Official OPPO DV-983H w/ ABT VRS FAQ/Dump [Text View] - Page 19

uni_panther

11-28-08, 04:05 PM

Well I retract my previous statement. For whatever reason the Oppo and the Yamaha just won't agree on 1080p and I'm not sure which one is the culprit. I bought a Blu-Ray disc this morning and popped it in my PS3 thinking I was going to have issues because many people have and after the Oppo not displaying 1080p I was thinking the worst. Well the Blu-Ray played flawlessly. Not a single hiccup. Worked fantastic. Later on I had a friend come over and he brought over his stand alone Blu-Ray player. We hooked it up and it ran flawlessly as well through the receiver. Hmm thats weird. Tried the Oppo, nope doesn't work.

I only have 1 single HDMI cord running from my OUT on my receiver so obviously if it works on PS3 or another stand alone player it should work on the Oppo as well. It doesn't. Just to be thorough, we changed cables anyway and did all the same tests. Everything worked fine with everything, except the Oppo. It makes absolutely zero sense since the Oppo works just fine directly to the tv but the moment you have it run through the Yamaha there is an issue. This makes it sounds like it is the Yamahas fault. However evrything else works flawlessly 1080p through the Yamaha, so that makes it looks like it is the Oppos fault.

At this point it is a moot point. My main worry and concern was going to have some type of 1080p issue through my receiver which would really be a pain considering that the PS3 is my only Blu-Ray player and I really wanted to stay hooked strictly HDMI with my PS3 setup. With the Oppo it really isn't a big deal. Easy work around. Since it is only standard DVD optical audio will give me everything I need for standard DVD. I will simply disable the audio from HDMI in the setup menu and just have it output optical audio. So not a big deal but I found it interesting none the less and thought maybe people here might want to hear this. My tv is a Kuro 151, my receiver is a Yamaha RX-V3900 and then of course the Oppo 983. If anyone out there happens to have this same setup I would like to hear if it works for you, just out of curiosity.

rdgrimes

11-28-08, 04:38 PM

If anyone out there happens to have this same setup I would like to hear if it works for you, just out of curiosity.

The 1900/3900 are pretty new, but there are lots of folks around here using the 983 with a variety of Yammie AVRs and no problems. Myself included. You should email Oppo, since they are the best potential source of info regarding the 983 with different AVRs. I know that Oppo has some Yamaha AVRs in house for testing. I'm certain they are interested in knowing if this AVR is incompatible with the 983.

RapalloAV

11-28-08, 09:02 PM

lvaughn

11-29-08, 10:42 PM

I'm considering replacing a Denon DVD-2800 progressive scan player. I should say that I am please with the results of that player with my Pioneer PDP-5080HD. Would this OPPO be much of a step up for me from a video perspective?

Also, I have an eight year old Sony STR-DB840 that will not allow me to boost bass over the 5.1 multi-channel analog inputs. I've noted on the blu-ray forums that the players decrease bass 10db over analog (for instance, the panny 55 and the sony s550) due to, I believe, bandwidth considerations. I realize the DV-983H is not a blu-ray player, but I'm wondering if I set up the analog connection in order to use its SCAD capabilities if I will find the same -10db bass issue.

Any input would be most welcome!

Neuromancer

11-29-08, 11:14 PM

You may have to alter the bass plus/minus depending on the location of the subwoofer, but there is no inherent need to boost the subwoofer by 10dB.

Force of Nature

11-30-08, 04:38 AM

Hi Michel,

I am not sure if other owners of the European version of the Oppo 983 DVD player have had the same experience but when I recently upgraded the firmware with the latest version as found on page 1 of this thread I suddenly could not play any DVD's anymore since the region code of the player had changed from region 2 to region 1.
Furthermore I notice that the TV system had changed from PAL to NTSC and the HDMI output was changed from 1080I to 480P.

I was able to set the settings straight again but since I did not expect these things to happen (I should have known better perhaps) I thought I would let you know.

Best regards,

Rainer

Soon, the first improved PAL firmware will be on opposhop.com :)

scsiraid

11-30-08, 10:52 AM

Also, I have an eight year old Sony STR-DB840 that will not allow me to boost bass over the 5.1 multi-channel analog inputs. I've noted on the blu-ray forums that the players decrease bass 10db over analog (for instance, the panny 55 and the sony s550) due to, I believe, bandwidth considerations. I realize the DV-983H is not a blu-ray player, but I'm wondering if I set up the analog connection in order to use its SCAD capabilities if I will find the same -10db bass issue.

Any input would be most welcome!

Yes... any redirected bass from small speakers to the sub will be attenuated by 10db (or 15db) over analog or digital PCM connections. The receiver/amplifier must add the 10db (or 15db) gain on the subwoofer channel to restore proper levels. I dont believe SACD or DVD-A actually use the subwoofer channel for signal but the redirected bass will definitely be effected. If you mains are 'large' then it will not matter.

Here is an excellent thread on the subject.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748147

A clip from that thread....

Analogue multichannel requirements
Player should perform bass management
Player's SW output should be LFE (if no bass management), or Lower5dB(LFE) + Lower15dB(Redirected bass).
Player MUST take 10dB difference into account when redirecting bass. If wrong, the error is uncorrectable in the receiver.
Player's SW output will be 10dB or 15dB low (possibly 0dB or 5dB for some awkward SACD players).
Receiver should offer options to boost SW input by 0-15dB (a dedicated configurable setting for multichannel input).

rdgrimes

11-30-08, 11:17 AM

I dont believe SACD or DVD-A actually use the subwoofer channel for signal

Actually, they do.... a lot.

scsiraid

11-30-08, 11:46 AM

Actually, they do.... a lot.

Interesting... I stand corrected. I spoke with Denon a long time ago when I had a 4800 which didnt compensate for the 10/15db cut in SW level. The told me that DVD-A and SACD didnt put any 'music' in the SW channel. I guess that will teach me to listen to a CSR.

lvaughn

11-30-08, 11:47 AM

scsiraid

11-30-08, 11:50 AM

I would appear important info is that my front speakers are Polk towers with built-in subs set to large. Actually all my speakers are Polks set to large. I do not have a separate sub.

So you have nothing hooked to the SW output of the amp... right? The to be complete, you would need to steer your .1 info into the mains. Does you receiver have a 'double bass' or 'steer LFE to main' setting?

lvaughn

11-30-08, 12:14 PM

So you have nothing hooked to the SW output of the amp... right? The to be complete, you would need to steer your .1 info into the mains. Does you receiver have a 'double bass' or 'steer LFE to main' setting?

Correct, I have nothing hooked to the SW output of the amp. I can steer LFE to the mains for digital sound input only. It appears potentially my problem is that my amp does no processing the the 5.1 analog inputs so I can't redirect the LFE or adjust bass in that mode.

In reviewing the 983 manual, I looks like I set the subwoofer to "Off" the other speakers to "Large". In doing so, do I still suffer this -10db issue?

scsiraid

11-30-08, 12:43 PM

Correct, I have nothing hooked to the SW output of the amp. I can steer LFE to the mains for digital sound input only. It appears potentially my problem is that my amp does no processing the the 5.1 analog inputs so I can't redirect the LFE or adjust bass in that mode.

In reviewing the 983 manual, I looks like I set the subwoofer to "Off" the other speakers to "Large". In doing so, do I still suffer this -10db issue?

That sounds like the right thing to do. However, I dont know what the player will do with any LFE content... it could 1) throw it away or 2) boost it 10 db and send it to the mains. Does the manual cover what it will do with SW = NO? My gut would be that it would throw it away.

rdgrimes

11-30-08, 01:23 PM

Interesting... I stand corrected. I spoke with Denon a long time ago when I had a 4800 which didnt compensate for the 10/15db cut in SW level. The told me that DVD-A and SACD didnt put any 'music' in the SW channel. I guess that will teach me to listen to a CSR.

Many multichannel discs are redirecting much of the LF sound to the LFE channel, but really there is no clear pattern to what the mastering engineers are doing. I have multichannel discs that have nothing at all in the LFE. But the general trend is that they apply a crossover and send everything off to the LFE. This is clearly not what the LFE channel was intended for, but since when has that been a factor.....

lvaughn

11-30-08, 01:23 PM

That sounds like the right thing to do. However, I dont know what the player will do with any SW content... it could 1) throw it away or 2) boost it 10 db and send it to the mains. Does the manual cover what it will do with SW = NO? My gut would be that it would throw it away.

The manual does not say. I was hoping it would send that bass the the front speakers if they were set to "Large".

scsiraid

11-30-08, 03:03 PM

The manual does not say. I was hoping it would send that bass the the front speakers if they were set to "Large".

Understand the hope... but my gut says it will simply drop the .1 channel. You could verify this with Digital Video Essentials DVD. Play the audio tests and see if LFE content is diverted to mains... (my bet is that it wont be).

lvaughn

11-30-08, 03:26 PM

Understand the hope... but my gut says it will simply drop the .1 channel. You could verify this with Digital Video Essentials DVD. Play the audio tests and see if SW content is diverted to mains... (my bet is that it wont be).

I don't own the player yet. This may end up being a deal breaker for me. I hope not :(

scsiraid

11-30-08, 04:00 PM

I don't own the player yet. This may end up being a deal breaker for me. I hope not :(

I believe this behavior will not be limited to the Oppo. I would expect all players to work this way on analog outs.

I suggest you email Oppo and ask them what happens to LFE content when their bass management is set to NO SUBWOOFER. Id love to know their response.

rdgrimes

11-30-08, 04:28 PM

I don't own the player yet. This may end up being a deal breaker for me. I hope not :(

Do email Oppo with this question. Very few AVRs can apply bass management to MCh analog inputs, so I would expect that they have anticipated this issue. I can't really think of any reason to have the SW - on/off setting if it is not to direct LFE to the mains.

scsiraid

11-30-08, 04:41 PM

Do email Oppo with this question. Very few AVRs can apply bass management to MCh analog inputs, so I would expect that they have anticipated this issue. I can't really think of any reason to have the SW - on/off setting if it is not to direct LFE to the mains.

I emailed them.

One reason to not direct LFE to mains would be to keep the voltage levels in range (since LFE would have to be at +10db level to be correct).

Neuromancer

11-30-08, 09:13 PM

GSB

12-01-08, 06:41 AM

Excellent.

Gary

Perpendicular

12-01-08, 06:39 PM

If the speakers are set to LARGE and Subwoofer is set to ON, then only LFE information is sent to the Subwoofer.

I wish the Subwoofer channel was engaged when the main speakers are set to large but this is not the case. I emailed Oppo about this and they tell me that there's no work around on the main speaker setting. This is just for the main speaker setting only.

scsiraid

12-01-08, 06:49 PM

I wish the Subwoofer channel was engaged when the main speakers are set to large but this is not the case. I emailed Oppo about this and they tell me that there's no work around on the main speaker setting. This is just for the main speaker setting only.

What do you mean by this? I would expect the operation to be exactly as Neuromancer said. With mains set to Large, the SW output should be LFE plus any redirected bass from any speaker set to 'small'. What do you maintain is happening?

Perpendicular

12-01-08, 06:55 PM

I don't know.
Ever since I've had my 980 and now 983 I notice that there's no low frequencies when subwoofer is on and the main speakers are set to large.

Neuromancer

12-01-08, 06:59 PM

That is what your receiver is for. Your receiver will have much more robust settings for channel crossovers, including sending double bass information (front mains and subwoofer share the same bass information).

The DVD player does not have the same processing as a receiver. So ideally you will want to send a full band signal to your receiver and have it do all the bass management processing for you. The DVD player is very basic in this regard.

If your receiver lacks any kind of bass management support, then you will have to switch between setting the mains to SMALL (Stereo or no LFE sources) and LARGE to suit the needs of the source material.

Beaker1024

12-01-08, 09:08 PM

Just ran into my first Disc issue with my 983. I tried watching "Schindler's List" (UPC 025192386626; ISBN 0-7832-9728-9) tonight it has a side A and B to the DVD. When I put it in to read side A it made a wierd sound (rubbing) and after some other noises came up as no disk. I tried the other side and I did get the menu for "continue movie side B" but the disk didn't sound good in the player.

To my eye the disk looks nice and flat. It has never been played before and has no scratchs at all. It's 100% like new, never played. I might just have a bad stamping / unbalanced disk? Bought the movie many years ago and finally thought I'd sit down and watch it.

If someone else has the same issue of the movie and a 983 can you simply see if you can get it to load up and also spin without the rubbing sounds?

Toonces T. Cat

12-01-08, 10:37 PM

If someone else has the same issue of the movie and a 983 can you simply see if you can get it to load up and also spin without the rubbing sounds?

I have the exact same DVD...UPC matches...and it works great. In your case, it still may be the DVD that is bad and not your OPPO 983. Universal refuses to talk about it, or even acknowledge there was a problem, but a number of their titles from that early period for the DVD format have gone bad. I have copies of Apollo 13, The Apostle, and Vertigo that display the exact same syptoms you describe above. I wrote and tried to call Universal, but never received a response that addressed the issue.

I bought replacement copies of the three films...different UPCs...and they all work just fine.

_toonces

GSB

12-02-08, 04:56 AM

Toonces, thanks for adding that experience. Sad, but true.

Gary

Beaker1024

12-02-08, 07:55 AM

Toonces - Thanks for the great information! I really appreciate the detailed response. I had figured it was 99% likely a disc issue and most likely not anything to do with the 983 player. It's a shame to have to spend money on the same movie twice.

I'm going to have to check my Apollo 13 copy that I haven't watched in years but definately did watch when I got it years ago. (It's also an early DVD era disk) Man that's dissappionting as it's the first time I've seen a DVD lifespan expire. That's sad.

Toonces T. Cat

12-02-08, 09:07 AM

I'm going to have to check my Apollo 13 copy that I haven't watched in years but definately did watch when I got it years ago. (It's also an early DVD era disk) Man that's dissappionting as it's the first time I've seen a DVD lifespan expire. That's sad.

I think it was a manufacturing issue. In fact, I forgot to mention it but the "rubbing" sound that you're hearing is actually the drive seeking a valid sector. When this first happened to my Apollo 13 disc...the first one to go bad...I tried ripping it with a decryptor and it just threw one CRC error after another. Whatever went wrong with the media apparently corrupted the data so badly that there's no valid sector the drive's read mechanism can get a lock on.

There used to be a thread at the DVDSpot forums that maintained a list of all of the Universal titles that went bad. It wasn't across the board, however, as I recall that versions of Animal House and An American Werewolf in London were both on the list. I have both of them and they are still fine. I suspect that it was a limited number number of titles that were pressed with bad materials over a brief period of time.

-Toonces

sremick

12-02-08, 10:27 AM

wmcclain

12-02-08, 10:48 AM

I think it was a manufacturing issue. In fact, I forgot to mention it but the "rubbing" sound that you're hearing is actually the drive seeking a valid sector. When this first happened to my Apollo 13 disc...the first one to go bad...I tried ripping it with a decryptor and it just threw one CRC error after another. Whatever went wrong with the media apparently corrupted the data so badly that there's no valid sector the drive's read mechanism can get a lock on.

I don't know if it applies to Apollo 13 (which I think is from Universal) but that behavior sounds a lot like the Sony ARccOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARccOS_Protection) copy protection scheme which caused a lot of trouble a while back.

But, as I recall, the Oppo players had no trouble with the problem discs.

