PS2 as a DVD player?

This may be an old question for some, but is the PS2 a decent DVD movie player. I do not or never have owned a DVD player. I was considering buying a DVD player in the $200 range. However I would pay $300 for a DVD player and PS2 system in one as long as the PS2 DVD functions similarly to a $200 stand alone DVD player.

I find that the PS2 provides an adequate DVD player, as long as you have a regular TV and don\'t have a sound system worth over a couple hundred dollars.  

If all you\'re gonna do is watch DVD\'s on a regular TV through the TV\'s speakers, then I say go for it.

For those with more elaborate entertainment systems, (i.e. HDTV and surround sound) the PS2 DVD function is not quite up to par.

Welcome to the boards!

Well im no movie buff and like you haven\'t owned a DVD previously. However its good to have DVD features with the PS2 to keep up with technology. As a DVD player I can\'t really fault it. Some anonying features which the manual didn\'t talk about like altering sound gauges and screen ratios which at first appear tricky, other than that its all good.

The only downfall is that the European model can\'t output colour RGB without either a modifcation or a disc swap with DVD region X.

To directly answer your question the PS2 DVD is fine and will certainly be as good if not better than the budget players you were looking at.

If youre from europe you can buy this to play region 1 movies



Some info!

DVD Region X - Import Player

Just plug in the cartridge and play import DVD Movies!

Lets you play Import DVD movies on your PS2 console. No modifications to your console are needed.

* Simply plug into either memory card slot, load the Region X CD - and Play!
* Plays PAL and NTSC#
* Play Region 1 and Region 2 DVD Movies
* Removes unwanted "Green Screen" effect when watching DVD movies on your TV via a SCART lead

# Your TV needs to be able to operate in NTSC mode - som older TV´s may not support this mode.

Troggy was right on when he said "adeqaute."  Quality-wise, the average consumer would think it\'s just as good as any other player out there.  Compatibilty is so-so since some DVDs have been reported that don\'t play on the PS2 (La Bamaba doesn\'t work half-way through the movie for me).  User-friendly-wise it sucks.  There have been countless posts that have been asking how to correctly configure their PS2 DVD playing, and there are other things that are annoying (no LCD counter/chapter display, no remaining time counter, etc...).  Get beyond that and it seems to do the job- getting your DVD movies on your TV.

The home theater peoples always seem to bash it, with good reason- Click here.

We need to say up front that the PS2 is a game console first and foremost. Its performance as a DVD player does not even match DVD players costing $100 less. So, if you are looking primarily for a DVD player, you can do better. If you want a game console that can double as a DVD player for the sake of convenience, then the PS2 might be what you are looking for. We are not reviewing this as a game machine here, only a DVD player.

The video output is below par for a DVD player, and if you factor in that it plays games, it\'s still a poor DVD player. Now with that said, even a poor DVD player blows away VHS and laserdisc.

any idea how i can play other region DVD\'s in the US version PS2..?

It works fine for me. I don\'t buy DVD\'s and I rent them occasionally so I find it much more then adequate. I find it to be a bonus, cause if the PS2 didn\'t have a DVD player I wouldn\'t have one nor would I be looking into buying one as well.

I watch a movie once and I rarely want to see it again, and I rarely go out of my way to watch a movie a 2nd time

What THX said is correct.  The video quality of the PS2 DVD player is inferior even to much cheaper dedicated players.  In addition, the audio quality is noticably inferior to other players, at least when using the stereo cables.  I have not tested audio from the optical digital cable.  The PS2 DVD player is obviously an interlaced player, but I take it you weren\'t planning on spending the money to buy a progressive model, so that doesn\'t make much difference.  It also does not output widescreen anamorphic images with the current set of DVD drivers.  Therefore you cannot use it adequately with a 16:9 display.  You would have to use some sort of zoom mode on your widescreen TV, and that reveals a very noticable screening effect on large televisions.  It\'s hard to explain, but suffice to say the image really deteriorates when you zoom it.

I think you should buy the $200 player, and use the PS2 just for games.

ps2 dvd player does many same things a $200 dvd player does.

It have many same function and digital audio optical output for 5.1 sound channel like Dolby Digital and DTS.  Which is good for receiver, but if you have hdtv, sadly, the ps2 player run in interlaced mode like most $200 dvd player does.  Which I think ps2 is a cheap dvd player that have many function a $200 stand a lone dvd player does and take up less space.

Bottom line, if you want games and dvd, ps2 is all the way to go.  But if you only want a cheap dvd player, $200 is not bad a deal.

* Play Region 1 and Region 2 DVD Movies

It is not correcet -Play Region 1 - 6 DVD Movies

[Evi]

OK so anyway...the PS2 DVD player is actually quite good. It supports Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Also, when I play CD\'s on the PS2, it sounds better coming out of the PS2 on the same speakers as my other receiver. The sound is awesome...the picture quality is the same as DVD players of the same price range. They have much faster DVD players now, and as technology progresses, they\'re only going to get better. Plus I heard that the Hard Drive for the PS2 will enhance both the PS2 CD player and DVD player. Good luck!!

I think people are being kind, compared to my Sony DVD player, which cost about £50 more than the PS2, the PS2\'s picture is pollution to my eyes, I\'m sorry for people that use it as their player, and I know some can\'t afford a dedicated player but I think even the cheapest standalone outperforms the PS2 in picture quality and especially usabillity. All IMO

MrWhiteUK... Sorry, but that´s nonsens ! The PS2 DVD Player is superior over all other SONY DVD Players (in Picture Quality that is) ! Several DVD Mags have tested it and all of them say, that the Picture is like on some very high end DVD Players.
The optical Output is superb (as usual) and the only think that sucks from time to time is the noise of the fan in very quiet passages of a movie... If SONYs PS2 remote hits the stores, the PS2 will also have a zoom or counter and stuff !
So, for this price the PS2 DVD Player is the BEST thing out there (and you get a PS2 !!! )
I´ve moded and rgb-Fixed my PS2, so I can watch all Region DVDs and have no Macrovision at all... IT ROCKS !!!

(I own a Mitsubishi 72cm TV and a 5.1 DD/dts SONY STR-DB 830QS Surround-Receiver with optical-in and High-End Speakers)

"The PS2 DVD Player is superior over all other SONY DVD Players (in Picture Quality that is) !"

And I\'m the one talking nonsense :rolleyes:

From what I have seen the PS2 isn\'t superior to ANY of Sony\'s othet players, or from any other manufacturer for that matter.

(I own a 72cm Sony Trinitron, a Sony DVD-S536D player, a Sony DB-930 Silver Receiver and B&W series 2\'s for 5.1)

I own a Sony 7700 DVD player which many consider to be a top performer.  I also own a PS2 and have done several side-by-side comparisons in both video and audio quality and have found that the PS2 stands up very well in the video department.  It is certainly not as good as the 7700 but it is better than my older Toshiba player. Overall the video holds its own and unless you know what to look for, many people will not see a notible difference.

The audio section quite simply cannot measure to the 7700 however.  The internal DACS of the PS2 are inferior in every way to the 7700.  This does not however mean that the sound is bad...it isn\'t.  It just does not produce the same soundstage or depth of field that a higher end DVD player can.

Equipment used to test:

Denon 5800
Mirage OM-6 fronts
Mirage OM-C2 center
Mirage OM-R2 rears
Mirage SubStrata 1500 sub woofer in front
ACI Titan sub in the rear.

For 300 bucks AND the ability to play all of those great PS2 games, it is a steal as a DVD player.  As a standalone DVD player though you would get a better dedicated player for the 300 clams...but not by much.