Choosing Samsung DVD Players

samsung dvd players

By Anne Ahira

You may recall that I’m a big fan of Samsung televisions. Well, my positive experience with those models made me decide to check out their Samsung DVD players when it came time to purchase a new one for my family’s home theater system. What I was looking for specifically was a model with upscaling technology, and I wasn’t disappointed with what I found.

Upscaling Technology

As you probably already know, televisions are being changed over to HDTV models in the United States because of the big switch from analog. Well, one of the ramifications of that change is that standard DVDs just aren’t going to look as amazing as regular HDTV programming on your television.

Now you could upgrade to a Blu-Ray player (Samsung sells one for about $200 through Amazon) but that would require converting your entire DVD collection as well.

A better choice is an upscaling or upconverting DVD player. Several Samsung DVD players feature this technology. Basically, what it does is take your regular DVDs and improve the picture quality so they look as if they are in true high definition. As a result, you’re going to get cleaner, crisper, more vibrant images. Those DVDs will actually look almost theater quality, especially if you have a fairly large screen.

The biggest benefit of this technology obviously is that you can get the impressive picture quality you want without having to invest in a new format for your movies. While Samsung DVD players featuring this technology are a little more expensive than ones that do not, they are less than half than half the price of the Blu-Ray players.

What to Look For

First, if you’re going to be purchasing one of the upscaling Samsung DVD players, make sure you pay attention to the maximum resolution possible but also make sure it supports the resolution of your existing HDTV.

Most of the models do work with 1080p resolution but if your television is 1080i or 720p, you’re going to need a model that convert to those resolutions as well. Don’t worry – most of them do but this is just something to check before you buy.

Another issue before you start picking up Samsung DVD players is that upscaling only works if you have an actual HDTV and you connect it to the DVD player through the HDMI connection. If you’re not sure what that connection means, you might want to talk to one of the installation experts at the store where you shop or pay special attention to the instructions while you’re hooking everything up.

Prices

We can’t end a discussion of Samsung DVD players without talking about their prices. After all, most of us are becoming more budget conscious even when it comes to purchasing electronics. Most of the upscaling models cost between $75 and $90. As mentioned earlier, a Blu-Ray player from Samsung will set you back about $200 at Amazon. In comparison, you can buy Samsung DVD players without the upscaling feature for under $50 at JR.

You may want to check out my other guide on : Creative audio and mp3 dvd players