I currently have a Denon 2900 feeding a Sharp 10K 720p projector (via component). I'd like something region free with upconverting capabilities. I also want to move up to something like a Sony 550 in coming months (need internal decoding). I have 800+ SD DVDs with many unwatched as of yet due to purchases through many sales and just plain cheap proces over the last 6 months. Oppo 981 is out due to issues with DLP's.

I'm not sold on the need to move up to BR at this time since I am very much enjoying my SD collection and setup but have some interest in moving forward. I have no idea if the separate upconverting DVD players are that much better then Denon 2900 deinteracing and Sharp upconversion. Will keep the Sharp 10k for probably another 4-5 years before moving up to a 1080p output device.

Oppo 980:

Pros - Inexpensive and easier to justify with a Sony 550 purchase coming up. Provides upconverting and region free capability I currently do not have. Has user adjustable video controls critical to Sharp 10K since digital connection that does not support these.

Cons - Obviously not as good as the 983. Will also need a digital connection switch box to allow 980, 550, and HD cable connect to projector.

Oppo 983:

Pros - Probably the best upconverter for SD DVD's of which I have a lot of and want to enjoy watching at their best for many years. Provides upconverting and region free capability I currently do not have. Has user adjustable video controls critical to Sharp 10K since digital connection does not support these.

Cons - Would most likely cut into my ability to purchase a BR player until later next year. Will also need a digital connection switch box to allow 983, 550, and HD cable connect to projector.

Toshiba XDE500:

Pros - New kid on the block, inexpensive and easier to justify with a Sony 550purchase coming up and can also be made region free.

Cons - New player, no one setting does all, questionable 4:3 support. May not maximize benefits with a 720p display. Not sure if it has user adjustable video controls critical to Sharp 10K since digital connection that does not support these. Will also need a digital connection switch box to allow XDE500, 550, and HD cable connect to projector.

Stick with Denon 2900:

Pros - No new hardware required. Money could be put towards Sony 550. Could burn Region 2 DVDs to DVD-R (region free) to play through Denon and Sharp which provide PAL display.

Cons - Would prefer not to have to burn disks to play back. Denon 2900 region hacks have side effects so would avoid. Will still need a digital connection switch box to allow 550 and HD cable connect to projector.

My initial take is either the Oppo 980 or 983. Both give easy region free capabilities and will work well with my projector. It all seems to depend on how much better PQ the 983 has over the 980 to justify the extra cost and how much these would improve my current setup's PQ. Also, how long I want to put off BR.

Any comments suggestion would be appreciated.

How important is SACD/DVD-A to you?

How important is SACD/DVD-A to you?

Not very important. I have a few disk but I will be keeping the Denon 2900 in the mix regardless and it handles SACD and DVD-A with no issues.

the new samsung 2550 bd player has reon hqv video processing for excellent dvd upscaling.
worth a looksee. check out its thread in blu ray player forum.

otherwise, with a pj, go with oppo 983. imo.

My initial take is either the Oppo 980 or 983. Both give easy region free capabilities and will work well with my projector. It all seems to depend on how much better PQ the 983 has over the 980 to justify the extra cost and how much these would improve my current setup's PQ.

Do you have PAL discs? The 983 has better PAL video than the 980.

Zoom quality on the 983 is better than the other Oppos. The only setting I use is "fullscreen" for 4:3 letterboxed titles, which zooms to the full width of the display.

If you want to experiment with Constant Image Height lenses, the 983 has a vertical stretch feature.

-Bill

I think you may be better off with a 983 and then get a lower priced Blu Ray player. Strictly for Blu Ray, all the players pretty much use the same video processing. On the audio side you'll have to see what meets your needs. It is worh getting a high quality upscaler for DVD at this point from my perspective.

You could also consider the LG BH 200 which is both superb for Blu Ray and DVD. I would bet the DVD upsclaing is as good as the 983 since the LG uses the Marvel Qdeo chip. It can be had for the same price as the 983 and is simple to make region free.

Do you have PAL discs? The 983 has better PAL video than the 980.

Zoom quality on the 983 is better than the other Oppos. The only setting I use is "fullscreen" for 4:3 letterboxed titles, which zooms to the full width of the display.

If you want to experiment with Constant Image Height lenses, the 983 has a vertical stretch feature.

-Bill

I'm not really planning on getting many PAL disks but I did order a few recently which stirred this on because I'm tired of waiting for certain movies to make it to region 1.

I think you may be better off with a 983 and then get a lower priced Blu Ray player. Strictly for Blu Ray, all the players pretty much use the same video processing. On the audio side you'll have to see what meets your needs. It is worh getting a high quality upscaler for DVD at this point from my perspective.

You could also consider the LG BH 200 which is both superb for Blu Ray and DVD. I would bet the DVD upsclaing is as good as the 983 since the LG uses the Marvel Qdeo chip. It can be had for the same price as the 983 and is simple to make region free.

I saw someone mention the LG BH 200 in another thread, which is an interesting alternative since it also plays HD DVDs. Especially since I just picked up the first season of Star Trek the original series for $55 for it SD disks. It would seem kind of strange to want to own HD DVDs at this point but the disks are cheaper and I ended up with some in a round about way.

