Just updated with latest firmware. All I can say is wow! This is a NOTICEABLE improvement in PQ and lip sync. Without tweaking anything for a split second I thought I had HD! ok - maybe not that good, but there was a crisp clarity without EE that really brought more life like images (and this is with sharpness off!).

I am floored. Never expected anything so nice. I actually have less of a desire to go to HD now (and yes, I have seen HD and know that this really isn't the same.. but for now, I can live without it!).

Thank you OPPO!

Mind sharing just what version # you're referring to?

redjr...

Just updated with latest firmware. All I can say is wow! This is a NOTICEABLE improvement in PQ and lip sync. Without tweaking anything for a split second I thought I had HD! ok - maybe not that good, but there was a crisp clarity without EE that really brought more life like images (and this is with sharpness off!).

I am floored. Never expected anything so nice. I actually have less of a desire to go to HD now (and yes, I have seen HD and know that this really isn't the same.. but for now, I can live without it!).

Thank you OPPO!

Which firmware did you use 0720 or the modified 0720.1?

I installed the previous march released firmware a couple of months back and have noticed many "combing" issues on material such as "Behind The scenes" or doc. stuff on discs where they mix film material and video. Example, we watched "Munich" last nite and in the intro it was combing at virtually every edit between the film footage and the video stuff. Outputting 720P natively into my Mits FP. Don't seem to recall it happening with the older firmware and I thought the Faroudja chip handled this situation well. My old JVC with the mediamatics chip handled it the exact same or even better if it just switched fully to video mode.
Also player generated subs lately have been combing as they disappear off the screen. We watched "Cache", foreign film and it was driving me nuts.
Maybe I'll do the new firmware tonite...

I have now own a new Oppo 971 with the latest mod and a new Pioneer 5070 plasma for one week. After fine tuning on both using the THX organizer on the front of Monster Inc. and Star Wars II I watched last evening Star Wars IV on DVD. WOW, what a picture. I then tried parts of Star Wars II on my Panasonic RP82 DVD player and the Oppo 971. WOW what a picture on the Oppo 971. Until last evening I thought the Panasonic RP82 provided a great picture. The Oppo 971 is connected via the provided DVI/HDMI cable to the HDMI input port on the Pioneer 5070. :) :cool:

Had my first HDTV delivered this week, a Mits WD57731 1080P DLP. Had an older Toshiba DVD 2200, so I wanted to pickup an HD-DVD to take advantage...couldn't OOS. I'd read a few pages about the Oppo here and elsewhere, so for $200 I thought I'd give it a try. I'm local so I went down to Oppo to pick up and talked to a support guru about possible issues. Basically, he urged calibrating the set, then utilizing 720p as the preferred resolution. Had some issues connecting DVI/DVI so switched to DVI/HDMI. Wow, not only does everything look better in 1080i than 720p, I'm just amazed at the PQ. Depending on the transfer, it's nearly (I'm talking very close) to any demo of I've seen of HD-DVD or Blu Ray. I'm not a videophile, more of an audio guy, but this is a super product IMO. No out of the box issues like many of you and that's the way I like it. :cool:

I have some issues with PAL and subtitles. I reported it to OppoDigital already. I just want to know if others are experiencing the same or with what firmware it does not happen.

It is the sync sub to frame issue, I have looked up the description of the issue on the next page:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_1/dvd-benchmark-guide-to-progressive-scan-shootout-1-2003.html

Subject "Sync Subtitle to Frames"

Although testing shows that 2:2 pull down is working ok, this subtitle synching is off (aka, a problem) most of the time with many bought new PAL video's.
On many machines I have tried. What is your experience? I tried every setting (like all off or at zero) and none has the solution.
0315 and 0270 versions both show the same on PAL discs.
I wonder weather PAL users notice the same or just don't bother?

Combing in subtitles is something that should really only be infecting the PAL user. When it comes to NTSC films, I have only noticed a couple of sparadic issues with subtitle combing, and even those were not reproduceable.

Does the OPPO Europe/BBK Firmware (1224) have the same problem?

I'll be trying a couple of PAL DVDs tonight. Will let you know.

Hiya! We watched the R1 NTSC disc of Cache last week with the player generated subs and it was constant. Only seen when they would disappear off the screen in a "comb". Like every other line. Very annoying.

:)

Do you guys tweak any of the settings on the oppo? Settings like brightness, color, hue etc or do you leave them at the defaults? Any other settings I should change while I am in the Setup menu? I have a brand new 5070 Pio that I just got today and want it to be an amazing combo with the Oppo. Any help would be appreciated.

Is the wide/squeeze setup for the TV type the best one to go with over just the wide selection?

Thanks

Curtis

I have Wide & leave everything off/default on Oppo and looks great on my 1130. Take time & play w/ settings & see what you like best.

Cheers,
TP.

Do you guys tweak any of the settings on the oppo? Settings like brightness, color, hue etc or do you leave them at the defaults? Any other settings I should change while I am in the Setup menu? I have a brand new 5070 Pio that I just got today and want it to be an amazing combo with the Oppo. Any help would be appreciated.

Is the wide/squeeze setup for the TV type the best one to go with over just the wide selection?

Thanks

Curtis

Can confirm somebody that the oppo 941hd do 480i/576i over HDMI output?

I live in Europe, I have now a denon 3910 connected to a Marantz VP12S4 dlp projector via hdmi in 720p because the denon don´t suport 480i/576i via hdmi not neither via components.

All the people say me that If I could connect a oppo 971hd to Marantz via hdmi in 480i/576I I would obtain better quality picture that my denon have now.

Is it certain?

I would like that the people here advising me about this topic.

Thanks in advance and sorry If my English is not all correct.

The OPPO 971H will not output 480i or 576i over the DVI output. The OPPO 970HD (discussed in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=682896)), however, will output 480i or 576i over HDMI. I'm not familiar with your projector, so I don't know how it's internal scaler compares to that of the Denon 3910 (which uses Faroudja processing), the OPPO 971H (which also uses Faroudja), or the 970HD (which doesn't use Faroudja).

Do you guys tweak any of the settings on the oppo? Settings like brightness, color, hue etc or do you leave them at the defaults? Any other settings I should change while I am in the Setup menu? I have a brand new 5070 Pio that I just got today and want it to be an amazing combo with the Oppo. Any help would be appreciated.

Is the wide/squeeze setup for the TV type the best one to go with over just the wide selection?

Thanks

Curtis

As an experiment I tried rough calibration using the Oppo settings, then tweaking the display controls. I was trying to improve the color on a very unsaturated disk. It may have made a slight difference, but I have all the Oppo settings back at zero now and calibrate through the display only.

Wide/SQZ is what I use. 16:9 material is passed just as in WIDE, but 4:3 material will be pillarboxed to give the correct aspect ratio. I've heard this causes some loss of horizontal resolution for 4:3 but I see little difference. You can check it by switching to 480p which bypasses the upscaling controls.

I am a bit confused by the treatment of old-style letterboxed disks. Software shows these as authored at 4:3, but there is a wide flag (which I am unable to detect) which is supposed to tell the player to size the image to full screen width. The Oppo does size them wider than a 4:3 image, but not to full width. Perhaps it's not an important point; given the limited vertical resolution of a letterboxed disk a larger scaled image might look poor.

Using VIDEO2 is important if you are playing PAL disks. I don't know if there is any reason not to use it.

As everyone says: calibrate. I use the GetGray disk from http://www.calibrate.tv/. It's $25 and you have to download it and burn it onto a DVD.

-Bill

Alright, here's something I'm trying to figure out.

The Oppo DV971H doesn't have HDCP, but would that really affect the playback of standard DVDs? I'm kinda getting a vibe that there could be issues with upconverted signals sent to a TV with HDCP, despite being DVD and not originally HD.

I talked to the manufacturer of my TV (HP 2600N), and they claim the TV is HDCP compliant. If this is the case, will I encounter any issues using the Oppo via DVI-HDMI on my TV regarding HDCP?

Jason,

The Oppo is agnostic. It doesn't care whether the TV has or doesn't have HDCP. My Sony 34XBR910 CRT display has HDCP and readily accepts the upconverted DVD signal from my Oppo connected DVI>DVI. No problem.

Dana

Alright, here's something I'm trying to figure out.

The Oppo DV971H doesn't have HDCP, but would that really affect the playback of standard DVDs? I'm kinda getting a vibe that there could be issues with upconverted signals sent to a TV with HDCP, despite being DVD and not originally HD.

I talked to the manufacturer of my TV (HP 2600N), and they claim the TV is HDCP compliant. If this is the case, will I encounter any issues using the Oppo via DVI-HDMI on my TV regarding HDCP?
The Oppo sends a Non-HDCP complaint signal to the panel, thus the Panel does not attempt to establish a HDCP handsake/encryption/decryption protocol.

E.g. my NEC which is HDMI 1.1 HCP Compliant it works fine with the Oppo via DVI/HDMI since the the player (the source) does not attempt to establish an HDCP connection thus inturn the Display will not either, and thus everything is fine.

And this even make MORE sense when you think that the OPPO is Upconverting... HDCP is intended for High Definition Copy Protection, although the signal from the Oppo is Upconverter to HD resolution it is not truly a HiDef source and thus is not/should not (opinion) be copy protected in this fashion... it could be interpreted as a "dis-service" to HDCP enable a SD source...although many upconverting players do this.

So... there you have it .... clear as mud....It will work...

BUT, (there is always a but) you may occasionaly have glitch if you a switch back and forth between and HDCP complaint (STBV HDDVD etc) and a Non-Compliant sources. Some panels and/or sources can get ...for lack of a technical term... git a bit confused/out of synch/lose the HDCP handshake resulting in "snow"... but this if it happens is usually simply solved by turning off/on the display and or source... it happens sometime with my setup (my STB is a bit persnickety)... others don't have this issue.

