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Are
the video outputs of
a DVD player digital or analog signal?
The video outputs of most DVD players are
analog signals. For copyright protection
reasons, a DVD player does not output a digital video signal.
The DVD-Video MPEG-2 encoded digital video information is converted to
analog formats: (1) component video
(with jacks labeled Y, Pr, Pb), (2) S-video, and (3) composite
video. Component video output is the best quality, followed by
S-video, then composite video.
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Are
the audio outputs of
a DVD player digital or analog signal?
Both. All DVD players have analog
audio outputs. Better DVD players also feature digital audio
outputs, either as Toslink optical
digital output or coaxial digital output.
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Do I
need a digital television (DTV) to watch DVDs?
No, you can use your conventional analog
TV to watch DVD, as long as it has one of the following inputs jacks
(listed in order preference for best video quality): component
video, S-video, or composite
video. Most DVD player do not output directly to a RF
coaxial jack (i.e., like cable TV). If you need this type of
connection, use a RF modulator (available at your local Radio Shack
dealer for about $30).
If you have a digital TV or high definition TV (or have
plans to buy one), and it support a progressive scan input (480i), we
recommend that you consider a progressive scan DVD player. Read
our DVD Player Buying Guide for more
information, or see our list of recommended
progressive scan DVD players.
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How
do I connect my new DVD player to my TV?
For a conventional analog TV,
use one of the following inputs jacks (listed in order preference for
best video quality): component
video, S-video, or composite
video. Most DVD player do not output directly to a RF
coaxial jack (i.e., like cable TV). If you need this type of
connection, use a RF
modulator (available at your local Radio Shack
dealer for about $30 or this
model from Crutchfield for about $35).
For a digital TV or high definition TV, the component
video connection is strongly recommended. If your digital TV
or high definition TV is capable of progressive scan input (480p), use
the progressive scan component video output of the DVD player
(sometimes it is the same component video output jacks, but you have
to throw a physical switch in the back of the DVD player, or change
the setting for component video output to progressive scan using the
DVD player's on-screen menu). When using progressive scan
component video, make sure you plug these inputs to a progressive scan
component inputs on the TV. Again, there may be one set of
component video input, and you may have to change the setting to
accept progressive scan signal using the TV's on-screen menu.
In all cases, please follow the instructions that come
with your DVD player and TV.
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Can I connect my DVD player through my VCR?
Connecting
the video output of your DVD player to the video input of your VCR and
then the video output of your VCR to the video input of your TV is
strongly not recommended. The DVD player video output signal is
usually encoded with a Macrovision copyright-protection signal. Your
VCR recognizes the Macrovision signal and degrades the video signal that
is output to your TV in order to discourage consumers from making illegal copies
and pirating the movie from DVD-Video. This degradation usually
results in a picture that alternates between light and dark, rendering the
video unacceptable for viewing. Regardless of the Macrovision issue,
you should connect the video output of the DVD player directly to the TV
whenever possible for the best results. Read the answer to the question
immediately above to see which video connection is best for your
system.
If you have a TV-VCR combination
unit, this same problem may apply since the video input can be recorded by
the VCR function. If the TV-VCR combination unit does not have any
video inputs that goes directly to the TV (bypassing the VCR function),
your only options are: (1) connect to a TV-only unit, or (2) use a RF
modulator as described in the answer to the question
immediately above.
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How
do I connect my new DVD player to my home theater receiver?
If your home theater receiver is has Dolby
Digital or DTS decoding, use one of the digital audio connections, Toslink optical
digital output or coaxial digital output,
for best results. If you have a "Digital Ready" or
"5.1" receiver with 5.1-channel analog inputs, then make
sure you buy a DVD player with a built-in Dolby Digital decoder and
use the 5.1-channel analog audio output to connect to your
receiver. If you have a Dolby Surround Pro-Logic receiver, use
the analog stereo audio output to connect to your receiver.
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What
if I don't have a home theater receiver and surround sound speakers?
