forgive the newbie question and please keep the flames down...
is there such a thing as a DVI to RGB cable/connect??
i ask because i have an open RGB input on my zenith plasma open and really want to buy this oppo but dont have an open hdmi port..
is this possible without any loss in PQ??
2nd question: is there a DVI to component converter?? that may be my other option or just keep waiting for the new oppo that will upconvert via component?? thanks dmr

DVI-D is a digital signal. RGB and component are analog. An adaptor cable will not be sufficient. You need a transcoder, which will cost you more than the Oppo.

Their next model will supposedly upconvert via component. You should just wait it out.

forgive the newbie question and please keep the flames down...
is there such a thing as a DVI to RGB cable/connect??
i ask because i have an open RGB input on my zenith plasma open and really want to buy this oppo but dont have an open hdmi port..
is this possible without any loss in PQ??
2nd question: is there a DVI to component converter?? that may be my other option or just keep waiting for the new oppo that will upconvert via component?? thanks dmr
Unfortunately, neither of these is possible. The DVI output from the Oppo is digital only, so there's no such thing as a simple adapter to convert from DVI-D to analog RGB or component. You'd need a transcoder, which is not cheap.

Also, don't count too much on a future model being able to upconvert via component; in order for Oppo to be able to support HDCP over HDMI, they're contractually obligated to not upconvert copyrighted material via component. I haven't heard too many specific details about future models, though.

Also, don't count too much on a future model being able to upconvert via component; in order for Oppo to be able to support HDCP over HDMI, they're contractually obligated to not upconvert copyrighted material via component. I haven't heard too many specific details about future models, though.

But that doesn't mean it is not hackable. If the new unit is using a MTK chipset, then it is a simple manner of changing a couple of Ones and Zeros. OPPO themselves will have to be compliant, the user base, on the other hand, can be less scrupulous.

Thank you for the feed back DEEZ, just reporting my observations for what I saw on my brand and model of TV.

Do you always make fun of people reporting there test results or just people that do not agree with you?


Necromancer is right......and so are you.......listen, what you posted is ludacris and i am serious about the eye doctor really dude come on really....you dont have to agree with me or anyone else for that matter it is just a little ignorant to post that without all your system specs and and settings on tv/dvd player...there have been people come on here and say the oppo is crap only to find out they had it on zoom2 or something........only way xbox has better pq is if you have faroujda eyes......why dont you post your display model and your settings on the oppo and the connection[dvi??] and stuff like that......

Thank you for the feed back DEEZ, just reporting my observations for what I saw on my brand and model of TV.

Do you always make fun of people reporting there test results or just people that do not agree with you?


Necromancer is right......and so are you.......listen, what you posted is ludacris and i am serious about the eye doctor really dude come on really....you dont have to agree with me or anyone else for that matter it is just a little ignorant to post that without all your system specs and and settings on tv/dvd player...there have been people come on here and say the oppo is crap only to find out they had it on zoom2 or something........only way xbox has better pq is if you have faroujda eyes......why dont you post your display model and your settings on the oppo and the connection[dvi??] and stuff like that......

Thanks Dave. Looks like I'll be getting both -> HTPC for when I'm home -> Oppo for when the wife is the user.

I bought a philips 30pw9110d/37 a few weeks ago. Plugged in the oppo to the TV in the HDMI and nothing but 480p is showing up. Tested cables. Ran an HDMI from my HD box, and works fine. So Oppo and I thought, bad processor. Well, we did an advance replacement and still no go. I know that Tekworm and a few others in the forums have this setup, but I cannot get mine to go. What is the deal? TV or Oppo?

Any help is greatly desired...I want better picture!!!

I bought a philips 30pw9110d/37 a few weeks ago. Plugged in the oppo to the TV in the HDMI and nothing but 480p is showing up. Tested cables. Ran an HDMI from my HD box, and works fine. So Oppo and I thought, bad processor. Well, we did an advance replacement and still no go. I know that Tekworm and a few others in the forums have this setup, but I cannot get mine to go. What is the deal? TV or Oppo?

Any help is greatly desired...I want better picture!!!

In case, you're not reading the instructions.... follow the steps below to change oppo dvi output.
Turn on oppo without a disc and push dvi button on the remote to flip through different resolution output. Oppo's default is 480p. you can also do this while oppo is in the stop mode with disc inside.

In case, you're not reading the instructions.... follow the steps below to change oppo dvi output.
Turn on oppo without a disc and push dvi button on the remote to flip through different resolution output. Oppo's default is 480p. you can also do this while oppo is in the stop mode with disc inside.


Been there done that and it only recognizes the 480p. I should see a blue screen saying 720p or 1080i and I only see 480 pscan.

Been there done that and it only recognizes the 480p. I should see a blue screen saying 720p or 1080i and I only see 480 pscan.

Is your philips a progressive scan Wide TV?...... Don't think your TV can do other resolutions than 480p widescreen.

Is your philips a progressive scan Wide TV?...... Don't think your TV can do other resolutions other than 480p widescreen.

It is a digital, 16:9 wide. It is HD and it has a native resolution of 1080i. The picture looks good, but could be better. Just not sure why it is not picking up the Oppo, and it does the SA8300HD. Also, I can change the output and the TV recognizes the change, but does not display.

Ran 720p out on the SA8300HD and it worked fine.

were you using HDMI from SA8300HD?... I know alot of built-in HDTV tuners will up or down convert signals to work with the TV. So, some TV's HD signals aren't really displayed directly and the tuner will covert the signal to fit the display. It will show correct input signal, but what's on the display isn't true native 1080i(1920x1080) or 720p since the built-in tuner does another converting to fit your tv's native resolution. I'm not sure if I'm making sense, but there's good chance that your TV isn't capable of taking 720p signal directly from other HD output source. Maybe this is a good time to shoot oppo an email and see if they've got reports of others experiencing same issues with your TV model.

Anyway, best of luck to ya.

were you using HDMI from SA8300HD?... I know alot of built-in HDTV tuners will up or down convert signals to work with the TV. So, some TV's HD signals aren't really displayed directly and the tuner will covert the signal to fit the display. It will show correct input signal, but what's on the display isn't true native 1080i(1920x1080) or 720p since the built-in tuner does another converting to fit your tv's native resolution. I'm not sure if I'm making sense, but there's good chance that your TV isn't capable of taking 720p signal directly from other HD output source. Maybe this is a good time to shoot oppo an email and see if they've got reports of others experiencing same issues with your TV model.

Anyway, best of luck to ya.

I told them in an e-mail tonight that I would talk to them. I wish there was a way on the tv that I have to check what is being sent. I know, because I have the service manual, that it does take, 480 540 720 and 1080 and converts to 1080i. I want to send 720p b/c another Oppo owner with the same TV stated that the picture was better at 720 than the 1080.

Also, I changed the output on the STB to 720, etc and was able to process through HDMI. So if the HDMI was not working right on the tv, it would not have recognized the 720 input.

If there are any other ideas, please feel free to share. I may have Oppo on one phone and Philips on the other.

I have a Philips, although not your model, and it always shows the input res when I change inputs. I have found that the Oppo looks best at 720P on mine too, because at 1080i (my tv has native 1080i) there is some slight flicker. I don't know why. 720P looks pretty great.

I have a Philips, although not your model, and it always shows the input res when I change inputs. I have found that the Oppo looks best at 720P on mine too, because at 1080i (my tv has native 1080i) there is some slight flicker. I don't know why. 720P looks pretty great.

Alrighty. The great service of the guys at Oppo win out again. They sent me the newest firmware, 0126, and told me to install it...and Voila! It now switches and works. Now for the sweet pictures!!!

THanks everyone for the help in an attempt to isolate the problem.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :cool:

Hi, everyone. Newbie needs help. :(
I just got the Oppo and the DVI connection does not work for me so far. I have a Panny TH-42PX500U, which has one HDMI input. When I hook up the supplied DVI-HDMI cable, HDMI is still grayed out in the TV/Video menu on the TV. Is it supposed to automatically work when it does? The DVD player works through S-Video, but I bought it for DVI like everyone else. Any tips appeciated. Thanks!

Hi, everyone. Newbie needs help. :(
I just got the Oppo and the DVI connection does not work for me so far. I have a Panny TH-42PX500U, which has one HDMI input. When I hook up the supplied DVI-HDMI cable, HDMI is still grayed out in the TV/Video menu on the TV. Is it supposed to automatically work when it does? The DVD player works through S-Video, but I bought it for DVI like everyone else. Any tips appeciated. Thanks!

Did you go to the "input labels" screen on the display and select DVD for the HDMI input?
You can also check to make sure that the DVD player is set to Video 2; the only option that will allow the DVI connection to work optimally.

What is the difference between Video 1 and Video 2?

Thanks, trickdaddy! It was the input label. I didn't have to change to Video2, though. So simple, I'm an idiot!

Thanks, trickdaddy! It was the input label. I didn't have to change to Video2, though. So simple, I'm an idiot!

Don't be so hard on yourself. The manual is somewhat confusing (although not nearly as confusing as the JVC RX-D702B AVR) and this forum has been immensely useful to a lot of us.
dean

What is the difference between Video 1 and Video 2?

Check out the oppo site here:

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_1022_release_note.html

Dave

I have to say after 2 months I'm disappointed in the Oppo. I have a Westy 37" LCD TV, Yamaha HTR-5990 receiver and the Oppo set to upconvert to 720p.
The biggest issue is the audio lag. Worst example of it so far for me was "The Aristocrats". I had friends over to watch it and it was way out of synch. Then trying to adjust the delay to get it to synch up was irritating my friends who just wanted to watch the movie. But the audio was so out of synch it was horrible.
Then this week I had friends over to watch DOOM, and that really showcased the problem others have mentioned where in dark scenes if there's a lot of flipping back and forth between something bright and then dark there's an "after-image" of the bright part left behind. This was particularly evident in the scene when they're down in teh tunnels, and the camera would keep switching between the dark tunnel and someones face lit up. I finally gave up and started using the Xbox 360 to watch DVDs and it's a lot less stressful. No audio synch problems and no after-image problems so far!
I'm two months out so I know I can't return it, but I do feel a little burnt after reading so many glowing reviews for it. Admittedly on something bright like the Arrested Development DVDs the picture is beautiful, and luckily I never had audio synch problems with them, but I don't want to have to pre-screen every DVD I'm going to watch with other people to see if the Oppo is capable of displaying it.
I'm debating even selling it on eBay because I'd feel a little guilty selling it to someone knowing the problems it has. Instead it'll probably end up sitting in a box in the basement for a few years until I finally throw it away.
I was really impressed with it at first, based on some good DVDs it played (Arrested Development, Madagascar, etc) but now I'm just sad.
It would be nice if reviews started including the propensity for audio synch issues, and the propensity for the after-image problem in dark scenes so that we get a better overall idea of how well the player will function in daily use.

I have to say after 2 months I'm disappointed in the Oppo. I have a Westy 37" LCD TV, Yamaha HTR-5990 receiver and the Oppo set to upconvert to 720p.
The biggest issue is the audio lag. Worst example of it so far for me was "The Aristocrats". I had friends over to watch it and it was way out of synch. Then trying to adjust the delay to get it to synch up was irritating my friends who just wanted to watch the movie. But the audio was so out of synch it was horrible.
Then this week I had friends over to watch DOOM, and that really showcased the problem others have mentioned where in dark scenes if there's a lot of flipping back and forth between something bright and then dark there's an "after-image" of the bright part left behind. This was particularly evident in the scene when they're down in teh tunnels, and the camera would keep switching between the dark tunnel and someones face lit up. I finally gave up and started using the Xbox 360 to watch DVDs and it's a lot less stressful. No audio synch problems and no after-image problems so far!
I'm two months out so I know I can't return it, but I do feel a little burnt after reading so many glowing reviews for it. Admittedly on something bright like the Arrested Development DVDs the picture is beautiful, and luckily I never had audio synch problems with them, but I don't want to have to pre-screen every DVD I'm going to watch with other people to see if the Oppo is capable of displaying it.
I'm debating even selling it on eBay because I'd feel a little guilty selling it to someone knowing the problems it has. Instead it'll probably end up sitting in a box in the basement for a few years until I finally throw it away.
I was really impressed with it at first, based on some good DVDs it played (Arrested Development, Madagascar, etc) but now I'm just sad.
It would be nice if reviews started including the propensity for audio synch issues, and the propensity for the after-image problem in dark scenes so that we get a better overall idea of how well the player will function in daily use.

Did you read this thread before you tweaked, these are all well reported problems? Firstly, adjusting the audio delay when the oppo is playing will make things worse. Always stop it first (mine's left at maximum). Secondly the the high contrast after-image problem is sloved by turning NR off and truelife on. Also, newer firmwares are coming out which increase the audio delay to 100ms. You can get a beta by emailing oppo and letting them know the problem.

So, keep your eyes on this thread and when a new firmware comes out dig the oppo out of the cellar and give it test drive.

Dave

You can also check to make sure that the DVD player is set to Video 2; the only option that will allow the DVI connection to work properly.

Both Video 1 and Video 2 will work with DVI. Video 2 will not work with component.

What are the pros and cons of having Truelife on?

where is a good place to buy this DVD player from? Thx.

where is a good place to buy this DVD player from? Thx.


Straight from Oppo's website.

http://www.oppodigital.com/products.asp

What are the pros and cons of having Truelife on?

It's a tough call. Truelife can improve contrast, depth of field, etc. But it can also introduce some macroblocking and a bit of sharpening that annoys some. A recent case for truelife on has been made by those who experience an after image effect when going from dark to bright scenes and by a certain amout of NR related ghosting.

For months I had truelife off, but recently I've had it on and I'm enjoying the results without any noticable increase in MB enhance. But I can see why those who want to keep image manipulation to a minimum would keep it off.

The best way to test it is with your eyes, though: it's what works for you.

Dave

HI. My problem is that whenver I watch something that is supposed to be full-frame it becomes streched out over the whole screen. I have a 61 JVC D-ILA. I have tried every ratio on the Oppo and it always just stays the same. I've tried different ratios on the tv and it stays the same there as well. Thanks.

Just ordered my OPPO. Can`t wait. It will have the latest firmware, and the new remote as well. Awesome.

HI. My problem is that whenver I watch something that is supposed to be full-frame it becomes streched out over the whole screen. I have a 61 JVC D-ILA. I have tried every ratio on the Oppo and it always just stays the same. I've tried different ratios on the tv and it stays the same there as well. Thanks.

