DVD player facts for kids

Toshiba HBS A 001 DVD player

A DVD player is a home device that lets you watch movies and shows stored on DVDs. A DVD, which stands for digital versatile disc, looks like a shiny CD but can hold much more information. These players became very popular for watching films at home.

The very first DVD player was created by Sony and Pacific Digital Company. It was released in Japan on November 1, 1996. People in the United States could buy one starting March 19, 1997. This new technology changed how families watched movies.

How DVD Players Work

How does a DVD player read a disc? A DVD player uses a special laser to read the tiny bumps and flat areas on a DVD. These bumps and flats represent digital information, like the video and audio of a movie. The player then turns this information into pictures and sounds you can see and hear on your TV. It's a bit like a super-fast scanner for your discs!

Why DVDs Became Popular

Why did everyone love DVDs? Before DVDs, most people watched movies on VHS tapes. DVDs were much better because they offered clearer pictures and sounds. They were also smaller and more durable than tapes. You could easily skip to any scene you wanted, which was harder with VHS tapes. DVDs quickly became the standard for home movie watching.

Types of DVD Players

What kinds of DVD players are there? Most DVD players are designed to sit under your TV. These are called "set-top" players. However, there were also portable DVD players. These had a small screen and a battery, so you could watch movies on the go. People often used them in cars or on airplanes. Some computers also had built-in DVD drives to play movies or install software.

Connecting a DVD Player

How do you connect a DVD player to a TV? Early DVD players used cables like RCA connectors, which had three colored plugs for video and audio. Later, a single cable called HDMI became common. HDMI cables carry both high-quality video and audio signals. This made connecting a DVD player much simpler.

The Future of Watching Movies

What came after DVDs? While DVDs were very popular, newer technologies have emerged. Blu-ray players came out later, offering even sharper pictures and better sound. Today, many people stream movies and TV shows directly from the internet using services like Netflix or Disney+. Even with new options, DVD players are still used by many who enjoy their movie collections.

Images for kids

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  A Sony DVP-SR370 DVD player and USB support connection

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  A Philips DVD player with built-in four-directional control buttons

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  The interior of a DVD player

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  A portable DVD player

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  Output connectors of a DVD player (2016): The single HDMI connector on the left is employed to replace the older connection options for audio and video signals, which require at least two, depending on the use case even up to five, individual cable connections with RCA connectors (see middle section, colored). An exception was the technically outdated SCART type A/V connector most right.

See also

In Spanish: Reproductor de DVD para niños