Hooking up a DVD player to a computer monitor is wholly dependent on the hardware involved. Depending what output options that your DVD player has and what input options your monitor has, you can have a wonderful experience or less than satisfactory one.
If you have a newer DVD player, one with DVI output, and an LCD monitor with DVI input, you can hook your DVD player to your monitor with no problems. Just hook your cable in and go. It's the same with HDMI to HDMI, but there are less computer monitors with HDMI input.
But, what if you have an older CRT monitor that has stunning clarity but no DVI input? Then, you can purchase a DVI/HDMI to VGA cable, which will attach to any monitor. However, there will most likely be some loss of quality as the output is digital while the input is analog. This loss may be very insignificant, and you may be happy with the output. Again, it depends on the DVD player and the monitor.
If your DVD player does not have an HDMI output, you will need a composite and S-Video to VGA video converter. These devices are capable of switching the signal in order to hook up DVD players, video games, and other devices to the computer monitor, but they come with a price. The video is not as crisp and clear as it would be if it were coming directly from the computer.
If plugging your DVD player into your computer monitor is something you would like to try, you should first determine what quality you are looking for. The best quality will obviously come from a direct digital connection. All other connections will cause a loss of quality. This loss may be small and relatively unnoticeable, or it may be very significant. One thing to remember is loss of quality is subjective. You may think the picture looks beautiful, while someone else thinks it's less than stunning. The best thing to do is give it a try and see what you think.