4:3 material should display correctly if you set the Oppo to Wide/Sqz. Set the Oppo to Wide/Sqz, and set the output to 480p and see what you get. It should display 4:3 material properly. If it does, try switching the output to 720p and see how the JVC handles that signal (does it stretch it back out or display it 4:3). Experiment with the 1080i signal as well to see if there is any difference.

Good luck.

HI. My problem is that whenver I watch something that is supposed to be full-frame it becomes streched out over the whole screen. I have a 61 JVC D-ILA. I have tried every ratio on the Oppo and it always just stays the same. I've tried different ratios on the tv and it stays the same there as well. Thanks.

In the Oppo's menus, change it to "Wide/SQZ" mode. Set your projector for 16:9. That should do it.

What are the pros and cons of having Truelife on?


From Oppo Customer Service, If you experience Macroblocking, they recommend turning TrueLife Off. So I have no idea what it does when it's on...

Then this week I had friends over to watch DOOM, and that really showcased the problem others have mentioned where in dark scenes if there's a lot of flipping back and forth between something bright and then dark there's an "after-image" of the bright part left behind.
IIRC, LCD screens are prone to afterimages, as are crts and even your eyes. Thats how tv works, in fact.

IIRC, LCD screens are prone to afterimages, as are crts and even your eyes. Thats how tv works, in fact.
But the same scene played on another player did not have the same problem. :(

One reason I chose a Plasma over an LCD. Black levels as well, which definitely helps "hide" macrovision problems.

But the same scene played on another player did not have the same problem. :(The "image retention" problem has been addressed many times. It is a known issue when Truelife is OFF. Turn ON Truelife to fix it.

Gary

It's a tough call. Truelife can improve contrast, depth of field, etc. But it can also introduce some macroblocking and a bit of sharpening that annoys some. A recent case for truelife on has been made by those who experience an after image effect when going from dark to bright scenes and by a certain amout of NR related ghosting.

For months I had truelife off, but recently I've had it on and I'm enjoying the results without any noticable increase in MB enhance. But I can see why those who want to keep image manipulation to a minimum would keep it off.

The best way to test it is with your eyes, though: it's what works for you.

DaveGood answer.

Gary

I know that the upconverting is only digital (will not work with VGA.

Here is my dilema:
My PJ will accept DVI BUT I already have a VGA cable in the ceilign and really cannot put a DVI cable in based on the fact that my joists go the opposite way.

Can I use two adapters on the ends of the VGA cable and use the VGA cable?

All help is appreciated

I know that the upconverting is only digital (will not work with VGA.

Here is my dilema:
My PJ will accept DVI BUT I already have a VGA cable in the ceilign and really cannot put a DVI cable in based on the fact that my joists go the opposite way.

Can I use two adapters on the ends of the VGA cable and use the VGA cable? DVI signals are high-speed differential, therefore the cable must be especially designed for high-speed differential pairs. Even if the adapters at both ends connected all the necessary DVI pins correctly, the VGA cable may kill the signal.

Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by bitemymac
It seems that 1080i on 1226 firmware seems to have improved PQ over 720p. Maybe some of the settings have changed, but I'll report back after I play with this firmware some more.


I agree. Though the 1226 firmware did not resolve the downward vertical shift I'd been experiencing on my Panny 50U-series plasma, it does appear to have a significantly improved 1080i PQ(with PAL discs, at least).
(please bear in mind that these are (late night)"naked eye" evaluations, only)
hmmm.... kind of whets one appetite for an official, de-bugged US firmware release...

Peter

According to an E-mail I'd recieved, these are some of the fixes that we can expect:

"1080i has been enhanced.
The major adjustments in the new firmware will be proper PAL output and
settings, longer filename structure support, basic MP3 ID3 Tag support,
support for the first generation remote, and some basic playback changes
for CDs".

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D
Mountain View, CA 94043


Aha! I(we) thought it might have been!
I remain very anxious for the new official FW... next week, perhaps?

Pete

The "image retention" problem has been addressed many times. It is a known issue when Truelife is OFF. Turn ON Truelife to fix it.

Gary

What I'm also experiencing is that the image retention is DVD dependent. Just like the MB issues, some shows more but others show none. Usually, lowering brightness on the display decreases the effect as well. Also, the firmeware 1224 has less/none of this compare to 0126, so it can definately be addressed via firmware tweaks. We'll have to see whether the newest firmware can fix this or lessen the effect.

DVI signals are high-speed differential, therefore the cable must be especially designed for high-speed differential pairs. Even if the adapters at both ends connected all the necessary DVI pins correctly, the VGA cable may kill the signal.

Gary
Not to mention that the adapters are quite unlikely to connect the necessary pins, since DVI-VGA adapters would only translate the (here, nonexistent) analog portion of a DVI-I connection, not the DVI-D that the Oppo uses.

I have the same problem. The dvd i watched last nignt is jammed inside the player. Pressing eject would not open the tray. The player displays "open" on the lcd screen, I waited for over 5 mins but it just stays closed. :mad:

I tried to unplug the power all night long (to force a reboot), but this morning still no success.

slocko, how did you solve your problem?


Just whack the top of the case. This should "free" up the DVD. I had a thing happen where the Tray would come out, WITHOUT the DVD. Turned out to be adhesive residue on the top of the disc, after I removed the rental store overlay. (I buy a lot of used DVD's) A tap to the top of the case caused the DVD to drop back into the tray and come out.

Does anyone else own the Usual Suspects Special Edition DVD that came out a little while ago? I typically get about 80-100ms of lip sync troubles, but with the delay set to zero, this one DVD was perfect. Just wondering if someone else could "test" this out, kinda surprised me. I put on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade the other day, and found that it was 120ms at least. And the Star Wars discs are usually around 100ms on my setup.

Is there a reason that different discs are more or less prone to sync troubles? Does it have to do with the bitrate of the video?

SV

Does the Oppo have a Bit Rate counter. If not is there any word of the adding this feature to the player?

Hi,

I just got my 971 from Amazon and I plan to go to B&H in a few hours to get a Panny AE900 and probably a Pioneer 815 (or maybe an Onkyo503 or PanXR55.)

Anyway, it looks to me like I got the "old" remote with the 971. The remote looks more rectangular than the other one on the Oppo site. Also the more oddly shaped one seems to have the glow-in-dark buttons. I do not know what firmware is on my yet.

Is this worth returning it for? Has anyone upgraded to the newer remote and found it much better?

Also, here's a rookie setup question. The Oppo manual is not so helpful. If I'm setting up to a 5.1 system. (I'm getting Athena Micra6 speakers.) Can I just get and use an optical digital coax cable for sound out of the Oppo into the Pioneer815, or do I have to use six plain old red/white RCA type cables to go from the Oppo speaker out channels to receiver speaker in channels? The manual shows a DTS out setup using just an optical cable into a system with surround sound speakers.

Many, many thanks.

Hi,

I just got my 971 from Amazon and I plan to go to B&H in a few hours to get a Panny AE900 and probably a Pioneer 815 (or maybe an Onkyo503 or PanXR55.)

Anyway, it looks to me like I got the "old" remote with the 971. The remote looks more rectangular than the other one on the Oppo site. Also the more oddly shaped one seems to have the glow-in-dark buttons. I do not know what firmware is on my yet.

Is this worth returning it for? Has anyone upgraded to the newer remote and found it much better?

Also, here's a rookie setup question. The Oppo manual is not so helpful. If I'm setting up to a 5.1 system. (I'm getting Athena Micra6 speakers.) Can I just get and use an optical digital coax cable for sound out of the Oppo into the Pioneer815, or do I have to use six plain old red/white RCA type cables to go from the Oppo speaker out channels to receiver speaker in channels? The manual shows a DTS out setup using just an optical cable into a system with surround sound speakers.

Many, many thanks.
For the remote: email Oppo support first. As I recall, when they brought out the new remote, they were providing it free to people who bought the player within the last 30 days, and charging $5 for shipping to those who were outside the 30-day window. Since you just bought the player, it's quite possible they'd send you the new remote for free. The new remote is a definite improvement, although I've now retired both of my Oppo remotes in favor of a Harmony 659 universal.

For the system setup: I don't have a great deal of experience with surround systems, but you should only need to run separate RCA cables from the player to the receiver if you're planning to listen to DVD-Audio discs. For various silly copy-protection reasons, the audio on many DVD-As cannot be sent over the S/PDIF optical interface, but only output as multichannel analog from the RCA outputs. If you're not using DVD-A, there's no need for the analog connections, and in any case you should run the optical cable to carry all other forms of digital audio to your receiver.

Does the Oppo have a Bit Rate counter. If not is there any word of the adding this feature to the player?

No to your first question.

I've seen no one mentioning that Oppo had plans to add the bit rate meter. You might want to just e-mail Oppo on this. They will likely get back to you very quickly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bitemymac
It seems that 1080i on 1226 firmware seems to have improved PQ over 720p. Maybe some of the settings have changed, but I'll report back after I play with this firmware some more.




According to an E-mail I'd recieved, these are some of the fixes that we can expect:

"1080i has been enhanced.
The major adjustments in the new firmware will be proper PAL output and
settings, longer filename structure support, basic MP3 ID3 Tag support,
support for the first generation remote, and some basic playback changes
for CDs".

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D
Mountain View, CA 94043


Aha! I(we) thought it might have been!
I remain very anxious for the new official FW... next week, perhaps?

Pete


What does "1080i has been enhanced mean?"

This isnt 1080p support is it?

1080i is definitely not 1080p

What does "1080i has been enhanced mean?"

This isnt 1080p support is it?

DEEZ,
I'm not sure what tweaks Oppo have performed to "enhance" the 1080i mode.
However, ever since the 1224/1226 FW revisions, my own display, (Panny 50U plama) appears to do a much better job handling 1080i input. (I'd previously limited my viewing to 720p, as it's the closest to the native res of the Panny).

Now, at 1080i, the image appears to be much more stable and film-like.
Colors really "pop", and the detail really is remarkable. No jaggies, few artifacts, etc... (Perhaps this is display-dependant, as there are people over on the Panny plasma threads who maintain that the Pannys are optimized for 1080i display)

Perhaps Oppo has tweaked some synch issues with these (and the forthcoming) FW release, as there appears to be marked difference in how my own, as well as others (Bytemymac) displays are now handling the 1080i input.

It is not, however, 1080p support.

Peter

DEEZ,
I'm not sure what tweaks Oppo have performed to "enhance" the 1080i mode.
However, ever since the 1224/1226 FW revisions, my own display, (Panny 50U plama) appears to do a much better job handling 1080i input. (I'd previously limited my viewing to 720p, as it's the closest to the native res of the Panny).

Now, at 1080i, the image appears to be much more stable and film-like.
Colors really "pop", and the detail really is remarkable. No jaggies, few artifacts, etc... (Perhaps this is display-dependant, as there are people over on the Panny plasma threads who maintain that the Pannys are optimized for 1080i display)

Perhaps Oppo has tweaked some synch issues with these (and the forthcoming) FW release, as there appears to be marked difference in how my own, as well as others (Bytemymac) displays are now handling the 1080i input.

It is not, however, 1080p support.

Peter


Yes....I was just wondering if the guy i posted to was maybe meaning that as i know that the chip inside the oppo has 1080p in it.......or am i mistaken??

Anyway, i have a Hitachi 57s500 crt so i hope my display will benefit from the new firmware......and the release is supposed to happen this week?or is it released as a beta if so i want it!!!

Yes....I was just wondering if the guy i posted to was maybe meaning that as i know that the chip inside the oppo has 1080p in it.......or am i mistaken??

I think you are right. Seems to me I've read some stuff on this thread about 1080p capability being resident in the Oppo, with potential for development in the future.
Guys like Gary, Neuromancer and Paul would surely know much more about it.
They're great resources.

Pete

Just whack the top of the case. This should "free" up the DVD. I had a thing happen where the Tray would come out, WITHOUT the DVD. Turned out to be adhesive residue on the top of the disc, after I removed the rental store overlay. (I buy a lot of used DVD's) A tap to the top of the case caused the DVD to drop back into the tray and come out.

Had to ship the player back. It turned out to be defective. Impatiently waiting for a replacement unit.

It's also my CD player so it's gonna be a looong week...

What does "1080i has been enhanced mean?"

This isnt 1080p support is it?

Well, it's not 1080p for sure but now more close to 1080p on the 1080p LCD panel. The amount of details and vividness of 1080i from oppo is very close to 1080p signal of same DVD from a PC. Before, I was able to tell the difference right away, but now the 1080i looks very close to 1080p. In some ways, it is better since all around PQ from oppo is better than what PC is doing. I haven't spent much time calibration the PC, and that might be the reason.

... If I'm setting up to a 5.1 system. ... Can I just ...use an optical digital coax cable for sound out of the Oppo into the Pioneer815, or do I have to use six plain old red/white RCA type cables to go from the Oppo speaker out channels to receiver speaker in channels? ...

I was trying to find some info on this topic and a search on this thread indicates you can use RCA cables, coax or optical coax. However, there seems to be a difference of opinion as to which connection yields the best audio quality. Post number 2696 may be key to the difference of opinions.

Which raises a further question - if you connect both the RCA and one of the digital coax methods, is there a simple way the Oppo can switch back and forth between the two connections to see if there is a discernable difference while listening to the same source?
dean

Which raises a further question - if you connect both the RCA and one of the digital coax methods, is there a simple way the Oppo can switch back and forth between the two connections to see if there is a discernable difference while listening to the same source?

Yes, you can listen to both analog and digital and compare.

Good luck

I was trying to find some info on this topic and a search on this thread indicates you can use RCA cables, coax or optical coax. However, there seems to be a difference of opinion as to which connection yields the best audio quality. Post number 2696 may be key to the difference of opinions.



That's for the various ideas. Post number 2696 in this huge thread does not seem to have stuff realted to audio/digital sound. Maybe another number?

As far as simplicty it certainly is nice if the digital audio coax provided the best sound as it certainly made for an easy connection.

I got the Oppo971/Pan900 running in minutes. Picture looks great, but I think it's giving me a headache. (I'm just projecting it on a white sheet at 19' and sitting at 16 feet. I'll look for comments on this the Panasonic area.)

I dont' understand this discussion. If you're running into a surround system, of course you use the digital coax or spdif. Forget about the VGA's.

I dont' understand this discussion. If you're running into a surround system, of course you use the digital coax or spdif. Forget about the VGA's.

Quite so. It's just that the Oppo 971 manual has a diagram that was confusing to me. After a visit to B&H and some more reading, what you say became more apparent to me.

thanks.

