Choosing a DVD Player

[msalem]

I'm looking for a DVD player that can play DVDs, Rewritable DVDs, CD-R, CD-RW, DivX, VCD, and SVCD (basically everyting I throw at it). I used the search function on this site to take a look at the different choices. When choosing a DVD player what specific things should you look for to ensure good quality video as well as audio? The price range of DVD players differs by a large amount. Is this because the actual video/sound quality of these DVD players are better? Also, what's the difference between DVD+R and DVD-R, and what is DVD+R DL?

[thor300]

Pioneer plays most media, even cheap ones from bad burners, and support a wide range of formats, and is quality all the way for a "low" price. In addition the picture and sound quality give them an advantage over most other players. I really cant understand how anyone can choose to save a few $$ and get for ex an Apex instead, which is actually no-name. Look at old car radios and read the brand of the ones still working, too often it spells "p-i-o-n-e-e-r", which confirms the quailty.

[Nilfennasion]

Best way to find a quality player:

1) Make a list of all the players that support at least 9/10 of the features you want. If it doesn't support them all, think carefully about which ones are more important to you. DIVX, for example, is not nearly as important as +RW.

2) Take a disc you are intimately familiar with (in my case, the Criterion DVD of RoboCop) and go to a store where they have the models on the list you've just created. Ask for a demo. Ask for lots of demos. Make sure you have absolutely no doubt in your mind whatsoever before buying a player. Make extra certain they don't have any annoying glitches (one player I reviewed would constantly up the brightness of the image every time I ejected a disc).

3) Read reviews. As many as you can find. Read at least three about each player.

[reboot]

I drove the salespeople nuts.
I took in a VCD, an SVCD, a non-standard VCD (the header trick), a DVD-r a DVD+r and a DVD+RW.
I told him/her I was only interested in ones that would play them all without troubles. They had to fast fwd, rewind, seek, and chapter jump, all with no hesitation.
This quickly eliminated all the so-called brand names. Sony, Panasonic, etc., all crapped out on one or the other of my formats.
I ended up with a $40 refurbished Koss that plays everything except KVCD (so far).

[thor300]

reboot just described my very old Pioneer 444, it handles all those, and i bought it LOOOONG ago. When we comes to the point where we compare picture and sound quality and when his player is as old as mine (cost me $450+) then my rear mirror would not see reboot even at 100000x zoom. Byeeeeeeeee reboot!

[Nilfennasion]

Salespeople are always driven nuts by consumers who ask questions. If you'd heard some of the stupidities you hear from Australian salespeople...

"I want a player that can play discs from all Regions..."
"This player can play these Regions." [Points to the DVD-Video, VCD, CD-DA, and other such logos.]

[Josef K]

If you'd heard some of the stupidities you hear from Australian salespeople...

Not just Aussies, it happens in England also:

When tagging along with my mother when she needed to buy a new TV and video (to make sure she wasn't ripped off/duped)...

Salesman: "Oh, you should buy a digital TV. They're going to turn off the analogue signals in a couple of years and you'll have to buy an extra box just to watch TV." (He says standing in a huge superstore surrounded by non-digital capable TVs.)

Me: "WTF?!?! They're not going to turn off analogue for about another ten years!"

Regarding the Pioneer thing, though... I have a DV-350 and it's played everything I've put in it. Including biscuits. Read up on some of the reviews for Pioneers on the player list - it might help give you a head start. It's always worth doing what Nilfennasion says (and I always do), though:

Research, research, research.

You don't want to be stuck with a player you'll think is just 'ok' now but you detest in a year's time.

[thor300]

What kind of biscuits? Mine doesnt play sweet, salty only, is there a crack?

[Josef K]

...is there a crack?

Try some Jammie Dodgers. It just yums them up.

[Nilfennasion]

Actually, analogue TVs will continue to be produced as long as there exists a need for set-top boxes (which are designed to be fully compatible with analogue TVs for a reason, anyway), so I don't know who that salesman thought he was fooling.

They're projecting that analogue broadcasts in Australia will cease at the end of 2008. I'd say that is pretty optimistic, given that the system adopted in Australia is an utter mess that they still haven't ironed out.

