Quick Guide to DVD Progressive Scan Players

For a detailed explanation of progressive scan, see the DVD Demystified FAQ on progressive players

What is Progressive Scan? For technical reasons I won't go into here, television pictures can suffer from noticeable flicker (you might notice this on your computer monitor if it has too low a refresh rate). Progressive scan is a technique for reducing flicker and smoother flow of moving objects in pictures. The one drawback of Progressive Scan is that you need a progressive scan television to get the benefit of having a progressive scan player.

A PROGRESSIVE SCAN DVD PLAYER MUST HOOK UP TO A PROGRESSIVE SCAN TV. Most HDTV and HDTV-Ready televisions are capable of receiving and displaying progressive scan images from your DVD player. You must have a television that is capable of Progressive Scan and comes with Component Video inputs and you must ensure that your high resolution set reduce the number of lines displayed to 480 lines. All progressive players include normal "interlaced" outputs, so you can buy one to use with a standard TV until you upgrade to a progressive TV. (You may have to use a switch on the back of the player to set it to interlaced output.)

Conclusion: It could be well worth paying the extra $25-30 to get a player with progressive scan. If you are worried that your DVD player will soon become obsolete or will soon be upgrading your television to one with progressive scan, this is a wise investment. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money unless you can get progressive scan on a mid or low range model anyway. Some new models now come with progressive scan at mid to low range prices and can be less expensive than older models without progressive scan. I expect progressive scan is fast becoming a standard features of DVD players. So get it anyway if it comes on a player you like.

Note Progressive Scan is more common on large screen projection televisions than it is on smaller tv's or on very large screen tube based tv's. So if you have a large screen tv, check to see if it supports progressive scan.

YOUR TELEVISION MUST HAVE COMPONENT VIDEO PROGRESSIVE SCAN INPUTS TO USE COMPONENT VIDEO PROGRESSIVE SCAN OUTPUT. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A PROGRESSIVE SCAN TV YOU DO NOT NEED A PROGRESSIVE SCAN DVD PLAYER. SAVE YOUR MONEY UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO UPGRADE YOUR TV! (However new models may come with progressive scan for less than older models with progressive scan!)

DVD Players With Progressive Scan

WARNING! Although Amazon.com states the DVG-9000N is a progressive scan unit, I cannot find any info confirming this on he Daewoo web site. It does have component video output, but does not say if it supports progressive scan. Specs here.

I like MP3's so if you're looking for a DVD player with that capability, check out my list of DVD Players With MP3 Playback

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