... Post number 2696 in this huge thread does not seem to have stuff realted to audio/digital sound. Maybe another number?

The following part of 2696 seems related to an opinion on the quality of audio/digital surround sound to me. dean

"You have two ways to get 5.1 sound output:

1- You connect the digital out (coax or optical) to a surround processor/receiver and let it decode and amplify the 5.1 channels.

2- You connect the 5.1 analogue outputs to a Processor/receiver with 5.1 analogue input capability and let it just amplify the signals.

Which way will yield better results depends on which will be better at decoding the digital signal coming from the DVD. "

Yes, you can listen to both analog and digital and compare.

Good luck
Jungholtz,
Could you please clarify - Is there a simple switching procedure that provides the ability to rapidly switch back and forth between the analog and digital inputs?
Thanks, dean

The 5.1 outputs are still useful if you want to listen to DVD-Audio. But for DVDs, it's best to use spdif (dts-es discrete, better bass management, delays, other digital filters). I have both connected, and switch the inputs accordingly.

Jungholtz,
Could you please clarify - Is there a simple switching procedure that provides the ability to rapidly switch back and forth between the analog and digital inputs?
Thanks, dean

doesn't this depend on your receiver? On mine (Onkyo TX-SR502), I just press "DVD" if I want digital, and "Multichannel' if I want analog. And if I want analog stereo, (useful for headphones), I hit "CD".

doesn't this depend on your receiver? On mine (Onkyo TX-SR502), I just press "DVD" if I want digital, and "Multichannel' if I want analog. And if I want analog stereo, (useful for headphones), I hit "CD".

thanks for the input. I will give it a try (on my JVC RX-D702B) - still waiting for delivery of an optical coax. dean

Hi,

I just got my 971 from Amazon and I plan to go to B&H in a few hours to get a Panny AE900 and probably a Pioneer 815 (or maybe an Onkyo503 or PanXR55.)

Anyway, it looks to me like I got the "old" remote with the 971. The remote looks more rectangular than the other one on the Oppo site. Also the more oddly shaped one seems to have the glow-in-dark buttons. I do not know what firmware is on my yet.

Is this worth returning it for? Has anyone upgraded to the newer remote and found it much better?

I got mine from Amazon a couple weeks ago, and it shipped with the old remote and without the HDMI-DVI cable. Sent an email to Oppo asking how to get the cable and mentioned the old remote (wasn't so concerned about the remote, but thought they should know Amazon is still selling old stock). The responded within the hour, asked me to send them a copy of the receipt. Emailed a copy, and within the next 20 minutes they responded saying the cable and new remote were being shipped the next morning. Fantastic service.

The remote is built better and the buttons are glow-in-the-dark (doesn't help when it lives in a drawer when not in use). It's an improvement, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it. It's nice to have a backup to my Harmony...

thanks for the input. I will give it a try (on my JVC RX-D702B) - still waiting for delivery of an optical coax. dean
reading the JVC manual indicates that if you press audio input on your remote, the dvd input toggles between hdmi, digital (spdif) analog, and multichannel.

I think you are right. Seems to me I've read some stuff on this thread about 1080p capability being resident in the Oppo, with potential for development in the future.
Guys like Gary, Neuromancer and Paul would surely know much more about it.
They're great resources.

PeteThanks Pete. 1080p capability is an advertised feature of the Faroudja chipset, but we don't know whether it will be possible to implement in the player. OPPO is looking into it, and we hope to hear good news!

Gary

Ok watched some other DVDs earlier. It was fine until somewhere in the middle that it started acting up again. Flicker here and there until it got to a point that it started rolling again. Would stop for a while and then flicker again. I tried 1080i and never seemed to notice the issue as well as on the 480p (I also never liked the rendition via these modes). I am bothered coz I never get this much disturbance from my previous players. My last player was an LG LST-3510 with the same DVI to HDMI hookup. Never had any issues with the video playback.

My feeling is the issue is heat related. The player probably gets too hot which leads it to become unstable. I also had to reset the machine earlier when after 3 mins the DVD I popped in was still "Loading". It was the "Eagles Farewell I" DVD.

Another question I have is how many modes that this player actually have? When I press DVI, first one is 480p, then I get a black screen with nothing in it, then 720p and then 1080i. Also what is that 5th menu item on the far right that I can't select? Thanks!

Should I return this unit? Could I have gotten a defective unit even with the firmware patch?

Display: 42WE655
Player: OPPO
Connection: DVI to HDMI
Amp: Panny XR50 via optical

I have had my oppo only two weeks now, but because of the Olympics I have not watched many dvds with it yet. I had noticed, however, very soon after getting it that it does seem to become hot to the touch more than I think is normal. And tonight, for the first time while watching just one dvd I saw a very brief flash of white just like a zig-zagging lightning bolt go horizontally across the screen three different times. The first two times were about 1 minute apart and the third time was about 20 minutes later. Replaying those scenes over again the flashes did not reoccur, so I do not believe they were from the dvd. I use a good ups power conditioner and surge protector, so I doubt it had anything to do with the electrical power. This does strike me as being something to do with the oppo and not a good thing. Anyone else have this experience?

I have to say after 2 months I'm disappointed in the Oppo. I have a Westy 37" LCD TV, Yamaha HTR-5990 receiver and the Oppo set to upconvert to 720p.
The biggest issue is the audio lag. Worst example of it so far for me was "The Aristocrats". I had friends over to watch it and it was way out of synch. Then trying to adjust the delay to get it to synch up was irritating my friends who just wanted to watch the movie. But the audio was so out of synch it was horrible.
Then this week I had friends over to watch DOOM, and that really showcased the problem others have mentioned where in dark scenes if there's a lot of flipping back and forth between something bright and then dark there's an "after-image" of the bright part left behind. This was particularly evident in the scene when they're down in teh tunnels, and the camera would keep switching between the dark tunnel and someones face lit up. I finally gave up and started using the Xbox 360 to watch DVDs and it's a lot less stressful. No audio synch problems and no after-image problems so far!
I'm two months out so I know I can't return it, but I do feel a little burnt after reading so many glowing reviews for it. Admittedly on something bright like the Arrested Development DVDs the picture is beautiful, and luckily I never had audio synch problems with them, but I don't want to have to pre-screen every DVD I'm going to watch with other people to see if the Oppo is capable of displaying it.
I'm debating even selling it on eBay because I'd feel a little guilty selling it to someone knowing the problems it has. Instead it'll probably end up sitting in a box in the basement for a few years until I finally throw it away.
I was really impressed with it at first, based on some good DVDs it played (Arrested Development, Madagascar, etc) but now I'm just sad.
It would be nice if reviews started including the propensity for audio synch issues, and the propensity for the after-image problem in dark scenes so that we get a better overall idea of how well the player will function in daily use.


Bought a Sylvania dvl 1000f for 69 dollars on Amazon.com after a promotional offer and I will tell you this unti rocks. Hdmi is awesome with great colors and a very sharp PQ. The unit doesn't pass DTS but other then that its great. No lipsync issue. That is the main reason I never pulled the trigger on the Oppo. That issue is totally unacceptable for a 200 dollar unit.

Oppo settings.

What settings yield the best PQ on the OPPO?

1. CSS on/off?
2. Trulife on/off?
3. Noise on/off?
4. Sharpening on/off?

I have had my oppo only two weeks now, but because of the Olympics I have not watched many dvds with it yet. I had noticed, however, very soon after getting it that it does seem to become hot to the touch more than I think is normal. And tonight, for the first time while watching just one dvd I saw a very brief flash of white just like a zig-zagging lightning bolt go horizontally across the screen three different times. The first two times were about 1 minute apart and the third time was about 20 minutes later. Replaying those scenes over again the flashes did not reoccur, so I do not believe they were from the dvd. I use a good ups power conditioner and surge protector, so I doubt it had anything to do with the electrical power. This does strike me as being something to do with the oppo and not a good thing. Anyone else have this experience?

No, with many hundred of hours on the oppo that's one thing I haven't seen. As to the heat, though I agree it does seem excessive, I don't think it's a problem. The oppo's just using the case as a heat sink. As long as you don't have anything insualting on top of it should be fine. If it was a problem we'd all be seing white flashes. That might, possibly, be a lead/connection problem.

Dave

Oppo settings.

What settings yield the best PQ on the OPPO?

1. CSS on/off?
2. Trulife on/off?
3. Noise on/off?
4. Sharpening on/off?

Look at the FAQs, first post on this site. Normal advice is everything off or at lowest setting. You should, however, play with truelife, it can be quite effective in increasing contrast and depth of field. But it can also add sharpening artifacts and increase macroblock enhance on certain DVDs (and decrease it on others!).

Play around and see what fits best.

Dave

I watch dvd movies and connect the oppo to a 5.1 dolby/dts receiver with a coaxial cable.
Do I have to turn pro logic II on and which settings?
I have it set on RAW and 192k.
Any input on more adio setting in order to improve performance?
Thanks

I watch dvd movies and connect the oppo to a 5.1 dolby/dts receiver with a coaxial cable.
Do I have to turn pro logic II on and which settings?
I have it set on RAW and 192k.
Any input on more adio setting in order to improve performance?
Thanks

Leave it on RAW. That's all you need to do.

Dave

I noticed there's a new firmware coming? I'm so excited but when is it coming out?

Sorry if this has been asked but I could not find the answer with a simple search:

Is the Oppo one of the devices listed in the Harmony Remote database?

yes, the Oppo is in the database, though I found myself rearranging the layout.

I watch dvd movies and connect the oppo to a 5.1 dolby/dts receiver with a coaxial cable.
Do I have to turn pro logic II on and which settings?
I have it set on RAW and 192k.
Any input on more adio setting in order to improve performance?
Thanks

What k should it be at? My default was 46k. Is this good? I'm using a digital optical cord to my receiver.

And tonight, for the first time while watching just one dvd I saw a very brief flash of white just like a zig-zagging lightning bolt go horizontally across the screen three different times.

Hmm, last night I was watching Babylon 5 on my Oppo projected with my SP4805 and I saw several white flashes. I was concerned that it might be something wrong with my projector. They happened so fast that I didn't notice them going horizontally across the screen, it just seemed more like a quick flash and then it was gone. Since I had never seen this before in about a month of using the Oppo/4805 combo I chalked it up to the disc and was just going to wait and see if there were any further problems, but now I'm concerned.

Sorry if this has been asked but I could not find the answer with a simple search:

Is the Oppo one of the devices listed in the Harmony Remote database?

Yes, I am using the Harman Kardon TC-30 (the 880 in the 520 case) and the Oppo was listed as a device. No problems with it so far, but the codes do seem to be for the newer remotes. I had the old silver remote and had to switch the dvd player over to work with the new remotes. (I think I had to hold the power button in for 5 seconds with the drawer ejected or some such nonsense).

Hmm, last night I was watching Babylon 5 on my Oppo projected with my SP4805 and I saw several white flashes. I was concerned that it might be something wrong with my projector. They happened so fast that I didn't notice them going horizontally across the screen, it just seemed more like a quick flash and then it was gone. Since I had never seen this before in about a month of using the Oppo/4805 combo I chalked it up to the disc and was just going to wait and see if there were any further problems, but now I'm concerned.

It's a pulsing issue with the 4805 firmware. Not an Oppo problem. Some info in the 4805 FAQ in my signature.

It's a pulsing issue with the 4805 firmware. Not an Oppo problem.

Thanks, good to know that it's not an isolated issue for me.

And tonight, for the first time while watching just one dvd I saw a very brief flash of white just like a zig-zagging lightning bolt go horizontally across the screen three different times. The first two times were about 1 minute apart and the third time was about 20 minutes later. Replaying those scenes over again the flashes did not reoccur, so I do not believe they were from the dvd. I use a good ups power conditioner and surge protector, so I doubt it had anything to do with the electrical power. This does strike me as being something to do with the oppo and not a good thing. Anyone else have this experience?I've had my OPPO player for over a year and never experienced anything like this. Aside from the known pulsing issues with the 4805, check your DVI/HDMI connections carefully to make sure there is no stress on the cable or connector, like a sharp bend against a wall, or other cables hanging on the cable, or overtightened connector retaining screws.

One more comment... I do not trust UPS/surge-protectors/power-conditioners to prevent visible/audible hiccups. They may be fine for protecting your equipment from damage due to temporary spikes, surges and dropouts on the power lines, but they cannot stop those power problems from having an effect on the audio and video, unless you pay a LOT more money for a truly high-end power-conditioner. I have a good surge suppressor with RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) supression for my theater system. It does nothing to stop the audible effects of the power spikes when our washing machine is running. When the wash-cycle switches, I hear a loud "SNAP!" from the speakers. It drives me up the wall, and I've tried numerous types and brands of suppressors, all to no avail. Remember that surge suppressors clip a transient spike at 300-400v, which means that a relatively huge spike still gets through. An RFI suppressor can help filter out the higher frequency transients, but it also has only limited success. My OPPO seems very resilient to these transients, but the receiver is not. I'd imagine it would also depend on how bad the transients are.

Gary

I've read through the thread but don't have a good handle on the extent of the lip sync problem. Is it something everyone encounters or just some units? Is it something that people are just putting up with because of other good qualities?

I've read through the thread but don't have a good handle on the extent of the lip sync problem. Is it something everyone encounters or just some units? Is it something that people are just putting up with because of other good qualities?
I have not noticed any lip sync issue with my setup. I use a optical wire for audio and my delay is always set to 0ms. I have tested almost all my dvd(like 150). The only time it has happend is when I was messing with the LPCM out while a movie was playing.

I've read through the thread but don't have a good handle on the extent of the lip sync problem. Is it something everyone encounters or just some units? Is it something that people are just putting up with because of other good qualities?The lip-sync problem currently affects all units. But it is intermittent, and for most people, the error is very seldom noticeable. But that also depends on the source DVD, and the display. Some displays, like DLP's add up to 50ms of delay to the video, and such cumulative errors can make it much more noticeable.

Gary

Look at the FAQs, first post on this site. Normal advice is everything off or at lowest setting. You should, however, play with truelife, it can be quite effective in increasing contrast and depth of field. But it can also add sharpening artifacts and increase macroblock enhance on certain DVDs (and decrease it on others!).

Play around and see what fits best.

Dave

Certainly true. On Star Wars Episode II, in the beginning of the movie in the Chancellor's room, you can see the red wall in the background pixelating (this can be seen on any DVD player....it's something with the disc), but Truelife ON makes the pixelation even worse in this case.

