n00B DVD / Dolby Digital question?

[Deft]

I'm trying to sort out a leaving present for someone.
He said he'd like an all-in-one style system but for the money i think it'll be rubbish. I'm inclined to just get him a DVD player and he can get the rest.
Basically i'm still a little confused as to what to get him.

As i understand it, the usual way would be to run the optical/coaxial out of the DVD player to a digital receiver (i'm assuming that every dvd player will have some sort of digital audio output?)

The digital receiver will have an optical/coaxial input and a 6 channel speaker output (and does the decoding onboard).

Now on some ads (Richersounds) for DVD players it says "Digital Decoder" (Yes/No).
Why would you need a decoder onboard the DVD player - presumably with no amplification so you'd still need to run it to the receiver (presumably it has 6 analogue outs?).

I just need to know that whatever DVD player i get him, he'll be able to hook it up to a dolby digital system at some point in the future. Does him using a PS2 have any bearing on this - can he just hook the optical out of that straight upto any receiver he gets in the future?

Finally - any hot picks for capable DVD players in the £70ish range. Simple and stylish - will probably just be used for DVD movies (though compat. with VCD/SVCD/DVD-R probably handy anyway, multi-region if poss.)

Phew! Thanks for any help!

 

[Zacabeb]

As for DVD players with onboard decoders, as far as I know they're mainly intended for older amps/receivers with no built-in DTS decoding, even older amplifiers with 6-channel inputs but only Dolby Pro Logic built in, or playback of multichannel SACD and DVD Audio if sported by the player. It's redundant if the amplifier already can do all that you'd want or if SACD and/or DVD Audio aren't important.

The PS2 should work fine on most amps, it will usually pass 2-channel PCM (16-bit / 44.1 kHz) and in some games, Dolby Digital 5.1 during cut scenes. Gameplay audio is not in Dolby Digital since the PS2 can't handle the real-time encoding well enough, so games with Dolby Digital in the cut scenes are ouput as PCM audio encoded in either Dolby Surround or Dolby Pro Logic II. A small number of games have been released with DTS 4.1 audio.

 

[hornydragon]

deft you are spot on mate if £70 is budget then you are right go for just a DVD player
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...71554/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_2_3/026-7170852-9528464 very good!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...71554/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_2_4/026-7170852-9528464 again V. good
Check to see if cheaper than RS and get there Price promise £10 extra off and buy a good scart cable to go with it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009MGDM/ref=er_ra_acc_dp_1/026-7170852-9528464 would be ideal