# PS2 as DVD Player ...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-as-dvd-player/159849>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 8, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-as-dvd-player/159849 "2003-03-08T03:41:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-as-dvd-player/159849/41 "2003-03-13T20:52:14Z")

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A friend of mine has an Xbox and a PS2. Both have flaws, but the XBox’s are a bit more bearable.

The PS2’s video seems to be interlaced, which gives it a more grainy look on bigger tv screens. The XBox isn’t, but it has that stair-stepping problem on reds that a lot of cheap dvd players seem to have. It also doesn’t have the ps2’s annoying compatibility problems.

Of course, both are better than nothing, and if you get sick of the dvd’s, at least you can toss in a video game or two… 🙂

Didn’t notice any sound problems on either, but my friend doesn’t have either hooked up to any special hardware.

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-as-dvd-player/159849/42 "2003-03-14T00:16:18Z")

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If I recall correctly, the first PS2 has one kind of dvd drivers then they made another driver that came with their offical remote to make dvds play better. Then they made a new ps2 that has these drivers already. So, a lot depends on what version ps2 you have. I don’t know about the sound part since I don’t use it, but it does play with captions just fine, if you want to turn those on instead.

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**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-as-dvd-player/159849/43 "2003-03-14T03:23:26Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by handy \*  
> \*\*If I recall correctly, the first PS2 has one kind of dvd drivers then they made another driver that came with their offical remote to make dvds play better. Then they made a new ps2 that has these drivers already. So, a lot depends on what version ps2 you have. I don’t know about the sound part since I don’t use it, but it does play with captions just fine, if you want to turn those on instead. \*\*

I have the latest drivers, thus all the problems I mention prior stand. However, you’re correct in that the older drivers had even more problems.

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**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-as-dvd-player/159849/44 "2003-03-14T03:49:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by handy \*  
> \*\*“FWIW, that happens on some stand alone players as well. Forget exactly what causes it, though.”
> 
> On the back of the box of some dvds in some tiny lettering they say its a two layer dvd & that their might be a pausing between layers. Could that be it? \*\*

Yes, even with updated drivers the Playstation 2 is not the best at handling layer changes. The worst one I’ve found is _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_ widescreen, where it goes beserk.

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