DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. It is a high quality optical format that doesn't degrade every time you use it. In fact, DVD video quality is twice as good as VHS tape quality.

DVD players have become household items in the Western world and by now replaced traditional video recorders. Many people have portable DVD players as well. Portable DVD players are compact units which include both the DVD player itself and a small screen. Size of the screen in a portable DVD player can be anything from 2.5" to 12". These units are light in weight and often come with handy cases to carry around.

Click here for more information on recommended models of portable DVD players.

Quick DVD Players Shopping Tips

Video Outputs -
Virtually all DVD players offer a choice of video outputs; most important is making sure the DVD player you buy will be a good fit with your TV. Composite video (with a yellow-colored RCA jack) and S-video connections are a given on most DVD players, but some also provide component-video outputs, suitable for higher-end TVs. Component-video outputs separate the luminance (brightness), red, and blue signals, resulting in pictures with superior contrast levels and more faithful color reproduction. Progressive-scan outputs are special component-video connections designed for use with high-definition and HD-ready TVs. These provide a superior, "filmlike" picture by scanning from top to bottom in one fluid pass, making it harder to discern a picture's individual scan lines, which increases resolution while minimizing distortion and flickering.

Digital Audio Outputs -
These outputs enable you to connect the DVD player to an audio-video receiver with Digital Theater Systems (DTS) and Dolby Digital processors, which decode the DVD's digital-audio tracks--including discs encoded in 5.1-channel surround sound. Look for players with both optical (fiber-optic) and coaxial (75-ohm) digital outputs; this will give you more options for enjoying music and movies through your home entertainment system. If you're buying a DVD-audio player, make sure your receiver will accommodate 5.1-channel analog outputs, since most DVD-audio players don't pass the high-resolution DVD-audio signal digitally.

Surround Formats -
Virtually all DVD players are capable of outputting Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound. Although nearly all of today's DVDs are encoded in Dolby Digital, there's an expanding list of DVD and CD titles available in 5.1-channel DTS (Digital Theater Systems), which uses less compression and is generally considered to be a superior-sounding format. If you're interested in enjoying DTS-encoded discs, you'll need a DTS receiver, or you'll need a DVD player with a built-in DTS processor that can be mated with a compatible receiver. If DTS is important to you, be aware that some budget DVD players have difficulty passing the 5.1-channel signal onto DTS-compatible receivers. If DTS is not important to you, most of today's Dolby Digital-only budget DVD players are reliable.

Disc Capacity-
Models range from single-disc machines to 2-disc, 3-disc, 5-disc, and 6-disc players to mega changers that can hold up to 301 DVDs. If you're planning to use the player for music listening and you like to play several hours' worth of music at a time, you might consider purchasing a multidisc machine. The 5-disc and 6-disc models use traditional carousel platters to load DVDs and CDs, while the 3-disc variety uses either a carousel or sliding-drawer mechanism.

Screen Dimmer and Video Bit-Rate Meter-
Neither of these features will enhance a DVD player's performance, but both are very cool. Players that allow you to dim or turn off the front-panel display are preferable, because bright LCDs are distracting in the dark. Bit-rate displays, which appear either on the TV screen or on the player's front panel, reveal how much MPEG-2 compression is being used from scene to scene, with higher numbers representing a larger bit-rate allocation and lower numbers indicating a lot of compression. Action sequences, for example, will typically measure 8 to 9.5, while highly compressed, static scenes often dip below 2.