Just over a decade ago, I was in Austin, Texas for the first winter snow there in ages. I remember seeing cars creep over a hill, then their brake lights going on once the drivers found out that the hill was covered in ice. The cars would slide slowly down the hill at a leisurely pace, not even walking speed, and end up in the pileup at the bottom. This is what I think of when I consider the state of DVD: slow progress towards the inevitable. It's not a question of whether or not everyone will be using DVD, the question is when.

DVD stands for either "Digital Video Disc" or "Digital Versatile Disc"; the market hasn't quite settled on either yet. Think of a Compact Disc, only for video. All the features that make CDs a great medium for music make DVDs a great medium for movies: the ability to jump instantly to any part of the disc, immaculate digital picture, convenient form factor, amazing sound. DVDs will catch on faster than CDs did because CDs have familiarized the public with the concept behind DVDs, and DVD players have already dropped down to the US$200-300 range, which will drive mass adoption.

As one of the inventors of the DVD format, it's no surprise that Sony was one of the first companies to come out with DVD players, and the first to come out with a high-end model. Sony's DVP-S7000 has been around for a little over a year, and in that time, it's garnered a reputation as a stellar performer, racking up a string of awards from audio and video publications. Sony is on the verge of coming out with an even better player, so it's now possible to get the DVP-S7000 for slightly more than half of what it cost just a month ago.

The unit is sleek and attractive, about the size of a VCR. The DVP-S7000 also plays audio CDs, video CDs, and just about anything that looks like a CD. It would probably coax a great picture out of a slice of cheese if you could cut it into the right shape. An angled front panel contains basic transport controls and a large fluorescent display showing the status of the current disc: time, chapter, disc type, play status, and a bunch of stuff I never pay attention to. I found I could read all of the important parts of the display from about 10 feet away, a useful feature.

The front panel drops downward to expose the disc tray and some additional controls. All the important functions of the remote are replicated here, so the player doesn't become useless if the batteries on the remote run down. The way the panel moves, the quiet way the disc tray slides out, and the controls, all feel smooth and silky. It *feels* like a high-end piece of equipment.

As you'd expect from Sony's top DVD player, the video quality is amazing. There are gold-plated RCA jacks in the back for component video output as well as the usual S-video, composite video and stereo RCA outputs. There are also optical and coaxial outputs for Dolby AC-3 sound. This means that the DVP-S7000 can take advantage of just about any high-end audio or video features your TV and stereo system may support. My own TV and stereo are pretty minimal, and it *still* looked and sounded great, so I imagine it would be breathtaking on a decent A/V system.

The DVP-S7000 has a couple of features I haven't noticed on other players. The first is the Parental Control feature which lets you determine the rating level of a disc that can be played without entering a special code. Apparently, DVDs can be encoded with rating information (G, PG, NC-17, R, etc.) that make this possible. The other feature is an optional onscreen meter that displays the current bit rate, i.e., the complexity of the video signal being processed. I could never make this meter rise above about 75% capacity, even during the trippy sequences at the end of "2001: A Space Odyssey". I have no idea what the practical use of this feature would be, but I like it a lot.

I'm trying to be critical of this piece of equipment, but I'm having trouble thinking of what I'd change about it if I had the opportunity. The only things I can think of are minor quibbles: I'd put the bit rate indicator in the black part of a screen when viewing letterboxed movies, and I'd like to be able to set preferences for my favorite discs and have the unit recall them automatically the next time I use the DVD, a feature available in some of Sony's CD players for about a decade now. And the remote control unit is a bit bulky.

Sony's DVP-S7000 has pushed me past the point of no return. If I can help it, I will never go without a DVD player again. I've become used to razor-sharp freeze frames, great picture quality and fantastic sound. There are a couple of thousand titles available on DVD already, and most of the music and video stores in my area stock the latest releases. Even better, Amazon.com has recently started selling DVDs, and many are available for $15-20. In my household, it's going to be a DVD Christmas.