baconman,

The brightness is the only setting I changed on the Oppo. I made all other adjustments on the display. I had to change the brightness on the Oppo itself because without changing it, the TV wouldn't display blacks correctly even at its highest brightness.

Don't know if it was posted or if it was available in earlier firmware but, with the newest firmware, one does not need to press STOP in order to get into SETUP. The movie will be playing and I can change SETTINGS on the fly. If this was already known then I have been doing it the hard way.:(

Robert

You have to press STOP in order to get into ALL the setup options. When you're watching a DVD, you cannot access the last set of options in the setup menu.

Hey guys, new here but been reading the forum for a long time.

I received my Oppo yesterday and was really looking forward to using it with my Toshiba 57H83 in the 540P mode since that is the native resolution of this TV. However, when I switch to the 540P mode, I get a picture that slowly rolls upwards. Takes about 30 seconds for a complete frame roll. But I can see that it is the best picture quality out of all the modes. The picture at 1080i is pretty good as well but there is a slight flicker, which I assume is due to a reduced refresh rate in order to generate the higher resolution. The picture at 540P looks rock solid and very clean, except for the roll. 720P is solid as well but some sharpness is lost, which I assume is due to the 480i->720P->540P conversion that takes place. 480P looks better, but lack the cleaness of 540P.

Anyone else with a 540P Toshiba TV successfully see a 540P picture that doesn't roll?

Another problem with the 540P mode is that it usually doesn't work when I change into it using the "DVI" button on the remote. Most of the time I do that I get a black screen with some light snow and some curvy rainbow colored horizontal bars at the bottom of the screen. But if I leave the TV on, turn off the DVD, then turn it back on while still in 540P mode, the picture comes up, slowly rolling.

I've emailed Oppo but haven't received a response yet. Hope they release a new firmware that fix this problem if it exists.

LeeLee,

I have an OPPO paired with a Tosh 65HX93. I have mine set for 1080i. When going to 540p, I can only get black screen with 3 vertical magenta lines. The 1080i showed a flicker a few times, but actually only noticed it on the OPPO logo screen. I had also used it at the 720p setting, found that to be very very close to the 1080i. (close enough that I'm not sure I could reall tell difference). One of the resolutions did have a vertical rool, sometimes, not sure which one it was, and it wasnt consistent.

Rick

OPPO fixed my unit for no charge after I blew it up during a firmware upgrade (mostly my fault). Thank you OPPO. But, I was hoping that the resoultion would show on the screen when you change it. When I look at the digital output, I don't know what resolution I am at. Any thoughts? My projector doesn't display it either (Marantz VP12S3).


Tim,

I had the same problem with my Toshiba. Both OPPO and some folks here (GSB I think), suggested making a component connection or other video connection between the OPPO and the TV, and watching that while I switched DVI sync. Then switch back to the DVI input.

First couple of times it didnt seem to work, but then it started showing up fine. ( I might not have had remote right first few time). In any event that method worked for me.

I did ask OPPO to put the DVI setting as a display in one of the setup menus. but they didn't sound to disposed to do that.

Rick

I just calibrated my new Oppo using DVE and it seems that I need to set the brightness to +7. This seems a little high doesn't it? Below that, though, I'm not getting the correct black level according to DVE (regardless of my display's brightness setting). Is anyone else experiencing this? I'm outputting at 720p to HDMI. Thanks.

Titan,

I had to set my brightness to 7 as well in order to get correct black level. Im' using a Tosh HX93 set. I have contrast set to -1 to get correct white level. seems high, but I set it using both AVIA, and using some BTB test screen posted here (in HTPC thread).

I could have gone with a 6 brightness on the OPPO, but would have to crank up my TV to 70+ which is a bit out of liine with where I have other inputs, so I cranked up OPPO instead.

Rick

the oppo can take much longer cable runs than a d2.

i have proven that and with the latest firmware i have turned off my d2.

i still think the d2 has a great pq, but other issues outweigh the switch now.

oddly enough, i find running the oppo in 540p (using an h31) looks better than 480p, which doesn't make sense to me.

oh well.
-r


That hits another high note for me! just how long of a cable run have you performed?

FWIW, I have a 12' DVI --> HDMI cable connecting the Oppo and my Sony S520. Works fine. Don't know if this is 'long' or normal length.

FWIW, I have a 12' DVI --> HDMI cable connecting the Oppo and my Sony S520. Works fine. Don't know if this is 'long' or normal length.

THX, that's a decent cable run; unfortunately for some Front Projection Set ups; a minimum of 25+ feet may be required; in my case I originally needed to 30' cable run and was forced to shelve my D2 under the PJ and instead make a 30' digital coax run for audio..... so I'm hopping the Oppo can handle that; I know you may wonder why not just "extend it"... i've read too many problems with Geffen xtdz units still so I'd rather go direct until I can get my hands on a good receiver or preamp that can handle that run and swith dvi/hdmi... but thanx anyway!

anyone else out there with a long cable run?

RE: Chosing best resolution for RPTV

My RPTV (Toshiba HDX82) can display 720p or 1080i with DVI input. Which resolution would provide better PQ with the Oppp ?

Any display issues specific to the toshiba RPTV and this unit?

My RPTV (Toshiba HDX82) can display 720p or 1080i with DVI input. Which resolution would provide better PQ with the Oppp ?

Your TV is natively 1080i, so you should try that. The TV will rescale any 720p input to 1080i anyway. Better to avoid scaling twice.

right now i am powering my h31 using a 50' dvi cable.
works like a gem.
my d2 could go around 15-20' max.

-r

Guys I have a question? Can I undue the most recent up date of June 29th. I was not having any problem and don't really know why I even up dated BUT EVER SENCE I have, I have had Major Micro blocking on every DVD I 've watched, I even went back to movies that player perfect the first time and now MB all over the place.

I am Mad at my self for not listening to that old saying "IF IT ANT BROKE DON'T FIX IT" dang I just had to mess it up.

Thanks in advance.

Guys I have a question? Can I undue the most recent up date of June 29th. I was not having any problem and don't really know why I even up dated BUT EVER SENCE I have, I have had Major Micro blocking on every DVD I 've watched, I even went back to movies that player perfect the first time and now MB all over the place.

I am Mad at my self for not listening to that old saying "IF IT ANT BROKE DON'T FIX IT" dang I just had to mess it up.

Thanks in advance.

Just contact OPPO's customer service to request remedy. ;)

Checklist, your problem is very strange since others are not having the same problem. Is it possible that the machine returned to the default settings when you updated the firmware.

Did you try to adjust the brightness and check the other settings to see if this would lessen macroblocking?

I agree with rwestley, you probaly forgot to recalibrate the machine as refrehsing the firmware leaves everything at a default setting.

Guys I have a question? Can I undue the most recent up date of June 29th. I was not having any problem and don't really know why I even up dated BUT EVER SENCE I have, I have had Major Micro blocking on every DVD I 've watched, I even went back to movies that player perfect the first time and now MB all over the place.

I am Mad at my self for not listening to that old saying "IF IT ANT BROKE DON'T FIX IT" dang I just had to mess it up.

Thanks in advance.

Have you tried setting TrueLife to Off but leaving CSS On? I know this is the opposite of what most everyone is recommending, but on my system the image had increased macroblocking and noise until I made these two changes. I recommend you try this first before reinstalling the old firmware. I have not had any problems with deinterlacing with TrueLife set to Off. But I'm also running 576P out of the Oppo into an iScan HD for scaling, so this might be why I've gotten the opposite results of what's generally being recommended.

Thanks guys I give some of the suggestions a try and I will drop Oppo an email.

I do think the up date messed up the defaults and this is giving my PE7700 a problem and before the up date the factory chosen defaults match my BQ better than all the new choices I have.

One of the reasons I like the PE7700 so well it got a great picture right out of the box, without to much fuss and the Oppo before was working much the same way.

I guess it's time to get my hands dirty and do a calibration, I'll probably be glad I did it usually happens that way, I just hate to mess with kiss.

Hey guys, new here but been reading the forum for a long time.

I received my Oppo yesterday and was really looking forward to using it with my Toshiba 57H83 in the 540P mode since that is the native resolution of this TV. However, when I switch to the 540P mode, I get a picture that slowly rolls upwards. Takes about 30 seconds for a complete frame roll. But I can see that it is the best picture quality out of all the modes. The picture at 1080i is pretty good as well but there is a slight flicker, which I assume is due to a reduced refresh rate in order to generate the higher resolution. The picture at 540P looks rock solid and very clean, except for the roll. 720P is solid as well but some sharpness is lost, which I assume is due to the 480i->720P->540P conversion that takes place. 480P looks better, but lack the cleaness of 540P.

Anyone else with a 540P Toshiba TV successfully see a 540P picture that doesn't roll?

Another problem with the 540P mode is that it usually doesn't work when I change into it using the "DVI" button on the remote. Most of the time I do that I get a black screen with some light snow and some curvy rainbow colored horizontal bars at the bottom of the screen. But if I leave the TV on, turn off the DVD, then turn it back on while still in 540P mode, the picture comes up, slowly rolling.

I've emailed Oppo but haven't received a response yet. Hope they release a new firmware that fix this problem if it exists.

I'm seeing the exact same thing as you when setting the Oppo to 540p with my Toshiba 34HFX83 (the 34HFX83 has two native resolutions: 540p and 1080i). I see either the rolling screen or the black screen that you're describing.

I assumed that although it displays 540p natively, the Toshiba probably wasn't able to accept a 540p input signal, but I don't know that for a fact.

Anyway, please let us know what you hear from Oppo about this, I'm interested.

I am about to pull the trigger for the Oppo but now and then I read about the 2-2 cadence failure for PAL DVD's. As I live in Europe and most if not all of the DVD's I am buying/renting are Region 2, could someone explain to me how this 2-2 cadence failure affects the player and therefore my watching experience??? Any of the European friends out there having any bad experience with this issue please?

Thxs!

Have you tried setting TrueLife to Off but leaving CSS On? I know this is the opposite of what most everyone is recommending, but on my system the image had increased macroblocking and noise until I made these two changes. I recommend you try this first before reinstalling the old firmware. I have not had any problems with deinterlacing with TrueLife set to Off. But I'm also running 576P out of the Oppo into an iScan HD for scaling, so this might be why I've gotten the opposite results of what's generally being recommended.

I just did this and you're right, it reduced the macroblocking and the noises. In fact, the difference is huge for me that I'm going to use this setting permanently (CSS ON, Truelife OFF). I tested this with Alien. During the space sequence on Alien, where they showed the ships moving around, that's when the noise and macroblocking is unbearable. The bunch of blocks starts flashing at a ridiculous rate.

Does anyone have settings for the oppo using an HT1000?

I just did this and you're right, it reduced the macroblocking and the noises. In fact, the difference is huge for me that I'm going to use this setting permanently (CSS ON, Truelife OFF).

Turning TrueLife off disables all Faroudja processing, so yes if the Faroudja is causing the macroblocking this would probably be a fix. However, you are also losing all benefits of Faroudja deinterlacing, which is one of the Oppo's main advantages over less-expensive players.

OK, I took some shots to show the size difference coming out of my Marantz VP12S3 being fed by a Denon 5805 DVI, which is fed by the Oppo using DVI. (I can’t imagine the Denon is doing anything but I can test a direct cable path if you guys think I should). I have my camera tripod mounted so you can easily see the pattern movement. I have used the exact same processing (minimal) on each for truest comparison. The first shot is from the projector’s test pattern.

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/pattern.jpg

OK, I am now going to show shots from the different output modes on the Oppo. I don’t know the resolution on them because neither the Oppo nor my Marantz shows the feed resolution. Here they are.

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/oppo4.jpg

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/oppo3.jpg

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/oppo2.jpg

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/oppo1.jpg

So, you can see that the image bounces around and is a little too small! What gives? Pixel to pixel should be exact. Any thoughts?
:confused:

pixel for pixel is exact, but the player scales the 720 x 480 DVD NTSC pixel map to fit within the output 1280 x 720. That scaling appears to target a slightly smaller region than the full 1280 x 720 on the OPPO. Hence, the image size changes despite the 1:1 mapping of the output 1280 x 720 to your display. Even with 1:1 mappping of the output and display, there is still scaling which must be done if the display has square pixels.

But Guy, clearly there are some pixels being lost. Secondly, isn't it the responsibility of the projector to decide how to shape the pixels? At the 720P setting, 1:1 means 1:1 and the shouldn't be any processing to change that. I can understand the image moving about a little if not sent 720P but not if it is. So are you saying the projector is getting 1:1 (and therefore doing nothing) but that the Oppo isn't scaling correctly?

Turning TrueLife off disables all Faroudja processing, so yes if the Faroudja is causing the macroblocking this would probably be a fix. However, you are also losing all benefits of Faroudja deinterlacing, which is one of the Oppo's main advantages over less-expensive players.

I just don't see how turning TrueLife to Off disables the Faroudja deinterlacing, because I have absolutely no deinterlacing problems when TrueLife is set to Off (with CSS On) and I am well aware of the problems caused by poor deinterlacing and have tested discs with known problems and don't see any problems. I have not tried Avia or any of the other tests discs I own, but am more interested in real world viewing than test discs. And true, I'm running the Oppo into an iScan HD, but supposedly the iScan does not use its deinterlacing wihen it is fed 480p or 576p. So if the iScan is not deinterlacing and the Faroudja is not deinterlacing, who the heck is doing the deinterlacing? My system would then only be using flags to deinterlace. But when I watch truly horrid looking discs such at Welles' Chimes at Midnight (the Spanish PAL disc) the image is quite stable, something not possible if only flag reading. I have tried this disc with several other "less-expensive players" [Yamakawa 288, Toshia SD-4900, a Cyberhome, etc.] and there is a world of difference, with the Oppo being far superior; in fact the Oppo is nearly perfect even with Turelife Off.

I'm really not trying to say you're wrong about the Faroudja processing being disabled with Truelife Off, but some very good deinterlacing is taking its place somewhere in the video chain. Any insights?

The on disc image frame for NTSC DVD is 720 x 480 in size.

If the display resolution is 1280 x 720, there must be scaling performed to fill that display.

Agreed?

If the display is set to 1:1 pixel match an incoming 1280 x 720 signal and its scaler is not actively doinging anything then each incoming pixel of the 1280 x 720 signal is represented by a distinct pixel on the display.

Clear?

But we want the 720 x 480 DVD image pixels to fill the 1280 x 720 screen! So some scaling has to take place to make this happen. If the player is set to 1280 x 720 output resolution and the display is 1:1 mapped, then the only way to fill the screen is for the player to scale the image to fit.

If the image is scaled to fit 1280 x 720 exactly, the entire projector image area will be filled by the DVD image.

If the image is scaled to fit smaller than than 1280 x 720 portion of the 1280 x 720 output frame then the DVD image will not quite fill the screen. Even if 1:1 mapping is happening between the player and display.

So if the iScan is not deinterlacing and the Faroudja is not deinterlacing, who the heck is doing the deinterlacing?

The Mediatek chip, most likely. That's my guess anyway.

My system would then only be using flags to deinterlace. But when I watch truly horrid looking discs such at Welles' Chimes at Midnight (the Spanish PAL disc) the image is quite stable, something not possible if only flag reading. I have tried this disc with several other "less-expensive players" [Yamakawa 288, Toshia SD-4900, a Cyberhome, etc.] and there is a world of difference, with the Oppo being far superior; in fact the Oppo is nearly perfect even with Turelife Off.

I don't know, but with TrueLife off the player fails the waving flag and just about every other deinterlacing test on the HQV Benchmark DVD.

It's a conundrum, I agree.

On 1080i, I really couldn't tell the difference in picture quality when the truelife is on or off, aside from the dramatic drop in macroblocking and noise when it's off. Those flashing blocks are just too unbearable to me.

This leads me to another question. When using Oppo to a DLP TV, isn't 1080i better than 720p? I've noticed that 1080i is sharper looking than 720p but my eyes seem to be heavier when I'm looking at 1080i but more relaxed at 720p.

Thanks Guy. I'm still confused though. Is the Oppo scaling incorrectly and feeding 1:1 (but the wrong size) and the Marantz is doing nothing, or is the Oppo scaling wrongly and the Marantz is scaling again? The dvd is Avia.

SJschaff, I've also been using a Casanova (just packed it up for the upgrade). Been considering the Oppo as a temporary solution. How is its sound into the Theta?

BTW: Compared TOS to Coaxial digital from my older Denon into the Casanova some time ago. The Coaxial sounded quite a bit better.

Sounds great. I believe the DACs must be finer than other players, including the latest one from Momitsu that I have. I have yet to do any critical listening between TOS and coax digital. On the face of it both sound about the same. I've occasionally jumped between them to see if I can correct lip sync that occasionally crops up. But I'm not sure that this switch has any noticeable effect, either. I've also got the add-on from Theta that allows for wider PLL (phase lock loop) issues that come up with over the air HDTV. But that's quite a different kettle of fish....

This leads me to another question. When using Oppo to a DLP TV, isn't 1080i better than 720p? I've noticed that 1080i is sharper looking than 720p but my eyes seem to be heavier when I'm looking at 1080i but more relaxed at 720p.

DLP is natively progressive. There is no such thing as a 1080i DLP set (though they will obviously accept and rescale 1080i input). What is the resolution of your set? If it's 720p, then the Oppo's 720p ouput should be the best match. If it's something other than 720p, you may be just as well using 480p from the Oppo. Otherwise, the Oppo will be doing scaling once and then the TV scales again. Scaling twice should be avoided.

I just bought the Oppo and hooked it up to my Zenith C32V37 CRT HDTV and noticed that when the Oppo is set to 540p or 1080i the letters in the 'Oppo' name on the screen start to shake a tiny bit. This does not occur when I set it to 720p and let the Zenith handle the scaling from 720p to 1080i. Is this normal and for others with CRT HDTV's, is 1080i the optimal resolution to set?

