I've obviously been doing too much reading.

I get the impression that the OPPO may not be the best choice for an upconverting dvd playerfor my Samsung DLP HL-R5667W (56", 720P).

Is this correct? I really like what I have seen and read about the OPPO, but don't want to get one and find that it is not a good match to the Samsung.

I'll also have to buy a HDMI switch, as the Samsung only has one HDMI input and that is in use by my Satellite box. I looked at the 4x at monoprice...any other recommendations?

So, can I pursue the OPPO, or should I forget about it and look for something else?

hasan,

Why don't you use the DVI input on your Sammy? Does your model not have one?

Regs,
Jeff, Sammy HLP-5685 owner

hasan,

Why don't you use the DVI input on your Sammy? Does your model not have one?

Regs,
Jeff, Sammy HLP-5685 owner

The Sammy only has one HDMI/DVI input. It is in use by the Samsung 360 Satellite receiver. If I add the OPPO, I need another input, hence the switcher.

The question remains, is the OPPO a good match for my 56" Samsung DLP HL-R566w, or will the Faroudja processor inside cause macroblocking problems?

If you don't mind tweaking the living hell out of the Samsung, then I would go with the OPPO. Otherwise, you will be in macroblocking hell, and will want to look at alternatives.

The question remains, is the OPPO a good match for my 56" Samsung DLP HL-R566w, or will the Faroudja processor inside cause macroblocking problems? If you calibrate the set well, the picture with a Faroudja player like the OPPO can be spectacular. After all, the Samsung DLP's have a Faroudja chip built in!

I have no macroblocking problems with my Samsung DLP. See this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7270763#post7270763).

Gary

If you calibrate the set well, the picture with a Faroudja player like the OPPO can be spectacular. After all, the Samsung DLP's have a Faroudja chip built in!

I have no macroblocking problems with my Samsung DLP. See this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7270763#post7270763).

Gary
Thanks Gary, that's all I was looking for.

If you calibrate the set well, the picture with a Faroudja player like the OPPO can be spectacular. After all, the Samsung DLP's have a Faroudja chip built in!

I have no macroblocking problems with my Samsung DLP. See this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7270763#post7270763).

Gary

I second that. The Oppo looks excellent on my Samsung HLP5063. Had it ISF'd and the calibrator strongly recommended the Oppo to pair w/ the Samsung.

Just one follow up, I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but just to verify, Brightness at 0 on the Oppo is now studio level correct? No more +5 or similar offset?

TIA


I notice from earlier post that you have a toshiba tv. I have a Tosh HX93. For me, I had to set the OPPO brightness at +1 and OPPO contrast at -1, in order to pass blacker than black and peak whites.

While Oppo at 0 will get it pretty close, if yu have a calibration DVD that has the BTB and peak whites, I'd check to make sure.

Rick

I finally went ahead and loaded the 0316 Beta FW. I had been using the 0302 release. Main problem is occasional random, (rare) audio-video sync problems. Stuttering of all home recorded DVD's (TV shows) from an Emerson DVD recorder, and a left image shift noticeable on 4:3 images. The stuttering problems do not occur on DVD's recorded on Pio 531 DVD recorder, or on comercial DVD's.

Since updgrading to the 0316 Beta, I've watched a few DVD's recorded on a Pio DVD recorder and one or two commercial DVD's, (none from Emerson). I'm connected via DVI to a RP-CRT. I have it set to wide/sqz mode.

I know everyone so far has posted that 0316 is best FW yet. Not to be contrary, but that hasnt been my experience.

I have experienced juddering on two DVD's recorded on the Pio. It is somewhat random, on one it started with credits (this was actually the first DVD I tried ater the upgrade. Just for kicks, I ejected the DVD then reloaded it. It played fine then. The seond time was after a pause in playing a recorded DVD, after perssing play, it start juddering (by judeering I mean the 'strobe light type picture'). This time I paused again, restrated, still had problem, so paused again and restarted. 3rd time it stated playing ok.

Image is still shifted to left.


I dont know if I'll revert back to an earlier FW or not.

Rick.


As a followup to this post, I thought I'd pass on that I have now watched a coulple of half hour shows from DVD's recorded on the Emerson DVD recorder, and the annoying stuttering seems to be significantly reduced with the 0316Beta.

The Emerson suttering was consistent, and would happen just about every 3-4 minutes, characterized by a slow-down then speed up sequence. Just thought I'd report that it appears to be much less of a problem with this 0316Beta.

I still have the intermittent juddering, but unless that pops up on commercial DVD's I'll probably keep the 0316 loaded.

Rick

Stand Alone DVD Recorders will always be a problem. I would be very surprised (yet elated) if OPPO found a way to fix their errors.

Stand Alone DVD Recorders will always be a problem. I would be very surprised (yet elated) if OPPO found a way to fix their errors.

At first I thought it was the dvd recorder (Panny) I was using then I ended up using a Toshiba DR-4 and had the same problem. Hopefully Oppo could fix this in the next FW.

Stand Alone DVD Recorders will always be a problem. I would be very surprised (yet elated) if OPPO found a way to fix their errors.

So would I. Why does my $60 "supermarket special" Toshiba not suffer from this annoying problem?

So would I. Why does my $60 "supermarket special" Toshiba not suffer from this annoying problem?

Completely depends on the laser assembly and the device which is doing the decoding. If the assembly is not well designed (ie it does not focus correctly) or the decoding chipset is not interpreting the RAW data appropriately, then you will miss important pieces of information, which can cause the unit to behave improperly (skipping, stuttering, pausing, disc read errors).

The MTK chipset in the OPDV971H is likely not designed to interpret the file structure of Stand Alone DVD Recorder media, which is causing the abnormal playback.

At first I thought it was the dvd recorder (Panny) I was using then I ended up using a Toshiba DR-4 and had the same problem. Hopefully Oppo could fix this in the next FW.

The problem with the OPDV971H is the MTK chipset. I have used several MTK based players, and all have this annoying problem. It would require some major arm twisting on behalf of OPPO to get a proper fix out the door, I would assume.

Stand Alone DVD Recorders will always be a problem. I would be very surprised (yet elated) if OPPO found a way to fix their errors.

I've found a very simple, but elegant fix for this issue. I record on DVD+RW media. The OPPO often chokes on them...Not due to the media, but rather because of the DVR formatting and encoding. Here's my fix if you have a PC with a DVD burner it in:

1.) Get the latest version of DVD Shrink...It's free everywhere on the net.

2.) Insert the DVR recording in the DVD drive and open DVD Shrink.

3.) Analyze the DVD with Shrink and then rip it to a folder on your HDD.

4.) Burn the Shrink-ripped image with Nero...or whatever you have on-hand...to another DVD+RW and you will have an exact copy of your original DVR recording that I guarantee will play in your OPPO.

DVD Shrink's encoding is pretty much bullet-proof and I have yet to find a DVD player that doesn't like the .ifo files it creates.

I know this sounds like a really big deal, but it's not. Once you become familiar with the process, you can analyze, rip, and reburn the content in under 30 minutes with even a medium powered PC.

Enjoy!...:D

-Toonces

Good job Toonces. The only problem is that you have to re-record your material, which can be very frustrating for users who just want to plug and play.

Good job Toonces. The only problem is that you have to re-record your material, which can be very frustrating for users who just want to plug and play.

Neuromancer,

You make a good point, but I look at this way. If it's just the usual crap that gets recorded, then I play it back in the DVR and don't go through the re-recording process. If, on the other hand, it's something I can't watch live but really want the best image when I do get a chance to see it...like the two Stargate series...then the extra time and effort is small change compared to the improved image the OPPO's playback will give me.

-Toonces

You might also want to try a direct copy with Nero or your favorite burning pro. I did the shrink rip and nero burn and just the Nero copy. Both resultant discs played fine.

I notice from earlier post that you have a toshiba tv. I have a Tosh HX93. For me, I had to set the OPPO brightness at +1 and OPPO contrast at -1, in order to pass blacker than black and peak whites.

While Oppo at 0 will get it pretty close, if yu have a calibration DVD that has the BTB and peak whites, I'd check to make sure.

Rick

Rick,

I have my regular ISF guy coming in town next week to calibrate my DVI input, and I'm sure we'll play around with the plasyer settings and his calibrations patterns to see what passes BTB the best. I'll report back with our results.

I use Toast on my Macs - all my burned stuff plays fine.

I've found a very simple, but elegant fix for this issue. I record on DVD+RW media. The OPPO often chokes on them...Not due to the media, but rather because of the DVR formatting and encoding. Here's my fix if you have a PC with a DVD burner it in:

1.) Get the latest version of DVD Shrink...It's free everywhere on the net.

2.) Insert the DVR recording in the DVD drive and open DVD Shrink.

3.) Analyze the DVD with Shrink and then rip it to a folder on your HDD.

4.) Burn the Shrink-ripped image with Nero...or whatever you have on-hand...to another DVD+RW and you will have an exact copy of your original DVR recording that I guarantee will play in your OPPO.

Enjoy!...:D

-Toonces

Thanks Toonces. I'm going to try this out tonight.

I've found a very simple, but elegant fix for this issue. I record on DVD+RW media. The OPPO often chokes on them...Not due to the media, but rather because of the DVR formatting and encoding. Here's my fix if you have a PC with a DVD burner it in:

1.) Get the latest version of DVD Shrink...It's free everywhere on the net.

2.) Insert the DVR recording in the DVD drive and open DVD Shrink.

3.) Analyze the DVD with Shrink and then rip it to a folder on your HDD.

4.) Burn the Shrink-ripped image with Nero...or whatever you have on-hand...to another DVD+RW and you will have an exact copy of your original DVR recording that I guarantee will play in your OPPO.

DVD Shrink's encoding is pretty much bullet-proof and I have yet to find a DVD player that doesn't like the .ifo files it creates.

I know this sounds like a really big deal, but it's not. Once you become familiar with the process, you can analyze, rip, and reburn the content in under 30 minutes with even a medium powered PC.

Enjoy!...:D

-Toonces

While this might work for discs that don't work at all in the Oppo, it doesn't fix the stuttering problem with DVD recorder made discs. Copies of those discs also stutter in the Oppo. Very frustrating.

Stand Alone DVD Recorders will always be a problem. I would be very surprised (yet elated) if OPPO found a way to fix their errors.

I had already tried two times to put up OppoDigital to developing the Oppo firmware by the King of MTK firmware developing & modding. He's a hungarian guy.
I had got first time a "not real answer" from OppoD., the second time I had listed the features what could be done by him, but I haven't already got a reply for this.
The guy can "make" better features and can solve bugs which hasn't noticed or never be solved by firmware developers of OppoDigital (This is not a joke!)

If OD don't wanna invest money for "external" help then OppoDigital makes only "half-solutions"

These days I'm cooperating with the russian fw modd team (Andy & Oleg - they're programming & I'm testing and making advices).
I had hade by the Mpeg4-subtitle with a better visible font and up to 71 chars in a row (no annoying "wrap") by the 1022 -Andy modd.
I'll apply it by the 0220 modd, too.
I'll hope we can handle some problems and we can "release" a 0220 based firmware modd (DVD-Subtitle display bug - some ca.10% not eng. subs hadn't been displayed by Andy modd - already fixed!)

Eman

I had already tried two times to put up OppoDigital to developing the Oppo firmware by the King of MTK firmware developing & modding.

Please tell him that he is welcome to use the www.opdv971h.com (http://www.opdv971h.com/) for publishing his Oppo mods (or, if he wants to maintain his own site, just brief postings with links to the mods). Would be great if all Oppo firmware mods could be found in one place.

The guy can "make" better features and can solve bugs which hasn't noticed or never be solved by firmware developers of OppoDigital (This is not a joke!)

If OD don't wanna invest money for "external" help then OppoDigital makes only "half-solutions" Just a wee bit arrogant, don't you think? While your buddies work on existing OPPO FW, and concentrate on little cosmetic improvements that seem to introduce other bugs, OPPO Digital has been solving REAL issues, like 2:2 cadence, audio sync, Y/C delay, edge enhancement, DVI timing, breakpoint memory, and many, many others.

Remember too, that OPPO does not have unlimited resources. They are a relatively small company, and they have concentrated their efforts on providing a fantastic player for a very modest price.

We appreciate the Russian hackers very much for their contributions, but there are some bugs that are beyond the control of any hacker - like the A/V sync issue, for instance, which requires a core overhaul that only Mediatek themselves have control over.

How can anyone say OPPO Digital makes only "half-solutions"?

Gary

Just a wee bit arrogant, don't you think? While your buddies work on existing OPPO FW,
and concentrate on little cosmetic improvements that seem to introduce other bugs, OPPO Digital has been solving REAL issues, like 2:2 cadence, audio sync, Y/C delay, edge enhancement, DVI timing, breakpoint memory, and many, many others.

Remember too, that OPPO does not have unlimited resources. They are a relatively small company, and they have concentrated their efforts on providing a fantastic player for a very modest price.

...
Gary

The hungarian guy is making NOT COSMETIC IMPROVEMENETS, BUT REAL FW-DEVELOPMENT!
He had already contratcs with 2 or 3 other companies (who made MTK-based MPEG4-players)
He has the source code (legal part of the contracts) of some parts by the MTK chipset (NOT A JOKE!)
He's making REAL DEVELOPMENT YOU'VE NEVER IMAGINED like you had listed on your last thread. (A/V Sync, last memory etc.... not a joke!)

Unlimited resources: if you want to know how much money would it cost... I know he don't work for big sum of money! (I can send you a pm if you want about the details)
It's not a question of money, believe me!

I'll hope I don't hurt you with this thread...

I'm wanting to make Oppo a much better player, too!

Regards,
Eman

I
I'll hope we can handle some problems and we can "release" a 0220 based firmware modd (DVD-Subtitle display bug - some ca.10% not eng. subs hadn't been displayed by Andy modd - already fixed!)

Eman
Need to use the 0316 fw for mods now--the 0220 has been superseded.

Dave

I have a OPPO dvd player for about 6 months, I am happy with it. I use it mostly for viewing DIVX/XVID. There are 2 issues I found for divx/xvid videos.
1. rewind - too fast
2. dvd-r with lot of divx files( 5 min clips), it plays sequentially through all the files. I want to see the file name which is being played. Is there a way to display the name.

Kris.

Yippy! Got my Oppo yesterday!

Well, kids, it arrived at 10:30 am yesterday, c/o Surf Audio/Video and FedEx.

First of all, a heartfelt thanks to those that have contributed to this thread. Next, kudos to Surf Audio/Video for some fantastic customer service in helping answer a couple tech and order-related questions. I ended up getting the Oppo, a 12 ft. HDMI-DVI cable, a 12 ft. DVI-DVI cable and the Home Theater Master MX-800 IR/RF remote. Woo hoo!