The lip-sync problem currently affects all units. But it is intermittent, and for most people, the error is very seldom noticeable. But that also depends on the source DVD, and the display. Some displays, like DLP's add up to 50ms of delay to the video, and such cumulative errors can make it much more noticeable.

Gary
Is there any consensus on which DVDs seem to show it more?

Is the problem more or less likely to appear when a movie plays for a long time uninterrupted, as opposed to seeking a particular chapter?

Are there any long-time Oppo owners on the forum who have never noticed the issue?

Has Oppo explicitly stated that they know what is causing the problem and are able to fix it with the upcoming firmware?

Is there any consensus on which DVDs seem to show it more?

Is the problem more or less likely to appear when a movie plays for a long time uninterrupted, as opposed to seeking a particular chapter?

You can induce audio-sync errors by excessively accessing the Setup menu, fastfowarding, rewinding, pausing and so forth. However, there does not seem to be a rhyme or reason as to when audio-sync errors occur when playing a disc that is not know to be mastered incorrectly.

Are there any long-time Oppo owners on the forum who have never noticed the issue?

I have only had the occasional synch issue, and in those instances they were either known problems (Moulin Rouge, Pirates of the Caribbean) or were fixed by quickly stopping then resuming playback. I have had my unit since March of 2005.

Has Oppo explicitly stated that they know what is causing the problem and are able to fix it with the upcoming firmware?

No, there has been no explicit statement where OPPO has said they found the error. However, recent e-mails have shown that they have become aware of "new revelations" which completely change the way in which they will battle audio-sync issues. What this new revelation is, and how long it will take to be implemented, is not known.

I have only had the occasional synch issue, and in those instances they were either known problems (Moulin Rouge, Pirates of the Caribbean) or were fixed by quickly stopping then resuming playback. I have had my unit since March of 2005.
I find this to be a HUGE relief. I've had my Oppo for about a week, and have not had time to watch anything on it--just an hour or two of obsessive tweaks with the DVE disc and assorted demo DVDs. (I bet I'm not the only one here who spends more time tweaking than actually watching.)

I just ditched my LG DVB418 because of the audio sync issue it had, and that was more serious than seems to be the case with the Oppo.

Thanks!

I'm still working with the Oct FW. Untill that firmware I had set my OPPO with a brightness of 5 and contrast at 0. When I put that last FW, I went ahead and changed the Brightness to -3, which I understand is correct black level for that FW.

I just went in last nite to do a periodic check on settings, and while messing with the latest calibration DVD i noticed that at brightness set at -3, I was not passing any BTB info to the TV (Tosh 65HX93 RP-CRT).

I also saw white level problem at 0.

In any event, I ended up setting the OPPO to Brightness of -2, then adjusting to correct black level at the set.

I was just wondering if others also had this observation, and how they were handling it?

Rick

Took the plunge and hooked up my new OPPO to 4805 on Saturday. The menus aren't fancy, the remote is like something from Odd Lots but works. I had to poke around to figure out turning on large speakers and setting DVI etc -actually had to read the manual gasp:).

All in all it took me about 20 minutes to play around. set the offsets/gains in 4805 and other recommended setups...no tweaks or DVE yet.

Watched Bourne Identity then Saving Private Ryan the next day. All I can say is HDTV is still tops but this thing is a surprisingly close 2nd. Before the OPPO my DVD player (Tosh SD4700) just didn't have the clarity that digital HBO SDTV channels did...but the OPPO clearly outdoes what I am used to.

Chalk up another happy customer. Bang for your buck, great combo with 4805. DVI of course.

Are there any long-time Oppo owners on the forum who have never noticed the issue?



I have NEVER experienced lip sync issues, ghost images, image shift, or any other problems people have experienced with the Oppo in the 5 months I've owned it. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. (Knock on wood).

Audioholics has update of their review of the Oppo on Feb 19th.

"It’s rare that we run into an almost universal consensus among users with respect to the quality of a company’s customer service. Certainly there have been some companies in the past, Axiom Audio for example, that have excelled in this category; but Oppo Digital may perhaps take the cake. Since the introduction of their OPDV971H DVD player last year they have consistently provided excellent quality of service and attention to their customers."


http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/oppoDV971Hdvdplayerremote.php

Way to go Oppo customer service :)

I have had my Oppo four months now and love it :p

Hi,

Can anyone confirm problems when playing dual layer DVD-R's? The movies will start fine but always freeze after 10 chapters or so. The dvd's play fine on other players. Is this a general issue with the oppo or is it just not compatible with my VERBATIM dual layer DVD-R's ?
It seems that everything beyond the layer break of the disk is not accessable to the oppo.

naxout

Hi,

Can anyone confirm problems when playing dual layer DVD-R's? The movies will start fine but always freeze after 10 chapters or so. The dvd's play fine on other players. Is this a general issue with the oppo or is it just not compatible with my VERBATIM dual layer DVD-R's ?
It seems that everything beyond the layer break of the disk is not accessable to the oppo.

naxout


General reports are that the oppo handles dual-layer DVD+Rs very well since the october firmware update. If you have an "older" oppo this might be the reason. Also, DVDs burned on DVD recorders (not as book type?) can be a problem.

It could also be an issue with DVD-Rs. Take it up with oppo direct.

Dave

Hi,

Can anyone confirm problems when playing dual layer DVD-R's? The movies will start fine but always freeze after 10 chapters or so. The dvd's play fine on other players. Is this a general issue with the oppo or is it just not compatible with my VERBATIM dual layer DVD-R's ?
It seems that everything beyond the layer break of the disk is not accessable to the oppo.

naxout

I tried one DVD-R DL (Verbatim) and I ran into this problem, but got the disc to work in a weird way. If I kept chapter skipping to past the Layer switch it was unable to read the 2nd layer, but if I went to right before the chapter layer break and let it play through it worked. IIRC it would even fast forward over the layer break but not chapter skip. I just thought it was a weird glitch but I never tried it again.

In what way does the new beta firmware improve the Oppo image at 1080i?

I find this to be a HUGE relief. I've had my Oppo for about a week, and have not had time to watch anything on it--just an hour or two of obsessive tweaks with the DVE disc and assorted demo DVDs. (I bet I'm not the only one here who spends more time tweaking than actually watching.)

I just ditched my LG DVB418 because of the audio sync issue it had, and that was more serious than seems to be the case with the Oppo.

Thanks!

I've had the Oppo for several months now and experienced the audio sync problem about 5-6 times after watching maybe 100 movies. All its taken to fix the problem has been to turn the player off and back on and problem solved. I've also noticed several instances of the picture 'shimmering' or shaking or waving which I've found more of a problem as turning the player off and back on hasn't always fixed this- but it only happens on a very few dvd's- "The Hours" with Nicole Kidman is probably the worst. Overall though considering the kind of picture quality the player delivers for the $ I'm extremely happy with it.

Can someone please tell me how to set the audio on the Oppo? I'm using an optical cable to my receiver. Do I want to leave the setting on the Oppo to RAW and 46K?

You will want to use RAW for the S/PDIF Out and set the LPCM Out to the highest your receiver will allow. You can set it to 192KHz, and if you do not hear any audio, then drop it down until you do.

I've had the Oppo for several months now and experienced the audio sync problem about 5-6 times after watching maybe 100 movies. All its taken to fix the problem has been to turn the player off and back on and problem solved.
I don't find that to be an acceptable solution. It's absolutely embarrassing having friends over to watch a movie and then having to turn the player off and on just to get decent sound out of it. Can you imagine being in a movie theater and having the projectionist restart the projector halfway through the movie? You'd be pissed and want your money back right on the spot.

I spoke to Oppo today and the audio sync issue is a high priorty for them. I was also told the new firmware is coming this week....although this particular firmware doesn't entirely fix this issue.

I've had the Oppo for several months now and experienced the audio sync problem about 5-6 times after watching maybe 100 movies. All its taken to fix the problem has been to turn the player off and back on and problem solved. You do not need to turn the player off to sync. Just hit STOP and PLAY.

Gary

Oppo sent me the beta firmware a couple weeks ago. I've had no audio issues since.

Notice any picture quality improvements? They told me they didn't test for that, but some people who received the beta firmware saw improvements.

Question for all you Oppo owners - I am getting a new TV very soon - the Sony KDS R60XBR1 - and was wondering whether I should get the Oppo as opposed to the Panny or Denon? I have heard and read good things about the Oppo - but a few things worry me:

1) that there might be some slippage in picture quality going from DVI (from the OPPO) to the HDMI on the Sony (by using a HDMI converter) or vice versa - using a HDMI-HDMI with a DVI converter

2) macroblocking - but apparently most of the budget DVDs that get good reviews seem to have the same issues b/c most of them use the Faroudja chip?

3) Now this audio sync problem seems a bit worrisome?

I will be making my purchases in the next week - max - and I seem to be getting more questions than answers....

Thanks everyone!

Scott

Notice any picture quality improvements? They told me they didn't test for that, but some people who received the beta firmware saw improvements.


Picture looked great out of the box, so I can't really answer that. It still looks great. :)

I don't find that to be an acceptable solution. It's absolutely embarrassing having friends over to watch a movie and then having to turn the player off and on just to get decent sound out of it. Can you imagine being in a movie theater and having the projectionist restart the projector halfway through the movie? You'd be pissed and want your money back right on the spot.


FYI as GSB said earlier, you don't have to turn the player off. Just press STOP and PLAY.

Question for all you Oppo owners - I am getting a new TV very soon - the Sony KDS R60XBR1 - and was wondering whether I should get the Oppo as opposed to the Panny or Denon? I have heard and read good things about the Oppo - but a few things worry me:

1) that there might be some slippage in picture quality going from DVI (from the OPPO) to the HDMI on the Sony (by using a HDMI converter) or vice versa - using a HDMI-HDMI with a DVI converter

2) macroblocking - but apparently most of the budget DVDs that get good reviews seem to have the same issues b/c most of them use the Faroudja chip?

3) Now this audio sync problem seems a bit worrisome?

I will be making my purchases in the next week - max - and I seem to be getting more questions than answers....

Thanks everyone!

Scott

Hey Scott, welcome!

1) The Oppo ships with a DVI=>HDMI cable of reasonable quality. There is no loss, though you'll have to provide audio out of the Oppo thru optical or RCA. (HDMI carries audio, DVI does not. The only significant difference)
2) MB enhancement is unavoidable with the Faroudja chipset. Manifestation is largely display dependent. I've had no noticeable MB issues with my Panny plasma, using the "out of box" cinema viewing mode. You can adjust many MB issues out of your picture with careful settings manipulations.
3) Again, the audio synch problem is associated(I believe) with the Faroudja chip.
Oppo continues to address the issue(they DO listen to user feedback), and with the current firmware allowing for user adjusted audio delay, it is within the "tolerable" realm. Future firmwares will attempt to correct the issue, for once and for all, by modifying the means by which the player buffers data.

I think you'd be very pleased with the image quality, features and versatility of the player. Oppo customer support is without peer in the home electronics market, and as such, will work with you to your satifaction. They are very reputable and honor a quite reasonable 30 day return policy. Despite the issues we've discussed, the Oppo remains an unparalleled bargain.

The Panny and the Denons are fine players as well, though you'll lose the ability to modify the player to function as "region free". You may also want to keep in mind that the Oppo does a great job converting PAL=>NTSC if you view any foreign cinema. I'm not sure the others have that capability.

Perhaps this will help in your decision...

Peter

Agreed. Good answer Peter.

Wow - thanks Peter - region free DVD is a very good factor to have - I do watch foreign cinema!

My mind is set - finally - jeez - I felt like my wife for a moment - :-) Looking forward to having everything up and running in just a few short weeks!

You do not need to turn the player off to sync. Just hit STOP and PLAY.

Gary
I had lip-sync issues while watching LORD of WAR with Nicholas Cage. I turned the player off/on and I stopped and started 4 times, still had lip-sync issues. Some scenes seemed to be more noticable than others.Watching on a Sony sxrd.

I watched Lord of War - no problems at all.

I watched Lord of War - no problems at all.
Do you have the 1111b firmware? I purchased mine in December.

0126 beta

I was noticing some lip-sync problems with the oppo (1111b firmware) but switched my player from 1080i to 720p. Now I don't seem to have them. I will have to watch a few more shows to make sure but after I switched to 720p mode I don't seem to have any. BTW I could get 1080p to resync but it I had to either stop then start again or go back/forward a chapter.

Can someone tell me how do I set the channel delay? I heard it is different than just setting the distance between each speaker and the listener. Also do you think it would be better to just leave them at 0 and just use my receiver to set the speakers distances or should I set them both.


Nevermind I wrote Oppo and this is what they said

" The speaker distances is based off of the distance between the front
speakers and the listener and the other speakers. For instances, if the
front speaker is 5 feet away from the listener, but the front channel is
6 feet away, you will want to use a 1 foot (12') speaker delay.

However, we would recommend leaving the default settings and doing all
speaker distance settings through your receiver."

I was also experiencing some lip sync issues when watching some movies in 1080i -- especially noticed it during Wedding Crashers. I was also noticing the image flicker on 1080i, especially with the Oppo logo on the screen when the movie was in STOP mode. Since switching to 720p, those problems have dissipated. Also noticed the image retention issue, especially when the Oppo screensaver came on. That was fixed by turning Truelife on. I am using my Oppo on a 2 yr old 57" Hitachi CRT and can see a MARKED improvement in PQ over my old p/scan Panny. I ran them side by side when I first received the Oppo and it was a great improvement. For someone like me who is already very happy with the player, wondering what I will see improve with a new firmware??

I've read through the thread but don't have a good handle on the extent of the lip sync problem. Is it something everyone encounters or just some units? Is it something that people are just putting up with because of other good qualities?

I have never noticed a lip sync problem when watching DVDs on my Oppo. However, I do have lip sync problems when watching OTA HD programming on my Sony KDL-V40XBR1 LCD.

The Oppo is connected to the Sony's one HDMI input and the sound is connected to my Panasonic XR-55 with an optical cable.

Larry

You will want to use RAW for the S/PDIF Out and set the LPCM Out to the highest your receiver will allow. You can set it to 192KHz, and if you do not hear any audio, then drop it down until you do.

Thanks. Do I have to set the Dolby Digital and speaker setting as well? (I did anyway).

I don't find that to be an acceptable solution. It's absolutely embarrassing having friends over to watch a movie and then having to turn the player off and on just to get decent sound out of it. Can you imagine being in a movie theater and having the projectionist restart the projector halfway through the movie? You'd be pissed and want your money back right on the spot.