-Bill

antennahead

12-02-08, 07:09 PM

I've actually gotten a new DVD that was bad and wouldn't play. Close visual inspection showed a subtle tiny distortion in the reflected pattern on the laser side if you held it to the light just so. Something you don't normally see on discs. I got it replaced from the store and the new copy didn't have that small distortion and played fine.

I don't remember what title, it was years ago.

I always inspect my new DVDs closely and see that pattern in the reflected layer often, sometimes so bad it makes me wonder if the disc will play, or last. I think the quality control may have gone down in recent years in the manufacturing process. I also get a fair amount of new discs that have "crap" on the readable side of the dics, almost a "film" like substance. I don't get that one either.

John

bwillcox

12-02-08, 08:22 PM

The 1900/3900 are pretty new, but there are lots of folks around here using the 983 with a variety of Yammie AVRs and no problems. Myself included. You should email Oppo, since they are the best potential source of info regarding the 983 with different AVRs. I know that Oppo has some Yamaha AVRs in house for testing. I'm certain they are interested in knowing if this AVR is incompatible with the 983.
One word of caution though. The 983 doesn't work with the Yamaha RX-Z11. I have tried three different 983s with my Z11 and there are HDMI problems with all of them (both video and audio). On the other hand, the 983s work fine with my two RX-V3800s (different systems).

BTW, I have notified both Yamaha and Oppo but neither had the other's product so I'm not optimistic that it's going to get fixed.

zrdb

12-02-08, 08:45 PM

I always inspect my new DVDs closely and see that pattern in the reflected layer often, sometimes so bad it makes me wonder if the disc will play, or last. I think the quality control may have gone down in recent years in the manufacturing process. I also get a fair amount of new discs that have "crap" on the readable side of the dics, almost a "film" like substance. I don't get that one either.

John

One thing about Charleston is the high humidity and the heat in the summer-those are murder on optical media-I know because I lived there
for 16 years.

uni_panther

12-02-08, 08:54 PM

One word of caution though. The 983 doesn't work with the Yamaha RX-Z11. I have tried three different 983s with my Z11 and there are HDMI problems with all of them (both video and audio). On the other hand, the 983s work fine with my two RX-V3800s (different systems).

BTW, I have notified both Yamaha and Oppo but neither had the other's product so I'm not optimistic that it's going to get fixed.

Hmm sounds like maybe I should be happy that my only problem is 1080p. All the other modes are flawless both audio and video. I can work around it by using a separate input on my tv and running optical audio out of the Oppo but more than likely I will just leave it at 1080i. That is the same as HD tv broadcasts and my Kuro does a great job anyway. This makes it easier since I don't have to change inputs. Maybe later there will be a firmware fix either from the Yamaha or the Oppo but I doubt it. It is a little dumb since it is the same company. I emailed ABT but have not heard nothing yet.

antennahead

12-02-08, 09:38 PM

One thing about Charleston is the high humidity and the heat in the summer-those are murder on optical media-I know because I lived there
for 16 years.

Yep, very true. All my media stay inside in a nice, climate controlled environment :)

I have often wondered if the "film" I mentioned on some DVDs I buy from Amazon are a result of climate changes from creation to storage to shipping. Most of these seem to come out of Kentucky. I have returned quite a few for this.

John

Bronco70

12-02-08, 11:59 PM

One thing about Charleston is the high humidity and the heat in the summer-those are murder on optical media-I know because I lived there
for 16 years.

But a wonderful city. And a guy named Carrier solved the heat and humidity problem long ago. For those that do not know, Charleston, SC is a great Christmas vacation destination.

OK, back on topic.

Joe

GSB

12-03-08, 04:07 AM

Maybe later there will be a firmware fix either from the Yamaha or the Oppo but I doubt it. It is a little dumb since it is the same company. Huh? What's the same company?

ggunnell

12-03-08, 07:20 AM

Anchor Bay. They make video processor chips used in both the Oppo 983 and many recent Yamaha receivers.

Perpendicular

12-03-08, 02:37 PM

I had the same problem with a James Bond title "Tomorrow Never Dies" about 5 years ago. It was the first dvd pressing of this movie. It was played only a few times previously. Then one day, it just wouldn't play. I tried it in 4 different players. I still have the first pressing of "The World is not Enough" and it's still okay.

jimtang

12-03-08, 08:37 PM

I just purchased an Oppo 983 and noticed there is quite a bit noise coming from the transport after I closed an empty tray. I'm not referring to the noise made while the tray is sliding back into the chassis, but the loud spinning-like noise made after the empty tray is closed. Its a bit odd that the unit is making this noise even with an empty tray.

Could I ask if other 983 owners are also getting these noise when they close an empty tray. I do note though that there is virtually no tray or transport noise while the unit is playing a disc.

Thanks in advance.

Neuromancer

12-03-08, 09:46 PM

The laser head will track back and forth for several seconds as it tries to find a disc. Once no disc is detected, the laser head will shut down.

paisley

12-03-08, 10:22 PM

If you had the previous BETA Firmware (11-0910) and you have the ABT1018/102 solution, then you should have experienced an issue with the HDMI not producing an image if you used Power to turn on the player. You had to use Eject in order to obtain an image.

The new firmware does not have this issue with the original two chipset hardware design.

I had the 11-0910 firmware on my original two chipset 983 (purchased in March) and was experiencing this issue.

I finally got around to updating to the 18-1108 firmware this evening and I am still experiencing this issue. I currently have the 983 connected to a Samsung LN32A550.

Powering the 983 on via the remote or the power button on front yields no picture. If I cycle the resolutions via the remote, I get a picture (just cycling from 1080p to 480p and back to 1080p). If I power on by pressing Eject, I also get a picture.

The Samsung does react to the 983 powering on ("Searching for Signal") but then displays "No Signal" after a moment until I cycle the resolutions or power off and back on with the eject button.

Is anybody else seeing this?

Neuromancer

12-03-08, 10:34 PM

This is why it is an undocumented feature. I have seen some units which no longer have the problem, other units where it is intermittent, and other units which still require the unit to be turned on with Eject.

It should be noted that with the previous BETA firmware, you were not able to get the HDMI interface working again by changing resolutions. It was Off for the duration of that power cycle.

Additionally, it seems that 1080p causes the most issues. Lower resolutions seem to resolve a HDMI output on problematic units more often when using just the Power button.

paisley

12-03-08, 10:44 PM

It should be noted that with the previous BETA firmware, you were not able to get the HDMI interface working again by changing resolutions. It was Off for the duration of that power cycle.

Yes, that was my experience as well as I remember the first time I experienced the issue, I was quite concerned until a power off/eject resolved the "no picture" situation.

Previous firmwares to 11-0910 exhibited no issues at all in this regard for me so I'm hopeful OPPO will eventually fix the problem. I assume they are aware of the issue and there's no need to bother them further.

Thanks for the quick response, Neuromancer. Sets my mind at ease. I'll use "Eject" or cycle resolutions as a solution in the meantime.

Neuromancer

12-04-08, 02:51 AM

The official firmwares do not have this issue. It is related entirely to the BETA firmwares exclusively.

paisley

12-04-08, 03:56 AM

The official firmwares do not have this issue. It is related entirely to the BETA firmwares exclusively.

Understood. I have a large PAL collection which is why I'm using the beta firmware. It's a trade-off as to which issue is more irritating. :)

However, looking forward to the next official firmware just the same.

moovtune

12-04-08, 10:49 AM

I've noticed in playing my many SACD's that the track # is occasionally wrong. It seems to happen if I pause a disc at the end of a track and then start it again. The previous track's # remains, or it changes to some completely unrelated track #. If I use the "skip" button to go back to the top of the track, it then resets to the correct # in the display. Has anyone else noticed this anomaly?

Occam's Chainsaw

12-04-08, 10:59 AM

If the speakers are set to LARGE and Subwoofer is set to ON, then only LFE information is sent to the Subwoofer.

If the speakers are set to LARGE and Subwoofer is set to OFF, then all bass information and LFE channel are sent to the Front Left/Right speakers.

If the Speakers are set to SMALL and Subwoofer is set to ON, then all bass information 80Hz and below and LFE channel are sent to the Subwoofer.

If the Speakers are set to SMALL and SUbwoofer is set to OFF, then all bass information 80Hz and below and LFE channel are completely lost.

This is true for receivers, but is not true for disc players. For a disc player, if the speakers are set to LARGE and Subwoofer is set to OFF, then the LFE channel is dropped. This is part of the Dolby specification, and is there to prevent LFE from being sent to a TV's internal speaker, which could damage it.

Upon further research, I'm not sure if my statement above is correct (got it from the "LFE, subwoofers and interconnects explained" thread, and there seems to be some disagreement as to what, if anything, the specs dictate).

Neuromancer

12-04-08, 01:41 PM

You are correct about the LFE being lost if subwoofer is turned Off on the DVD player. I blame my late night postings.

scsiraid

12-04-08, 02:21 PM

You are correct about the LFE being lost if subwoofer is turned Off on the DVD player. I blame my late night postings.

When I asked Oppo that question directly... they said that subwoofer off would steer LFE to the mains (5.0)....

Neuromancer

12-04-08, 02:28 PM

Likely just a brain fart on their behalf. It is easy, especially if you answering a lot of inquires, to make small mistakes about player functionality.

Perpendicular

12-04-08, 06:19 PM

When I asked Oppo that question directly... they said that subwoofer off would steer LFE to the mains (5.0)....

This is true only when the main speaker setting is set to large.

Neuromancer

12-04-08, 06:22 PM

LFE is never redirected on the DVD player. Receivers can perform this kind of bass management, but not the DVD player.

You can confirm this yourself using the LFE Burst Sweep on AVIA, the channel identification pattern on THX Optimized discs, or select SACDs which contain discrete channel identification tracks.

lvaughn

12-04-08, 07:43 PM

So what do you folks think? On analog out with mains set to "large" and subwoofer set to "off". Will I get the LFE sent to the mains?

I really appreciate those of you that have looked into this.

scsiraid

12-04-08, 08:04 PM

So what do you folks think? On analog out with mains set to "large" and subwoofer set to "off". Will I get the LFE sent to the mains?

I really appreciate those of you that have looked into this.

My gut says NO... LFE will be dropped.

lvaughn

12-04-08, 10:08 PM

Here is Oppo's response:

LFE will never be redirected to the other speakers. LFE is dedicated to the subwoofer channel only. If the subwoofer is absent, all LFE information will be lost.

Bass management is handled on a 80Hz crossover. If the Speakers are set to SMALL and Subwoofer is ON, all bass information 80Hz is sent to the subwoofer. If the Speakers are set to LARGE, then all bass is sent to the main speakers, while only LFE is sent to the subwoofer. Setting subwoofer to OFF in any condition will eliminate LFE.

I gather this is part of the standard and not unique to OPPO. So in the end, as my current receiver will not boost analog based subwoofer bass I need to buy a new receiver. If I do that I might as well hold out for the BDP-83.

I'm going to let my wife know it's going to be a big Christmas for me :)

Beaker1024

12-05-08, 09:53 AM

Update on my "Schindler's List" DVD issue.

So it makes the 983 do that strange sounds and come up No Disk. But I put it in my computers Samsung DVD player/burner (SATA) and it loads up the "interactual player" software. Of course I didn't load that software but "Media Player Classic" opens the DVD fine and it plays both Audio and Video just fine. Having never seen the movie it does seem like it's playing in 1.5x speed. Like a fast foward (no breakups) but studder and audio seems speed up. Wierd. Going to try a few more things.

PS the computer DVD drive doesn't make any odd noises and seems to loading / accessing the DVD just fine.

Neuromancer

12-05-08, 02:18 PM

It seems like OPPO is breaking out the Emergency Reserves, as they will have more DV-983H units December 15.

Availability: Back Order. Estimated Ship Date: December 15, 2008. (http://oppodigital.com/OPPO-DV-983H-DVD-player.asp)

If you are going to buy this product, act now. I hear these units are going to be available at an extremely low volume, and once they are gone, they are gone forever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Q7b-vHY3Q) (well, maybe not forever, as refurbished units seem to appear every once and a while).

Beaker1024

12-05-08, 06:33 PM

With no more 983s being stocked maybe the 83 will be priced lower but strangely I kind of hope the 83 goes for atleast a few hundred more than retail 983. Otherwise it really would have been wise to wait the 8 months (not get the 983) and just get the 83! It's great for those who were more conservative. Just have to remind myself that the 83 wasn't even "named" this April yet and that's how electronic go. Owning the 983 it likely makes sense to just get a Panasonic 55 or 35 or some other "cheap" BluRay and have/use 2 players.

Anyways I'm still confused about the Schindler's List working perfectly in the computer DVD drive and it's dead in the 983. Ahh well must be the drive/loader limitation.

fatbottom

12-05-08, 06:36 PM

I have Schlinders List Region 1 giftset, I think I watched it on the 983 and played fine. What exactly is the problem?

Beaker1024

12-05-08, 06:45 PM

fatbottom - See this post: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15192569#post15192569

That's post # 4538 on page 152. I dont think I have the gift set but you can see the UPC in that post.

fatbottom

12-05-08, 07:02 PM

Sounds like disc rot, have a few. Not the fault of the player. Giftset DVD is the same, just has perspex box, and a photo book.

Tim Benoit

12-05-08, 08:02 PM

Neuromancer

12-05-08, 08:11 PM

Amazon.com sold out last week. OPPO has placed some refurbished units up for sale.

antennahead

12-05-08, 10:24 PM

Smarty-pants

12-06-08, 01:47 AM

Would I be correct to assume that even though they will be gone for good, OPPO will keep a decent supply of parts to handle repairs for us?

John

I don't know the exact answer to your question. However, I have owned several of Oppo's players, and have followed them from the time their first player was released, and have participated in most of the discussion threads about their players.
With that said, I have never heard of anyone complaining about lack of service/warranty/repair when it comes to any of their players. Obviously, this pertains more to their discontinued players like the 971 and 970 models.
If I had to make a best guess, I would say that Oppo will take very good care of all their 983 owners.

Neuromancer

12-06-08, 03:24 AM

Would I be correct to assume that even though they will be gone for good, OPPO will keep a decent supply of parts to handle repairs for us?

They still repair OPDV971H units. These players originally started selling December 2004 and stopped being sold around January 2007.

So yes, OPPO will have ample stock of spare parts.

antennahead

12-06-08, 01:49 PM

They still repair OPDV971H units. These players originally started selling December 2004 and stopped being sold around January 2007.

So yes, OPPO will have ample stock of spare parts.

Excellent, thanks for the update and re-assurance.

John

Michel1973

12-07-08, 10:51 AM

I am not sure if other owners of the European version of the Oppo 983 DVD player have had the same experience, but when I recently upgraded the firmware with the latest version as found on page 1 of this thread I suddenly could not play any DVD's anymore since the region code of the player had changed from region 2 to region 1.
Furthermore I notice that the TV system had changed from PAL to NTSC and the HDMI output was changed from 1080I to 480P.

I was able to set the settings straight again but since I did not expect these things to happen (I should have known better perhaps) I thought I would let you know.

Best regards,
Rainer

It is normal that all settings are default after Oppo's update.
You downloaded the American firmware, found on page 1 of this topic.
You need to download the European firmware at www.opposhop.com from Sweden.

The European firmware is defaulted to region 0 and Pal for TV Type.
European firmware improves de-interlacing Pal material.

Rugby1

12-07-08, 04:04 PM

It seems like OPPO is breaking out the Emergency Reserves, as they will have more DV-983H units December 15.