Anyway, since my theater room is in shambles at the moment (recently had a bunch of rewiring done), I didn't have any audio connections between the DLP and Oppo. I did take the suggestions of turning off TrueLife and NR and stuff. Didn't touch the video controls other than that. Set the output to 720p to match my Samsung HLP5685 native rez. Popped in Revenge of the Sith and blammo... weird stuttering on the pan down for the intro. That clicked in my brain and I went back to this thread. Sure enough, others have seen it. I'm running the 0302 firmware. Has any of the beta stuff fixed this yet? There was some slight stuttering on the big first gen Star Destroyer that Ben and Anakin fly over as well, but that went away eventually. Anyway, I plan to have this setup ISF'd in the next month or two, so it should look awesome. Coming from using the Denon 1910 upconverting player, I honestly don't see much in the way of it being a better picture with the Oppo. That being said, it didn't look WORSE, so that's good. My ISF guy owns the Oppo as well, so that's really the reason I got it. I'm moving the Denon downstairs to the living room 5.1 setup and moving the old Toshiba to the bedroom. Finally a DVD player for the bedroom, WOO HOO!

Anyway.. thanks again. Hopefully we'll have some fixes for the stuttering soon.

One question... is there ANY workaround for the lack of discrete power on and off? I read the info about not being able to add them with firmware changes, but is there any trick to creating a macro or something that acts like a discrete power on/off? I know my Toshiba didn't have that either, but hitting "play" always turned it on if it was off... or did nothing if it was already on, so that was an easy way to guarantee it was in the "play" state and then use the power toggle to turn it off from there.

Thanks,
Jeff

2. dvd-r with lot of divx files( 5 min clips), it plays sequentially through all the files. I want to see the file name which is being played. Is there a way to display the name.

Press Stop to be brought back to the Explorer Window, as this will allow you to see what file being selected.

Popped in Revenge of the Sith and blammo... weird stuttering on the pan down for the intro. That clicked in my brain and I went back to this thread. Sure enough, others have seen it. I'm running the 0302 firmware. Jeff, the best FW is OPPO's 0316 beta. It may not solve the stuttering (though some have reported an improvement)... but it does come with the sync fix. Thankfully, the stuttering is isolated to specific places on very few DVD's.

Coming from using the Denon 1910 upconverting player, I honestly don't see much in the way of it being a better picture with the Oppo. That being said, it didn't look WORSE, so that's good. They are both Faroudja players, so the PQ difference will be subtle and more readily seen in the implementation (getting the deinterlacing right in tricky material, 2:2 cadence, etc) and in the MTK core performance (chroma, pixel cropping, layer change and responsiveness).

Gary

One question... is there ANY workaround for the lack of discrete power on and off? I read the info about not being able to add them with firmware changes, but is there any trick to creating a macro or something that acts like a discrete power on/off? I know my Toshiba didn't have that either, but hitting "play" always turned it on if it was off... or did nothing if it was already on, so that was an easy way to guarantee it was in the "play" state and then use the power toggle to turn it off from there.

Thanks,
Jeff

No tricks I am aware of but I use a Harmony remote. It makes the Oppo perform like it's got discrete on/off.

The hungarian guy is making NOT COSMETIC IMPROVEMENETS, BUT REAL FW-DEVELOPMENT! He had already contratcs with 2 or 3 other companies (who made MTK-based MPEG4-players) He has the source code (legal part of the contracts) of some parts by the MTK chipset (NOT A JOKE!) He's making REAL DEVELOPMENT YOU'VE NEVER IMAGINED like you had listed on your last thread. (A/V Sync, last memory etc.... not a joke!)

Unlimited resources: if you want to know how much money would it cost... I know he don't work for big sum of money! (I can send you a pm if you want about the details) It's not a question of money, believe me!

I'll hope I don't hurt you with this thread...

I'm wanting to make Oppo a much better player, too!

Regards,
EmanOK Eman, I understand. No offense. Maybe I'll have to eat my hat. Thanks for sharing.

Gary

I had already tried two times to put up OppoDigital to developing the Oppo firmware by the King of MTK firmware developing & modding. He's a hungarian guy.

As a company, they can't seriously work with a modder as a matter of principle and a matter of ensuring they are working within their original agreements with the companies they purchase their product from (ie. Ensuring that no protected IP is shared outside of contract). It would be good to team the two, but it is an impossible venture.

I had got first time a "not real answer" from OppoD., the second time I had listed the features what could be done by him, but I haven't already got a reply for this.

This goes into the same catagory as above. You may get a "Thank you for your concern, but ..." type response, or no response at all, as OPPO is obviously not interested in such a venture. That is not to say that OPPO is not interested in improving their product. If you look at their internal improvements, all of them have been centered around people reporting errors as well as submitting possible solutions (see: A/V Syncronization fix as proposed by GSB). But there is only so much you can do as a company within the restrictions of operating legidimately (especially since the modder himself does not own any of his own code. He uses code from other ARM devices).

The guy can "make" better features and can solve bugs which hasn't noticed or never be solved by firmware developers of OppoDigital (This is not a joke!)

They why seek the help of OPPO? If the modder can do something much better than the designers themselves, why doesn't he just release his improved firmware and let the end user decide what they want to use?

If OD don't wanna invest money for "external" help then OppoDigital makes only "half-solutions"

It is not a matter of not wanting external help, it is a matter of what they are legally allowed to do. We do not know what kind of contracts, NDA and other agreements OPPO is legally bound to support. External support such as advice is always usable, but external support in the form of using modified firmware may be completely inapropriate.

No tricks I am aware of but I use a Harmony remote. It makes the Oppo perform like it's got discrete on/off.

So that means that either they have implemented some "trick" behind the scenes, or they have a state machine inside that "remembers" what the status of each component is... at least those are the only two ways I see to do this. Guess I could just email Oppo about this.

Thanks for the info.

Regs,
Jeff

So that means that either they have implemented some "trick" behind the scenes, or they have a state machine inside that "remembers" what the status of each component is... at least those are the only two ways I see to do this. Guess I could just email Oppo about this.

Thanks for the info.

Regs,
Jeff

Yeah, the Harmony remembers the "state" of the device (on/off in this case), avoiding the situation where the power is toggled off and the play code is sent.

Yeah, the Harmony remembers the "state" of the device (on/off in this case), avoiding the situation where the power is toggled off and the play code is sent.

So one question I always had about that. Let's say you run your "turn the world on" macro with the Harmony, but you accidentally put the remote down and point it away from the Oppo before it has transmitted it's power toggle code (ON, since the Harmony "knew" the Oppo was off). Now does the Harmony think the Oppo is on? And thus if you hit the "turn the world off" macro, is everything hopelessly screwed up? What is done to prevent this?

Thanks,
Jeff

So one question I always had about that. Let's say you run your "turn the world on" macro with the Harmony, but you accidentally put the remote down and point it away from the Oppo before it has transmitted it's power toggle code (ON, since the Harmony "knew" the Oppo was off). Now does the Harmony think the Oppo is on? And thus if you hit the "turn the world off" macro, is everything hopelessly screwed up? What is done to prevent this?

Thanks,
Jeff

If the state memory is wrong for whatever reason (pointed away, covered up, etc.), there is a "Help" button to aid re-syncing the state. It first assumes that all the devices were properly powered on and resends all the necessary discrete codes in the macro (TV input change, receiver input change, etc.).

If that doesn't solve your problem because a device wasn't on, it will next query the state of each device in the macro until the state is synced back up. The remote will ask "Is the DVD player on?" for example and you reply with the "Yes" or "No" button.

Compared to using 4 or 5 separate remotes, it's really intuitive and lets anyone use our HT without any intervention from me. I no longer get any questions about why there is no sound or my personal favorite "It's not working." :)

I have a OPPO dvd player for about 6 months, I am happy with it. I use it mostly for viewing DIVX/XVID. There are 2 issues I found for divx/xvid videos.
1. rewind - too fast
2. dvd-r with lot of divx files( 5 min clips), it plays sequentially through all the files. I want to see the file name which is being played. Is there a way to display the name.

Kris.

This the response I got from OPPO.


1. This is something we are looking into fixing. There are some other
minor DivX playback errors associated to forward and reversing that are
also being investigated.

2. Currently there is no way to show this information. You will have to
Stop playback so you can go back to the Explorer. This is currently the
only way to see what file is currently being played back.

Best Regards,

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

Ahh, gotcha. Thanks pdubyu!

Regs,
Jeff.. off to email Oppo

Hello all,

I've been out of the loop for a while and see that there are a few firmware releases since I last checked.

I am primarily concerned about fixes in picture quality and a/v sync when playing normal DVDs.

I don't play DivX discs, so I'm not worried about that.

Reading the description of the latest 2 firmwares, I'm thinking I should go with F-0220. It seems that F-0302 rolls back some a/v fixes that caused DivX problems?

Again, if I want a/v fix, but don't care about DivX, am I better off with F-0220 or the later release?

Thanks!

I am going to purchase a Westinghouse LVM-42w2 1080p 42" LCD monitor with the Samsung SIR-T451 HDTV Tuner which will eat up most of my budget. I already purchased the new Pioneer VSX-516-S 7.1 A/V reciever connected with Sony SA-VE367T 7.1 speaker system.

Since it is too early to say if HD DVD or BR will prevail and early reviews of Toshiba HD DVD capabilites to upconvert regular DVD's are not great and it also does not output 1080p nor Dolby True HD, I'm considering purchasing the Oppo DV971H and since 75% of what I would initially play on the Oppo would be regular DVD's collected since 2000 and new ones I have the following questions:

1. On a Westy 1080p monitor which also has a Faroudja chip would the picture quality be better if the Oppo deinterlaced to 480p and had the Westy do the upscaling to 1080p, have the Oppo output 1080i and have the Westy deinterlace to 1080p or just have the movie displayed at 1080i?

2. Is Oppo planning on having a 1080p output since the Faroudja chip can handle this? The new Samsung DVD-HD960 will have 1080p output via HDMI using the same Faroudja chip however I do not know what Samsung is using for decoding since Oppo uses the MediaTek chip and have implemented both with their software. I've read that what would be needed is to upgrade to a new firmware since the hardware is capable.

3. Although the Westy has 2 - DVI inputs and one HDMI, will the Oppo have an HDMI output since DVI passes through at 8 bit and HDMI at 10bit.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Larry

Just an FYI on the discrete power commands issue. Here's the FAST response (about 2.5 hours) I got from Oppo:


Yes, the only IR code the OPDV971H responds to when it is powered down is "Power". All other commands are not recognized. We are working with our engineers to see if they can impliment a Psuedo Discrete On/Off command, which will treat the Power as always being "off". However, we do not know when or if this feature will ever become available for the OPDV971H.

So it looks like all hope for a fix is not lost... but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. I really wish I would have done my homework on this before buying this sucker. This is a real issue in my technology-challenged family. I don't want to have to switch to a Harmony remote from my MX-700 just to work around this horrid design flaw, IMHO.

Dang... from YIPPY to AW CRAP in 0.5 days. Crud.

Gary... this is going on your permanent record, son. (Yes, I'm blaming you for this too.) :)

Regs,
Jeff

Gary... this is going on your permanent record, son. (Yes, I'm blaming you for this too.) :) AW CRAP!

Gary

mcbuckeye,

I would download the F-0316 Firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html) as it has all the features of the F-0220 firmware but without the decoding errors.

Just an FYI on the discrete power commands issue. Here's the FAST response (about 2.5 hours) I got from Oppo:



So it looks like all hope for a fix is not lost... but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. I really wish I would have done my homework on this before buying this sucker. This is a real issue in my technology-challenged family. I don't want to have to switch to a Harmony remote from my MX-700 just to work around this horrid design flaw, IMHO.

Dang... from YIPPY to AW CRAP in 0.5 days. Crud.

Gary... this is going on your permanent record, son. (Yes, I'm blaming you for this too.) :)

Regs,
Jeff

When you get tired of the cumbersome work-around, there is a Harmony 628 remote at Sam's Club for 79 bucks. I use it on everything here to integrate and as a prior poster noted, it works transparently. I haven't tested it with the OPPO yet, as mine won't arrive until today.

I should receive the Oppo and a Monoprice IR controlled switch (HDMI 5x1) and required cables today. I already have the firmware downloaded and put on a CD.

My Oppo (direct from Oppo) and monoprice 5x1 hdmi switch should arrive today. I may not have time to get it fully integrated into my system for a day or so.

Is there anything wrong with taking it out of the box, plugging it in (but not conneting it to anything), doing the F0316 firmware upgrade and then connecting it to the rest of the system later?

Or...should I bring it on line completely integrated with the original firmware first, and then go through the upgrade? I have the latest beta firmware burned to a CD and am ready to go with the upgrade.

mcbuckeye,

I would download the F-0316 Firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html) as it has all the features of the F-0220 firmware but without the decoding errors.

Neuromancer,

Is the 0316 firmware you reference the same as the 0316 beta firmware?

BTW, Many thanks for the informed contributions you and others make to this thread. Invaluable.

Dana

they did that on purpose. they wanted the oppo to have at least one flaw :D

my workaround is to leave the sucker on all the time.

in my macros i just make sure to hit stop on the oppo twice during the sequence where all my other components are being discretely powered off.

no idea how much juice this is wasting.

Just an FYI on the discrete power commands issue. Here's the FAST response (about 2.5 hours) I got from Oppo:



So it looks like all hope for a fix is not lost... but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. I really wish I would have done my homework on this before buying this sucker. This is a real issue in my technology-challenged family. I don't want to have to switch to a Harmony remote from my MX-700 just to work around this horrid design flaw, IMHO.

Dang... from YIPPY to AW CRAP in 0.5 days. Crud.

Gary... this is going on your permanent record, son. (Yes, I'm blaming you for this too.) :)

Regs,
Jeff

Iceblade,

I got a similar request from oppo about discretes. If enough of us ak for it they might do it. until then,

I just switch mine off with my yamaha receiver's switched outlet. That way when you power off on your 700 send a stop command, then power off the receiver...

Neuromancer,

Is the 0316 firmware you reference the same as the 0316 beta firmware?

BTW, Many thanks for the informed contributions you and others make to this thread. Invaluable.

Dana

Yes, it is the same exact firmware, they just have made it available to the public.

My Oppo (direct from Oppo) and monoprice 5x1 hdmi switch should arrive today. I may not have time to get it fully integrated into my system for a day or so.

Is there anything wrong with taking it out of the box, plugging it in (but not conneting it to anything), doing the F0316 firmware upgrade and then connecting it to the rest of the system later?

Or...should I bring it on line completely integrated with the original firmware first, and then go through the upgrade? I have the latest beta firmware burned to a CD and am ready to go with the upgrade. If your player is coming direct from OPPO, it may already have the 0316 FW. In any case, I wouldn't risk trying an upgrade without a display connected. It does not need to be fully integrated into your system though (any display will do).

Gary

Just got mine yesterday. Had 302 on it. This player is sooo much nicer than I imagined. I'm glad I pulled the trigger.

If your player is coming direct from OPPO, it may already have the 0316 FW. In any case, I wouldn't risk trying an upgrade without a display connected. It does not need to be fully integrated into your system though (any display will do).

Gary

All units are still shipping with the F-0302 firmware. F-0316 will likely become the next firmware release once OPPO runs out of their current stock (upgrading DVD players is mind boggling slow and tedius).

If your player is coming direct from OPPO, it may already have the 0316 FW. In any case, I wouldn't risk trying an upgrade without a display connected. It does not need to be fully integrated into your system though (any display will do).

