DVD Players 

If you are not ready to take the plunge on a new Blu-ray player there are many DVD player options on the market and lets face it, DVDs are not going away anytime soon. 

DVD players are a standard addition in homes today and in fact base models can be found for $50 or less.  They are able to play CDs and most players are also able to play mp3s, cd-r/rw and many are also compatible with the various forms of writable DVDs so that you can burn your home movies and archive them for watching on your tv.      

In the past, progressive scan DVD players were seen as top of the line because of their ability to scan the lines sequentially every 60th of a second as opposed to scanning alternating lines every 30th of a second producing a smooth picture.  Now progressive scan is very common, but a good video processor will provide quality deinterlacing, showing a noticeable difference in picture quality.

Upconverting DVD players for your Home theater

The resolutions on standard DVDs are limited to 720x480(480i) which is not near the resolution of HDTV with resolutions of 720p, 1080i or 1080p.  As a movie fan you probably have shelves full of DVDs that looked great on your old 27" TV, but suddenly on the new widescreen HDTV no longer look so good with your existing DVD player.

An upconverting DVD player, with a quality video processor, can revitalize your home theater DVD collection as they come to life on your new TV.  An upconverting player will go through a complicated process to copy parts of the surrounding pixels and interpolate what the DVDs should look like at a higher resolution.  It will then match the pixel count of an HDTV giving a crisp, detailed picture. 

Most new, upconverting models will have an HDMI connection allowing you to keep your video signal digital, while also keeping your audio digital, all through a single cable.   

Quality upconverting DVDs can be found for under $200.  Popular choices include models by Oppo, Sony and Denon.  In addition, and I have learned this from personal experience, those who had purchased Toshiba HD-DVD players realize that these players are now relegated to the world of being good upconverting DVD players as the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war appears to have been won by Blu-ray.  They can still be used to play HD-DVDs, but obviously the availability of HD-DVDs will continue to drop in the near future.  

Keep in mind that the upscaling process does not actually increase the resolution of the source image, but rather just gives the picture more detail and more vibrant color. 

DVD recorders

So your youngest child has used your VCR's tape slot as a place to hide DVDs, toys, pencils and any number of other things (yes, I speak from experience) and you are now in need of a new VCR to record your favorite tv shows.  You may want to consider a new DVD recorder for your home theater.

Or maybe you have stacks of camcorder tapes laying around the house and you would like to transfer them to DVD to preserve them and to play them in your DVD player.  A DVD recorder is an option you may want to consider.

DVD recorders are also very competent DVD players as well.  Many of the features found in "regular" DVD players can be found in DVD recorders as well.

DVD recorders have tuners included and can function like a VCR by recording TV programs.  (Note that there are some paid channels such as HBO that have placed copy protection on some of their programs.)  DVD recorders are capable of DVD or near DVD quality recordings as long as you record at the highest quality levels and of course if your source material is also of DVD quality.  DVD recorders generally are not capable of recording in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, but rather record the sound through their analog stereo inputs into two channel Dolby Digital.

They are able to record video from analog inputs or from a digital camcorder with a firewire connection.  It is important to note that High Definition content can not be recorded to a DVD in HD, however an HD program can be recorded through an input such as S-video connection to a DVD, however it will be recorded in Standard Definition.

What about all of the kids videos stacked about the house that have been watched and rewatched (and then rewatched again) over the years?  A DVD recorder can not be used to record copywritten videos, however some models also include a VCR into a dual purpose player/recorder.  Some models even have a built in hard drive to allow you to record to disk and then do some minor editing before recording to a DVD.

Prices on DVD recorders are dropping fast.  Basic DVD recorders can now be found for under $100.  Panasonic has a wide range of well respected, popular models.  Many of the other manufacturers such as Philips, Pioneer, LG and Samsung also have popular models available.