A portable DVD player is a mobile, battery powered

DVD player A DVD player is a machine that plays DVDs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. Some DVD players will also play audio CDs. DVD players are connected to a television to ...

in the format of a

mobile device A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. ...

. Many recent players play files from

USB flash drives A flash drive (also thumb drive, memory stick, and pen drive/pendrive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and ...

and SD cards.

History

The first portable DVD player was introduced in 1998 with the

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...

DVD-L10. They are made to be practical for "on the go" use. Many are able to perform secondary functions such as playing music from audio CDs and displaying images from

digital cameras A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Digital cameras are now ...

camcorders A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-sw ...

Impact

The popularity of low-cost battery powered portable DVD players in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

allows families to watch Chinese and South Korean programs on

SD card Secure Digital (SD) is a proprietary, non-volatile, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA). Owing to their compact size, SD cards have been widely adopted in a variety of portable consumer electronics, including dig ...

s and

. North Korean defectors run activist groups, such as Fighters for a Free North Korea that smuggle DVDs and SD cards into the country "to introduce North Koreans to the rest of the world". Activist groups planned to distribute DVD copies of '' The Interview'' via balloon drops. The balloon drop was postponed after the North Korean government referred to the plan as a de facto "declaration of war."

Design

Most PDPs use TFT LCD screens, some using LED backlighting. The most common PDP screen size is , although some are as large as - the larger size competing with

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

s. The battery weight and need for portability presented problems - including problems with mechanical shocks interrupting the reading of the DVD. Some have articulating screens that rotate 180 degrees & fold flat. Portable DVD players generally have connections for additional screens and a car lighter plug. Some PDPs had

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

docks,

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

and

slots built in. Some can play videos in other formats such as MP4,

DivX DIVX (Digital Video Express) is a discontinued digital video format. Created in part by Circuit City, it was an unsuccessful attempt to create an alternative to video rental in the United States. The format's poor reception from consumers resu ...

, either from CDs, flash memory cards or USB external hard disks, and some DVD players had a USB video recorder. Additional features found on PDPs include: * Wi-Fi access, allowing it to play Internet TV. *

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

, allowing users to play content from or to other devices like

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s. * AV inputs for external

game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location conne ...

s; now some selected models have built-in emulators for playing, usually retro, video games. * The ability to display more than just video DVDs, such as other video formats, image formats and music formats * A built-in digital TV tuner, so you can watch digital TV on the go.

Price range

Prices of portable DVD players vary, usually retailing for about US$40–300. When first released, portable DVD players would retail at over $1,000 and were only manufactured in Japan. Price drops in 2015 have led to some devices being retailed for as little as $40.

References

External links

Portable DVD Players info
from CNet {{DVD

DVD Player A DVD player is a machine that plays DVDs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. Some DVD players will also play audio CDs. DVD players are connected to a television to ...