Gary

Thanks Gary. My plans have been waylaid by DHL shipping. The monoprice switchbox and cables were supposed to be here yesterday. DHL didn't honor the 2nd day air (by mistake), and it was shipped ground, so won't arrive until Monday.

So....the OPPO should be there when I get home, but I won't have any way to connect it up until Monday evening by the looks of things.

Thanks, fueler. I'd appreciate if anyone/everyone would send a request for this if they have a free minute. It's a real PIA to deal with when the other two DVD players I just replaced with the Oppo supported discretes.. one of which was 8+ years old.

Regs,
Jeff

I feel you, every sony that I have ever seen will take Discretes codes.....

Anyhow, if everyone could drop a quick email to oppo and ask for discrete codes.

Thanks,

Jon

The Oppo came this afternoon. I hooked it up via progressive as my hdmi switch and cables won't e here 'til Monday.

Upgraded the firmware to F0316 without difficulty.

Now...it should be obvious, but I don't get it: how do you change (skip ahead one track at a time) on a disk with a bunch of mp3 files on it (no levels or folders, all just a series of tracks)

When I hit the >>| button, it stops the mp3 playing. I can speed up play with repetitive hits on the play button...but I want to go from track 1 to track 5 by hitting some button 4 times...which button is it?

I tried (and hopefully didn't mess things up) changing the remote by pressing and holding the front panel stop button for 5 sec and got the New RC message...but that didn't make any difference. Is there a way to go back to the original remote settings, or should I do that given I have a black remote (as supplied).?

Use the up down buttons on the center pad and then press the select button.

Get the new remote -- it's loads better.

Paul

Problem with my Oppo just started. I have had the player for just over 90 days now, but have used it only for about 5 times. Last night while watching a dvd the display began turning everything red. It went back and forth for a while between good image and red image then eventually stayed deep red. Everything in the image is a shade of red and pink, but still viewable. When not playing a dvd the screen saver and Oppo splash screen are red toned instead of blue.

The player is connected to my Samsung DLP via the Oppo supplied DVI - DVI cable. the red screen is only with the dvd player all other ouputs are fine.

I also just last week finally trashed the packaging the player was shipped in so if i have to send it back for warranty work I no longer have the original packing.

Any suggestions? tia

p.s. I had upgraded from F-0202 to F-0302 with no change to the red screen. Just noticed the new firmware posting and will try that to F-0316.

Edit: No change on the red screen with the 316 firmware.

Just got my new Oppo in today. Mine came with an HDMI to DVI cable as well as a DVI to DVI cable. Is that something new?

Steve

Got both of those with mine from Surf Audio/Video as well, Steve. I picked up the NXG 4 meter versions of both of those as well.

Regs,
Jeff

PS - Nice to see some more Houston 'burb members pop up in this thread.

Just got my new Oppo in today. Mine came with an HDMI to DVI cable as well as a DVI to DVI cable. Is that something new?

Steve

Nope.

Sounds like you've got one of the bad DVI boards that are going around (you could check component out, maybe?). Email oppo with your problem and they'll sort it out :) (packaging won't be an issue for them--they're the best)

Dave


Problem with my Oppo just started. I have had the player for just over 90 days now, but have used it only for about 5 times. Last night while watching a dvd the display began turning everything red. It went back and forth for a while between good image and red image then eventually stayed deep red. Everything in the image is a shade of red and pink, but still viewable. When not playing a dvd the screen saver and Oppo splash screen are red toned instead of blue.

The player is connected to my Samsung DLP via the Oppo supplied DVI - DVI cable. the red screen is only with the dvd player all other ouputs are fine.

I also just last week finally trashed the packaging the player was shipped in so if i have to send it back for warranty work I no longer have the original packing.

Any suggestions? tia

p.s. I had upgraded from F-0202 to F-0302 with no change to the red screen. Just noticed the new firmware posting and will try that to F-0316.

Edit: No change on the red screen with the 316 firmware.

The Oppo came this afternoon. I hooked it up via progressive as my hdmi switch and cables won't e here 'til Monday.

Upgraded the firmware to F0316 without difficulty.

Now...it should be obvious, but I don't get it: how do you change (skip ahead one track at a time) on a disk with a bunch of mp3 files on it (no levels or folders, all just a series of tracks)

When I hit the >>| button, it stops the mp3 playing. I can speed up play with repetitive hits on the play button...but I want to go from track 1 to track 5 by hitting some button 4 times...which button is it?

I tried (and hopefully didn't mess things up) changing the remote by pressing and holding the front panel stop button for 5 sec and got the New RC message...but that didn't make any difference. Is there a way to go back to the original remote settings, or should I do that given I have a black remote (as supplied).?

You can use hacked firmware from www.opdv971h.com

Use the up down buttons on the center pad and then press the select button.

Get the new remote -- it's loads better.

Paul

Thanks Paul. I'm confused. I just got a brand new OPPO from OPPO and I need a new remote? Mine is black...what am I looking for? (and why)

Also, after I used the "hold the front panel stop button" trick to get into the New RC message....is there any way (or any reason) to go back to how it came, given I have the black remote. I really am confused.

Thanks Paul. I'm confused. I just got a brand new OPPO from OPPO and I need a new remote? Mine is black...what am I looking for? (and why)

Also, after I used the "hold the front panel stop button" trick to get into the New RC message....is there any way (or any reason) to go back to how it came, given I have the black remote. I really am confused.
Press it again for 5 seconds and it will go back, I think.

Dave

Sounds like you've got one of the bad DVI boards that are going around (you could check component out, maybe?). Email oppo with your problem and they'll sort it out :) (packaging won't be an issue for them--they're the best)

Dave

Thanks for the feedback Dave. I have tried the component connections, which work fine except only in 480. Will take your advice and contact Oppo since their warranty is good for a year.

cheers

I have an older model sony WEGA XBR (1999). It doesn't have DVI or HDMI and does not support HD over component.

It does have some sort of "vertical compression" technology that compresses the scans to the height of letterbox movies over component. When this is active even the volume display bars are shifted upward into the picture area.

My older Pioneer DVD/LD player activated this vertical compression scheme. My new Oppo and cheapo cyberhome don't seem to do this though.

Any thoughts? I know I need a new TV and am working on the mrs...you know how it goes.

Well, I got the OPPO hooked up and I noticed some artifacts. Never seen macro blocking before so I am wondering if this is it. In darker areas of the picture it starts breakup in blocks and kind of morphs. I am assuming this is a known issue? If not, maybe its my setup. I'm outputting 720P via DVI-to-HMDI input on my Olevia LT42HVI.

Thanks for letting me know what's up.
Derek

Well, I got the OPPO hooked up and I noticed some artifacts. Never seen macro blocking before so I am wondering if this is it. In darker areas of the picture it starts breakup in blocks and kind of morphs. I am assuming this is a known issue? If not, maybe its my setup. I'm outputting 720P via DVI-to-HMDI input on my Olevia LT42HVI.

Thanks for letting me know what's up.
Derek
Have you calibrated your display, and or set the oppo to the recommended settings found in the first post of this thread? Also, are you using the latest firmware update?

Problem with my Oppo just started. I have had the player for just over 90 days now, but have used it only for about 5 times. Last night while watching a dvd the display began turning everything red. It went back and forth for a while between good image and red image then eventually stayed deep red. Everything in the image is a shade of red and pink, but still viewable. When not playing a dvd the screen saver and Oppo splash screen are red toned instead of blue.

The player is connected to my Samsung DLP via the Oppo supplied DVI - DVI cable. the red screen is only with the dvd player all other ouputs are fine.

I also just last week finally trashed the packaging the player was shipped in so if i have to send it back for warranty work I no longer have the original packing.

Any suggestions? tia

p.s. I had upgraded from F-0202 to F-0302 with no change to the red screen. Just noticed the new firmware posting and will try that to F-0316.

Edit: No change on the red screen with the 316 firmware.

When you start the RMA process with Oppo, they usually will send you a replacement unit first and let you return the defective unit. You can use the packaging from the replacement unit to send back the defective one. Maybe, on your case, if it is the bad DVI board, oppo may just send out a DVI board for you to replace yourself, if you're comfortable doing that.

Problem with my Oppo just started. I have had the player for just over 90 days now, but have used it only for about 5 times. Last night while watching a dvd the display began turning everything red. It went back and forth for a while between good image and red image then eventually stayed deep red. Everything in the image is a shade of red and pink, but still viewable. When not playing a dvd the screen saver and Oppo splash screen are red toned instead of blue.

Try another DVI/HDMI cable if you have one available.
Ensure that all the pins on the DVI cable are properly aligned, and none have been bent or broken off.
Reseat all the cables and try again.
Ensure your colorspace is correct (4:2:0).
Try another DVI/HDMI based display device to see if the red shift is not apparent through it.

If all else fails, then the DVD unit will need to be sent back for repair.

Mine did that exact same thing where it turned dark areas a deep red. It happened to me the day after I got it. I emailed oppo, and they immediately sent a new one out with a fed ex label to put on the box to ship the old one out. The new one hasn't messed up once since I got it. Oppo's customer service is the best.

bitemymac and Neuromancer,

Thanks for the replies guys. After my last post to Dave I went and got another DVI cable and tried it. the image on screen with the DVI input is now back to normal. I then thought, hell, could it be that I got a bad cable from Oppo? So I reused the Oppo supplied cable and it too is working fine now. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Wait, Neuromancer, just for future reference how do I check that the color space is correct?

Mine did that exact same thing where it turned dark areas a deep red. It happened to me the day after I got it. I emailed oppo, and they immediately sent a new one out with a fed ex label to put on the box to ship the old one out. The new one hasn't messed up once since I got it. Oppo's customer service is the best.

those like you that needed the support seem very pleased with Oppo's responses. Because of that, I am confident they will be as helpful with me. But, now that my player seems ok I will give it a little bit more of a run through its paces and see if the red image problem reappears before I take the step of contacting Oppo.

thanks for the reply.

Wait, Neuromancer, just for future reference how do I check that the color space is correct?

This setting is either always Auto, or there is an option in the menu system of your display device to manually select the colorspace. This setting mainly effects LCD users, as these displays have PC compatability modes.

Got it. thanks

Here's something that has never happened to me with any other player.

Was watching Hoodwinked with my family tonight and someone got up to use the bathroom.

I pressed stop on the remote and waited for their return. We were about 10 minutes into the movie.

When I hit play again to resume, the movie started playing in a different spot in the film (about 40 minutes into it).

I thought I might have hit the wrong button or something but what would advance the movie 30 minutes or so when it was in stop mode?

What's current official stable firmvare version? Can somebody provide a link to oppo firmware download page?

F-0302 Firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0302_download.html) is the most stable, official firmware. You may also want to try the F-0316 Firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html) as well.

Have you calibrated your display, and or set the oppo to the recommended settings found in the first post of this thread? Also, are you using the latest firmware update?

I have not calibrated the display yet. But, I do have the settings for the OPPO as suggested in the first post. Would the issue I am seeing have anything to do with my display calibration? I plan on calibrating soon to see if I can get the problem to go away.

I have not calibrated the display yet. But, I do have the settings for the OPPO as suggested in the first post. Would the issue I am seeing have anything to do with my display calibration? I plan on calibrating soon to see if I can get the problem to go away.

Calibration is a huge piece of the puzzle in terms of video fidelity. I would highly recommend running a calibration disc on your display device to see what errors you can surpress.

Calibration is a huge piece of the puzzle in terms of video fidelity. I would highly recommend running a calibration disc on your display device to see what errors you can surpress.

I do have the latest firmware. For some reason my display doesn't let me adjust the hue, color, and sharpness in HDMI mode? I have to figure this out so I can properly calibrate it.

Sorry to go slightly off track, but has anyone checked out the portable Oppo digital audio player(s)?

Seems like a nice unit with good phones included. But $129 seems high for only 512mb. Plus, most retailers don't carry them, so I doubt they will get discounted much.
But it does have a lot of features.

It's quite nice. Incredibly small, it has unbelieveably strong sound. The FM tuner is quite good as well. The included Oppo/Sennheiser earbuds are a budget "audiophile" favorite. I love the OLED display. It is UMS (no WMP needed) but file transfer is a bit slow.

Paul

Hello, I just received my Oppo DVD player directly from Oppo. My movies look great now on my Sony 50" SXRD. One question that I can't seem to find the answer to: when I set the DVI output to 1080i, is that saved permanently like the normal setup parameters or do I have to set that everytime I start up?

Thanks! :)

Hello, I just received my Oppo DVD player directly from Oppo. My movies look great now on my Sony 50" SXRD. One question that I can't seem to find the answer to: when I set the DVI output to 1080i, is that saved permanently like the normal setup parameters or do I have to set that everytime I start up?

Thanks! :)

Saved permanently until you change it again ;)

Thanks ghettogreg!

Hello all. Just hooked up my Oppo today and watched a few movies. What a great player and a great bargain! I watched Spiderman 2, The Forgotten, and Final Fanyasy 7 Advent Children. They all looked amazing, especially Spiderman 2 which looked pretty grainy on my old sony player.

Thanks for all those whose input has gone into this thread. I am glad that I discovered it. :)

My setup:
Panasonic PT-52LCX65 LCD RPTV
Onkyo TX-SR601 6.1 Reciever
Polk Audio Montior Series Speakers, JBL Sub
Oppo OPDV971H DVD Player
Motto box with MOXI (Adelphia)
XBOX 360

Just curious...

The worst case of lag of any of the movies in my collection, was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (I hadn't even watched the other 2 yet).

With the 0320 firmware it's better, but I'm curious whether anyone else has noticed excessive lag with this title.

Thanks...
SV

It is UMS (no WMP needed) but file transfer is a bit slow.

That is what happens when you use a Philips Audio Decoder: Great sound, slow USB 1.1 response.

To the new guys: Welcome to the club!

Gary

I have not calibrated the display yet. But, I do have the settings for the OPPO as suggested in the first post. Would the issue I am seeing have anything to do with my display calibration? I plan on calibrating soon to see if I can get the problem to go away. Absolutely! See this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7270763&&#post7270763).

Gary

Here's something that has never happened to me with any other player.

Was watching Hoodwinked with my family tonight and someone got up to use the bathroom.

I pressed stop on the remote and waited for their return. We were about 10 minutes into the movie.

When I hit play again to resume, the movie started playing in a different spot in the film (about 40 minutes into it).

I thought I might have hit the wrong button or something but what would advance the movie 30 minutes or so when it was in stop mode? I do plenty of stopping and pausing and I have never experienced this. Are you sure you didn't accidentally bump the chapter-skip button? That remote control is so effective, that my player often responds even when the remote is pointed away from the player, or sitting behind the large chest that serves as our coffee table.

Gary

Using latest beta firmware.

I have set the audio bit rate three times to 192K and it works fine with my setup. However, every time I turn the Oppo off and back on, the bit rate goes back to 48K. Shouldn't this be saved automagically after a change, or is this a bug in the firmware? For that matter, I can't say I've changed a bunch of other things to see if they are being saved, but I think they are.