I have the 6/29/05 firmware and the sharpness off (and set to 0 on my TV).

Thanks GSB, I will convert to composite during resolution changes.

For what it is worth, last night I viewed The Battle of the River Plate Region 2 DVD. This is a 1956 English film digitally remastered and released by Carlton in 2003. It has a widescreen letterbox 1.66:1 aspect ratio with English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio. More technical details on the DVD are here http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews8/battleofriverplate.htm

My Oppo set to Region Free played the DVD perfectly on my Sony XBR910 16:9 direct view 1080i CRT using 1080i via DVI. By using the Oppo 1.5 Zoom feature, the image filled the screen. The only problem was the now familiar audio sync issue which occasionally arose and was resolved by pausing and playing. I experimented with all the audio delay settings but they just made matters worse.

In summary, the Oppo handled this Region 2 DVD very capably.

I did some experimenting again with some of my discs. I got my oppo hooked up to my DLP using DVI, playing on 720p. I've decided that there is really 2 solution to my problem. If I'm playing older titles such as Alien, it's better to turn off truelife and turn on css. If I'm playing a good quality newer titles such as X-men 2, it's better to turn on truelife and turn off css. The macroblocking and noise on Alien is just too much. You could see a lot garbage flashing all over the screen when you turn on truelife, it's embarassing to show it to people. The transfer for X-men 2 is very good and that's probably the reason for little noise and macroblocking.

I just bought the Oppo and hooked it up to my Zenith C32V37 CRT HDTV and noticed that when the Oppo is set to 540p or 1080i the letters in the 'Oppo' name on the screen start to shake a tiny bit. This does not occur when I set it to 720p and let the Zenith handle the scaling from 720p to 1080i. Is this normal and for others with CRT HDTV's, is 1080i the optimal resolution to set?

I have the 6/29/05 firmware and the sharpness off (and set to 0 on my TV).

I have the Zenith C27V36 CRT HDTV, and I run the Oppo at 1080i on it. I do not have shaking at 1080i - have not checked 540p, though. I did have synch problems with the 1080i signal before I applied the May Hotfix firmware which was released to address synch issues at 1080i with some displays. That firmware cured my problems, and with the 6/29 firmware it is now outstanding. It looks great whether I feed the display 720p or 1080i - I send it 1080i to keep the Zenith from scaling the image a 2nd time in addition to the Oppo scaling. I also have the sharpness off on the player and at zero on my Zenith display.

My only remaining gripe about the Oppo is the lip synch issues... :(

I just don't see how turning TrueLife to Off disables the Faroudja deinterlacing, because I have absolutely no deinterlacing problems when TrueLife is set to Off (with CSS On) and I am well aware of the problems caused by poor deinterlacing and have tested discs with known problems and don't see any problems. I have not tried Avia or any of the other tests discs I own, but am more interested in real world viewing than test discs. And true, I'm running the Oppo into an iScan HD, but supposedly the iScan does not use its deinterlacing wihen it is fed 480p or 576p. So if the iScan is not deinterlacing and the Faroudja is not deinterlacing, who the heck is doing the deinterlacing? My system would then only be using flags to deinterlace. But when I watch truly horrid looking discs such at Welles' Chimes at Midnight (the Spanish PAL disc) the image is quite stable, something not possible if only flag reading. I have tried this disc with several other "less-expensive players" [Yamakawa 288, Toshia SD-4900, a Cyberhome, etc.] and there is a world of difference, with the Oppo being far superior; in fact the Oppo is nearly perfect even with Turelife Off.

I'm really not trying to say you're wrong about the Faroudja processing being disabled with Truelife Off, but some very good deinterlacing is taking its place somewhere in the video chain. Any insights?

Turning TrueLife Off should not disable Faroudja de-interlacing. From the Faroudja website, in the technology section, you will see the following excerpt:

TrueLife™ Enhancement
Conventional video enhancement is done by a “peaking filter” that enhances the high-frequency components of the video signal. However, this creates unwanted artifacts. Faroudja does not use a peaking filter to enhance an image rather uses its TrueLife™ Enhancement technology to identify transitions considered to be the details in an image such as skin texture, freckles or hair. These detail transitions are deliberately enhanced making them more visible and more lifelike. The technology also enhances large edges to create greater depth of perception without introducing visual artifacts or distortion.

DCDi is Faroudja's patented algorithm for eliminating jaggies during de-interlacing. TrueLife and CCS are not deinterlacing processes. They are features within the Genesis chipset, CCS being a temporal filter and TrueLife, as noted in the excerpt above, an "enhancement technology". TrueLife is edge/detail enhancement, plain and simple.

If the TrueLife switch on the Oppo turns off de-interlacing, then it is implemented incorrectly. TrueLife can be disabled without turning off DCDi. There is no reason the Oppo should fail the HQV Benchmark DVD deinterlacing tests with TrueLife off that it passes with TrueLife on. Since the Faroudja chipset is mounted directly on the DVI out board of the Oppo, I would expect the Faroudja is the only chipset doing deinterlacing on the Oppo, as the component out only offers 480i.

Turning TrueLife Off should not disable Faroudja de-interlacing. From the Faroudja website, in the technology section, you will see the following excerpt:



DCDi is Faroudja's patented algorithm for eliminating jaggies during de-interlacing. TrueLife and CCS are not deinterlacing processes. They are features within the Genesis chipset, CCS being a temporal filter and TrueLife, as noted in the excerpt above, an "enhancement technology". TrueLife is edge/detail enhancement, plain and simple.

If the TrueLife switch on the Oppo turns off de-interlacing, then it is implemented incorrectly. TrueLife can be disabled without turning off DCDi. There is no reason the Oppo should fail the HQV Benchmark DVD deinterlacing tests with TrueLife off that it passes with TrueLife on. Since the Faroudja chipset is mounted directly on the DVI out board of the Oppo, I would expect the Faroudja is the only chipset doing deinterlacing on the Oppo, as the component out only offers 480i.


Thank's for the clarification; I just received the oppo last night, It is connected to a panasonic PT-AE700U through Ram's Div2 Dvi/Hdmi cables. I tried switching the ccs and Truelife on/off back & forth and can attest to the fact that with one or the other on/off there are obvious visible changes in PQ; jaggies and noise can be exagerated or suppressed depending on the combination(leaving ccs on/true life off, and viceversa). I would like to share that for one thing it appears that the OPPO is OVERLY SHARP and without real means of adjusting sharpness, this failure just seems to aggrevate the ccs/true life issues. what are your thoughts?
also...... what's with the audio hiccups??

Turning TrueLife Off should not disable Faroudja de-interlacing.

As stated earlier in the thread, regardless of how TrueLife works in the official Faroudja spec, the way it is implemented in the Oppo player does indeed disable the DCDi deinteracing algorithm when you turn "Off" the setting labelled "TrueLife" in the current firmware. This is something that can be easily validated (and has been) with common deinterlacing tests.

I would like to share that for one thing it appears that the OPPO is OVERLY SHARP and without real means of adjusting sharpness,

The current Oppo firmware (the same one that allows control of TrueLife and CSS) has an option for turning all Sharpness "Off". From my testing, this does seem to remove the player-caused edge enhancement that was present in previous firmwares.

As stated earlier in the thread, regardless of how TrueLife works in the official Faroudja spec, the way it is implemented in the Oppo player does indeed disable the DCDi deinteracing algorithm when you turn "Off" the setting labelled "TrueLife" in the current firmware. This is something that can be easily validated (and has been) with common deinterlacing tests.

If the TrueLife setting on the Oppo video setup page disables DCDi, then the setting should be labeled Deinterlacer rather than TrueLife with DCDi or MediaTek as the choices. To label a switch that disables DCDi as TrueLife is flat out stupid. :eek:

As stated earlier in the thread, regardless of how TrueLife works in the official Faroudja spec, the way it is implemented in the Oppo player does indeed disable the DCDi deinteracing algorithm when you turn "Off" the setting labelled "TrueLife" in the current firmware. This is something that can be easily validated (and has been) with common deinterlacing tests.

That doesn't make sense for two reasons:

1. With TrueLife Off I have absolutely no deinterlacing problems, even when I do an A/B comparison by watching a known problem disc with TrueLive first On and then Off, I see no difference when it comes to deinterlacing on my system.

2. Even with TrueLife Off, macroblocking is still present, though much less objectionable than with TrueLife set to On. Macroblocking is caused by the Faroudja processing. It makes no sense that if TrueLife Off disables the Faroudja processing I would still see macroblocking, macroblocking that I do not see on any of my other DVD players.

I could see where possibly since I'm running my Oppo through an iScan HD, somehow the iScan is still performing the deinterlacing (though I have absolutely no idea how since no deinterlacing is supposed to be done by the iScan when fed either 480p or 576p) but there would then still be no way to explain the macroblocking.

So Josh, I have to ask, when you are doing the deinterlacing tests, are you just testing 540p/720p/1080i, or have you also done the tests with 480p and 576p, which are the only two resolutions I've tested? In fact, I now almost always use 576p. That may be the answer, that DCDI is not turned off except when the Oppo is also scaling.

Right now I'm running a Panny PTL300U and a Momitsu v880; however, the Momitsu has been behaving really poorly lately (not reading DVDs, not responding to the remote, not reading all DivX files, etc), and I'm thinking about replacing it. I read a wave of good things about the Oppo, but the latter pages of this thread are kind of making it sound like a disaster.

Considering I'd be running over DVI to an LCD projector, how serious are the deinterlacing and audio issues you guys are discussing? Is this still a worthwhile upgrade in the opinion of the majority?

That doesn't make sense for two reasons:

1. With TrueLife Off I have absolutely no deinterlacing problems, even when I do an A/B comparison by watching a known problem disc with TrueLive first On and then Off, I see no difference when it comes to deinterlacing on my system.

So Josh, I have to ask, when you are doing the deinterlacing tests, are you just testing 540p/720p/1080i, or have you also done the tests with 480p and 576p, which are the only two resolutions I've tested? In fact, I now almost always use 576p. That may be the answer, that DCDI is not turned off except when the Oppo is also scaling.
I was playing around with settings the other day and using Star Wars Ep. II as a test disc, and I definitely noticed bad deinterlacing/scaling problems (especially with diagonal lines) when TrueLife was turned off. Playing the exact same scene with TrueLife ON cleared up the problems. (Was using 720p setting via DVI/HDMI to Sony 55XS955 LCD RP.)

So, I'd have to agree that it does seem like the DCDi is being turned off completely when TrueLife is turned to off.

-Terry

I would like to share that for one thing it appears that the OPPO is OVERLY SHARP and without real means of adjusting sharpness, this failure just seems to aggrevate the ccs/true life issues. what are your thoughts?
Yeah. Compared to my Pioneer 588a, the Oppo does appear to be overly sharp... even with the Oppo's Sharpness control to Off. I've had to tweak my display (in the display's service menu) to tone down as much sharpness as I can. It's better now, but there is still a lot of inherent sharpness to the Oppo.

The Oppo has a lot of "pop" to the image, which, much like a bright loudspeaker, might be pleasing initially, but when A/B compared to a smoother, more film-like alternative, it becomes annoying.

To be honest, originally I still favored the smoother, more film-like image made by the Pioneer, even after the latest Oppo firmware (which removed the shimmering.) Now, after further tweaking, they are much closer in terms of image quality.

-Terry

If the TrueLife setting on the Oppo video setup page disables DCDi, then the setting should be labeled Deinterlacer rather than TrueLife with DCDi or MediaTek as the choices. To label a switch that disables DCDi as TrueLife is flat out stupid. :eek:

I'm not disagreeing with you. Nonetheless, that's the way it is. The "TrueLife" setting must disable both the real TrueLife and DCDi.

1. With TrueLife Off I have absolutely no deinterlacing problems, even when I do an A/B comparison by watching a known problem disc with TrueLive first On and then Off, I see no difference when it comes to deinterlacing on my system.

So Josh, I have to ask, when you are doing the deinterlacing tests, are you just testing 540p/720p/1080i, or have you also done the tests with 480p and 576p, which are the only two resolutions I've tested? In fact, I now almost always use 576p. That may be the answer, that DCDI is not turned off except when the Oppo is also scaling.

I don't know what to tell you, CJ. I see lots of deinterlacing problems on any video-based material, not just the test discs, when I turn TrueLife off.

My Oppo is set to "Auto" for the resolution, outputting 480p for NTSC and 576p for PAL. I don't use any of the other upscaling resolutions because I'm feeding the player into an iScan-HD+ (just like you) and it would be pointless to scale twice.

The iScan does not do the deinterlacing when fed 480p or 576p. The picture is already deinterlaced at that point. The iScan only scales.

i have been tweaking my oppo over the last few weeks since moving to it from my d2, but i still have some questions.

1. when people here refer to the screen "rolling up" in 540p mode, what does that mean? i have it set to 540p but don't notice anything.

2. when i look at the actual image on the screen it seems like the objects sometimes have a lighter border in color around them. almost like a sharpness setting (which i have off). basically, the pq is nice, but it's like subjects in a scene have a little border around them that is of lighter color , but not blocky at all. what is that? can i fix that?

3. i am going to try my d2 again to see if i notice these things with it as well, but do any d2 users out there have any opinions when it comes down to pq vs. the oppo?

4. i hope they fix the audio sync issue, it really bugs me. and would 856 x 480 res setting on the oppo look significantly better (since i'm using an optoma h31)?


i'm struggling because the oppo can go over much longer cables, but i feel like my d2 still has better overall pq. deep down i think i want someone to tell me the oppo pq is the same with the d2. :)


thanks!
-r

i have been tweaking my oppo over the last few weeks since moving to it from my d2, but i still have some questions.

1. when people here refer to the screen "rolling up" in 540p mode, what does that mean? i have it set to 540p but don't notice anything.

2. when i look at the actual image on the screen it seems like the objects sometimes have a lighter border in color around them. almost like a sharpness setting (which i have off). basically, the pq is nice, but it's like subjects in a scene have a little border around them that is of lighter color , but not blocky at all. what is that? can i fix that?

3. i am going to try my d2 again to see if i notice these things with it as well, but do any d2 users out there have any opinions when it comes down to pq vs. the oppo?

4. i hope they fix the audio sync issue, it really bugs me. and would 856 x 480 res setting on the oppo look significantly better (since i'm using an optoma h31)?


i'm struggling because the oppo can go over much longer cables, but i feel like my d2 still has better overall pq. deep down i think i want someone to tell me the oppo pq is the same with the d2. :)


thanks!
-r

Are you using the latest firmware? The new firmware fixes an issue with the mediatek chip adding sharpness to the picture.

I'm not disagreeing with you. Nonetheless, that's the way it is. The "TrueLife" setting must disable both the real TrueLife and DCDi.


Agreed. If you get jaggies without TrueLife, then DCDi is not at work. I leave TrueLife on, because that's the best setting for me on everything I throw at the Oppo.

Hopefully, there can be a firmware change that tweaks the TrueLife setting by only disabling TrueLife without affecting DCDi. :)

I read a wave of good things about the Oppo, but the latter pages of this thread are kind of making it sound like a disaster.

Considering I'd be running over DVI to an LCD projector, how serious are the deinterlacing and audio issues you guys are discussing? Is this still a worthwhile upgrade in the opinion of the majority? This is still the best player for the money. There are still a few firmware quirks to be worked out - and they will be. Please read the defect list here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5825462&&#post5825462) or in the first post of the Oppo FAQ thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=491306). It should answer all your questions.

The discussion about deinterlacing revolves around a single setting (Truelife) which currently turns off the DCDi deinterlacing (unintentionally). This can easily be fixed with a firmware upgrade. Just leave this setting at the default (ON).

i'm struggling because the oppo can go over much longer cables, but i feel like my d2 still has better overall pq. deep down i think i want someone to tell me the oppo pq is the same with the d2. :)


thanks!
-r

Ok Bud! here is a harsh but true fact(face it) the oppo with truelife and the cc option "on" kills our beloved D2.... jaggies? none.... noise? gone... I've only had the oppo 1 night and have not calibrated it completely but so far(out of the box and with minimal calibrations) it looks better than the D2.....sorry. Vinc are listening..... yeah its's y

1st post!

Assuming I go ahead and get a TV with HDCP and the OPPO how much of a problem will it be? What restrictions will I have, assuming you cannot upconvert over component?

Thanks awfully in advance, I have read most of the OPPO threads but I am now getting a headache!

:confused:

I was playing around with settings the other day and using Star Wars Ep. II as a test disc, and I definitely noticed bad deinterlacing/scaling problems (especially with diagonal lines) when TrueLife was turned off. Playing the exact same scene with TrueLife ON cleared up the problems. (Was using 720p setting via DVI/HDMI to Sony 55XS955 LCD RP.)

So, I'd have to agree that it does seem like the DCDi is being turned off completely when TrueLife is turned to off.

-Terry

What I need to know is, has anyone tried 480p or 576p to compare deinterlacing with TrueLife On and Off? That is where I don't see any difference. And mostly I've tested 576p; I have only limited experience with 480p.

1st post!

Assuming I go ahead and get a TV with HDCP and the OPPO how much of a problem will it be? What restrictions will I have, assuming you cannot upconvert over component?

Thanks awfully in advance, I have read most of the OPPO threads but I am now getting a headache!

:confused:

Not entirely sure I understand your question but here is the answer to the question I think you are asking :)

The Oppo is NOT HDCP compliant. This is not a bad thing. It is a good thing. It means that the Oppos does not care whether your display/projector is/isn't HDCP compliant and will play copy-protected material (e.g., DVD), even upconverted, through the DVI port to anything that accepts DVI. Nice, isn't it :) It is also Region free, or VERY easily made region free (no, I'm not talking about upgrading the firmware with some hack, etc., just a few simple key presses on your remote).