If you are going to buy this product, act now. I hear these units are going to be available at an extremely low volume, and once they are gone, they are [i]gone .

I have been waiting until Christmas to buy one. Are they replacing the 983 with a newer model?

scsiraid

12-07-08, 04:13 PM

I have been waiting until Christmas to buy one. Are they replacing the 983 with a newer model?

I would say that they are "replacing" the 983 with the BDP-83 Blu-Ray player....

fatbottom

12-07-08, 04:14 PM

The no display upon power on is not fixed in latest beta (for the 2 chip models) so stick to latest official firmware.

Neuromancer

12-07-08, 04:36 PM

It is fixed for some units, makes it less common on other units, and is still completely broken on other units. So right now, you will want to use Official firmware if you do not want to turn On the player with Eject.

Neuromancer

12-07-08, 04:37 PM

I have been waiting until Christmas to buy one. Are they replacing the 983 with a newer model?

Potential replacement by the OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Player (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1063625). No release date, price, or final specifications are known.

btiltman

12-08-08, 04:25 AM

European firmware improves de-interlacing Pal material.

Is this officially stated somewhere? I tried the Euro firmware a while ago and there seemed to be no difference in the de-interlacing performance. The only difference seemed to be in the default settings.

I keep reading this, but it is never from an official source. I am just wondering if this is one of those perpertual regenerating myths?

Is there a link to some document that states that the European firmware has improved de-interlacing for Pal material?

Vagabond

12-08-08, 06:57 AM

Is this officially stated somewhere? I tried the Euro firmware a while ago and there seemed to be no difference in the de-interlacing performance. The only difference seemed to be in the default settings.

I keep reading this, but it is never from an official source. I am just wondering if this is one of those perpertual regenerating myths?

Is there a link to some document that states that the European firmware has improved de-interlacing for Pal material?

Hi

I agree, my experience is that it only defaults to PAL, but for the "best" PAL handling you still need to force one of the two 2:2 Modes. So I use the US Beta (as I need those Aspect Ratio features over analog) and set it to Auto, which I'm perfectly happy with.

Cheers

cucumbersmell

12-08-08, 01:42 PM

Received my 983 and have it hooked up to a 46" Sony XBR6. Enjoying the best picture I've seen from a standard definition disc. Coming from a DVB 318 that I bought when I had a component only TV. Can definitely notice a difference now that the 983 uses the correct color space. Only problem so far was the USB port not recognizing my flash drive through a USB extension that works fine with my PC. It did work when directly connected. So, picking up a different USB extension cable tonight.

Mike Loiterman

12-08-08, 05:03 PM

wmcclain

12-08-08, 05:16 PM

Any ideas? I'm running the latest release firmware - no betas. Should I call Oppo?

I would try a direct connection to the display first.

-Bill

rdgrimes

12-08-08, 05:39 PM

Mike Loiterman

12-08-08, 06:32 PM

Sounds like HDMI handshakes, which can be an issue with the Onkyo AVRs. Although the picture should drop out too.

I think it is handshake issues too...but the picture remains. Is there anything I can do?

Neuromancer

12-08-08, 06:35 PM

Try changing your HDMI cables between the DVD player and the receiver, and the receiver and the display.

Mike Loiterman

12-08-08, 06:40 PM

Try changing your HDMI cables between the DVD player and the receiver, and the receiver and the display.

All the HDMI cables I have are exactly the same - monoprice 6 foot. Is there a chance it could be a specific cable? If so, I'll have to buy some new cables so I can swap it out for something else. Also, any suggestions as to what to buy instead?

Neuromancer

12-08-08, 06:44 PM

Try using the cable that came with the OPPO in your chain. Then alternate between the two monoprice cables and see if one does not retain solid audio versus another.

Try also updating the firmware on the player to ensure that it is not a software malfunction.

rdgrimes

12-08-08, 07:44 PM

I think it is handshake issues too...but the picture remains. Is there anything I can do?

Try the player on a different AVR, but direct connecting the player to your TV will tell you something if the problem is gone. Also please post each and every audio and video setting in the 983.

Mike Loiterman

12-08-08, 08:53 PM

Try the player on a different AVR, but direct connecting the player to your TV will tell you something if the problem is gone. Also please post each and every audio and video setting in the 983.

I have no other AVR with HDMI. Also, I can't connect the player to my display - it has no speakers.

I can post all the settings, but it seems to be gone on Star Wars Episode III. I think some of it has to do with the player going to sleep and then waking up. When this happens, I notice a lot of flickering on my integra's display. It's as though it can't lock on to the signal. After the disc starts playing it locks on, but it seems like that is when the hiccups happen. If I turn everything, off and start again, it seems ok. I'll have to check a bit more tomorrow, to be sure.

Does this make sense?

btiltman

12-08-08, 09:15 PM

Hi

I agree, my experience is that it only defaults to PAL, but for the "best" PAL handling you still need to force one of the two 2:2 Modes. So I use the US Beta (as I need those Aspect Ratio features over analog) and set it to Auto, which I'm perfectly happy with.

Cheers

I have done the same. Auto is pretty good, but if I see any moire or deinterlacing artifacts I try each of the 2:2 modes and one of them usually fixes it for the rest of that movie. I would have thought that 'auto' was meant to do that for you, by detecting the appropriate one. But like I said, it was the same with the Euro firmware so might as well stick the more regularly updated US one.

rdgrimes

12-08-08, 09:23 PM

I have no other AVR with HDMI. Also, I can't connect the player to my display - it has no speakers.

I can post all the settings, but it seems to be gone on Star Wars Episode III. I think some of it has to do with the player going to sleep and then waking up. When this happens, I notice a lot of flickering on my integra's display. It's as though it can't lock on to the signal. After the disc starts playing it locks on, but it seems like that is when the hiccups happen. If I turn everything, off and start again, it seems ok. I'll have to check a bit more tomorrow, to be sure.

Does this make sense?

That is all standard handshaking, it's normal to some extent but if it's prolonged it prolly does indicate some issue. Turn off screen saver in the 983, it doesn't really accomplish anything unless you have a plasma that likes to burn in, and it has been known to cause issues.

Make double-sure that you're not feeding the display some type video that it doesn't really support. If it's a 720 - feed it 720, etc, etc. Don't set the player to "auto" color space, set it to whatever the display uses.

Anyway, maybe the player and display are negotiating something and causing the issue.

Smarty-pants

12-09-08, 02:13 AM

MIKE,

Does your Integra receiver have a function like the Onkyo ones do? ...a function called HDMI AUDIO OUT. IF that is the case, you'll want to turn that off. Your display does not accept audio, so HDMI AUDIO OUT should be OFF.

Michel1973

12-09-08, 04:09 PM

bobve3rens

12-09-08, 05:18 PM

hairy_hen

12-10-08, 05:43 PM

Neuromancer

12-10-08, 06:04 PM

Wouldn't be surprising as this is a Warner Brother's release. I had similar complaints with Blood Diamond and the Painted Veil. Those DVDs were impossible to watch due to moire and noise artifacts.

antennahead

12-10-08, 09:16 PM

I was wondering if anyone who has purchased The Dark Knight on DVD and owns a 983 can comment on the picture quality. I have heard that the image of the DVD version is not anywhere near reference quality for standard definition. From what I've heard apparently Warner Bros has been skimping on their DVD releases lately, wanting home theater folks to buy the Bluray versions instead. Since I don't have an HD display yet, I have no choice but the get the DVD, and I'm not keen on replacing most of them with Bluray when I finally do. The 983 seems like my best bet for that, being the best player currently available, or the BDP-83 if it ends up being discontinued. The main problems reported are jaggies/aliasing and compression artifacts. How does the Oppo 983 fare with this movie? Is its superior de-interlacing able to minimize these issues, or are they inherent to the transfer no matter the playback equipment?

I've heard similar reports about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ie that it looks fantastic on Bluray but the standard version is plagued by digital artifacts. I'd be interested to hear any reports on that disc, as well.

"From what I've heard apparently Warner Bros has been skimping on their DVD releases lately, wanting home theater folks to buy the Bluray versions instead."

You know, that sucks if it is true. I have read quite a few professional reviews of the SD version that all comment on the "lack of image quality" for a brand new blockbuster movie. I will be very disappointed in WB if they start playing this game trying to force people to pony up $35 for new releases ...... I guess this is one way to increase profits. There are too many people who have NOT adopted "Blue" yet, myself one of them. At my seating distance of 10 feet, on a calibrated 50" KURO with the 983, I am very happy with the picture. When the new BD OPPO comes out I may buy one then, but I have been waiting for software prices to come down to a decent level first before adopting BD. Intentionally "dumbing down" disc quality on SD releases, to force the public to go "Blue", is a travesty if it is true!!!

John

MrJonas

12-11-08, 04:51 AM

@ btiltman and Vagabond,

Me to, have never seen official sources with tests between PAL fw and NTSC fw.
Oppo never spoke of the differences between it for de-interlacing performance.

Some people on this topic said:
PAL and NTSC material is automatically detected and de-interlaced in both American fw and European fw.
However, the de-interlacer takes time to detect the cadence and respond appropriately (at a bad DVD edit, for example).
In order to improve the speed and accuracy of detection and cadence locking, the American fw is designed to favor NTSC material and the European fw is designed to favor PAL material.

I found de-interlacing PAL in all settings very weak and I am scared that it will never be improved by Oppo, simply because it takes to long.

I had some problem with with a film called Smother (PAL). I thought it were my burning or compression of it. But when I tried it on my other DVD-player there fault were gone. With second chapter the male actor has a red hatt and it flickers/jumps around in the picture. And when I fast forward/backwards it looks like the are two interlaces pictures. When I uppgraded to the latest EU software it disappeared. I used the latest US software before.

Frank Derks

12-11-08, 03:28 PM

Wouldn't be surprising as this is a Warner Brother's release. I had similar complaints with Blood Diamond and the Painted Veil. Those DVDs were impossible to watch due to moire and noise artifacts.

I suspect Disney did this with the recent rat movie. Bits of artifacting throughout the movie. The sd image quality lacks in comparison to Monsters Inc or Nemo.

jimtang

12-11-08, 03:33 PM

I watched the SD version of Dark Knight on my 983 last night displayed on a Sony 60" LCOS RPTV. It's has a somewhat sharper PQ than Batman Begins but it is plagued with digital artifacts and overdone edge enhancements. Overall, I think I still like the PQ on Dark Knight a bit more than Iron Man or Batman Begins, since both these SD DVDs had pretty soft looking PQ especially on the background.

One thing I noted is when watching the bonus disc material, the anamorphic excerpts from the movie looked dead on gorgeous. This was true of both Dark Knight and Iron Man. I got to think this was deliberate. But hopefully, this is where the Oppo 983 will help out.

brinyhenry

12-11-08, 09:33 PM

With the impending release Oppo's new Blu ray player, will we see any added benefits in future firmware updates from the research done on the BD 83? I'd especially be interested in the separate EE adjustments and Detail adjustments.

thedankone

12-12-08, 03:45 PM

does the 983h up-convert video files from usb?

wmcclain

12-12-08, 03:58 PM

does the 983h up-convert video files from usb?

Yes.

-Bill

thedankone

12-12-08, 05:02 PM

You the Man Bill!

Doug

pyoung

12-12-08, 05:57 PM

I have a HUGE problem with my 983:
I was upgrading with the last firmware and at step 31/32 something went wrong and the player stuck in for almost two hours, and after that all I can have is a completely blu screen (deja vu with blu screen of death from MSwindows...) and now I can't do anything. If I switch off and on, all I can have is that blue screen and nothing else... not a single button is working.
Is the player definitely dead during the updating process?
There is maybe a restore combination button tricks to restart with factory settings? I'm afraid that everything is useless and I have to return to Oppo... I wrote to Oppo but I have to wait until monday, maybe someone can give suggestions or just telling me that I have nothing to do

Neuromancer

12-12-08, 06:04 PM

Princess Aurora

12-13-08, 11:52 AM

How are the picture adjustments (contrast, brightness,etc.) on this unit? In particular, can you adjust the brightness both up and down? If possible, can anyone can compare the adjustments on this unit to those of the Toshiba XA2?

I ask because my Panasonic BD player doesn't allow the brightness to be set down, only up, meaning I have to set everything to be too dark first and then adjust it up. It would take less adjustment to go the other way (I'll spare the details).

fatbottom

12-13-08, 11:56 AM

You can go either way. I've never used the controls on the DVD player though except for sharpness, why not use the TV controls? I found you get better picture quality that way.

Princess Aurora

12-13-08, 12:25 PM

You can go either way. I've never used the controls on the DVD player though except for sharpness, why not use the TV controls? I found you get better picture quality that way.

Thanks for the info. :) I looked all over the web and couldn't find anything about it.

My TV is old and only has a single DVI input, so everything runs through the receiver via HDMI, then HDMI -> DVI to the TV. The problem is my cable box. Its HDMI output is really weird, and is way too bright and the colors washed out. I have to set my TV settings to some really strange stuff to get it to look right, and then all the other sources are way out of whack.

I suppose I could kinda solve my problem by using component for the cable, and then adjusting the brightness and contrast through my receiver (it allows for adjustments to component inputs, but not HDMI), but I'd rather avoid the (what I presume are) terrible video DACs of the cable box and having to do a really unneeded ADC. Also, the receiver is a lot more limited when it comes to adjustments (brightness can only go up, among other things), and the cable box itself has no adjustments whatsoever on it. I doubt I'd really be able to come close to fixing the problem anyway. My receiver does scaling over HDMI, and it makes SD cable sources look half-decent. I'd probably lose half the resolution in the cable box's DAC and then what was left in the ADC of the receiver (apparently the video ADCs aren't great).

The last option is to hook the cable box to the TV directly, but that's a pain, since even my Logitech Harmony has a bit of trouble cycling through inputs and whatnot (I had it that way before once, and the CS rep had to do something pretty strange to get it all to work right). It's really more convenient not to have to fumble around with changing inputs on the TV. Furthermore, the video processing in the receiver is far better than that in the TV, and the video is one of the reasons I got the receiver I did.

So you see, it's complicated. :)

shpankey

12-13-08, 12:46 PM

Question, do you know if this player keeps the proper color matrix when upscaling DVD's? for instance, the PS3 doesn't adjust the color matrix when it upscales the picture, so my TV sees the upscaled image as "High Def" and puts it in the HD color matrix instead of the SD color matrix. Making the greyscale off. I need a good player that will do this correctly.

wmcclain

12-13-08, 12:59 PM

Perpendicular

12-13-08, 01:54 PM

antennahead

12-13-08, 02:04 PM

Watched the Dark Knight on the 983 last night.

The picture was horrible from just a few feet back.

I had to sit at least 12 feet from my Panasonic 42" plasma so the picture would be watchable but ended up at 13.

A lot of people are speculating that Warner Bros. purposely screwed up this transfer, starting to force people to adopt the "higher profit margin", Blue Ray discs. "You want quality, pay for it". If this has any merit it definitely stinks.

John

pyoung

12-13-08, 07:24 PM

Try disconnecting the player from the power source for no less than 15 minutes. Press the Power button on the front panel of the player. Reconnect the power. If you press Eject on the DVD player's front panel, does it turn on and operate?

If you can't perform any instructions on the player (such as Power or Eject using the front panel), then your player is dead and will have to be sent back to OPPO for repair servicing.

