Features Explained

There's not a great deal to choose between many of the different brands of DVD player and recorder when it comes to picture and sound quality. However, there are some features that are worth having but are only found on certain models.

Compatible DVD Discs

Not all DVD discs are the same. There are several different recording formats - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD RAM - each with slightly different features and capabilities. All DVD players and recorders will play pre-recorded DVDs (those you rent or buy) but some of the other types of discs they won't be able to play or record.

Time vs Quality

When recording to DVDs, you can trade picture quality for recording time. Typically, DVD recorders give only one hour of recording per disc in best-quality mode. Doubling this to two hours still gives excellent picture quality, far superior to a VCR. If you want to make a disc last for three hours, picture quality will suffer, but will still be better than a VCR.

Any DVD player or recorder will also play CDs, but some can also play newer types of audio disc (DVD-Audio and SA-CD) which claim to offer better quality sound than a standard CD. Some can also play discs containing MP3 files, or those containing .jpg picture files on them, so you can show your holiday snaps on your TV screen.

Bookmarking

Bookmarking is a feature that lets you store favourite scenes or places in a disk so you can quickly find them again. More sophisticated machines let you bookmark a number of discs, and so will 'remember' your bookmarks even when the disc is removed.

Resume means the player will start the disc where you stopped it (instead of at the beginning each time). Models with multi-disc resume will remember where to start playing the disc even after you've removed it from the machine.

Electronic Lock

An electronic lock lets you control access to either the DVD player or individual discs with a Pin number.

Connections

To use a DVD player or recorder, you need a TV with a Scart input, and a Scart lead to connect the two. (Not all machines we've seen come supplied with a Scart lead.). For best picture quality, the Scart input to your TV should be RGB or S-video compatible. Not all TVs support this - check your TV instructions for details.