If you're shopping for a new DVD player, be prepared for a bountiful harvest of players from an ever-growing list of manufacturers. The good news is that prices for DVD players--especially for basic units--have dropped over the last year. New players come in different configurations, and they are compatible with more formats than before (regular CDs, MP3, CD-RW, and so on). In addition to standard DVD players, you'll find high-definition units, DVD/VCR combo units, DVD recorders, and portable players, from big-name companies like Philips, Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung, along with some lesser-known brands, such as Apex and CyberHome. There's more good news: Compared to last year, DVD recorders are now more affordable. As of 2002[update] the largest producer of DVD players is China; in 2002 they produced 30 million players, more than 70% of the world output. These producers have to pay US$15–$20 per player in license fees, to the patent holders of the DVD technology (Sony, Philips, Toshiba and Time Warner) as well as for MPEG-2 licenses.[1] To avoid these fees, China has developed the Enhanced Versatile Disc standard as an intended successor of DVD; as of 2004[update], EVD players were only being sold in China.

Output

Most hardware DVD players have to be connected to a television; there also exist portable devices which have an attached LCD screen and stereo speakers. Portable DVD players are often used for long road trips and other travel.

Manufacture

As of 2002[update] the largest producer of DVD players is China; in 2002 they produced 30 million players, more than 70% of the world output. These producers have to pay US$15–$20 per player in license fees, to the patent holders of the DVD technology (Sony, Philips, Toshiba and Time Warner) as well as for MPEG-2 licenses.[1] To avoid these fees, China has developed the Enhanced Versatile Disc standard as an intended successor of DVD; as of 2004[update], EVD players were only being sold in China.

Software

Software DVD players are programs that allow users to view DVD videos on a computer with a DVD-ROM drive. Some examples are the VLC media player and MPlayer (both free software), as well as WinDVD, PowerDVD, Fluendo DVD Player and DVD Player.

Successors

There are successors to the DVD player: the HD DVD player and the Blu-ray Disc player, utilizing two incompatible technologies that reproduce higher quality video images than standard DVD. On February 19, 2008, Toshiba, creator of the former technology announced it would cease production on all HD DVD products leaving Blu-ray as the high definition successor to DVD players. Also, upscaling/upconverting DVD players have been offered to the public since the release of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. These devices offer a cheaper solution to viewing near high definition video. These DVD players typically feature an HDMI output, and rarely a DVI output, which when connected to an HDTV, upscale standard DVD video from 480p and 480i to 1080p, 1080i, and 720p. There are also video game consoles that allow DVD playback. Such as the Xbox, PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360 video game consoles. The some 7th generation videogame consoles(such as the Xbox 360 and PS3) allow DVD upscaling via HDMI connections.