# Which plays movie DVDs better: PS2 or XBOX? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829 "2001-11-23T01:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829/1 "2001-11-23T01:15:16Z")
Has anyone used both to play DVD movies, and have an opinion which is better? ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829/2 "2001-11-23T02:33:10Z")
I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about DVD players (it’s my job, after all), and I can tell you right now that what’s important is not the DVD player, but rather 1) The TV it is connecting to, and 2) the cables used to connect them with. You will not notice a hell of a lot of difference between a $100 DVD player and a $300 DVD player if they’re connected to a crappy 25" TV with standard RCA cables. Now, if you were connected to, say, a 32" or 36" flat screen TV, you might notice a slight difference. DVD hardware is all pretty standard, and they should pretty much have similar qualities. It’s all about connectivity capabilities, really. Since the X-Box takes advantage of HDTV where the PS2 does not, I can guarentee that the X-Box at least has a higher potential than the PS2. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829/3 "2001-11-23T02:58:27Z")
I should mention that I haven’t yet seen the X-Box’s capabilities, but I have seen the PS2’s compared to a standard DVD player. They both looked the same. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829/4 "2001-11-23T03:55:26Z")
There were a few reported fears about poor DVD quality when the PS2 first came out (due to a laser that wasn’t optimized for running DVD’s). The idea was that the laser was meant more for playing video games (thus using the laser only for a few seconds at a time) rather than DVD’s (which require constant reading of the disk). I don’t know if these fears had been substantiated… if they were, then I’m sure Sony fixed the problems with subsequent PS2 models. ---
**Author:** ![phailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phailure)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829/5 "2001-11-23T07:30:26Z")
In order to get a good quality picture output from the ps2 you have to buy an s-vhs cable, or fix the green-screen problem and get a _real_ scart cable… disabling the macrovision protection wouldn’t hurt either… ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-plays-movie-dvds-better-ps2-or-xbox/94829/6 "2001-11-23T09:17:47Z")
To get good quality picture out of ANY DVD player requires an S-Video connection (Component cables are even better, but not many TV’s have those connections). Basic RCA cables encounter too many RFI’s and drop the signal, and on older TV’s the picture quality could look similar to VHS players. Upgraded RCA cables (Like good Monster cables) could give you decent picture quality, but if you want better picture quality, get S-Video.