If you have a stereo system, you can hook
up to analog audio stereo output of the DVD player to your stereo
receiver. If not, then connect the same to your TV.
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What
are those black bars on the top and bottom of the TV screen?
When viewing a DVD movie with an aspect
ratio wider than that of your TV, the DVD player will generate the
black bars at the top and bottom of your TV screen to preserve the
correct aspect ratio of the movie and keep the picture in the correct
proportions. This is not a malfunction of your DVD player or TV
set. For example, this happens when you watch material
in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1
aspect ratios on a conventional 4:3
TV screen, or if you watch material in 2.35:1
aspect ratio on a widescreen
16:9 TV screen. Material in 1.85:1
aspect ratio will still have small bars, but most of the time you
can't notice it or can't even see it because the TV's overscan.
If you have a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio TV, some DVD
players have a 4:3 TV zoom feature that will enlarge the letterbox format picture to get rid of
the black bars at the top and bottom of your TV screen. Just like
"full screen" DVD version of widescreen movies, you lose about
33% of the picture area due to cropping of the sides, but at least you
will no longer have those black bars that can be annoying to some
viewers. This works well for DVD-Videos with 1.85:1 aspect ratio,
but the 2.35 aspect ratio still would have some black bars. The Panasonic
DVD-RV32 DVD player is one of these DVD players.
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How
can I get rid of those black bars on the top and bottom of the TV screen?
If you're watching a DVD
movie that is presented in widescreen (an aspect ratio wider than the
conventional 4:3 aspect ratio),
you usually can not get rid of those black bars.
If you have a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio TV, some DVD
players have a 4:3 TV zoom feature that will enlarge the letterbox format picture to get rid of
the black bars at the top and bottom of your TV screen. Just like
"full screen" DVD version of widescreen movies, you lose about
33% of the picture area due to cropping of the sides, but at least you
will no longer have those black bars that can be annoying to some
viewers. This works well for DVD-Videos with 1.85:1 aspect ratio,
but the 2.35 aspect ratio still would have some black bars. The Panasonic
DVD-RV32 DVD player is one of these DVD players.
Some DVD movies are also available in 4:3
aspect ratio, otherwise known as full
frame. Sometimes it is on the other side of the DVD in the case of a
two-sided DVD. In this case, simply put the side with the label
"full frame" face up into the DVD player. Other times, the
full frame version is on the same side, but you would select the aspect
ratio at the beginning of the movie or as a menu selection.
Sometimes, the full frame version of a movie is available as a separate
package. In any case, when the movie
is shown in full screen format, realize that the sides of the
theatrical picture are cropped, so you may be missing out on some of
the widescreen presentation that the director originally intended.
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Why
does the picture look "squished" and people look so thin?
If you have a conventional 4:3
aspect ratio TV screen, try setting the TV aspect ratio to
"4:3" using your DVD player's on-screen menu. If you
have a 16:9 widescreen
TV, follow the instructions of your TV, and set the TV aspect ratio to
"16:9" using your DVD player's on-screen menu.
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How
do I connect my DVD player to a VCR?
The video and audio outputs of a DVD
player are separate and use separate connections. If you are
trying to record copyright-protected movies on DVD-Video from your DVD
player to a VCR, read this
first. To hook up a VCR to the DVD player in attempt to
record non-copy protected movies from a DVD player, do this:
For video, use the S-Video
connection if you have a Super-VHS (S-VHS) or 8mm VCR. If you
have a regular VHS VCR, use the composite
video connection.
For audio, use the analog
stereo output of your DVD player. If you use a digital audio
connection (Toslink or coaxial) to your Dolby Digital/DTS receiver,
you may still have to connect your VCR to the DVD player using the
analog stereo output (instead of using the analog stereo output from
your receiver) in order to get the sound recorded.
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How
do I access the extra and bonus features of DVD-Video software (movie)
titles?
Press the button labeled "DVD
menu" on the remote control of the DVD player, then select the
"Special Features", "Extra Materials", or
"Bonus Features" area of the DVD main menu.
