optical outputs, and finally...your TV. An optical output makes the quality better, it improves the picture and sound dramatically. You can buy a 3' optical link for as little as $19.99 at some stores such as Best Buy. -OTHER PICTURE STUFF, AND THE OUTPUTS- *Many DVD players have S-video outputs, which means that you can put their menus up onto the TV screen. It makes surfing the disc a whole lot easier. The types of outputs that you can use are coaxial, analog, and S-video output. I found the coaxial to be two folds better than using analog alone. It's quite expensive though because it is fiber-optic, but it is very well worth the price. -WHAT ARE THOSE FORMATS?- *Today, most DVD players have DVD/CD/VCD playback. I will describe them in the next paragraph, and for your info, most DVD players have CD-R playback, and a handful of them have even CD-RW playback. DVD - The standard format for the DVD player. DVD discs are movies on CDs. They can have Dolby Digital 2.1, 5.1, 6.1, or even 7.1 surround sound. The #.1 means how many speakers there are in the system, and the 5.# or the .1 means that there is a separate sub-woofer port. Anyway, the DVDs are encoded with Dolby Digital ranging from 2.1 surround all the way to 7.1 surround. Some DVDs have DTS, which is a clearer version of Dolby Digital. CD - CD is normal audio CDs. For CDs, I prefer a separate CD player though. I wouldn't suggest using a DVD player solely for music. VCD - VCD stands for video CD, or what once was known as DiVx, the ill-fated Circuit City innovation. You can download these movies in .VCD format off the internet, and write them onto CD-R discs, and play these videos on your DVD player. The quality isn't great though, more like VHS quality with some pixelation. DVD-Audio - Audio encrypted into DVD, usually comes with Dolby Digital surround sound. Haven't seen or heard many, but the quality is great. It's pretty much music on DVD discs. -READ IF YOU DON'T YET HAVE A HOME THEATER SYSTEM- *They all say, "The receiver is the central nervous system" of the home theater system. Well, that's true. In my opinion, I think that people should spend more on the receiver and get the decoders within the receiver. When you have a system, you route everything through the receiver, not DVD player... If you have the money, buy something like a Yamaha RX-V596 receiver, and a Sony DVPS360D or Yamaha DV-5350 DVD players. They don't have internal decoders, but they have picture enhancements. If you can't afford too great of a receiver, then go for a DVD with internal decoding, or try one with a built-in pre-amp. In conclusion with buying a home theater system, spend more on the receiver, and less on the DVD player. -THE VERDICT- *Through our journey through the component DVD players, hopefully you were able to find what you're looking for. The ideal home theater system has a receiver with built-in DTS and Dolby Digital Decoding, and the DVD player has video enhancers, but not internal decoding. This will save you a lot of money, and you'll be happy.  |
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