At the following - dvdo com faq faq_ishd_hdcp

I read

If one of your devices is HDCP compliant, but the other is not, then you cannot connect them using DVI or HDMI - you will get an error. However, you can still use the analog signal from the source device (eg: component video signal, S-video signal). HDCP does not apply to analog signals.

What does this mean?

Cheers.

At the following - dvdo com faq faq_ishd_hdcp

I read

If one of your devices is HDCP compliant, but the other is not, then you cannot connect them using DVI or HDMI - you will get an error. However, you can still use the analog signal from the source device (eg: component video signal, S-video signal). HDCP does not apply to analog signals.

What does this mean?

Cheers.


In regards to the Oppo it means nothing, even when used with a DVDO video processor. The only problem you will run into is if a device such as a DVD player is HDCP compliant (but not the Oppo, which is not compliant) and you try to use it with a DVI/HDMI display device that is not HDCP compliant, they won't work together. Since the Oppo is not HDCP compliant for DVI, it will work with any display whether HDCP compliant or not. In other words, when using the Oppo you don't have to be concerned about HDCP.

Thanks BenDover and CJayB. Just the answer I was looking for, I'll order one payday :)

Right now I'm running a Panny PTL300U and a Momitsu v880; however, ... I'm thinking about replacing it. ... Considering I'd be running over DVI to an LCD projector ... Is this still a worthwhile upgrade in the opinion of the majority?

Safety Monkey,

Check out the AVS Forum thread on the PTL300U/Oppo combo (showthread.php?p=5844594). The DVI input won't like it...

-Anthony

Well, a disappointing update. I saw a LOAD of macroblocking while checking out 'The Mummy'. Specifically, the dawn scene right before they race to Hamunaptra....the sand dunes were dancing like crazy. With sharpness OFF, Truelife ON or OFF, same problem. Popped the disc into my RP82 and the image was just fine!

Just reporting...and hopeful that a firmware update may counter this problem in the near future. Until now I've been very happy with Oppo's performance, so I think I'll wait and see what happens.

What I need to know is, has anyone tried 480p or 576p to compare deinterlacing with TrueLife On and Off? That is where I don't see any difference. And mostly I've tested 576p; I have only limited experience with 480p.

HQV flag test with Truelife off at 480p shows jaggies. TrueLife on shows no jaggies.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how the Oppo's audio section fares versus the Panny S77/S97 as well as versus some of the Denons? Like the 1910, 2910, or even 1920 if you want to speculate.

I have the Oppo and Panny's tagged as PQ choices, but I'm wondering if things change if audio is thrown into the mix. I just haven't seen many direct comparisons to help out. I did read that the new Denon 1920 has the same DACs as the European replacement for the Pio 59Avi and that intrigues me, but I also I thought I read the CS CS4360 DACs on the Oppo were very good, but I can't find where I heard it.

I'm just curious what the sound differences are on DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, and on Redbook CD, if there are any, and if anyone knows. (I guess if you read into the question I'm wondering if the increase in cost is worth it to step up to the Denons).

HQV flag test with Truelife off at 480p shows jaggies. TrueLife on shows no jaggies.

It would be more useful if you could tell me what films have a problem; to be honest I really don't care squat about test discs since I find them boring and don't watch them (though I do own Avia and Digital Video Essentials). What specific sections of films have there been problems with when TrueLife is turned Off? If you can give me 3 or 4 examples, the chances are pretty good I'll have at least one of the discs to test on my system to see if the problem can be duplicated. I have seen no deinterlacing problems yet, but then again I've only watched about a dozen films all the way through with the new firmware and sections of maybe another 15 or 20, and about a third of what I've watched has been PAL 4:3 material (which is what I originally bought the Oppo for). I'll also note that CSS usually needs to be On when TrueLife is Off.

Since last frimware update:

I have switched css off and truelife on
I have sharpness off
I have a higher brightness level on my display, meaning that I am able to achieve greater detail in dark areas.

I have an excellent dvd picture that is being produced by the Oppo with no lip sync problems at all and for me I have better results with CSS off at all times as clor sems more...uhh...pure i guess.

Thanks again OPPo and all the people here on this site who helped with this player.

It would be more useful if you could tell me what films have a problem; to be honest I really don't care squat about test discs since I find them boring and don't watch them (though I do own Avia and Digital Video Essentials). What specific sections of films have there been problems with when TrueLife is turned Off? If you can give me 3 or 4 examples, the chances are pretty good I'll have at least one of the discs to test on my system to see if the problem can be duplicated. I have seen no deinterlacing problems yet, but then again I've only watched about a dozen films all the way through with the new firmware and sections of maybe another 15 or 20, and about a third of what I've watched has been PAL 4:3 material (which is what I originally bought the Oppo for). I'll also note that CSS usually needs to be On when TrueLife is Off.

IIRC, CSS is disabled when truelife is off.... or am I just seeing things?

Does anyone have any thoughts on how the Oppo's audio section fares versus the Panny S77/S97 as well as versus some of the Denons? Like the 1910, 2910, or even 1920 if you want to speculate.Perhaps I am way off base...
I use an optical digital cable to feed the RAW audio stream from the OPPO to my receiver. thus I don't really see the point of worrying about the OPPO's audio section or how good its DAC is compared to other DVD players. Being that my receiver has a perfectly capable DAC, it doesn't make any difference which DVD player I am using. Unlike video, the DVD player does nothing with the audio unless you are using the on-board decoders and converters and then feed the analog signal to your amplifier. So it comes down to this: if you are a consumer/casual listener, the DAC and surround processor in a decent receiver will be adequate and you'll avoid the mess of having to run analog cabling between the DVD and your receiver. And if you are an enthusiast/hobbyist, you have a super-duper receiver or a dedicated surround sound processor/decoder that you will use. In either case, I think it is pointless to depend on the DVD to decode/process audio signals.

That is... unless a particular DVD player has a decoder/processor section that colors the audio in a way that the listener finds pleasing, much like the tube-amp effect. But then it is a case of personal preferences and there is little point comparing personal tastes because they are all equaly "valid".

It would be more useful if you could tell me what films have a problem; to be honest I really don't care squat about test discs since I find them boring and don't watch them (though I do own Avia and Digital Video Essentials). What specific sections of films have there been problems with when TrueLife is turned Off?

Do you own much anime? If so, look for discs from ADV studios and see if any of them contain a trailer for the series RahXephon. That trailer combs like a mutha with any deinterlacer other than DCDi. DCDi is the only deinterlacing solution that plays it through perfectly smooth.

With TrueLife off, that trailer combs like crazy.

Perhaps I am way off base...
I use an optical digital cable to feed the RAW audio stream from the OPPO to my receiver. thus I don't really see the point of worrying about the OPPO's audio section or how good its DAC is compared to other DVD players. Being that my receiver has a perfectly capable DAC, it doesn't make any difference which DVD player I am using. Unlike video, the DVD player does nothing with the audio unless you are using the on-board decoders and converters and then feed the analog signal to your amplifier. So it comes down to this: if you are a consumer/casual listener, the DAC and surround processor in a decent receiver will be adequate and you'll avoid the mess of having to run analog cabling between the DVD and your receiver. And if you are an enthusiast/hobbyist, you have a super-duper receiver or a dedicated surround sound processor/decoder that you will use. In either case, I think it is pointless to depend on the DVD to decode/process audio signals.

That is... unless a particular DVD player has a decoder/processor section that colors the audio in a way that the listener finds pleasing, much like the tube-amp effect. But then it is a case of personal preferences and there is little point comparing personal tastes because they are all equaly "valid".

That is true for all except DVD-Audio. DVD-Audio must be played back via the analog outputs. Regardless of output, personal tastes all being equally valid is always true.

I have a Denon 2900 and have been very pleased with it's reproduction of DVD-A and SACD. The Oppo will be replacing it for video, but the 2900 will continue as my high-res multichannel audio player.

That is true for all except DVD-Audio. DVD-Audio must be played back via the analog outputs. Regardless of output, personal tastes all being equally valid is always true.

I have a Denon 2900 and have been very pleased with it's reproduction of DVD-A and SACD. The Oppo will be replacing it for video, but the 2900 will continue as my high-res multichannel audio player.


You're going to go with the Oppo over the 2900 for video? Interesting.

IIRC, CSS is disabled when truelife is off.... or am I just seeing things?

You're seeing things, well sort of. It's a little tricky. Go into Setup and turn TrueLife On and turn CSS On, now turn TrueLife Off and CSS will stay On; however, if TrueLife is already Off, CSS will be grayed-out and can't be turned On or Off (took me awhile to figure this one out--but so far I get the best image with most material with TrueLife Off and CSS left On). I have yet to try it, but I wouldn't be surprised if the deinterlacing jaggies go away with CSS left to On this way.

You're going to go with the Oppo over the 2900 for video? Interesting.


You may be thinking of the 2910, not the 2900. 2900 is 480p over component video only, no upscaling. It's also fairly flaky about playing burned DVD's. I will do some a/b on the video, but I'm fairly confident that upscaled 720p over HDMI/DVI vs 480p on component will produce better results on my Sony HS51 projector. The HS51's native resolution is 1280x720.

You may be thinking of the 2910, not the 2900. 2900 is 480p over component video only, no upscaling. It's also fairly flaky about playing burned DVD's. I will do some a/b on the video, but I'm fairly confident that upscaled 720p over HDMI/DVI vs 480p on component will produce better results on my Sony HS51 projector. The HS51's native resolution is 1280x720.


No, I was just responding to your comment about the 2900. I didn't know what type of display you were using or connection. I like the Oppo too and I absolutely hate a player that is finicky with my burned discs.

No, I was just responding to your comment about the 2900. I didn't know what type of display you were using or connection. I like the Oppo too and I absolutely hate a player that is finicky with my burned discs.

Sorry.. my bad there. The danger of posting during the day at work when your attention is fragmented!

I still like the 2900 a lot but my recent switch to the LCD projector created the switch to the Oppo as well.

originally posted by LeeLee: "it doesn't make any difference which DVD player I use"\
_____________________________________________________
In theory, yes, but not necessarily in reality. The digital out from my Marantz 9500 sounds much better than the digital out from my OPPO, even though my Arcam is processing the digital audio from both machines. There's more to good sound than a decent DAC.

Not all ones and zeros are created equal...hehe.

Thanks for the input guys. Using the line of reasoning that all dvd players output the same digital sound brings us right down the path that all recievers when processing a digital signal should sound the same.

Sometimes this hobby is a paradox.

I don't want to argue about the above, so in order to keep this on track, it may be easier to keep the audio comparison to DVD-A analogue section just so it's apples to apples. I'll just make a half-leap of faith and assume the better DVD-A player *may* have better audio playback during DVD-Video, but we can ignore it so we don't argue over it.

I'm also curious how the 1920's video performance will stack up vs the Oppo while upscaling to 720p over HDMI to my Toshiba MT700. Note that I've heard macroblocking is not a common problem on the MT700 so we can ignore that uproar before it starts. I wonder how much does one have to increase in price to beat the Oppo at PQ? WIll the 1920 at least match it? Does the 2910 do better? Does the 3910? I need to try to find some more reviews that expound upon the objective tests at secrets...

(PS: I can't believe I'm starting to consider paying for one as expensive as the 3910)

Quote:
Originally Posted by GFletch
No, I was just responding to your comment about the 2900. I didn't know what type of display you were using or connection. I like the Oppo too and I absolutely hate a player that is finicky with my burned discs.

Sorry.. my bad there. The danger of posting during the day at work when your attention is fragmented!

I still like the 2900 a lot but my recent switch to the LCD projector created the switch to the Oppo as well.

>> Agreed. I'm probably going to 86 my 2900 soon. It's just so darn frustrating to be 20 minutes into a move, and have the player freeze up. I really like the 2900, but the Oppo is simply more reliable so far.

Not all ones and zeros are created equal...hehe.

Thanks for the input guys. Using the line of reasoning that all dvd players output the same digital sound brings us right down the path that all recievers when processing a digital signal should sound the same.

Sometimes this hobby is a paradox.
A clock signal generated by the DVD player is sent along with the 1's and 0's. It's the generated clock signal that can alter how the receiver plays those bits.

The digital out from my Marantz 9500 sounds much better than the digital out from my OPPO, even though my Arcam is processing the digital audio from both machines. There's more to good sound than a decent DAC. Now hold on here... ABSOLUTELY NO WAY! If the data coming from both players is identical (same disk, same digital format, same PCM frequency) there will be NO difference in the sound quality if it is fed to the same receiver. That is also true whether you use the Optical or Coaxial outputs.

Some marketing departments make wildly inaccurate claims like this in order to sell their products, but it really is complete nonsense. I'm an audio fanatic and an electronics/firmware research and design engineer, who has worked with digital, analog, and digital-to-analog conversion circuits my entire career.

Our perceptions about audio and video can be very subjective, and very misleading. Everyone is welcome to their own perceptions, but we should be careful about making statements that can lead to misinformation, disappointment, and frustration for others.

The error-correction systems in optical media technology are incredibly well designed to prevent loss or alteration of the data. The only things that could possibly affect the audio, are dropped bits (from laser mistracking / surface damage) or severe noise / ringing (overshoot) of the digital signal that could result in erroneous data reaching the DAC. Either case would result in temporary catastrophic losses of signal (heard as pops, blips, or blanks).

All clock generator chips have a TINY bit of jitter or frequency variation, typically in the order of 50ppm... that's only 0.005% of the CARRIER frequency (which is MUCH higher than the highest frequency sound we can hear). The percentage of frequency variation actually affecting the sound wave is far less than that. The best clock chips on the planet are only slightly better.

Note that the audio clock in a PC is another thing altogether. Unless the PC has a sound card with a dedicated audio clock chip, it shares timing with hundreds of other software (and hardware) processes and interrupts that can definitely result in variations big enough to affect the sound quality.

Once the data reaches the DAC for convertion to analog, then PLENTY of differences arise from DAC to DAC and implementation to implementation. The DAC, preamp, power-amp, cables, connections, grounding, speakers and listening environment can all have a huge impact on the final quality of the sound.

Gary

Hey guys! it is time for me to testify!
First and foremost let me start by praising oppo's customer support, I've never experienced such professionalism and genuine concern! I received my oppo this past monday night and was able to do some preliminary testing(with minimal adjustments) and was able to see an obvious improvement in all(xcept "zoom", and a bit tooo much sharpness) PQ parameters when compared to my Bravo D2, the sharpness I can tone down with my PJ but the zoom is a whole other ball of wax, as it has been stated b4 zoom disables faroudja processing(naughty naughty), and oppo is aware of this minor flaw and are trying to correct it asap according to the rep I spoke to today; now for the bad news.... "that darn audio sync" oppo is also aware of that and are working on it.... to really see the extent of the problem pop in your copy of "waterboy" there is no way of fixing the delay and since the dvd was reproduced in such poor way it forces you to zoom...(don't do it...gag....gag) the oppo rep provided me with an RMA without hesitation(can u believe that???? I asked if he was on something? you know norther cali....what can I say?) and also request I send in the dvd so they can accurately reproduce the problem!(I'm in love) now that is customer service!... oppo will you be my second wife???? I know I have problems.... anyway I will ship it out tomorrow and will be reporting again soon!

keep tinkering! that's the only way to improve!!!!!

sorry GSB, I respect objectivist scientific statements up to a point and after that I trust my ears and my thirty two years as a professional musician/producer a lot more than any objectivist's biased scientific statement, however rational it seems. Subjectivists and objectivists have been battling over this issue for decades. Please don't take this to mean that subjectivists are unbiased, it's identifying the bias of a scientific test that is sometimes difficult. I simply believe that today's audio science is incomplete and that human perception is far more sensitive than we know or can properly measure. This isn't the proper place for such a debate, and I don't think my previous statement was a challenge of any kind. I hear much better sound from the Marantz 9500 than from the OPPO from the coax digital outs with all other factors being equal. Believe me, if the OPPO sounded better I'd know it and recommend it as an audio player to friends. As it is, I prefer the OPPO's audio quality to the $1000 Denon 3910 I had. Movie dialogue from the OPPO is more intelligible.

Call me crazy, but I've had so many professional situations over those three decades where my ears proved an engineering expert wrong that it's a joke by now to me. I guess all you need for great audio is any $79 CD digital out because all digital outs are equal to you? If so, enjoy! There is much research and just as many scientific factors to disprove your statements as there are to prove them. I'll say this to finish though... the subjectivists always seem to be enjoying their life and their music a lot more than the objectivists I've met. The editorial page of Stereophile this month addresses the issue quite well, perhaps you might check it out.

Sorry to go off topic, I'll refrain from further flame provoking statements in this thread.
:)

ok, the answer is in...

i have been on the fence with the overall pq of the d2 vs. the oppo.

i got a dvi switcher so that i could have them both going at the same time and i'd see differences. it didn't take long. long horizontal pans on the d2 were crippling (spiderman, kill bill2).

i am surprised i never noticed that before. anyway, the oppo does win overall pretty easily.

now i just need 2 things:
- still less sharpness
- audio sync fix

anyway, now i can finally put it all to rest in my mind.

-r

i am surprised i never noticed that before. anyway, the oppo does win overall pretty easily.

This is the samething I felt when I moved up from my venerable Philips 642 to the Oppo 971H. The problem is: I became used to it. It wasn't until something else came along and hit me over the head saying "look at the lack of jaggies!" and "where are the interlacing lines?"

This appears to be an HDMI version of the oppo just about to come out in the UK!

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_25231.html

Paul

I really dont understand your "Sharpness problem" !

I have tested it many times, if sharpness is on OFF, oppo is delivering a perfect image, with no sharpness added any where, neither horizontal nor vertical.
The patterns are just ... perfect.

I tested it on a Sony 1292qm, I don't think the DVI convertor change anything about sharpness.

