About Progressive Scan

Eager to watch 'The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)' on an appropriately large screen and with the best possible resolution, but worried about the difficulty of setting the needed components up? In fact, the physical act of setting up a progressive-scan DVD player--say, the 'Panasonic DVD-RP62K Progressive-Scan DVD Player'--is not much harder than plugging in a regular DVD player. The part that requires consideration and forethought is selecting the right player and the right television for you.

If you intend to use a progressive-scan player with an existing television, you need to know right off that this feature can only be appreciated with a high-definition or HD-ready set like the 'Zenith C34W23 34" Widescreen Integrated HDTV', 'Toshiba 50H82 50" 16:9 HDTV-Ready Projection TV', or 'Panasonic CT-32HX41 32" HDTV-Ready TV' (see Amazon.com's full selection in the Audio & Video store within Electronics).

The DVD Player

You may be wondering: what does "progressive-scan" even mean? Progressive scanning, also referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates an image made up of twice the number of scan lines as a conventional DVD picture, providing higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts (like those tiny shimmering dots in an otherwise stationary image).

Progressive-scan players are as affordable as the 'Zenith DVB216 Progressive-Scan DVD Player' and as pricey as the 'Panasonic DVD-RP91K Progressive-Scan DVD-RAM Player (Black)'. What's the difference? Like most home-entertainment gear, it comes down to features and build quality. The former player may offer progressive scanning, but it doesn't have the video noise reduction and high-resolution DVD-Audio playback capabilities of the latter. And, the chip that actually performs the progressive scanning is only part of what's needed for high-quality video. Better disc transports and other internal components also affect picture (and sound) quality. As a rule of thumb, learn about the features you want and read the product descriptions and reviews before buying.

Other great progressive-scan models:

'Yamaha DV-C6480 Progressive-Scan 5-Disc DVD Player'
'Philips DVDR985 Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder and Player'
'JVC XV-S502SL Progressive-Scan DVD Player (Silver)'

The Television

The number of televisions offering progressive-scan viewing is large and growing. Choices include standard (4:3 aspect-ratio) tube and projection sets, such as 'Samsung TXM3298HF 32" Neo Slim Design DynaFlat HDTV' and 'Zenith C27V28 27" Multimedia HDTV TV', as well as widescreen tube, projection, and flat-panel screens like the 'Panasonic CT34WX50 34" TAU Pure Flat Screen HDTV-Ready TV', 'Toshiba 40H80 40" HDTV-Ready Projection TV', and 'Zenith D52WLCD 52" LCD Projection HDTV-Ready TV'. These sets not only handle a DVD player's progressive-scan (480p) output, but also full high-definition 1080i (over a thousand non-progressive lines per screen) images, which come from free, broadcast HDTV when your TV is used in conjunction with a 'Toshiba DST3000 HDTV/DIRECTV Receiver' or 'RCA PROSCAN PSHD105 Digital HDTV Receiver'.

TVs with integrated HDTV tuners are also available, including the 'RCA F38310 38" 16:9 HDTV with Built-In DirecTV and HDTV Receivers' and the 'Zenith C32V23 32 Integrated HDTV TV'. See Amazon.com's extensive HDTV buying guides in Audio & Video for more information.

Other great progressive-capable TVs:

'Toshiba 50H71 50" HDTV-Ready Projection TV'
'Samsung LTM-1555 15" LCD Flat-Panel HDTV-Ready TV'
'Philips 60P8341 60" Projection TV'

The Hookup

The rest is easy. Plug the DVD player's component-video and analog audio outputs into your TV, then select "progressive-scan" for the DVD player output--sometimes it's an external switch, sometimes something selected from the player's onscreen setup menu. (The user's manual will show you how, in any case.) For the best results, use premium-grade cables with premium-grade equipment: 'Monster Cable Video 3 Component video cables'.

If using a surround receiver, connect the DVD player through its digital-audio output or multi-channel analog outputs to enjoy immersive, 5.1-channel surround sound. Use a cable like the 'Monster Interlink® Datalink 100 Coaxial digital audio cable' or the 'Acoustic Research HT181 Optical Digital Cable (6')' for digital connection, depending on the player and receiver, or use three pairs of interconnects like the 'Acoustic Research AP031 6-Foot Stereo Analog Interconnect, with Gold RCA Plug Molded Connectors' for a multi-channel analog hookup (six channels total). (DVD-Audio and SACD players require an analog connection.) A surround setup will sound as well as look great with concert videos like 'Melissa Etheridge - Live... and Alone (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)', 'A Hard Day's Night', and 'Roger Waters - In the Flesh (Live)'.

The Fun

Now, sit back and bask in the glow of your favorite DVDs, whether 'Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition)', 'Band of Brothers', or 'Beauty and the Beast (Disney Special Platinum Edition)'.

Discs with anamorphic widescreen encoding offer the best quality, using all the available resolution for the widescreen picture and wasting none of their 480 lines on the black bars that frame a widescreen image on a standard 4:3 aspect-ratio TV. Most current releases are anamorphic, including:

'Spider-Man (Widescreen Edition)'
'Ice Age'
'Monsters, Inc.'
'E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (Widescreen Collector's Edition)'

Finally, use a 'West Bend 82306X Stir Crazy 6-Quart Popcorn Popper' for that cinematic staple, or fire up a 'Hamilton Beach 56406 BlendSmart 18-Speed Blender' to indulge in something no movie theater offers but every one should: milk shakes. Don't forget the 'Zeroll Aluminum Nonstick Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Scoop'!