Denon DVD-1940

The basics

Denon DVD-1940 is a DVD player that comes from one of the most respected brands when it comes to DVD players. It has a no-nonsense design and is a bit bigger than the other DVD players on the market. It comes in silver and black, and has HDMI resolution control as well as Pure Direct.

The good

Those of us with massive DVD libraries might not want to upgrade to a Blu-ray player just yet - but an upscaling DVD deck like this can take your standard def discs and boost them to hi-def resolutions. While you’ll struggle to notice the difference on some players, this one boosts detail and sharpens edges nicely - handy if you’re watching on a big screen TV.

Audiophiles will also appreciate the DVD-1940’s support for SACD and DVD-Audio music discs, which offer much cleaner, richer audio than CD.

The bad

There’s not much to dislike about this player, although at around £200 it’s certainly far from the cheapest DVD deck around - in fact, you could buy a Blu-ray player for a few extra quid. And if we’re being particularly picky, we’d say Denon could do with employing some fresh blood in the design department - the boxy, boring styling is a disappointment.

The bottom line

Too expensive to be paired up with a small, cheap TV - but if you’re a projector or big screen TV user that wants to give your old DVDs a new lease of life, it’s a fine choice.