Many...many...people use the Oppo with HDCP compliant panels...

Combing in subtitles is something that should really only be infecting the PAL user. When it comes to NTSC films, I have only noticed a couple of sparadic issues with subtitle combing, and even those were not reproduceable.

Does the OPPO Europe/BBK Firmware (1224) have the same problem?
Tested yesterday, first I thought it was better (at default setings, video 1 true life on) but I could see loss of detail because of 2:2 deinterlacing not kicking in, then I changed to video 2 and true life off. Then it was basically the same as the current firmware. So it seems there is room for improvement?

It's not like Europe is a small market and does not deserve top PAL playback :o

I would definitely recommend Professional ISF Calibration if at all possible. It is worth the money $299-350 if you asked me.

As an experiment I tried rough calibration using the Oppo settings, then tweaking the display controls. I was trying to improve the color on a very unsaturated disk. It may have made a slight difference, but I have all the Oppo settings back at zero now and calibrate through the display only.
As everyone says: calibrate. I use the GetGray disk...
-Bill

It's not like Europe is a small market and does not deserve top PAL playback :o

Europe is not small, but when you take into account that OPPO is a US company, their primary concern is the US market. The European market is not forgotten (see: Video 2 and proper PAL signal output), but it just takes a back seat to US developements.

BBK should be more concerned with PAL support since their primary users are in PAL regions (China, Russia, Northern Europe), but they are much less responsive in terms of customer support.

Do you guys tweak any of the settings on the oppo? Settings like brightness, color, hue etc or do you leave them at the defaults? Any other settings I should change while I am in the Setup menu? I have a brand new 5070 Pio that I just got today and want it to be an amazing combo with the Oppo. Any help would be appreciated.

Is the wide/squeeze setup for the TV type the best one to go with over just the wide selection?

Thanks

Curtis

I currently have the following settings on the Oppo 971 connected to a Pioneer 5070:

Sharpness to High
Brightness to 02
Contrast to -01
Saturation to 01
TrueLife to on
CCS to On
Noise Reduction to Low
Video Mode to Video2
TV Display to Wide
Screen Saver to on
Light Control to on
Angle Mark to on
DVD-Audio <to DVD-Video

I use THX video setup on the front of Sar Wars II to set the Oppo. However before settings the Oppo 971 I think I should have set up the Pioneer 5070 to the best settings using the THX video setup. Then fine tune the setting on the Oppo 971. I am thinking about using my Panasonic RP82 DVD player in 480 progressive mode to fine tune the Pioneer 5070 then use the Oppo 971 to fine tune the Oppo 971. I do not know if the picture on the Pioneer 5070 will improve for using the Oppo 971 HDMI input at 1080i the picture is amazing.

Sharpness to High
Brightness to 02
Contrast to -01
Saturation to 01
TrueLife to on
CCS to On
Noise Reduction to Low
Video Mode to Video2
TV Display to Wide
Screen Saver to on
Light Control to on
Angle Mark to on
DVD-Audio <to DVD-Video


How funny is this? I just received my OPPO 971 and spent an hour messing with the settings. I ended up almost exactly where you are except my brightness is higher. I am running it through a Sim2 HT300 Plus projector at 106 diag so I need a little more umph...

This little $200 box blows away my Denon 2800II. I was off to a Denon 2910...maybe higher. I had a $1000 DVD budget but did not want an HD or Blue Ray just yet. This thing is simply fantastic....and for a measly $200!

Sanyo Z2 projector with 104" diag screen. To calibrate I use AVIA and left all Oppo settings to their defaults:

sharpness=off
brightness=0
contrast=0
saturation=0
true life =on
CCS=off
NR=off

Then after the AVIA calibration I made the following adjustments to the Oppo to get a picture that is absolutely stunning

sharpness=medium or low depending on the DVD, animation looks great on medium while movies look better on low.
brightness=-1
contrast=0
saturation=0
true life =on
CCS=off
NR=medium (I ONLY get image retention on the stationary oppo blue screen, and the NR really cleans up the picture during DVD)

Hey guys, I am checking into this and am by no means a audio/video guy (more a software guy). If I go with the 971 and use the DVI-HDMI cable will lose any picture quality as opposed to using DVI-DVI?

no, there is no picture quality loss when doing a DVI-HDMI conversion.

Hey guys, I am checking into this and am by no means a audio/video guy (more a software guy). If I go with the 971 and use the DVI-HDMI cable will lose any picture quality as opposed to using DVI-DVI?

It is al l digital so as long as you use good components, you will not see any loss at at all.

Hi

I do have a recording-studio-quality DAC (RME FireFace), which can accept up to 192kHz/24bit over SPDIF coax and optical.
As far as I understood, the 971 is able to provide up to 192 kHz LPCM, but:

- all DVD-Audio content is only passed at 48kHz
- My DAC does not work with RAW format, it only works, when the 971 is set to PCM

In order to use my far better external DAC - is there ANY way to get the 971 to pass 96kHz/24bit DVD-Audio signals without resampling them to 48/16 over SPDIF/PCM?
Any info on that is MORE than welcome!

Hey guys, I am checking into this and am by no means a audio/video guy (more a software guy). If I go with the 971 and use the DVI-HDMI cable will lose any picture quality as opposed to using DVI-DVI?

No. Same digital signal on corresponding pins going to HDMI. Picture stays digital as if you were using DVI to DVI.

The modified firmware is here: www.opdv971h.com (http://www.opdv971h.com/)

So just a sanity check...

This the the Official Oppo 0720 with only 2 Mods...
+ UOP removed
+ MPEG4 subtitles menu changed

No more...No Less...Right?

I really like the 0720 FW and taking out those little nasty UOPs sounds really nice...

I just purchased a Panasonic 50" plasma (TH-50PX60U) and am looking for a new DVD player. I've been reading some from this thread and have noticed that some people have mentioned there's some issues with Panasonic plasmas (macroblocking?).... anyway, to make a long question short -

Would you recommend the Oppo for this TV, and if so, which model? I'm most interested in standard movie DVD's... I have a 7.1 HK receiver if that matters...

If not the Oppo due to these issues, anyone recommend a good DVD player for a good (<400?) price?

Thanks!!

Thanks guys for quick answers!

I just purchased a Panasonic 50" plasma (TH-50PX60U) and am looking for a new DVD player. I've been reading some from this thread and have noticed that some people have mentioned there's some issues with Panasonic plasmas (macroblocking?).... anyway, to make a long question short -

Would you recommend the Oppo for this TV, and if so, which model? I'm most interested in standard movie DVD's... I have a 7.1 HK receiver if that matters...

If not the Oppo due to these issues, anyone recommend a good DVD player for a good (<400?) price?

Thanks!!

If your budget is ~$400, why not just increase it a little and get a Toshiba HD-DVD player($500). They are backward compatible with SD DVDs, and from what I hear provide excellent scaling.

redjr....

If your budget is ~$400, why not just increase it a little and get a Toshiba HD-DVD player($500). They are backward compatible with SD DVDs, and from what I hear provide excellent scaling.

redjr....

after doing a bit of poking around due to your reply... i think i'll take your advice!

thanks!

I really like this player even though I only have a EDTV.

I installed the previous march released firmware a couple of months back and have noticed many "combing" issues on material such as "Behind The scenes" or doc. stuff on discs where they mix film material and video. Example, we watched "Munich" last nite and in the intro it was combing at virtually every edit between the film footage and the video stuff. Outputting 720P natively into my Mits FP. Don't seem to recall it happening with the older firmware and I thought the Faroudja chip handled this situation well. My old JVC with the mediamatics chip handled it the exact same or even better if it just switched fully to video mode.
Also player generated subs lately have been combing as they disappear off the screen. We watched "Cache", foreign film and it was driving me nuts.
Maybe I'll do the new firmware tonite...I had the exact same problem until last night. I installed the latest firmware (0720) a few days ago and, since then, noticed a lot of combing on scene changes when watching DVD previews and some DivX material.

So I decided to experiment with the Oppo settings. For some reason, I switched from Video2 to Video1. Strangely, it almost corrected the problem for my DivX file but it remained the same for some DVD material (e.g. The previews on the "Constantine" DVD).

Convinced there was something wrong with the new firmware, I decided to reinstall the 0316 fw using the exact same settings. To my surprise, the problem was still there. I even tried my testing with the 0228 fw without success. Then it hit me. There was one setting I decided to change when installing the latest firmware: "TrueLife = Off". I switched it off to see if it would help with the MB issue I have with my PDP. So I switched it back to "On", and voilà, the combing problem went away completely...

So what is the problem with "TrueLife" anyway? If set to "Off", you get image retention and occasional combing. And if "On", it can introduce macroblocking on some sets. :mad: Oh well... I feel better now. :D

So Dave, try to change this setting and see if it makes a difference? Or is it just on my setup? I'm surprised nobody mentioned this before. I had TrueLife set to "On" since I own this player so I never noticed any combing.

I just purchased a Panasonic 50" plasma (TH-50PX60U) and am looking for a new DVD player. I've been reading some from this thread and have noticed that some people have mentioned there's some issues with Panasonic plasmas (macroblocking?).... anyway, to make a long question short -

Would you recommend the Oppo for this TV, and if so, which model? I'm most interested in standard movie DVD's... I have a 7.1 HK receiver if that matters...

If not the Oppo due to these issues, anyone recommend a good DVD player for a good (<400?) price?

Thanks!!

I have the TH-50PX50U and have had no issues at all with the Oppo/Panny combo. It works great!

I have the TH-50PX50U and have had no issues at all with the Oppo/Panny combo. It works great!

Thanks for the input!

I haven't even opened the plasma box yet.. about two weeks away. Any tips on the hook up? I'm planning on HDMI....

Hi,


I got an oppo 971H. Got it last Friday.