It's quite nice. Incredibly small, it has unbelieveably strong sound. The FM tuner is quite good as well. The included Oppo/Sennheiser earbuds are a budget "audiophile" favorite. I love the OLED display. It is UMS (no WMP needed) but file transfer is a bit slow.

Paul

Thanks, Paul. The earbuds can be had for $10-15 now elsewhere. So that's not a deal breaker for me, but I like the overall design and features.

hasan,

I have no problem using the LPCM Out settings on the F-0316 firmware. Try installing the firmware again to ensure it has stuck.

Curious if anyone caught the response in The Perfect Vision to the writer's skewed review he did back in Feb/Mar, of the Oppo? I was out of town that week it hit the newstand, so maybe missed some discussion on here.

The highlights (admittedly in my own words):

He tried not to back pedal when admitting he should have read the Oppo manual more thoroughly, and another assessment 'might' raise it another notch in his rating. Then went on to talk about the Krell Showcase being the only real performer in HDMI upconverting players. Mentioning the Oppo and Krell and the same breath? That's a compliment! (not one he intended, I'm sure..)
He poked at one letter he received, claiming the Oppo was 'astounding'. Of course, he did not mention all the other letters he likely received that were more grounded in content.
And in conclusion says he tries not to only look at components as an expert, but as a consumer. (blames Oppo for the player not being more 'intuitive', so he should not have to dig into the manual.) And I thought he was an expert AND a consumer...What a bunch of turkey stuffing :D

videoaddikt -

I have online access the magazine and read that a couple of weeks ago. The letter itself is pricessless, and the reply is very guarded in how he tries to explain his reasonings behind his results.

Using latest beta firmware.

I have set the audio bit rate three times to 192K and it works fine with my setup. However, every time I turn the Oppo off and back on, the bit rate goes back to 48K. Shouldn't this be saved automagically after a change, or is this a bug in the firmware? For that matter, I can't say I've changed a bunch of other things to see if they are being saved, but I think they are.

I have this same problem using the F-0302 firmware it shipped with. btw - where are you guys finding the 0316 beta firmware? I checked their website and its not listed.

I have this same problem using the F-0302 firmware it shipped with.

Hmmm....are we doing something wrong...perhaps there is a "save" command we are missing. I'm just not used to this thing yet, so I could miss something really obvious!

My monoprice hdmi switch and cables should have arrived this afternoon. If so, I'll see the DVI output of the OPPO for the first time this evening. So far watching it in progressive at 480i has been perfectly acceptable (as it should be, in that I have been watching 480p from my older JVC for the last two years). It will be interesting if I can see the difference between 480i and 720p upconverted. (I better :p )

So far, I'm pleased with the OPPO's performance, but tonight will be the real test.

I have this same problem using the F-0302 firmware it shipped with. btw - where are you guys finding the 0316 beta firmware? I checked their website and its not listed.

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html

Hey Gary,

just a final word on the end-titles/credits

Been watching for a while now - in general video Q is superb for NTSC - & the best I've ever seen for converted PAL (Video2 mode)

whilst there are no noticeable effects on watching end credits in 480p or 720p over DVI on my Toshiba (native 1080i), the best looking (sharpest/crispest) picture (1080i) still delivers a disappointing blurry effect on this scrolling text at the ends of the films

I wonder if Oppo knows anything about this - or if it's some misfortune in the combination of my player/TV (Tosh 65HDX82 rear proj.)

honestly, it's like I'm on drugs or something when I watch them (or, like what I imagine it would be like to be on drugs whilst watching...) there's like a blurring/flickering between frames almost - like the cadence is buggered somehow, even though I don't see any artifacts throughout the main movie...

hold everything - I just watched a slow diagonal tracking shot of a building in the distance in a movie where a similar effect seemed to manifest itself - like a persistence-of-vision blurriness between frames
I wonder if perhaps this artifact only shows itself in certain types of vertical cinematic motion at certain speeds? can it be to do with the progressive/interlaced conversion (considering the DVD generally stores intact 24p frames for film and the TV ideally wants to be fed with interlaced source material for 1080i)
I had the Sony upconverter briefly before the Oppo, but I don't remember seeing this effect - maybe the Oppo is doing something differently with the 1080i output stage?

anyway, when watching end-title credits, I've tried TrueLife On and Off and it makes no noticeable difference

m

Gary/Neuromancer... (should I try and describe this to Oppo myself in an email?) - I didn't buy it directly from Oppo as up here in Canada I had to buy it through one of their distributors instead...


Good review.

The Faroudja chipset doesn't handle 1080i as well as it should. That could be the reason, but check the source too. Do the credits look OK at 720p? Have you tried turning off Truelife?

Gary

and my final word on this perceived motion blur... it's not that bad of an issue - just stops a very good player from being the perfect player!

Hey Gary,

just a final word on the end-titles/credits

Been watching for a while now - in general video Q is superb for NTSC - & the best I've ever seen for converted PAL (Video2 mode)

whilst there are no noticeable effects on watching end credits in 480p or 720p over DVI on my Toshiba (native 1080i), the best looking (sharpest/crispest) picture (1080i) still delivers a disappointing blurry effect on this scrolling text at the ends of the films


this is why i always have my Oppo on 720p -- 1080i has too many jittery / weird issues, and my set is native 1080i as well.

Just curious...

The worst case of lag of any of the movies in my collection, was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (I hadn't even watched the other 2 yet).

With the 0320 firmware it's better, but I'm curious whether anyone else has noticed excessive lag with this title.

Thanks...
SV

I've watched all three with my OPPO connected to a Tosh 65HX93. I didnt notice any augio lag.

Rick

Hey Gary,

just a final word on the end-titles/credits

Been watching for a while now - in general video Q is superb for NTSC - & the best I've ever seen for converted PAL (Video2 mode)

whilst there are no noticeable effects on watching end credits in 480p or 720p over DVI on my Toshiba (native 1080i), the best looking (sharpest/crispest) picture (1080i) still delivers a disappointing blurry effect on this scrolling text at the ends of the films

I wonder if Oppo knows anything about this - or if it's some misfortune in the combination of my player/TV (Tosh 65HDX82 rear proj.)

honestly, it's like I'm on drugs or something when I watch them (or, like what I imagine it would be like to be on drugs whilst watching...) there's like a blurring/flickering between frames almost - like the cadence is buggered somehow, even though I don't see any artifacts throughout the main movie...

hold everything - I just watched a slow diagonal tracking shot of a building in the distance in a movie where a similar effect seemed to manifest itself - like a persistence-of-vision blurriness between frames
I wonder if perhaps this artifact only shows itself in certain types of vertical cinematic motion at certain speeds? can it be to do with the progressive/interlaced conversion (considering the DVD generally stores intact 24p frames for film and the TV ideally wants to be fed with interlaced source material for 1080i)
I had the Sony upconverter briefly before the Oppo, but I don't remember seeing this effect - maybe the Oppo is doing something differently with the 1080i output stage?

anyway, when watching end-title credits, I've tried TrueLife On and Off and it makes no noticeable difference

m

Gary/Neuromancer... (should I try and describe this to Oppo myself in an email?) - I didn't buy it directly from Oppo as up here in Canada I had to buy it through one of their distributors instead...




and my final word on this perceived motion blur... it's not that bad of an issue - just stops a very good player from being the perfect player!

I'm using my OPPO connected to a Tosh 65HX93. I've had some juddering on home recorded DVD/s but not what you described on any commercial DVD's using FW 0316.

I acutally flip flop between 1080 and 720. Can't seem to make up my mind on which I prefer. Right now I'm at 1080, and will probably stick there for a while unless I notice some issues that 720 doesnt have.

I do notice a shaking, or jittery screen with the OPPO splash screen, but not while playing DVD's.

Rick

Been watching for a while now - in general video Q is superb for NTSC - & the best I've ever seen for converted PAL (Video2 mode)

whilst there are no noticeable effects on watching end credits in 480p or 720p over DVI on my Toshiba (native 1080i), the best looking (sharpest/crispest) picture (1080i) still delivers a disappointing blurry effect on this scrolling text at the ends of the films

I wonder if Oppo knows anything about this - or if it's some misfortune in the combination of my player/TV (Tosh 65HDX82 rear proj.)

honestly, it's like I'm on drugs or something when I watch them (or, like what I imagine it would be like to be on drugs whilst watching...) there's like a blurring/flickering between frames almost - like the cadence is buggered somehow, even though I don't see any artifacts throughout the main movie...

Gary/Neuromancer... (should I try and describe this to Oppo myself in an email?) - I didn't buy it directly from Oppo as up here in Canada I had to buy it through one of their distributors instead... magic144, 1080i is interlaced and therefore flicker-prone in the first place, but the Faroudja chip evidently doesn't handle it as well as it should either. This is a known issue with the Faroudja chip (in any player). OPPO is already aware of it.

720p is consistently the best output resolution from this player (but then 1080i looks rock-solid on my DLP display too). The display often dictates the best resolution to use, so choose the one that looks the best to you.

Gary

Last night I got to hook up the DVI output to my HL-R5667W Samsung DLP (through a Monoprice 5X1 switch). I wasn't sure I was going to see much difference, as I was fairly pleased with the 480i on the DVDs I had watched.

Amazingly enough the difference was obvious. The only subjective word I could use is CLARITY. The HDMI had observably better "resolution". The DVI output is set to 720P (matches native mode on the 5667) The color balance looked better as well. For what I'm seeing the OPPO is well worth the investment over my prior 480P player, (which btw, I liked a LOT).

On the 3 DVDs I checked there was a slight amount of lip-sync ...one was worse than the other two. None of them were so distracting that they caused me to become annoyed. After all, when I watch a scene with dialogue, I am watching the eyes more than anything else. It was only when I watched the lips, to the exclusion of everything else, that I could detect this small amount of lip-sync advance. I was VERY suprised watching the opening of DUNE (original version with Kyle M.) that there was virtually no lip-sync. This opening scene has the princess in full frontal face view doing a narrative, so the sync problem would have been painfully obvious. It wasn't. I hardly could find any. The internal delay in the OPPO doesn't come into play, as I'm using coaxial digital out at 192K (when I can get it to stay there instead of flipping back to 48K)

Overall, I'm VERY happy with the OPPO. Now if I can just get the Monoprice 5x1 hdmi switch to work properly with my Harmony remote (integrated so that when I select "Watch a Movie", it sets the HDMI input to the right device.)

If this isn't the place to ask, please point me in the right direction.

My OPPO needed another HDMI port and the Sammy 4667W only has one. I bought the Monoprice 5x1 switch.

I use a Harmony remote. In the Harmony "activity" I normally select "Watch a Movie" for DVDs which then controls the AMP/Video Switching and works fine. Since adding the monoprice switch, I can't figure out how to tell the Harmony that when I "Watch a Movie", I want it to use the monoprice switch input #2, and when I "Watch TV" I want it to use switch input #1. The Switch is listed on the Harmony website, and is now listed as a device programmed into my Harmony remote. However, in no place (in the activities) does it ask me what input on the monoprice switch do you want to use when you watch Movies.

Help! Hints? Where to find out? Perhaps somone in this forum has used the Monoprice 5x1 switch with a Harmony remote and you can clue me in.

If this isn't the place to ask, please point me in the right direction.

My OPPO needed another HDMI port and the Sammy 4667W only has one. I bought the Monoprice 5x1 switch.

I use a Harmony remote. In the Harmony "activity" I normally select "Watch a Movie" for DVDs which then controls the AMP/Video Switching and works fine. Since adding the monoprice switch, I can't figure out how to tell the Harmony that when I "Watch a Movie", I want it to use the monoprice switch input #2, and when I "Watch TV" I want it to use switch input #1. The Switch is listed on the Harmony website, and is now listed as a device programmed into my Harmony remote. However, in no place (in the activities) does it ask me what input on the monoprice switch do you want to use when you watch Movies.

Help! Hints? Where to find out? Perhaps somone in this forum has used the Monoprice 5x1 switch with a Harmony remote and you can clue me in.
Well, you might have better luck in the Remote Control Area (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=93), but what you probably need to do is:
1) Go to "Troubleshoot" for the activity you want to modify.
2) Tell it you want to change devices and settings.
3) Run through the basic setup, then at the end, select "Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity."
4) Add the Monoprice switch device to the activity.
5) When you get to "Please review the action for your <foo> Activity", select "Add an action for your Monoprice HDMI Switch", and, depending on how the device is set up in the system, either select "Set it to this input" or "Send this infrared command", and put in the input you want.

This is approximate, since I haven't needed to fiddle with this sort of thing for a while, but it should get you pointed in the right direction. Further questions really ought to go to the Remote Control Area, though.

Good luck!

Well, you might have better luck in the Remote Control Area (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=93), but what you probably need to do is:


This is approximate, since I haven't needed to fiddle with this sort of thing for a while, but it should get you pointed in the right direction. Further questions really ought to go to the Remote Control Area, though.

Good luck!

That's EXACTLY the info I was looking for. Thanks a bunch, including the reference to the remote control area.

OK, this is probably a stupid question, but I am going to ask it anyway. I have never used a DVD-A disc, so I am a little fuzzy on this. I will be using a HK 635 with the Oppo. The receiver has discrete 6 channel 5.1 audio inputs and I believe that I can cycle thru the input selections until I get this option. I understand that I will have to do this manually, since I will have a digital input defaulted to the DVD player.

I know the Oppo puts out audio on both digital and analog at the same time. If I am using a DVD-A disc, I can turn on the Oppo and my display and cycle the inputs to 6 channel discrete analog on the HK and select that option. Then for audio the Oppo will be used to establish the sound field, using its processor and the HK will only output the signal received from the Oppo. Is all of that correct?

My next question is, why would you want to do this? In other words, what is the advantage of using the Oppo's sound processors and an analog output, as opposed to simply sending the audio over a coax and allowing the HK to do the sound processing of a digital signal, as you would with a standard DVD video disc? It appears to me that in order to use this connection properly, you have to set up your system in the Oppo (speaker size, distance, etc) If you are not using the 5.1 analog outputs, you do not have to concern yourself with this system setup at all. Correct?

Thanks.

The reason you need 5.1 analog outputs is because coax and optical are limited to 2ch for copy protection. So you will only get a stereo (high res, but stereo) signal without going analog

I assume you are referring to DVD-A disc only, of course. So in other words, if I play a DVD-A disc in the Oppo without routing it via the 5.1 analog outputs (normal DVD video digital method) then the audio that is sent to the receiver will be a PCM stereo signal, even if the DVD-A disc is encoded in 5.1. Is that accurate?

2ch yes.

When I want to listen to a DVD-Audio disc, I use the multichannel inputs. When I want to watch a DVD-Video, I use the spdif connection. If a DVD-Audio disc is played, a 2 channel, high resolution stereo PCM signal is sent over spdif. I don't remember if it's a mixdown, or just the front left and right channels. I think the DVD-Audio spec requires that digital audio be downresed, but the Oppo will, output a 192 KHz signal. As I have a limited stock of DVDA, and a receiver that's only capable of 96 KHz, I have not investigated further.

If you want to listen to the dolby digital or dts surround mixes, you'll have to switch the Oppo back to DVD-Video mode.

It's a choice. dts/dolby digital/low res signals (digital surround) or the advanced resolution signals (analog surround).

