Colour story: The picture resolution in a DVD is twice that of a videotape, which is why it offers sharper and clearer pictures

When Sharda Natrajan, 26, a banking professional from Calcutta, wanted to buy a Digital Video Disc (DVD) player, she walked into a showroom and took her pick. Natrajan’s DVD player, a branded one, is working fine. But not everyone is as lucky. Tabrez Khan had bought a DVD player a year and a half ago and sold it within one month. Reason: the remote control did not have the volume control facility. Before buying the next one, he vowed, he’d check on the Internet for a lowdown on the basic features.

Aakash Tantiya, owner of Arohi, an electronics showroom in Calcutta, agrees that most consumers end up buying a DVD player because they think it is the latest gizmo. But, ideally, when it comes to buying a DVD player, one should check all the features of the product carefully.

DVDs can store up to 4.4 GB (gigabytes) of data on each side, that is, around seven times as much as a standard CD. This is enough for 133 minutes of incredibly high-quality video. The picture resolution in a DVD is twice that of a videotape, which means it offers sharper and clearer pictures and a superior audio. Adds Feroz Omar, a network associate, “DVD players can store multiple soundtracks and subtitles and can play various formats.”

That’s not all. Suppose you don’t want to watch certain scenes in a movie, a DVD player lets you skip them instantly. Various professionals and those who are tech savvy agree that a DVD spans computers, business information and home entertainment. Hence it is not surprising that DVDs and DVD ROMs (Read only Memory) are replacing CD (Compact Disc)-ROMs and LDs (Laser Discs).

DVD players come in single-play formats, five-disc changers and DVD/laser disc combination players. Says Kalpik Nigam, a computer science student at Delhi’s Mahatma Gandhi Mission’s College of Engineering and Technology, “People think a DVD player is very similar to a CD player, which it is not. It is not as straightforward as the CD format.” While a CD player can only play its respective formats in audio and video, a DVD player not only plays DVD formats (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) but also CD formats and formats like MP3, Mpeg4 and the WMAs. So while buying a DVD player, make sure you ask for the various formats that it can play. This will help you buy additional accessories later on.

However, multiple playing formats alone are insufficient. One also has to check the region code of the DVD players. Every DVD disc contains one or more regional code, denoting the areas of the world in which it is intended to be distributed and played. This means a DVD player manufactured in India may not be able to play DVDs from the US. Users, therefore, suggest that it is always better to insist on region free DVD players. Adds Nigam, “Look for players which can also play the popular DiVX format (a compression format that enables people to fit an entire DVD into a single CD, without perceptible loss of quality).” Also check out whether the player can play scratched disks, he adds.

A DVD is known for its picture clarity and audio quality. But before looking for the best picture quality, a smart buyer needs to get familiar with the video connectors on the player and the TV set. The connections between your DVD player and your TV and stereo can make a huge difference to the quality of the sound and picture. High-end DVD players will have component video outputs, which have to be matched with corresponding TV inputs to get superior picture quality.

A DVD player remote is often an overlooked component of the system. According to Omar, the volume control on some DVD player remotes is often absent, leading one to use a TV remote to perform the necessary modulation. “When you are listening to a music CD on a DVD player, it’s cumbersome to use a DVD remote for a particular function and a TV remote for another,” he adds.

Apart from these general video and audio features, DVD players come with a host of enhanced features such as parental lock, Mpeg4 support and support for multi-angle movies. Adds Mahesh Bhardwaj, proprietor, A.B. Corporation, an electronics retail showroom: “The latest buzzword is progressive scan in the DVD player market.” While more expensive players include it, it can’t actually be used unless one has a digital TV. Progressive scan allows a picture to be refreshed 60 times per second, which results in a sharper, almost flicker-free picture.

Now that you know all that there is to know about DVDs, go and bag the best deal.