But I don't get a Progressive signal from the component output, why?
I was under the impression that the player should deliver a Progressive signal from the component output (I know it doesn't do upconverting through the component output.)

I know it's not my projector or cable that is at fault since it all works with my old Denon player.

After upgrading to the latest firmware (0720) my remote got all beserk (the buttons that do work are all over the place: i.e. "select" is now key number "3"), don't matter if I switch between "old" and "new" holding the stop button. :/
(I have the black remote.)
Do I need to go back to the original firmware ... then one that didn't show firmware version hitting the OSD button, and returning this player?
Currently it feels like this player is a POS! :(

Hi,


I got an oppo 971H. Got it last Friday.

But I don't get a Progressive signal from the component output, why?
I was under the impression that the player should deliver a Progressive signal from the component output (I know it doesn't do upconverting through the component output.)

I know it's not my projector or cable that is at fault since it all works with my old Denon player.
See the first post in this thread for lots of information on the player, but: the component output does 480i only, due to the internal design of the player. Essentially, the sole purpose of the 971H is to use the DVI output, since the component output does not utilize the Faroudja chip at all.

As for your remote problems -- contact Oppo support, and they'll help you with the problem, whether it's hardware or firmware. They have some of the best customer service in the business, so they'll get you sorted out one way or the other.

After upgrading to the latest firmware (0720) my remote got all beserk (the buttons that do work are all over the place: i.e. "select" is now key number "3"), don't matter if I switch between "old" and "new" holding the stop button. :/
(I have the black remote.)
Do I need to go back to the original firmware ... then one that didn't show firmware version hitting the OSD button, and returning this player?
Currently it feels like this player is a POS! :(

If you have the BBK/OPPO Europe DVD player (which is likely due to your Sig showing you are in Sweden) the US firmware will not work with the FAT BBK remote (the Black one). You will need to downgrade to one of the European releases, such as the F-0315.

Please look at the following European OPDV971H Firmware Thread (http://www.livingcinema.nl/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=53).

DOH!

Well that explains it all. (And I think I might've read the 970HD spec before buying the 971H, hrm.)

Thanks guys, much appreciated. :)

Any update on the new Oppo HDMI DVD player?

Its driving me mad waiting till it comes out. A PS2 is not a great substitute when you dont have a DVD player.

(Patience not my strong point)

Cheers

Si

Any update on the new Oppo HDMI DVD player?

Its driving me mad waiting till it comes out. A PS2 is not a great substitute when you dont have a DVD player.

(Patience not my strong point)

Cheers

Si

Why would you care? Cables perhaps?

Run a HDMI cable to your set along with an optical (or dig coax) cable for the audio. All you need is an adapter from DVI to HDMI...the HDMI cable will only carry the video part, and the optical would carry the audio...so why do you have to wait for HDMI? Buy an adapter from RAM and you are all set to go.

No update. Rumblings are "Fall" at the earliest.

I have installed the new firmware 720 and would like to install 720.1. I must not be creating the disc image file correctly as the CD I burn is not recognized. Could someone provide a link to the instructions for installing the 720.1 BIN file? Please forgive if this has been answered before or is against forum rules. I am using a MAC powerbook OS X. Many thanks for helping to extract the most from a great machine!

Open Toast and select MOUNT DISC IMAGE from the UTILITIES menu.
Select the *.ISO file.
The *.ISO file then appears on the desktop.
Choose ISO 9660 from the OTHER menu.
Drag the mounted desktop *.ISO file over to the Toast window.
Place a disc in the CD tray and press RECORD.

Do not burn the BIN file. You want to burn the ISO Image file as an ISO. The end result will be a disc with the 935.BIN file.

I have installed the new firmware 720 and would like to install 720.1. I must not be creating the disc image file correctly as the CD I burn is not recognized. Could someone provide a link to the instructions for installing the 720.1 BIN file? Please forgive if this has been answered before or is against forum rules. I am using a MAC powerbook OS X. Many thanks for helping to extract the most from a great machine!

Go to the Oppodigital website and download the BIN file. Once it is on your desktop, open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder in Applications. Insert a CD-R disc. Simply click the Burn icon and locate the downloaded image file. It should only take a few seconds.

I have installed the new firmware 720 and would like to install 720.1. I must not be creating the disc image file correctly as the CD I burn is not recognized. Could someone provide a link to the instructions for installing the 720.1 BIN file? Please forgive if this has been answered before or is against forum rules. I am using a MAC powerbook OS X. Many thanks for helping to extract the most from a great machine!
whats 720.1 do you mean the unofficial FW oppo971-0720.v1 from http://www.opdv971h.com/2006/08/08/oppo971-0720v1/ ?

if so that is not an ISO image it is just a file (935.BIN) that needs to be extracted from a zip file oppo971-0720.v1.zip... and then to be Burned onto an CD as an ISO compliant CD...
1) Download
2) Unzip
3) Burn 935.BIN as a "Data Disc" onto top directory of and ISO compliant/initialized CD

as opposed to the official oppo FW (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0720.html) that comes as an ISO image Firmware_971h-10-0720.iso to be burned as an ISO image
1) Download
2) Burn Firmware_971h-10-0720.iso as an ISO image to a CD

So depending on which one you are talking about it is a slighty different burning process... in the end either way... if you have do it correct.. you should be able to put the CD in your PC/MAC and simply see 935.BIN in the top directory nothing more or less.

Am I right neuromancer? ... or did I just make thing worse (wouldn't be the first time)

EDITED / CORRETED : changed all 935.bin to 935.BIN

the problem with burning BIN files as a Data CD on Macs is that *.BIN files are part of the operating system. This messes with Toast and Disc Utility, as they default to a different set of burning instructions.

It has been a while since I used a Mac, but if you are burning the 935.BIN file, ensure that you are using ISO 9660 ONLY (Joliet will not work with the firmware recognition). I do not remember how to force this option in Toast/Disc Utility.

I am overwhelmed with the kind responses to my question. Thanks so much everyone! Seeing the range of responses above I don't feel so badly that I couldn't get this to work. I so appreciate the time and trouble everyone took to help me out. I'll try different stuff until I get something which works and I'll let you know. Thanks again!

the problem with burning BIN files as a Data CD on Macs is that *.BIN files are part of the operating system. This messes with Toast and Disc Utility, as they default to a different set of burning instructions.

It has been a while since I used a Mac, but if you are burning the 935.BIN file, ensure that you are using ISO 9660 ONLY (Joliet will not work with the firmware recognition). I do not remember how to force this option in Toast/Disc Utility.
My point was depending on where he gets the FW, there is 2 different types of sources..and ISO image for the official and just a File for the unoffical FW.

Yeah I forgot on the mac ".bin" is "reserved"

For the record and for anyone running Mac OS X 10.4.7 here is what worked. Given all the input here I looked for special disc burning software, hopefully something (not Joliet) ISO 9660. I downloaded a few things and tried to make it work without success. My (several) CD's all showed the .BIN file but the OPPO would not recognize. Then, re-reading bvader's post (many thanks) I just tried something extremely simple. I put in a blank disc. Opened it on the desktop. In the window on the new Mac OS there is a burn button already there. No need to open Disk Utlility or any other software at all. I just dragged and dropped the .BIN file to the blank window and clicked burn. Afterwards I ejected the CD and popped it into the OPPO following their normal instructions. The OPPO recognized it perfectly and voila, new (unofficial) firmware installed. Thanks again for all the help and sage advice!

Which firmware did you use 0720 or the modified 0720.1?

sorry - been away for a while... I installed MVer: 05.00.01.07 Batch: 10-0720
Release Date: July 28, 2006

and left Truelife=On. No problems so far. major improvement!

the problem with burning BIN files as a Data CD on Macs is that *.BIN files are part of the operating system. This messes with Toast and Disc Utility, as they default to a different set of burning instructions.

It has been a while since I used a Mac, but if you are burning the 935.BIN file, ensure that you are using ISO 9660 ONLY (Joliet will not work with the firmware recognition). I do not remember how to force this option in Toast/Disc Utility.
Joliet will work, but you have to rename file to UPPERCASE. I.e. not 935.bin but 935.BIN

I've had problems in the past with the firmware not being recognized even when you capitalized the file as well as the CD name when using Joliet. This is something that could have been corrected on the OPPO products in previous firmware releases (which by nature means that they work with the new firmware).

Can someone tell me how XviD and DivX work on the 971?

Can you put them on either a DVD or a CD?

Are you given a menu for multiple files on the same disc?

They can be put on CD or DVD.

You will have an Explorer window (much like Windows) to navigate your files.

DivX/XviD will play smoothly, though there is a 720x480 pixel resolution cap for the maximum resolution.

I currently have the following settings on the Oppo 971 connected to a Pioneer 5070:

Sharpness to High
Brightness to 02
Contrast to -01
Saturation to 01
CCS to On I'm glad these settings work for you, Mike, but they are not recommended for other owners.

The 971 puts out the correct "Studio RGB" values when Brightness and Contrast are set to 0 (default). It is preferable to calibrate the display to match these values, in order to prevent false-contouring (banding),

CCS does not have any positive effect on digital DVD transfers, but can introduce problems like color flickering.

Increased Sharpness can look good at first, until you notice the artifacts it produces. Setting sharpness to OFF or LOW is best to preserve a natural-looking image. The image may seem "softer", but it is much more accurate and film-like.

Gary

Help please.. I downloaded the firmware available at OPPO's site and got this file: Firmware_971h-10-0720.iso
I burned it to a disc. before I mess with an installation I want to be sure I don't wreck something.
I have a Mac running the latest software. Is this the most current version that corrects for lip-sync and subtitle issues, or do I need a 720.1 version? If so, where do I get it?
Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I have a question regarding my 971.

I know this is completely noobish, but that is what I am =).