I totally understand your frustration....and I've felt that way at first too....but then I realized the incredible quality this player delivers 99% of the time for such a low cost. You just can't get this kind of performance at anywhere near this price so I'm not complaining. If it wasn't for Oppo we'd be stuck with very average peforming DVD players in the same price range. If you want the kind of performance the Oppo delivers I imagine you'll have to spend a lot more money.
I watched the first half of the remastered version of "The Matrix" last week on a friends rear proj CRT Sony 57" on a $150 Sony DVD player using component cables. The picture looked ok but I noticed a lot of noise and poor color saturation. Then I got home and watched the 2nd half of the same movie on my Oppo connected to my Samsung via DVI and the difference in picture quality just blew me away!!!
Thank u Oppo for providing such a great player at such a low cost and for having the best customer service ever (even if the player is not "perfect" !!!)
....if u want "perfect" performance be prepared to spend $500-$1000.

I was also experiencing some lip sync issues when watching some movies in 1080i -- especially noticed it during Wedding Crashers....For someone like me who is already very happy with the player, wondering what I will see improve with a new firmware??
I just watched Wedding Crashers last weekend as the second full movie on my new Oppo. I definitely had some lip sync problems. The first half of the movie was floating in and out of sync. About 30 minutes in, the picture actually froze for a moment (sound continuing), then unfroze and sped up as it tried to catch up to the audio. That was a shocker. I thought it must have been a layer change, but it happened again after another 30 minutes or so. The sync really slipped badly again and this time I did a quick stop/play combo and there wasn't any sync slippage the rest of the movie.

The first movie I watched fully was Murderball. Had absolutely no problems at all.

Blown away by the picture quality. Can't wait to see what the new firmware will bring.

I just watched Wedding Crashers last weekend as the second full movie on my new Oppo. I definitely had some lip sync problems. The first half of the movie was floating in and out of sync. About 30 minutes in, the picture actually froze for a moment (sound continuing), then unfroze and sped up as it tried to catch up to the audio. That was a shocker. I thought it must have been a layer change, but it happened again after another 30 minutes or so. The sync really slipped badly again and this time I did a quick stop/play combo and there wasn't any sync slippage the rest of the movie.

The first movie I watched fully was Murderball. Had absolutely no problems at all.

Blown away by the picture quality. Can't wait to see what the new firmware will bring.

That sounds more like a damaged/faulty/poorly mastered/poorly dubbed disc. The audio synch problem is either constant or gradually gets worse. It doesn't 'drift in and out.' A good way to check if it's the disc or the set up is to replay dodgy scenes and see if it happens again. Also, somebody else pointed to this disc as a problem above so that might be it.

Dave

I just watched Wedding Crashers last weekend as the second full movie on my new Oppo. I definitely had some lip sync problems. The first half of the movie was floating in and out of sync. About 30 minutes in, the picture actually froze for a moment (sound continuing), then unfroze and sped up as it tried to catch up to the audio. That was a shocker. I thought it must have been a layer change, but it happened again after another 30 minutes or so. The sync really slipped badly again and this time I did a quick stop/play combo and there wasn't any sync slippage the rest of the movie.

The first movie I watched fully was Murderball. Had absolutely no problems at all.

Blown away by the picture quality. Can't wait to see what the new firmware will bring.
I think this is an issue with certain movies. I had the exact same thing happen on my Wedding Crashers "uncorked" edition. It hasn't happened with a number of other movies though, so I'll just deal with it.

Are you guys using Oppo in Video 1 or Video 2? Does it matter since I have the latest official firmware (1111b)?

Ok ok...this thread is too long....can someone with a sammy DLP give me a rundown on the mb issue??

I currently have the momitsu V880DX and the pic quality is good with NO MB! Im just wondering it the mb is very bad with this player on sammy DLPs. Every player that I tried with the F chip before my mo had bad MB.

Ive heard so many good things, Im thinking about upgrading. Slight mb wouldnt be an issue, but if its as bad as the panny s97 BEFORE the fix, then im not sold.

Also, the lip synch issue kinda scares me.

Ok ok...this thread is too long....can someone with a sammy DLP give me a rundown on the mb issue??

I currently have the momitsu V880DX and the pic quality is good with NO MB! Im just wondering it the mb is very bad with this player on sammy DLPs. Every player that I tried with the F chip before my mo had bad MB.

Ive heard so many good things, Im thinking about upgrading. Slight mb wouldnt be an issue, but if its as bad as the panny s97 BEFORE the fix, then im not sold.

Also, the lip synch issue kinda scares me.

If you're happy with momitsu, then why upgrade?

My 2 cents is not real technical, nor can it be mistaken for "Ancient Chinese Wisdom," but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

I have been reading this thread for a few months (as well as others on AVS Forum). I wanted to get HDTV and if I was going to watch movies on my HDTV, I wanted to be able to see the best picture available to me. I started doing research on AVS Forum. Found out what I needed to do to get the best bang for my buck and find the proper equipment for my needs. This brought me to the Oppo.

Now my old DVD player was good, 5 years ago when it came out, but at before reading these threads, I thought I had it pretty good. I finally decided on getting the Oppo, after much reading and pondering.

I was ready for some great video....but there were problems. For some reason my TV was not recognizing the 720p or 1080i output from my dvd player. I still watched videos in 480p, and in the meantime, I worked with Oppo to try to resolve the problem. They sent me an advance replacement unit, and the new unit still had the problem. The next step that the Oppo team tried was sending me the latest firmware that they had, the 0126 version. Guess what...it worked!

Most may ask where I am going with this.

Each of us have to decide what we really want to get out of our electronics. What are we going to put up with? What sort of things can we overlook? Are we striving for perfection, or the best quality at the time for what I can afford? I have been lucky enough not to see some of the problems that others are seeing. I, though, have seen other problems.

Ultimate point...Oppo customer service is the best I have ever seen. If you are debating getting the player, just try it. If you don't like it, send it back. It is that simple. Don't make things so complicated. I still feel that anyone that has a slight reservation about getting the player should get it. Once you see the picture quality...you may forget about all the other little things, and be hooked like everyone else.

If you're happy with momitsu, then why upgrade?

Always on the prowl for something better.

The momitsu has its quirks (slow loader, no total/remaining time display in info, crappy remote, ugly design).

The pic quality is good so im interested in a direct comparison. I ordered one from Amazon and will do a side by side test.

I received my Oppo about 4 weeks ago and have only started noticing the lip sinc problem just recently - yesterday, it seemed that every movie I put in would start lagging behind. I started testing different discs to test it - even "higher" production discs like star wars and lord of the rings were falling behind. I hit rewind for a few seconds and that fixed it, but I agree with an earlier comment that it sure can be a buzz-kill if you have guests over and it feels like you're watching a poorly dubbed Godzilla movie - in fact, I wasn't even the first one to notice it, it was my neighbor who was over watching a movie with us. Not something to jump off the roof over, but it was kind of frustrating. Hopefully the new firmware will put a nail in this issue - anybody with the beta patch got any news on that front?

Ok ok...this thread is too long....can someone with a sammy DLP give me a rundown on the mb issue??

I currently have the momitsu V880DX and the pic quality is good with NO MB! Im just wondering it the mb is very bad with this player on sammy DLPs. Every player that I tried with the F chip before my mo had bad MB.

Ive heard so many good things, Im thinking about upgrading. Slight mb wouldnt be an issue, but if its as bad as the panny s97 BEFORE the fix, then im not sold.

Also, the lip synch issue kinda scares me.Rock,

MB on the OPPO appears to be slightly better than the S97 (AFTER the Panny fix). But with the Samsung, MB is almost entirely dependant upon the level of calibration of your display.

I have practically eliminated macroblock-enhance on my Samsung DLP. See this post: Suppressing the "Macroblock-Enhance" Bug with OPPO's New Firmware (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6811617&&#post6811617). Be sure to read the link addressing calibration on a Samsung DLP. That is an extremely good technique for getting the most out of your DLP and suppressing MB.

Gary

I know the Oppo FAQ says the max resolution for Divx is 720 by 480. Will the hardware support higher resolutions (Divx HD) and it is simply a matter of getting newer/better firmware ?

Not sure. I think its a bit-rate limitation.

Ok ok...this thread is too long....can someone with a sammy DLP give me a rundown on the mb issue??

I currently have the momitsu V880DX and the pic quality is good with NO MB! Im just wondering it the mb is very bad with this player on sammy DLPs. Every player that I tried with the F chip before my mo had bad MB.

Ive heard so many good things, Im thinking about upgrading. Slight mb wouldnt be an issue, but if its as bad as the panny s97 BEFORE the fix, then im not sold.

Also, the lip synch issue kinda scares me.

I have a Samsung HLP5063 and had the s97 and now have the Oppo (never had the Momitsu so can't comment). IMHO the PQ is significantly better on the Oppo than on my S97 with much less MB. Not sure if you remember from my old s97 posts, but I held onto the s97 a lot longer than most. Didn't really notice mb and video noise until I had my display ISF'd. Then I couldn't watch the s97 anymore. But the Oppo looks great. I would highly recommend it with the Samsung HLP.

I know the Oppo FAQ says the max resolution for Divx is 720 by 480. Will the hardware support higher resolutions (Divx HD) and it is simply a matter of getting newer/better firmware ?

You know, that was always my question. Along the same lines, when true HD discs are available in the future, wouldn't it make sense that the OppoDV971H would be able to play them with some firmware tweaks? Or am I just a dreamer?

Anybody have a problem with the OPPO player OppoDV971H not filling the whole screen on a 1024x768 plasma with the DVI input.

I have two pipedreams.

One is SACD playback.
The other is "upscale first, then squeeze."

I have a Samsung HLP5063 and had the s97 and now have the Oppo (never had the Momitsu so can't comment). IMHO the PQ is significantly better on the Oppo than on my S97 with much less MB. Not sure if you remember from my old s97 posts, but I held onto the s97 a lot longer than most. Didn't really notice mb and video noise until I had my display ISF'd. Then I couldn't watch the s97 anymore. But the Oppo looks great. I would highly recommend it with the Samsung HLP.

Great....just the info I needed.

I too had my HLP ISF'd and the mb on the s97 was just too much. I got rid of it when i got the momitsu.

I cant wait to do a comparison. Ill let you know my findings.

Rock,
If I had to bet, I'd say you will still like the momitsu better than the oppo. The mpeg decoder in the momitsu is one of the best (sigma all-in-one solution). While it's not faroudja, you will have no MB enhancement. Please let us know how your comparison goes.

jeff

...when true HD discs are available in the future, wouldn't it make sense that the OppoDV971H would be able to play them with some firmware tweaks? Or am I just a dreamer?Dreamer!! Completely different technologies.

Gary

Anybody have a problem with the OPPO player OppoDV971H not filling the whole screen on a 1024x768 plasma with the DVI input.Yes, others have reported this. The OPPO's image currently has a small black border (about 3 pixels on each side). This should eventually be fixed with firmware.

It is possible that plasma displays with resolutions other than standard HD resolutions, may also exaggerate this by not scaling sufficiently.

Gary

I hope that new firmware is this week :)

Rock,
If I had to bet, I'd say you will still like the momitsu better than the oppo. The mpeg decoder in the momitsu is one of the best (sigma all-in-one solution). While it's not faroudja, you will have no MB enhancement. Please let us know how your comparison goes.

jeff


While i agree with you on the momo having no MB, the mpeg decoder inside is nowhere near a mediatek[the best] that is in the oppo and falls short on more than a few catagories...see secrets benchmarks....

I just got my OPPO, and so far it IS better than the Samsung. But I am not seeing a real benefit over my RP82. I have not put in the AVIA disc yet to calibrate tho. Brightness is set to -3. It seems better than at 0.

I will do the AVIA setup. But there is a ton of settings stuff here compared to other DVD players. Not really sure what to use for all of them. I am hooked up using the DVI input of my Hitachi UltraVision 51 inch. As well I have gathered a bit of info from this forum regarding settings etc. So far it seems to be a nice player. Not as detailed a picture quality as the RP82 tho. Close, but the Panny is sharper when using the Hitachis upconverter to 1080i so far.

Of course, not only will this forthcoming firmware upgrade
* fix the PAL pulldown issues
* correct the 3 pixel black frame
* restore the ability for any aspect ratio picture to completely fill the frame of your display, regardless of its aspect ratio
* fix all audio anomalies for all DVDs, even the poorly mastered ones

It will also
* automatically calibrate the display
* improve your sex life
* improve PQ to completely blow away all DVD players under $35,000

All this from a $200 player.

(I humbly suggest that people's expectations for this, or any, firmware update are just a bit over-the-top.)

peace,
b

Of course, not only will this forthcoming firmware upgrade
* fix the PAL pulldown issues
* correct the 3 pixel black frame
* restore the ability for any aspect ratio picture to completely fill the frame of your display, regardless of its aspect ratio
* fix all audio anomalies for all DVDs, even the poorly mastered ones

It will also
* automatically calibrate the display
* improve your sex life
* improve PQ to completely blow away all DVD players under $35,000

All this from a $200 player.

(I humbly suggest that people's expectations for this, or any, firmware update are just a bit over-the-top.)

peace,
b

Well, aside from your lame threadfart jokes, each firmware keeps making improvements so I do expect more to come. Look back at the first page for each firmware update. Yes, for $200 you do get an incredible value.

While i agree with you on the momo having no MB, the mpeg decoder inside is nowhere near a mediatek[the best] that is in the oppo and falls short on more than a few catagories...see secrets benchmarks....

Hi deez,
I'm not seen a mediatek mpeg decoder player yet, but will with the lg dvb418. I had a sigma based player (still do but it's in a box) and really liked the image it put out - loader/firmware wierdness aside. I wasn't saying the momitsu was quite the same "secrets caliber" player the oppo is. I was saying just what I said, I like the sigma based player image. No MB enhance either.

Best,
jeff

Pearl Harbor DVD freezes starting at chapter 23. Has anyone experienced similar problem of picture freezing with this movie. When that happens the player jams and you have to power off and on again and start movie again. When you change chapter to 24 it plays but then freezes again.

If someone has that DVD the two disc set 60yr anniversary edition and experienced similar problems let me know. Not sure if its the disc.

At one time I had my Oppo above my receiver on a glass shelf. My player would get hot from the heat of the receiver and would freeze watching some dvd's. Oppo gets hot on it's own. I have since moved the Oppo to the bottom shelf and have not had that problem since.

