My DVD player broke recently (well, it didn't technically "break," but when you need to put the same disc in it 30 times for it even to detect a disc being in it I think it's time for a change.)

Also, I'm stating this for the record; the PS2 is a horrible DVD player. Anyone that thinks it can be used as such for a prolonged period of time is loony. Like the DVD player, bought the same year at the same time (Christmas 2004) it just won't detect DVDs. It even has a hard time reading DL games.

OK, anyway, I purchased a new player (wow, these things are inexpensive anymore and very small!) and while I'm generally pleased, there are parts in some DVDs that just look pixlated to hell. For example, when I'm watching any season of South Park the bright red, low band on Stan's hat just looks ugly, as does Jerald's (Kyle's Dad) pink parka. Is this because of the player being progressive scan and my TV being an ancient relic? Maybe it has to do with the brightness being too high? Generally, most objects and scenes do look fine however.

Additionally, does anyone out there have a DVD Recorder? I've been looking into buying one and for every single unit I look at, there seems to be 15 bad reviews for any good one. As it is, I feel no matter what I buy I'm going to be buying a hunk of junk.

Red typically does not fare well when reproduced from the DVD format. I don't know if blu-ray has the same problem, since I've only spent about 2 hours observing blu-ray images. I've gone to great lengths to improve the picture quality of the DVD format and I have minimized the fuzzy/blurry red problem, by purchasing a $1150 DVD player. It's made by Denon and I got it on sale for $700. Although expensive, it makes DVDs look a lot better. And I paired it with a plasma, to eliminate motion blur.

I'm not sure about using progressive scan on an older TV set. I've never tried that. In fact, I didn't notice the red problem until I bought a newer TV. The red problem got worse (but everything else got better) as I made efforts to improve the source quality, by purchasing component cables. That was a high definition tube set. The plasma almost totally eliminates the red problem.

Either you're shit out of luck or I'm lucky, I've had my PS2 for, what, five years without a single hitch. And I do play and watch movies even imported ones. Only DVD which won't play it, is The One, which even stores started telling that PS2 won't play it.

So in my books, PS2 has been a stellar DVD player. But then, I've usually been lucky with electronics, only one Playstation broken by time and one PS2 broken by dropping (Thank gods for warranty :P).

^ One question: thin or thick model? Should have made that distinction. You have to realize I have one of the first runs of the thin model. I'd love to have a later run thick (brick) model. You can actually shut those off Sony! Standby mode is NOT GREEN!

Are you boycotting blue-ray on the principle that it came too soon after standard dvd?

I don't think that's what he's getting at; with DVD's being so affordable there is no real reason to switch yet unless you're a hardcore technophile.

I have to admit, the picture quality of blue-ray is really impressive.

MAMA-MIA! just sparkles with pleasantness, as brightly as the sparkles of the sun on the coastal waters of Greece.
It feels almost like you're vacationing there in the summertime!

But i'm just worried about the advent of Red-Ray (or whatever they're gonna call it) whenever that eventually comes along..

Ah, seems that I didn't mention that it is thick, thankfully. I've heard few horror stories from the first runs of the thin models.

Correctly so. But there is an even more important reason why I'm sticking with DVDs (for a long time). I watch a lot of foreign and independent movies, which may never get a blu-ray release. And they are still being released on DVD only. You see, I watch a lot of Korean movies and not even the DVD format does well over there, so there is almost no motivation to put Korean movies on blu-ray. A few have been transferred, but it's less than 10 so far.

Red-ray already exists. I believe that CDs and DVDs use red lasers. Blu-rays use blue lasers, since blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light. The next step would be called violet-ray or indigo-ray. I'm not clear how lasers work with shorter wavelengths than violet, or even if they could properly be called lasers, since the acronym stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. I don't know if the inventors meant visible light, or the whole spectrum. For example, I've never heard of an x-ray laser, but I suppose it could be possible.

So they're gonna skip a Green-Ray type of disc and go straight to Violet-Ray?

Would love to get this thread back on topic as I'm in the same boat as Ashley - the old Xbox I was using broke and I need some kind of replacement for watching DVDs.

Aside from the reliability of the PS2, I heard that its picture quality for DVD playback was crap - lots of artifacting and the such.  Have those of you that have used a PS2 for DVD playback noticed it?

Was also considering finally splurging on a 360 and using that to play DVDs (along with a bit of Street Fighter IV ).  I'm assuming the picture quality is good (right?) but I also seem to remember complaints about drive/fan noise.  Is it a distraction when watching DVDs?

Probably the most sensible option is to just get an under-$100 DVD player but I've heard plenty of horror stories about the cheaper models breaking quickly.  Any recommendations on that front?

Would appreciate any advice, it sucks not being able to watch my DVDs!

