My current DVD player is dying. I need a new one, but I am a bit ignorant about DVD players. I'd prefer to get one now rather than later, though I could wait if something new is around the corner. Some considerations:
- Progressive scan. I want this, as I want to be able to use the player with a digital TV eventually, but can I use a progressive scan player with an analog TV, too?
- Video DAC. Should I care about the specs of video digital-to-audio conversion, '10-bit 54mHz Video D/A Conversion with Super Anti-Alias Filter' and whatnot? Anything else related to video (number of scan lines, etc.) I should care about?
- CD-R, DVD-R, etc. This site lists player compatibility with various writable media, which is helpful; I want it to play all the major media types (MP3 not really necessary, as I have a networked laptop hooked up to the same stereo that has access to my entire MP3 collection).
- Coaxial digital out. My amp has two digital ins, one for optical (which is already in use by the DirecTiVo) and one for coaxial.
- Multidisc. It would be nice, but is not necessary. Hm, what about one of them 100 disc units?
- Lasers. Should I care about the number of lasers? Is this related to whether a multilayer disc will have a pause or not?
Thanks for any input you may have. :)
Now Playing: The Last DJ - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (The Last DJ)
vcd
jdporter on 2002-10-18T20:44:34
Not too long ago I broke down and bought a cheapie Toshiba from Price Club. It met my two main criteria: that it be a multi-disk changer (this one does 5), and that it can play MP3 disks. So, fine.
One thing I'm not happy about is how slow it is. It takes several seconds to do
anything -- boot up, read disk TOC, skip ahead to another song, go to next disk, open, close...
Everything is slow. Significantly slower than the extremely cheap no-name 5-CD player that preceded it.
So I recommend testing out the speed of these operations, to make sure you're comfortable with that aspect of the candidate.
Now, here's the part where I say "If I had known then what I know now"...
This stupid machine plays VCD's (mpeg-1), but not SVCD's (mpeg-2). This has proven to be a real hassle, because (in my experience at least) people tend to distribute captured videos in mpeg-2 format. Which means I'd have to convert them first, if I want to watch them on my T.V. Which I have not been able successfully to do, yet. So I am
not a happy camper.
So, if you can imagine this
ever being important to you, check that the candidate is SVCD compatible.
(I understand there's also mpeg-4, of which DivX is a dialect... but I don't know if any DVD players can handle that. It's not something I've wanted to do (yet).)
