(ARA) - Your next movie-viewing experience doesn't need to include overpriced tickets, sticky seats and talkative neighbors. With a new DVD player, you can enjoy all the sounds and visuals of a big-screen flick in the comfort of your own home. Digital video disc (DVD) technology is the future of home entertainment. In fact, no electronic component delivers more home entertainment bang for your buck than a DVD player.

Why is DVD Better?

DVD offers movie lovers many things the VHS videotape format cannot. The greatest benefit is picture quality that's twice as sharp as standard VHS. Movies on VHS videotapes often have a noticeable graininess to them -- particularly if they've been viewed multiple times. With DVD, the colors are rich, and the picture is crisp and clear -- each and every viewing.

The audio quality of DVD is equally impressive. The sound is typically CD-quality or better. By connecting your DVD and television to a home audio system capable of Dolby Digital surround sound, you'll get an audio experience as clear and distinctive as you would get in a movie theater.

Other extras offered by DVDs that enhance the movie-watching experience include on-screen menus. These menus provide viewers access to features such as original movie trailers, interviews with directors and actors, biographies of movie personalities, as well as scenes that may have been deleted from the title's original release.

With a DVD movie, you are in control of the action. Unlike videotape, which can only move ahead or reverse from one point, a DVD movie allows you to search, scan and even jump to different parts of a movie.

Becoming Mainstream

DVD players are becoming increasingly popular in the average American home. According to the DVD Entertainment Group, consumers bought more than 9.8 million DVD video players in 2000, nearly three times as many as in 1999.

One reason DVDs are so popular is the fact that DVDs do not deteriorate over time or wear out from extended use like VHS tapes do. This makes them a good option for the movie collector, or anyone with children who watch videos over and over.

In addition, many DVD video players have parental control features that prevent children from watching movies with certain ratings. Some DVD titles come with an edited version of a film that may be more suitable for younger viewers.

Key Buying Considerations

As you assemble a home theater system, you might ask yourself whether you should invest in a DVD player or just get a new VCR. First, make sure your television can handle a DVD player before you make a purchase. To take full advantage of the superior sound and picture quality offered by DVD, you will need an S-video connection on your television. If your television is less than 5 years old, you probably have S-video capability.

DVD players are ideally designed for surround-sound systems which typically have five speakers: three in front and two in back, plus a subwoofer. However, even if you don't have a multiple-speaker sound system, you can still benefit from the format's superior audio capabilities when compared to the audio delivered by VHS.

In fact, according to John Damrow, vice president of merchandising for Fingerhut, a leading general merchandise catalog company, customers looking to replace their audio CD player might be better served by buying a DVD player, which can also play audio CDs. "A DVD player can provide all the functions of an audio CD player while opening up a new world of high-quality video programming with features VHS cannot provide," Damrow says.

If you are thinking about getting a digital or High Definition television, you should probably consider getting a Progressive Scan DVD player. What's Progressive Scan you ask? First a quick background on televisions. The picture you see is made of separate lines. The picture tube in the TV starts drawing lines on your screen starting from the top and working to the bottom. It draws one line at a time starting with line 1 then line 3 and then line 5 and so on until it reaches the bottom of the screen. Then it goes back to the top and draws line 2 then line 4 and so on. It does this so quickly that you only see a complete picture. This is called "Interlace". It's good, but it's not great. This is what causes letters to be a little fuzzy on screen as the lines don't quite match up. Progressive scan starts with line 1 then draws line 2 and so on. It draws a complete picture in one scan. So, images are sharper. But to take advantage of Progressive scan, you need a digital televison

Some of the newer DVD players also play MP3 files that have been burned onto a CD-R or CD-RW disc. Some also play CD's that have been encoded in high definition and some also play the new format DVD Audio which records music in 6 channels like Dolby Digital.

As with any technology, increased popularity means lower prices and better features. For the avid movie-watcher looking toward the future, the advantages of a DVD player provide a good investment choice -- and a great way to skip waiting in line for a $5 tub of popcorn!

For more information on DVD players, visit the Fingerhut Web site at www.fingerhut.com. Courtesy of ARA Content, www.ARAcontent.com, e-mail: info@ARAcontent.com EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information, contact Chris Bauer at Padilla Speer Bearsdley Public Relations, (612) 872-3757, or Ben Saukko at Fingerhut, (952) 932-3529.