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How come
some of my DVD-Videos play back as 2-channel audio, even though the
packaging says there is a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack? Many
DVD-Videos that come with a Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtrack automatically play back with the Dolby Digital
5.1 soundtrack as the default soundtrack selected. But not all discs
default to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Some will default to Dolby
Digital 2.0 (2-channel stereo). If some of your DVDs playback as
Dolby Digital 2.0 or 2-channel, and the package says that a Dolby Digital
5.1 soundtrack is included, then you'll have to select the Dolby Digital
5.1 soundtrack manually using the DVD-Video disc's menu. Push the
"DVD Menu" button on your remote control to access the DVD
title's menu. Select "Audio", "Audio Options",
"Setup", or "Language Options". Then select the
Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack option. Your DVD player should now
playback in 5.1-channel mode, and your home theater receiver
should recognize the bitstream (digital signal) coming from your DVD
player as 5.1-channel. Note, for these DVDs that default to the
2-channel soundtrack, you'll have to manually select Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack every time.
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How can I
playback the DTS soundtrack? If you
have a DTS encoded DVD-Video disc, a DVD
player with DTS digital output connected via a digital audio connection (coaxial
or optical) to a home
theater receiver
with DTS decoding, you can playback the DTS soundtrack option.
First, make sure you have enabled the digital audio output. Most DVD
players are shipped new with this option disabled. Consult your DVD
player's instruction manual on how to do this. You'll only have to
do this step once. Second, choose the DTS soundtrack from the
DVD-Video disc's menu. Push the "DVD Menu" button on your
remote control to access the DVD title's menu. Select
"Audio", "Audio Options", "Setup", or
"Language Options". Then select the DTS soundtrack
option. (Sometimes you'll have to confirm your selection of the DTS
soundtrack option.) You'll have to do this second step every time
for every DVD-Video disc that has a DTS soundtrack.
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What is the
PCM audio track option and how does it compare to audio CDs, Dolby
Digital, and DTS? PCM
stands for Pulse Code
Modulation, a way of sampling the analog audio
signal and converting it to a digital signal. This is the same encoding
technique used for audio CDs. Audio CDs have 16-bit samples at 44.1 kHz
(44,100 times per second). The PCM audio track on a DVD-Video
(usually found on concert/music DVDs) can
have 16-bit, 20-bit, or 24-bit samples at either 48 kHz (48,000
times per second) or 96 kHz (96,000 times per second). Longer bit
samples (24-bit vs. 16-bit) allow for wider dynamic range (i.e., the
difference between the softest sounds and the loudest sounds) and
hence the
finer nuances of sounds can be recorded. Higher
sampling rates (96 kHz vs. 44.1 kHz) allow more accurate and realistic reproduction of higher
frequencies. Since a PCM audio track on a
DVD-Video consists of at least 16-bit samples at 48 kHz, and up to 24-bit
samples at 96 kHz, it is at least as good as audio CD quality. Like
audio CDs, DVD-Video PCM audio tracks are stereo. Read more about PCM in our DVD-Audio
tutorial.
How does the PCM audio track
compare to the Dolby
Digital soundtrack? Dolby
Digital is a multi-channel format that supports up to 5.1 channels
(i.e., 5 main
full-frequency channels plus a low frequency effects ".1"
channel). However, a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital track uses a
lower data rate than a 2-channel PCM stereo signal. This is possible
because Dolby Digital uses a perceptual lossly encoding scheme. This
means the Dolby Digital encoder discards (hence "lossy") some of
the more difficult to hear audio signals (hence "perceptual",
based on studies of human hearing phenomena). Audio purists will
probably find the PCM audio track to offer better sound quality, though
only in 2-channel stereo. Casual listeners with home theater systems
will probably enjoy the multi-channel experience that Dolby Digital 5.1
offers, though the audio quality may not be as good as PCM. The same
comment can be made for DTS 5.1
soundtracks, since it is also another multi-channel perceptual lossy
encoding algorithm.
