CAR DVD PLAYERS

Car entertainment systems of the 21st Century not only offer surround sound capability, but also high quality DVD-video, audio, security and navigation. A car DVD player will satisfy all these features. This car DVD buying guide will let you know what to look for.

Car DVD players play discs produced under the DVD Video standard. These include DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW. Most car DVD players will also be compatible with VCD, CD, MP3, CD-R and CD-RW. Some newer systems also play videos in the MPEG-4 ASP video compression format (such as DivX), which is a popular Internet format.

Search for reviews on the capabilities of the following types of players to determine which system best suit your needs:

• Standard ISO one DIN Car DVD player
• Standard ISO two Din DVD player
• One DIN Car DVD player with Monitor
• Two Din DVD Player with Monitor
• Detachable Front Panel DVD player
• Sun Visor car DVD player
• Headrest DVD player
• Roof mount DVD player
• Some with built-in hard disk and GPS Navigation System
• Car DVD player with Two-Din 6.5-inch Touch Screen Built -in GPS Navigation System

An important thing to consider when buying a car DVD system, is that systems vary from device to device, and from manufacturer to manufacturer. Pay special attention when buying online – carefully read the description and always ask the seller if anything is unclear to you before you buy. Some players sold online are sold with only the controllers and will require additional purchases of monitors, signal processors, etc.

A car DVD player should have the following standard capabilities:

• Read a DVD disc in ISO - UDF version 1.2 format
• Optionally decrypt the data with either CSS and or Macrovision
• Decode MPEG-2 video
• Decode sound in MP2, PCM or AC-3 format
• Output a video signal, either an analog one (in PAL, SECAM or NTSC format) on the composite, s-video, or component video connectors, or a digital one on the DVI or HDMI connectors

Some advance features that are worth looking into (because of their high quality) are Dolby Digital, DTS, dynamic range, equalizer (the process of changing the frequency envelope of a sound), frequency response (measure of any system's response at the output to a signal of varying frequency at its input), impedance (commonly listed from 4 to 8 ohms, with some ranging from 2 to 16 ohms), signal-to-noise ratio, distortion (deviation from the original signal to the reproduced signal), antishock (stores audio data in a memory buffer that is output if the main signal mistracks), and antitheft protection.

You can get car DVD players that cost from $85 up to $1000, while advance models can cost anywhere from $1,000 up to $3,000 or more, depending on the features. Select a system that is compatible with your budget. Then consult an installer to make sure your vehicle's electrical system can fulfill the demands of the player and the installation fees. Usually the list price does not include installation fees for the car DVD systems.

 

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