Thanks for the suggestions but it didn't work... :-(
I'm waiting for monday and the mail from opposhop and I'll see what they want me to do (I think it's probably going to be a Return Merchandise Authorization as described on their support page)

hairy_hen

12-14-08, 01:39 AM

That's a damn shame about the Dark Knight. It's one of the best and most popular movies of the year, and for the DVD picture quality to be rubbishy is disheartening. I just watched it tonight and even on a 24-inch 4:3 set the jaggies and aliasing were horrific in some places, particularly in exterior shots of the city. I can certainly see how that would be greatly magnified by viewing on a larger screen. If even the Oppo 983 is unable to smooth out such artifacts, there's not much to be done for it short of making a better 480p version out of the Bluray or something. Looks like I'll probably end up re-buying this one in HD eventually, much as it grates me to do it, since the DVD is so subpar.

antennahead

12-14-08, 02:50 AM

Rhodanos

12-14-08, 06:00 AM

NormalGuyMike

12-14-08, 04:16 PM

I am considering purchasing an Oppo 983 upconverting player. My setup currently consists of quite old Pioneer DV-563A multiregion player outputting 480p via component to Pioneer Kuro 9G plasma, which does the image processing. I also have Sony BDP-350 Blu-Ray player which I occasionally use for viewing NTSC DVDs as well. Pioneer DV-563A is primarly used for PAL DVDs, which constitute fairly large share of my movie collection.

The setup Pioneer 563A + Kuro does OK for NTSC DVDs (though I admit upconversion of SD DVDs done by Sony BDP-350 looks better, at least to my eyes), however there are noticeable problems with picture quality when playing PAL DVDs (the picture constantly shifts a few lines up and down - it's quite annoying). I think this has to do something with PAL-> NTSC conversion performed by the player. Before I got Kuro plasma it did really not bother me, maybe because I used to have smaller CRT display.

The questions I have:

1. How likely am I to see visible difference in terms of quality of the picture when comparing PAL DVD playback (Oppo vs Pioneer 563A)?

2. How does it Oppo compares to Sony BDP-350 in terms of SD DVD picture quality?

3. From what I read on Kuro 9G owners forum, it seems that the US models of Kuro 9G are capable of accepting PAL signals (50Hz). Would sending PAL signal straight to the plasma have any advantage over allowing the Oppo to do the image conversion from PAL to NTSC and then sending the signal in NTSC format to my display?

I realize that there is only so much you can do with standard definition content and that even if you upconvert it to 1080i/p, it will never be close to Blu-Ray, but I am interested to learn if I should expect any noticeable difference compared to my current setup.

fatbottom

12-14-08, 05:17 PM

Neuromancer

12-14-08, 05:44 PM

Some people, as I, experience sometimes white lines or some kind of variation of subtitlecorruption. Oppo knows this problem, but states it can not be solved. Well, I have found - by accident - a workaround.

When a disc is showing white lines, I stop playing the disc, remove it from the player. Than I put in a cd, play this disk for about 20 seconds, remove the disc. Put the player on standby, restart the player ad most of the time when playing the same dvd the white lines are gone.

White lines or other corruption of the subtitles are random and will occur generally once every 20 minutes, if at all. It is because of the general lack of being able to properly initiate and diagnose these errors that OPPO has to rely on MTK for the fix. MTK's priorities are on much higher function additions and fixes.

Neuromancer

12-14-08, 05:46 PM

1. How likely am I to see visible difference in terms of quality of the picture when comparing PAL DVD playback (Oppo vs Pioneer 563A)?

You should, as the DV-983H has hardware support for 2:2 Cadence which is required for the proper de-interlacing and scaling of PAL media.

2. How does it Oppo compares to Sony BDP-350 in terms of SD DVD picture quality?

Standard Definition performance on the DV-983H is the best in its class. The BDP-350 will not have the same picture quality as the DV-983H when playing back standard definition discs. The advantage of the Sony BDP-350 is that it is cheaper, and it offers true high resolution media support (aka Blu-ray).

racer59

12-14-08, 06:36 PM

Anyone know when and if there will be a subtitle repositioning function implemented on the 983?

GSB

12-14-08, 08:06 PM

3. From what I read on Kuro 9G owners forum, it seems that the US models of Kuro 9G are capable of accepting PAL signals (50Hz). Would sending PAL signal straight to the plasma have any advantage over allowing the Oppo to do the image conversion from PAL to NTSC and then sending the signal in NTSC format to my display? I have no experience with the Kuro, but assuming it does the PAL-to-NTSC conversion properly, it will make NO difference whether you send 1080p50 (PAL) or 1080p/60 (NTSC). One thing is for sure... the OPPO does the conversion properly. I would be far happier letting the 983 handle this.

And yes, you can count on the 983 to be significantly better at SD upconversion than the other two players you mentioned.

Gary

MrJonas

12-15-08, 02:33 AM

I have no experience with the Kuro, but assuming it does the PAL-to-NTSC conversion properly, it will make NO difference whether you send 1080p50 (PAL) or 1080p/60 (NTSC). One thing is for sure... the OPPO does the conversion properly. I would be far happier letting the 983 handle this.

And yes, you can count on the 983 to be significantly better at SD upconversion than the other two players you mentioned.

Gary

Why do you assume that the Kuro does a PAL-to-NTSC conversion? I don't think the Kuro does that conversion at all. As I see it send PAL as PAL and NTSC as NTSC if your TV can handle it.

rdgrimes

12-15-08, 08:54 AM

Why do you assume that the Kuro does a PAL-to-NTSC conversion? I don't think the Kuro does that conversion at all. As I see it send PAL as PAL and NTSC as NTSC if your TV can handle it.

Your display has a native refresh rate. If it's 60Hz then it has to do pulldown to display PAL, same as the player does.

Neuromancer

12-15-08, 12:23 PM

Anyone know when and if there will be a subtitle repositioning function implemented on the 983?

This was attempted last year during the beta program, but OPPO could never get it working properly. There has been no traction on getting scaling or positioning for subtitles to work with the DV-983H.

Mike Loiterman

12-15-08, 04:31 PM

I have a few week old 983 that is giving me audio dropouts on some discs. It occurs randomly.

Connections are all brand new HDMI from monoprice (~6 feet). I go from the player to an (Onkyo) Integra 9.9. Occurs on DD and DDEX. Most noticeably on Indiana Jones ROTLA, and Temple of Doom. I just threw in Star Wars Episode III and in about 35 minutes of watching did not notice a drop... The Indiana Jones discs are pretty old. The Star Wars disc is new(er).

I'm virtually positive that it is not my Integra 9.9 as I don't have drop outs on any other source which includes PS3 (via HDMI), DirecTV HR21 (via HDMI).

Any ideas? I'm running the latest release firmware - no betas. Should I call Oppo?

Try changing your HDMI cables between the DVD player and the receiver, and the receiver and the display.

I have tried changing cables from the player to the 9.9 and from the 9.9 to the display, but I am still experiencing these very short audio drop-outs. Picture is rock solid. Sadly, I cannot connect directly from the 983 to the display as it has no speakers. Also, these are the only HDMI equipped components in the house, so all this limits my advanced trouble shooting abilities.

The dropouts are usually less than a second and I'm only experiencing one or two per movie. I doubt a "normal" person would even notice, but it is annoying to me.

Anything I can do, or is the combination of Onkyo/Integra and Oppo not great - (I wonder what will happen with the BDP-83!?)? I also posted this in the 9.9 thread.

Neuromancer

12-15-08, 04:59 PM

I use an Integra DTC-9.8 at home and have not had any issues. I had to upgrade the Integra firmware to resolve the handshaking issues which occurred only when the display was not turned on, but I have not experienced dropouts or other errors.

Mike Loiterman

12-15-08, 05:05 PM

Neuromancer

12-15-08, 05:38 PM

You could use optical or coaxial for audio instead of HDMI. Same audio quality, just a separate cable.

Have OPPO recall and inspect the unit to ensure that the error is not related to your unit. However, it is unlikely that they will be able to verify this problem, as it happens intermittently and requires a lot of hands on time to verify.

arkiedan

12-15-08, 06:01 PM

I am still experiencing these very short audio drop-outs. Picture is rock solid.

The dropouts are usually less than a second and I'm only experiencing one or two per movie. I doubt a "normal" person would even notice, but it is annoying to me.

I have a few audio dropouts in each movie too, running the hdmi from the 983 to my 805 Onkyo and hdmi from the 805 to my Sony 60A3000. I emailed Oppo and got quick but unsatisfactory responses. I've tried a couple hdmi cables, per their instructions, with no success and installed the latest firmware, per their instructions, with no success. I flipped both cables over to my Toshiba A20 and no problem. Like you, I don't think most folks would complain but, like you, it annoys me, especially since I consider this to be the ultimate SD player.

It appears we'll have to live with it. By the way....I love this player, other than those pesky dropouts. :(

arkiedan

Neuromancer

12-15-08, 06:34 PM

You can have your hardware replaced or repaired. You should not be getting dropouts.

All dropout instances I have seen have been related to bad cables, to the DVD player firmware, or to the firmware on your receiver.

If you have replaced cables, and upgraded the firmware on our DVD player and your receiver, then try replacing/repairing your DV-983H.

Mike Loiterman

12-15-08, 06:39 PM

I have a few audio dropouts in each movie too, running the hdmi from the 983 to my 805 Onkyo and hdmi from the 805 to my Sony 60A3000. I emailed Oppo and got quick but unsatisfactory responses. I've tried a couple hdmi cables, per their instructions, with no success and installed the latest firmware, per their instructions, with no success. I flipped both cables over to my Toshiba A20 and no problem. Like you, I don't think most folks would complain but, like you, it annoys me, especially since I consider this to be the ultimate SD player.

It appears we'll have to live with it. By the way....I love this player, other than those pesky dropouts. :(

arkiedan

What is the age of your 983? Mine is brand new. Would serial numbers be helpful? It seems the common element is the Onkyo in the middle. Someone else mentioned in the thread earlier, that there are known issues with Onkyo units. Isn't the 805 equivalent to the integra 9.8?

rdgrimes

12-15-08, 06:44 PM

I would first confirm whether the dropouts occur over SPDIF before assuming it's the player's issue. If they don't, then it's likely an HDMI issue not related to the player.

Mike Loiterman

12-15-08, 08:05 PM

I would first confirm whether the dropouts occur over SPDIF before assuming it's the player's issue. If they don't, then it's likely an HDMI issue not related to the player.

Unless I'm missing something, I'm not sure what this will prove (aside from SPDIF functionality).

The two outputs are different physical jacks, using, presumably, different signal paths - even if the break occurs at the very last minute.

Again, maybe I'm missing something.

rdgrimes

12-15-08, 09:14 PM

Unless I'm missing something, I'm not sure what this will prove (aside from SPDIF functionality).

The two outputs are different physical jacks, using, presumably, different signal paths - even if the break occurs at the very last minute.

Again, maybe I'm missing something.

They are the same audio stream from the same path. Like I said, if one works and the other doesn't the odds increase that it's not the player. If they're both bad then the player is ruled in as the cause.

MrJonas

12-16-08, 01:56 AM

Your display has a native refresh rate. If it's 60Hz then it has to do pulldown to display PAL, same as the player does.
I don't understand what you mean by that. In Europe most of all TV and projektors the last 10 years have been able to handle both PAL and NTSC. So PAL will show in 50Hz and NTSC will show in 60 Hz. The only difference that I understand is the change in updating frequency on the screen. So on your DVD you need to convert your e.g. 50 -> 60 Hz but with your screen you don't need to change your updating frequency at all.

GSB

12-16-08, 02:56 AM

I don't understand what you mean by that. In Europe most of all TV and projektors the last 10 years have been able to handle both PAL and NTSC. So PAL will show in 50Hz and NTSC will show in 60 Hz. The only difference that I understand is the change in updating frequency on the screen. So on your DVD you need to convert your e.g. 50 -> 60 Hz but with your screen you don't need to change your updating frequency at all. You're assuming that the screen's refresh rate is simply changed from 50Hz to 60Hz (or vice versa). Are you 100% sure that this is the case? In many TV's, the screen is synchronized with the power grid, and the frame-rate conversion is done by the electronics.

Gary

arkiedan

12-16-08, 04:20 PM

What is the age of your 983? Mine is brand new. Would serial numbers be helpful? It seems the common element is the Onkyo in the middle. Someone else mentioned in the thread earlier, that there are known issues with Onkyo units. Isn't the 805 equivalent to the integra 9.8?

Mike, my 983 is around 4 months old. I don't know if the 805 is the same circuitry as the Integra, given the Integra's higher price, but Onkyo certainly has several issues, many relating to customer service (or a lack thereof.) I've updated the firmware to the latest version myself, like many others over in the Onkyo threads and, unlike many others, I've experienced no problems at all. It's just a fantastic receiver at anywhere near it's price point. While the problem may be related to my receiver I find it highly unlikely since my Panasonic BR30, a Toshiba HD A20 and a Toshiba HD A35, like the Oppo all routed HDMI into the Onkyo, exhibit no audio dropouts at all.

Again, certainly not a deal-breaker since this is far and away the finest SD DVD/SACD player I've ever owned.

Maybe after Christmas I'll call Oppo again and see what they can offer in the way of a fix.

As for now - we're iced-in out here in Arkansas so I'm going to settle in and catch up on a few good movies.

I'll post the outcome after a proper New Year celebration. :D

arkiedan

Mike Loiterman

12-17-08, 02:03 PM

I decided to send my 983 back and get the Oppo BDP-83, when it is available. I'll live with the PS3 as my sole DVD/BD source for now.

If I weren't experiencing those annoying drop-outs I probably would have kept it. I agree it is something with the 983. I watched two movies last night on the PS3, a DVD and a BD. Not a single drop-out in four hours. Last Saturday, we had DirecTV on all day long. Not a single drop-out.

I'm not saying there is something systematically wrong with the 983, but there was definitely something wrong with mine when it was in my system.

Pretty frustrating for a first time Oppo customer.

sloenvy

12-17-08, 05:15 PM

Interesting I found your post - I've been having a similar problem with my OPPO 983 with random audio drops. I don't lose the picture - just a brief interruption with the audio. I was curious if you found a resolution but I guess with this post, you didn't.

sloenvy

12-17-08, 05:36 PM

I have audio drops on my Oppo 983 that occurs when playing any movie. The audio drops are very brief - I do not lose picture when this occurs.

I have the 983 connected to my Onkyo 606 via HDMI. My Onkyo 606 is connected to my Pioneer 6020 via HDMI.

I don't have any audio drops outs with any other source (DirectTV and HDDVD). Following the posts on the form, I have tried different HDMI cables. When I called OPPO they said they hadn't heard of any issues and just recommended I make sure I turn on my devices in a specific order (tv, audio then player) to make sure the HDMI is in proper synch.

I saw within the thread a similar description but it doesn't appear as if that was resolved as the person posted they were going to return the unit.

I will try to directly connect the player to the tv - is this just a physical later connection problem? Or is there a config setting I could further examine on the OPPO?

Appreciate any ideas. Thanks

Neuromancer

12-17-08, 06:41 PM

It is related to handshaking. In most cases, the error occurs due to the firmware you are using. Ensure that you are using the 17-0709 or later firmware on your player.

The secondary cause is a bad HDMI connection either to your receiver or your display. Try changing HDMI cables with new cables.