I am about to pull the trigger for the Oppo but now and then I read about the 2-2 cadence failure for PAL DVD's. As I live in Europe and most if not all of the DVD's I am buying/renting are Region 2, could someone explain to me how this 2-2 cadence failure affects the player and therefore my watching experience??? Any of the European friends out there having any bad experience with this issue please?

Thxs!

I believe the cadence issue is in regards to the Oppo converting PAL to NTSC, so it shouldn't effect you. I could be (and probably am!) wrong on that though.

FWIW, I have a PAL capable TV set, and I get a great picture setting the Oppo and TV both to PAL when I run my R2 DVDs.

The picture of the New Toshiba that Paul 623 posted a link to seems like it is being OEM'd for Toshiba by the parent company of Oppo. There is no information about what chip set it will use or if it will have DCDI. Oppo's parent company will make players to any specifications a company wants.

Thanks Paul623, very interesting. It would be fun to know what's inside the Toshiba (OPPO) SD350E...

where can I buy this oppo player, apart from extremophone ? also, could you confirmrm that it is non HDCP? In other words, it'll work just as well with a set that has a non-HDCP compliant DVI port.

thx much

My last words for the Oppo digital audio performance are these:

In the end, it is indeed up to the individual to trust which camp to believe. One side will show you so much theory, published papers, measurements, specifications, and etc that your head will be overfilled with information, some of which you'll only be able to understand after getting an Electrical Engineering degree. Either you'll go insane sorting through it all or be able to digest everything and become "aware".

On the other side, the endless mantra of "I hear a difference" sung kumbaya style around a $30,000 phono player will warm your heart over. They will pass around the latest vibration controling pads and directional cables for you to fondle. A/B blind test is a dirty word to this bunch so either join the religion or be called a "biased objectivist".

I think the one area both groups agree on is "trust your own ears". Even if electronic instruments and specifications show that one DVD player has half the "distortion" of the other, or if the Supreme Guru Of DVD Players tells you one sounds better than the other, have a listen for yourself. Do a double blind test with everything else being equal. If one consistently sound better than the other but cost more, ask yourself if it is worth it. If they sound the same, buy the cheaper one.

By the way, do a search on double-blind tests on google for audio equipments and see what the outcomes have been.

For those with time on their hands, here is an excellent discussion on the topic of "things sounding different" (http://www.stereophile.com/features/141/).

where can I buy this oppo player, apart from extremophone ? also, could you confirmrm that it is non HDCP? In other words, it'll work just as well with a set that has a non-HDCP compliant DVI port.

thx much


You can buy the player directly from Oppo at www.oppodigital.com . This is how I bought mine. VERY quick shipment and I've yet to see a negative customer service experience posted about them here.

I'm not certain about the HDCP, but I believe I've read in this thread that the player is not HDCP. Look for the Oppo "Brain Dump" thread and read the opening post by Paul Bigelow. Lots of details on the player there.

Regarding the truelife=off and css=on issue. I did another test again, this time with Unforgiven. With truelife=on, every outdoor scene (or any scene that isn't dark) is amazing. The picture quality is very detailed with little noise. The truelife's annoyance comes in full gear during night scenes, especially during the end of the movie where it's raining and dark. The flashing blocks is out of control, making the movie unwatchable. I then turn the truelife=off and css=on and everything is ok again. The picture isn't as ultra detailed as when truelife is on, but you do get a cleaner picture. With this setting, you could go through the entire 2 hour of movie without getting distracted by those flashing blocks, you just sacrifice a tiny bit of detail.... although I bet most of you can't even tell the difference.

I've tested Red Dragon with truelife=on and the picture is great, the noise is very minimal. Even the dark scenes in the movie is clean.

So I guess there isn't really a one solution to everything. If the DVD quality is good then truelife will shine. If the DVD quality is bad, then truelife just amplifies the noise, so it's better to turn the truelife off in bad quality DVDs.

I didnt' notice if the "Truelife OFF/DCDi off" issue was resolved in this thread but here's a response about it via email from Oppo tech support:

"...The only way to remove the macroblocking is to turn off "TrueLife", but then you will be missing out on all the advanced properties of the DCDi processing.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
Oppo Digital, Inc"


Just FYI.

the subjectivists always seem to be enjoying their life and their music a lot more than the objectivists I've met.

Funny, in my experience the subjectivists are the ones driving themselves mad by constantly upgrading their expensive cables and power cords to something even more expensive, and then listening to the same piece of music 800 times in a row to validate the supposed improvment. The objectivists, meanwhile, plug in their $15 Toslink cable and are done with it.

Anyway, this thread has been derailed enough. Let's get back on topic.

where can I buy this oppo player, apart from extremophone ?

Amazon has it; which is how I bought mine a few months ago, but I think back then it was actually through an Oppo Zshop because it came directly from Oppo. This was before you could buy them from the Oppo website. The other option is of course, the Oppo website.

If you don't want to buy it from Extremephono, I'd suggest getting it from Oppo themselves. That way you'll know for sure that you're getting the latest firmware. Who knows how long the Amazon ones have been sitting on the shelves? And Amazon isn't updating the firmware before shipping them out.

What happened to oppo's planned HDMI player?

What happened to oppo's planned HDMI player?

I think they unplanned it. :D

Seriously, no one at Oppo Digital has a clue what you are talking about when you mention "the next Oppo player with HDMI". They are still prepping their DVD recorder for release. At this stage, it's just wishful thinking. They could raid the Winbase DVD warehouse and slap an Oppo badge on the Winbase HDMI player, but for what? I for one am not in a rush to see Oppo release another bug-filled player until they eliminate all the problems with their current bug-filled player. That would be rude for them to do that. :p

I didnt' notice if the "Truelife OFF/DCDi off" issue was resolved in this thread but here's a response about it via email from Oppo tech support:

"...The only way to remove the macroblocking is to turn off "TrueLife", but then you will be missing out on all the advanced properties of the DCDi processing.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
Oppo Digital, Inc"


Just FYI.

Well, Oppo has made statements in the past that aren't true, and this is another one. I can assure you that with TrueLife turned Off, I still see macroblocking, though it is much less noticeable.

I would rather have them release an HDMI player that might take care of some of their bugs by default!

Amazon has it; which is how I bought mine a few months ago, but I think back then it was actually through an Oppo Zshop because it came directly from Oppo. This was before you could buy them from the Oppo website. The other option is of course, the Oppo website.

If you don't want to buy it from Extremephono, I'd suggest getting it from Oppo themselves. That way you'll know for sure that you're getting the latest firmware. Who knows how long the Amazon ones have been sitting on the shelves? And Amazon isn't updating the firmware before shipping them out.

I bought mine from Amazon on July 5, and it was still sold and shipped by Oppo, and came with the latest firmware installed. No problems.

I would rather have them release an HDMI player that might take care of some of their bugs by default!

Why are so many people acting like the Oppo is riddled with bugs? With the latest firmware, the Oppo doesn't seem to have any more bugs than any other Faroudja 2310 based player out there, or for that matter, any other scaling player, including a lot of players retailing for over $1000. Just read some of the lenghty threads dealing with the problems of the high-end stuff.

You can buy the player directly from Oppo at www.oppodigital.com . This is how I bought mine. VERY quick shipment and I've yet to see a negative customer service experience posted about them here.

I'm not certain about the HDCP, but I believe I've read in this thread that the player is not HDCP. Look for the Oppo "Brain Dump" thread and read the opening post by Paul Bigelow. Lots of details on the player there.

Thanks much - just ordered it there. I seem to recall that the player does not require HDCP compliance, so I should be ok.

Well, Oppo has made statements in the past that aren't true, and this is another one. I can assure you that with TrueLife turned Off, I still see macroblocking, though it is much less noticeable.
You don't need DCDi to see macroblocking, DCDi simply enhances it.
Macroblocking is in every single DVD.

Why would the Oppo company lie about something trivial like that? :confused:

You don't need DCDi to see macroblocking, DCDi simply enhances it.
Macroblocking is in every single DVD.

Why would the Oppo company lie about something trivial like that? :confused:

Agreed 100%, but I do not see the macroblocking enhancement on any other DVD player I've owned (which is about a ton of 'em). However, with the Oppo I see it both with TrueLife On or Off, but according to Oppo and most everyone, the macroblocking enhancement is caused by DCDI processing. So why do I still readily see it with TrueLife Off? Oppo even says to turn TrueLife Off to get rid of the macroblocking enhancement.

For an example, look at the two love scenes in the recent release of The Notebook, I readily see it there even with TrueLife Off (and note that I now always have CSS On, so this may come into play as well).

As far as Oppo lying "about something trivial like that", it's not a matter of lying, it's a matter of tech support not knowing what they're talking about (which happens all the time, and has happened with Oppo tech support in the past, as you'll see if you've read the two long Oppo threads from the beginning). For that matter, why would Faroudja be lying, they say that DCDI deinterlacing is not connected to TrueLife being On or Off?

I don't know what exactly is going on here, but I do know that it's not as simple as everyone is making it out to be. There are more "forces" as work here that need to be examined, me thinks. :)

Not all ones and zeros are created equal...hehe.

Thanks for the input guys. Using the line of reasoning that all dvd players output the same digital sound brings us right down the path that all recievers when processing a digital signal should sound the same.

Sometimes this hobby is a paradox.

I don't want to argue about the above, so in order to keep this on track, it may be easier to keep the audio comparison to DVD-A analogue section just so it's apples to apples. I'll just make a half-leap of faith and assume the better DVD-A player *may* have better audio playback during DVD-Video, but we can ignore it so we don't argue over it.

I'm also curious how the 1920's video performance will stack up vs the Oppo while upscaling to 720p over HDMI to my Toshiba MT700. Note that I've heard macroblocking is not a common problem on the MT700 so we can ignore that uproar before it starts. I wonder how much does one have to increase in price to beat the Oppo at PQ? WIll the 1920 at least match it? Does the 2910 do better? Does the 3910? I need to try to find some more reviews that expound upon the objective tests at secrets...

(PS: I can't believe I'm starting to consider paying for one as expensive as the 3910)

If you've been through the history of CD players you'll know that there are many factors that go into producing good music from these little beasts. Getting all the bits out to a processor that interprets them is not easy. There's the nasty problem of "jitter" in units related to the clocking, I think. And there are probably many other factors. I suspect that if Oppo were to take on that side of the problem with their player it would require much work, induce higher costs, and in the end only marginally improve the audio section. I've not tried the unit with its built-in capabilities, so I don't know how it fares against other units. But it seems that most people are likely to concern themselves with the video side of things, where we most keenly find the bulk of the problems. 'Course I'd love Oppo to fix the lip sync issue way before they would otherwise move onto other audio improvements, if they have any that could be done via firmware.

sorry GSB, I respect objectivist scientific statements up to a point and after that I trust my ears and my thirty two years as a professional musician/producer a lot more than any objectivist's biased scientific statement, however rational it seems. Subjectivists and objectivists have been battling over this issue for decades. Please don't take this to mean that subjectivists are unbiased, it's identifying the bias of a scientific test that is sometimes difficult. I simply believe that today's audio science is incomplete and that human perception is far more sensitive than we know or can properly measure. This isn't the proper place for such a debate, and I don't think my previous statement was a challenge of any kind. I hear much better sound from the Marantz 9500 than from the OPPO from the coax digital outs with all other factors being equal. Believe me, if the OPPO sounded better I'd know it and recommend it as an audio player to friends. As it is, I prefer the OPPO's audio quality to the $1000 Denon 3910 I had. Movie dialogue from the OPPO is more intelligible.

Call me crazy, but I've had so many professional situations over those three decades where my ears proved an engineering expert wrong that it's a joke by now to me. I guess all you need for great audio is any $79 CD digital out because all digital outs are equal to you? If so, enjoy! There is much research and just as many scientific factors to disprove your statements as there are to prove them. I'll say this to finish though... the subjectivists always seem to be enjoying their life and their music a lot more than the objectivists I've met. The editorial page of Stereophile this month addresses the issue quite well, perhaps you might check it out.

Sorry to go off topic, I'll refrain from further flame provoking statements in this thread.
:)

Have to agree. I've also been an audio nut for over 40 years, building my own speakers and tube equipment early on and buying and replacing technology more times than I care to recall. The human ear / brain combo is possibly the least understood mechanism for that wonder called sound. The fact that harmonics can be heard at multiple levels and perception in depth of field & various venues hall effects and depth of field, and our amazing ability to pick out bits in a cacauphony of sound tells me there is much to be learned here. I guess the science has a long way to go to "measure" what we perceive.

Why are so many people acting like the Oppo is riddled with bugs? With the latest firmware, the Oppo doesn't seem to have any more bugs than any other Faroudja 2310 based player out there, or for that matter, any other scaling player, including a lot of players retailing for over $1000. Just read some of the lenghty threads dealing with the problems of the high-end stuff.

They're not acting - don't have to. The Oppo does have bugs. I never used the word "riddled". BTW, I have the Oppo. I like it. It has issues. Many of them do not bother me a bit. What bothers me somewhat is this backslapping attitude that Oppo is going above and beyond the call with this player and that everybody should cough up $200 to help them succeed with their new product when it still has enough documented defects to cause many people to return their unit within the first two weeks of use.
The problems with the Oppo are the same problems present in players like the Samsung HD931 & 941, Zenith DVB-318, LG DVB-418, Denon DVD-1910, 2910 and so on.....Oppo is fixing some of them. GOOD FOR THEM. They have to fix as many as they can, being the new kid on the block. Their player is selling for $200, last time I checked. Not exactly a Norcent or Musetek price point, right?

Quick question: If you took a Cyberhome CH-DVD500 or an Apex AD-1100 core player, slapped a FLI-2310 and a MediaTek MTK1389 on it along with a Crystal CS4360 DAC, and clothed it in a sleek silver skin, how much different would it be from the Oppo when it first became available? BTW, the perception that I am crazy for posing this question does not affect me..... :)

The endorsements for the Oppo are really endorsements for Oppo support because they have responded quickly to feedback about their humble player and it has become a better player for it. But, since Oppo Digital is a new brand name to consumers, how else could they have possibly acted when informed of their machine's defects (or bugs, if you must), when they have absolutely no track record with the buying public? They really are only doing what ANY STARTUP COMPANY would have to do in order to have a chance at succeeding with their $200 player in a market full of budget choices from established companies like Zenith, Samsung, Toshiba, and Panasonic.

Looking at the number of disappointed people who are returning their Oppo after choosing to buy one based on threads on AVS, I can't help but think that a little perspective is needed on these forums regarding the Oppo. Yes, it's a good player. Agreed, Oppo support has been excellent. Many people are quite happy with it. It serves a need for me (my use of the Oppo is exclusively R2 & R4 PAL along with NTSC R2 & R3). But their player is still not up to the expectations created for those in the market for a new player by AVS members who blithely sing its' praises like they are Oppo sales associates. I bet Oppo return rates are higher because of some of these false expectations created by some of the posts in these threads.

We live in an imperfect world. The search for the perfect DVD player does not have an ending. A little reality check on the Oppo bandwagon is all I would like to see. ;)

Agreed 100%, but I do not see the macroblocking enhancement on any other DVD player I've owned (which is about a ton of 'em). However, with the Oppo I see it both with TrueLife On or Off, but according to Oppo and most everyone, the macroblocking enhancement is caused by DCDI processing. So why do I still readily see it with TrueLife Off? Oppo even says to turn TrueLife Off to get rid of the macroblocking enhancement.Every single time I see macroblocking on the Oppo, I can play that same DVD in any of my 3 analog players, and see the macroblocking at 480i - even on a hokey old CRT with composite connection! The macroblocking is much harder to see, but it's there alright! As you know, macroblocking is a compression artifact recorded on the DVD.

An analog connection introduces noise that has a dithering-effect on digital artifacts like macroblocking, making it less noticeable.

A purely digital connection has no noise, so every artifact recorded on the disk, shows up in all its glory - macroblocking included. That's why you can still see it with "TrueLife" off. There is no enhancement though, unless your display is introducing banding/contouring.

Have you fully calibrated your display to this player, especially using the entire range of your display's contrast? That made a HUGE difference to my setup, taking the macroblocking from seriously unbearable, to only ocassionally distracting. Also work through Paul Bigelow's "macroblocking survival guide".

Gary

They're not acting - don't have to. The Oppo does have bugs. I never used the word "riddled". BTW, I have the Oppo. I like it. It has issues. Many of them do not bother me a bit. What bothers me somewhat is this backslapping attitude that Oppo is going above and beyond the call with this player and that everybody should cough up $200 to help them succeed with their new product when it still has enough documented defects to cause many people to return their unit within the first two weeks of use.
The problems with the Oppo are the same problems present in players like the Samsung HD931 & 941, Zenith DVB-318, LG DVB-418, Denon DVD-1910, 2910 and so on.....Oppo is fixing some of them. GOOD FOR THEM. They have to fix as many as they can, being the new kid on the block. Their player is selling for $200, last time I checked. Not exactly a Norcent or Musetek price point, right?

Quick question: If you took a Cyberhome CH-DVD500 or an Apex AD-1100 core player, slapped a FLI-2310 and a MediaTek MTK1389 on it along with a Crystal CS4360 DAC, and clothed it in a sleek silver skin, how much different would it be from the Oppo when it first became available? BTW, the perception that I am crazy for posing this question does not affect me..... :)

The endorsements for the Oppo are really endorsements for Oppo support because they have responded quickly to feedback about their humble player and it has become a better player for it. But, since Oppo Digital is a new brand name to consumers, how else could they have possibly acted when informed of their machine's defects (or bugs, if you must), when they have absolutely no track record with the buying public? They really are only doing what ANY STARTUP COMPANY would have to do in order to have a chance at succeeding with their $200 player in a market full of budget choices from established companies like Zenith, Samsung, Toshiba, and Panasonic.

