rattfan | (no subject)

(no subject)

I need some advice from the more technically aware. I'm considering getting a DVD player, mostly because last time I looked in a video store there were almost no videos, they were all these strange flat things.

If I get a DVD player, would I have to also upgrade my 15-year-old Akai television?

I thought of asking somebody in a store this but realised if I asked here, at least I can't *hear* anybody laugh.

Thanks

Sue

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's not essential, but I found after a while that my mono VCR and TV didn't cope well with stereo sound from the DVD player, and I upgraded to a larger stereo TV. (It was a tough decision; the old was still working perfectly after nearly 30 years, and the only repair it had ever needed being a new on-off switch. I couldn't bring myself to throw it out, and still have it.)

Thanks. My Tv has never misbehaved either except when the water accidentally got in...I might just get the DVD player and see how the two get on :-)

Sue

I agree, get the dvd player and see if it works with your tv. If it doesn't then get the t.v. Or you could use it as an excuse to get a new tv.

Our TV is only slightly younger than yours and copes very well with DVDs. If it gets along with your VCR, DVDs shouldn't be a problem.

Just think of all the nifty boxsets you can buy now! ;)

Have a look at the inputs on your TV -- mostly the video inputs.

Does it have an aerial input only -- like a co-axial plug?

If yes, then you need to upgrade the TV.

Does it have a small round plug like an audio input, except perhaps coloured yellow? Does it have a s/video input, which is a slightly less small round plug with 7 little pins in it? If yes, then your TV can probably cope. You just need to make sure you get a DVD player with at least one output that matches that input.

You would probably get more value, however (if your TV video input can cope with the video output of the DVD player) of saving your money on TV upgrade and getting hold of a cheap small-ish separate amp and speakers (even surround sound units can be had cheaply these days, or find some second hand) and ignoring the fact that the TV even has a speaker in it as far as the DVD is concerned. DVD sound output is much higher quality than you're used to, and even a reasonably expensive-ish, modern-ish TV is going to give you fairly poor reproduction quality by comparison.

Yes! Yes! My TV does indeed have stuff on it at the back that you describe,

vonstrassburg Many thanks. I may even be able to afford to get the DVD player now :-)
Are videos really not being made any more? Sure looked like it in the last video shop I went to.

Ratfan

I don't have a TV. I play DVDs on my computer. If you have a DVD drive on your computer then you can play DVD movies on your computer... if your machine is at least about 400MHz or faster. It helps to have a reasonably good video card in the computer, though it doesn't matter a heck of a lot.

Actually I do have a TV -- it is my computer. I have a TV tuner card in my computer and if I want to watch broadcast TV I use that (though I can only pick up one channel and it is very snowy).

If you want to buy a standalone DVD player you don't need a super-duper TV with stereo sound. Just run the sound outputs from the DVD player into your stereo sound system. It has much better quality sound than a TV does anyway. Even if you did have a TV with stereo sound I'd still suggest running the sound to your stereo sound system.

Incidentally, more expensive is not necessarily better for DVDs. Cheap is quite often as good as or better than expensive.

Most important question to ask: is it region-free?

The paranoiac movie industry control freaks wanted to control the whole world so divided it up into regions. All the DVD manufacturers were forced to make their DVD players play DVDs from their region only. This means if you want to play a movie that was only released in another region then you can forget about it. But gradually the DVD manufacturers have been slowly, quietly allowing people to defeat the regional settings on their players. Suddenly, when China entered the scene regional encoding disappeared almost overnight. They don't restrict their machines and other manufacturers who still restricted their machines found they couldn't sell them anymore.

So be careful. Don't get stuck with a machine that has regional locks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only