Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Upscaling DVD Players: What You Need to Know

The DVD format wars are still a ways a away from being settled. What does a person do in the meantime for high definition DVD viewing, short of picking sides and hoping for the best? Enter up-scaling DVD players, which take standard definition content and make it high-definition. Of course, the quality isn't going to be as good as HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but with additional features like streaming radio and movies, and DivX playback, you can have an even better experience.

So is an upscaling DVD for you? What should you consider when buying one?

Gizmodo has a guide, "Ten Things You Should Consider Before Buying an Upscaling DVD player; here are some of the highlights:

• Does it upscale to 1080p? Does your TV support HDMI component cables? Does it support DivX, WMV, XviD, and other file formats? Does it support video/audio streaming? Each of these questions matters most based on your preferences and available technologies. If your TV only 720p, that doesn't matter. If you don't download from the internet, neither does the other format question. However, the support for video/audio streaming could be useful if you ever decide to stream video from the internet.

• Does it have 5.1 audio? Do you have a receiver or do you need one built-in to the DVD player? This one either saves you money by not doubling up on something you already have or nets you one box for two uses.

• Would you be better off with a Home Theater PC? Cost is the biggest issue between these two options, but perhaps you really need something that can cover all of this and DVRing, internet access and gaming all in one?

- Image from Gizmodo.

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