Looking at the number of disappointed people who are returning their Oppo after choosing to buy one based on threads on AVS, I can't help but think that a little perspective is needed on these forums regarding the Oppo. Yes, it's a good player. Agreed, Oppo support has been excellent. Many people are quite happy with it. It serves a need for me (my use of the Oppo is exclusively R2 & R4 PAL along with NTSC R2 & R3). But their player is still not up to the expectations created for those in the market for a new player by AVS members who blithely sing its' praises like they are Oppo sales associates. I bet Oppo return rates are higher because of some of these false expectations created by some of the posts in these threads.

We live in an imperfect world. The search for the perfect DVD player does not have an ending. A little reality check on the Oppo bandwagon is all I would like to see. ;)




Well you won't find anything resembling reality in this forum. Only opinions to sift through.

I have to agree....I returned the Oppo a few weeks ago...after the update the thing still looked like crap to me. It just felt very cheapie to me. I also thought the picture looked oversharpened all the time. I got a Panasonic S77 and that thing really blows the Oppo away imo.

where can I buy this oppo player, apart from extremophone ? also, could you confirmrm that it is non HDCP? In other words, it'll work just as well with a set that has a non-HDCP compliant DVI port.

thx much

All the authorized resellers are listed on the Oppo website. I went with Surf Audio Video, mainly because I've purchased from them before, but also because Mike, the owner, has been a regular on AVS for the past 5 years. Their shipping was cheaper than the others as well.

The Oppo does not have HDCP, which means it will work with any display, HDCP or not.

Well you won't find anything resembling reality in this forum. Only opinions to sift through.

I have to agree. Seems like after the last firmware release, that fixed some of remaining bugs, everyone is caught up in picking this player apart. All I see is Truelife this and Truelife that... should it be on or off, off is making the picture worse and it disables DCDi or not it doesn't disable it.... it's apparent that no one has an answer and just guessing or giving opinions. I think for a $200 player, it is a great player and hopefully they continue to improve it, but we have to me somewhat realistic and stop picking it apart as if it is an end all player and we demand that we get are money's worth, before we are satisfied. If you don't like the player, send it back and if you have the player, then hopefully you post your thoughts and findings to help others with their setup or others that are still looking into getting this. The sea of opinions and bashing each others opinions is getting a little old and taking away from what the forum was setup for, within reason.

Every single time I see macroblocking on the Oppo, I can play that same DVD in any of my 3 analog players, and see the macroblocking at 480i - even on a hokey old CRT with composite connection! The macroblocking is much harder to see, but it's there alright! As you know, macroblocking is a compression artifact recorded on the DVD.

An analog connection introduces noise that has a dithering-effect on digital artifacts like macroblocking, making it less noticeable.

A purely digital connection has no noise, so every artifact recorded on the disk, shows up in all its glory - macroblocking included. That's why you can still see it with "TrueLife" off. There is no enhancement though, unless your display is introducing banding/contouring.

Have you fully calibrated your display to this player, especially using the entire range of your display's contrast? That made a HUGE difference to my setup, taking the macroblocking from seriously unbearable, to only ocassionally distracting. Also work through Paul Bigelow's "macroblocking survival guide".

Gary

I'm not complaining about the macroblocking, I can live with it in my system. All I want to say is that the actual macroblocking is about equal with or without TrueLife turned On or Off. I think I haven't been clear in my previous statements regarding macroblocking and the Oppo. Macroblocking is much more objectionable with TrueLife turned On, but this is because of the noise associated with using TrueLife in my system (and I can only speak for my system). At first I thought that there was less macroblocking with TrueLife turned off, but there actually isn't. It was only the associated noise created by turning TrueLife On that made it seem worse. CSS being turned Off also exaggerates the noise level as well.

By the way, my main player for comparison is an SDI-equipped Panasonic RP-91. Very little macroblocking is present even with the SDI digital interface. Yes, I can see it once in awhile (actually, if I really want to look closely I can see it frequently) with the Panasonic (either using SDI or component) but it is much less noticeable with the Panasonic compared to the Oppo. This however does not mean (as long as I keep TrueLife OFF and CSS ON) that macroblocking is a problem for me.

By the way, I never touch the controls on my display to calibrate a DVD player, I calibrate using either the settings inside the player or use my iScan HD's settings (everything in my system is run through the HD). I can't adjust my display for the Oppo as the Oppo is not my main DVD player, it is a backup to the RP-91.

Finally, I'm going to be doing two things over the next couple weeks so that I can further test the Oppo, the first being to hook it up to a DVI-capable CRT display so I can bypass the iScan HD.

The second is that right now I'm rushing out to mail my iScan HD to JVBDigital for the HD+ upgrade, which will allow me to scale 720P and 1080i from the Oppo, so that I can test the results I've been finding using 480p and 576p with the two more commonly used resolutions from the Oppo.

Both of these things should also help me understand why I'm not seeing any deinterlacing problems with TrueLife turned Off.

Anyway, that's all I'll have to say on the matter for at least the next couple weeks until I can fully test what's going on with the Oppo with or without using TrueLife.

I have to agree....I returned the Oppo a few weeks ago...after the update the thing still looked like crap to me. It just felt very cheapie to me. I also thought the picture looked oversharpened all the time. I got a Panasonic S77 and that thing really blows the Oppo away imo.

Ah, just last night I tuned a system for someone. I have the new Oppo, works and looks flawless to me after many movies. The system tuned was my same projector the H79 with his Pany S97 SDI/moded player and Iscan HD+. I gotta tell you I didn't see a difference in picture quality between the Oppo and that setup. No macro problems ofcourse with the SDI player, can't see Macro troubles with the Oppo. Same display I use though. Secrets says MarcoX is very display realted.
Buy yourself an Optoma H79. :)

Oppo image looks smooth to me.
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h79graywolf3.jpg

Want sharper, oppo set to sharpess low, picture above sharpness off.
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h79graywolf8.jpg

I have to agree. Seems like after the last firmware release, that fixed some of remaining bugs, everyone is caught up in picking this player apart. All I see is Truelife this and Truelife that... should it be on or off, off is making the picture worse and it disables DCDi or not it doesn't disable it.... it's apparent that no one has an answer and just guessing or giving opinions. I think for a $200 player, it is a great player and hopefully they continue to improve it, but we have to me somewhat realistic and stop picking it apart as if it is an end all player and we demand that we get are money's worth, before we are satisfied. If you don't like the player, send it back and if you have the player, then hopefully you post your thoughts and findings to help others with their setup or others that are still looking into getting this. The sea of opinions and bashing each others opinions is getting a little old and taking away from what the forum was setup for, within reason.


Thank you! It is amazing how many people don't realize all these players are display dependent.
And the Oppo, forturnately has enough menu adjustments, as should the input of your display, to get a very good picture.
Do some tweaks on both for the PQ that looks best to you. There is no magic player that is going to be the best for everyone, nor settings that will work universally for everyone.
There is enough good players out there. You should be able to find something that works best with YOUR display and meets your expectations.

The question: "What is the best player for my SuperScope LCoS Mark IV-A?" are the ones that get me. Like they expect someone to respond, "Oh, I will look that right up for you!" :D

I have to agree. Seems like after the last firmware release, that fixed some of remaining bugs, everyone is caught up in picking this player apart. All I see is Truelife this and Truelife that... should it be on or off, off is making the picture worse and it disables DCDi or not it doesn't disable it.... it's apparent that no one has an answer and just guessing or giving opinions. I think for a $200 player, it is a great player and hopefully they continue to improve it, but we have to me somewhat realistic and stop picking it apart as if it is an end all player and we demand that we get are money's worth, before we are satisfied. If you don't like the player, send it back and if you have the player, then hopefully you post your thoughts and findings to help others with their setup or others that are still looking into getting this. The sea of opinions and bashing each others opinions is getting a little old and taking away from what the forum was setup for, within reason.

I have to agree with yarrumc. The 200+ I spent on the unit was well worth it. Yes, there are numerous bugs that range from annoying, to show stopping. Yes, their tech support is either spot on, or stabs in the perverbial dark. But, they genial in their ambitions of serving everyone's needs. They happily take back the product in 30 days if you are not completely satisfied. Macroblocking getting you down, return it. Audio-sync problems, return. Don't like the color of the front display, yeah, they will even take that.

I have not experienced hindering macroblocking, or any audio-sync issues. I consider myself lucky. But that is not to say that I am completely happy. I would love more DivX support [right now there are only 7 resolutions which are mapped correctly].

But ending as I opened: this was well for the 200+ I spent on it. Would I have been better off with a Pioneer or Panasonic upconverting player? I don't know, because I am happily enjoying my current purchase.

.... it's apparent that no one has an answer and just guessing or giving opinions. .

We're just trying to stay consisitent with Oppo support.... :p

I think the Oppo is great (for me). But if Pioneer produced an HDMI player in that price range, I suspect there would be a problem keeping them on the shelves.

We live in an imperfect world. The search for the perfect DVD player does not have an ending. A little reality check on the Oppo bandwagon is all I would like to see.Hence the Oppo defect list, updated regularly, and not sparing a single one of its problems. A reality check, made plain for all to see.

Does anybody care to venture a guess as to how many Oppo's have been returned? Are they targeted for a landfill, or can I get one (or 50) at Overstock.com? :D

Seriously, though, I like my Oppo. Watching movies on it, I feel like I know exactly what all the characters are going to say next before they even speak!

I'll stop now....just had to get that out. A little Oppo humor...from a schizophrenic Oppo owner. :)

where can I buy this oppo player, apart from extremophone ? also, could you confirmrm that it is non HDCP? In other words, it'll work just as well with a set that has a non-HDCP compliant DVI port.

thx much


Also check out surfaudio. Thats where I bought mine. The owner posts both here and over on the hometheatrespot forums (which is what tilted me to them).

Rick

Does anybody care to venture a guess as to how many Oppo's have been returned? Are they targeted for a landfill, or can I get one (or 50) at Overstock.com? :D

Seriously, though, I like my Oppo. Watching movies on it, I feel like I know exactly what all the characters are going to say next before they even speak!

I'll stop now....just had to get that out. A little Oppo humor...from a schizophrenic Oppo owner. :)

Interesting I haven't given the audio sync a second thought. Took a look on day one, think I set the player to 2ms. Audio is dead on with the HK7200. Maybe it's receiver related. :)

Or user listening error, you have trouble in school? ;)

Interesting I haven't given the audio sync a second thought. Took a look on day one, think I set the player to 2ms. Audio is dead on with the HK7200. Maybe it's receiver related. :)

Or user listening error, you have trouble in school? ;)

Probably my POS Denon AVR-5700. Happens with analog & digital. Denon can't get anything right..... :D

Actually, it manifests itself primarily on PAL imports, which ironically was the reason I bought the Oppo. My Malata DVP-520, Toshiba SD-4900 & NeuNeo HVD2081 have not shown the same malady, but do not have PQ on par with the Oppo.

But I love my little Oppo, nonetheless.... :p

Oh, no Pal discs in my inventory. Got a nice VCD of Jeff Beck/Jennifer Batten live in Japan that plays perfectly.

Probably my POS Denon AVR-5700. Happens with analog & digital. Denon can't get anything right..... :D

Actually, it manifests itself primarily on PAL imports, which ironically was the reason I bought the Oppo. My Malata DVP-520, Toshiba SD-4900 & NeuNeo HVD2081 have not shown the same malady, but do not have PQ on par with the Oppo.

But I love my little Oppo, nonetheless.... :p

None of the dvds I've had audio sync problems were PAL.

Rick

I didnt' notice if the "Truelife OFF/DCDi off" issue was resolved in this thread but here's a response about it via email from Oppo tech support:

"...The only way to remove the macroblocking is to turn off "TrueLife", but then you will be missing out on all the advanced properties of the DCDi processing.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
Oppo Digital, Inc"


Just FYI.


This is probaly more of a case of a tech who didn't know too much about what he's talking about and relied on eyeing it.

This is acutually quite a bit better then most tech support ever is, this tech acutually pulled out a disc with bad macroblocking and then played with the settings in an attempt to fix the problem.

The audio sync issue seems to be random, at least for me. They rarely happen, and when they do happen, you hit pause and then hit play, this generally fixes the problem for the time being.

AlienceT, Noone here is saying the Oppo is the wonder player to end all players. It's simply a player backed by a company with exceptional tech support who don't take sales for granted.

I will admit some of the latest reviews(PJC) are a bit hyped up about this player, but still, I as with many other members of this forum consider the Oppo better then offerings from Zenith, Samsung, LG, and Sony.

I will admit some of the latest reviews(PJC) are a bit hyped up about this player, but still, I as with many other members of this forum consider the Oppo better then offerings from Zenith, Samsung, LG, and Sony.

Well that PJC review is very bad actually. It talks about oppo component output being great etc..argh :) It has some correct information as well but i really dont know what they where thinking.. maybe they just wanted more page views/readers.

This is getting a bit out of hand. There's a difference between giving advice and criticism. I'm giving an advice. Whether you think it's fact or opinion, it doesn't matter to me. Nobody is forcing you to read my posts. If you want to stick your head in the sand and pretend the macroblocking/noise problems doesn't exists then I say "ignorance is bliss". Just so some of you won't get all bent out of shape, I like my Oppo player. It's the best $200 player in the market right now. I'm going to go over again on my advice to people who are looking for a solution to the macroblocking and noise.

Basically, it's like this. The quality of your DVD title will determine how much macroblocking and noise you'll have - it's not up to Oppo. Most older titles and current cheap titles have bad quality transfer. If that's the case, truelife will amplify those noise and macroblocking making it very visible. Plug in your Alien DVD and watch the outer-space sequence. You could see those christmas lights pattern going out of control. There's no need to refund your Oppo, because there's a solution. In this case, turn off truelife and turn on CSS. This will drastically reduce the noise although you also suffer just a tad bit of details but some people could barely tell the difference. If you can still see a lot of macroblocking, maybe your brightness is too high. You need to properly calibrate your TV first.

If the DVD quality is great, such as Red Dragon and Collateral, then turning on truelife won't have a problem, but you have to turn off CSS. These titles have minimal noise and macroblocking to begin with, so truelife won't make it worse. The result is superb picture quality.

There you have it. Before returning your Oppo, try the above first. As for the synching problems, I never really have that problem after having this player for almost 3 weeks now. There was one time when I was doing a lot of jumping and rewind/ff, that was the only time I've encountered that problem. I pressed stop and then play, it went back to normal.

Thanks Zipperman for the last post. If people have read these threads they would have seen over and over again that the degree of macroblocking depends on the display and disks being used. They would also see how to reduce it. I have owned the Oppo and the Panasonic 97S players. They are both great. No, they are not perfect but I don't know of
any players that is. On good disks the Oppo is great and and is very good on most others.
It plays anything I put in it with no skipping or other problems I have had with other players. It is not perfect but it will do until something better comes along. I hope it will
last until HD DVD comes out. When that happens there will be something else to complain about.

I've been trying to follow this thread to see if I would be happy with this player. I've read enough that I'm going to buy it and watch more DVDs rather than read posts on this thread once the player arrives.

There's so much here that I know I've missed posts. So please accept my apology if someone else mentioned that there is text elsewhere on the net that any and all devices using the latest Faroudja chip set will have the macroblocking problem.

Let's see: performance on the level of a $10,000 video processor of a few years ago with a player and a decent enough DVI-HDMI cable for the cost of dinner for four in a fairly nice restaurant Versus noticable macroblocking on a few already poor looking movies and occasional sync issues like every Tivo and Dish DVR I've ever owned has had.

If at this price I feel I'm too good to own a unit like this to watch movies on or that Oppo owes me a fix that Faroudja can't come up with then I would feel that I should shoot myself because nothing and no one will ever make me happy enough.

I was going to make an analogy about divorcing the heiress - supermodel who lives to buy you beer when you find out that she occasionally gets a pimple on her butt, however, I've given up on sarcasm.

Lol :)

so i just got the oppo in today and hooked it up to my Samsung HLR6167W- and with the "Truelife" function on, the audio sync is HORRIBLE. no where even close to the sound matching the lips. and when i turn off truelife, i have to set the audio delay to 50 ms to just make the sync correct with the video and audio. This new TV and dvd player is driving me nuts. i can't enjoy a single damn thing on my new tv. i've totally psyched myself out... I set the DVI output on the Oppo to 720 and everything.

I have the DVD player plugged in through HDMI- Oppo gave me a regular DVI->DVI cable and then an adapter for DVI->HDMI. Is there a difference in quality if the cable I'm using from the DVD player to the Samsung is using a DVI->HDMI adapter rather than a direct DVI->HDMI cable?

have any of you had problems like this? and with the "Truelife?" how have you overcome them (without the assistance of medication)? Does anyone else have one of the 67 samsung models and the Oppo? any similar problems to report?

My picture on my samsung can be a little dark as well and so i've been thinking of calling samsung over to take a look at my unit, but i don't want to be one of those people who cry wolf.

so i just got the oppo in today and hooked it up to my Samsung HLR6167W- and with the "Truelife" function on, the audio sync is HORRIBLE. no where even close to the sound matching the lips. and when i turn off truelife, i have to set the audio delay to 50 ms to just make the sync correct with the video and audio. This new TV and dvd player is driving me nuts. i can't enjoy a single damn thing on my new tv. i've totally psyched myself out... I set the DVI output on the Oppo to 720 and everything.

I have the DVD player plugged in through HDMI- Oppo gave me a regular DVI->DVI cable and then an adapter for DVI->HDMI. Is there a difference in quality if the cable I'm using from the DVD player to the Samsung is using a DVI->HDMI adapter rather than a direct DVI->HDMI cable?

have any of you had problems like this? and with the "Truelife?" how have you overcome them (without the assistance of medication)? Does anyone else have one of the 67 samsung models and the Oppo? any similar problems to report?

My picture on my samsung can be a little dark as well and so i've been thinking of calling samsung over to take a look at my unit, but i don't want to be one of those people who cry wolf.