Pearl Harbor DVD freezes starting at chapter 23. Has anyone experienced similar problem of picture freezing with this movie. When that happens the player jams and you have to power off and on again and start movie again. When you change chapter to 24 it plays but then freezes again.

If someone has that DVD the two disc set 60yr anniversary edition and experienced similar problems let me know. Not sure if its the disc.

Maybe OPPO put in a "Black List" for bad films? I kid I kid!

I would check to see what condition the disc is in. If the unit fails to load past that point, I would bet that the disc itself is causing the unit to freeze up.

Also, as stated above, the OPDV971H gets very hot on its own. If you have the unit near other heat inducing electronics, then you may want to move it. However, I will say that I have my OPPO over my Pioneer VSX74TXI and my Comcast DVR in a glass case, and I have not had heat related problems.

I know the Oppo FAQ says the max resolution for Divx is 720 by 480. Will the hardware support higher resolutions (Divx HD) and it is simply a matter of getting newer/better firmware ?

It is also a matter of processing power. The higher the bitrate, the higher the resolution, the higher the processing calculations required for decoding. It is highly unlikely that we will see a DivX-HD or other HD format support, but there is a possibility for a middle ground (say 960x540). Only time will tell if anything is supported beyond the 720x480 standard right now.

I received my Oppo about 4 weeks ago and have only started noticing the lip sinc problem just recently - yesterday, it seemed that every movie I put in would start lagging behind. I started testing different discs to test it - even "higher" production discs like star wars and lord of the rings were falling behind. I hit rewind for a few seconds and that fixed it, but I agree with an earlier comment that it sure can be a buzz-kill if you have guests over and it feels like you're watching a poorly dubbed Godzilla movie - in fact, I wasn't even the first one to notice it, it was my neighbor who was over watching a movie with us. Not something to jump off the roof over, but it was kind of frustrating. Hopefully the new firmware will put a nail in this issue - anybody with the beta patch got any news on that front?

The next firmware will double the audio delay to 100ms, but it won't yet fix the root problem.

Dave

The next firmware will double the audio delay to 100ms, but it won't yet fix the root problem.

Dave
I was shipped the new f/w wednesday because of image centering issues.

Earlier, when viewing a 4:3 DVD the left pillar was half the size of the right pillar on my Panasonic 56" DLP. The left pillar was 3.5" and the right was almost 7" wide. With the new f/w the left pillar is about a 1/4" skinnier than the right. Much better.

Watched Oceans 12 with 50ms audio delay with no lip-sync. Watching Sienfeld season 4, I felt there was a slight lip sync issue. Though my wife thought it was ok.

I am a bit puzzled with the f/w version numbering - My f/w version is F-0217. How does this relate to with 1111b being reported in this thread?

Thanks.

PeteG84

Are you sure that's the Pearl Harbor disc that's freezing up?

Or just Ben Afflack's acting?

I was shipped the new f/w wednesday because of image centering issues.

Earlier, when viewing a 4:3 DVD the left pillar was half the size of the right pillar on my Panasonic 56" DLP. The left pillar was 3.5" and the right was almost 7" wide. With the new f/w the left pillar is about a 1/4" skinnier than the right. Much better.

Watched Oceans 12 with 50ms audio delay with no lip-sync. Watching Sienfeld season 4, I felt there was a slight lip sync issue. Though my wife thought it was ok.

I am a bit puzzled with the f/w version numbering - My f/w version is F-0217. How does this relate to with 1111b being reported in this thread?

Thanks.
I believe the firmware designations indicate the build/release date.
As such, 1111b would have been ready for issue on November 11 (11/11) whereas your new machine has a firmware that was issued(internally) on February 17 (02/17). The letter designations may additionally distinguish the releases by remote type.

Peter

PeteG84

Are you sure that's the Pearl Harbor disc that's freezing up?

Or just Ben Afflack's acting?
He was acting?

Dreamer!! Completely different technologies.

Gary

A man can dream, hope, and imagine....and in that time live in a fantasy world too. Thanks, Gary for being MY prince charming and waking my up from my drug induced sleep. :D

Of course, not only will this forthcoming firmware upgrade
* fix the PAL pulldown issues
* correct the 3 pixel black frame
* restore the ability for any aspect ratio picture to completely fill the frame of your display, regardless of its aspect ratio
* fix all audio anomalies for all DVDs, even the poorly mastered ones

It will also
* automatically calibrate the display
* improve your sex life
* improve PQ to completely blow away all DVD players under $35,000

All this from a $200 player.

(I humbly suggest that people's expectations for this, or any, firmware update are just a bit over-the-top.)

peace,
b
Good one B, :eek:
Similar to my comments, but with teeth. I LIKE IT!!

While i agree with you on the momo having no MB, the mpeg decoder inside is nowhere near a mediatek[the best] that is in the oppo and falls short on more than a few catagories...see secrets benchmarks....

Well, the secrets benchmark is a little deceiving. They did the test with the V880 (I avoided that one).

Momitsu made ALOT of changes in the V880DX and firmware updates. I am sure that the momitsu v880dx would score alot higher now over its inferior v880. I wish they would retest it.

My opinion? I bet it would score in the high 80s....the crappy loader and remote being the biggest issues.

Of course, not only will this forthcoming firmware upgrade
* fix the PAL pulldown issues
* correct the 3 pixel black frame
* restore the ability for any aspect ratio picture to completely fill the frame of your display, regardless of its aspect ratio
* fix all audio anomalies for all DVDs, even the poorly mastered ones

It will also
* automatically calibrate the display
* improve your sex life
* improve PQ to completely blow away all DVD players under $35,000

All this from a $200 player.

(I humbly suggest that people's expectations for this, or any, firmware update are just a bit over-the-top.)

peace,
b


Doesn't the new firmware revision qualify the owner as non subject to taxes? if it doesn't it'll be a big disappointement...

Doesn't the new firmware revision qualify the owner as non subject to taxes? if it doesn't it'll be a big disappointement...

I hear it will make it bluray and hd-dvd compatible. ;)

I hear it will make it bluray and hd-dvd compatible. ;)

A little bird told me it would make AVers witty!

PeteG84

Are you sure that's the Pearl Harbor disc that's freezing up?

Or just Ben Afflack's acting?


LOL could be must be the lipstick he put on. First time I watched this movie on the Oppo and noticed the lipstick. BTW picture was terrific until the glitch.

To follow up on the problem could be the disc because I tried on my older Toshiba and froze even before chapter 23. The problem is the Toshiba player I have is a very bad player with 3 secs layer changes and freezes all the time on many titles.

If anyone is interested in testing let me know. BTW watch those closeups with his girlfriend prior to his leaving for the war. The Oppo delivers those closeups perfectly with no macroblocking LOL

I believe the firmware designations indicate the build/release date.
As such, 1111b would have been ready for issue on November 11 (11/11) whereas your new machine has a firmware that was issued(internally) on February 17 (02/17). The letter designations may additionally distinguish the releases by remote type.

Peter

The letter designates the revision. Each major change gives the firmware a new revision identifier. So in the case of the current beta, it is 2 major firmware revisions more than the 1111B firmware (F-0217 versus D-1111B)

looks like the 0217 will be the next release?

looks like the 0217 will be the next release?

0217 isn't the latest.... but it seems to be almost ready for the prime time.

wow they added a few new options in these compared to the 1224 beta, Man are alot of people gonna be happy when this one is released :)

Hoping you Oppo experts can help me out...

I am considering the Oppo 971. I will be running it on my Panny AE900 against a 106" screen. I will be using a Pioneer VSX-72TXV receiver. So, my plan was to use the DVI/HDMI cable from the Oppo to the Pioneer, and then HDMI out to the projector. My concerns are:

1. Will this setup work? Will it degrade PQ at all, going through the receiver?
2. Assuming the setup will work, how likely am I to see the macroblocking or lip-synch issues?

If the setup will work, and the other issues are not that common, I believe I will order the Oppo.

Thanks for your input.

Andy

I bought the Oppo last year - October? Guess it's October.

I connect DVI to Infocus 4805 and TOS to an Onkyo TX-SR503 that drives Fluance speakers SX-HTB+ (7.1 - with a lousy Sub-woofer - need to replace) and a white Dalite screen.

Both the Picture and sound qualities are outstanding - clarity, definition, colors, depth - you name it the Oppo has got it. I haven't had this so called lip-sync problem yet.

I bought a DVE for calibration and guess what - digital input doesn't actually require any calibration - though I found the brightness/contrast adjustments very helpful. I use it the DVE more for audio calibration.

I also try and buy DVD movies that are "superbit" and "DTS". If I don't get them, I compromise on the normal/Dolby DVD.

This forum really helped me pick and choose my components ... The cost wasn't much and I spread it over a few months.

All my friends are so blown away with the picture quality of the Oppo/4805 combo, none of them want to buy a LCD/Plasma TV ...

Way to go Oppo!

Satya
Give credit where its due

wow they added a few new options in these compared to the 1224 beta, Man are alot of people gonna be happy when this one is released :)


I'm already happy. ;)

I'm already happy. ;)

I mean happIER :)

For those who may have missed it, PerfectVision just did a review of all DVD players. They started off listing the Oppo as selling for $249, not $199. I sent the editor a letter, stating they may want to reassess their 'value' rating again on the Oppo.
They gave it a very good rating overall, seemed more impressed with the audio soundstage than the video.
The highest rated player in the below $500 category was the Denon 1920 (HDMI), for which I have seen street prices near $250.
Oh well, so much for reviews. If they agree with your own observations, they are great! :)

ok... new oppo owner and love the PQ on the Z4!
but i have a quick question to something i've not found a definitive answer to in the last 40 or so pages.

on the three dvd's i've watched so far (kill bill, incredible, nemo) i get spanish or french subtitles when words are displayed on the screen during the film. i've read that other people have had this problem and i not seen a conclusive solution.

is this a fix that can resolved by installing the latest firmware or is there something i need to change in the settings?

on the three dvd's i've watched so far (kill bill, incredible, nemo) i get spanish or french subtitles when words are displayed on the screen during the film. i've read that other people have had this problem and i not seen a conclusive solution.

is this a fix that can resolved by installing the latest firmware or is there something i need to change in the settings?

There's a subtitle compatibility issue with Disney DVDs. The workaround is to set the Oppo's subtitle option to "Off" (which you probably have already), and then go into the disc menus and select "None".

It's a good idea to do this on every DVD as a matter of course, because it also fixes the problem with movies that are mostly in English but have one or two subtitled scenes; the Oppo defaults to no subtitles at all, but changing the DVD menu option to "None" overrides that.

i figured it was something simple like that...

thanks!

Ok, after updating the firmware (skipping the latest due to the pic shift issue)....im doing a comparison of the Oppo and Momitsu V880DX....so far, I am not seeing any mb on the Oppo that I remember from the s97 and numerous other upscalers that I tried. The pic is good and no complaints here.

Its hard to do a test since I dont have any others that had the bad mb.

Basically, the main difference that I see? The Oppo is a tad sharper than the Momitsu's softer image. Again, im not seeing mb on either.

Looks like a keeper so far. Love the design and the remote is a major step up from the momitsu.


BTW- maybe its been covered but I didnt see it? Whats "True Life" in the setup?

RockStrongo,

To quote Faroudja:
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.

Ok, after updating the firmware (skipping the latest due to the pic shift issue)....im doing a comparison of the Oppo and Momitsu V880DX....so far, I am not seeing any mb on the Oppo that I remember from the s97 and numerous other upscalers that I tried. The pic is good and no complaints here.

Its hard to do a test since I dont have any others that had the bad mb.

Basically, the main difference that I see? The Oppo is a tad sharper than the Momitsu's softer image. Again, im not seeing mb on either.

Looks like a keeper so far. Love the design and the remote is a major step up from the momitsu.


BTW- maybe its been covered but I didnt see it? Whats "True Life" in the setup?

I also had the S97 and also the Zenith 318 and like you I find the oppo to have far less macroblocking than the S97 and zenith. I see it every once in a while but it's not distracting. On the S97 and the zenith it was.

Firmware Release Notes (note: OPPO has not yet released the firmware, but this is the release information for the release candidate):

The improvements and changes included in this version are the followings:

1. Improvement to DVI output timing

The DVI output timing has been adjusted in this firmware version in order to improve compatibility with display devices. Previously some customers with certain display devices, mostly PAL-system TVs, experienced image shifting or other compatibility problems. With the improved DVI output timing, those compatibility issues are now resolved.

2. Improvement to audio/video synchronization.

This version of firmware greatly reduces the time difference between audio and video outputs. Due to the time required to decode and process the audio and video contents encoded on a DVD disc, there is usually a time difference between the audio and video outputs. In previous firmware versions the time difference could be large enough to cause noticeable “lip sync” problems under certain circumstances. In this version the time difference is greatly reduced. This version also reduced the variation of A/V synchronization caused by playback control operations such as pausing, repeating, chapter skipping and accessing the setup menu.

3. Longer audio delay options.

This version of firmware supports audio delay of up to 100ms, in 10ms incremental steps. The audio delay is designed to compensate for video delay caused by the high-definition up-conversion process within the DVD player and by video processing within the TV display. By delaying the audio to approximately the same amount of time as the video delay, proper audio/video synchronization can be achieved. The default setting is 50ms, which should be sufficient to compensate for video delay caused by the up-conversion process. If you use one of the analog video outputs instead of the DVI output, please reduce or turn off audio delay. If your TV introduces more video delay, you may increase the audio delay setting.

Note: The audio delay feature only applies to the analog audio outputs and PCM format digital output of the DVD player. The audio delay does not apply to Raw format digital audio output. If you are using the Raw format, please utilize the audio delay function on your A/V receiver to set audio delay.

4. Picture settings for PAL mode.

When the “TV Type” is set to PAL or Auto, previous firmware versions did not properly apply picture settings (brightness, contrast, saturation etc) when playing PAL movie. This version corrected the problem.

5. Longer file name display in file browsing mode.

When playing a disc containing DivX, digital picture or music files, long file names are now displayed by scrolling the text.

6. Proper “Skip Prev” function for CD playback.

When playing an audio CD, the “Skip Prev” function (|<< button on the remote control) now skips back to the beginning of the current track. To skip to the previous track, press the “Skip Prev” button twice.

7. Support for DivX Video-On-Demand activation.

The OPPO brand and the OPDV971H model have been properly added to the DivX Video-On-Demand activation procedure. This version of firmware produces a device ID that can be properly recognized by the activation process of DivX, Inc. To activate DivX Video-On-Demand, please download the DivX player from www.divx.com/vod and follow the account creation and device activation procedures.

