DVD player for the TV not the PC Questions?

[alber]

Hi All,

I've been thinking about buying a dvd player for the tv, and have read some have component outputs(rca plugs? i guess) along with 'S' video output. My tv doesn't have an 'S' video input, unfortunately...If i buy one without rca's out, is there some kind of converter to go from 'S' output to rca input, or am i better off buying one that has both types of output jacks? i even think some/all come with coax outputs, but not sure...i need some edumacation please!

thanks,

[Xayd]

Yes, there are adapters, you can get one cheap enough at Radio Shack probably .

[LawyerRon]

Most dvd's in the lower price range, say $180 and down have "composite" hookups, ie the 3 RCA type jacks for video and audio. My son just bought a Panasonic unit like this and his tv only had a "coaxial" jack on the back. That required the purchase of an "rf modulator" box at Best Buy for $29.95. This box converts the 3 cable "composite" setup to coax for older tv's. If your tv has the 3 jack "composite" setup on the back, you're all set. More expensive TVs and DVDs have the superior "S" video jack that is supposed to give better audio and video but my son's setup works great too.

[audiyoda]

Everyone's correct in this thread, bu here are some basics to be aware of:

*All DVD players will have at least RCA (composite) video jacks. The vast majority will have S-Video and most have Component (RGB).
*DVD players come in three 'basic' flavors: DVD/CD players - DVD/CD/CD-R/mp3 players - Progressive Scan
** Progressive Scan units are pointless unless you have a HDTV monitor or will be buying on in the near future.
** Players that decode mp3 files are known to go bad long before other players. This has been covered in Consumers Reports, Audiophile's Guide to Home Theater and others. But it can be a nice feature.
* You get what you pay for. Toshiba and Sony top the list of most of the consumer oriented rankings by magazines and the like. Buy a product from a company you've never heard or (Sansonic, Minteck, Apex and the like -- the stuff that's under $100) you get what you pay for.
*Buy from a company like BestBuy, Circuit City please get the in-store service plan. It covers cleanings and lens mis-alignments. I've a notorious videophile (duh) and have tossed two DVD Players. 1 because my wife bought a POS (Sansonic) and 1 because I didn't clean it properly. I used those little cleaning disks -- will I didn't notice the brushes on the bottom starting to curl over -- thereby not cleaning the lens. Lens got so dirty it wasn't worth the labor cost to get cleaned.

I've owned my Sony NS600 for two years now and love it -- no problems what so ever. Just a shamless plug

-Craig

[audiyoda]

BTW, I've never seen a DVD player worth it's weight with a modulated (RF or coax) output. Modulated outputs are suited for anything with a tuner (TV, VCR) but units like DVD players are designed for playback only and don't need to be modulated.

-Craig

[figarowa]

there are s-video to composite adapters available and are uni-directional at radio shack for around 15 bucks....

[BFD Deadeye]

Good thread, but I haven't read anything addressing resolution. The idea of DVD is performance and quality. Sound and Video will be degraded when going from S-video to composite, or worse yet, coax. Here is a rule of thumb:

Coax: 120 lines of res
RCA or composite:200 lines of res
S-video: 500 lines
and the elusive DV: 800 lines

As you can see, going from S-video to coax degrades the resolution almost 5 fold. I wouldn't even bother with a DVD player unless you at least have composite in jacks on your TV. Unless you have a kick-butt audio system, or just want the bells and whistles associated with DVD players. If you think your video will improve, it will be better than, say, a VCR simply because it is digital, but not that drastic or noticeable of an improvement. Don't be disappointed.

[audiyoda]

There's another consideration in going to DVD: more media available. Have you ever gone into a store like MediaPlay or BestBuy and noticed how little they have in VHS and how much they have on DVD?

And in regards to lines of resolution, unless NTSC standards have echanged, and they have not, this is the breakdown:

Modulated source: Between 240 (VHS) and 400 (DSS or cable) lines
Composite signal: roughly 300-400 lines depending on source
S-Video output: 425 lines
Component Output: Variable (between 480i/p - 1080i)

The current NTSC standard is 480, but that dwindles to 440 once chrominance (C) and luminance (Y) are removed from the signal at the comb or notch filter. The resulting 440 is then split to achieve our current NTSC interlaced signal: 220 odd and 220 even lines.

-Craig

[alan]

Some of the higher end DVD players have the audio digital output (I believe this is the Dolby DTS). Unless your receiver has a digital input you won't get the good sound. Don't get me wrong, the RCA sound is good but not up to par with DTS.
Just as with PCs there is an ever-consuming upgrade disease. New DVD= new TV = New A/V system = new surround speakers... etc...

[audiyoda]

Most DVD Players have either 1 or both forms of digital audio output. There are pluses and minuses to both. Digital coax is a pure digital stream where as optical must be converted to light, re-converted to data before hitting the Dolby digital audio decoder. But optical can travel much further distances than coax: a coax line of over 9 feet will lose some signal strength where as optical can have a cable run basically as long as you'd like.

All in all, coax is the beefier cable in most respects and most videophiles will use coax before optical. But even the cheap $80-90 dollar units have some from of digital optical.

There are also DVD Players that have the decoder built-in -- it's really pointless unless you have a Dolby Digital Ready reciever (doesn't have the decoder built in) or you are going to decode at the DVD and then send the seperate signals out to different amps.

-Craig

[alber]

hey, thanks for following the post everyone, and thanks for the input...

i have rca plugs on the front of the tv, but only 2 one for audio(white) and one for video(yellow)..is this what they mean by composite?

Audiyoda, this scares me a bit, cuz that's what i was going to buy, in fact i would probably use it for that MORE than i would use it for dvd's

"Players that decode mp3 files are known to go bad long before other players. This has been covered in Consumers Reports, Audiophile's Guide to Home Theater and others. But it can be a nice feature."

and one thing i wanted with the dvd, more than GREAT video and audio is the fact that i can skip around, i hate waiting on tape, that really bites...

thanks for all the input...i think i'm really confused now...LOL

[audiyoda]

Yes, you have composite jacks -- mono composite jacks. You can either just use the whilte jack or better, get a Y cable to bring the red and white together into one mono signal.

Don't be confused -- if you want a DVD player that will also play mp3's, just get one of good quality (Toshiba, Pioneer, Panasonic, JVC and Samsung in that order) -- and by Gawd, get a service plan. Then if it craps out (and it will), you're covered.

-Craig

[Mr N8]

Anyone know how to convince my wife that moving to a DVD player would be a good idea? Our friends use analog inputs, so it looks like your watching through a screen door. Maybe I'll take her to Al's Stereo, here, and let her watch in their screening room!!! I've got S-Video, and a great surround sound system(inherited from old roommate when he decided not to pay rent for a few months), so the move would be awesome. Maybe not for the people that live below us!

Nate

[audiyoda]

Go someplace and have them hook a DVD Player up in both composite and S-Video and your wife will see the difference!

Another good way of convincing her is to go to a place like BestBuy and look at their VHS titles -- maybe 2-3 isles. Then look at the DVD titles -- at least twice as much sales space dedicated to DVDs -- any many more titles.

-Craig

[Xayd]

And to all you folks stopping by here for help with building your first new computers, what are you doing with the old computer?

Add a Hollywood Plus and a DVD Drive to that old Gateway or Dell, and put it on top of the TV. Then you have a Quality DVD setup for about 100 bucks that'll play anything you like (there are plugins to play even MPEG4 and DIVX through a Hollywood Plus card).

I use my old K6-3 machine for just this purpose. I can play anything from a standard DVD to a downloaded music video out to my TV.