You mention this is a new tv. Have you tried other dvd players with this tv and have you noticed any lip sync problems with them? Try the Oppo with component to see if the lip sync is any better (as a test, not as a recommended way to view dvd).

You mention this is a new tv. Have you tried other dvd players with this tv and have you noticed any lip sync problems with them? Try the Oppo with component to see if the lip sync is any better (as a test, not as a recommended way to view dvd).

i had a progressive scan panasonic dvd player on it before through component- there was barely a lip sync issue (if at all). i still played around with the 50ms delay on the panasonic, but it wasn't really necessary.

i know the samsungs are notorious for audio sync issues as well, which is what's driving me nuts. i guess i was hoping that the TV and DVD player would get together and work in perfect harmony :)

I've had the OPPO for about 2 weeks now. It's used with a Tosh 65hx93 rp-crt using DVI, and a SONY Rcvr 701 via digital coax. So far I'm fairly happy with the OPPO, with a couple of caveats. I have no macroblock issues with this combination. I do have occasional random audio sync problems. Picature quality is very good (I'm set at 1080i). One other problem I have (besides the sudio synch) is with playing DVD's I've recorded.

I do a fair amount of recording of OTA TV using an Emerson(funai) DVD recorder - DVD-RW in DVD-Video mode. My last DVD player was a Onkyo CP 500. I had no problems sith the dvd's stuttering. When I play any of the recorded DVD's on the OPPO, they stutter.

The dvd picture will slow down, as if its dragging, then within a few seconds speed up, as if it's trying to catch up. It throws audio out of sync, but then the audi and video actually come back in sync. This cycle is repeated pretty much over and over. it happens every 1-4 minutes and lasts about 3-5 seconds. My description makes it sound worse than it looks, it's actually very subtle, and you could even overlook the video if the scene was apnning, or changing. But I'd still like to fix it. OPPO sugested trying differnt media, I did that and it didn't help. I also used the same media, and recorded movie from my PC dvd burner, and hand no problem with it. The picture quality I get from the OPPO is much better with these dvd's than what the onkyo delivered, else I'd just watch them on the onkyo.

I'm not suggesting this is a problem with the OPPO (even though it does not happen when playing them with the onkyo), but perhaps a combintaion of my recorder and the oppo.

I've tried suing dvd decrytper and dvd shrink to re-write the recorded dvds to see if that help, but it did not.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I could try? Are there flags set that could be edited with IFOedit perhaps?

I'll be posting this on another forum as well (where they talk about DVD recorders) and I'll send to OPPO, and to Emerson(funai) but I know there are quite a few experts here and I though someone might have suggest something else I can try. I've even gone so far as to try to convert them to DivX format to see what would happen, but so ar I havent figured out how to do that and get it back on a DVD.


Thanks,
Rick

Does anyone reading this thread have the Oppo connected to a Yamaha 500LPX? If so, are there any issues. Thanks

I've had the OPPO for about 2 weeks now. It's used with a Tosh 65hx93 rp-crt using DVI, and a SONY Rcvr 701 via digital coax. So far I'm fairly happy with the OPPO, with a couple of caveats. I have no macroblock issues with this combination. I do have occasional random audio sync problems. Picature quality is very good (I'm set at 1080i). One other problem I have (besides the sudio synch) is with playing DVD's I've recorded.

I do a fair amount of recording of OTA TV using an Emerson(funai) DVD recorder - DVD-RW in DVD-Video mode. My last DVD player was a Onkyo CP 500. I had no problems sith the dvd's stuttering. When I play any of the recorded DVD's on the OPPO, they stutter.

The dvd picture will slow down, as if its dragging, then within a few seconds speed up, as if it's trying to catch up. It throws audio out of sync, but then the audi and video actually come back in sync. This cycle is repeated pretty much over and over. it happens every 1-4 minutes and lasts about 3-5 seconds. My description makes it sound worse than it looks, it's actually very subtle, and you could even overlook the video if the scene was apnning, or changing. But I'd still like to fix it. OPPO sugested trying differnt media, I did that and it didn't help. I also used the same media, and recorded movie from my PC dvd burner, and hand no problem with it. The picture quality I get from the OPPO is much better with these dvd's than what the onkyo delivered, else I'd just watch them on the onkyo.

I'm not suggesting this is a problem with the OPPO (even though it does not happen when playing them with the onkyo), but perhaps a combintaion of my recorder and the oppo.

I've tried suing dvd decrytper and dvd shrink to re-write the recorded dvds to see if that help, but it did not.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I could try? Are there flags set that could be edited with IFOedit perhaps?

I'll be posting this on another forum as well (where they talk about DVD recorders) and I'll send to OPPO, and to Emerson(funai) but I know there are quite a few experts here and I though someone might have suggest something else I can try. I've even gone so far as to try to convert them to DivX format to see what would happen, but so ar I havent figured out how to do that and get it back on a DVD.


Thanks,
Rick


Wish I can help you. I have a tv tuner on my computer. I use WinDVR to capture programming. I record shows in SVCD mpeg2 format and play it on my Oppo. Quality is still good, but not DVD quality. I tried recording shows in DVD mpeg2 format and I do get lip sync problems when I try to play those mpeg files. I forgot to test those mpeg files on my comp to see if it was the mpeg source that is out of sync or the Oppo. I'm sticking with SVCD quality for now as it works and looks just fine.

I do a fair amount of recording of OTA TV using an Emerson(funai) DVD recorder - DVD-RW in DVD-Video mode. My last DVD player was a Onkyo CP 500. I had no problems sith the dvd's stuttering. When I play any of the recorded DVD's on the OPPO, they stutter.

I also used the same media, and recorded movie from my PC dvd burner, and had no problem with it. Rickie, if the DVD-RW works fine when recording movies from the PC, then there is something strange about the way the Emerson recorder authors the DVD.

The fact that the issue still exists after re-burning the Emerson-recorded disk with your PC, proves that the issue is not connected to the media or the physical burner, or the burning process, but the authoring technique. DVD Shrink and other programs simply replicate what has already been recorded. Did you try getting DVD Shrink to slightly compress the video (that might do some re-authoring)?

Maybe you could send a sample disk to Oppo for analysis, but I'd imagine that, because this situation is so unusual and only seems to affect the Emerson recorder (which may be doing something wrong) , this would be a pretty low priority on their list of fixes.

Gary

Does anyone else have one of the 67 samsung models and the Oppo? any similar problems to report?

My picture on my samsung can be a little dark as well and so i've been thinking of calling samsung over to take a look at my unit, but i don't want to be one of those people who cry wolf. JonnyZ, you need to calibrate your set - even a basic cal can help with the darkness problem, but you should have a test disk like DVE/Avia. You need to start by setting "Cinema" mode for the most accurate gamma curve, before you start tweaking brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. Refer to the Samsung threads for more help/advice.

I have the Samsung HLP4674W DLPTV. These TV's do have a small video delay that adds to any delays coming from the disk and/or player. However, aside from the very ocassional Faroudja video delay that pops up, I find the lip-sync is very good when I set the player's "Audio delay" to 50ms and "Truelife" ON. Have you tried a few good disks? Bear in mind that some DVD's are recorded with bad sync, and the slightest amount of extra delay introduced by your equipment can make the problem MUCH more obvious. Also see this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5576842&&#post5576842) post.

One last thing to consider: Some people have had sync issues with certain receivers.

Gary

Gary,

After an exchange of emails with OPPO customer service this morning, they invited me to send them some samples. I sent the several DVDs they could look at to see the problem.

As has been stated here a number of times, their customer service is outstanding.

They have a DVD recorder in the works I see. It's a shame they only plan to support +R, +RW mode. Since I already have an investment in -RW, -R's I'd hate to have to deal with 2 machines with diferent media.

I'll try doing a slight shrink with dvd shrink. I've also recorded a show using -VR mode on the recorder. Now if I can find a way to convert that recording to DVD-Video, that might also work.

Thanks,
Rick

JonnyZ, you need to calibrate your set - even a basic cal can help with the darkness problem, but you should have a test disk like DVE/Avia. You need to start by setting "Cinema" mode for the most accurate gamma curve, before you start tweaking brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. Refer to the Samsung threads for more help/advice.

I have the Samsung HLP4674W DLPTV. These TV's do have a small video delay that adds to any delays coming from the disk and/or player. However, aside from the very ocassional Faroudja video delay that pops up, I find the lip-sync is very good when I set the player's "Audio delay" to 50ms and "Truelife" ON. Have you tried a few good disks? Bear in mind that some DVD's are recorded with bad sync, and the slightest amount of extra delay introduced by your equipment can make the problem MUCH more obvious. Also see post.

One last thing to consider: Some people have had sync issues with certain receivers.

Gary

i've had the problems with several DVDs- especially with true life on- so far i've tried Constantine, Fifth Element Ultimate edition, and the West Wing season 3 disc 1. Truelife off and 50ms delay seems to work ok, although i'm not convinced its totally right. i wonder if this is something i'll just have to live with with both this dvd player and tv. as for my audio set up, at the moment it's an old sony home theater receiver with the standard speakers it came with- i should be getting the onkyo 780 htib in the next few weeks... i wonder if that will help at all

This is getting a bit out of hand. There's a difference between giving advice and criticism. I'm giving an advice. Whether you think it's fact or opinion, it doesn't matter to me. Nobody is forcing you to read my posts. If you want to stick your head in the sand and pretend the macroblocking/noise problems doesn't exists then I say "ignorance is bliss". Just so some of you won't get all bent out of shape, I like my Oppo player. It's the best $200 player in the market right now. I'm going to go over again on my advice to people who are looking for a solution to the macroblocking and noise.

Basically, it's like this. The quality of your DVD title will determine how much macroblocking and noise you'll have - it's not up to Oppo. Most older titles and current cheap titles have bad quality transfer. If that's the case, truelife will amplify those noise and macroblocking making it very visible. Plug in your Alien DVD and watch the outer-space sequence. You could see those christmas lights pattern going out of control. There's no need to refund your Oppo, because there's a solution. In this case, turn off truelife and turn on CSS. This will drastically reduce the noise although you also suffer just a tad bit of details but some people could barely tell the difference. If you can still see a lot of macroblocking, maybe your brightness is too high. You need to properly calibrate your TV first.

If the DVD quality is great, such as Red Dragon and Collateral, then turning on truelife won't have a problem, but you have to turn off CSS. These titles have minimal noise and macroblocking to begin with, so truelife won't make it worse. The result is superb picture quality.

There you have it. Before returning your Oppo, try the above first. As for the synching problems, I never really have that problem after having this player for almost 3 weeks now. There was one time when I was doing a lot of jumping and rewind/ff, that was the only time I've encountered that problem. I pressed stop and then play, it went back to normal.

Thanks Zipperman. This is consistent with my experience. It is so easy to blame the OPPO because we assume as long as it is a commercially mastered DVD title, it was mastered flawlessly. Not always the case!

If at this price I feel I'm too good to own a unit like this to watch movies on or that Oppo owes me a fix that Faroudja can't come up with then I would feel that I should shoot myself because nothing and no one will ever make me happy enough.

I was going to make an analogy about divorcing the heiress - supermodel who lives to buy you beer when you find out that she occasionally gets a pimple on her butt, however, I've given up on sarcasm.

No DVD player is perfect. I am happy with the OPPO 99.9% of the time. That's more than what a $200 DVD player can bring.

rickie,

FWIW, I review a lot of low budget films and the screeners are often sent to me on -R and +R media. I've never had problems with either one of them on the Oppo. I've never tried a RW from either format, though.

Does anyone know if the Oppo could send the Dolby Digital EX signal to my receiver? I have a Yamaha 450 receiver and it could decode DD EX and DTS ES. When I play Attack of the Clones through the Oppo, the DD EX wouldn't light up. I went to the Star Wars menu and turned on the DD EX myself but didn't do any good.

Zipp, DD EX is a process that happens in a receiver or pre-pro. The DVD player has nothing to do with it, other than sending out a digital signal. ES/EX is like standard Dolby, a digital signal goes out of the player and the receiver does the processing. If a DVD is encoded for EX/ES and your receiver can process it, you'll have no trouble. Simply make sure you set your receiver to ES/EX.

Any of you Oppo player have Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones DVD? Could you play it on DD EX and tell me if you hear anything on your rear center speaker? Am I supposed to hear anything from there?

Any of you Oppo player have Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones DVD? Could you play it on DD EX and tell me if you hear anything on your rear center speaker? Am I supposed to hear anything from there?

Works fine for me. Denon AVR-3803.

I finally found a disk that would not play on the Oppo but would play on the Panasonic 97S.

I recorded a Verbatim DVd+Double Layer disk and when I put it in the Oppo I got the message no disk. No problem with the 97S. I really do not regard this as a problem since this is the first disk that would not play on the Oppo. I plan to try different brands of DL disks.

On the setup menu under "downmix", does anyone know what this is for? The option is LT/RT, V Surround, Stereo, and 5.1.

Zipperman, check that the digital output for the Oppo is set to RAW or PCM. I think it should be set to RAW in order for the receiver to decode DD/DTS signals correctly into multi-channel.

I recorded a Verbatim DVd+Double Layer disk and when I put it in the Oppo I got the message no disk. No problem with the 97S. I really do not regard this as a problem since this is the first disk that would not play on the Oppo. I plan to try different brands of DL disks.

And that seals the deal for me. I have several of these and if they don't play the DL discs like my Malata, no point.

Zipp, DD EX is a process that happens in a receiver or pre-pro. The DVD player has nothing to do with it, other than sending out a digital signal. ES/EX is like standard Dolby, a digital signal goes out of the player and the receiver does the processing. If a DVD is encoded for EX/ES and your receiver can process it, you'll have no trouble. Simply make sure you set your receiver to ES/EX.

you would -think- that this is the case, yet, as I noted somewhere way, way up there in this bloated post, the THX optimizer test on OPPO not only barfs when displaying the speaker graphic (always one behind), but also doesn't seem to pass EX encoding for no reason I can think of. Same test/disc/receiver, but with the RP-82 does the shebang correctly.

And note, to hurt your brain, this is WITH the Toslink conneciton, NOT simply the 5.1 analogue out.

I've yet to see this noted on the glitch list, but I thought I'd repeat for some nice person to search through the mess and find the relevant post. Me, I'm too freakin' hot... gah, the heat! :)

I finally found a disk that would not play on the Oppo but would play on the Panasonic 97S.

I recorded a Verbatim DVd+Double Layer disk and when I put it in the Oppo I got the message no disk. No problem with the 97S. I really do not regard this as a problem since this is the first disk that would not play on the Oppo. I plan to try different brands of DL disks.

Just to confuse the issue even further, I have burned a dozen of the Verbatim DVD+ DL disks and they have all played on my Oppo. I burned them with a Pioneer DL 108 recorder with Nero 6. Not to say that someday I may have one that fails, but so far luck is with me. Now if they would just get the price of these disks down to something more reasonable..but that is another thread.

OPPO... also doesn't seem to pass EX encoding for no reason I can think of. Same test/disc/receiver, but with the RP-82 does the shebang correctly.

And note, to hurt your brain, this is WITH the Toslink conneciton, NOT simply the 5.1 analogue out.Hold it, we have a contradiction here - Josh Z just posted that DD EX works fine for him, so the Oppo must be passing it to the receiver. I don't have an EX receiver to verify this, but I do trust Josh!

Gary

OK, I put in Episode 1 and my receiver says Dolby Digital EX (and also THX Surr EX if I choose THX) and I do hear sound coming from the rears. This is with the Oppo over digital optical going into my Pioneer 1014.

OK, I put in Episode 1 and my receiver says Dolby Digital EX (and also THX Surr EX if I choose THX) and I do hear sound coming from the rears. This is with the Oppo over digital optical going into my Pioneer 1014.

Throw in Ep. II: AOTC. Go to the THX optimizer menu, select the audio tests. The audio should cycle as per the pics of the speakers. On the Oppo, it ain't synched. Majorly out of whack.

When the pic highlights the rear surround speakers, I get equal white noise from my side surrounds, NOT the mono signal from the rear surrounds I shoudl be getting. This is -with- Toslink on, Prologic II off, etc., etc.

I'm telling you, it's weird. :)

Yes my rcvr is setup correctly, checked cables and settings, etc., etc.

Thats something known a while back, The Oppo has problems synching with a track for the first 2-3 seconds, so it throws it out of whack.

The THX Optimizer throws out another track at the Oppo every 3-4 seconds, so.....

i will have the oppo player tomorrow and was wondering if the supplied dvi cable is as good as say a more expesive one i only will be going 6' so its not real long run i was at cc today and the monster 400 was $100.00 it showed a picture on the back that showed a difference but i no that could be a seeling thing for ther brand btw will be hooking it up to a sharp dt-300

Digital Cables do not make a difference. You will see no difference. Save your money and buy a couple DVDs.

thanks do you know any thing about region 2 and 3 dvds are they as good as region 1 thanks

Thats something known a while back, The Oppo has problems synching with a track for the first 2-3 seconds, so it throws it out of whack.

The THX Optimizer throws out another track at the Oppo every 3-4 seconds, so.....

that's not the crucial bit, of course. It's the treatment of the EX encoding that's at issue here - delay or no, it's puting all the back-surround info mixed into the side surrounds for no obvious reason.

Try it yourselves for more fun...

thanks do you know any thing about region 2 and 3 dvds are they as good as region 1 thanks

Yeah, they're no different. Some are good, some are bad, just like R1. Nothing strange about them.

The THX audio is well known as others have mentioned. Other than that, I've heard nothing wrong with the audio.

Is the Oppo putting the back surround mix into the side surround mix? Or is the sound you hear in the side surround supposed to be there to help it blend with the rear surround? Any specific scenes to test this?

Thats something known a while back, The Oppo has problems synching with a track for the first 2-3 seconds, so it throws it out of whack.

The THX Optimizer throws out another track at the Oppo every 3-4 seconds, so.....