The last cause can be the firmware on your receiver. Older Integra and Onkyo models require a firmware upgrade to fix some HDMI handshaking issues. Newer Onkyo 606 models seem to have an issue with the DV-983H in all scenarios. Likely they are using a different HDMI transmitter than their previous "5" series and it is causing handshaking issue with the DV-983H

The workaround for now, if you do not want to send it in for servicing or a refund, is to use digital coaxial or optical for audio. These outputs will be the same performance for DVD-Video titles.

sloenvy

12-17-08, 07:02 PM

Thank you Neuromancer - I think I'll get it setup with the coaxial for now.

flarian

12-19-08, 07:06 PM

Hello all,
Recently got back to this thread after not reviewing for several days and saw that several folks were reporting similar issues regarding audio-drop outs. I had an email dialogue with Oppo earlier this month and sent my player back for inspection on 13 Dec, so I'll report back on the result. I've appended below an excerpt from one of my emails to Oppo describing the problem. Based on the reports from other forum members there does seem to be a degree of compatability between Oppo and Onkyo/Integra products both for 2007 and 2008 models. I have an Integra DTC 9.8, w/ 1.05 firmware. Over a series of emails, Oppo support says that it does have this model with the 1.08 firmware for its player functionality testing and indicates no drop out problems. As I note below in the excerpt my problems went from the known firmware correctable drop out problem to a much more transient problem (including a period where the problem appeared to resolve) and one I couldn't replicate by swapping out cables and/or different players.

Email excerpt to Oppo:
"I have a DV-983H purchased through Amazon.com, ser # 4BVD0828713172 on 8 Sep 2008. Original Firmware data was MVER: 05.00.01.07, Batch: DV983H-07-0709. This was updated to the 08-0709 firmware (using a supplied Oppo disc) to remediate a known and recurrent audio drop-out problem characterized by intermittent audio drop outs at roughly 18 to 23 minute intervals. Subsequent to that install (the appropriate firmware version shows up), the problem appeared to decrease (one to two drop-outs with movies) and then disappear entirely until late November where it has reemerged as random audio drop-outs, usually one or two, occurring after roughly 45-50 minutes of play on all theatrical movie discs, but then not on a discernible "schedule". As noted, this appears to occur on theatrical movie discs (both in Dolby and dts), but not necessarily on TV program-derived materials or audio discs (CD, SACD). I am using HDMI input only, set at 1080P60. My preamp processor is an Integra DTC-9.8 (HDMI 1.3 compliant) and the display is a SONY 70" SXRD XBR2 which is full 1080P compliant. The problem presents as a single audio drop-out (lasting one to two seconds or so both with dialogue and backgound music), with no associated video impact and is then followed by return to normal audio/video snychronous play. These drop-outs are not repeatable when reversed to the point of the original drop-out, nor associated with layer changes so far as I can discern. I've swapped cables and HDMI input locations on the processor and to the TV and checked my center channel speaker wires. Also, I put my Oppo DV-980 back into the same path as well as a Samsung BD-5000 and the problem does not repeat either with the same or different discs when using either player. Hence, I'm fairly certain that there is some sort of transient or developing problem with the DV-983H. "

Stinky-Dinkins

12-19-08, 07:17 PM

Hmm, that sucks.

I have a 983 and an Onkyo 605, luckily I've never had any problems.

Mcguinn

12-20-08, 08:35 AM

I just ordered the 983 and expect to have it by Tuesday - just in time for Christmas Vacation !
I have a Sony XBR2 70" and I sit about 8FT away. I have Panasonic BD35 and Toshiba A3 High Def Players.
I have had a hard time watching DVDs since getting my first Blu-Ray player 2 years ago and I have been disappointed in the standard DVD playback on the two mentioned players.
My wife has been buying and renting a number of standard DVDs which we occasionally watch on our 42" Plasma from a 12Ft viewing distance and they are OK. They are hell to watch on the 70" !
I plan on running the 983 through my Denon 4306 (using my last HDMI input) at 1080P pass-through so no processing will be applied by the Denon.
I have not watched the LOTR trilogy, Stars Wars, Jurrasic Park, etc for a while since my conversion to high def.
I am looking forward to seeing these movies as well as some old Christmas films and Disney classic animation.
Should I prepare myself for a revelation or merely a small evolution of PQ?
Also, is the 4:3 stretch mode effective for old TV series like Star Trek TNG and for old Disney classic cartoons? I would rather watch these on the big screen than the 42" plasma.
I am plowing through this entire thread now but I am less than 20% through it, and I couldn't resist posting !
I'm sorry if some of these issues have been covered previously.

wmcclain

12-20-08, 08:49 AM

Should I prepare myself for a revelation or merely a small evolution of PQ?

Unless there is something wrong with your current setup, I would expect only modest improvements. But this is subjective.

Also, is the 4:3 stretch mode effective for old TV series like Star Trek TNG and for old Disney classic cartoons?

You mean the non-anamorphic 4:3 letterboxed titles? It depends on the title, but the results can be quite good.

-Bill

Bronco70

12-20-08, 12:33 PM

westgate

12-20-08, 12:39 PM

hawkster27

12-20-08, 02:45 PM

mgillespie

12-21-08, 07:15 AM

Neuromancer

12-21-08, 05:19 PM

You do realize that Kris Deering never retested the DVD performance of the PlayStation 3 since the Version 2.1 firmware? His conclusions are accurate for that firmware release in terms of DVD-Video de-interlacing and scaling.

The synthetic benchmarks are always going to be tough for most players. For real world film-contents most players are nearly identical, with variations really only showing up in the amount of error (edge, moire, noise, etc) enhancement.

Neuromancer

12-21-08, 05:20 PM

the folks at oppo are liable to take one look at your email (with no paragraph seperations-making it very difficult to read), and ignore it!

They may find it annoying to read, but they will put on their best thinking caps on in order to ensure that they properly answer their customer.

GSB

12-22-08, 02:41 AM

Sorry, I don't trust Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity testing. They slated the PS3's upscaler in their synthentic testing, but the real world testing, it was very close to a Oppo in terms of upscaling abilities (the 2.5x firmware seems to have improved a little more IMHO, and the mosquito NR and frame filters work really well).

I sense Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity are just console snobs, and will always look at the PS3 as a console, that can never beat their beloved hardware based scaling solutions (the reality is even the hardware chipsets in a Oppo have software algorythms, just not updatable) Come now, that's not true at all. Their video performance testing is unlike a subjective audio critique that uses etherial language to describe subtle perceived differences.

SECRETS has a fixed set of tests, using test patterns AND real-world DVD clips that contain common problems with DVD encoding. The player either fails the test, or it doesn't... the result is irrefutable. That's no reason to fling poo at SECRETS.

As Neuromancer pointed out, the PS3 has had a number of firmware updates that may have fixed some of the problems since the SECRETS test.

Gary

zrdb

12-22-08, 11:00 AM

I've had my 983 for 10 months now and have never experianced any dropouts of any kind.

sensui

12-24-08, 02:37 PM

I'm glad people are talking about these issues as I'm experiencing the same issue as well. Some background, the 983h is going through a NAD t785 receiver to a pioneer 151fd. What happens is as others described, no interruption in video and a small blip in audio at random points when watching dvds @ 1080p 60hz. I saw the workaround mentioned on the optical cable and tried that as well and I still got the little blips which had me scratching my head. I just talked to an oppo representative and he was less than helpful in my opinion. He said that he highly doubts the unit is defective and that it must be cables or firmware. I told him I have the latest firmware on both the oppo and the receiver...and that the cables have been changed a couple times. He said 2 things that really made me suspicious:

1) The oppo 983 will throw these audio blips when there is an interruption in the hdcp handshake process via hdmi AND optical......I can see how that affects hdmi but affecting the optical seems weird...but that's how he said it was wired.

2) I should try to change the hdmi cable from the tv to the receiver as well because that could be throwing some hdcp handshake error as well.....that he claims only the oppo 983 will pick up and none of my other devices (ps3, HTPC, Toshiba A-30).....

He wanted me to try the dvd player @ 720p to see if audio blips come up and if not, he wants to send me new cables to try but if it continues....he would like to call back the unit. Something about that conversation just seemed off. Anyone have any inputs?

Neuromancer

12-24-08, 03:04 PM

The oppo 983 will throw these audio blips when there is an interruption in the hdcp handshake process via hdmi AND optical......I can see how that affects hdmi but affecting the optical seems weird...but that's how he said it was wired.

Go try it. Connect the DV-983H to your Integra DTC-9.8 with HDMI for video and optical or digital coaxial for audio. Turn Off your display. Your audio will likely be interrupted.

I should note that this only happens with my DV-983H and the Integra DTC-9.8 combination. If I bypass the Integra DTC-9.8 for HDMI video, I get no interruption of the signal at all. My DV-980H and DV-981HD also do not exhibit any audio interruptions going through the Integra DTC-9.8. It is only when the DV-983H and the Integra DTC-9.8 are used in concert for any HDMI based video switching that this issue becomes evident.

I should try to change the hdmi cable from the tv to the receiver as well because that could be throwing some hdcp handshake error as well.....that he claims only the oppo 983 will pick up and none of my other devices (ps3, HTPC, Toshiba A-30).....

Not just HDCP, but other synchronization algorithms which are associated to a HDMI signal. If it was HDCP only, then both audio and video should have dropped out during these negotiation sequences. If only he audio is dropping out, then it is a random HDMI handshake causing the blip.

Another issue is random bandwidth dropout. Audio and video are part of the same bandwidth. So if the signal is being taxed or lost due to a bad cable, you will see audio and/or video dropouts.

This is why OPPO is having you try another output resolution. If a lower resolution shows the same errors as 1080p, then it is explicitly a DVD player failure. If the same dropouts do not occur at 720p, then it is likely related to a bandwidth or other synchronization error, so replacement cables can fix this issue.

If you do not want to mess with cables, or do not want the additional downtime, you can send the player to them. They will honor the parts and labor warranty. The downsides are that they may not find an issue with your player and you will be out of your player for two weeks or more (particularly true now, as they likely have limited holiday schedules until January).

sensui

12-24-08, 05:38 PM

Thanks for the reply, only thing is I'm using a NAD T785 as my receiver...though it is a moot point. You are correct, I do remember whenever I'm listening to CDs and I turn off my tv, there is an interruption in the sound as well. I will try oppo's suggestions and see what happens. I really would prefer to not go through the workaround of connecting the hdmi to the tv and connect the audio via optical to the receiver....as I want the receiver to handle everything still. I guess my testing continues. Thanks for the feedback.

Greg1981

12-26-08, 02:42 PM

Recently received this player, and I'm in love with it. Couple of questions:

1) Does this model support VRS fine detail and edge enhancement? The manual lists that it does, and that it is controlled by the Sharpness control, but from reading some of the comments here, it's only available on the ABT2010.

Not that I'm entranced by edge enhancement, but the image has a bit more pop to it without excessive ringing.

2) While testing it out, I noticed the screen "blinked". It only happened on two occasions out of the seven or so DVD's I tried (running at 720p via HDMI connected directly to the display, audio outputted through coaxial). Thinking this was related to HDMI video dropouts, I reinserted the cable and downloaded and flashed the 983H to the latest non-beta firmware (983H-17-0709); I have played several DVD's in their entirety without seeing any "blinks", so it may have resolved the problem.

If it doesn't solve the issue (or if it causes some other issue), I would like to revert back to the firmware it shipped with. The problem is that it isn't listed on Oppo's website. I unfortunately failed to write it down, and thus I'm unsure about the last four numbers, but it was "983H-15-XXXX". I understand the batch numbers are related to production runs, and seeing that this was a recently shipped model, it may not be updated on the website yet.

Does anyone know which firmware it's equivalent to?

Thanks in advance!

moxie1617

12-26-08, 03:12 PM

All of the firmware links and the dates they were issued and issues resolved are located in the 1st post.

syrotchen

12-26-08, 07:37 PM

Well if you were lucky enough to buy one in the 8 months it was produced feel lucky. I found one of the few remaining today from an authorized reseller. I wrote OPPO after their stock level showed out of stock and asked when it would be available again. Their reply,
"The DV-983H will no longer be produced, as it will be replaced by the BDP-83, a Blu-ray player, in February or March 2009,

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
2629B Terminal Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119"

I was a little suprised, but if you are looking for a 983, Ebay or the other resellers will be your only option.

sremick

12-26-08, 07:47 PM

A lot of us will be selling our 983s once the 83 comes out.

Toonces T. Cat

12-26-08, 08:08 PM

A lot of us will be selling our 983s once the 83 comes out.

I'll only be selling mine if the OPPO Blu-Ray scales standard DVDs as well as the 983. If it doesn't, then I'll likely be looking for a spare 983 to put in storage in case my current one breaks down and cannot be repaired...;)

-Toonces

cucumbersmell

12-26-08, 08:17 PM

Only on page 58 so far, but still reading. Love the picture! Was wondering about problems with PAL conversion. Looks great at 1080i, but stutters at 1080p. HDMI direct to a Sony 46XBR6.

moxie1617

12-26-08, 09:20 PM

I'll only be selling mine if the OPPO Blu-Ray scales standard DVDs as well as the 983. If it doesn't, then I'll likely be looking for a spare 983 to put in storage in case my current one breaks down and cannot be repaired...;)

-Toonces
Sounds as if it will perform as well on SD material. The bigger issue is if you require multi region playback. If you do, hang on to your 983.

townofturley

12-26-08, 09:40 PM

I'll only be selling mine if the OPPO Blu-Ray scales standard DVDs as well as the 983.

The answer to this question appears in many posts in the 83 early adoption thread. Take a look at it.

Toonces T. Cat

12-26-08, 11:39 PM

The answer to this question appears in many posts in the 83 early adoption thread. Take a look at it.

Having read the entire 971 and 983 threads, I am just not up for another OPPO thread the size of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich...:D

I suppose when it's actually released next year I'll read the reviews and find out what it can do...For the forseeable future, I'll just stick with my 983 and my PS3.

-Toonces

tnewell

12-27-08, 02:01 AM

I bought my 983H from Music Direct in September 2008. I am not experiencing any audio drop outs (I use the coaxial audio output) but I believe I am experiencing about 10 video drops per DVD. I get a green colored flash that lasts less than a second.

Are these the video drop outs people are describing in this forum?

How current is my firmware? See below batch number. Wondering if the firmware upgrade would take care of this.

Batch: DV983H-07-0709

FYI- I use the Oppo HDMI switcher between the 983H and my Samsung 1080P DLP.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

Tom

GSB

12-27-08, 04:43 AM

GSB

12-27-08, 05:14 AM

1) Does this model support VRS fine detail and edge enhancement? The manual lists that it does, and that it is controlled by the Sharpness control, but from reading some of the comments here, it's only available on the ABT2010.

Not that I'm entranced by edge enhancement, but the image has a bit more pop to it without excessive ringing. Interesting that those features are mentioned in the manual. However, "Fine Detail Enhancement" and "Edge Enhancement" are technologies that are exclusive to the ABT2010, and this player's specs were designed around the ABT102/1810 combo. So in the 983, DE and EE features are locked together and adjusted with a single Sharpness control.

I have used the "Fine Detail Enhancement" and "Edge Enhancement" controls in other ABT2010 products, and as far as I am concerned, they are totally disappointing. One behaves exactly like the Sharpness control in the 983, and the other also behaves like the Sharpness control, but without affecting the very highest frequencies. The EE/ringing introduced by both of these controls, looks no different than on the 983.