Anyway, I'm running it on a Samsung HL-S5686W via HDMI/DVI. Everything with the picture is great. The only problem I am having is with getting any sound. I suspect it is an issue with what kind of audio signal the TV is trying to receive versus what it is actually receiving. Anyway, there is no DVI port on the back of the TV, but there are two slots (red,white) for DVI Audio In. I have tried both these slots connected to the "mixed" audio slots on the back of the 971 and I have also tried an optical cable that I have (neither work).

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what is causing this?

Help please.. I downloaded the firmware available at OPPO's site and got this file: Firmware_971h-10-0720.iso
I burned it to a disc. before I mess with an installation I want to be sure I don't wreck something.
I have a Mac running the latest software. Is this the most current version that corrects for lip-sync and subtitle issues, or do I need a 720.1 version? If so, where do I get it?
Thanks in advance.


The 10-0720 Firmware (OPPO website) has the subtitle and Audio/Video Syncronization fix. The 702.1 (hacked firmware) just allows you to navigate past UPOs and adds a DivX/XviD subtitle alteration menu.

Hi all, quick question. Pros/Cons between the Digital or the Coaxial ports of the 971H to a Onkyo TX-SR674?

Thanks,

TTexas

Hi all, quick question. Pros/Cons between the Digital or the Coaxial ports of the 971H to a Onkyo TX-SR674?

Thanks,

TTexas

I know I'm going to get some grief for this response but here it goes. I prefer the coax digital connection versus the optical. One, an excellent cable is much cheaper, two, the cable is much more flexible and less likely to be damaged, three, I prefer the audio quality playing both PCM and Bitstream sources. I too am using the Oppo 971 with the Onkyo 767.

...I prefer the audio quality playing both PCM and Bitstream sources...
You had me nodding at #1 and #2 but this part makes no sense.

Both coax and optical pass the exact same digital information. It either works or it doesn't. There is no difference in sound quality.

Both of you answered my questions. I like the coaxial solution, but wanted to make sure I wasn't giving up anything. Thanks for the quick response.

TTexas

Digital coaxial = sound.
Component = video

Any update on the new Oppo HDMI DVD player?

Its driving me mad waiting till it comes out. A PS2 is not a great substitute when you dont have a DVD player.

(Patience not my strong point)

Cheers

Si

To add to Randy's comment, you don't need to buy an adapter. The oppo ships with both a DVI/DVI and DVI/HDMI cable.

No update. Rumblings are "Fall" at the earliest.

Would the new hdmi oppo have better PQ than the 971? what will the differences in features be?

I just bought the OPDV971H and am wondering if I should just wait until the new one comes out.

What kind of specs will the new OPPO player have as opposed to the 971? I'm in no hurry to upgrade my player at the moment, and if its only an upgrade to HDMI, its a moot point since I don't have that on my TV anyhow. (Have only DVI and the standard component/composite/s-video connections).

Would the new hdmi oppo have better PQ than the 971? what will the differences in features be?

I just bought the OPDV971H and am wondering if I should just wait until the new one comes out.

The last time OPPO talked about the product it would have the same quality as the OPDV971H. However, one of the reasons it was delayed was to finalize the feature set, so they could be technically altering it. What they are changing, no one knows except them.

I personally would just keep the OPDV971H if you are happy with its performance. Any difference will be minimal at best.

I think the main difference will be HDMI out and SACD playback.

*thanks Neuromancer.

thanks nueromancer, that's exactly what I wanted to hear :)

I was just watching family guy with the oppo, and damn that looked nice! haha

I have an xvid file, behaving strangely. When I fast reverse it, it immediately goes to the beginning, instead of rewinding, and also when I fast orward it really fast like 16x or 32x, it does not seem to go that fast, only slightly faster, maybe 3x. Go to to a specific point in the file does not work either.
Anu insight on that? I checked the file GSpot and Mpeg4Modifier, nothing specific, except Quant Type is custom

Problem with fast rewinding and forwarding is usually caused by corrupted or non-standard index in the Divx/xvid file. Without a working index the player cannot fast rewind. Fast forwarding cannot jump to frames so 16x/32x FF is not working. Instead the player has to decode the video on the fly and play it faster, perhaps 3x faster at most. I encountered this problem before and called oppo about it. There is nothing much they can do. Unlike with some other players I tried before, being able to play corrupted files is already a bonus for me.

Hey, I ordered an oppo dv971h last week, and it arrived this thursday. It has all the latest firmware updates. I've watched a couple movies on it so far, and I don't know if I can tell the difference between my old pro-scan dvd player and the 1080i upconverted signal from the oppo. I am watching on a Sony 50A2000. Some things look great, like family guy and xvid anime files. But other stuff looks marginally better than normal pro-scan like v for vendetta and 28 days later.

Is there supposed to be a significant difference in PQ? Could it be possible that I have a lemon or bad one? Also, would calibrating it using Avia make a drastic difference? Am I just spoiled because 1080i true HD signals look fantastic and I was expecting a similar quality?

Are there any settings I should have off or on?

Thanks for the help!

Hey, I ordered an oppo dv971h last week, and it arrived this thursday. It has all the latest firmware updates. I've watched a couple movies on it so far, and I don't know if I can tell the difference between my old pro-scan dvd player and the 1080i upconverted signal from the oppo. I am watching on a Sony 50A2000. Some things look great, like family guy and xvid anime files. But other stuff looks marginally better than normal pro-scan like v for vendetta and 28 days later.

Is there supposed to be a significant difference in PQ? Could it be possible that I have a lemon or bad one? Also, would calibrating it using Avia make a drastic difference? Am I just spoiled because 1080i true HD signals look fantastic and I was expecting a similar quality?

Are there any settings I should have off or on?

Thanks for the help!

Are you using the DVI/HDMI interface? The oppo 971 is only better if you are using the DVI interface. For that is the only interface the upgraded picture is sent.

I've watched a couple movies on it so far, and I don't know if I can tell the difference between my old pro-scan dvd player and the 1080i upconverted signal from the oppo. I am watching on a Sony 50A2000. Some things look great, like family guy and xvid anime files. But other stuff looks marginally better than normal pro-scan like v for vendetta and 28 days later.

Is there supposed to be a significant difference in PQ? Could it be possible that I have a lemon or bad one? Also, would calibrating it using Avia make a drastic difference? Am I just spoiled because 1080i true HD signals look fantastic and I was expecting a similar quality? The default settings should be fine. But here are 4 things to keep in mind:
Calibration of the display is extremely important to get the best out of any player.
Upconverted SD DVD cannot match a high-quality HD signal - there is simply not enough information stored on the DVD... but a good quality DVD should look fairly close.
The 971's 720p output is generally the best one to use. But that can depend on your display. Use the output resolution that looks best on your display.
The 971 does well with all kinds of tricky DVD cadences and transfer errors, whereas some players do well with only the better transfers. The point is... some well-recorded DVD's can look good on many upconverting players... its the bad transfers that show up the bad players.
Gary

Hi,

I have the new Pioneer 5070HD Tv hooked up with my new Oppo 971, and I am connecting it using the included DVI-HDMI cable. It seems that the 780p looks significantly better than the 1080i with regards to picture quality. The 1080i seems to have more jagged edges than the 780p.

Is this just me? or has some consensus been made in the forum about this?

I see that someone wrote that 780p was best too.

I also have a Sony display (50", RP LCD, 1.5 years old). First of all, a good calibrartion makes a huge difference. Does not matter if you calibrated your set before (which I had). You have to do it with Oppo. I ended up with different values when I recalibrated with Oppo. I am using different values when I watch TV and when I use Oppo.
Second, the scaler on Sony's are way too good. I am seeing very little difference between an old JVC non-upconverting DVD player and Oppo's; only slight difference... ( also tested a few DVD's, all had good recordings, maybe a poor DVD will make more of a difference). I give credit to Sony's electronics. Also my native resolution is 768, so logic dictates 780p will give better results. Not so. I am using 1080i. Slight, but noticeable improvement over 780p. Somebody was saying that the sets are optimized for 1080i, maybe that is the reason.

Hi,

I have the new Pioneer 5070HD Tv hooked up with my new Oppo 971, and I am connecting it using the included DVI-HDMI cable. It seems that the 780p looks significantly better than the 1080i with regards to picture quality. The 1080i seems to have more jagged edges than the 780p.

Is this just me? or has some consensus been made in the forum about this?

I see that someone wrote that 780p was best too.

not surprising as that is your sets native resolution, check your specs in your owners manual

Ok, I'm seeing alot of combing lately with my oppo. Not during films. It is in documentaries where it switches from film (clips of movie) to video material. ALOT of combing, like every other edit between the 2. Noticed this on the "V for Vendetta" little behind the scenes doc. Also on others recently. Never had this problem before until just recently. I have the player outputting at 720P straight into my sort of new Mits hc3000 PJ. Since the Mits in natively a 768P PJ, could it be the Mits? Never had this problem with my Optoma h57 which was 576P and had to scale the 720P signal as well. Or is it the oppo? I did a new firmware a couple of months ago...

:(

If the footage is Video, or at least mixed cadence, then you will see combing errors in fast cuts or cuts where video and film are intermixed. Most documentaries are done with Video cadences, which are not decoded well through the OPDV971H.

i thought so but what's weird is that it passed all the benchmark tests including the mixed film video ones and it didn't seem to do that before...

:)

Dave, did you read what I posted (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8216811&&#post8216811) earlier? Did you change your "Truelife" setting recently? The problem you're describing sounds a lot like mine.

Thanks Michel! Hadn't seen the post! Will try later!

:) d

i thought so but what's weird is that it passed all the benchmark tests including the mixed film video ones and it didn't seem to do that before...

It depends on the cadence. The OPDV971H will pass 3:2 and 2:2 mixed cadence, but there are dozens of other cadences which are not supported. Depending on the original content, and the encode, these cadences could be non-supported, such as 3:2:2:3, or 8:8 Animation.