Thanx Neuromancer!

2. Improvement to audio/video synchronization.

This version of firmware greatly reduces the time difference between audio and video outputs. Due to the time required to decode and process the audio and video contents encoded on a DVD disc, there is usually a time difference between the audio and video outputs. In previous firmware versions the time difference could be large enough to cause noticeable “lip sync” problems under certain circumstances. In this version the time difference is greatly reduced. This version also reduced the variation of A/V synchronization caused by playback control operations such as pausing, repeating, chapter skipping and accessing the setup menu.

Does this mean lip sync is finally fixed? Or just better and that it could still happen?

Does this mean lip sync is finally fixed? Or just better and that it could still happen?

Once the new firmware comes out try it and find out.

I don't think they can say 100 percent it is, or they would have said it in the release notes.

Note: The audio delay feature only applies to the analog audio outputs and PCM format digital output of the DVD player. The audio delay does not apply to Raw format digital audio output. If you are using the Raw format, please utilize the audio delay function on your A/V receiver to set audio delay.

Wouldn't Raw be what you normally use if your A/V receiver is decoding Dolby Digital or DTS? It seems unfortunate that this feature isn't available in this case, since it's the normal case. And since my A/V receiver (Pioneer 1015TX) does not have a delay function.

So hopefully the undelayed setting will always work for me, I guess. Unless I'm misreading this, of course.

Does this mean lip sync is finally fixed? Or just better and that it could still happen?

Don't really know myself. It either means the syncronization is better as a whole, or OPPO had been barking up the wrong tree for the past several months. Either way, there will be an improvement sooner or later (when the proper "smoking gun" is found).

Wouldn't Raw be what you normally use if your A/V receiver is decoding Dolby Digital or DTS? It seems unfortunate that this feature isn't available in this case, since it's the normal case. And since my A/V receiver (Pioneer 1015TX) does not have a delay function.

So hopefully the undelayed setting will always work for me, I guess. Unless I'm misreading this, of course.

This is the way I am reading it:

PCM: The OPDV971H does the decoding. As such, the MTK chipset can buffer the audio (up to 100ms).

RAW: All decoding is done through the A/V Receiver. As such, the MTK chipset is doing no decoding, and can't be assigned the task of audio buffering.

If this is the case, then all buffering must be processed by the decoding device, and not that of the content device.

I was all ready to use my 97 that I just received today. I plug it in, NO POWER!!! The unit doesn't even turn on! :mad: Is there anything worse that anticipating something and it totally letting you down :confused:. Well time to return it.

I was all ready to use my 97 that I just received today. I plug it in, NO POWER!!! The unit doesn't even turn on! :mad: Is there anything worse that anticipating something and it totally letting you down :confused:. Well time to return it.

Does the Red LED turn on on the power button? Also, if you press the Power button, do the blue lights turn on and the front LCD light up?

I'm a little confused by that Note in the release notes as well. The audio delay in the Oppo menu won't affect the optical output? My receiver doesn't have delay settings either. So I'm stuck with whatever the Oppo can mange.

Maybe I just read that wrong...

SV

Does anyone see a difference in video quality with Video 1 vs Video 2 (setting on Oppo) viewing NTSC material?

RAW: All decoding is done through the A/V Receiver. As such, the MTK chipset is doing no decoding, and can't be assigned the task of audio buffering. If this is the case, then all buffering must be processed by the decoding device, and not that of the content device.
I don't see why that's a problem at all. Sending the bitstream down the digital line has a beginning and an end, so why couldn't it be delayed? It certainly doesn't just magically happen. Somewhere in the code there must be a function that initiates the digital audio output. It seems like all they would have to do is delay that function by xx msec after video starts playing.

I don't see why that's a problem at all. Sending the bitstream down the digital line has a beginning and an end, so why couldn't it be delayed? It certainly doesn't just magically happen. Somewhere in the code there must be a function that initiates the digital audio output. It seems like all they would have to do is delay that function by xx msec after video starts playing.

Based off of the way I read the release, that makes the most logical sense to me. However, I am not an engineer in any form, so I don't know how the actual archetecture works.

"Note: The audio delay feature only applies to the analog audio outputs and PCM format digital output of the DVD player. The audio delay does not apply to Raw format digital audio output. If you are using the Raw format, please utilize the audio delay function on your A/V receiver to set audio delay."

Though it's been mentioned before, I don't get this. Has it always been the case? How should I configure the oppo to get audio delay then?

Thanks, a confused

Dave

"Note: The audio delay feature only applies to the analog audio outputs and PCM format digital output of the DVD player. The audio delay does not apply to Raw format digital audio output. If you are using the Raw format, please utilize the audio delay function on your A/V receiver to set audio delay."

Though it's been mentioned before, I don't get this. Has it always been the case? How should I configure the oppo to get audio delay then? Yes this has always been the case.

If your receiver does not offer an audio delay feature, you could use the OPPO's analog audio outputs and the OPPO's delay feature.

Gary

Yes this has always been the case.

If your receiver does not offer an audio delay feature, you could use the OPPO's analog audio outputs and the OPPO's delay feature.

Gary


That's a revelation, Gary! I've had mine set to RAW through digital coax for months, and I've been tinkering with the audio delay in and reality it's never made a whit of difference! Yet, of course, I've "noticed" differences; and I bet I'm not the only one either. There's much to be said for mind over matter!

So, to get the delay from the oppo I need to set the oppo to PCM and let it decode?

Then do I set LPCM to 96K, which is the limit of my receiver?

Dave

EDIT: I tried this and my receiver would only output in stereo. I guess I'll have to stick to RAW with no delay apart from the 68ms in my receiver--which is, after all, where I've unknowingly been for 6 months!

Does anyone see a difference in video quality with Video 1 vs Video 2 (setting on Oppo) viewing NTSC material?

There should be no difference, Video 2 should only effect proper 2:2 cadence for PAL. Do you see a difference?

Dave

Will the new upgrade include the OP971-D-1111B DVI fix? I skipped this upgrade after hearing about some issues and I didn't feel like re-calibrating my set at the time for a minor update.

That's a revelation, Gary! I've had mine set to RAW through digital coax for months, and I've been tinkering with the audio delay in and reality it's never made a whit of difference! Yet, of course, I've "noticed" differences; and I bet I'm not the only one either. There's much to be said for mind over matter!

So, to get the delay from the oppo I need to set the oppo to PCM and let it decode?

Then do I set LPCM to 96K, which is the limit of my receiver?

Dave

EDIT: I tried this and my receiver would only output in stereo. I guess I'll have to stick to RAW with no delay apart from the 68ms in my receiver--which is, after all, where I've unknowingly been for 6 months! Dave, that's right. When I set the player to PCM, my receiver picks up 2.1 channels (stereo + center). I can't be sure if that's just a limitation of my receiver, though. To output all 6 channels, I have to use the analog outputs (or the RAW setting).

Bear in mind that the A/V sync with the new firmware has a MUCH tighter tolerance, without the large, intermittent drift that we experienced before. The 68ms audio delay in your receiver may be enough to compensate.

Gary

Will the new upgrade include the OP971-D-1111B DVI fix? I skipped this upgrade after hearing about some issues and I didn't feel like re-calibrating my set at the time for a minor update.
Upgrades are cumulative, so they include all former fixes.

Dave

There should be no difference, Video 2 should only effect proper 2:2 cadence for PAL. Do you see a difference?

Dave


I haven't test for it yet -- a slight hassle because you have to remove the DVD from the player to change to Video 1 or 2. I was just wondering if anyone else has done this. I would suspect no difference, but just curious.

Any advantage to ordering this from Oppo, as opposed to from Amazon? From Amazon, can get free shipping, but through Oppo, costs like $15.

Just wondering.

Andy

Any advantage to ordering this from Oppo, as opposed to from Amazon? From Amazon, can get free shipping, but through Oppo, costs like $15.

Just wondering.

Andy

Others may comment, but it is guaranteed that with Oppo, you will get the latest firmware, etc. With Amazon, it depends....from what I have heard from others.

I've just ordered a new Oppo from Surf Audio (in S. CA) for $198, free UPS gnd shipping. S.A. also includes a 30 days return with no restocking fee, just in case the Oppo is not your cup of tea. Also guaranteed with latest firmware already loaded.
linky:
http://www.surfaudiovideo.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OPDV971H

so when is this new firmware to be released??

Regarding Oppo picture quality....

I've been doing some extensive A/B video comparisons between the Oppo (at 1080i DVI) and my Panasonic XP-30 (480p Component). My display is an ISF'd Sony CRT RPTV (KP-57WS520).

The only advantage I can see that the XP-30 has is better sharpness. I've turned off all edge enhancements settings on each player and in each TV service menu for both inputs.

The Oppo has a softer image than the XP-30. This is evident when watching movies and on DVE sharpness patterns. Some of the black lines look a bit fuzzy or smudgy with the Oppo....while they are defined on the XP-30.

Now, looking at the SMPTE resolution patten on DVE, these upper right most, smallest box appear as thin black lines on the XP-30, while they turn into different lines....gray, thinner, lighter, on the Oppo. This seems to be due to greater resolution.

Does anyone have any suggestions to make the Oppo a bit sharper without adding ringing or edge ehancement? Is this just the nature of the player?

I've heard others say than component analog is naturally sharper...but with more ringing. I do know on my display there is more ringing at 480 in general anyway.

Any advantage to ordering this from Oppo, as opposed to from Amazon? From Amazon, can get free shipping, but through Oppo, costs like $15.

Yeah, another user posted recently that the unit they just purchased from Amazon was old-stock and had the old remote control. Also you get a free DVI-DVI cable and a free DVI-HDMI cable through Oppo.

Does the Red LED turn on on the power button? Also, if you press the Power button, do the blue lights turn on and the front LCD light up?

Nope I get nothing. DOA! At least amazon doesn't charge for shipping on a defective product.

so when is this new firmware to be released??


Maybe you should ask Oppo?

Wouldn't Raw be what you normally use if your A/V receiver is decoding Dolby Digital or DTS? It seems unfortunate that this feature isn't available in this case, since it's the normal case. And since my A/V receiver (Pioneer 1015TX) does not have a delay function.

So hopefully the undelayed setting will always work for me, I guess. Unless I'm misreading this, of course.
I read it the same way, and have the same receiver. If my receiver HAD audio delay (it doesn't) then I wouldn't have a problem. Instead I have to rely on Oppo to fix this, which perhaps they cannot due to hardware limitations. If all receivers had audio delay, then there wouldn't be a problem for most of us. :rolleyes:

Fortunately I don't encounter lip synch delays often.

Yeah, another user posted recently that the unit they just purchased from Amazon was old-stock and had the old remote control. Also you get a free DVI-DVI cable and a free DVI-HDMI cable through Oppo.

I bought mine from Amazon a few days ago and I got both of those cables also. Luckily for me, I used free super saver shipping and it actually shipped from Dallas, so I got it the day after they shipped.

For those of us using RAW audio and a receiver that doesn't support audio delay timing, I've developed an alternate method which will correct the lip synch problem.

At sea level and a temperature of 20 degrees celcius, the speed of sound is approx. 1126.547 feet per second.

1126.547 f/s * 0.5 s = 563.2735 feet, which gives a 0.5 second delay

My chair is approx. 8 feet from the tv

So I'll have to move my speakers about 563-8=555 feet behind my tv. I'll have to purchase a few houses and demo them ($ 1.2 mil), get larger speakers, and purchase a $ 20,000 amp but it should work!

Well...My Oppo is due to arrive soon, next week...
My new Zektor 5.1 will be used for switching between my Directv Sammy receiver and the soon will be new Oppo player.
Is there anyone out there using a Zektor 5.1 DVI switcher with the Oppo dvd player as one of of your dvi input ports with any sort of issue at all?

Regarding Oppo picture quality....

I've been doing some extensive A/B video comparisons between the Oppo (at 1080i DVI) and my Panasonic XP-30 (480p Component). My display is an ISF'd Sony CRT RPTV (KP-57WS520).

The only advantage I can see that the XP-30 has is better sharpness. I've turned off all edge enhancements settings on each player and in each TV service menu for both inputs.

The Oppo has a softer image than the XP-30. This is evident when watching movies and on DVE sharpness patterns. Some of the black lines look a bit fuzzy or smudgy with the Oppo....while they are defined on the XP-30.

Now, looking at the SMPTE resolution patten on DVE, these upper right most, smallest box appear as thin black lines on the XP-30, while they turn into different lines....gray, thinner, lighter, on the Oppo. This seems to be due to greater resolution.

Does anyone have any suggestions to make the Oppo a bit sharper without adding ringing or edge ehancement? Is this just the nature of the player?

I've heard others say than component analog is naturally sharper...but with more ringing. I do know on my display there is more ringing at 480 in general anyway.

Even though your CRT set can accept 1080, it cannot resolve 1080i. Only a 9" CRT (speaking only of CRT displays) can give you that. Even though it may be properly calibrated, your're going to get significant scanline overlapping at 1080i, which will result in a softer picture.

480p from the XP30 looks sharper because the scan lines aren't overlapping on your display, and actually have a bit of space between them. For a CRT display you want to feed it the maxium scan rate it can accept befeore the point at which scan lines overlap. This is easily accomplished with a CRT front projector, but not with a rear projection display.

I'd try the Oppo at 480p and see how it campares.

Others may comment, but it is guaranteed that with Oppo, you will get the latest firmware, etc. With Amazon, it depends....from what I have heard from others.

It's worth the $15. Amazon is a middle-man. Deal directly with Oppo. The service is great. I am sure the service would still be great, don't get me wrong. I'd just rather deal with the manufacturer in situations like this. Those in the SF Bay Area, or passing through, can even arrange to pick up their player at the company office in Mt. View.

so when is this new firmware to be released??

This afternoon or Monday. Whatever OPPO chooses. I know they are still awaiting a couple of tests before it goes live.

It's worth the $15. Amazon is a middle-man. Deal directly with Oppo. The service is great. I am sure the service would still be great, don't get me wrong. I'd just rather deal with the manufacturer in situations like this.

I dont get this though....if you buy it from Amazon, I doubt Oppo is going to treat you any differently (as far as service and support).

I just dont see any added value for $15 (Firware update took me about 5-10 minutes total).

For those of us using RAW audio and a receiver that doesn't support audio delay timing, I've developed an alternate method which will correct the lip synch problem.