Another amusing salesman's bluff is when they tell customers that the display is rectangular so the picture will "fill up the screen better". You should have seen me giving a big lecture to the entire store about widescreen and how it works. By the time I was done, I don't think there was a single person in the store who didn't know the difference between 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 .

It's sad to think, though, that consumer education is that lacking that salesmen can get away with things like this.

[thor300]

Tried that one already, didnt work well with cheeze, but its ok coz i use cheeze only on the salty ones anyway.

[Josef K]

Actually, analogue TVs will continue to be produced as long as there exists a need for set-top boxes (which are designed to be fully compatible with analogue TVs for a reason, anyway), so I don't know who that salesman thought he was fooling.

Of course, you and I know that people other than ourselves (DV enthusiasts, pros, etc.) buy a TV and won't be bullied into throwing a perfectly good set in the bin. They don't care that they don't have the 'latest and greatest'. Ask my grandmother - she can still see good ole' snooker on her trusty 20-year-old Panasonic. They didn't know about digital broadcast signals in those days and neither does she now.

Let's not forget the main point, though:

Salesmen = Salesmen.

[Nilfennasion]

Of course, the argument could be made that with the wider angle and digital clarity, people like your grandmother could see more in digital broadcasting. The cricket on Australian TV cries for digital because the typical cameraman's style is, to say the least, awful. Their pans induce headaches, and even when the camera is still, you're hard pressed to tell where the ball is.

That may be true, but a salesman should always remember that a happy customer is likely to come back to buy something else rather than to complain.

[thor300]

I can respect that Josefs grandmother might make her choice based on price, half of the posters in this forum does too, so according to statistics youR granny makes the same choice as the "pro", and therefore qualifies to apply for a MOD status here.

[Josef K]

Of course, the argument could be made that with the wider angle and digital clarity, people like your grandmother could see more in digital broadcasting.

Fact 1: She just likes snooker and no other sports. (Snooker's a sport? Heh!)

Fact 2: She's 85.

First off, snooker is hardly the fastest moving sport in the world. I can't imagine how being able to choose your own angles would enrich your experience during a 5 hour match. More likely it would just rub off the little pictures on the remote that tell you what the buttons are for. Then you wouldn't know what the buttons were for to change angles anymore anyway.

The truth is, she dealt with the days before TV - she can spend her time quite happily with the TV switched off. She'll turn it on to pretty much only watch the news and that damn awful Grannie show 'Coronation Street'. She doesn't need all those bells and whistles, nor does she want them. What would happen if she turned on her TV one day and was faced with a blank screen?

Technology is upon us, make no doubt. Just as we have acquired the tools to make biometric passports, the government (in my country, at least) are trying to push us into giving up DNA, fingerprints or facial scans to help "prevent terrorism". Technology is scary - that's why I want to know so much about it before I sign on the dotted line.

[Josef K]

youR granny makes the same choice as the "pro", and therefore qualifies to apply for a MOD status here.

Hey, don't even joke about it! She towered over my late grandfather - scared the hell out of him, in fact, as well as us grandchildren. I'm sure she could master the 'BAN' button...

[thor300]

LoL Josef. Old people have their own opinion, and nothing can change it. I remember in 1991 when we got a new channel over antenna here, one of the neighbors called me to install his TV for the new chan, unfortunatley his TV did not allow installing with the remote only, when i told him i needed to press a button on the main unit he said the vendor told him to never let anyone touch any buttons that was not on the remote. He died 11 years later without ever receiving the "new" channel.

[Nilfennasion]

Well, I suppose Digital TV could help one see more detail when the other player scratches his nuts, or they chalk the cue.

[Josef K]

He died 11 years later without ever receiving the "new" channel.

That reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons. They'd just had their (obligatory) disaster, this time with a washing machine. A repair man came to fix it and as he was leaving, told Homer that a 50 cent washer would prevent any further problems. Homer grits his teeth and says; "Marge, get my gun!".

Some people just refuse to listen and do anything to help themselves. Others listen but realise they know more about the subject than the speaker. I like to think I'm more in the latter category, at least mostly. Sometimes. Well, I can have dreams at least.

Well, I suppose Digital TV could help one see more detail when the other player scratches his nuts, or they chalk the cue.

Or when Hurricane Higgins takes a snort. There's no scandal in snooker anymore... *sigh*

[RabidDog]

Msalem .. buy an mpeg4 capable they are great. eg yamada dvx6600 phillips dvp642 elta 8888 & many others.