Gary

rdgrimes

12-27-08, 08:57 AM

I bought my 983H from Music Direct in September 2008. I am not experiencing any audio drop outs (I use the coaxial audio output) but I believe I am experiencing about 10 video drops per DVD. I get a green colored flash that lasts less than a second.

FYI- I use the Oppo HDMI switcher between the 983H and my Samsung 1080P DLP.

You are having HDMI handshakes.

heiwi

12-27-08, 10:08 AM

Having read the entire 971 and 983 threads, I am just not up for another OPPO thread the size of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich...:D

I suppose when it's actually released next year I'll read the reviews and find out what it can do...For the forseeable future, I'll just stick with my 983 and my PS3.

-Toonces
Agree with above opinion and have the same equipment (from 971 to 983 plus ps3).
Just wondering what different calibration settings you observed between the 983 and the ps3?

Toonces T. Cat

12-27-08, 10:56 AM

Agree with above opinion and have the same equipment (from 971 to 983 plus ps3).
Just wondering what different calibration settings you observed between the 983 and the ps3?

I skip my Onkyo amp completely for all video sources...I always have by-passed it. I have a Samsung LN52A650 that has 4 HDMI inputs. Using my Harmony One Remote, it does all the switching. The monitor setting for the PS3 and the 983 are a little different, but nothing too radical...just a couple of clicks one way or the other on a few of the more detailed menus. Sumsung's user menu is very extensive almost equals many manufacturer's service menus in its depth and level of control.

-Toonces

Greg1981

12-27-08, 12:42 PM

Interesting that those features are mentioned in the manual. However, "Fine Detail Enhancement" and "Edge Enhancement" are technologies that are exclusive to the ABT2010, and this player's specs were designed around the ABT102/1810 combo. So in the 983, DE and EE features are locked together and adjusted with a single Sharpness control.

I have used the "Fine Detail Enhancement" and "Edge Enhancement" controls in other ABT2010 products, and as far as I am concerned, they are totally disappointing. One behaves exactly like the Sharpness control in the 983, and the other also behaves like the Sharpness control, but without affecting the very highest frequencies. The EE/ringing introduced by both of these controls, looks no different than on the 983.

Gary

Thanks for the clarification Gary, greatly appreciated!

Perpendicular

12-27-08, 02:12 PM

rdgrimes

12-27-08, 02:17 PM

A question for the experts.

I'm contemplating selling my 983 because when I replace it with their new 83, I don't want to have two players.

How much would I be able to get for a used 983?

The power cord, remote and other accessories are still new (unused).

Appreciate the feedback!

Of those which have recently sold on eBay, none were under $300. Expect that value to increase over the next couple months then start to drop.

heiwi

12-27-08, 04:25 PM

I skip my Onkyo amp completely for all video sources...I always have by-passed it. I have a Samsung LN52A650 that has 4 HDMI inputs. Using my Harmony One Remote, it does all the switching. The monitor setting for the PS3 and the 983 are a little different, but nothing too radical...just a couple of clicks one way or the other on a few of the more detailed menus. Sumsung's user menu is very extensive almost equals many manufacturer's service menus in its depth and level of control.

-Toonces
will calibrate my ps3 over the weekend - just got the bluray calibration dvd. Will see how different contrast and brightness will be compared to the 983 (optoma HD65).
thanks for you comment

scsiraid

12-27-08, 04:54 PM

will calibrate my ps3 over the weekend - just got the bluray calibration dvd. Will see how different contrast and brightness will be compared to the 983 (optoma HD65).
thanks for you comment

In my experience, both the 983 and ps3 are 'correct' in their YCC levels with no tweaking required. Turn superwhite and select ycc on in the ps3. Set 983 to ycc 4:4:4.

tnewell

12-27-08, 09:29 PM

See the first post! You need the latest FW (DV983H-18-1108).

Downloaded the firmware and it appears to have solved the problem.

Thanks!!

Neuromancer

12-28-08, 02:38 AM

Glad to hear that an upgrade to the latest firmware release has resolved your errors.

heiwi

12-29-08, 09:15 AM

In my experience, both the 983 and ps3 are 'correct' in their YCC levels with no tweaking required. Turn superwhite and select ycc on in the ps3. Set 983 to ycc 4:4:4.

I have set my 983 to RGB video in order to get whiter then white and balcker then black. Ycbr did not show the btb and wtw.
PS3 is set to auto and so is my projector. Super white is on.
I will try your settings this week - thanks

Neuromancer

12-29-08, 12:15 PM

If you use YCbCr you will need to set Super White on the PS3, otherwise you will crush black and white levels.

buns

12-30-08, 08:33 PM

antennahead

12-30-08, 08:47 PM

Hey there,

I have a 983 which seems fine apart from a tendency to pause and sometimes freeze upon layer change. It does not happen all the time and it is probably on pal discs (I dont do enough NTSC to really notice).

I am looking through the firmware releases but have yet to spot any mention of a problem or fix.... have i just missed it or have I got a faulty player?

First page of this thread, first post. Click on the links to go to the corresponding OPPO page.

John
edit: misread your prior post, but I think one of the PAL updates may have addressed this.

m.m

12-31-08, 05:20 AM

............. I wrote OPPO after their stock level showed out of stock and asked when it would be available again. Their reply,
"The DV-983H will no longer be produced, as it will be replaced by the BDP-83, a Blu-ray player, in February or March 2009,

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
..................

What about 983 firmware updates? No more?

Neuromancer

12-31-08, 12:17 PM

Firmware updates will still occur, assuming that OPPO has fixed additional issues (such as file sorting)

CharleyCross

12-31-08, 01:12 PM

Okay, I'm confused. I've been wanting to grab an OPPO player for a year now. I finally have an HDTV (thanks to my wife's overtime pay and Christmas generosity). I'd been holding off on an OPPO purchase, hoping they'd get into Blu-ray, and now of course the BDP-83 is on the way. But OPPO says it'll be locked down tight to DVD region 1 and Blu-ray region A. I understand that the BDA pretty much forced this position.

But the thing that first made me aware of OPPO a year ago was the ability to play pretty much any disc from anywhere in the world. There are movies that simply aren't available in NTSC region 1. So okay, scratch the BDP-83, and go back to one of the other OPPO units at least for DVD use. The 983 seems to excel by all measures, and now today I learn that it's being discontinued with a nod toward the BDP-83. Not sure I want to invest in a dead end, even if I could buy one.

So now I'm thinking I save some money and get either the 980 or the 981 as an excellent DVD upscaler capable of handling DVDs from anywhere. But which one? It sounds like the 980 is better at audio and the 981 is better at video. Is that accurate?

And this may sound trivial, but I see OPPO's comparison chart shows the 980 can do photo slide shows in HD, where the 981 only does them in SD. Really? I'm a photographer, and I'm looking forward to occasionally using my HDTV as a photo display device, and I want all the resolution I can get.

So I guess my net question is an invitation for opinions on the 980 versus the 981, as well as any thoughts on my backing away from the BDP-83 and 983 models.

Thanks!

PS: What the heck does the BDA think people are supposed to do who want to buy content only available outside the USA? Grrr.:)

fatbottom

12-31-08, 01:19 PM

I had the 981 suffers from macro blocking fault, reason why I upgraded to the 983. So I'd avoid the 981 even if it does have better picture quality, the blocking can ruin it- so the 980 may be a better choice if you can't buy the 983.

The 983 offers HD Jpeg, it works and looks far better than the 981. It's pretty slow reading in high quality jpeg's so if you really want HD quality pictures I'd use a HTPC. I have a HTPC for this, and divx & xvid playback- always found DVD players lousy at compressed video playback problems of some kind.

rdgrimes

12-31-08, 02:00 PM

So I guess my net question is an invitation for opinions on the 980 versus the 981, as well as any thoughts on my backing away from the BDP-83 and 983 models.

Unless you have a whole lot of non-region-1 discs, there are ways around that issue that are cheap enough. The new BDP-83 will still play all PAL and NTSC discs and handle high-res files as well or better than the DVD players. 983s are and will remain available used for the foreseeable future and Oppo will always support them. I don't see any real reason to avoid either one unless you have gobs of region-2 discs or the like.

CharleyCross

12-31-08, 05:12 PM

Unless you have a whole lot of non-region-1 discs, there are ways around that issue that are cheap enough.

Um, like what ways? Besides a regionless player like one of the OPPOs, that is.

Smarty-pants

12-31-08, 05:30 PM

Um, like what ways? Besides a regionless player like one of the OPPOs, that is.

Burn them with a program that strips the region coding and then play the burned version.
(WHO SAID THAT??)

sensui

12-31-08, 05:59 PM

I have set my 983 to RGB video in order to get whiter then white and balcker then black. Ycbr did not show the btb and wtw.
PS3 is set to auto and so is my projector. Super white is on.
I will try your settings this week - thanks

Funny thing about that, I had my 983h set to ycbr as well and the colors were a tad off. I set it to RGB Video and fixed the issue . This was confirmed by a professional ISF calibration too when Jeff Miejer went through all of my input devices to make sure the colors are correct....I thought I was going crazy since the ps3 works just fine on ycbr but @ least I knew I wasn't imagining things. Now continuing on to fix my audio dropout blip issue....hopefully these new hdmi cables (yet again) from monoprice will work better magic than the oppo ones.

antennahead

12-31-08, 06:06 PM

Burn them with a program that strips the region coding and then play the burned version.
(WHO SAID THAT??)

LOL, I bet if you had said this in the "other" OPPO thread, feathers would be a flyin' :)

John

heiwi

01-01-09, 10:10 AM

Funny thing about that, I had my 983h set to ycbr as well and the colors were a tad off. I set it to RGB Video and fixed the issue . This was confirmed by a professional ISF calibration too when Jeff Miejer went through all of my input devices to make sure the colors are correct....I thought I was going crazy since the ps3 works just fine on ycbr but @ least I knew I wasn't imagining things. .

thanks for confirming my setting - RGB setting makes the better picture with me too.

Grain1

01-01-09, 03:59 PM

bobve3rens

01-01-09, 04:20 PM

I too have this problem, I lose audio usually 3-4 times a movie, not video, and only when using HDMI for audio. It doesn't seem to happen when using coaxial for audio. Using an Onkyo 885pre, latest Beta firmware, and good HDMI cables.

Am I to understand that there will not be a firmware fix for this, but that it needs to be sent in?

What is it with the few peeps with Onkyos who have all these dropouts on the 983?? I've had several Oppo units up to and including the 983, and running them via HDMI through my Marantz SR8002, never ever a glitch, audio or video. From the online feedback I've read about Onkyo's unreliability, I'm not totally surprised, but still...

Neuromancer

01-01-09, 05:24 PM

Am I to understand that there will not be a firmware fix for this, but that it needs to be sent in?

For the OPPO You can upgrade via USB or CD from a file you download on their website.

For the Onkyo you can upgrade the unit by downloading a file which is uploaded through toslink (for DSP updates) or RS232 (for main firmware). There are several threads in the A/V Receiver forums about firmware upgrades.

rdgrimes

01-01-09, 06:07 PM

I too have this problem, I lose audio usually 3-4 times a movie, not video, and only when using HDMI for audio. It doesn't seem to happen when using coaxial for audio. Using an Onkyo 885pre, latest Beta firmware, and good HDMI cables.

Am I to understand that there will not be a firmware fix for this, but that it needs to be sent in?

It's certainly not been demonstrated that this is an issue with the player. So at this point, there's nothing to "fix" as far as the player is concerned. Suggest looking for a solution in the Onkyo forums.

Grain1

01-01-09, 10:07 PM

For the OPPO You can upgrade via USB or CD from a file you download on their website.

For the Onkyo you can upgrade the unit by downloading a file which is uploaded through toslink (for DSP updates) or RS232 (for main firmware). There are several threads in the A/V Receiver forums about firmware upgrades.

I'm running the latest OPPO beta firmware, and the Onkyo is also fully updated. I cant see it being anything but the 983, as I don't have the same problem with my XA2, PS3 or OPPO 980. I certainly stand to be corrected though.

Neuromancer

01-01-09, 11:39 PM

Grain1

01-02-09, 12:37 AM

GSB

01-02-09, 05:34 AM

I'm not following why your thinking impedance and resistance would affect an HDMI connection and not a coaxial connection? I've already tried swapping HDMI cables, but I'll throw a new BJC in to triple check. Thanks for your input though, I'm desperately trying to find a cure without sending it back. Coaxial carries audio only. HDMI carries video as well, at a much higher bandwidth, thus it is far more sensitive to impedance changes that can affect signal integrity.

Gary

jimim

01-04-09, 02:52 PM

Question.

Settings for HDMI with bitstreaming.

If I am using bitstreaming do I have to worry about any settings for the speaker sizes or sub setting? I figured no but in the manual it said to set everything to larger with the sub on.

Why is that? I never noticed it before.

jimi

Neuromancer

01-04-09, 06:01 PM

If you are bit streaming, then none of the Audio or Speaker settings will effect the signal.

jimim

01-04-09, 07:32 PM

If you are bit streaming, then none of the Audio or Speaker settings will effect the signal.

That's what I figured but like I said in the manual there was the talk of it even when using HDMI. This was the first I actually picked up the manual.

thanks man,
jimi

Neuromancer

01-04-09, 09:29 PM

thrand1

01-04-09, 10:04 PM

Well guys, as sad as it is, I'm going to have part with my 983 due to several reasons, the primary one being a need to downsize the system. I know Oppo might be stopping sales on this item soon, so if anyone comes in here looking for one I have an ad up in the For Sale section- here's a link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=8567#post15459253). Boy, am I going to miss it. Truly the best DVD player I have ever owned. PM me if interested.

Thanks,
Tyler

wmcclain

01-07-09, 07:18 AM

I've been using a test disc from divxtest.com to check media file compatibility on DVD players for a while. My results for the DV-983H are here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15480539#post15480539

-Bill

cucumbersmell

01-09-09, 08:36 PM

Still loving this player. Best SD upconvert I've seen. Had a bit of lip synch being off, but that may be due to the combination of player and display (46XBR6). Picked up a Felston DD740 and fine tuned all my audio inputs.

As for PAL. Read up a bit in the Video Processor forum about the DVDO Edge which uses a similar chipset to the 983. The Edge is having similar issues handling PAL. No big deal to me as I just set any PAL material to 1080i and let the TV deinterlace. Still looks great.

What I find strange is that it can convert PAL to NTSC and output at 1080i, but can't deinterlace the 1080i to 1080p after the conversion from PAL. Any idea why?

Webslinger

01-09-09, 09:03 PM

Is anyone else getting audio dropouts over HDMI with this player and an Onkyo TX-SR876 receiver? It doesn't matter if I'm playing dvds or cds. The dropout occurs for about 1 second after watching or listening to cds for 20 minutes. I tried the official Onkyo firmware and the beta firmware on Oppo's website. My Onkyo firmware is 1.01/088018A on the TX-SR876. I tried a number of different HDMI cables, and I tried various HDMI inputs on the Onkyo receiver. Nothing helped. Video is fine (and set to "Through" on the receiver).

Other dvd players, hd-dvd players, blu-ray players, etc. appear to work fine with my Onkyo TX-SR876 over HDMI.

I suspect this is a firmware issue, or at least some sort of compatibility issue between the the Onkyo TX-SR876 and the Oppo. It's pretty frustrating.

