All posts in: DVD Players

DVD players keep on spinning

Electronics
By Carl Laron on April 14, 2010 in

DVD player
Blu-ray Disc players are all the rage, and prices are beginning to dip below the $100 price point -- at least on occasion, and for the most basic models. Still, DVD players have their place. Hardware remains less expensive than Blu-ray, as do the movies themselves. Of course, a Blu-ray player makes no sense whatsoever if you don't own an HDTV and don't plan to buy one anytime soon. Finally, while Blu-ray players can also play standard DVDs, not all do the best job of it. So, if DVD remains an important part of your home-entertainment picture, our updated report on DVD players calls out the latest offerings that blend high quality with low prices.
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What's up with upconversion?

Electronics
By Carl Laron on December 28, 2009 in

What's up with upconversion

If you've shopped for gear for a home theater, you've probably noticed that upconversion is a standard feature in lots of different types of equipment, including DVD players, Blu-ray players, LCD TVs, plasma TVs and even many home-theater receivers. For those unfamiliar with it, upconversion (also called upscaling) is the process used to transform standard-definition TV images to high-definition resolutions. One of our readers, Robert, recently wrote in to ask: "In a home theater, what component is best for performing upconversion, and is there any benefit in doing upconversion more than once?

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Home theater on a budget: Where to scrimp and where to spend

Electronics
By Carl Laron on December 26, 2009 in

Home theater on a budget

In these tight times, everyone is interested in saving a little bit of cash where they can, even when putting together a home-theater system. As an example, one of our readers recently wrote to ask "If you are putting together a home theater system on a fixed budget, where can you get away with scrimping a bit and where does it pay to put performance first?"

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Blu-ray gets better and cheaper

Electronics
By Christine Frietchen on September 2, 2009 in

For buyers ready to make the jump to Blu-ray, performance is up and prices are down. While the very best new Blu-ray players, including Oppo Digital BDP-83 will still set you back about $500, a slew of new inexpensive players fit the bill for those who want the advantages of Blu-ray's great picture quality and sound, but don't want to spend so much on the fanciest features. The Panasonic DMP-BD60K, for example, gets solid reviews -- particularly for picture quality -- yet costs about $200.

See more in our latest update on Blu-ray players.

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