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      What is Dvd?
      Can I play DVD discs from any country?
      Do I need a widecreen TV to watch DVDs?
      Which sound system do I need?
      Glossary

DVD (Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is the new digital format for video. A DVD disc looks like a CD, but each side of a DVD can store over 12 times more digital data. Combining CD quality sound and extremely sharp digital images, DVD is a video format that is unrivalled by anything other commercially available video format. In addition to DVD discs, you can also play your existing audio CDs on a DVD player (MP3 discs also on selected models).

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High street DVD players are region locked to enable playback only of discs from that DVD Region i.e. in the UK these are European Region 2 discs. All DVD players from DVD Players UK are multi-region enabled (unless specified otherwise on the product details page). Click here to read more about multi-region.

Please note: Region 1 DVD titles are in NTSC format which differ from PAL region 2 discs. Most modern televisions are dual PAL & NTSC compatible and will display these discs correctly. However, please check your TV specification/manual if in doubt as non NTSC compatible Televisions will display NTSC signals in black and white (monochrome).

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Most DVD movies are designed for widescreen viewing and so a widescreen TV is the obvious choice. However, you can still use a DVD player with a standard 4:3 TV, and black bands will appear at the top and bottom of your screen to convert your 4:3 screen to a 16:9 picture area.

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DVDs are able to carry Dolby Digital soundtracks. Using six independent channels of digital sound, Dolby Digital is the last word in home cinema surround sound. Most DVD players have a built-in Dolby Digital decoder, although you will also need to have a 6-channel amplifier to distribute the sound.

Alternatively, using some of the very latest Dolby Digital TVs you can simply plug your DVD player into one of these TVs and enjoy the Dolby Digital soundtrack now present on most DVD movie discs.

Of course, you can still enjoy watching films in Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound by simply connecting your DVD player to a Dolby Pro Logic TV or hi-fi/amplifier. Finally, if you're not a surround sound enthusiast then this poses no problem since DVDs even sound great through as standard Stereo TV.

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AC-3: the original name for Dolby Digital (see below)

DAC: DAC stands for Digital to Analogue Converter. It is the circuitry that turns digital signals into analogue signals. DVD players have both a video DAC and an audio DAC. They are measured in bits - the higher the number of bits the better. So, a 10-bit video DAC is better than an 8-bit video DAC because the 10-bit will transfer more of the original picture information from the DVD to your TV screen. Likewise, a 24-bit audio DAC will provide better quality sound transfer than a 20-bit audio DAC.

Digital Output: most DVD players have digital audio outputs in order to send a Dolby Digital soundtrack to a Dolby Digital decoder or Dolby Digital TV. These digital outputs are normally either co-axial or optical, though many DVD players are equipped with both.

DNR: picture noise can result on a DVD film as a result of the compression of the video images onto the disc. DNR, or Digital Noise Reduction, is a function that counteracts picture noise so as to maximise the quality of the digital image on your screen.

Dolby Digital Surround: the new generation of home cinema surround sound. Dolby Digital uses six independent channels of digital sound comprising: stereo front left and right; centre; stereo rear left and right; and a dedicated super woofer. Dolby Digital soundtracks are only available on DVD.

Dolby Pro-Logic Surround: the established surround sound format, comprising four audio channels of sound: stereo front left and right; centre; and mono rear. The system uses five seperate speakers: front left, front right, front centre, rear left, and rear right.

DTS Surround: Digital Theatre System (DTS) surround is a competitor of Dolby Digital surround in seeking to be the ultimate home cinema surround sound format. A DTS soundtrack is rapidly becoming featured on the latest DVD movie titles.

MP3: An extremely popular music format enabling many hundreds of music tracks to be stored on a single recordable CD (CDR).

MPEG2: an alternative digital surround sound system to Dolby Digital. Like Dolby Digital, MPEG2 also uses six independent channels of digital sound.

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      How Can I Pay?

Payment can be made by credit card using Switch, Solo, Visa, Mastercard.

Alternatively payment can be made by cheque sent with a letter detailing your requirements to our head office, full details of which can be found here.

Please allow 5 working days for the clearance of payments by cheque before your order is despatched.

Payment via bank transfer (CHAPS or BACS) or via a bank deposit can also be made. Full bank details are available on request to facilitate such payments.

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      How soon will I receive my goods?
      Where can my order be delivered?
      Do I need to sign for the delivery?
      To which destinations do you deliver?

We endeavour to despatch all in stock items within 2 working days. However, during busier periods, please allow up to 5 working days.

Delivery is made via our couriers between the hours of 9.00AM and 5.30PM, Monday to Friday.

Items out of stock will be despatched upon receipt from our suppliers. In the unfortunate event that such items are out of stock for extended periods we will contact you to advise of this.

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Due to rigid credit card processing security polices we can deliver to the cardholder address provided or to a registered place of work for the cardholder only. Such alternatives details can be entered into our special instructions section at the checkout stage.

We cannot deliver to any other address to the above mentioned as we treat credit card security very seriously and these restrictions are in place to protect ourselves and moreover our card holding customers from potentially fraudulent transactions.

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All goods must be signed for at the cardholder or delivery address provided.

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All goods featured on our online store can be delivered in the mainland UK. Delivery to Northern Ireland can be selected for an additional cost (as indicated during the registration/checkout process). Goods exceeding 30Kg cannot be delivered outside of the mainland UK.

We do not deliver outside of the United Kingdom.


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      How do I return my product?

Full details of our warranty and returns procedures can be found here.

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