The reason I don't think the Oppo is totally defective here is because if I connect it directly to the t.v. via HDMI, I'm not getting these audio dropouts. So what's causing this compatibility issue between the Oppo and the TX-SR876? Would sending in the Oppo for RMA be of any use?

Webslinger

01-09-09, 10:07 PM

If you do not want to mess with cables, or do not want the additional downtime, you can send the player to them. They will honor the parts and labor warranty. The downsides are that they may not find an issue with your player and you will be out of your player for two weeks or more (particularly true now, as they likely have limited holiday schedules until January).

Okay, so I'm not the only one.

So what's the verdict then? I'm clearly not the only one experiencing this issue with audio dropouts with specific receivers. I can hook the Oppo directly to my t.v., and there's no audio dropout. But if I hook it up to my Onkyo TX-SR876 there is an audio dropout. I can list a lot (and I mean a lot) of blu-ray and dvd players that work perfectly fine with TX-SR876. So basically I'm in a situation where two companies can point fingers at each other, and, in the meantime, I'm stuck in the middle.

I have no doubt a compatibility issue exists, but someone needs to step up to the plate and fix this issue for the consumer. And I'm sure the finger could be pointed at Oppo (if you work for Onkyo) or Onkyo (if you work for Oppo), but consumers experiencing this problem are extremely inconvenienced if they want audio over HDMI to work.

This current situation puts a serious damper on my wanting to purchase any future Oppo hardware no matter how good it may be, including the BD-83. The TX-SR876 costs more. Which device do you think the consumer is going to replace first? Probably the cheaper option. I seriously hope Oppo can do something to address this problem.

Webslinger

01-09-09, 10:16 PM

The problem presents as a single audio drop-out (lasting one to two seconds or so both with dialogue and backgound music), with no associated video impact and is then followed by return to normal audio/video snychronous play.

I'm having the exact same issue with the Onkyo TX-SR876. And as I'm using analogue outputs for my headphones, there's no workaround for me.

Is it possible that an older firmware for the Oppo dv-983H will fix my problem?

Let's say Oppo issues me an RMA. I send it in. Can Oppo actually fix this issue on their end?

Or are they just going to claim there's no issue and send the unit back to me (in which case Oppo can kiss my future business goodbye)? There's obviously some sort of compatibility issue here, and someone needs to fix it.

Webslinger

01-09-09, 10:27 PM

Irregardless of your other equipment, you can't pre-assume that it is a faulty DVD player. The reason for this is that each content and destination device will have different impedance, resistance, and other co-efficients which will effect how well they co-ordinate with each other.

I don't care who's at fault. Will the problem be fixed?

Try changing your HDMI cables between the DVD player and the receiver, the receiver and the display.

I did that. I checked to make sure the problem wasn't faulty HDMI inputs as well. I tried different players. The bottom line is the Onkyo TX-SR876 (with firmware 1.01/088018A) and the Oppo dv-983H with both the official and beta firmware do not get along well over HDMI in terms of audio dropouts.

If after replacing cables you still have issues, then have the player recalled or replaced, as it is within your warranty conditions that the player be looked at.

Will Oppo fix the problem? I'm concerned because the Oppo plays fine directly connected to t.v.'s for example. I'm sure it plays fine connected to other receivers as well. It's clearly, to me, a compatibility issue with certain receivers. I'm a little scared of paying to send the Oppo in and having Oppo return the unit without resolving anything.

A number of us are having problems here. We may be in the minority, but couldn't Oppo do something just for us? Maybe a special firmware or something?

Webslinger

01-09-09, 10:58 PM

It is related to handshaking. In most cases, the error occurs due to the firmware you are using. Ensure that you are using the 17-0709 or later firmware on your player.

I did. That didn't help

The secondary cause is a bad HDMI connection either to your receiver or your display. Try changing HDMI cables with new cables.

I did. That didn't help

Newer Onkyo 606 models seem to have an issue with the DV-983H in all scenarios. Likely they are using a different HDMI transmitter than their previous "5" series and it is causing handshaking issue with the DV-983H

Why wouldn't the problem be with the firmware in the Oppo (unless, you're affiliated with Oppo)? I'm sure when I ask Onkyo, they will tell me the problem is Oppo's firmware, for example. I'm sure if I ask Oppo, Oppo will blame Onkyo. And the consumer gets stuck in the crossfire.

The workaround for now, if you do not want to send it in for servicing or a refund

Send what in? The DV-983H? I'm curious as to what good that would do, especially if the hardware isn't faulty.

I don't want a workaround. I want a fix. Is there nothing Oppo can do? They fixed dropouts for Pioneer receivers before, didn't they?

Smarty-pants

01-09-09, 11:20 PM

Webslinger,

Ranting and raving, post after post, accomplishes nothing.
Think about it... the 983 came out way before the Onkyo 6 series receivers. That is not Oppo's fault that the receiver may be incompatable, and it does not make them abligated to create a fix for it either.

Personally, I will never buy another Onkyo product again. Their service/support just plain stinks. I had to aquire bootleg firmware to update my receiver so that the "dts bomb" wouldn't blow all my speakers, and so that I could update the main firmware too which Onkyo will not give their customers.

Time after time Oppo is called upon to fix issues with other equipment because another manufacturer decided to change the the implementation of building their product. People at Onkyo and the like don't give a crap about everyone else, and everyone else is left scrambling to try and fix the problems. That is not fair no matter how you look at it.

IF there is anything Oppo can do about it, they may look into it. What we have to realize it that Oppo is a small company with somewhat limited resources. I'm sure that those resources are concentrating on the production of their upcoming Blu-ray player right now, so I doubt if they'd even be able to do anything soon anyway.

As Neuromancer has said as well, they may offer you a refund if you were to be so inclined to take it. I think that would be very generous of Oppo if they did that, as it is way more than any other company may do for you.
Oppo's customer service and support is known as the best there is. I'm sure they will do whatever they can for you. ...and I wish you well in the process.

Webslinger

01-09-09, 11:41 PM

Webslinger,

Ranting and raving, post after post, accomplishes nothing.

Smarty-pants,

Perhaps you could quote where I'm "ranting and raving"? And while it may seem that I am responding post after post, I just happened to notice others with similar issues and responded.

Think about it... the 983 came out way before the Onkyo 6 series receivers. That is not Oppo's fault that the receiver may be incompatable, and it does not make them abligated to create a fix for it either.

"Way before"? Really? The TX-SR876 came out in 2008. Regardless, the timeline doesn't matter (and I doubt HDMI handshaking just started being a new thing in 2008). And I don't care who is responsible. A fix should be forthcoming, regardless (I don't care if it's from Onkyo or Oppo). Otherwise, you're simply creating excuses that allow companies not to be held responsible for their mistakes. If it's easier for Oppo to fix the problem than for Onkyo, then the fix should be from Oppo. Also consider that unless this issue is addressed there's no reason why someone with a moderately pricey Onkyo receiver would ever buy an Oppo dvd player, much less the upcoming Oppo Blu-ray player that I was, until now, going to buy. I really was all ready and waiting to buy it.

I am reminded of an issue several years ago involving ATI and Creative. Both companies were pointing fingers at each other, while their customers were left hanging out to dry.

Personally, I will never buy another Onkyo product again.

Well, that's you. For those that spent over $1000 on an Onkyo receiver recently (and can't return it), I think the choice to avoid the cheaper product ($400-$500 Oppo player) is pretty logical. When the time comes to upgrade my receiver, I may very well avoid Onkyo (this has been a rather annoying experience all in all). Until that time, though, I (and I'm sure I'm not alone) would like a fix.

Time after time Oppo is called upon to fix issues with other equipment because another manufacturer decided to change the the implementation of building their product.

It seems to me that in some cases, companies may be left scrambling to fix issues caused by Oppo because based on what someone else wrote earlier, the issue is not isolated to Onkyo receivers.

IF there is anything Oppo can do about it, they may look into it. What we have to realize it that Oppo is a small company with somewhat limited resources. I'm sure that those resources are concentrating on the production of their upcoming Blu-ray player right now, so I doubt if they'd even be able to do anything soon anyway.

That's not an excuse to let previous customers go by the wayside, and, moreover, I do wonder whether this new Blu-ray player will also exhibit the same compatibility issue, which is why I may stay clear of it, unless I get the opportunity to test one before buying.

As Neuromancer has said as well, they may offer you a refund if you were to be so inclined to take it.

I would be surprised if Oppo did offer me that option because I bought from one of their resellers. I did, however, buy an extended warranty from Oppo.

I think that would be very generous of Oppo if they did that

Yes, I would be very shocked. I'm doubtful that they would. I would be extremely shocked.

Keep in mind that I have nothing against Oppo, and I do feel the dv-983H offers the damn best PQ I have ever seen from any upscaling dvd player. It's just THAT good. But the audio dropouts over HDMI are making me very annoyed, disappointed, and ultimately, sad. :(

I really hope Oppo's new Blu-ray player will work for me. I really do. I think Oppo's tech support guys are very nice and pleasant to talk to. I really would like to continue supporting Oppo. I like the company.

But this issue is pretty frustrating. I'm sure many Oppo fans will step in to defend the company, but this current situation is pretty upsetting.

By the way, the dv-983H wasn't my first Oppo dvd player either. I've been an Oppo customer for awhile. I'm quite willing to give Oppo my money (provided the players work with my gear).

If Oppo can create a firmware fix for Pioneer receivers, why can't Oppo create a fix for the Onkyo TX-SR876?

Smarty-pants

01-10-09, 12:28 AM

Webslinger,

I've already said all I wanted to say about the matter.
Just a couple more comments...

Just because you want it fixed, doesn't mean Oppo is obligated to do so.
When the 983 was developed, it was compatable with all Onkyo receivers, including my TX-SR805. That leads me to believe that the problem lies with Onkyo, but if you expect to ever get anything from Onkyo, you'll probably never get it. Also, it's possible that Oppo may not be able to even fix the problem.

Here we have a situation as you have described... where the consumer may get left out in the cold. I understand how you feel though. It's not like you can just go out and get a different player, because there are no other players that match the performance of the 983.
However, you are asking Oppo to invest more money into a product that's nearly a year old, and discontinued as well. Of course that doesn't mean that you should not get support, but what do you think any other company would do? They'd tell you to go take a flying leap.
Like I said though, I'm sure Oppo will do their best to help you out as a customer, but that doesn't mean they can solve your problem.
IF they can not fix the situation, I don't see why they would not offer a refund if the player was purchased at an authorized dealer.

Have you contacted them about it yet?
Here's what I would do...
Send them an email outlining the problems you are experiencing. Within that email, ask them to contact you by phone or email. This will give them a chance to familiarize them with your problem, and allow them to gather information and a possible resolve. Then they can contact you to discuss the matter.
Again, I am sure they will do whatever they can for you.

Webslinger

01-10-09, 12:38 AM

Just because you want it fixed, doesn't mean Oppo is obligated to do so.

If they can fix it easily with firmware, I do feel Oppo is morally obligated to
do so.

When the 983 was developed, it was compatable with all Onkyo receivers, including my TX-SR805. That leads me to believe that the problem lies with Onkyo, but if you expect to ever get anything from Onkyo, you'll probably never get it.

That may very well be the case.

Also, it's possible that Oppo may not be able to even fix the problem.

That would be extremely unfortunate. :(

However, you are asking Oppo to invest more money into a product that's nearly a year old, and discontinued as well.

What if this problem presents itself again with the BDP-83, and, if so, what if the cause is related? In that situation, it would be in Oppo's best interest to resolve this compatibility issue.

Of course that doesn't mean that you should not get support, but what do you think any other company would do?

Well, I've already witnessed what most companies do in this situation based on past history. They point fingers at each other and leave the customer hanging out to dry.

Like I said though, I'm sure Oppo will do their best to help you out as a customer, but that doesn't mean they can solve your problem.
IF they can not fix the situation, I don't see why they would not offer a refund if the player was purchased at an authorized dealer.

Have you contacted them about it yet?
Here's what I would do...
Send them an email outlining the problems you are experiencing. Within that email, ask them to contact you by phone or email. This will give them a chance to familiarize them with your problem, and allow them to gather information and a possible resolve. Then they can contact you to discuss the matter.
Again, I am sure they will do whatever they can for you.

Thank you very much for your advice. I do appreciate it. Sincerely

Neuromancer

01-10-09, 03:11 AM

What I find strange is that it can convert PAL to NTSC and output at 1080i, but can't deinterlace the 1080i to 1080p after the conversion from PAL. Any idea why?

Processing is doubled (frames being buffered) at 1080p versus 1080i.

Secondary issue is extra processing being done by the display. Ensure that you do not have Cinemotion enabled on your television.

Neuromancer

01-10-09, 03:24 AM

Perhaps you could quote where I'm "ranting and raving"?

You posted 5 messages in a row about your problem, dug up older responses I had to posters (and responded to them), and keep on demanding that "someone" fix the issue without giving OPPO or Onkyo any time to officially talk about your specific player.

As I have recommended many times in the past: when it doubt, have it checked out by OPPO. They may get it and find nothing wrong with the player (in which they will replace it) or they will find something inherently wrong to your product and will repair it.

If you read through all of the comments, you will see many complaints from Onkyo/Integra owners about audio dropout errors. Some users fixed these issues with firmware, some users fixed these issues through HDMI cable changes, and some users fixed their issues by having OPPO look at their players.

It is premature to say it is a compatibility issue, as not all users with an Onkyo/Integra and DV-983H have had issues, or have had issues that they could not resolve.

If Oppo can create a firmware fix for Pioneer receivers, why can't Oppo create a fix for the Onkyo TX-SR876?

With the Pioneer units it effected all DV-983H and Pioneer 91/92/94 receivers. This is completely different from Onkyo/Integra users who have complained about errors, because not all users have experienced issues (myself included).

gonk

01-10-09, 10:09 AM

If they can fix it easily with firmware, I do feel Oppo is morally obligated to do so.
"Morally obligated" feels like a stretch to me, but if an easy firmware fix were an option I can safely say that OPPO would fix it - even if the problem was due to an error in another manufacturer's product. The operative word there is "easy" though. An intermittent problem (which this one appears to be, based on Neuromancer's comments about other Onkyo xx6 series products) is anything but easy.

rdgrimes

01-10-09, 10:51 AM

"Morally obligated" feels like a stretch to me, but if an easy firmware fix were an option I can safely say that OPPO would fix it - even if the problem was due to an error in another manufacturer's product. The operative word there is "easy" though. An intermittent problem (which this one appears to be, based on Neuromancer's comments about other Onkyo xx6 series products) is anything but easy.

There's one thing that is certain: Ranting about it here won't accomplish a thing.

Webslinger

01-10-09, 11:57 AM

You posted 5 messages in a row about your problem

Yes, but that does not constitute "ranting and raving". At first I thought I was the only one experiencing this issue. So I posted. Then I started reading backwards and was really surprised to discover others with the same problem.

dug up older responses I had to posters (and responded to them)

Yes, but that still does not constitute "ranting and raving". The posts aren't exceedingly old, and they do reflect the exact same symptom that I'm experiencing.

and keep on demanding that "someone" fix the issue without giving OPPO or Onkyo any time to officially talk about your specific player

I have spoken with both Onkyo and Oppo. What do you mean by "officially", and how much time should I give them?

As I have recommended many times in the past: when it doubt, have it checked out by OPPO.

I am, actually.