This is a problem with their buffering of video, but not audio. The THX optimiser does not send enough video information for the Faroudja to shove it out, so it is majorly delayed compared to the audio. Incidently, this is also the cause of all the Audio-sync problems.

This is a problem with their buffering of video, but not audio. The THX optimiser does not send enough video information for the Faroudja to shove it out, so it is majorly delayed compared to the audio. Incidently, this is also the cause of all the Audio-sync problems.

Is this also why the first 2-4 seconds of a DVD has no sound? On a few with narrations at the beginning, the first part gets cut off.

that's not the crucial bit, of course. It's the treatment of the EX encoding that's at issue here - delay or no, it's puting all the back-surround info mixed into the side surrounds for no obvious reason.

Try it yourselves for more fun...

Yup, that's definitely happening. I had just completed my EX setup and was underwhelmed, but I was using the Oppo. I tried another player and it sounded much better. I hope this is firware-correctable.

I did a search for '4:3', and I did get any results, so I thought I would go ahead and ask this question:

Does the Oppo DV971H have a feature where by a 4:3 PAL DVD can be 'squeezed' to properly show itself in the correct aspect ratio for older DTVs like mine where signals passed through the component input are automatically expanded to fill the screen?

If not, does anyone know of a good PAL/NTSC, region free player with this capability?

Thanks in advance.

I did a search for '4:3', and I did get any results, so I thought I would go ahead and ask this question:

Does the Oppo DV971H have a feature where by a 4:3 PAL DVD can be 'squeezed' to properly show itself in the correct aspect ratio for older DTVs like mine where signals passed through the component input are automatically expanded to fill the screen?

If not, does anyone know of a good PAL/NTSC, region free player with this capability?

Thanks in advance.

Yep, the Oppo supports 'pillar boxing' where it squeezes 4:3 material on the sides. In the player setup just pick wide/SQZ as the TV type and it does it automatically.

Originally posted by Stimby
"Digital Cables do not make a difference. You will see no difference. Save your money and buy a couple DVDs."
_______________________________________
Stimby, I wish this was true, but unfortunately there are noticeable differences between digital cables sometimes . One factor is length, a 30' cable can look different than a 3' cable because of interference or signal loss. Theroretically, if you get a picture at all it should be the same, but I've noticed some subtle differences between same length digital cables.

Is the Oppo putting the back surround mix into the side surround mix? Or is the sound you hear in the side surround supposed to be there to help it blend with the rear surround? Any specific scenes to test this?

The Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up has specific test tones for 6.1. I will try it when I get home tonight.

The Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up has specific test tones for 6.1. I will try it when I get home tonight.

I happened to have that disc and tried it out on mine. The back surround tone shows up in the Left Surround at a lesser volume, in addition to showing up in the back surround at the usual volume. The catch is, it does the same thing using my non-Oppo DVD player.

sharkshark, You don't happen to have the Outlaw 1050 receiver, do you?

I've got a Z9 in my set up that I can test the Oppo with; what software has the appropriate setup material on it to perform this test? I don't have the S&V set up discs, only DVE, but have many titles that have EX/ES and I'm sure some that have the THX optimizer.

Sound sync problem with oppo and thx optimizer type tracks is known problem.

Sound sync problem with oppo and thx optimizer type tracks is known problem.


Right, but the issue being investigated is the EX/ES signal.

Right, but the issue being investigated is the EX/ES signal.

Does anyone know of a site with a list of good EX demos, similar to what the SVS site has for subwoofer demos? That would help.

Does anyone know of a site with a list of good EX demos, similar to what the SVS site has for subwoofer demos? That would help.

I think the only way to solve this is with test tones. Movie content with active left and right rears may matrix into a center back channel even if the disc isn't actually flagged for EX.

I got a THX Demo disc lying around somewhere, is there an EX test in there somewhere?

is it normal to have to wait til the display shows "Load" on it before you can open or close the tray?

i'm use to just hitting power and then hitting open, and it will open, but with the oppo i have to wait til "Load" is shown on the display before it will accept the "open" command

I happened to have that disc and tried it out on mine. The back surround tone shows up in the Left Surround at a lesser volume, in addition to showing up in the back surround at the usual volume. The catch is, it does the same thing using my non-Oppo DVD player.

sharkshark, You don't happen to have the Outlaw 1050 receiver, do you?

Nope... sorry, used to another, um, "spot" where I've got a lovely sig with all my toys. Running the Oppo into my HK 7200. With RP-82 I get "proper" EX imaging - RS to RS, Rear surround equal mix to chanels 6 and 7, and LS to LS

With the Oppo, I'm getting RS, then equal RS and LS, then LS (like a normaly 5.1 treatment of a 6.1 signal)

My rcvr -is- configured for 6/7.1, and, of course, the test works with the '82. Now that I know others may be having this issue as well I'll do more formal a/b testing.

is it normal to have to wait til the display shows "Load" on it before you can open or close the tray?

i'm use to just hitting power and then hitting open, and it will open, but with the oppo i have to wait til "Load" is shown on the display before it will accept the "open" command


Yep. I don't know why, but that's just how it is. You'll get used to it.

Nope... sorry, used to another, um, "spot" where I've got a lovely sig with all my toys. Running the Oppo into my HK 7200. With RP-82 I get "proper" EX imaging - RS to RS, Rear surround equal mix to chanels 6 and 7, and LS to LS

With the Oppo, I'm getting RS, then equal RS and LS, then LS (like a normaly 5.1 treatment of a 6.1 signal)

My rcvr -is- configured for 6/7.1, and, of course, the test works with the '82. Now that I know others may be having this issue as well I'll do more formal a/b testing.

That's good that you don't have the Outlaw actually. If the problem were confined to one receiver, then it could easily be dismissed. Especially considering the Outlaw isn't officially EX (it uses a proprietary decoding scheme for 6.1).

I just did extensive testing for the Oppo's ability to pass DD-EX and DTS-ES signals over the digital output. Everything is working fine.

I have the Oppo connected by Toslink to a DVI switcher, where it goes out by digital coax into my Denon AVR-3803 receiver. I tested the Speaker ID tones on the Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up disc for Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES Matrix, and DTS-ES Discrete. In all cases, the center back channel decoded properly.

I also went into the receiver's menus and tried all of these tests with the Auto Flag Detection Mode both on and off. This is where I tell the receiver to only decode a center back channel if the disc is specifically flagged for EX or ES (I default to leaving the matrixing on all the time even if the disc isn't flagged for it). Again, everything worked as it is supposed to in every test.

If anyone is having problems hearing a center rear channel during movie content on discs known to be flagged for EX or ES, it shouldn't be the Oppo at fault.

Does anyone know if the Oppo could send the Dolby Digital EX signal to my receiver? I have a Yamaha 450 receiver and it could decode DD EX and DTS ES. When I play Attack of the Clones through the Oppo, the DD EX wouldn't light up. I went to the Star Wars menu and turned on the DD EX myself but didn't do any good.

Just to elaborate on this a little further, I dug up this old thread from the archives about when I first got my current receiver and was learning all of its set-up options:

http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=217579&highlight=afdm

Attack of the Clones is mentioned specifically as a disc that is mixed for EX but not flagged properly for it. Perhaps your receiver has an equivalent of AFDM that is turned off? If the receiver only decodes a center back when it detects a flag, it wouldn't decode one on that disc. If you can turn AFDM (or whatever your brand of receiver calls it) on, you should in theory get activity in that channel.

Nicely clarified. Thank you Josh!

has anyone had a color problem with the Oppo? All of a sudden, it appears like there is no red in the pic. I see no red at all. The pic is very green as a result. Anyone know if there is a setting that may have gone out-of-whack?

Also, not sure if this has been mentioned in the thread but the latest firmware made the lipsync problem worst for me. Anyone else find this more of a problem now?

has anyone had a color problem with the Oppo? All of a sudden, it appears like there is no red in the pic. I see no red at all. The pic is very green as a result. Anyone know if there is a setting that may have gone out-of-whack?

Also, not sure if this has been mentioned in the thread but the latest firmware made the lipsync problem worst for me. Anyone else find this more of a problem now?

Are you connected via dvi or component? If it's component, it maybe a faulty cable.

connected via DVI...and I haven't touched the cable. HDTV looks fine so i know its not the PJ.

connected via DVI...and I haven't touched the cable. HDTV looks fine so i know its not the PJ.

While the Oppo may be defective, the DVI cable's the more likely source of the problem. Is your HD feed connected via DVI as well? Can you switch the DVI cable you're using with the Oppo?

heh... once again, my problem was with the THX optimizer on AOTC, not the disc itself.

I redid the test, and now it appears, for no discernable reason, that all's OK - save for the pic-of-speaker problem that's well documented, the signal indeed is "lighting up" the rear speakers the way it should.

What's changed? Nothing, really, save a poweroff of the player. Wacky.

heh... once again, my problem was with the THX optimizer on AOTC, not the disc itself.

I redid the test, and now it appears, for no discernable reason, that all's OK - save for the pic-of-speaker problem that's well documented, the signal indeed is "lighting up" the rear speakers the way it should.

What's changed? Nothing, really, save a poweroff of the player. Wacky.

The wonderful, dynamic world of electronics! :)

The wonderful, dynamic world of electronics! :)

indeed. did see my first bit of synch fun with the new Peter Gabriel doc disc. The feature was fine, but there was a 5 min. clip where, despite pausing, stopping, etc., the lips were way out of synch.

I've yet to test on my other player. It is, however, the first time it's happened to me with region 1 (region 2 stuff seems to slip more...)

indeed. did see my first bit of synch fun with the new Peter Gabriel doc disc. The feature was fine, but there was a where, despite pausing, stopping, etc., the lips were way out of synch.If the bad sync recurs when you stop/rewind, then it is almost guaranteed to be recorded that way on the disk (during that 5 minute clip). See this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5576842&&#post5576842) post.

has anyone had a color problem with the Oppo? All of a sudden, it appears like there is no red in the pic. I see no red at all. The pic is very green as a result. Anyone know if there is a setting that may have gone out-of-whack?

Also, not sure if this has been mentioned in the thread but the latest firmware made the lipsync problem worst for me. Anyone else find this more of a problem now?

How long is the cable? What PJ? The Oppo doesn't output a super strong signal, plus different displays draw a signal differenlty.

Last week I bought a boutique cable, Ethereal 33' and got tons of sparklies using the oppo to the H79, when my cheap 30' wouldn't show sparlies but would drop out quite allot. I gave up and now use a 15' cheap DVI cable and everything works without a hitch.

Try a shorter cable with your Oppo.

No lip sync problems with my setup at 20ms.

Here a tip that may help your cable. Clean the contacts with some alcohol and a soft tooth bush. This helped a bit on the dropouts I was having. Plus I almost got a steady signal with the Bravo D2 and the HT000 with the 30 footer. That's another DVD player that has a weak signal.

guitarman,
i'm using a 9meter better cables cable. its a quality cable. it worked absolutely fine for 2 months and then all of a sudden i get no red, which is the reason I thought it was the oppo. i can try cleaning the connectors.

when you say no lipsync problems setup at 20ms, what does that mean? can you set a delay on the Oppo??

thanks

Delay in Oppo, yes in the menu's there's audio delay selections. Try the cleaning, the copper wire gets oxidized after a while.

How do I go about returning the player with extremephono. I was expercing macroblocking and wanted to return this player

Charles

How do I go about returning the player with extremephono. I was expercing macroblocking and wanted to return this player

Charles

Call 'em! I've heard they are very CS oriented.

Ok, question from lil' ol' ignorant me. I have read about the 2/2 cadence (PAL) issue and that it only affected older PAL discs. That is a wee bit vague... What does older mean? I have a several PAL films, Star Trek Generations, Night on Earth, Flash Gordon (1980), Metropolis and my cherished BUFFY R2 sets. Would these be considered old or new? Would these be watchable or would it be jaggy, comb city? I have an Optoma h57 which will output PAL natively at 576P which is why I'm interested.

Thanx! D

Ok, question from lil' ol' ignorant me. I have read about the 2/2 cadence (PAL) issue and that it only affected older PAL discs. That is a wee bit vague... What does older mean? I have a several PAL films, Star Trek Generations, Night on Earth, Flash Gordon (1980), Metropolis and my cherished BUFFY R2 sets. Would these be considered old or new? Would these be watchable or would it be jaggy, comb city? I have an Optoma h57 which will output PAL natively at 576P which is why I'm interested.

Thanx! D

I have some of those cherished R2 Buffy sets (seasons 4-7) that look quite nice on the Oppo.

I think older refers to PAL discs that were authored back in the early days of DVD, when the PAL authoring abilities were pretty bad. It doesn't mean older as in films made before 1980, but more likely films authored to DVD in the first couple years of DVD on PAL.

Thanks Cjay,

Are you watching them with the PAL output or with PAL-NTSC? Would it only affect native PAL?

:) d

Just installed mine today! Running it to a Sanyo PLV-70 PJ. Left all the settings in the player at 0, and dialed in brightness/contrast with AVIA on my PJ. Beautiful picture! I've been suffering with component from a Panny RP92 (?) after my Bravo D1 died. The picture I'm getting now is possibly even better than the D1. Hard to tell for sure, since the improvement from component is so dramatic.

BUT - Any completely black part of the picture has tons of little blue sparklies in it. What's up with that? I'm running DVI on a 10 meter (30') cable. Replacing the cable is NOT an option (all drywalled in). Never saw them with my Bravo D1.

Gordon

Gordon,

If you're using 720p try 1080i and see if the blue sparklies go away.

Paul

Thanks Cjay,

Are you watching them with the PAL output or with PAL-NTSC? Would it only affect native PAL?

:) d

I've watched the Buffy R2 PAL discs using both PAL to NTSC conversion from the Oppo, and also using PAL out of the Oppo and letting my iScan HD video processor convert the PAL to NTSC (my display does not handle native PAL). Note though that in my system the iScan HD does all the scaling, not the Oppo. I slightly prefer letting the iScan HD do the conversion to NTSC over the Oppo and leave the Oppo set to Auto in the PAL/NTSC menu, but really there is very little difference between the two that I've noticed up to now; I've watched two complete episodes of R2 Buffy and parts of a few others using the Oppo.

Gordon,

If you're using 720p try 1080i and see if the blue sparklies go away.

Paul

Thanks for the suggestion, Paul! Unfortunately, the PLV-70 has a bug with DVI at 1080i whereby you get a row of blue at the bottom of the image. Had that on my Bravo D1 and also saw it when I briefly tried it with the OPPO. I WILL go back and revisit it to see if the sparklies in the black go away. If so, I may be able to live with it by shifting the blue stuff off the bottom of the screen. I'll check it out!
Thanks,
Gordon

So, with almost 3500 posts in this thread... is there an "oppo for dummies" guide? A quick list of what to do / what settings are considered best (or worth experimenting with)?


Thanks to anyone that can paraphrase or point to a summary of 100+ pages of information here...

Call 'em! I've heard they are very CS oriented.


They keep giving me the run around. I thought there was a 30 day return policy.

Casey

Just installed mine today! Running it to a Sanyo PLV-70 PJ. Left all the settings in the player at 0, and dialed in brightness/contrast with AVIA on my PJ. Beautiful picture! I've been suffering with component from a Panny RP92 (?) after my Bravo D1 died. The picture I'm getting now is possibly even better than the D1. Hard to tell for sure, since the improvement from component is so dramatic.

BUT - Any completely black part of the picture has tons of little blue sparklies in it. What's up with that? I'm running DVI on a 10 meter (30') cable. Replacing the cable is NOT an option (all drywalled in). Never saw them with my Bravo D1.

Gordon

"The Oppo doesn't output a super strong signal, plus different displays draw a signal differenlty.

Last week I bought a boutique cable, Ethereal 33' and got tons of sparklies using the oppo to the H79, when my cheap 30' wouldn't show sparlies but would drop out quite allot. I gave up and now use a 15' cheap DVI cable and everything works without a hitch."

Example the D1 outputs a strong signal, the D2 doesn't you would hv problems with the D2. Since you need to use your installed cable, check into the Pany S77 or S97, see if people are having troubles with long cable runs.

To make the Oppo work you could use a line amplifier they're $300.

Thanks, Guitarman! Having hung through most of this thread, I was afraid it was something like that. Bummer.
Guess I'll have to either live with the blue sparklies (only appear in absolute black portions) or like you said, get another player or a DVI amp. So much for an inexpensive, elegant DVI solution!

Gordon

instead of an amp, you could save some money and use the dtrovision dvi splitter. it has an amp (i don't kjnow how strong) that will help your signal.

i tried the splitter with my d2 at the time going over a 50' dvi, which the oppo works with flawlessly, and it helped a lot.

however, to be completely sure, just like guitarman says, use an amp. i have a nice 1:2 dtrovision i'm using now and it's great (tested it with oppo and d2 and it worked perfectly, but not using it with them).

-r

Thanks, baconman! I tried a quick search for DVI line amp yesterday and came up dry. The 2-1 dtrovision looks like it'll work. Since it's HDMI, I'd need two DVI adapters. For $300, though, I'm not sure I should add that to the $200 Oppo, or see if I can return it and look at a different player???? Only problem is, I don't see any specs for DVI output to determine if a player can push my 30' cable. How does one determine if any other player would work??

Gordon

Thanks, baconman! I tried a quick search for DVI line amp yesterday and came up dry. The 2-1 dtrovision looks like it'll work. Since it's HDMI, I'd need two DVI adapters. For $300, though, I'm not sure I should add that to the $200 Oppo, or see if I can return it and look at a different player???? Only problem is, I don't see any specs for DVI output to determine if a player can push my 30' cable. How does one determine if any other player would work??

Gordon


I'm using an Oppo through a Zektron DVI switch pushing a 50' cable and I haven't seen any of the sparklies you're describing. I don't think the Zektron is doing any amplification. I also don't think you can make a blanket statement saying that the Oppo can't push a signal that far, or that DVI/HDMI can't be run that far. More than a few guys around this place have 50' runs and no sparklies, seems like it has more to do with the cable than anything else.

