The FlatHDTV Blog

Having trouble deciding which kind of DVD player to hook up to your new HDTV? There are currently four main categories of DVD player available, and they will all work with any HDTV. There are some subtle differences between the types, though.

There are two main types of DVD disc: standard and hi-def. The standard type is the one we’re all familiar with- you might have several hundred of these in your video library. Standard DVDs are all recorded with a picture resolution of 480i, which means the picture has 480 lines of resolution and it’s interlaced. Hi-Def DVDs are recorded with a resolution of 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The major movie studios are now rushing to re-record their movies onto one of the competing hi-def formats. More on this later.

1. Standard DVD Players:

Since standard DVDs are 480i and your HDTV screen displays 720 or 1080 lines of resolution progressively, the content must be de-interlaced and upscaled to fit. The HDTV can do these tasks, so a basic standard DVD player that you bought 10 years ago should work just fine! But, there are differences in the quality of the de-interlacer and the upscaler built into different HDTV sets. So, sometimes those devices are built into the DVD player.

2. De-Interlacing (Progressive) DVD players:

The de-interlacing process is tricky, and sometimes the HDTV doesn’t do such a good job with it, even though the overall quality of the set is high. A bad de-interlacer will make the picture look a little jumpy, blurry or full of extra pixels that flicker in and out. So, if you want to keep up with the latest de-interlacing technology, it might be easier and cheaper to upgrade your DVD player rather than your HDTV.

3. Upscaling DVD Players:

The upscaling process is not quite as tricky, but there are still noticeable differences in quality between different sets. If you happened to buy an HDTV with a poor upscaler, you can really improve the quality of your DVD watching with a good upscaling player.

4. High Definition DVD Players:

And finally, a whole new standard of resolution is starting to emerge in the DVD world: high definition DVD. There are currently two competing formats, called HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, which are essentially the same but require different players and are not compatible with each other. Check the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray categories of this blog to learn more. Fortunately, both of these are backwards-compatible with standard DVDs: if you buy one type of hi-def player but you feel that you made the wrong choice, at least you will still be able to play older DVDs.

Once you bring that shiny new HDTV home, you’ll notice something that might be disappointing: most of the stuff on TV right now is not high definition. And just because the set is expensive doesn’t mean it will do everything well: many top-of-the-line HDTVs display regular TV worse than a good standard definition set. If you only watch HD content, this won’t be a problem, but that’s hard to do.

When researching your purchase, be sure to check all possible reviews and keep the standard definition display quality in mind. It’s more important than you think. Here is a short list of some sets that are known to do a good job displaying SD:

• 1080p Panasonic PZ700 series
• Panasonic PX75/PE77U series
• Sony 40S3000
• Toshiba DLP Series

Sharp has unveiled a new LCD screen that is their thinnest yet, at just over an inch thick. The sets will not only be ultra-thin, but also more energy efficient than current LCDs.

The sets will be made at Sharp’s plant in Osaka, Japan, where they also make solar panels, because they share some of the same technology. The technology that lights the display is still secret.

Sharp plans to make models in 40, 52, 65 and 131 inch and other sizes.

They hope to have the model in mass production by 2010. For more information: USA Today