So in addition to setting the receiver on the 6 channel analog inputs, I have to set the Oppo to DVD Audio mode. Then I switch it back to DVD Video mode to watch a regular DVD movie and have the audio go digital/spdif raw?

So in addition to setting the receiver on the 6 channel analog inputs, I have to set the Oppo to DVD Audio mode. Then I switch it back to DVD Video mode to watch a regular DVD movie and have the audio go digital/spdif raw?
Shouldn't be necessary -- the DVD-Audio/DVD-Video setting only applies to DVD-A discs where there's a choice of a DVD-A audio track, or a regular DVD-V audio track. Just leave it on DVD-Audio, and you'll be fine for regular movies.

The reason you need 5.1 analog outputs is because coax and optical are limited to 2ch for copy protection. So you will only get a stereo (high res, but stereo) signal without going analog

Eh? I'm getting DD 5.1 from my coaxial output from the OPPO into my Onkyo HT Receiver. I must not understand what you are saying. Some TVs don't pass through DD 5.1, is that what you are referring to?

Shouldn't be necessary -- the DVD-Audio/DVD-Video setting only applies to DVD-A discs where there's a choice of a DVD-A audio track, or a regular DVD-V audio track. Just leave it on DVD-Audio, and you'll be fine for regular movies.

OK, I think I got it. the DVD-A or DVD-V setting is only for DVD audio disc. It tells the Oppo what to do when you insert a DVD-A and over what audio outputs to send the audio signal. That makes sense.

Thanks for all the help.

But if you're really curious, try playing a DVD-Audio disc using each of the two settings.

Eh? I'm getting DD 5.1 from my coaxial output from the OPPO into my Onkyo HT Receiver. I must not understand what you are saying. Some TVs don't pass through DD 5.1, is that what you are referring to?

Arghh! The whole point of DVD-Audio is that it doesn't subject the data to lossy compression. Dolby Digital and dts take those six channels of audio and compress the hell out of them. DVD-A's data stream (6 channels of 96/24 PCM) can't possibly fit down spdif.. In any case, spdif can be digitally recorded, and the music labels don't want that. So, if you want to listen to the full richness of DVD-Audio on the Oppo, you're going to have to either settle for stereo, or use analog cables.

And since high resolution stereo can't really be appreciated on marginal equipment, but surround mixes are quite obvious, i'd go with analog.

Arghh! The whole point of DVD-Audio is that it doesn't subject the data to lossy compression. Dolby Digital and dts take those six channels of audio and compress the hell out of them. The end result is a data stream that can't possibly fit down spdif.. In any case, spdif can be digitally recorded, and the music labels don't want that. So, if you want to listen to the full richness of DVD-Audio on the Oppo, you're going to have to either settle for stereo, or use analog cables.

And since high resolution stereo can't really be appreciated on marginal equipment, but surround mixes are quite obvious, i'd go with analog.

I just knew I missed something...if I had read the entire thread, I would not have jumped in. I was thinking movies, and you were talking about something else entirely. Thanks for filling me in.

I am using my Oppo to play my cd's since i see no reason to buy a separate CD player. Are there any settings i need to chance to play CDs vs watching regular dvds. Since CDs are analog I assume it's correct that I don't get any type of Dolby Digital options on my receiver?

no, no specialty settings are required to enjoy audio CDs. The audio will be sent as a bitstream (digital outputs) which has no DD/DTS flagging. What you can do is use the DSPs on your receiver to enhance the audio (such as Dolby Prologic Music, DTS Neo, Logic 7, and so forth).

CD's are digital, not analog. You don't need to change any settings on the OPPO. You can use either the digital or analog outputs from the player (set the receiver's CD mode accordingly). The receiver does not have to do any Dolby Digital decoding, but may have DSP modes for psuedo-multi-channel output if you really want that.

Gary

To the new guys: Welcome to the club!

Gary

Thanks Gary! Really informative forum!

This is approximate, since I haven't needed to fiddle with this sort of thing for a while, but it should get you pointed in the right direction. Further questions really ought to go to the Remote Control Area, though.

Good luck!

Who needs luck with such excellent instructions. I made the necessary changes and now the Monoprice 5x1 hdmi switch works perfectly with the Harmony 625 remote controlling the OPPO and HL-R5667W. I can't thank you enough. :)

*punks GSB by seconds* hazzah

The Oppo has an HDCD decoder, so the analogue outs might still be of some use.

I prefer to use my SACD carousel, so I haven't bothered.

*punks GSB by seconds* hazzahHeh! Seconds indeed!

And CONGRATULATIONS on your 1000th post! "AVS Special Member" what, what!

Gary

Thank you thank you. Been a long time coming. Maybe it is time to retire?

Time to retire? Don't you dare! You are a credit to this forum and to this thread! Its time for a party instead.

Gary

Who needs luck with such excellent instructions. I made the necessary changes and now the Monoprice 5x1 hdmi switch works perfectly with the Harmony 625 remote controlling the OPPO and HL-R5667W. I can't thank you enough. :)
Glad to hear it. :cool: The Harmony site sometimes tries so hard to be helpful that it's impossible to find the options that you actually need under all the layers of oversimplification.

newest strange question!

I'm watching an interlaced-encoded movie (yes, they are rare) WITH subtitles. (French film "8 Women" by Francois Ozon, in case anybody knows it)...

No matter what DVI res I choose (480p, 720p, 1080i), the subtitles always seem to "twinkle" against the picture

If I watch exactly the same disc on my cheap Aspire Digital player over component, the subs look rock solid.

I tried another "common" progressively-encoded movie on the 971 and the subs looked fine against the picture - no "twinkling" from the Oppo on that disc...

Do you think there is something about watching subs on an interlaced source that would be causing this effect on the Oppo?

I can't think of another disc I would have with an interlaced source - perhaps I'll dig through some TV discs for a check...

Has anybody else seen or commented on the effect I'm describing - it's like the video processing is operating on the subtitles as what's behind them changes... would that be DCDi? Surely the subs would be added on afterwards, immediately before output...

m

just to confirm - it is indeed only the text over top of a non-static background which seems to twitter in this way - if the background is still, the text is normal - if only part of the background changes, only the text there will be affected

ok, I found a TV-show encoded interlaced with subs and that suffers too - though the extent to which it is noticeable also seems to vary with the shape, size and outline of the subtitles

to illustrate, the subs in the French film are quite large and white, with a very thin black outline - these seem to suffer from the twitter a lot because of the thinness of the outline against the changing background - using the zoom feature to shrink the picture down out of the way of the subs means the subs can remain rock solid if you're prepared to watch a smaller picture that keeps out of their way!

in my collection, however, it must be said that having a truly interlaced source is rare enough, never mind one for which I require subtitles, so this is a small issue indeed - just annoying :-)

Just wanted to note that while using DVE with the Oppo through DVI to my Tosh 57H83, my ISF tech had to set brightness to +1 and contrast to -1 with the 0316 firmware in order to not crush black or white. I seem to recall someone else posting similar results here, but I can't find it with search since "+1" is too small of a search criteria.

On a related note, I watched Revenge Of The Sith all the way through from the beginning. Now this time I did see some brief and slight judder on the "A long time ago", but the pan down still seemed pretty smooth to me. Certainly nothing I'd notice under normal circumstances.

I've watched two films so far, ROTS and M:I 1, and did not see any sync issues whatsoever.

I do see a small amout of macroblocking on rare occasions, but the trade off is worth it-really like the player so far.

I'm watching an interlaced-encoded movie (yes, they are rare)

All DVDs are interlaced. There's no such thing as a progressive DVD. The difference is whether the video stream is flagged as "Film" or "Video". The Faroudja DCDi chip should disregard the flags and analyze the picture cadence instead. It sounds like in your example the movie probably follows a pretty standard PAL 2:2 film cadence while the subtitles have been poorly encoded with a "video" cadence, and the combination of the two is causing the deinterlacer to trip up.

Which firmware are you using? That might make some difference. PAL playback was improved in the latest firmware updates.

and are you using video 1 or video 2 mode? video2 mode iis allegedly better at 2:2 cadence, but there may be some disadvantages to using it.

Just a couple of points - thanks for your replies so far Josh Z, jerwin

- FW I'm using is latest beta - 0316b
- The movie in question is NTSC (not PAL, and not SECAM!)
- I know full well that ALL DVDs contain interlaced fields, but MOST DVDs are flagged (correctly or otherwise) to allow the correct reconstruction of the original progressive film frames - this is NOT one of those films as I've looked at the video in DGIndex and I know for a fact that the source material is truly interlaced
- the subtitles are regular DVD subtitles - separate from the video and fully (de)selectable - so why oh why would any kind of video processing be done on them? - they aren't "recorded" with any video cadence - they're just bitmaps
- I'm using video2 mode (since PAL films look awesome in video2), but since this is NTSC, this shouldn't make any difference - in fact I've looked at it in Video1 mode and the effect is still present - I've also toggled TrueLife, CCS and Noise params to no effect

Magic, are you watching this movie is WIDE/SQZ mode or is it 16:9? Subtitles in WIDE/SQZ mode are of noticably lower quality.

I have noticed some video artifacts (I guess it could be called "twinkling") on one or two anime DVDs. In these cases it was always in WIDE/SQZ, with white text over moving backgrounds. In this case it was the text that had the artifacts, not the subtitles (though subtitles were present on the screen too)

jeffs2

are you talking about text 'embedded' in the video? I am not, I am talking about subtitles that you can turn on and off on a DVD

the film I'm watching is 16:9, interlaced-source, NTSC
whilst I do have WIDE/SQZ mode engaged, since this is not 4:3 material, I'm not sure what difference it would make (and I am assuming none) - as far as I am aware, WIDE/SQZ mode only affects the way in which 4:3 material is presented on 16:9 set

- The movie in question is NTSC (not PAL, and not SECAM!)

Sorry about that. Regardless, it seems that the movie's content has a different cadence than the subtitles.

- I know full well that ALL DVDs contain interlaced fields, but MOST DVDs are flagged (correctly or otherwise) to allow the correct reconstruction of the original progressive film frames

This is actually irrelevant, since the Faroudja DCDi chip doesn't read the flags anyway. The flags are there for the benefit of poor deinterlacing chips that aren't capable of 3:2 pulldown or cadence detection.

- the subtitles are regular DVD subtitles - separate from the video and fully (de)selectable - so why oh why would any kind of video processing be done on them? - they aren't "recorded" with any video cadence - they're just bitmaps

The subtitle bitmaps are generated by the MPEG decoder in interlaced fields so that they can be displayed on interlaced TVs. They have to be deinterlaced for progressive TVs just as the movie video must be. In some cases like this, the disc may be poorly authored so that the subtitles don't follow the same cadence as the movie.

well like I said, the subtitles are rock-solid on my el-cheapo Aspire player (progressive output, over component cable)

so the Oppo is doing something odd and possibly wrong (or at least incompatible)

What happens when you use the analog outputs from the OPDV971H?

not tried that yet as I want to see HD, the whole reason for buying the Oppo!

but yeah, I'll give that a go and report back tonight

Just a couple of points - thanks for your replies so far Josh Z, jerwin

- FW I'm using is latest beta - 0316b


Where do you get the latest beta from?
My unit came shipped with 0302b and the PAL lipsynch problem is very bad. I just wondered if that has been solved

from Oppo's website

it's in plain sight!

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html

and yep, the lip sync has been totally on the money since I started to use this variant :-)

@Neuromancer

looks like the subs for this film are OK on component, so it's something to do with DVI I guess

interestingly, component is still functional in Video2 mode on my NTSC HDTV
it produces a normal picture for NTSC video
it just doesn't have the correct vertical hold for PAL material

I had thought that component was supposed to be disabled in Video2 mode, but I guess not

m

I would like to find out if the OPPO will be a prefect match for the Maxent 42" MX-42HPM20 plasma?

Anyfeedbacks, would be highly appreciated.

Thanks and godd day to all!

Been all thru this thread, AND have entered the settings in the first post of the thread.

I've had the Oppo for 2 days. DVI-HDMI. 46" RPTV HD. Latest released firmware. Running at 720P since at 1080i the Oppo screen saver seemed to flicker a bit. But even when I watched video at 1080i I saw no difference between the two settings.

I've done comparisons with a few movies between the Oppo and my $89 Sony Progressive Scan player from Frys.

And people, the Sony looks better to me.

It's not as grainy. It's blacks are better. And it's smoother (maybe same as grainy).

With all the kudos about how people "see the difference as soon as they turn it on", what am I missing?

Thanks!
CFG

I've done comparisons with a few movies between the Oppo and my $89 Sony Progressive Scan player from Frys.

And people, the Sony looks better to me.

It's not as grainy. And it's smoother (maybe same as grainy). CFG, when you say the Sony's blacks are better, that immediately sounds alarm bells... your display has obviously not been properly calibrated. To do a fair comparison, your display should be calibrated for each player you test (at least the basics, like brightness, contrast, saturation, etc). The OPPO's blacks are perfect, whereas the Sony's video levels (blacks included) are sometimes bad on their cheaper players.

When you say the Sony is smoother... that may be because the Sony doesn't have as much detail as the OPPO (check resolution patterns), or it may mean that the display has not been properly calibrated (again). Brightness, contrast, gamma and grayscale should all be tweaked to take advantage of the FULL range of your display's contrast. That will smooth out the picture, while retaining the OPPO's excellent detail. Remember too, that a high level of detail easily shows up film grain and digital artifacts that may have been recorded on the DVD.

You didn't tell us which Sony you have. Nevertheless, the cheaper Sony players fail on things such as these:
Chroma
Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edits
Responsiveness
Image Cropping

See the SECRETS DVD Player Benchmark (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=DVD+Player&manufacturer=0&maxprice=200&deInt=0&mpeg=0). This link filters the results to only display players below $200. In this test, the OPPO even beats players worth 10x as much.

The Sony's picture may even look great for high-quality movies that are correctly encoded and properly flagged, but what happens when you feed it poorly encoded material (which is very common)?

The Faroudja motion-adaptive de-interlacer and scaler in the OPPO makes everything look good.

Gary

The Faroudja motion-adaptive de-interlacer and scaler in the OPPO makes everything look good.

Gary

Caveat ;) Garbage in garbage out--let's say it makes eveything look the best it can.

Dave

Caveat ;) Garbage in garbage out--let's say it makes eveything look the best it can. Yes... thats more accurate.

Been all thru this thread, AND have entered the settings in the first post of the thread.

I've had the Oppo for 2 days. DVI-HDMI. 46" RPTV HD. Latest released firmware. Running at 720P since at 1080i the Oppo screen saver seemed to flicker a bit. But even when I watched video at 1080i I saw no difference between the two settings.

I've done comparisons with a few movies between the Oppo and my $89 Sony Progressive Scan player from Frys.

And people, the Sony looks better to me.

It's not as grainy. It's blacks are better. And it's smoother (maybe same as grainy).

With all the kudos about how people "see the difference as soon as they turn it on", what am I missing?

Thanks!
CFG

LOL....this is funny...

GSB: Thanks for your input. To be honest I callibrated my set 4 months ago with Video Essentials on the Sony. I didn't run it on the Oppo. I'll do that tonight.