Gotcha! Thanks Neuro!
I will also try the newer firmware. I have the March currently.

Ok, I'm seeing alot of combing lately with my oppo. Not during films. It is in documentaries where it switches from film (clips of movie) to video material. ALOT of combing, like every other edit between the 2. One more thing to keep in mind... the SECRETS test reveals that all Faroudja players are borderline when it comes to "Responsiveness". In other words, it takes some time for the player to lock onto the new cadence when there is a sudden change. That's the price of its excellent motion-adaptive de-interlacing.

So, if the DVD frequently switches from video to film and back again, you will notice a few seconds of combing every time there is a switch, and it could become annoying. But this is not a player fault, its a limitation of the Faroudja processor.

Gary

I also have a Sony display (50", RP LCD, 1.5 years old). First of all, a good calibrartion makes a huge difference. Does not matter if you calibrated your set before (which I had). You have to do it with Oppo. I ended up with different values when I recalibrated with Oppo. I am using different values when I watch TV and when I use Oppo.
Second, the scaler on Sony's are way too good. I am seeing very little difference between an old JVC non-upconverting DVD player and Oppo's; only slight difference... ( also tested a few DVD's, all had good recordings, maybe a poor DVD will make more of a difference). I give credit to Sony's electronics. Also my native resolution is 768, so logic dictates 780p will give better results. Not so. I am using 1080i. Slight, but noticeable improvement over 780p. Somebody was saying that the sets are optimized for 1080i, maybe that is the reason.

I totally agree with the calibration comment, but I also went from a JVC non-upconverting to the Oppo on a 55" Sony RP LCD and I see a very noticable difference. On the discs that I tried they all looked better with the oppo, but on ones with computer animation or special effects the difference was night and day.

I went back and forth with 720p/1080i and finally settled on 720p. I didn't notice a huge difference between the two, but there were a few scenes where 720p seemed to give a better depth to the picture.

I think the main difference will be HDMI out and SACD playback.
That sounds good, but they should also improve the analog section.

I've seen in this forum and elsewhere rumors of OPPO bringing out a replacement for the OPDV971H. It was slated for late August. HDMI and SACD were mentioned as likely additions, along with the higher picture quality of the 971 over the 970.

It's now late August. Does anyone have any idea how genuine/imminent this might be?

It has been changed to "This Fall". You will have to wait for an official announcement for something more than this.

I tried the firmware update by downloading the .iso file and then burning it to CD on my Mac. The OPPO didn't recognize the CD. Any help is appreciated..

I tried the firmware update by downloading the .iso file and then burning it to CD on my Mac. The OPPO didn't recognize the CD. Any help is appreciated..

Martin,

Use Disk Utility, not the Finder, and it works like a charm. At least here. :)

Dana

Toonces wrote this a while ago:

Open Toast and select MOUNT DISC IMAGE from the UTILITIES menu.
Select the *.ISO file.
The *.ISO file then appears on the desktop.
Choose ISO 9660 from the OTHER menu.
Drag the mounted desktop *.ISO file over to the Toast window.
Place a disc in the CD tray and press RECORD.

OK I got my Oppo yesterday and hooked it up to my HT1000. The picture looked good right out of the box but I have a couple of questions:

1) I can't change the picture size on my HT1000 (it treats it like an HD image. It didn't do that with my Bravo D1 thru DVI). Do I have to use the Oppo to zoom the image to fill the screen?
2) Should I be using 720p or 1080i?
3) Sharpness.............should it be off or low? (I've read both in this thread)
4) Is there any reason to mess with the other video settings?
5) Audio 48, 96 or 128?
6) Does the downmix affect digital audio on DVDs? Or is that just for DVD-A?

I'm sure I have more but I only had 30 mins. to play with the Oppo last night and that's all I could come up with.

1. Either use the OPPO to Zoom (not recommended) or change the resolution to 480p when you want to change the aspect ratio of zoom functionality using your television's controls.

2. In most cases, you will want to use 720p over 1080i. 540p is also an alternative if you display is natively 1080i.

3. Off. Low will increase Edge Enhancement artifacts.

4. The only reason why you would change the defualts is if your display locks out video settings, or you want to take advantage of CSS and DNR.

5. Only change these settings if you are using the analog outputs. The higher, the better.

6. DownMix only effects the analog outputs for all multi-channel sources.

Thanks for the fast response. I may have some more questions tonight after I spend some more time with it. :-)

I purchased an RCA TV which has a DVI input and is capable of 1080i. I just received my Oppo DV971H player, hooked it up, and... nothing. I get only a black screen when connecting over the DVI cable.

Over composite video, the Oppo works just fine. My TV has worked otherwise, picking up HD signals over the air and all that. (However, the DVI connection is untested.) So my question is, what do I do now? I've read the TV and DVD player manuals cover to cover and I've tried every setting I can find. I suppose the problem could be the Oppo, the TV, or the cable but I don't know how to narrow it down. Or is there some funky setting that newbies like me might miss?

Thank you!
Bryan

I tried the firmware update by downloading the .iso file and then burning it to CD on my Mac. The OPPO didn't recognize the CD. Any help is appreciated..Try as I might, whenever I try to burn an ISO image to a CD on my Mac, I wind up with a data disk that contains the iso file in the root directory. Then I discovered the following:

http://www.tech-recipes.com/apple_mac_tips1002.html

Worked like a charm!

I purchased an RCA TV which has a DVI input and is capable of 1080i. I just received my Oppo DV971H player, hooked it up, and... nothing. I get only a black screen when connecting over the DVI cable.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say your TV is DVI-A (analog) while the Oppo output and included cable are DVI-D (digital).

Look at the technical specs. for the TV. If it says the DVI input is DVI-A, then that's you're problem. In that case, revert to using component video.

If the TV specs. say the DVI input is DVI-D or DVI-I, then I'm barking up the wrong tree.

I have a CRT Mitsubishi 65413. Has anyone had experience with connecting the Oppo to the Mits DVI "monitorlink" connection? Were there any glitches? How about PQ? I've been using a Panasonic RP62 for the past several years but I've been considering getting the Oppo before the dreaded HO7 makes its appearance. Thanks.

I purchased an RCA TV which has a DVI input and is capable of 1080i. I just received my Oppo DV971H player, hooked it up, and... nothing. I get only a black screen when connecting over the DVI cable.

Over composite video, the Oppo works just fine. My TV has worked otherwise, picking up HD signals over the air and all that. (However, the DVI connection is untested.) So my question is, what do I do now? I've read the TV and DVD player manuals cover to cover and I've tried every setting I can find. I suppose the problem could be the Oppo, the TV, or the cable but I don't know how to narrow it down. Or is there some funky setting that newbies like me might miss?

Thank you!
Bryan

Try changing your DVI resolutions. Press Eject then press the DVI button (lower left hand corner of your remote control). Cycle through the DVI modes until you select 540p or 1080i and see if a picture does not resolve.

You can confirm your resolution by pressing the DVI button once, and looking on the front LCD panel.

Thanks for all the responses guys. Vttom, I went to the page you linked and it said to use this: hdiutil burn image.iso and another post said use this: hdiutil...burn image.iso

besides that, I'm not sure of the procedure. I don't have a toast program on my mac, just the CD burner function. Please let me know step by step what I should do. I have the .iso file on my desktop. Tx.

I always say, "When in doubt, double-click." Something's sure to happen :)

Use /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
Select File->Open Disk Image, and then select the newly downloaded firmware file.
Highlight the disk image, and and click the Burn icon in the toolbar...

Thanks for all the responses guys. Vttom, I went to the page you linked and it said to use this: hdiutil burn image.iso and another post said use this: hdiutil...burn image.iso

besides that, I'm not sure of the procedure. I don't have a toast program on my mac, just the CD burner function. Please let me know step by step what I should do. I have the .iso file on my desktop. Tx.

Martin,

From Disk Utility Help:

"1. In Disk Utility, drag the disk image you want to use to the Disk Utility window if the disk image doesn't appear in the list.

"2. Select the disk image and click Burn.

"3. Insert a recordable CD or DVD disc into the optical drive of your computer and follow the onscreen instructions."

Dana

Yeah baby! Muchos gracias mi amigos :) Got it. Can't wait for a subtitle to pop up automatically when needed and will check out the worst lip sync issue DVD I have later (Lucinda Williams/ Austin City Limits concert) and look for improvements.

Thanks for your help, everyone. After trying everything I could think of, I made one last hail mary attempt: I reversed the DVI-DVI cord. And it worked!

I can't make sense of it. The cord wasn't loose before I reversed it, but somehow it works now. Yippee!

By the way, I'm new here but... wouldn't a "DV971H" forum be a lot more useful than a 221 page thread? Just a thought. ;)

Martin,

From Disk Utility Help:

"1. In Disk Utility, drag the disk image you want to use to the Disk Utility window if the disk image doesn't appear in the list.

"2. Select the disk image and click Burn.

"3. Insert a recordable CD or DVD disc into the optical drive of your computer and follow the onscreen instructions."

DanaThis is the way I've always done it, and it has always worked perfectly.

Please let me know step by step what I should do. I have the .iso file on my desktop. Tx.1. Insert blank CD. When prompted what to do, choose Ignore
2. From Finder, go into Utilities (or Applications then Utilities) and open the Terminal app.
3. Use the "cd" command to get into the directory containing the ISO image file you want to burn.
4. Enter the following at the command-line:
hdiutil burn name_of_iso_image_file

This is the way I've always done it, and it has always worked perfectly.Now that I reflect back, I think my problem is that I instinctively insert the blank disk first, then launch Disk Utility.

It has been changed to "This Fall". You will have to wait for an official announcement for something more than this.

Thanks - that's all I was looking for.

I have limited quantity of Winbase DV971H available for $140+shipping. As you know, Winbase is the OEM for Oppo and Winbase DV971H is the same model as Oppo DV971H. Please PM me if you are interested.
A-stock in original packaging? Warranty?