They may get it and find nothing wrong with the player (in which they will replace it)

I'm sorry, but I don't understand. If they find nothing wrong with my DV-983H, they will replace it with what and why would they replace it?

or they will find something inherently wrong to your product and will repair it

I do hope something is wrong with it. I really like the PQ from the DV-983H.

If you read through all of the comments, you will see many complaints from Onkyo/Integra owners about audio dropout errors.

In the official TX-SR876 thread, I haven't seen anyone post about this issue with the Oppo DV-983H before. I was surprised.

Some users fixed these issues with firmware, some users fixed these issues through HDMI cable changes

Unfortunately, those two options haven't resolved this problem.

and some users fixed their issues by having OPPO look at their players.

Hopefully, Oppo can figure out what's going on.

It is premature to say it is a compatibility issue, as not all users with an Onkyo/Integra and DV-983H have had issues, or have had issues that they could not resolve.

I have no doubt it's not happening with all Onkyo receivers. But my friend also has an Onkyo TX-SR876 with the same firmware, and I tried my Oppo DV-983H with his receiver, and the exact same problem occurred. Fortunately, for him, he still has the option to return his Onkyo receiver for a refund. If I hook up my Oppo dv-983 to my T.V. directly via HDMI, there are no audio dropouts. If my Oppo DV-983H is not defective, then it seems reasonable to conclude there's some sort of compatibility issue between the DV-983H and the Onkyo TX-SR873 with firmware 1.01/088018A.

With the Pioneer units it effected all DV-983H and Pioneer 91/92/94 receivers.

I strongly suspect this is happening with all Onkyo TX-SR876 receivers with firmware 1.01/088018A (this appears to be a newer firmware than the one that shipped originally with Onkyo TX-SR876 receivers) and Oppo DV-983H dvd players with the latest official and beta firmwares. Anyway, I'll let you and others know what Oppo tells me once they get my player back.

Neuromancer

01-10-09, 04:24 PM

Yes, but that still does not constitute "ranting and raving".

It does become ranting and raving when you do not allow other people to respond, when you jump to conclusions about whom is at fault, and when you start demanding that your issue be resolved by "them" and finger point directly at OPPO.

I have spoken with both Onkyo and Oppo. What do you mean by "officially", and how much time should I give them?

How about you wait until OPPO gets the player and diagnoses it?

I'm sorry, but I don't understand. If they find nothing wrong with my DV-983H, they will replace it with what and why would they replace it?

There would be no reason to send you back the same player you were having issues with if OPPO was not able to find anything wrong with it (ie. they will not randomly replace parts and hope they fixed it). So they will replace it with another DV-983H player in anticipation of the replacement unit fixing whatever issues you had.

In the official TX-SR876 thread, I haven't seen anyone post about this issue with the Oppo DV-983H before. I was surprised.

I strongly suspect this is happening with all Onkyo TX-SR876 receivers with firmware 1.01/088018A (this appears to be a newer firmware than the one that shipped originally with Onkyo TX-SR876 receivers) and Oppo DV-983H dvd players with the latest official and beta firmwares. Anyway, I'll let you and others know what Oppo tells me once they get my player back.

Since there have been no other complaints from other Onkyo TX-SR876 users, isn't it reasonable to assume that it is related to an Onkyo error in their firmware?

Please stop putting the horse before the cart. You have no evidence that either Onkyo or OPPO is at fault with your errors, as you have said yourself that you have found no other Onkyo TX-SR876 user posts with the same errors. The problem could be inherent to your specific OPPO player; the problem could due to a bad HDMI implementation in the new Onkyo firmware; the problem could be bad firmware implementation by OPPO.

We do not know the cause of your specific errors. And it does us no good to use loaded, personal statements to conclude otherwise. Let OPPO take a look at the player before drawing your conclusions.

Webslinger

01-10-09, 04:53 PM

It does become ranting and raving

A cursory knowledge of English indicates otherwise.

when you do not allow other people to respond

I think you'll find I have no control over people responding on these forums. For example, you've managed to respond with relative ease despite my presence here.

when you jump to conclusions about whom is at fault

I have not jumped to any conclusions about who is at fault (I never have), but I do strongly suspect some firmware issue (either with Onkyo or Oppo).

and when you start demanding that your issue be resolved by "them" and finger point directly at OPPO

As I stated before I don't care whether Onkyo or Oppo resolves the issue, so long as it is resolved. I have never pointed my finger directly at Oppo, but considering your association with Oppo I can understand your bias.

How about you wait until OPPO gets the player and diagnoses it?

Sure

There would be no reason to send you back the same player you were having issues with if OPPO was not able to find anything wrong with it (ie. they will not randomly replace parts and hope they fixed it). So they will replace it with another DV-983H player in anticipation of the replacement unit fixing whatever issues you had.

I see. Thank you

Since there have been no other complaints from other Onkyo TX-SR876 users, isn't it reasonable to assume that it is related to an Onkyo error in their firmware?

That's a jump in logic. First there would actually have be another Onkyo TX-SR876 user with an Oppo dv-983H dvd player on this forum. Also, I am unable to find any other dvd, blu-ray, or hd-dvd players that won't work properly with my Onkyo TX-SR876. I've tried about 10 different players recently.

Please stop putting the horse before the cart. You have no evidence that either Onkyo or OPPO is at fault with your errors

Actually, given that the problem occurs between the Onkyo TX-SR876 and this Oppo dv-983H, the problem lies squarely with either Oppo or Onkyo.

as you have said yourself that you have found no other Onkyo TX-SR876 user posts with the same errors.

My friend has an Onkyo TX-SR876 as well. My Oppo DV-983H also exhibits the same issue with his receiver.

The problem could be inherent to your specific OPPO player

Yes, that's true (but unlikely, I think), and if so then it seems to me Oppo is "at fault" insofar as the onus lies with Oppo to fix or replace the unit. If the player is faulty, I have no doubt Oppo will resolve the problem for me.

the problem could due to a bad HDMI implementation in the new Onkyo firmware; the problem could be bad firmware implementation by OPPO.

I am pretty sure the problem is one of these two options. Onkyo is stonewalling me with respect to trying newer firmware updates for the receiver, even though internally they clearly have updates.

And it does us no good to use loaded, personal statements

That's your subjective interpretation of what I have written.

Let OPPO take a look at the player before drawing your conclusions.

I will before I indicate anything further.

airgreek

01-10-09, 05:52 PM

Neuromancer

01-10-09, 05:53 PM

My friend has an Onkyo TX-SR876 as well. My Oppo DV-983H also exhibits the same issue with his receiver.

Your sample pool is too small and inherently flawed. The main reason for this is that you are using the same DV-983H, which is potentially defective, to diagnose the cause of the error.

Yes, that's true (but unlikely, I think), and if so then it seems to me Oppo is "at fault" insofar as the onus lies with Oppo to fix or replace the unit. If the player is faulty, I have no doubt Oppo will resolve the problem for me.

What if OPPO gets the player, can't verify the errors, sends you a replacement and you still have errors. Whom is now at fault? Is it still OPPO, or is it Onkyo. Whom should take responsibility for resolving the issue?

Again, why should it only be OPPO that has to take up the burden of resolving this issue, if the issue exists due to the new Onkyo firmware?

That's your subjective interpretation of what I have written.
How did I subjectively interpret your statements when you use phrases such as "I strongly suspect ..." without any evidence? Your only evidence is your current player used on two identical Onkyo receivers.

Without knowing if your DV-983H is defective, you are making personal assumptions as to the cause of the error. The error could be related to your specific DV-983H being defective, or it could be that the new Onkyo firmware, as you have surmised, is at fault.

Neuromancer

01-10-09, 05:54 PM

I still love the OPPO 983 and will use it for my big DVD collection but DVD is yesterdays technology

Which is why they will be using the core of the DV-983H to power the BDP-83 Blu-ray player.

Webslinger

01-10-09, 07:11 PM

Your sample pool is too small and inherently flawed. The main reason for this is that you are using the same DV-983H, which is potentially defective, to diagnose the cause of the error.

Again, I never stated definitively that my dv-983H isn't defective. But it's a bit strange that when connected directly to my T.V. there are no audio dropouts.

What if OPPO gets the player, can't verify the errors, sends you a replacement and you still have errors. Whom is now at fault?

Who is now at fault? If I hook the replacement DV-983H up to several Onkyo TX-SR876 units (and I do have the capacity to do so by the way), and if the replacement still exhibits the same problem, then there's a compatibility issue between Onkyo TX-SR876 and the Oppo dv-983H; and someone at either company should fix the problem. I would blame both Oppo and Onkyo until the problem is addressed. As far as the consumer is concerned (me), the blame would fall on both companies until the problem is fixed.

Is it still OPPO, or is it Onkyo. Whom should take responsibility for resolving the issue?

Who should take responsibility? I would hope both companies would work together to fix the problem (but I also live in a dreamworld where everyone works together to resolve problems).

Again, why should it only be OPPO that has to take up the burden of resolving this issue, if the issue exists due to the new Onkyo firmware?

It would behoove both companies to resolve the issue, since it affects both of their customers. Again, whichever company can fix this issue easily should fix the issue.

How did I subjectively interpret your statements when you use phrases such as "I strongly suspect ..." without any evidence? Your only evidence is your current player used on two identical Onkyo receivers.

Not quite. I'm not getting audio dropouts when connecting the dv-983H via HDMI directly to televisions. Granted, t.v.'s aren't receivers.

Without knowing if your DV-983H is defective, you are making personal assumptions as to the cause of the error.

That would be true if I didn't test the DV-983H with other devices. If it failed with all of them, then I could be pretty certain my DV-983H is defective.

The error could be related to your specific DV-983H being defective, or it could be that the new Onkyo firmware, as you have surmised, is at fault.

Yes. And there's another possibility: the Oppo firmware could be at fault.

Webslinger

01-10-09, 07:14 PM

Well guys I received my Oppo 983 and was comparing it to my PS3 60GB model (the only model to have the BEST PS2 compatibility) while watching 300 and the PS3 was MUCH better. I must agree that the Oppo is the best DVD player I have ever had BUT DVD technology is limited. I still love the OPPO 983 and will use it for my big DVD collection but DVD is yesterdays technology

You can't compare Blu-ray picture quality to dvds. Blu-ray should always look better.

If you're saying that PQ while playing dvds on your PS3 is superior than the PQ from dv-983H, you haven't done enough testing. The dv-983 is better (much better, if you know what to look for).

Neuromancer

01-10-09, 09:42 PM

But it's a bit strange that when connected directly to my T.V. there are no audio dropouts.

Your television only supports PCM. The player is decoding the audio from the original sources and converting it to 2.0 PCM. The conversion from a raw bit stream to a PCM signal maybe resolves the error, as the error is related to the transmission and acquisition of a raw bit stream.

You could see if this is the case with your receiver as well by setting the HDMI to LPCM under Audio Setup. This will force the player to output a LPCM signal to your receiver. If audio errors still occur, then there is something else at play.

Yes. And there's another possibility: the Oppo firmware could be at fault.

We are pre-assuming that none of the other Onkyo TX-SR876 users are having errors. As you pointed our, both you and your friend are using a newer firmware revision than any of the other owners.

Under this condition, you could assume that the fault is squarely within the realm of Onkyo's firmware integration.

And again, I am making presumptions for the sake of argument. I presume no fact or knowledge of any inherent faults to the firmware integration.

Webslinger

01-10-09, 10:01 PM

The conversion from a raw bit stream to a PCM signal maybe resolves the error, as the error is related to the transmission and acquisition of a raw bit stream.

That's true; I had the same thought, which is why I stated "granted, t.v's aren't receivers."

You could see if this is the case with your receiver as well by setting the HDMI to LPCM under Audio Setup. This will force the player to output a LPCM signal to your receiver. If audio errors still occur, then there is something else at play.

I will definitely test that once I get the replacement or repaired unit back. Hopefully, bitstreaming will work, and I won't have to bother.

We are pre-assuming that none of the other Onkyo TX-SR876 users are having errors. As you pointed our, both you and your friend are using a newer firmware revision than any of the other owners.

Someone reported receiving a newer firmware version than what we have for the TX-SR876. Unfortunately, each time I call Onkyo, they claim there aren't any different firmware versions. My response always has been, "Yes, I know one isn't officially available to customers on your website, but internally, there are at least 3 different versions." Next week, I'm going to try calling some Onkyo service centers to see if someone might be willing to help me out.

Under this condition, you could assume that the fault is squarely within the realm of Onkyo's firmware integration.

That is one possibility. I've also got an Oppo DV-981HD sitting here. I may see if I can reproduce the problem with it.

If my Oppo dv-983H isn't defective, I sincerely hope this issue doesn't become a problem for Onkyo TX-SR876 users with the BDP-83. And if that does become a problem, I hope someone at Onkyo and at Oppo take the issue seriously (and look into a fix).

But, for now, that's a lot of ifs.

airgreek

01-10-09, 10:41 PM

You can't compare Blu-ray picture quality to dvds. Blu-ray should always look better.

If you're saying that PQ while playing dvds on your PS3 is superior than the PQ from dv-983H, you haven't done enough testing. The dv-983 is better (much better, if you know what to look for).

I mean comparing Blue Ray on my PS3 to DVD on my Oppo 983

hawkster27

01-11-09, 12:23 AM

You can send transmissions over HDMI which are not bit streamed (CD, DVD-Audio, and SACD). For these media types, you will have to properly configure the DVD player, otherwise you may have poor audio performance.

Provocative. What would a "proper configuration" be? And how can I tell if I'm getting "poor audio performance."

Neuromancer

01-11-09, 03:45 AM

Mainly you will want to make sure that you have set your DownMix correctly, set the Speakers sizes correctly (for bass management), and have not enabled any of the Sound Field, EQ, or Tone settings on the player.

Neuromancer

01-11-09, 03:48 AM

I've also got an Oppo DV-981HD sitting here. I may see if I can reproduce the problem with it.

That will likely not help. As I have stated several times in the past, that in regards to OPPO products, these errors exist exclusively with DV-983H. If the dropouts occur with the DV-981HD, then you are looking at a cabling issue to your receiver and yo your television.

Webslinger

01-11-09, 05:36 AM

in regards to OPPO products, these errors exist exclusively with DV-983H.

You appear to be stating then that Oppo produced a product that causes more compatibility issues than another. Are you admitting there's a potential issue that's exclusive to the DV-983H that would cause audio dropouts when bitstreaming? If so, what is the reason? Are there any known issues with the BDP-83 involving audio dropouts as well, then?

Let's say my DV-983H isn't defective. All players that output 1080p with bitstreaming audio (approximately 10 different ones) don't cause audio dropouts with my TX-SR876. So why would Onkyo believe their TX-SR876 firmware that I'm using is the problem? If their reps visit this forum and read your statement, they are more likely to conclude the DV-983H is the problem, which doesn't help if I am trying (hard) to get a "senior tech" at Onkyo interested.

Granted, my DV-983H could be defective.

If the dropouts occur with the DV-981HD, then you are looking at a cabling issue to your receiver and yo your television.

Anyway, I just tested the DV-981HD, and I'm not getting audio dropouts.

But my issue never had anything to do with cabling to the television. In fact, you don't need the television connected to reproduce the issue, and the cable (amongst 3 others I swapped out) is the one that came with the Oppo.
As I've stated previously, I've tested approximately 10 different players recently including blu-ray players. Nothing other than this DV-983H caused audio dropouts bitstreaming over HDMI. I've also swapped HDMI cables numerous times. There's no cabling issue here.