I guess that just shows how well I callibrated the display to the Sony, huh? :)

cfg

I had thought that component was supposed to be disabled in Video2 mode, but I guess not

In some situations the analog video outputs will not operate in Video 2 mode, which is why the unit ships Video 1 as default.

jeffs2

are you talking about text 'embedded' in the video? I am not, I am talking about subtitles that you can turn on and off on a DVD

Yeah, I know your talking about subtitles, and I'm not. Just wondering if it might not be related to the fact that the text is a subtitle. In any case, I've only seen it on one title.


the film I'm watching is 16:9, interlaced-source, NTSC
whilst I do have WIDE/SQZ mode engaged, since this is not 4:3 material, I'm not sure what difference it would make (and I am assuming none) - as far as I am aware, WIDE/SQZ mode only affects the way in which 4:3 material is presented on 16:9 set

Sorry, didn't realize it was 16:9 material.

so far the case for this twittering effect on subs with the Oppo is pretty narrow

1. Interlaced source material (the video is TRULY interlaced, not just progressive video split into fields as all film-sourced DVDs are)
2. Only on DVI output (at any resolutions I can watch - 480p, 720p, 1080i)

it's no big deal - it's a shame I still don't have my Sony NS70H to compare... (on this issue, and on the blurry end-credits issue)

I own a Samsung DLP 61", and an Oppo DVD player. I'm having a problem with cropping on the edges of the movie. My TV is set to 16x9, and the Oppo is running at 1080i resolution and Widescreen. Is there any settings that can fix this issue, or will I have to live with a small percentage being cropped? Thanks.

lickwid,

Ok, couple different things here. First, which model Samsung are you running? Is it a 1080p or 720p model? Second, what video mode is the Samsung set to, "Wide TV", "Wide PC", or "Expand". Also, what input on the tv are you using, Component, DVI, HDMI? Answer these questions and we can see what we can do.

regs,
Jeff, Samsung HLP5685 + Oppo owner

I own a Samsung DLP 61", and an Oppo DVD player. I'm having a problem with cropping on the edges of the movie. My TV is set to 16x9, and the Oppo is running at 1080i resolution and Widescreen. Is there any settings that can fix this issue, or will I have to live with a small percentage being cropped? Thanks.

lickwid,

Ok, couple different things here. First, which model Samsung are you running? Is it a 1080p or 720p model? Second, what video mode is the Samsung set to, "Wide TV", "Wide PC", or "Expand". Also, what input on the tv are you using, Component, DVI, HDMI? Answer these questions and we can see what we can do.

regs,
Jeff, Samsung HLP5685 + Oppo owner

I own the Samsung HLR6167W 720p model. I have the Samsung set to the standard setting, so I'm unsure if that is Wide TV, Wide PC, or Expand. Where would I check that?

As for input, I'm using the DVI/HDMI input from the rear the Samsung unit.

Let me know if this enough information to start with. Thanks.

Ok, a couple things.

First, assuming the video converters quality is equal between your source and your tv (both are Faroudja in this case), you should always set your source to MATCH your TV's native resolution. In this case it's 720p.

Second, at least on my Samsung, you hit the "P.Size" button to display the current pic size and mode. Press that button until "Expand" is shown. THat is the correct setting for 1:1 pixel mapping on all Samsung DLP tv's.

Go ahead and try that and let us know your results. I am at home today so I can try to walk you through it if I need to by doing the same things on my set here.

Regs,
Jeff



I own the Samsung HLR6167W 720p model. I have the Samsung set to the standard setting, so I'm unsure if that is Wide TV, Wide PC, or Expand. Where would I check that?

As for input, I'm using the DVI/HDMI input from the rear the Samsung unit.

Let me know if this enough information to start with. Thanks.

Ok, a couple things.

First, assuming the video converters quality is equal between your source and your tv (both are Faroudja in this case), you should always set your source to MATCH your TV's native resolution. In this case it's 720p.

Second, at least on my Samsung, you hit the "P.Size" button to display the current pic size and mode. Press that button until "Expand" is shown. THat is the correct setting for 1:1 pixel mapping on all Samsung DLP tv's.

Go ahead and try that and let us know your results. I am at home today so I can try to walk you through it if I need to by doing the same things on my set here.

Regs,
Jeff

I'm at work now, but will definitely respond to this thread once I give it a go. Thanks for the info.

No worries. I'm stuck working at home and recovering from some 24 virus thing I got yesterday so I can play around with stuff if need be to check things on my end. Have a good day.

Regs,
Jeff

I own a Samsung DLP 61", and an Oppo DVD player. I'm having a problem with cropping on the edges of the movie. My TV is set to 16x9, and the Oppo is running at 1080i resolution and Widescreen. Is there any settings that can fix this issue, or will I have to live with a small percentage being cropped? Thanks.Jeff is right, you should be running 720p to your Samsung and the display should be set to "Expand". There is no cropping coming from the OPPO, but an RPTV like yours has a small percentage of overscan - edges of the picture hidden behind the bezel. That is perfectly normal and is different to pixel-cropping.

Gary

Exactly, thanks for pointing that out, Gary. IIRC, I measured about 3-4% overscan using the Avia or Digital Video Essentials discs. But it's been eons since I measured that. In fact, I don't even think it was with the previous DVD player... it was 2 DVD players ago. :)

Let us know, lickwid.

Regs,
Jeff.. off to upgrade the Oppo to 0316

PS - Anyone notice an improvement in the stutter in the beginning of "Revenge of the Sith" with the 0316 beta?

Exactly, thanks for pointing that out, Gary. IIRC, I measured about 3-4% overscan using the Avia or Digital Video Essentials discs. But it's been eons since I measured that. In fact, I don't even think it was with the previous DVD player... it was 2 DVD players ago. :)

Let us know, lickwid.

Regs,
Jeff.. off to upgrade the Oppo to 0316

PS - Anyone notice an improvement in the stutter in the beginning of "Revenge of the Sith" with the 0316 beta?

Nope, the stutter is still there. It appears to have issues with all of the star wars movies. I had on Episode 4 the other day and the rebel ship at the begining stuttered a couple of times while it was moving across the screen. It's very disappointing that oppo can't get that right and I consider it to be a pretty major video flaw. No other player I have has this problem. If it weren't for that, Oppo could be a great player rather than a good one. I sure hope they are working to resolve it. I could finally retire my RP82 if they could.

Thanks, gtaylor. Guess I shouldn't get my hopes up then. That's really the only I issue I saw so far.

Regs,
Jeff

Ok, I was using the 1080i resolution on the OPPO, but have now changed it back to 720p. For my Samsung DLP, I only have 2 options, 16:9 & 4:3. There are normally 3 other options: Panorama, Zoom1, & Zoom2, but those are greyed out for this input.

Unfortunately, the 16:9 view still is too large for my screen, and part of the entire border is missing.

O.K. I'll ask here because this thread is a lot smaller than the Sammy DLP thread. I have an HL-R5667W with a new Oppo. Picture quality is grreat so far without cal. My question is about my set. When I try to calibrate the color on the set in " my color settings" instead of being able to see the normal screen that is displaying the inputted device i:e the DVD player, Sammy pre-programmed a picture of some cute chick with a background behind her so you can't slide the color bars and see DVE at the same time. Is there a way to get rid of this "spash" screen?

FWIW, as gtaylor indicated... stutter on ROTS is still there with new 0316 beta firmware. Bummer.

As far as the HLR series of sets goes... I just checked out the user manuals for your sets on Samsung's site. I'm sorry to say that I see no way to turn off the "chick" and no setting that gives you the equivalent of the previous HLN and HLP model's "Expand" setting. I recently had a Samsung tech out to my house and he kept saying that Samsung's newer sets weren't remotely close to as good as the older sets. Now I think I see what he means. Wish I didn't have to be the bearer of bad news. The only thing that MIGHT save you is the ability to turn off the "chick" and/or tweak the pixel mapping via the service menu. Honestly, if that's the case, you are better off letting an experienced pro do that (ISF technician) than doing it yourself, because you can really screw the pooch if you don't know what you are doing.

Let me know if I can be more help. Sorry I couldn't help either of you more.

Regs,
Jeff

I've seen that in the Samsung manuals. I have no idea what to do about it. I'd be hopping mad. I don't know the service menu codes but I'd hope there would be a way to disable it.

Paul

This is what I was afraid of. I planned on getting it cal'd later this summer anyhow.

Schmeg,

I may have led you astray. I believe that you can do what you want to do by just going into the normal COLOR setting as opposed to the MY COLOR setting. i.e. MENU->PICTURE->COLOR should get you to where you want to tweak the color. The MY COLOR thing is a separate item and should only be used to "tweak to taste" if you feel like doing that.

Let us know if that helps.

Regs,
Jeff

On an Oppo related note... I left the Oppo playing ROTS for the last few hours (6 or so) without going back upstairs to check on things. When I watched the screen to see what was playing it appeared to be in an infinite loop where it just played the opening Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox logo portions over and over and over. Not sure if this is related to the 0316 beta or not. Just wanted to let everyone know of this oddity in case someone else wants to see if it happens for them. Not even going into the Menu and selecting a different chapter could get it out of this loop. I had to eject the disc and reinsert it (I used the eject button on the remote). I just restarted the movie and plan on letting it run overnight. We'll see if it's stuck in the loop again in the morning. FWIW, I'm leaving the tv on unwatched in order to get my 100 hours on the new bulb out of the way so I can have the set properly calibrated by my ISF guy.

Regs,
Jeff

My monitor is a Sony KP-46WS520. RPTV

I ran through Video Essentials on the Oppo with the DVI-HDMI cable.

After the calibration....the results are worse than when I just hooked up the Oppo and went to town.

The image is still grainy, lots of noise. After the VE setup the color was too strong and in a nutshell looked like crap.

I ran the movie through my old player, Sony NS575P thru component cables, progressive on, and it looked great. No 'wavy grain' on static backgrounds. Everything was smooth, basically, what I wanted the Oppo to look even better than.

I have all the extra video bits turned off on the Oppo itself. I'm running it at 720P. The TV is set to neutral color, VM off, noise reduction off, etc.

Any advice? He asked knowing he left an open ended question out there for Deez to pounce on. :) But I have 21 days left before I can't return it to Amazon, so I'd like to soak up all the knowledge I can on this thing.

thanks!
CFG

Ok, screw me. I've got it looking pretty damn good now.

Here's what happened: I couldn't really callibrate anything with the VE disc.

Such as the white level test. You are supposed to raise the level until the whitest square blooms, then back it off to the point right before it blooms.

I never got it TO bloom. Low or high the square was straight and strong. So I just left it where it looked good.

But when the movies went in, the picture sucked.

I changed the TV pre-set setting to standard, and thats where the movies looked the best, but WAY too dark. So using that pre-set as a starting point I just moved everything back and forth until the Matrix looked good to me. Then I popped in Episode III, and tweaked that a little more.

I did, however turn on the Noise Reduction on the TV, and that cleaned up ALL the remaining grain that was ticking me off.

I was pumping out 720p, and in the interest of science I changed it to 480p, and the grain looked even less at that setting. I changed it back to 720p and it came back. One more change to 1080i and it went away again, to the point that the TV Noise Reduction took care of the rest to my eyes.

So I'm leaving it at 1080i for now. Even though it looked just like 480p, it almost seemed a bit sharper. Maybe that was just 3am talking.

I hope my Matrix and Ep III tweaks hold across all movies.

Is there a section in this thread where there is a list of movies, such as the Ep III stutter, that are known Oppo Only Issues?

cfg|

I ran through Video Essentials on the Oppo with the DVI-HDMI cable.

After the calibration....the results are worse than when I just hooked up the Oppo and went to town.

The image is still grainy, lots of noise. After the VE setup the color was too strong and in a nutshell looked like crap.

I ran the movie through my old player, Sony NS575P thru component cables, progressive on, and it looked great. No 'wavy grain' on static backgrounds. Everything was smooth, basically, what I wanted the Oppo to look even better than.

I have all the extra video bits turned off on the Oppo itself. I'm running it at 720P. The TV is set to neutral color, VM off, noise reduction off, etc. This doesn't sound right at all. What the heck is "wavy grain"? And "color too strong"? "Results are worse" after calibration? Sounds like your calibration went really bad. And what's "the movie" that you refer to?

Remember that the component signal path in your TV is entirely different to the HDMI path, and will therefore give different results. Component may seem to give a smoother picture, because there is much more signal processing going on, including analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions. This can muddy the detail and add analog noise, which could perhaps mask any digital artifacts on the disk. A fully digital path is not forgiving of a bad DVD transfer... you see all the flaws.

If you have taken all this into consideration, done your calibration properly, and used a reference quality DVD transfer to test the result, then you may well have a bad player.

Can you take a good closeup photo of the problem? That MAY help us identify the cause.

Gary

Ok, screw me. I've got it looking pretty damn good now.

Here's what happened: I couldn't really callibrate anything with the VE disc.

Such as the white level test. You are supposed to raise the level until the whitest square blooms, then back it off to the point right before it blooms.

I never got it TO bloom. Low or high the square was straight and strong. So I just left it where it looked good.

But when the movies went in, the picture sucked.

I changed the TV pre-set setting to standard, and thats where the movies looked the best, but WAY too dark. So using that pre-set as a starting point I just moved everything back and forth until the Matrix looked good to me. Then I popped in Episode III, and tweaked that a little more. OK, so this is a calibration problem after all. Based on what you've said, you should probably turn up your TV's white level all the way then. (OPPO's brightness and contrast should be set to 0). Just check that there is no white crush in a gray step/ramp pattern.

You absolutely want to use as much contrast as your set will allow before blooming or crushing. Set black levels again and go back and forth to check white and black levels after every adjustment you make. You should also read the threads for calibration of your TV, or get a professional.

Since you have a CRT RPTV, 1080i may well be the best resolution to feed it.

Gary

cornflakes...

One other thing to consider... and Gary and I and others have echoed this in numerous posts here and elsewhere. The Faroudja chip that does the upconverting and side-converting is one of the tops in the biz right now. Let it do it's job and convert the DVD rez into whatever the native resolution of your Sony is. My best guess is that it's a 1080i tv... so set the Oppo to output 1080i. When you set the tv to 720p, that was making your Sony (which usually has pretty sub-par built in converters in my experience) side convert from 720p to 1080i. This will, in most instances, introduce some artifacts.

Secondly, please understand that Digital Video Essentials, Avia and pretty much every other God forsaken "calibration" DVD was aimed almost exclusively at ANALOG CRT televisions. There is no such concept as "blooming", nor will there be power supply issues (causing the black /white line to bend) on a fixed pixel type tv. I can tell you that the way you set the white level is to crank it until there is no visible "crushing" (i.e. one white appears the same brightness as the next) in the grayscale pattern. For black level, I think it might be a little different depending on the technology used in your tv. For my DLP, you should select a 0 IRE pattern and get VERY close to the screen. Move the black level controls up and down until you JUST see the pixel's dithering from black/grey. Leave the setting there. Save it and you are all good.

Hope that helps.