Well I upgraded to the July firmware last nite and now I am having skipping, stuttering, dropped frames, (don't know the exact term to describe) on my PAL discs. argh.
Will do more testing later, haven't even tried NTSC yet

Are you still using Video 2 and PAL (or Auto)?

Yes, video 2 and auto for Pal. Outputting at 720-50hz. Was fine before.

couple of newbie questions for you vetern owners

-plan to buy this off of amazon, is the unit the latest one with the latest remote?
-I think it comes with a free DVI->HMDI cable, is it of good quality or should I buy a new one?
-should I hold off on buying this? are they coming out with a new version of 971 with native HDMI support?

thanks

As OPPO sends Amazon.com new stock on a regular basis, it is likely that you will receive the latest remote control and DVI-HDMI cable.

The DVI-HDMI cable is of good quality. You should only need to replace it if you are experiencing sparkles or need a longer cable.

They are looking at the possibility of a OPDV971H with native HDMI support, but there is no release date or finalized feature set at the moment.

couple of newbie questions for you vetern owners

-plan to buy this off of amazon, is the unit the latest one with the latest remote?
-I think it comes with a free DVI->HMDI cable, is it of good quality or should I buy a new one?
-should I hold off on buying this? are they coming out with a new version of 971 with native HDMI support?

thanks

I bought mine from Amazon and everything was current.

The cables are good quality.

The replacement for the 971 with hdmi has not been announced, so there is no knowing how long you would have to wait.

-Bill

Regarding the hacked firmware...+ UOP removedWhat does that mean? What is UOP? :confused:

Not sure UOP is, but maybe he means UPO (user prohibited operations). So now you can skip or bypass any of the forced trailers and/or FBI warnings etc on the disc.

Not a big deal for me, since I despise those things and refuse to be subjected to them. I simply burn a stripped copy of the DVD movie so when I insert the disc, the movie starts automatically... if that's what "UOP" means, but the acronym you used would be "UPO."

No idea if it was a mistake or written this way on purpose.

UOP = User Operation Prohibition.

Steve.

According to this review from last year http://ultimateavmag.com/dvdplayers/1105oppo/

The 971 does NOT do progressive scan when using component cables. Is that true? My 65 inch RPTV only has 1 DVI output(no HDMI) and I believe I will need the DVI input on the tv for my HD box when FIOS gets here in a few months. This leaves me with using component out to my Yamaha then to the tv via component cable again. Will I be happy using the 971 and component out ( non progressive scan)on a 65 inch RPTV?

Also,

When u hit stop on a dvd playing on the 971 can u just hit play and have it start where it stopped?


Thanks in advance,

Joe

According to this review from last year http://ultimateavmag.com/dvdplayers/1105oppo/

The 971 does NOT do progressive scan when using component cables. Is that true? My 65 inch RPTV only has 1 DVI output(no HDMI) and I believe I will need the DVI input on the tv for my HD box when FIOS gets here in a few months. This leaves me with using component out to my Yamaha then to the tv via component cable again. Will I be happy using the 971 and component out ( non progressive scan)on a 65 inch RPTV?

Also,

When u hit stop on a dvd playing on the 971 can u just hit play and have it start where it stopped?


Thanks in advance,

Joe

It's true: the 971 does only 480i on component. Further, Oppo makes quality claims only for the DVI port on this unit, and most owners do not recommend the component port at all.

The newer 970 does have good component out, both 480i and 480p. It also upconverts over its HDMI port.

Resume after stopping: yes.

-Bill

So lets say I have a 971 and I put in my Pink Floyd Pulse DVD which is 480P and I have it connected using the DVI port. Will the Oppo upconvert it so it plays at 1080i on my tv set? ANd how will that picture compare to using the 970 with compnonet cables at 480P on a 65 inch RPTV?

So lets say I have a 971 and I put in my Pink Floyd Pulse DVD which is 480P and I have it connected using the DVI port.

There's no such thing as a 480p DVD. All DVDs are 480i.

Will the Oppo upconvert it so it plays at 1080i on my tv set?

Using DVI, yes. Using component, no.

ANd how will that picture compare to using the 970 with compnonet cables at 480P on a 65 inch RPTV?

The 971H has better video deinterlacing than the 970HD. This will likely be important if you watch a lot of video-based content such as concert DVDs.

Well I do watch alot of DVD's. When I hit info while watching the DVD it said 480P so I assume the AVR or my TV upconverted it. Am I wrong? I guess I will have to find out how the HD box connects to my set from Verizon's FIOS. I would think I would want the HD using the DVI in.

Is their a good DVI switcher at a good price out there?

If you are using component with your current DVD player, then you could be using progressive scan, which is why you are seeing 480p when you hit the Info button.

On a half-whim I ordered a OPPO 971 from Amazon. I thought I'd read that it had HDMI out which I was going to run (with both video and sound, I thought) to my Panny 42PX6U.

Now I'm reading this thread and I discover it only has DVI out but comes with a DVI->HDMI cable? THis means, I assume, I have to run audio (RCA?) cables to get the sound?

Are there other good alternative? I'd like to have as few cables as possible.

I believe my HR10-250 DirecTV/TIVO has HDMI out and I assumed the HDMI included audio.

In fact, I thought that one of the main selling points of HDMI was that one cable did everything? Am I nuts? (Please don't answer too truthfully).

Hoppy

Return it unopened and get the Oppo 970 which has HDMI out.

... Is their a good DVI switcher at a good price out there?Hi! A couple of months ago, I bought a Gefen DVI switcher from Cable Solutions on Ebay. It works great and came with cables. It also has a remote so if you have a one-for-all remote, you can program it to select the DVI input. Great device! :)

On a half-whim I ordered a OPPO 971 from Amazon. I thought I'd read that it had HDMI out which I was going to run (with both video and sound, I thought) to my Panny 42PX6U.

Now I'm reading this thread and I discover it only has DVI out but comes with a DVI->HDMI cable? THis means, I assume, I have to run audio (RCA?) cables to get the sound?

Are there other good alternative? I'd like to have as few cables as possible.

I believe my HR10-250 DirecTV/TIVO has HDMI out and I assumed the HDMI included audio.

In fact, I thought that one of the main selling points of HDMI was that one cable did everything? Am I nuts? (Please don't answer too truthfully).

Hoppy

If you set the H10-250 to dolby digital it will no longer send audio to the TV only outputs through the digital outs unless the program is not Dolby digital. I have gotten to the point I do not even use the audio on the TV any more.

Anyone finds the subtitle fonts blunky and large? Is there anyway to reduce the size and reposition the subtitles? Thanks

According to this review from last year http://ultimateavmag.com/dvdplayers/1105oppo/

The 971 does NOT do progressive scan when using component cables. Is that true? My 65 inch RPTV only has 1 DVI output(no HDMI) and I believe I will need the DVI input on the tv for my HD box when FIOS gets here in a few months. This leaves me with using component out to my Yamaha then to the tv via component cable again. Will I be happy using the 971 and component out ( non progressive scan)on a 65 inch RPTV?

Why can't you just use the component out from the FIOS box instead of the HDMI out? Then you COULD use the DVI out on the Oppo to your TV.

Anyone finds the subtitle fonts blunky and large? Is there anyway to reduce the size and reposition the subtitles? Thanks

If the subtitles are an external subtitle stream (such as a SRT/SUB for a DivX encode) then you can change the Font of the subtitles.

If you are talking DVDs, then no, there is no option to alter these subtitles, as subtitles on DVDs are stored Bitmaps, and what you see is what you get.

On a half-whim I ordered a OPPO 971 from Amazon. I thought I'd read that it had HDMI out which I was going to run (with both video and sound, I thought) to my Panny 42PX6U.

Now I'm reading this thread and I discover it only has DVI out but comes with a DVI->HDMI cable? THis means, I assume, I have to run audio (RCA?) cables to get the sound?

Are there other good alternative? I'd like to have as few cables as possible.

I believe my HR10-250 DirecTV/TIVO has HDMI out and I assumed the HDMI included audio.

In fact, I thought that one of the main selling points of HDMI was that one cable did everything? Am I nuts? (Please don't answer too truthfully).

Hoppy
You're not nuts, at all!

Oppo intends to release an updated version of the 971 with Faroudja chipset "sometime in the Fall", and this new unit will include an HDMI output.

If you're willing to accept a lesser chipset (but no macroblocking!), and can deal with the lack of a 2:2 cadence for PAL disc playback, then the Oppo 970 might work out for you.

On a half-whim I ordered a OPPO 971 from Amazon. I thought I'd read that it had HDMI out which I was going to run (with both video and sound, I thought) to my Panny 42PX6U.

Now I'm reading this thread and I discover it only has DVI out but comes with a DVI->HDMI cable? THis means, I assume, I have to run audio (RCA?) cables to get the sound?

Are there other good alternative? I'd like to have as few cables as possible.

I believe my HR10-250 DirecTV/TIVO has HDMI out and I assumed the HDMI included audio.

In fact, I thought that one of the main selling points of HDMI was that one cable did everything? Am I nuts? (Please don't answer too truthfully).

Hoppy

Maybe a little nuts :)

Yes, if you use the DVI->HDMI cable you will need to run one more cable for audio (digital audio), or two if you are using RCA plugs. For many people audio/video quality is more important than the number of cables that need to be run. For me I have the HDMI connection to my TV for picture and an optical cable to my receiver for audio. It's one cable, and the sound difference is worth. Yes in an ideal world you could run HDMI to your audio receiver, but until then its just one more cable.

Maybe a little nuts :)

Yes, if you use the DVI->HDMI cable you will need to run one more cable for audio (digital audio), or two if you are using RCA plugs. For many people audio/video quality is more important than the number of cables that need to be run. For me I have the HDMI connection to my TV for picture and an optical cable to my receiver for audio. It's one cable, and the sound difference is worth. Yes in an ideal world you could run HDMI to your audio receiver, but until then its just one more cable.


