DVD
players officially emerged on the market in 1997 and changed the way
people watched movies in their home. In June 2006, major studios stopped
producing VHS movies, giving digital video the monopoly. Now newer technologies
are bringing the price of DVD consuls down.
Most DVD players will also play:
• Audio CDs, CD-Rs
• VCDs
• MPEG-4 (DivX)
• Computers that have DVD-ROM can play some bonus features included
on some films.
China is the largest producer of DVD players – in 2002 they produced
more than 70% of the world’s output. The massive amount of production,
in addition to the popularity of high definition, has brought the price
of the players way down – usually less than $100.