Regs,
Jeff

BTW, please don't think I am just blindly bashing the Sony converter... it's just been discussed numerous times that their in-house chip that does the conversion is not as well-regarded as the Faroudja solution, despite it being around for awhile now. My primary display in the living room is a Sony KV-HS510, so I've seen the conversion with my own eyes for about 4 years now. It's not "bad"... but it's not what I would call "good" either. The Samsung I have upstairs in the theater crushes it quality wise with the same input source.

On an Oppo note... I ended up shutting down the system before it ran all night last night. I had left ROTS running and it was still at the main menu once the main title finished... it wasn't stuck in the loop. Granted, I hadn't let it run 6+ hours like the previous time, but I am hoping that was just an isolated incident.

Regs,
Jeff

Haven't been on the site in a while; just checked the FAQ post and didn't see something on the wishlist that I thought used to be there. Namely, the ability to play higher res mpeg4 - like 'half-res hd' (960x528) or EDtv res (848x480).

Has this been added in new firmware?

BTW, please don't think I am just blindly bashing the Sony converter... it's just been discussed numerous times that their in-house chip that does the conversion is not as well-regarded as the Faroudja solution, despite it being around for awhile now. My primary display in the living room is a Sony KV-HS510, so I've seen the conversion with my own eyes for about 4 years now. It's not "bad"... but it's not what I would call "good" either. The Samsung I have upstairs in the theater crushes it quality wise with the same input source...

Regs,
Jeff
I have tested the video processing of my Sony 34" crt set (34HS420) using the HQV Benchmark DVD (along with a standard PS dvd player). By setting the player to output 480i I get to see how well the tv is performing. Then set the dvd player to 480p and check-out how well the player is performing. Without exception the video processor in the standard PS player outperformed the tv's processor(s). So I agree about the relative weakness of the tvs processor. I've also done this with the vaunted 34XBR960 with almost identical results.

I do have a question about output settings on the Oppo. I have found that by setting my Oppo to output 720p I get much better performance than if I set the Oppo to 1080i. I realize the Oppo is really intended for fixed-pixel sets, and the value added by the video processing chipset is maximized when selecting 720p as the output. Could it be that some of this value-added is either lost or never integrated in the first place if the output is set to 1080i? I sure hope I'm asking this correctly because I've really been wondering about this. I could obviously be mistaken, but I've been assuming that the Oppo handles it's application of it's full suite of processing differently depending on whether one selects 720p versus 1080i. So, I've been wondering if some of what the Faroudja chip(set) does is bypassed if 1080i is selected. Is there any truth to this?

Hey guys, I've been away from the forum for a while. I've done two firmware updates to my Oppo. Are there more than that? Thanks.

Hey guys, I've been away from the forum for a while. I've done two firmware updates to my Oppo. Are there more than that? Thanks.

They are inclusive. The latest on the Oppo site should be all you need.

Got it, thanks. Had to update the remote also.

Hold it. The 0316 beta FW is the one to have. It is available on the OPPO site, but it is not openly advertised.

Use this link: http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html

Gary

Oops, I guess I'll have to do it again, thanks.

What is the best resolution to set the output of the OPPO to when your TV has 1366 x 768 pixels? Should it be 720p or 1080i?

What is the best resolution to set the output of the OPPO to when your TV has 1366 x 768 pixels? Should it be 720p or 1080i?

720p is the closest to the native resolution.

Haven't been on the site in a while; just checked the FAQ post and didn't see something on the wishlist that I thought used to be there. Namely, the ability to play higher res mpeg4 - like 'half-res hd' (960x528) or EDtv res (848x480).

Has this been added in new firmware?

No, and will likely never be added for the simple reason that the MTK chipset was designed explicitly for 720x480/576 interpretation. This has been something that I have pushed OPPO, but they are very uncertain of their ability to increase this kind of input.

720p is the closest to the native resolution.

And assuming it's a Sony, it will not even accept 768 if it was available. Probably true for others with the same panels.

My apologies in advance for a question that is doubtless answered somewhere in these many pages, but searching for "choppy" returned more hits than I could go through.

I see many references to "choppy video" and to firmware fixes (attempted) to correct it. I'm not sure that the problem I'm experiencing is the same, since it's such a "smooth" flaw that I wouldn't automatically think to use the word "choppy."

What I experience is the image suddenly going into slo motion (as though the video processing is lagging behind) then speeding up to more or less catch up. I say "more or less" because the audio is sometimes out of sync afterward. It's never a matter of "jump cuts," but more like a handcranked projector with a drunken operator. I'm pretty sure that this only happens on advance screening discs of films I'm sent, which are presumably (but maybe not) DVD-/+R discs; I don't think I've experienced it on a commercial DVD release.

Is this what you all are talking about? Or is it a different phenomenon?

Different phenomenon. What you are experiencing is an error which normally is only associatable to DVD-R or Stand Alone DVD recorded discs. Commercial DVDs should not be effected.

The error discussed in the quote is likely a decoding error asscoiated to a branching error or cadence corruption. This usually applies to only commercial DVDs.

My apologies in advance for a question that is doubtless answered somewhere in these many pages, but searching for "choppy" returned more hits than I could go through.

I see many references to "choppy video" and to firmware fixes (attempted) to correct it. I'm not sure that the problem I'm experiencing is the same, since it's such a "smooth" flaw that I wouldn't automatically think to use the word "choppy."

What I experience is the image suddenly going into slo motion (as though the video processing is lagging behind) then speeding up to more or less catch up. I say "more or less" because the audio is sometimes out of sync afterward. It's never a matter of "jump cuts," but more like a handcranked projector with a drunken operator. I'm pretty sure that this only happens on advance screening discs of films I'm sent, which are presumably (but maybe not) DVD-/+R discs; I don't think I've experienced it on a commercial DVD release.

Is this what you all are talking about? Or is it a different phenomenon?

I've experienced what you describe on DVD's recorded on an Emerson standalone DVD recorder. I sent DVD's in to OPPO last summer. They acknowledge the problem that occurs for some standalone recorders.

If you haven't tried the 0316Beta FW, I'd try it. It significantly improved that problem, abeit at the expense of occasional jerky playback on DVD's from a Pioneer standalone recorder DVD's. The jerky playback can be fixed by pausing and then playing (sometimes takes two or three times though).

Rick

Hold it. The 0316 beta FW is the one to have. It is available on the OPPO site, but it is not openly advertised.

Use this link: http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html

Gary

Take note, 316 is a beta change, and not recommended unless you are having a specific a/v synchronization problem.

That is why is not 'widely adverstised'.

It is not always a good idea to jump on beta updates unless it is addressing a specific problem. I imagine it will be released soon after any potential rough spots are checked. And 'that' release will likely have other goodies on it.

Hold it. The 0316 beta FW is the one to have. It is available on the OPPO site, but it is not openly advertised.

Use this link: http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0316_download.html

Gary

Take note, 316 is a beta change, and not recommended unless you are having a specific a/v synchronization problem.

That is why is not 'widely adverstised'.

It is not always a good idea to jump on beta updates unless it is addressing a specific problem. I imagine it will be released soon after any potential rough spots are checked. And 'that' release may well have other goodies on it.

Take note, 316 is a beta change, and not recommended unless you are having a specific a/v synchronization problem.

That is why is not 'widely adverstised'.

It is not always a good idea to jump on beta updates unless it is addressing a specific problem. I imagine it will be released soon after any potential rough spots are checked. And 'that' release will likely have other goodies on it.

The F-0316 is not going to be released as a final firmware because of MPEG decoding errors for stand alone MPEG/MPEG-2 files.

The F-0316 is not going to be released as a final firmware because of MPEG decoding errors for stand alone MPEG/MPEG-2 files.

Thanks for the info!

My point was simply adding fixes you don't need, is not a good practice, especially with beta software.

Its been tested for over two months now. There are minor errors associated to it, but it is as stable as the current official release. So yes, you don't need it if A/V Syncronization is not a problem, but it is important to some users who have A/V errors. And for these people, we can't stress the F-0316 firmware enough.

I'm sure you mean the F-0316 FW, yes?

damned fingers go into auto-pilot. Took me forever in the fall to stop refering to firmware as the OP971-C-0628 firmware when everyone was using the D-1022 or D-1111B.

Does the oppo play HD Xvid files. I downloaded Smallville in HD, which is a 700meg file for each episode. When I try to play it, it plays the sound but gets stuck on the file directory screen.

Question regarding the CCS on the Oppo: I'm torn between using it, and not using. I understand the basic reasoning for using it on composite based programming, but I see some clear advantages in using for all discs. Being that I have a CRT based RPTV, would I benefit from some of the effects of CCS? With my eyes the picture seems a bit more refined, smoother, and colors seem to jump out a bit more. All member posts have been a great source for calibrating my tv, but this is one point where (at least with my television) it seems to provide a better picture with both TrueLife and CCS left on. Anyone have comments or suggestions?

slickyv: IIRC the oppo is limited to a max resolution of 720x480.

Does the oppo play HD Xvid files. I downloaded Smallville in HD, which is a 700meg file for each episode. When I try to play it, it plays the sound but gets stuck on the file directory screen.

No, the OPDV971H will not play HD DivX files, as the MTK chipset was designed to only read 720x480/576 pixels of information.

Question regarding the CCS on the Oppo: I'm torn between using it, and not using. I understand the basic reasoning for using it on composite based programming, but I see some clear advantages in using for all discs. Being that I have a CRT based RPTV, would I benefit from some of the effects of CCS? With my eyes the picture seems a bit more refined, smoother, and colors seem to jump out a bit more. All member posts have been a great source for calibrating my tv, but this is one point where (at least with my television) it seems to provide a better picture with both TrueLife and CCS left on. Anyone have comments or suggestions?According to Kris Deering (of SECRETS fame) and others, the Faroudja CCS introduces flickering in saturated colors. But if you prefer it ON, that's just fine.

Gary

A couple of questions as I just have received my Oppo just last week and haven't had much time to play with it. I have been reading, quickly, through this post and noticed one that talked about the "jitter". I have this issue, and I noticed it before I read anything on here. Has this been fixed? Maybe I have an old firmware and that might fix it. Let me know what I need to do on this?

Anything I need to "do" or "know" about this player that I am missing reading this thread? I know of some of these threads there are some things that you should just "do" like appy a hack or something like that. Is there anything with the Oppo that I should do?

What "jitter" are you experiencing?
Is it due to being at 1080i?
Or for using a Sony HS420/960 television and 480p?
Or is it related to disc playback of DVD-R or Stand Alone Recorded media?

It is when I have it on 1080i.

I am considering the Westinghouse 42" LCD 1080p display and was wondering if picture quality would be better if I changed the resolution on the Westinghouse to 1080i to match the Oppo or have the display deinterlace to 1080p since the Westinghouse also has the Faroudja chip.

jtundrea,

Are you saying that the Westinghouse does not upconvert everything at it's inputs to 1080p natively? Did you mean to say you are trying to pick between these two options

Oppo(1080i) -> Westinghouse (upconverts to 1080p)

vs.

Oppo(1080i) -> Westinghouse (no conversion, displays 1080i)?

I didn't realize the Westie could do that, if so.

In general, when it comes to upconversion/side conversion, trust your eyes.

Also, make sure that the Westie really does have the Faroudja chip in it, unlike the new W3 models that have the home-brewed chip.

Regs,
Jeff

It is when I have it on 1080i.

If it is in relation to 1080i, then there is nothing you can do. The Faroudja chipset was not really designed for interlaced throughput, and the 1080i output illistrates this perfectly.

It is when I have it on 1080i.
I've got the HS420 and the Oppo. I use 720p out as 1080i is just not tolerable (with the jitter).

You'll find 720p to be great. ;)

I am considering the Westinghouse 42" LCD 1080p display and was wondering if picture quality would be better if I changed the resolution on the Westinghouse to 1080i to match the Oppo or have the display deinterlace to 1080p since the Westinghouse also has the Faroudja chip. For the best resolution to feed a 1080p TV, see this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7407251&&#post7407251).

Gary

If it is in relation to 1080i, then there is nothing you can do. The Faroudja chipset was not really designed for interlaced throughput, and the 1080i output illistrates this perfectly.

Where does this info come from? I've had two players with the faroudja 2310 deinterlacer and neither of them have the jitter issue that the oppo does. I've had the Zenith 318 and the Panny S97. they had several other issues, but I never say any jitter at 1080i like this player does. Just wondering where this line of thought comes from.

Thanks for the responses. That sucks. I got greedy and dl'd the hd version, deleted my normal version. Now I gotta download the old ones all over lol.

Where does this info come from? I've had two players with the faroudja 2310 deinterlacer and neither of them have the jitter issue that the oppo does. I've had the Zenith 318 and the Panny S97. they had several other issues, but I never say any jitter at 1080i like this player does. Just wondering where this line of thought comes from.

All of the FLI2310 chipsets I have used have had jitter at 1080i (S77/97 included) when running on some displays (mainly CRTs). 1080i jitter does not really show on plasma/DLP displays, but can easily be seen with LCDs and CRTs. Garry and others have posted about the Faroudja 1080i jitter problem several times in these and other threads.

Could just be no one has bothered implimenting it well, or it is inherent to the chipset.

Neuromancer/Justsc

You are right the 720P is fantastic, I can see a difference in this player. Watching Narnia and it looks great. The sound on this machine is great as well. I am very pleased with the player and haven't even played around with it yet.


How can you tell what version of Firmware you are using?

Press Eject then press OSD. Your Batch Number is your Firmware Revision.

If it is in relation to 1080i, then there is nothing you can do. The Faroudja chipset was not really designed for interlaced throughput, and the 1080i output illistrates this perfectly.

So does that mean it would work well upconverting to 1080p, such as with the Samsung DVD-HD960? Would that eliminate jitters and even be an improvement upon upconverting to 720p?

So does that mean it would work well upconverting to 1080p, such as with the Samsung DVD-HD960? Would that eliminate jitters and even be an improvement upon upconverting to 720p?

On paper, yes. In actuality, it depends on the implimentation. We will have to see what the first user reports are when the units finaly fall into the hands of users.

On paper, yes. In actuality, it depends on the implimentation. We will have to see what the first user reports are when the units finaly fall into the hands of users.

Is 1080p enabled beta firmware being test? I couldn't give it a spin

My first out of the box experience with the Oppo was similar to Cornflake's. After I watched Shrek with horribly over dark settings (due to 4 year old daughters request to stop messing with the picture), I popped in my Avia's and went to town. I had to make huge adjustments to get it right (I adjusted all settings from within the Oppo because I was afraid, my Tivo which uses component in would get overly brightened).

After that I looked at the opening scenes of Episode III (why do I pick players that all seem to stutter during that scene :( ). I was floored by how much of an improvement the 720p input was. The wavy lives along the edges of the main capital ship in the opening scene were gone!

The level of detail is quite remarkable, I'm seeing puffs of grey smoke and fine debris that I never noticed before. And now the kitchen sink that ILM used to as some debris from another capital ship explosion has enough detail on it so I can see that it might just be a kitchen sink (I had to take their word for it with both of my older players).