Thanks. I'm getting closer to getting it now.

Nutsy

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for all the great info on this product. I recently ordered a unit and it will arrive in a couple of days.

I have a question i'm dying to ask even though I think I know the answer but can't help but ask:

Because this unit upconverts to 720P / 1080i does that mean it will fill the entire display sceen? Or will films still be letterboxed based on how the movie was originially filmed?

Regarding calibration, I see avia is the most common tool. Any recommendations on which one to use?

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for all the great info on this product. I recently ordered a unit and it will arrive in a couple of days.

I have a question i'm dying to ask even though I think I know the answer but can't help but ask:

Because this unit upconverts to 720P / 1080i does that mean it will fill the entire display sceen? Or will films still be letterboxed based on how the movie was originially filmed?

Regarding calibration, I see avia is the most common tool. Any recommendations on which one to use?

If the film was shot in a wider than 16:9 aspect ratio, than yes there will still be letterboxing.

I pefer DVE over avia even with Joe Kane's weird menu structure.

I recently picked one of these Oppo's up and it's been running great, save for one relatively minor problem: there seems to be a large amount of pixelation or compression that's blatantly visible at times. It's only really noticeable in very dark scenes or when the screen fades to black. Strangely, it seems at it's worst right at the DVD start-up, when company logos are warning screens show up -- at the very start, a flicker of extremely bad pixelations flares up before calming down after a second or two.

Anybody have any idea as to what the problem may be?

The aspect ratio will be determined by the original source, and not the DVD player. If the aspect ratio is wider than 1:77:1 (or 1:85:1 enhanced) then you will get bars at the top and bottom of your display.

AVIA is the easiest of the two to use. I personally prefer AVIA as I find DVE pushes my blacks towards grey a bit more (personal preference).

Why can't you just use the component out from the FIOS box instead of the HDMI out? Then you COULD use the DVI out on the Oppo to your TV.


I could do that but I assume then I won't be getting the best picture possible when viewing HDTV since I am now converting the signal to analog, thru my receiver and then back to digital again.

Any news on the next FW update for the 971H? I had understood by reading some posts that the great folks at Oppo were going to work on the ghosting issue when TrueLife is turned off. I assume this would be a minor update.

Any news on the next FW update for the 971H? I had understood by reading some posts that the great folks at Oppo were going to work on the ghosting issue when TrueLife is turned off. I assume this would be a minor update.

No updates that involve the Faroudja chip are minor, unfortunately.

I recently picked one of these Oppo's up and it's been running great, save for one relatively minor problem: there seems to be a large amount of pixelation or compression that's blatantly visible at times. It's only really noticeable in very dark scenes or when the screen fades to black. Strangely, it seems at it's worst right at the DVD start-up, when company logos are warning screens show up -- at the very start, a flicker of extremely bad pixelations flares up before calming down after a second or two.

Anybody have any idea as to what the problem may be?Welcome to the Wonderful World of Macroblocking! :(

Question about the AVIA disc. This is used for the settings only on the dvd player correct? You arent changing the settings on your TV with the AVIA disc are you? Meaning, you do all the calibration using the dvd player settings not the TV settings in the tv's menu, is that correct?

Sorry for any redundant questions but I just picked up a 971 and am still a bit new to the calibration world. Thanks!
The aspect ratio will be determined by the original source, and not the DVD player. If the aspect ratio is wider than 1:77:1 (or 1:85:1 enhanced) then you will get bars at the top and bottom of your display.

AVIA is the easiest of the two to use. I personally prefer AVIA as I find DVE pushes my blacks towards grey a bit more (personal preference).

I would use the settings on your display, rather than the DVD player, as your display allows for more fine tuning than the DVD player.

As such, you will want to calibrate your display to match the video output of the OPDV971H, and not alter the OPDV971H unless the settings on your display are not enough; not present.

i've been using my oppo971 for about 6 months and im getting audio dropouts in all my front speakers. seems to happen when ever there is a loud or action scene happening. the audio doesn't completely cut out but, there is a volume drop in my fronts. this is only happening when i am listening to dd or dts 5.1....if i select pcm on the oppo and let the receiver do the the pro logic or neo 6 etc the dropouts are not there. i tried my old dvd player and the dropouts are not happening. i've tried toslink and coax and the trouble still exists. the audio in fine if im listening to 5.1 broadcasts off cable. just wondering if anyone else is having any sort of weird audio dropouts using the oppo. btw...the oppo is set to "raw" so its a straight steam of audio. i've also sent emails off to yamaha bout this waiting for a reply.

Can anyone tell me if the new firmware, the 720, has had any effect on fixing the "panning down" issue in Star Wars episode 3? I've heard that it maybe helps the stutter on the "a long time ago" text, but what about the pan? Thanks!

No, it has not altered that stutter.

FYI,

I just ordered the Oppo 971 from Amazon.

Original Price $199
Includes extra HDMI/DVI cable
Free Shipping
applied for their Amazon.com Visa card from Chase bank and got $30 off.

Total cost.... $169.99

Satisfaction....Priceless

Gotcha, thanks for reply.
I would use the settings on your display, rather than the DVD player, as your display allows for more fine tuning than the DVD player.

As such, you will want to calibrate your display to match the video output of the OPDV971H, and not alter the OPDV971H unless the settings on your display are not enough; not present.

Hi all,

I'm looking into this here Oppo as a potential replacement for my trusty old Pioneer DV747A DVD player, which is connected to an equally trusty old Audiolab 8000S integrated stereo amp and a trusty and spanking-brand-new (well, 1,5 month old, 120 hour) IN76 projector. I have two questions:

- the Oppo has a zoom function. Is it possible to zoom out, so that I get some more flexibility in placing the projector?

- how does normal CD sound quality compare with the DV747?

Apologies if these were already answered somewhere up-thread, but I''ve got better things to do than wade thrpough 6000+ posts ;-).

Thanks!

Walter Zed

There is a Zoom out feature, but is is done in 1/2 incriments. This is not ideal for fine tuning.

Normal CD playback should be the same your current DVD player through the coaxial or optical outputs. Using the analog outputs is subjected to how high of quality your current DACs are. Likely, the OPDV971H will outperform it.

Based on the DVI connection shown in the pictures on the Oppo site, it looks like the DVI connection is DVI-I.

Has anyone tried to use a DVI-I x Component or a DVI-A x Component cable to connect the Oppo to a Sony HT10 project that only has Component video inputs?

The connection is DVI-I, but only the DVI-D pins are active. There is no analog signal for a DVI to component conversion.

Neuromancer, I don't have a question, but more of a comment. You're a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge on many topics and see you posting regularly answering many questions everyday. I simply want to congratulate you on doing this everyday without resorting to sarcasm and a "holier than thou" attitude.

Two thumbs up from me. :)

Thank you. Since GSB seems to have disappeared, someone has to fill his shoes and be a posting machine.

i've been using my oppo971 for about 6 months and im getting audio dropouts in all my front speakers. seems to happen when ever there is a loud or action scene happening. the audio doesn't completely cut out but, there is a volume drop in my fronts. this is only happening when i am listening to dd or dts 5.1....if i select pcm on the oppo and let the receiver do the the pro logic or neo 6 etc the dropouts are not there. i tried my old dvd player and the dropouts are not happening. i've tried toslink and coax and the trouble still exists. the audio in fine if im listening to 5.1 broadcasts off cable. just wondering if anyone else is having any sort of weird audio dropouts using the oppo. btw...the oppo is set to "raw" so its a straight steam of audio. i've also sent emails off to yamaha bout this waiting for a reply.

This almost sounds like a dynamic compression thing. I don't have a yamaha, but my denon has a feature where it can change the volume range for sources so that you don't get really loud scenes in movies. I don't remember the oppo having anything like this, but maybe your receiver has this option set for your oppo on dts/dd. I'm grasping though. It probably doesn't hurt to send an e-mail to oppo either, as its possible that its some sort of malfunction.

Thank you Neuromancer. That confirmed what I thought.


mosman72

Check you connections to your speakers and your receiver. I had a similar thing happen last year. It turned out that a guest had bumped into one of my surround speakers when I was out of the room and jammed the wires back in. When he did this some of the strands frayed and were very close to the each other. The there was a rush of sound in a movie it caused the speaker wires to ark and the receiver to cut out completely. I though the receiver had died and was relieved to find it was the wires. Not sure why it would only happen on the DD/DTS modes but it is worth checking.

FYI,

I just ordered the Oppo 971 from Amazon.

Original Price $199
Includes extra HDMI/DVI cable
Free Shipping
applied for their Amazon.com Visa card from Chase bank and got $30 off.

Total cost.... $169.99

Satisfaction....Priceless

I did exactly the same as you. I'm attempting to set up a calibration of my display and all should be great!

I see that the Oppo 971 is Divx compatible but I'm not familiar with what that is (although I have heard the term before)

I did exactly the same as you. I'm attempting to set up a calibration of my display and all should be great!

I see that the Oppo 971 is Divx compatible but I'm not familiar with what that is (although I have heard the term before)

DivX is those rentable discs you can buy from CircuitCity :D

jk, DivX is just another codec for encoding video. So you can turn a 5-6gb movie into 1.5gb with debatable loss in quality. Newer versions could be used to encode higher quality HD movies into a more manageable size as well I guess. Although I lack to see the point at that point. I mean if youve got a HD tv, play the movie in its native form :) 20gb TS preferably

It's a relief that OPPO's latest firmware fixed the "skip" function. It was so annoying anytime I wanted to go back to the top of a track and it would go to the previous track and i'd have to then skip forward. I'm a music teacher and I do that often. Thanks OPPO.

off topic: I keep losing my subscription to this OPPO thread and when I tried to subscribe again I couldn't find the subscribe feature in my User Control Panel. I've forgotten where to subscribe, am I looking in the wrong place?

