The choice of which DVD Player to buy is not too tricky, but it is better to have an understanding of the parameters to make the right choice of Player. Firstly, the choice should be need-based. If the user is looking for home use, then apart from watching movies, listening to music and viewing pictures will also be important. Thus the DVD player should be one that can support major audio-video and picture formats. If the user is interested in recording then it is better to invest in a DVD Player that can support DVD-RW format. Some DVDs come with integrated RAMs for recording. One should also look out for peripherals like a USB port which can be used to play media files via Flash drive. Lastly, configuration with the latest audio-video standards like Dolby Digital is also important.

If you are thinking about buying a DVD player/recorder, you will have more than one to choose from. However, you should be careful to ensure it meets several important criteria. The first question you must ask yourself is, "What will be the main purpose of the DVD Player/Recorder?"

Home users

The majority of people buying a DVD Player/Recorder will not only expect it to play DVDs, but also video formats like CDs, CD-RW, DivX, MPEG. But they can also allow the user to view photo formats like Jpeg, and play audio sounds like MP3, WAV.

If you usually create your own DVDs, make sure that they meet the format that can be read by the player. If for example you create a .AVI DVD, make sure that the player is made for .AVI formats.

Recording

You can decide either to record your DVDs on a DVD-RW or a DVD-R. But as always, your DVD Player/Recorder must bear the compatibility of a DVD-RW. You will hence be able to record from your own television channel onto your DVD/R/RW.

You can also choose a player which can record the integrated RAM; this is hence referred to as the DVD-RAM recorder. The RAM will be acting like the hard disk of the DVD Player/Recorder, and you will not have to insert any DVD-RW to be able to save the movies that you want. Nevertheless, bear in mind that the price of the DVD-RAM will be much more expensive than the price of a normal DVD Player/Recorder.

Peripherals

There will be different input and output ports available depending on the type of DVD Player that you choose. You can have the USB port that will allow you to introduce a flash disk that will be read by the DVD Player and read formats like DivX or MPEG files.

You can also connect your own hard drive to the DVD player to access the different folders that contain movies that you wish to play through the player.

You can also connect the DVD to a sound system, a video projector, or even use the DVD Player/Recorder as a computer substitute. Your DVD Player/Recorder must somehow be able to read VCD/SVCD and DVD-ROM.

Configuring Video and Audio