4. CHOOSE YOUR SOUND QUALITY

Okay, it is Digital Video Disc, but the audio considerations are important enough to warrant their own consideration. In fact audio considerations are often as numerous - and possibly more confusing - than visual ones.

First, if you have your current VCR hooked up to your TV and that's it-no home entertainment center or anything fancy - and you are just going to swap a DVD player for your VCR, then continue reading so that you can learn what you are missing out on.

DTS or Dolby Digital

When you look at the audio specs, you are likely to encounter two types :

  • one of the audio output types is called DTS (Digital Theater Sound)

  • the other is called Dolby Digital (this might also be called AC-3, but it is the same as Dolby Digital).

The difference? DTS is newer and is capable of producing slightly better sound, but both DTS and Dolby Digital are 5.1 channel systems. What does that mean? It means the sound is processed into 6 different paths. Makes perfect sense.

The 5 channels are center, front right, rear right, front left, rear left, and the .1 stands for the subwoofer (that's really low bass). This allows you to have a theater-like surround sound with the center channel mimicking the dialogue emanating from the screen and the other channels giving the sound from, well, everyplace else.

Decoders and compatibility

Next, look to see if your player is "compatible" or has "decoders." Some models are just "compatible" with these sound systems and better ones will have what are called "decoders" built right in. Having decoders built in is better (and will, of course, cost you more). If you want decoders, you are probably looking at the $500 range as a minimum. Most $300 models will at least be compatible with either DTS or Dolby Digital.

Decoders actually separate the sound into those discreet 5.1 channels and send them to the appropriate places. And those places are 6 separate output jacks on the back of the DVD player. So, if you want the benefit of those separate channels, your receiver must be equipped to handle them with 6 separate inputs. In other words, they need to match.

That's important because it means that if your DVD player is part of your home entertainment center, then the sound will only be as good as what your receiver is capable of. There is no reason to plop down $1000 on a DVD player with onboard DTS decoders if your receiver only has stereo left and right inputs.

Other feature considerations

Here's some good news: DVD players can also play music CDs. Some DVD players will also handle what's called DVD Audio. These are essentially CDs made on DVD discs to take advantage of DVD's higher sampling rate (a "higher sampling rate" is capable of superior sound). DVD Audio hasn't really caught on, but know that it's out there.

Finally, for those of you who have ever thought, "Gee, my living room would make a great Japanese bar," many DVD players offer karaoke capabilities.