The only downside is now to get the best picture possible I have to add a step to switch the TV to DVI input. I currently reroute component video and digital audio through my Yamaha receiver, so switching from DirectV to DVD was a single button click. But luckily the Oppo sends signal through the component as well so my wife and kid don't have to worry about extra steps to watch Blues Clues.

I did find that the DVI to DVI cable was a bit short and I had to rearrange my system to accommodate it, but what can ask for in a free cable. My next step is to plug in the Analog outputs to test my wifes Lord of the Rings DVD-A recording of the Fellowship.

JesterOC

My first out of the box experience with the Oppo was similar to Cornflake's. ... I had to make huge adjustments to get it right (I adjusted all settings from within the Oppo because I was afraid, my Tivo which uses component in would get overly brightened).

After that I looked at the opening scenes of Episode III (why do I pick players that all seem to stutter during that scene :( ). I was floored by how much of an improvement the 720p input was. The wavy lives along the edges of the main capital ship in the opening scene were gone! Ah! Wavy lines! Perhaps that's what cornflakeguy meant by "wavy grain".

That sounds like a classic case of false-contouring (or banding) caused by miscalibration of the display... using too few digital steps between black and white. The cure is calibrating the display to use all of the digital steps (contrast range) available to you. Crank the contrast as far as it will go before clipping or blooming occurs.

By the way, making brightness and contrast adjustments on the player is not such a good idea. The OPPO's settings are 100% correct at their default values (0). Changing them can introduce banding for different reasons. Calibrating the DVI input on your TV should not affect the component input in any way (unless the TV was badly designed, or you hack the Service Menu and tweak the wrong settings).

Just out of interest, which other players stutter in the opening scenes of Episode III?

Gary

By the way, making brightness and contrast adjustments on the player is not such a good idea. The OPPO's settings are 100% correct at their default values (0). Changing them can introduce banding for different reasons. Calibrating the DVI input on your TV should not affect the component input in any way (unless the TV was badly designed, or you hack the Service Menu and tweak the wrong settings).

Gary

Well shortly after posting this, I went back to view LORD of the Rings and I noticed something just was not right. Everything was too washed out. So I decided to check out the TV's settings. I was very shocked to find that instead of all my tweak 'Pro' mode settings they TV was in VIVID mode. I have no idea how it got there, I can only assume I accidentally switched it when I pulled out all of the original remotes. So the huge adjustments where compensating for the terrible TV settings.

Instead of just reseting all to zero and checking it out, I calibrated it it again step by step. And guess what, I had all my settings set to zero except saturation that was at -1. Now that I know (thanks to you ) that it is not a good idea to tweak with the DVD players settings, I will go back and adjust it on the TV side.

Well live and learn I guess.




Just out of interest, which other players stutter in the opening scenes of Episode III?
Gary

I just bought and will soon return a Yamaha 5750. That also stutters in Episode III, and unfortunately I can't remember the model number of my panasonic that did it as well.

Oh well at least the Oppo looks very nice. And one day I'll save up for a DVI switching receiver to make life simple again.

Oh and ran into that bug with the Oppo getting in an seemingly infinite loop playing the logos. Was very odd.

I hope my story will help the next guy check his TV first before tweaking the Oppos settings

JesterOC

JesterOC,

Thanks for the confirmation on the "endless loop" issue. I was wondering if I was the only one to have ever seen that.

Regs,
Jeff

After the untimely demise of my latest excursion into cheapitude (Philips Divx Upconverting HDMI DVD player returned to Costco) I bit the bullet and ordered the infamous Oppo OPDV971H upconverting DVD player.

Why did I ever waste a moment of time with a cheapo DVD player when I could have the truly wonderful Oppo? Straight out of the box, all I had to do was hook up the cables, tell it which kind of HD output I wanted (I selected 720p) and run a quick THX adjustment from the Star Wars disk. Within 15 minutes, I had a supremely better DVD picture with better tonal range and better sound output (the Philips would output either digital or analog sound - not both. That's a problem when I want to feed both analog to my Sony 55" TV, and/or digital to my receiver. Oppo does this with ease.)

I watched "Serenity" for my first real test and it was a treat. The movie has many darkly-lit scenes inside the ship, but the image was very clean. Dark darks, and realistic colors with all the gradations in between. I did notice a slight lip-sync problem, but the Oppo was easily adjusted to add an additional 2ms delay to the preset 5ms delay, to perfectly match sound to lips.

Oppo is committed to continue tweaking and improving their player with firmware updates, so I should remain a happy camper for a very long time.

JesterOC,

If you want a cheaper solution than a new receiver, I'd recommend looking at the Harmony remotes. They are perfect for family members that don't know or want to know what video/audio inputs need to be used to watch something. You program it and they press the 'watch tv' or 'watch a movie' button. About as idiot-proof as you can get.

I got this player recently, connected it to my tv (32" lcd) with HDMI/DVI adapter, but I see no difference when I switch the dvi outputs to different modes.. Is it because of my tv or is there anything else that needs to be done to activate these outputs?... Or maybe i'm expecting too much from upscaling?

Is 1080p enabled beta firmware being test? I couldn't give it a spin

There is no current 1080p firmware, as according to OPPO, it would require overclocking the Faroudja chipset, and they do not know how much heat will be generated by doing this (the OPDV971H has no active cooling, so an OC, even if it does not interupt playback, can potentially kill the lifespan of the unit).

JesterOC,

Thanks for the confirmation on the "endless loop" issue. I was wondering if I was the only one to have ever seen that.

Regs,
Jeff

Infinite loops is caused by a bad RCE flag. This mainly effects Sony DVD releases. To get past them, simply press Stop then Menu to directly access the film.

I got this player recently, connected it to my tv (32" lcd) with HDMI/DVI adapter, but I see no difference when I switch the dvi outputs to different modes.. Is it because of my tv or is there anything else that needs to be done to activate these outputs?... Or maybe i'm expecting too much from upscaling? I assume you are pressing the "DVI" button with the disk stopped or ejected - otherwise nothing happens.

If the TV is well-designed, you will not easily see a difference between 480p, 720p and 1080i, although test patterns can help you identify those differences. In general, 720p is the best output resolution to use with the OPPO, but trust your eyes to pick the best match for your TV.

Gary

Infinite loops is caused by a bad RCE flag. This mainly effects Sony DVD releases. To get past them, simply press Stop then Menu to directly access the film.

Neuromancer,

I can't be certain, but I think I tried everything as far as button presses.. even went back into the main menu, scene selected the opening credits and it STILL stayed stuck in the 20th Century Fox -> LucasFilm -> 20th Century Fox... etc. loop forever. Ended up ejecting the disc and putting it back in and all was well again. If it happens again I'll try your suggestion. Again, this was with Revenge of the Sith that I witnessed this behavior.

Thanks and regs,
Jeff

JesterOC,

If you want a cheaper solution than a new receiver, I'd recommend looking at the Harmony remotes. They are perfect for family members that don't know or want to know what video/audio inputs need to be used to watch something. You program it and they press the 'watch tv' or 'watch a movie' button. About as idiot-proof as you can get.

Thanks Jeffs2, I was looking at them recently, but the large price tag $200 seems a bit steep. Better to spend that $200 on a new receiver that can handle everything internally.

I saw that there are less expensive ones, but will they do what I need?

I do the following things with my system

Watch High def DirectV w/ Tivo
Watch DVD's
Listen to CD's
Listen to DVD-A (some time tomorrow as I have not set it up yet) using the DVD player but with analog sound inputs to the receiver.


Will the lower priced Harmonies do this well? Also, I read where harmonies ask you if you turned stuff on or off, shouldn't that be the remotes job? Anyway if anyone here has experience with the lower priced models, I would love to hear what you think about it , and if it would work for me.

Thanks again,

JesterOC

Neuromancer,

I can't be certain, but I think I tried everything as far as button presses.. even went back into the main menu, scene selected the opening credits and it STILL stayed stuck in the 20th Century Fox -> LucasFilm -> 20th Century Fox... etc. loop forever. Ended up ejecting the disc and putting it back in and all was well again. If it happens again I'll try your suggestion. Again, this was with Revenge of the Sith that I witnessed this behavior.

Thanks and regs,
Jeff

I think I did the same, but it was 2am in the morning and my memory is clouded but that seems exactly what happened to me. It all started when I tried to skip the copy nagging and told the player to just play chapter 1. After that I think I had to eject the disk to get it working again. I also never tried to start from the begining again (just did not need the hassel as I was trying to do something else (like sleep) )

JesterOC

JesterOC,

As far as I know, the only time the Harmony remotes query you about status of each device is if something gets out of whack and your state machine in the remote that keeps track of who is on and who is off gets hosed. Let's say you hit the "Watch TIVO" button and accidentally moved the remote to where it didn't point at the tv before it sent the "Power toggle for tv" command. Now you have everything on EXCEPT the tv. Well, noticing this, you'd hit the help button or whatever and it would ask you about each piece on your rack. That way it can figure out what's on and what's off so that the next time you run the macro for "Watch TIVO" it does toggle the power on the tv thinking it was OFF and accidentally turn it off. Get it?

Can't help you other than that. I'm a Home Theater Master MX-700 and MX-800 guy.

Regs,
Jeff

Neuromancer,

I can't be certain, but I think I tried everything as far as button presses.. even went back into the main menu, scene selected the opening credits and it STILL stayed stuck in the 20th Century Fox -> LucasFilm -> 20th Century Fox... etc. loop forever. Ended up ejecting the disc and putting it back in and all was well again. If it happens again I'll try your suggestion. Again, this was with Revenge of the Sith that I witnessed this behavior.

Thanks and regs,
Jeff

I have never had this problem with my copy of Revenge of the Sith. I blame Lucas.

No worries. I hope you DON'T ever have this issue. I honestly haven't tested this disc with any other players in my house, so it might do it on others. I just know it did it on the Oppo I have. Not pointing fingers here... just wanted to get the info out there that I saw something "odd" with ROTS+Oppo.

Regs,
Jeff

I was going to grab the DVDA version of Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral on the way home from work today. So the consensus is that to get the best sound you need to use the analog outs on the Oppo? I'm using a Panasonic xr55 in 7.1.

If you want to take advantage of the multi-channel highrez audio from the DVD-Audio disc, then you will want to use the multi-channel analog audio outputs.

Thanks Jeffs2, I was looking at them recently, but the large price tag $200 seems a bit steep. Better to spend that $200 on a new receiver that can handle everything internally.

I saw that there are less expensive ones, but will they do what I need?

I do the following things with my system

Watch High def DirectV w/ Tivo
Watch DVD's
Listen to CD's
Listen to DVD-A (some time tomorrow as I have not set it up yet) using the DVD player but with analog sound inputs to the receiver.


Will the lower priced Harmonies do this well? Also, I read where harmonies ask you if you turned stuff on or off, shouldn't that be the remotes job? Anyway if anyone here has experience with the lower priced models, I would love to hear what you think about it , and if it would work for me.

Thanks again,

JesterOC

Check into the Harmony 680. Perfect for Tivo users. You can usually get them on amazon for about $130. Try it for a month and if you don't like it, send it back. I prefer it to the 880 because of a better button layout, imo. My non-technically inclined wife and my 6 y.o. daughter can run my systems flawlessly. As can my 13 y.o. babysitter with about a 30 sec instruction as we are walking out the door. Basement theater includes Oppo, receiver, tv and HD directivo. Bedroom system is tv, directivo, dvd player, receiver and cd player. The upstairs tivo is SD, but we have an antenna to watch HD. The 680 is set up to run all of those different modes (SD tivo, HD antenna, dvd, stereo) and runs without a hitch. Great for families and handling switching duties.

Question regarding the CCS on the Oppo: I'm torn between using it, and not using. I understand the basic reasoning for using it on composite based programming, but I see some clear advantages in using for all discs. Being that I have a CRT based RPTV, would I benefit from some of the effects of CCS? With my eyes the picture seems a bit more refined, smoother, and colors seem to jump out a bit more. All member posts have been a great source for calibrating my tv, but this is one point where (at least with my television) it seems to provide a better picture with both TrueLife and CCS left on. Anyone have comments or suggestions?

If it looks better to your eyes turned on then why are u asking others for advice if you should turn it on or not? If you had 10 replies telling you should keep it turned off and you still felt it looked better on, then would you really be happy with it turned off?
The Oppo gives its best picture matched with a digital display outputting @720p via DVI- with CCS, Truelife etc all turned off.
BluRay is just around the corner...save up for a new 1080p digital display and BluRay player and what you are watching now at home will be like watching VHS after seeing DVD for the first time.
I have a nice Samsung DLP paired with an Oppo and the picture is great...then I saw High Definition movies at a friends house recently with some HiDef movies he'd gotten off Newsgroups on his 1080p Westinghouse LCD and now my Oppo/Samsung combo doesn't look so good anymore! But I'll still be hanging on to the versatile Oppo to play back my DVD's even when I get a BluRay player...but like I mentioned earlier- the Oppo gives its best performance with a digital display...if you have a CRT RPTV there are better options than the Oppo.

I've got the HS420 and the Oppo. I use 720p out as 1080i is just not tolerable (with the jitter).

You'll find 720p to be great. ;)

I actually have found 1080i to be pretty good on most movies I play on my Phillips 30pw9110. There are only a few times I can see the jitter and my wife does not notice it and she notices everything. I visually cannot see a difference using 720p. Besides, even with Oppo being a little flawed with 1080i, it is still better than what the phillips can do.

If you want to take advantage of the multi-channel highrez audio from the DVD-Audio disc, then you will want to use the multi-channel analog audio outputs.

How does the analog out sound on normal movies? Have you tried it. I just have been too lazy to buy a bunch of cords and totally take apart my system.

How does the analog out sound on normal movies? Have you tried it. I just have been too lazy to buy a bunch of cords and totally take apart my system.

Havnt used the multi-channel outputs myself as I have a receiver which I trust more in terms of audio decoding and processing.

I assume you are pressing the "DVI" button with the disk stopped or ejected - otherwise nothing happens.

If the TV is well-designed, you will not easily see a difference between 480p, 720p and 1080i, although test patterns can help you identify those differences. In general, 720p is the best output resolution to use with the OPPO, but trust your eyes to pick the best match for your TV.

Gary

Thanks.. I have a Samsung 32M61, it's a very good TV I suppose. I guess there is SOME difference, just that it doesn't seem much. The overall image and sound quality is superb though, so I'm happy with my purchase otherwise :)

Anybody have issues with Toy Story 10th anniversary edition?

(1) I'm getting the angle option icon at several repeating places in the movie when I'm playing with the DTS audio option. I've got the latest firmware with the user operation mod only. (2) When I skip through the FBI warning instead of moving onto the Disney intro, it goes back to the THX moo cow runner.

Just two annoying bugs in a showpiece movie.

Havnt used the multi-channel outputs myself as I have a receiver which I trust more in terms of audio decoding and processing.

Anyone used the multichannel analog out? Just curious the difference in sound quality.

...if you have a CRT RPTV there are better options than the Oppo.

That's surprising, since I purchased the Oppo for use with my Hitachi 57SWX20B and find the picture to be absolutely stunning.

Are you limiting that statement to only RPTVs requiring component input (i.e. no DVI), or is it truly a blanket statement?