Thanks, baconman! I tried a quick search for DVI line amp yesterday and came up dry. The 2-1 dtrovision looks like it'll work. Since it's HDMI, I'd need two DVI adapters. For $300, though, I'm not sure I should add that to the $200 Oppo, or see if I can return it and look at a different player???? Only problem is, I don't see any specs for DVI output to determine if a player can push my 30' cable. How does one determine if any other player would work??

Gordon

If you like the OPPO, I would first get a better cable of the appropriate length and see if you still have sparklies. If not, is it really not possible to fish another cable to the PJ? Seems like a much better solution than all this $$ on a signal amplifier. . .

wes

I'm using an Oppo through a Zektron DVI switch pushing a 50' cable and I haven't seen any of the sparklies you're describing. I don't think the Zektron is doing any amplification. I also don't think you can make a blanket statement saying that the Oppo can't push a signal that far, or that DVI/HDMI can't be run that far. More than a few guys around this place have 50' runs and no sparklies, seems like it has more to do with the cable than anything else.

It's entirely possible that the cable could be better. I am no believer in botique cables. I just know that the sparklies were not present with my Bravo D1. The only change was the player. This experience matches guitarman's assertion that the Oppo DVI output is not as strong as the D1. I just wish there were a published spec that called out signal strength so we'd know the relative outputs between players. Different displays (PJ, whatever) may also load the signal differently.

Gordon

If you like the OPPO, I would first get a better cable of the appropriate length and see if you still have sparklies. If not, is it really not possible to fish another cable to the PJ? Seems like a much better solution than all this $$ on a signal amplifier. . .
wes

No fishing allowed! ;) I ran the cables across the bottoms of the ceiling joists (http://www.sweetnancy.com/images/HomeTheaterPhotos/2-21CeilingWiringLightHoles.jpg) and drywalled 'em in. I did run a conduit for future use, but promptly ruined it by trying to pull a fancy set of component cables through to prove/disprove my hommade RG6 cables. I got them through just enough to prove there was no difference and to get them firmley jammed in the conduit. Can't budge 'em either way. :o

Gordon

You could use a compressor to blow wire pulling lubricant into the conduit and loosen the wires. Might need to do it from both ends to get enough coverage. Pull and push the cable to work the lubricant around. Blow in more lubricant. Wiggle cable more. Repeat. Spread some rags or a towel at the opposite end while blowing in lubricant or you might make a mess. If the wire doesn't come loose right away, seal the conduit ends overnight to let things soak in. Come back the next day and repeat. You'll get it to come free. Wire pulling lubricant is a must use item when dealing with conduit (preferably BEFORE you get a cable stuck)

One interesting thing about DVI cables.... Good ones might not actually be exactly 10 or 20 meters long even though you specify that length. A smart designer will set the cable lenght to one close the desired length but actually one whose length is tuned to let cable itself act as a filter network to pass the desired frequencies. Pretty ingenious.

It's entirely possible that the cable could be better. I am no believer in botique cables. I just know that the sparklies were not present with my Bravo D1. The only change was the player. This experience matches guitarman's assertion that the Oppo DVI output is not as strong as the D1. I just wish there were a published spec that called out signal strength so we'd know the relative outputs between players. Different displays (PJ, whatever) may also load the signal differently.

Gordon

Yep, it's cable player and display related. Almost like a fishing game. That's why I said try the Panasonic line, look into the Pany thread ask the question about signal strength. You got another shot at getting an upscaling player with Faroudja processing. That's what you're looking for right? And in an economical level. :)

Komoman, can you try the OPPO without the zektor switch and see if can directly drive your 50' cable?

fwiw, i know that the oppo will drive the 50' monster 400n DVI cable with no issues.

that's what i'm using. amp and switcher free.
-r

Komoman, can you try the OPPO without the zektor switch and see if can directly drive your 50' cable?

Didn't see your message last night. I'll hook it up directly tonight and let you know the result.

Guy Kuo, just curious how varying the cable length slightly can alter filtering aspects of the cable. I figured signal can dissipate over long lengths and that the cable shielding can prevent interference but I'm not hip to how length can affect filtering..

fwiw, i know that the oppo will drive the 50' monster 400n DVI cable with no issues.

that's what i'm using. amp and switcher free.
-r

Which projector are you using?

You could use a compressor to blow wire pulling lubricant into the conduit and loosen the wires. Might need to do it from both ends to get enough coverage. Pull and push the cable to work the lubricant around. Blow in more lubricant. Wiggle cable more. Repeat. Spread some rags or a towel at the opposite end while blowing in lubricant or you might make a mess. If the wire doesn't come loose right away, seal the conduit ends overnight to let things soak in. Come back the next day and repeat. You'll get it to come free. Wire pulling lubricant is a must use item when dealing with conduit (preferably BEFORE you get a cable stuck)

Thanks, Guy!
You speak from experience, it seems! :)
From what I went though to get the component cable in (lubing,pushing,pulling, gaining a fraction of an inch at a time, etc), I really believe your method will work. It seemed so easy unitil I got almost home after the 3-90 deg curves. I'd be more willing to buy a $300 signal booster than try to get the old one out. :o

Anyway, just a word of praise for Oppo and their customer service. I emailed them about my sparklies and they are perfectly willing to take it back if I can't resolve this issue.

We watched a few movies on it and the video quality is superb and the response to remote commands is so much better than the quirky D1 that this replaces that I really don't want to replace the unit. The sparklies only show up in solid black, so depending on the movie, I vacillate from loving it to being bugged by it. I'm even considering mounting the player on the back wall of the HT and running the audio back through one of my spare component cables.

Thanks for the helpful advice, folks.

Gordon

Gordon,
Sparklies are usually caused by a bad dvi cable. Also this unit is a dvi only unit-even though it has component, is is not recommended to use it.

Bought an Oppo to replace my Momitsu V880- but after a couple of days using the Oppo, I'm back to my Momitsu, which has better PQ, resolution and color

Bought an Oppo to replace my Momitsu V880- but after a couple of days using the Oppo, I'm back to my Momitsu, which has better PQ, resolution and colorOK.

QuantumCosmos, it is strange that you feel that you are getting better PQ, resolution and color from your Momitsu. I also have an old Momitsu and I have done many A/B blind tests between the two units. I find a big difference in picture quality using the Oppo. I do not have a macroblocking issue with my display. If you are happy with your Momitsu keep it unit it stops working.

Bought an Oppo to replace my Momitsu V880- but after a couple of days using the Oppo, I'm back to my Momitsu, which has better PQ, resolution and color
I would love to compare them.
What system do you use ?

QuantumCosmos, it is strange that you feel that you are getting better PQ, resolution and color from your Momitsu. I also have an old Momitsu and I have done many A/B blind tests between the two units. I find a big difference in picture quality using the Oppo. I do not have a macroblocking issue with my display. If you are happy with your Momitsu keep it unit it stops working.


I agree completely with you. My Momitsu V880 can't compete in picture quality with my Oppo. QuantumCosmos must have a bad Oppo or he is using component output. :rolleyes:

Bruno

What are your calibration settings for the Oppo that make it better than the Momitsu? It seems that, out of the box, the Oppo isn't that great (using HDMI) from what I have read here. I have a Momitsu and an HTPC.

What are your calibration settings for the Oppo that make it better than the Momitsu? It seems that, out of the box, the Oppo isn't that great (using HDMI) from what I have read here. I have a Momitsu and an HTPC.


Not much. I put saturation at +1. I need to change the brightness and contrast so it's compatible with my projector that need video level instead of PC level.

If you take a test disk like HQV benchmark DVD (http://www.hqv.com/benchmark.cfm) for example it obvious in many tests that the Momitsu is way behind in term of image precision. Motion adaptiveness is also lacking in the Momitsu.

Bruno

What worked for me with the H79 and Oppo.

Oppo
Brightness 5
Contrast 1
Saturation 1

Sharpness to either low or off

Then I tuned with Avia, then the grayscale with colorfacts. End result, beautiful
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h79graywolf6.jpg

Once again, Oppo sharpness to low.
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h79graywolf8.jpg

Plus we're all buying these for the deinterlacing and speed.

Anybody ever figure how to get rid of the Oppo pause sign, it's mucking up my images? :)

First, the Oppo does not have an HDMI connector since it does not use HDCP(thank god!!!) but it does have a DVI-D output.

Second, I have owned a Momitsu(component output at 1080i) and a Zenith DVB-318(component output at 1080i) and now an Oppo at 1080i via DVI through a Dtrovision DC-DA1 converted to RGB... and the Oppo wins, easily, hands down and all around. I also owned an Onkyo SP1000 and still own a Denon 3910 and IMO, on my system, the Oppo is probably non-identifyable from those two other units for most movies for video playback, IMO.

In my system, I use the Oppo for DVD playback and a modded Denon 3910 for audio playback. YMMV.

Did you try to plug Momitsu in DVI ?
I have read MOmitsu can output any resolution, a custom refresh rate as 71.928 for NTSC movies should be fantastic if the DVI output is good.

Did you try it ?

I have a question concerning macroblockings. Everytime I see macroblocking on my screen, they're always in pinkish blocks. I could see them if there's a white wall in the scene, the rain scene in Unforgiven, and the sands in some movies.

Is that normal? Why pink? When I take a look at websites with screen captures of macroblockings, they're always the same color as their background (black on black, blue on blue).

I've seen it purple on black.

I agree completely with you. My Momitsu V880 can't compete in picture quality with my Oppo. QuantumCosmos must have a bad Oppo or he is using component output. :rolleyes:

Bruno

Hi. I am using the Momitsu via DVI to a BenQ 8700. With the Oppo (DVI also to BenQ) somehow even f I cycle through all resolutions, it still appears low res (looks 480p), even if both Oppo and BenQ display correct resolution status during upconvert cycle (upto 1080i). Also, the Oppo playing PAL looks noticeably worse than my Momitsu :(

I am keeping the Oppo until I find a way to make it look better than the Momitsu ;) For now, I am using the Momitsu -- does anyone have any idea what adjustments I can make to my Oppo? Thanks!

Hi. I am using the Momitsu via DVI to a BenQ 8700. With the Oppo (DVI also to BenQ) somehow even f I cycle through all resolutions, it still appears low res (looks 480p), even if both Oppo and BenQ display correct resolution status during upconvert cycle (upto 1080i). Also, the Oppo playing PAL looks noticeably worse than my Momitsu :(

I am keeping the Oppo until I find a way to make it look better than the Momitsu ;) For now, I am using the Momitsu -- does anyone have any idea what adjustments I can make to my Oppo? Thanks!

How do you have the Oppo set up? Trulife On or Off? CSS On or Off? Etc.

I also have a Momitsu, and for my system the Oppo easily wins.

I've seen it purple on black.

That's what I usually see. A purple/dark blue on black. I'm only getting it on some blacks that are really dark grays.

Hi there. I hope i don't seem like a novice, but i am on the verge of purchasing an Oppo DVD player, based on the review on DVD Benchmark. The only thing i am concerned about is the macroblocking issue. I have a Sony 34" direct-view CRT. Using a short (4 foot) DVI cable, directly to the TV, should i be worried about the macroblocking in my case? I wasn't sure if macroblocking had anything to do with the display type, the cable length, or whether it was a direct connection. Thanks.

Hello comiconline,

I have a Sony 34" XBR910 direct-view 1080i CRT. The only issue I have experienced is the video/audio sync problem reported at length here. It has been correctable using Pause and Play in my case. The Oppo works very well with my display.

Here's a clip on macroblocking from the first page of the brain dump thread that suggests it is a problem with poorly encoded DVDS.

"Aside from the macroblock enhance that may affect your display when playing badly encoded disks, the picture over DVI is spectacular.

"CURRENT DEFECTS:

"1. Faroudja's "macroblock enhance" bug. Macroblocking appears on some DVD’s as an artifact of heavy MPEG compression. It looks like patches of moving/pulsating off-color blocks, and is most often seen on background walls and floors, in mist, and in fade-in/fade-out scenes. It is normally very subtle, but for some reason, the Faroudja chip exaggerates it. This bug appears to be very display dependant, so it only becomes distracting on some displays. Panasonic recently worked with Faroudja to reduce this problem to some degree in their player, but there seems to be no significant improvement over the Oppo. Apparently, it cannot be fixed altogether, so it remains a trade-off with the use of this otherwise fantastic de-interlacing and scaling chip."

Dana

I was a "middle" buyer of the OPPO, right after the 2nd firmware came out, right before the Secrets score. I have been very happy, but after watching several movies with it, I can definitely list my 3 biggest needs for improvement:

1. Audio sync- seems to lose sync in every movie to some extent. I've tried using the audio delay feature, but it doesn't seem to help, since it's not a constant sync problem- eg. it drifts.

2. Not using the full panel of my Infocus 4805's display- this is a problem with other projectors as well. This is getting a little more annoying over time, as the picture is not centered on my screen, and even if I crop a little with overscan and reaim my projector (with this way my HD feed really overshoots the edge of the screen a lot) I still get uneven black bars on the top and bottom, and sometimes with a Disney movie that's a little bigger than 16:9 and has small black bars on the sides (Lilo and Stich, for example) I'll have a regular black bar on the left, and none on the right, etc. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to have a "perfect" shot on the screen, and since I've never seen this before in a DVI player, I would think they could fix it pretty quickly.

3. Subtitles- If I leave them to auto in the OPPO setup menu, I have to manually turn subtitles off in every movie I watch. If I leave them to off in the OPPO menu, than I miss forced subtitles, like Jabba talking in Empire Strikes Back.


Those are the big 3 for me. I don't have any macroblocking that I can see, and the rest of it looks great.

I don't remember OPPO ever responding to the full panel issue on pront projectors, just lots of comments from the forum members. Are they aware of this problem, or should I shoot their tech support an email about it to get it on the radar?

Thanks, everyone, for working to make this a better and better player. I hope it still improves from here.

Wes

First, the Oppo does not have an HDMI connector since it does not use HDCP(thank god!!!) but it does have a DVI-D output.


:eek:

Gee, then what is that HDMI connector on the back of my Oppo that I am plugged into?

I am currently using an HDMI to DVI connector to run the output to my 8700+...

Sure looks like an HDMI connector.... HDMI connectors fit in the slot....??

Ps. How do I tell what firmware I am using... and what is the latest version?

:eek:

Gee, then what is that HDMI connector on the back of my Oppo that I am plugged into?

I am currently using an HDMI to DVI connector to run the output to my 8700+...

Sure looks like an HDMI connector.... HDMI connectors fit in the slot....??

Ps. How do I tell what firmware I am using... and what is the latest version?


The oppo has a dvi connector in the back not a hdmi connector, unless u have some new version that has just came out?

I just got my new Oppo and I have to say the PQ is excellent. Aside from the annoying little glitches mentioned above it's a pretty solid player. But one problem I have is that when playing movies the soundtrack seems to be very low. In order to hear it well one must turn the volume almost all the way up, which then makes the dialogue extremely loud. This was never a problem on my last player.

I've tried changing the DRC settings on both the receiver and the Oppo to no avail. The Oppo is currently connected to the receiver using a digital audio TOSLINK cable. Can anyone provide me with any advice on how to fix this soundtrack issue?

3. Subtitles- If I leave them to auto in the OPPO setup menu, I have to manually turn subtitles off in every movie I watch. If I leave them to off in the OPPO menu, than I miss forced subtitles, like Jabba talking in Empire Strikes Back.

The current workaround for this (until we get a real solution) that seems to have the most success is to leave the Oppo set for subtitles "Off", then on each disc that you play, when you're going through the disc set-up menus to choose your audio options also remember to choose "None" for subtitles. This will cause the disc to override the Oppo, and on almost all R1 discs that are supposed to have "forced" subtitles for some scenes the "None" selection will default to the proper subtitle track (even though it sounds counter-intuitive).

And I'm sure you meant to say Return of the Jedi. Jabba of course does not appear in Empire Strikes Back.

The oppo has a dvi connector in the back not a hdmi connector, unless u have some new version that has just came out?

If you buy it directly from Oppo I believe you can request a DVI > HDMI cable, maybe that 's what he's talking about? :confused:

I wonder if it would be possible (in firmware) to add some stat features to the Oppo. I would like to be able to see the bitrate displayed (when requested) along with the max and average like my old Sony dvd player. It is not something I used a lot, but it was a nice feature. Perhaps there are other stats that could be shown as well, but I am not sure it is easy to display these numbers.

As a side note, I don't have the lipsynch issue but then again I usually end up pausing halfway through most movies for intermission. Bestbuy currently has most of their Superbit dvds on sale this week for $9.99, both online and in their stores. No lipsynch errors so far and these should tax the Oppo's throughput.

The current workaround for this (until we get a real solution) that seems to have the most success is to leave the Oppo set for subtitles "Off", then on each disc that you play, when you're going through the disc set-up menus to choose your audio options also remember to choose "None" for subtitles. This will cause the disc to override the Oppo, and on almost all R1 discs that are supposed to have "forced" subtitles for some scenes the "None" selection will default to the proper subtitle track (even though it sounds counter-intuitive).

And I'm sure you meant to say Return of the Jedi. Jabba of course does not appear in Empire Strikes Back.

Yes, that's what I do, and yes, I meant "Return of the Jedi". Thanks.

I actually feel a little better about myself having messed that up- some fuzziness/ignorance of the Star Wars universe is a good thing!

Wes

It will be very very interesting to compare a Momitsu 880 Dx or N with the Oppo. Both in DVI.
Oppo is using Fli2310, Momitsu is using Sigma 8500 chips (I think) ...
Oppo has TrueLife, Momitsu has a very comprehensive scaler (and network abilities) ...

HomeTheaterHiFi has not tested the new Momitsu, I would love to have their review done with the latest firmware.