It's not hard to see why DVD players have taken the video world by storm. All you have to do is watch a movie on DVD and then watch that same movie on VHS tape instead. The difference can be startling. So just as CDs took over the audio world, DVDs are dominant in the video world, and DVD players are a staple of the home entertainment center, and certainly of a home theater setup too.

So what should you know when you shop for DVD players? Well, as with everything a lot depends on your budget but here are some of the features to look for when you buy a DVD player:

* In the electronics world, cable connections are very important and it's no different with DVD players. Almost all DVD players come with a standard composite-video cable to connect the player to the TV, and this kind of cable can produce a decent picture. But it's also very limiting because the black and white, and color video signals are all sent together through this cable and it's easy for the colors to bleed over into other colors and lose detail and sharpness. If your DVD p[layer comes with a S-video cable this can dramatically improve the video as this cable can separate out the black and white from the color signals resulting in greater clarity. Finally if you get a DVD player that can use a component-video cable that can be the best yet because it also splits the color signal too, allowing even greater color range and detail.

* It's good to have an aspect control feature on a DVD player too. Many DVD movies are coming now in different formats to fit whatever TV you have. The aspect control lets you take advantage of this and tune the movie to the specific ratio that best fits the size of your television screen.

* Some DVD players have multi-angle capability built in and that can be useful at times too. It doesn't work with all DVDs, but with those that are compatible, it's pretty cool. It actually allows you to adjust the picture angle so that you can view the action from different perspectives.

* Having surround sound decoding built into your DVD players can be very useful too, especially if you have a Dolby Digital receiver and at least six speakers to achieve the 5.1 surround sound effect. If your receiver does not have the Dolby 5.1 decoder built into it then you need to have it decoded by the DVD player before it is sent to the receiver. Once at the receiver the signal is amplified and distributed to the appropriate speakers in the room.
If you wish to use the more recent 6.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems you will need to have the decoder for that on your DVD player too, and either 7 or 8 speakers to match.

These are some of the features that can be most useful when you are playing DVDs, so look for them the next time you want to buy a DVD player.