DVD players: while two high-definition DVD formats battle it out, progressive-scan DVD players add pseudo-HD.(Home Entertainment: Digital Dominates)(Buyers guide)

The transition from standard DVDs to high-definition Blu-ray and HD DVD discs is clearly under way, and more models have arrived over the past year. But many consumers aren't ready to buy a high-definition player, given their relatively high prices and dueling HD formats. That means that many of us may still be in the market for a standard DVD player--probably our last.

DVD players are one of the electronics industry's biggest success stories. The vast majority of U.S. homes have one or more players, and prices have dropped so low--into the $25 range for some models--that these devices are sold almost everywhere, even in supermarkets and drugstores. You'd be hard-pressed to find any other home-entertainment product that gives you more bang for the buck than a DVD player.

Despite their low prices, most standard DVD players typically have numerous features and connections, including HDMI and component-video output. In addition, many standard DVD players can play a variety of disc types, including recordable DVDs and CDs with music and photos.

WHAT'S AVAILABLE

Sony, Magnavox, Philips, Panasonic, and Toshiba are among the best-selling brands of regular DVD players. In the high-def category, Toshiba currently has the only HD DVD players on the market, but Onkyo is expected to sell an HD DVD player soon. Blu-ray enjoys broader hardware support from companies including LG Electronics, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, and Sony, among others.

Standard players. Almost all new standard players models are progressive-scan models that can convert (or deinterlace) the interlaced video (480i) contained on DVDs and output it to your TV as a 480p video signal.

A growing number of progressive-scan DVD players are "upconverting" models that can convert the 480i video on all regular DVDs to simulate 720p, 1080i, or even 1080p. These pseudo-HD resolutions more closely match a fixed-pixel HDTV's native screen resolution. (This feature will not work with standard-definition TVs.) These players analyze the lower-resolution video, guess what pixels would be present in a higher-resolution image, and add them to the picture, although our tests have shown this feature doesn't necessarily provide better picture quality.