DIVX, for example, is not nearly as important as +RW.

How would you know Msalems priority's? 8)

Nilfennasion
what is this wider angles nonsense on digital TV

[msalem]

Msalem .. buy an mpeg4 capable they are great. eg yamada dvx6600 phillips dvp642 elta 8888 & many others.

Yea, I've noticed that on this site one of the Yamada DVD players got the best rating that had all the features I wanted. Nevertheless, the majority of the people in this particular forum have hinted that it is wiser to buy a "name brand" DVD player such as Pioneer since it will last longer than the "no name" Chinese brands such as Yamada. thor300 as well as others have said that spending that extra $100+ will be worth while over the years. I dunno what to go by: what people have said in the forums or strictly by ratings......

[Nilfennasion]

what is this wider angles nonsense on digital TV

Analogue television shape: 1.33:1
Digital television shape: 1.78:1

Don't underestimate how big a difference this can make when a sporting event is shot using HD equipment or a 1.78:1 lens. Following the ball from one player to another involves less panning at 1.78:1, or at least less rapid panning, and that makes a difference at the end of the day to the clarity of the broadcast.

As for the priorities thing, it's really simple. DIVX is dead. Now that it is possible to put studio-made DVD-Videos on a DVD+RW, there is absolutely no need for it.

[RabidDog]

Your talking about the diff between wide screen TV and full screen TV.. if the broadcast is the same then there is no inherent advantage to one format . Wide screen can viewed on 4:3 TV and 4:3 stuff can be viewed on wide screen. If somebody chooses to cut off the edges of a wide screen broadcast on a 4:3 TV then thats their choice.
whether a TV is analogue or digital(?) has nothing to do with the screen shape..it just happens that digital broadcasts and wide screen TV's are coming in at the same time.

divx/xvid aint dead it fact its future just went Nova. It is to be used to encode Hdtv on a new gen of dvd discs.


*dirty, dirty den

[Nilfennasion]

I repeat - there is less need for panning or jump-cutting with a wider ratio. With film it isn't as noticeable, but motion is a major problem for video. All sporting events in Australia are now filmed in 1.78:1 for digital broadcasting. The analogue channel just receives what is called a "centre cut", which makes for some interesting errors of framing at times. I also would like to reiterate that sports are much easier to keep track of with less camera movement, which is best achieved with a wider shot.

It was also decided by the people who make the standards that 1.78:1 would be THE ratio of Digital TV. So come 2008, or whenever analogue broadcasts cease in your area, all video will have to be formatted to fit that shape. 1.33:1 broadcasts will either have to have inactive pixels added to the sides or have the top and bottom cut off (after seeing them do this on some DVDs, I know I prefer the inactive pixels). The reason they chose 1.78:1 instead of keeping the status quo is because it is easier to make all images, not just foolscreen ones, look good on it. With SD in particular, 34% is a hell of a resolution difference.

I've had DIVX described to me before as MP3 for film, so I think it's perfectly reasonable to call it dead and buried in light of the fact that the door to trading studio quality discs has been opened. There is, after all, a reason why VCD, both as a legit and pirate format, is mostly confined to South-East Asia.

[RabidDog]

foolscreen

Yes most Tv in Uk is in this format !
indeed it is best to see WS stuff on a widescreen telly.. I dont know about inactive pixels as I assume that there is something in the broadcast stream to tell the telly whether it is a WS or FS broadcast and to display it accordingly. I see divx/mpeg4 as being just another compression method (superior to mpeg2) so has the same uses. The market will decide, along with a lot of pressure from Microsoft.

[Vanderlow]

I would suggest you look at the Momitsu V880 it's $250. I think this place doesn't consider video quality as being that important as "it plays everything I throw at it". If you want to ensure video quality go to avsforum.com and then the DVD player forum. Here you have people with HDTV and calibrate their players/TV with AVIA or DVE. It has gotten raves and plays Divx along with DVDs of course. It's Chinese, but the most likely thing to go on a DVD player is the loader and it uses a standard PC loader so you could keep this thing going for quite some time by just replacing it with a standard PC loader. If video quality is important skip the 642.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=18

Also the Bravo D2 is coming out soon and its $250 and does Divx.