Photo Display
While the result might not be as thrilling as watching slideshows of your parents’ vacations when you were a kid, some DVD players let you use your TV to view digital snapshots stored on disc in JPEG format. A few can also handle Kodak Picture CDs — a CD-ROM you can get instead of prints when Kodak processes a roll of film. Another photo-friendly option on some DVD players is a flash-media slot for your camera’s memory card.

Music Playback
DVD players do more than just play movies. They’re fine CD players, too, and most new models can play MP3 music files that you’ve burned onto CD. But if you’re really into downloading music, why not get a player that can also handle WMA files so you can listen to homemade discs of tunes you’ve bought online?

When shopping around for a DVD player, you’ll run across models that feature DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD (SACD) playback. If you’re wondering what the bleep those are, they’re “high-resolution,” surround sound music formats aimed mostly at audiophiles. They provide a music-listening experience that draws you in like a first-rate movie soundtrack. The catalog of SACD and DVD-Audio titles is minuscule, but there are some great recordings.

Players designed to handle SACDs are usually incompatible with DVD-Audio discs, and vice versa, though universal players can handle both formats — and much more. To experience the studio-quality sound that DVD-Audio and SACD can produce, you’ll need to connect the player’s six multichannel analog audio output jacks to corresponding input jacks on your receiver (assuming it has them — most recent models do). Usually, these jacks are the only way to get the high-res signals into your receiver, but a handful of (expensive) players and receivers now feature digital SACD/DVD-Audio connections via a one-cable IEEE 1394 (a.k.a. FireWire or i.Link) or proprietary interface.

Understanding Our Lab Data
How to read our lab tests for DVD players.

Setup
Hooking up your new player or recorder can be easy if you follow these simple steps.
Perplexed by mysterious jacks on your A/V gear? Our comprehensive guide will help you hook it all up.

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