At sea level and a temperature of 20 degrees celcius, the speed of sound is approx. 1126.547 feet per second.

1126.547 f/s * 0.5 s = 563.2735 feet, which gives a 0.5 second delay

My chair is approx. 8 feet from the tv

So I'll have to move my speakers about 563-8=555 feet behind my tv. I'll have to purchase a few houses and demo them ($ 1.2 mil), get larger speakers, and purchase a $ 20,000 amp but it should work!

Isn't this going to make matters worse? The sound is going to take an extra half second to reach you 555 feet away. :(

I dont get this though....if you buy it from Amazon, I doubt Oppo is going to treat you any differently (as far as service and support).

I just dont see any added value for $15 (Firware update took me about 5-10 minutes total).

The added value is peace of mind knowing you will:
1. Get the new remote.
2. Get both the DVI-DVI and DVI-HDMI cable.
3. Get the latest firmware release.

Beyond this, you will have a more seemless technical support experience because OPPO will have all your relevent information on file. This becomes particularly important in times of Advance Replacements, repairs and returns, and shipping practices.

so when is this new firmware to be released??

this is what Oppo told me

"It is slated for this afternoon, but I have some more testing that needs
to be done before it is cleared."

Isn't this going to make matters worse? The sound is going to take an extra half second to reach you 555 feet away. :(Well, he is just kidding, but his theory is partially correct, because the lip-sync issue is a video delay problem, due to the large amount of processing that is going on. However, the delay is nowhere near 0.5 seconds. The worst-case delay was between 0.1 and 0.2 seconds with the old firmware.

Gary

Yeah, another user posted recently that the unit they just purchased from Amazon was old-stock and had the old remote control. Also you get a free DVI-DVI cable and a free DVI-HDMI cable through Oppo.

I got the 971 from Amazon and it had the cables, but also had the OLD remote (and old firmware.)

I called Oppo and they told me to email them the Amazon receipt. Within 120 seconds I got an email saying that they were mailing me the new remote at no charge that afternoon. I got it two days later.

Pretty awesome tech support in an age of voice mail, large phone menus to navigate and poorly trained techs.

Regarding Oppo picture quality....

I've been doing some extensive A/B video comparisons between the Oppo (at 1080i DVI) and my Panasonic XP-30 (480p Component). My display is an ISF'd Sony CRT RPTV (KP-57WS520).

The only advantage I can see that the XP-30 has is better sharpness. I've turned off all edge enhancements settings on each player and in each TV service menu for both inputs.

The Oppo has a softer image than the XP-30. This is evident when watching movies and on DVE sharpness patterns. Some of the black lines look a bit fuzzy or smudgy with the Oppo....while they are defined on the XP-30.

Now, looking at the SMPTE resolution patten on DVE, these upper right most, smallest box appear as thin black lines on the XP-30, while they turn into different lines....gray, thinner, lighter, on the Oppo. This seems to be due to greater resolution.

Does anyone have any suggestions to make the Oppo a bit sharper without adding ringing or edge ehancement? Is this just the nature of the player?

I've heard others say than component analog is naturally sharper...but with more ringing. I do know on my display there is more ringing at 480 in general anyway.


I too have noticed a "better?" picture on my display-hitachi 57s500 over dvi at 480p.....

For those of us using RAW audio and a receiver that doesn't support audio delay timing, I've developed an alternate method which will correct the lip synch problem.

At sea level and a temperature of 20 degrees celcius, the speed of sound is approx. 1126.547 feet per second.

1126.547 f/s * 0.5 s = 563.2735 feet, which gives a 0.5 second delay

My chair is approx. 8 feet from the tv

So I'll have to move my speakers about 563-8=555 feet behind my tv. I'll have to purchase a few houses and demo them ($ 1.2 mil), get larger speakers, and purchase a $ 20,000 amp but it should work!


LOL...dude you forgot about the cost of speaker wire and cables.....this is highlarious...hahaha

Well, I guess it's safe to assume that we won't see the official release of the latest firmware this week. Hopefully, it will be posted this coming week!

Well, I guess it's safe to assume that we won't see the official release of the latest firmware this week. Hopefully, it will be posted this coming week!

There are still 3 and a half hours left in the "Afternoon" for OPPO, as they are based in the West Coast.

There are still 3 and a half hours left in the "Afternoon" for OPPO, as they are based in the West Coast.


Hasn't the firmware been slated to be relesed every week for the last month or so?

I try to check the OPPO threads every few days or so, so I’m not sure if this has been covered yet. I am having a problem with the picture flickering most notably in light scenes. I've noticed it in just about every movie i have played at least a few times throughout the movie. Just got The Weather Man DVD the other day and OMG the flickering is horrendous all the way through the movie in all but the dark scenes which are very few in this movie. Is this a known issue, is there something i can try before contacting OPPO about this?

Hasn't the firmware been slated to be relesed every week for the last month or so?

December 31st was the first release schedule. This was pushed back because of several errors and the engineers needing time to add some more features.

Was supposed to be released again on January 27, but this too was pushed back because the engineers wanted to impliment the PAL fixes. OPPO decided to release it on February 10 but halted it because the engineers were on the right track for the PAL fixes.

"Final" firmware arrived only last Friday, and internal testing has been going on since then. Release has not been made because of a falt in the de-interlacing of several movies. OPPO is spending the day ensuring that these interlacing errors were isolated instances.


I try to check the OPPO threads every few days or so, so I’m not sure if this has been covered yet. I am having a problem with the picture flickering most notably in light scenes. I've noticed it in just about every movie i have played at least a few times throughout the movie. Just got The Weather Man DVD the other day and OMG the flickering is horrendous all the way through the movie in all but the dark scenes which are very few in this movie. Is this a known issue, is there something i can try before contacting OPPO about this?

If you are using 1080i, drop down to 720p.

Any word if the 1080i flickering issue has been fixed? Or is that not a fault of the Oppo? I'm experiencing it on my JVC 36DF74 CRT HDTV.

Any word if the 1080i flickering issue has been fixed? Or is that not a fault of the Oppo? I'm experiencing it on my JVC 36DF74 CRT HDTV.

It is in part a problem with the technology (1080i) and in part a problem with the Faroudja chipset (not designed for interlaced throughput). I do not have a 1080i based display, so I do not know if flickering errors occur in the latest firmware or not.

Any word if the 1080i flickering issue has been fixed? Or is that not a fault of the Oppo?
I'm wondering if it's display dependant. I use a Panasonic CRT HDTV and I have had no issues with flicker on 480p, 540p, or 1080i using any of the firmwares.

I just received my Oppo and hooked it up via DVI -> HDMI to my Sony KDF-E42A10 and it looks alot better at 720p than the other "cheap" dvd player I was using for the meantime (my moms).

I have a question, what settings do you guys use for Sound in the Oppo menu?

In video settings I have everything in 0 and truelife off.

Even though your CRT set can accept 1080, it cannot resolve 1080i. Only a 9" CRT (speaking only of CRT displays) can give you that. Even though it may be properly calibrated, your're going to get significant scanline overlapping at 1080i, which will result in a softer picture.

480p from the XP30 looks sharper because the scan lines aren't overlapping on your display, and actually have a bit of space between them. For a CRT display you want to feed it the maxium scan rate it can accept befeore the point at which scan lines overlap. This is easily accomplished with a CRT front projector, but not with a rear projection display.

I'd try the Oppo at 480p and see how it campares.

I compared the Oppo at 480p component and 480p HDMI. The image is sharper with component. The HDMI seems to be causing this.

HDMI is not quite as sharp or focused as the component input. What's interesting though, it's certain parts of the screen which look a bit more sharp than others. Some parts of the screen patterns look almost (but still not quite) as sharp as component, where as other parts do not. There does seem to still be a bit less ringing with HDMI, but that's probably because it's not as focused or sharp. However, I would like to try another upconverting HDMI player just to make sure....and I also wonder is using DVI to HDMI is not as good as HDMI to HDMI (8 bit vs 10 bit).

Regarding my set and 1080i...if it's not resolving 1080...what is it resolving at? I'm asking because 1080i HD programming looks so much better than 480.

I compared the Oppo at 480p component and 480p HDMI. The image is sharper with component. The HDMI seems to be causing this.

HDMI is not quite as sharp or focused at the component input. What's interesting though, it's certain parts of the screen which look a bit more sharp than others. Some parts of the screen patterns look almost (but still not quite) as sharp as component, where as other parts do not. There does seem to still be a bit less ringing with HDMI, but that's probably because it's not as focused or sharp. However, I would like to try another upconverting HDMI player just to make sure....and I also wonder is using DVI to HDMI is not as good as HDMI to HDMI (8 bit vs 10 bit).

Regarding my set and 1080i...if it's not resolving 1080...what is it resolving at? I'm asking because 1080i HD programming looks so much better than 480.

I have had the OPPO 971 since last summer. I've used it at both 720p and 1080i. I have a Tosh, 65HX93 native 1080i RP-CRT. I didn't notice any flicker in DVD's at 1080i, maybe just a bit in the OPPO splash Screen. It was hard to see any difference between 720p and 1080i on my set. I did finally put in my Avia and checked some of the test screens for resolution and decided thta it was actually slightly better at 720p, so I've left it there.

I understood that using the OPPO over Component connection simply bypasses most of what makes the OPPO a good palyer, so I havent tried that. But I plan to recheck that with the new firmware.

Rick

A lot of noise was showing up on the Oppo using component 480p with the SMPTE resolution pattern on DVE. In the upper right most box with the thinnest lines, there was "stuff" moving rapidly in it. Weird! Disappears with 1080i and the XP-30.

the Oppo doesn't do 480p from component,only 480i.And it looks pretty bad in my opinion.Use dvi or nothing.

ok.....I know exactly what the problem is now.

It's the OPPO!

I was just tried out the LG 511 which is an HDMI upconverting player.

The component 480p and HDMI 1080i is EXACTLY the same. There is no softness or difference at all between the two.

So, there is either something wrong with the Oppo or it's just the way it is. I don't know whether to exchange it, or just return it.

HDMI is not quite as sharp or focused as the component input. What's interesting though, it's certain parts of the screen which look a bit more sharp than others. Some parts of the screen patterns look almost (but still not quite) as sharp as component, where as other parts do not. There does seem to still be a bit less ringing with HDMI, but that's probably because it's not as focused or sharp. However, I would like to try another upconverting HDMI player just to make sure....and I also wonder is using DVI to HDMI is not as good as HDMI to HDMI (8 bit vs 10 bit). The component input on my TV also looks sharper, but this is artificial sharpening by the TV - the ringing/edge enhancement is clearly visible. The Avia resolution and sharpness patterns should not look edgy, but smooth (film-like), and they should have better detail than component. The slight variation in sharpness/focus that you see, may be due to scaling differences, and how your display handles various input resolutions. Try the 720p output as well, and pick the one that looks best on your particular display.

The 10-bit processing that some HDMI players can handle, does not improve sharpness, it only improves dynamic range (more digital steps between black and white, therefore grayscale ramps may have less contouring/banding). Of course, the extra bits are no use, unless your display uses 10-bit processing throughout the digital path too.

Gary

GSB,

See my last post. There is definitely something not right with the Oppo I have. I just tested the LG and the focus and sharpness is as one would expect.

The fine text, for example, is well defined and exactly the same at 480 or 1080 with the LG.

I mean I know this LG is not a great player...however, it is showing me that something is not right with the over-softness and almost out-of-focus look with the Oppo at 1080i.

OPPO has made the OPDV971-F-0220 (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0220_download.html) firmware page live. It is not yet on their webiste, to give retailers time to retool their stock.

OPPO has made the OPDV971-F-0220 (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0220_download.html) firmware page live. It is not yet on their webiste, to give retailers time to retool their stock.Woohoo! Thanks OPPO Digital and Neuromancer!

Gary

There is definitely something not right with the Oppo I have. I just tested the LG and the focus and sharpness is as one would expect.

The fine text, for example, is well defined and exactly the same at 480 or 1080 with the LG.

I mean I know this LG is not a great player...however, it is showing me that something is not right with the over-softness and almost out-of-focus look with the Oppo at 1080i. Are you sure it is not slightly more edge-enhancement on the LG?

Another possible explanation, is the fact that the OPPO does not quite fill the DVI frame, so there will be a slight variation in the scaling between the two players.

Gary

Are you sure it is not slightly more edge-enhancement on the LG?

Another possible explanation, is the fact that the OPPO does not quite fill the DVI frame, so there will be a slight variation in the scaling between the two players.

Gary

Definitely. There's just better focus...kind of what you would expect. I mean I even see it on the Oppo at 480....but something just isn't right at 1080i or 720p with the Oppo.

Woohoo! Thanks OPPO Digital and Neuromancer!

Gary

Based on the release notes, thanks to you Gary (and Ofer) as well. :)

OPPO has made the OPDV971-F-0220 (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0220_download.html) firmware page live. It is not yet on their webiste, to give retailers time to retool their stock.

Thanks for the link.

That's the 2nd gift you have sent my way. ;-)

OPPO has made the OPDV971-F-0220 (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0220_download.html) firmware page live. It is not yet on their webiste, to give retailers time to retool their stock.
Excellent! The page has been there at least since early this afternoon, but last time I checked, it still had a big warning at the top that this was still beta firmware. Guess they finally passed it.

Also, thanks to Gary (our GSB, I presume) and Ofer (who I am guessing is also a member of this forum) for your contributions!

Based on the release notes, thanks to you Gary (and Ofer) as well. :)Thanks Mike and Dixie. OPPO Digital really deserves the praise, though...

I took some measurements with an oscilloscope and made an interesting discovery about the source of the variable A/V sync. When I reported my findings, they reacted immediately. They escalated it and resolved it with lightning speed. They kept me posted with their progress and measurements every step of the way.

The firmware release may have been delayed a little longer because of it, but the payoff is fantastic. Well done to the management and the engineers involved!

Never in my life, have I come across a company with dedication or customer service like OPPO Digital!

Gary

Hello,

By following the instructions provided, I have successfully burned the .iso image on a Mac, updated the Oppo firmware successfully, and implemented the instructions for using the silver/white remote.

Many thanks to all who make this forum what it is. And thanks to Oppo for its outstanding customer service. Now on to finding out how the Oppo performs!

Dana

Also, thanks to Gary (our GSB, I presume) and Ofer (who I am guessing is also a member of this forum) for your contributions!

Ofer is a retailer in Israel who first proposed the changes needed for the PAL firmware fixes.

EDIT:
*pokes Gary* Get cracking and update the first post.