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Why
is there a slight pause during playback of dual-layered DVD-Video
discs?
The slight pause during playback is
probably caused by the DVD player when it switches layers when playing
back dual-layered
DVDs. The laser is re-focusing on the other layer on the DVD
disc and there is usually a normal pause in picture and sound on many
DVD players. This pause can vary from fractions of a second to
one or two seconds, depending on the player. Some well-authored
DVD movies have their layer switches placed at the beginning of a
chapter (when the screen is black between scenes), so the layer switch
goes un-noticed.
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How do
I get the most of my DVD player?
You can get the most of your new DVD
player, particularly if it's hooked up to a home theater system, by
calibrating your home theater system (both picture quality and
surround sound) with a calibration DVD.
We recommend the following calibration DVDs:
-
Digital
Video Essentials: This is the new version of Video
Essentials. It will be available on September 2, 2003.
You can order this home theater calibration and test disc from Amazon.com
for $18.74, far cheaper than its predecessor.
-
Video
Essentials: produced in 1996 by Joe
Kane Productions. This DVD is now out of print, but should
be replaced in the near future by Digital
Video Essentials (Digital-VHS version, to be released July
15, 2003). For more
information on this forthcoming version, click here.
You can order the new Digital Video Essentials from Amazon.com.
-
AVIA
Guide to Home Theater: produced in 1999 by Ovation
Software. AVIA is more user friendly and up to date than
Video Essentials. This is the calibration DVD to buy if you are
a serious home theater enthusiast, videophile, or audiophile.
Ovation Software is currently working on a AVIA Pro version.
-
Sound
& Vision Home Theater Tune-Up: produced in 2001 by the
editors of Sound & Vision
magazine. This is the newest and
most affordable of the three calibration DVDs, but does not have as
many calibration screens as Video Essentials or AVIA. This is
the calibration DVD for more casual home theater enthusiasts.
answer last updated 7.25.2003
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Does
a DVD player require any kind of routine maintenance?
Not really. Unless specified by the manufacturer for your brand and
model of DVD player (check your user's manual), DVD players usually
require no routine maintenance whatsoever. Just make sure the DVD
disc that you put into your DVD player is reasonably clean and free from
fingerprints, grease, dirt and dust particles, etc. If you have to
clean the DVD disc, use a clean, dry T-shirt or a soft, lint-free cloth
and wipe gently outward (in a radial direction) from the center
hub. Do not wipe in a circular motion! Take care to not
scratch either surface of the DVD disc. Your DVD player should not
require a lens cleaner, but if it has problems reading a clean DVD disc,
you may want to give one of the commercial brand-name DVD lens cleaning
products a try. We currently do not endorse any such products, as we
have not had to use such products to date. Knock on wood.
To get the best picture and sound quality possible from your DVD player,
especially if you have a home theater surround sound system, read the
answer to the previous FAQ on calibrating
your home theater system.
What if I lose the remote control that came with
my DVD player? If you
lost or damaged the remote control that came with your DVD player and want
to get a replacement, there are two options. The first option is to
replace the original remote control. They are usually available
directly from the manufacturer, but the replacement cost is usually
expensive. The second option is to buy a universal remote
control that can operate multiple audio/video components including DVD
players. These universal remote controls usually already have the
infrared remote control codes pre-programmed for most leading brands of
DVD players (e.g., Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Pioneer, JVC, etc.).
You simply follow the instructions to tell the remote control the brand of
your DVD player, and it will be able to send the right signals. If
you go with a universal remote control, look for one that has the
up/down/right/left cursor control keys. This will allow you to
navigate the DVD menus efficiently. Universal remote controls are
usually more cheaper than buying the original replacement remote
control. Some examples of universal remote controls are:
Programmable
remote controls are also available, but if you go with a programmable
type, make sure that it already has the codes of your brand of DVD player
already pre-programmed. Otherwise it would be difficult (if not
impossible) for you to program it to your DVD player's brand of control
codes, since you need the original remote control to teach it or program
it.
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