I once read that dual players (HD/BR) were usually better at one then the other. Is this the case with the LG? If so, better BR or HD.

Also, the LG is currently cheaper then the Oppo 983 so while it might not be the ultimate solution going forward it could very well satisfy for a few years at a more then reasonable cost. Especially if it has similar upconverting capabilities.

Does the LG output it's decoded HD audio through the audio out? I know it doesn't decode all HD audio formats but it could give me access to a few if so since I have an older Denon 5803 receiver.

How is the LG on PAL? Supposedly my Sharp can display a PAL signal so I just need region free support with a PAL output, not necessarily a PAL to NTSC conversion.

I saw someone mention the LG BH 200 in another thread, which is an interesting alternative since it also plays HD DVDs. Especially since I just picked up the first season of Star Trek the original series for $55 for it SD disks. It would seem kind of strange to want to own HD DVDs at this point but the disks are cheaper and I ended up with some in a round about way.

I once read that dual players (HD/BR) were usually better at one then the other. Is this the case with the LG? If so, better BR or HD.

Also, the LG is currently cheaper then the Oppo 983 so while it might not be the ultimate solution going forward it could very well satisfy for a few years at a more then reasonable cost. Especially if it has similar upconverting capabilities.

Does the LG output it's decoded HD audio through the audio out? I know it doesn't decode all HD audio formats but it could give me access to a few if so since I have an older Denon 5803 receiver.

How is the LG on PAL? Supposedly my Sharp can display a PAL signal so I just need region free support with a PAL output, not necessarily a PAL to NTSC conversion.

When I picked up the LG it was the fastest standalone Blu Ray player and the best upconverter (in my opinion). As far as I know the only lossless audio the LG does not decode is DTS MA. But the audio side is really good and it can upsample to 192Khz. It will also re encode to 1.5 mbps DTS for those who need to use optical.

I have had no problems with European DVDs since I implemented the hack.

As for Blu Ray and HD DVD, I'd say both formats look the same to me. Some Blu Ray disks can take a little longer to load and some HD DVD disks had extra web content. Haven't watched a lot of HD DVD other than titles like The Matrix, Battlestar Gallactica, Serenity, The Interpreter, Hulk, King Kong and some cataog titles from Universal. In fact I didn't know there were so many great titles already released. So, if you can pick them up cheap....

Interesting. Has anybody done an A/B comparison of the LG BH 200 and the OPPO 983? This is the first time I have heard of these two players compared. I know for a fact that the 983 is excellent for DVD playback.

Interesting. Has anybody done an A/B comparison of the LG BH 200 and the OPPO 983? This is the first time I have heard of these two players compared. I know for a fact that the 983 is excellent for DVD playback.

The one negative I've read of the LG so far is it's 4:3 playback. Apparently it is streatched with no way to keep it in it's OAR. I have a fair amount of older movies in 4:3 and some shows that this would be a problem with.

I saw someone mention the LG BH 200 in another thread, which is an interesting alternative since it also plays HD DVDs. Especially since I just picked up the first season of Star Trek the original series for $55 for it SD disks. It would seem kind of strange to want to own HD DVDs at this point but the disks are cheaper and I ended up with some in a round about way.

I once read that dual players (HD/BR) were usually better at one then the other. Is this the case with the LG? If so, better BR or HD.

Also, the LG is currently cheaper then the Oppo 983 so while it might not be the ultimate solution going forward it could very well satisfy for a few years at a more then reasonable cost. Especially if it has similar upconverting capabilities.

Does the LG output it's decoded HD audio through the audio out? I know it doesn't decode all HD audio formats but it could give me access to a few if so since I have an older Denon 5803 receiver.

How is the LG on PAL? Supposedly my Sharp can display a PAL signal so I just need region free support with a PAL output, not necessarily a PAL to NTSC conversion.

The BH200 also plays those new blu discs! :)
Kinda future proof. It would certainly get my vote. LG has also done a decent job of firmware updates and has stated, I believe, that one is coming to enable BD 2.0.

The one negative I've read of the LG so far is it's 4:3 playback. Apparently it is streatched with no way to keep it in it's OAR. I have a fair amount of older movies in 4:3 and some shows that this would be a problem with.

That is true. It hasn't been an issue for me, but it could be on older DVDs. The XDE has the same issue.

The one negative I've read of the LG so far is it's 4:3 playback. Apparently it is streatched with no way to keep it in it's OAR. I have a fair amount of older movies in 4:3 and some shows that this would be a problem with.

If your display supports 4:3 Aspect, I believe that would fix it. I can't remember ever watching a 4:3 content on my BH 200, the only 4:3 content I have are older movies that I prefer to use my HTPC with.

In terms of comparing to Oppos, I used to have the 970 with the BH 200 and the LG just blew it to smithereens :)

So, I am guessing the 983 is probably better than the 970, but the Oppo does not have a QDEO chip! Anchor Bay and Silicon Optix are good, but Marvell is just that bit better in my humble opinion :)

Just kidding about the smithereen part. I've found differences between good upconverters are generally subtle. I use an HTPC mainly because I can shrink the screen size to gain resolution (erceived resolution).