Personally, I'm surprised anyone would still even consider using their gaming consoles for the purpose of DVD viewing.  That might have been a feasible option back when the PS2 was first released back in 2000, when DVD players were still very much a luxury item.  All the same, it never quite sat well with me to use my gaming consoles for anything but games; the constant disc reading and usage of the laser required for DVD viewing would surely wear the system down that much quicker.  That's why I've never attempted to watch DVDs on my 360.  Still, I would venture that if the drive runs as loudly on DVDs as it does on games, then yes, it can be a very serious distraction.   

As Adam states, your best bet is to get a proprietary DVD player.  The problem is that the market is now so abundantly mainstream that it's hard choosing the right one.  You'll need to do your own research on a preferred model, but as a general rule, avoid any that fall within the sub $50 range.  If you can swing it, go for a higher-end one closer to the $100 mark.  Aside from longer-term stability, these models should all readily support HDMI output, and can upscale to at least 720p.  Even if you don't own a HDTV, make your investment future-proof, in case you do decide to drop for a newfangled set some day.  These features really do go a long way in dramatically improving the picture on standard DVDs.

The pixel problem likely isn't the cause of your older TV; even if your player has progressive scan turned on, there should be little to no difference shown on a regular analog-based television.  The pixels are usually (and I'd hate to say it) a product of a poorly-made player.  I've seen these pixel symptoms many, many times, and they generally happen on cheaply-made models with poor playback capability.  Certain colors, as in your case with South Park, will consistently show up as awful.  A good player should be able to keep artifacting, ghosting, and, most importantly, pixels down to an absolute minimum.

They already skipped green, since its wavelength is longer than blue. It's all about increasing the number of pits. The blue laser isn't what makes high definition. You could get the same image with a red laser reading a disc. If one increased the diameter of a CD by 35 times, then one could stick with a red laser.

  All that these disc makers are trying to do is squeeze more data on a standard sized disc, which means making smaller data pits, which means decreasing the wavelength of the laser. A violet laser would allow one to make more pits on a disc than a standard blu-ray, but it would not improve the image quality. I don't have the wavelengths of the colors memorized, nor do I know how many data pits each respective format uses. I would imagine that violet would offer a marginal improvement in data storage, since it's very close to blue on the spectrum.

  A DVD player could output blu-ray images, but you'd have to switch discs (around 3) to watch a movie. (3 dual layer DVDs is about 25 gigabytes, or about the same as one layer on a blu-ray)

I strongly recommend this model, which is a newer and cheaper version of the one I own:

  http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033DV2930C … tml?tp=170

  If you win the lottery, then go for this:

  http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033DV5910C … tml?tp=170

  Well, to summarize, I would only buy a Denon DVD player. Their prices are intimidating, but you get a superior image.

EDIT:

Just found this. It's heavily marked down:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033DV1940C … tml?tp=170

*thinks back to Final Fantasy '97*

If you're willing to roll with Denon's price ranges, and image quality is that much a factor, then you'd probably be better off investing in a top-of-the-line Blu-ray player for half the cost.  Not even the very best upscaling DVD player can compare to actual HD, and a good Blu-ray player can be just as feature-heavy in its DVD playback capabilities as a Denon. 

Of course, if you really wanna go nuts, get a Denon Blu-ray. :)

I haven't, but I'm still using old 21" (or 22") Nokia to watch stuff, so I probably don't see much artifacts etc. (Good telly, have been with me for 10+ (or something like that) years. And it supports NTSC!)

And I haven't had the chance to test with some DVD-player if the quality would be better or not.

You're right, but there are other factors exclusive to my peculiarities. I must have a code-free player, since the bulk of the discs I view are region 3. This just recently came out, which would seem to satisfy almost anyone:

  http://www.hkflix.com/hardware/xq/asp/p … etails.htm

  But I find it ironic that I don't actually need a code free blu-ray player, since we share the same code with South Korea. But I would have to buy one, because I would need the dvd regions disabled.

Can't it be hacked, though?

I buy them only if they have already been hacked. It costs more to send in an unhacked player. I bought the Denon in January 2006 and it still works fine. I could've pocketed the $700 and used my computer instead, but LCD screens are atrocious. Stills images look fine, but it's the motion blur that I can't tolerate.

I think you're right on this DVD player. However, it's on it's way out to my mother's small TV (where it probably won't be as noticable) since I found a DVD Recorder I liked. South Park and Family Guy look "good" again.

Unfortuately, I can't record anything at the moment. My dish box lacks anykind of composite output since it is so old. I'll have to call DishNetwork next week and see what I can do about that.

Still, I can't wait to syphon shows like Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (DVD is PAL only) and the good nicktoons that don't have boxes out.

So what did you wind up getting?  I went with an LG DV392H, which has HDMI, HD up-scaling and Divx playback via a front-side USB port.  Have so far only watched Star Trek the Motion Picture and Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit on it but they looked quite nice (well, the latter anyway ).

BTW I did look more into the DVD playback quality of the Xbox 360 and apparently it ain't so great.