I could do that but I assume then I won't be getting the best picture possible when viewing HDTV since I am now converting the signal to analog, thru my receiver and then back to digital again.

I would give it a shot first before investing in a DVI switcher. If you can't notice the difference (which is quite possible) there's no reason to spend money you don't have to. I actually went back to component from HDMI on my Comcast 6412. Just seemed more natural looking to me, though honestly it was hard to tell any difference at all, may have just been in my head.

off topic: I keep losing my subscription to this OPPO thread and when I tried to subscribe again I couldn't find the subscribe feature in my User Control Panel. I've forgotten where to subscribe, am I looking in the wrong place?

Look in the Thread Tools menu near the top of the page.

Thanks David and welcome to the forum. Still don't know why I keep losing my subscription though.

Hey, anyone know if the new OPPO that will replace the 971 with SACD will use strict DSD and not a PCM downgrade?

Still using the same decoder chipset last I heard, so it will be a DSD to PCM conversion.

Tx. Guess that's better than nothing..

off topic: I keep losing my subscription to this OPPO thread and when I tried to subscribe again I couldn't find the subscribe feature in my User Control Panel. I've forgotten where to subscribe, am I looking in the wrong place?

I ran into that too a few days ago and I had to relocate the thread.....hummm!

I ran into that too a few days ago and I had to relocate the thread.....hummm!

Ditto.

Steve.

This may have been answered before, sorry if that is so. I just received my Oppo 971 from Amzon.com today. How can I tell what version of firmware that I have?

This may have been answered before, sorry if that is so. I just received my Oppo 971 from Amzon.com today. How can I tell what version of firmware that I have?

Got mine in the mail from Amazon.com yesterday. Mine had the latest version of the firmware. (It also has the glow-in-the-dark remote.) To check the firmware:

Q : How do I find out the firmware version of the OPDV971H DVD player?
A : Do the following to find out the firmware version:
• Eject the tray
• Press the "OSD" button on the remote control
• A menu will pop up to show the firmware version of the OPPO player. If you don't see the firmware version, this means that you have an older firmware version installed.

Latest Major Firmware Release

MVer: 05.00.01.07 Batch: 10-0720
Release Date: July 28, 2006

Mine is actually Batch: 10-0720B, Close enough for me.

I was pretty impressed with how the unit is packaged. I liked the black Oppo bag it was packed in.

Just programmed my Harmoney H659 remote for the Oppo. Works just fine.

FYI - http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html

I'm connected to a BenQ PE8700, how about you?

FYI,

I just ordered the Oppo 971 from Amazon.

Original Price $199
Includes extra HDMI/DVI cable
Free Shipping
applied for their Amazon.com Visa card from Chase bank and got $30 off.

Total cost.... $169.99

Satisfaction....Priceless

Dang thing showed up today. Less than 24 hours from order to delivery at the door.

What settings need to be changed? Should I turn off the EQ and sound fields?

Got mine in the mail from Amazon.com yesterday. Mine had the latest version of the firmware. (It also has the glow-in-the-dark remote.) To check the firmware:


I'm connected to a BenQ PE8700, how about you?

Thanks for the quick response. I have the latest firmware as well.
I'm connected to a Sony Wega XBR960

Still didn't go through all of the menus and it seems like 1080i works best for me. Does anyone have any information on settings that I should change or is everything basically fine out of the box?

Hey everyone. I just picked up a Samsung HL-S5088w the other day and it should get to my place next week. Right now I only have a Playstation 2 as my DVD player (laugh it up, but at least it is progressive scan). I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction and suggest the best DVD player for me. I'm torn between the 971 and 970. Not because of the price but the fact that one has DVI output and the other had HDMI. But the DVI one (971) has a better chipset in it. I've also heard that the 971 upscales better but causes macroblocking. What is that and what players avoid that the best?

thanks!

Hmmm....

I calibrated my display, but there's still a hint of macro-blocking in the darkest of scenes. When I turn NR on (to low), it's basically gone. However, the slight reduction in grain bothers me. I guess I'll have to pick my poison.

Anal-retentivity can be a pain in the neck.

Any news on when the new firmware will be available that fixes the underscanning?.... It started to annoy me becasue I losing about a inch or more on some DVD titles.

Hey everyone. I just picked up a Samsung HL-S5088w the other day and it should get to my place next week. Right now I only have a Playstation 2 as my DVD player (laugh it up, but at least it is progressive scan). I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction and suggest the best DVD player for me. I'm torn between the 971 and 970. Not because of the price but the fact that one has DVI output and the other had HDMI. But the DVI one (971) has a better chipset in it. I've also heard that the 971 upscales better but causes macroblocking. What is that and what players avoid that the best?

thanks!

I've been following this a bit and I picked to 970 over the 971.

For me since I am not a VideoTechie or anything like that, I doubt I would know the difference even if I had the Dcdi chip in the 971...What sold me was that the 970HD had a HDMI output port. I needed that to send Video and Sound to my flat screen. If I picked the 971 then I would have to use a DVI->HDMI cable and then another set of cables for the audio L/R -> PC Audio in. Which is already used up by some other componet I have. So a switch would be need, there may be a cable that has DVI->HDMI and Audio input pigtailed into the cable to supply audio but I dont know where I saw it or I may have had a dream about it somewhere....

You could buy a new 970HD for 149 and a refurb 971 for 160 try them both and return the one you dont like or keep both and have 2 great players in your home!!! I considered a refurb 971 just to try it out but that cable issue is stopping me right now and the 971 replacement may be out by the end of the year so lets see whats up with that....

Right now I only have a Playstation 2 as my DVD player (laugh it up, but at least it is progressive scan).I'm not laughing. However, the PS2's DVD playback quality is absolutely horrible. In case you weren't aware, it's software decoding entirely. Even on a crappy 32" TV, I could see a world of a difference between it and a regular (non-upconverting) DVD player. Night & day.

Why anybody would stick with the PS2 as their DVD player absolutely baffles me. Hell, even the regular X-Box' DVD playback quality fares *much* better!

I'm not normally one to suggest spending dough, but you really owe it to yourself to get yourself an actual DVD player and leave the PS2 exclusively to gaming.

My 2 cents.

Does anyone have any information on settings that I should change or is everything basically fine out of the box?

Based on the Secrets Benchmark review i switched from Video 1 to Video 2. Video 2 is the setting they used to get the score of 98.

I also would like to if if there are other adjustments. For now my PE8700 is calibrated to my old Bravo D1. When I get a chance I'll pull out the calibration disk and see if I need to make adjustments to the projector for the Oppo.


Any news on when the new firmware will be available that fixes the underscanning?.... It started to annoy me becasue I losing about a inch or more on some DVD titles.

I noticed this too when I first plugged in the unit. The image was off the edge of my screen (103") about an inch on the top, left, and bottom of the scree. My fix was to physically adjust the zoom and position of my projector to recenter the image on the screen. For 16x9 movies this works well.

On cinema wide (2.35:1) I do see what looks like a border on the top edge of the image, in the top row of pixels. This is something new to me. Any ideas on how to fix it?

I've just installed the latest patch and now I see these wavy lines on my screen. It becomes obvious when I turn on the setup menu. It even appears in the DVD movies I play. I've upgraded from many firmwares before and I know for sure I didn't make any mistake upgrading.

Am I the only one who see swimming lines? I've switched to other resolution but it's still the same result! It's even worse on my preferred resolution 720p 60hz (I have a DLP TV with native resolution of 720p).

Mockaokra:

Just a thought, is your DVI cable next to an unshielded 120V power line?

If it is try putting at lease 8" between the lines.

Sound like you have used this unit for a while so most likely it is not an interference thing but thought it may be worth checking.

I noticed this too when I first plugged in the unit. The image was off the edge of my screen (103") about an inch on the top, left, and bottom of the scree. My fix was to physically adjust the zoom and position of my projector to recenter the image on the screen. For 16x9 movies this works well.

On cinema wide (2.35:1) I do see what looks like a border on the top edge of the image, in the top row of pixels. This is something new to me. Any ideas on how to fix it?

I've tried zooming with oppo and different mode on the display, but I'd rather not do this. Oppo zooming isn't so good and changing the display mode from the tv isn't consistent or work well with different degree of underscanning.

Anyway, I was on the phone with the tech person from oppo and they seemed to have identified the cause and currently working with in-house beta firmware to tackle this. Well, see what comes of this in 2 to 3 weeks....

I'm not laughing. However, the PS2's DVD playback quality is absolutely horrible. In case you weren't aware, it's software decoding entirely. Even on a crappy 32" TV, I could see a world of a difference between it and a regular (non-upconverting) DVD player. Night & day.

Why anybody would stick with the PS2 as their DVD player absolutely baffles me. Hell, even the regular X-Box' DVD playback quality fares *much* better!

I'm not normally one to suggest spending dough, but you really owe it to yourself to get yourself an actual DVD player and leave the PS2 exclusively to gaming.

My 2 cents.

Thanks. Perhaps you could have commented on a decent DVD player for my 5088w which is what I was hoping some people would post about.

The macroblocking problem is display dependent. Calibration reduces the problem, but some displays are more prone to it than others. I've never seen it on mine. My suggestion is to search through the forums to see if people with the HL-S5088w have seen macroblocking problems. If they have then I would suggest the 970. Otherwise I would suggest the 971.

The only difference between DVI/HDMI is that one carries sound and one doesn't. On the new hi-def players that might matter, but for the current oppos the only difference is you can run one less cable. For me I'd rather have a better picture than neater cabling.

Is there much difference between Video 1 mode and Video2 mode when using DVI out?

There is if you are using PAL sourced DVDs. Video 2 will enable 2:2 Video Cadence support for the Faroudja chipset.

Thanks. Perhaps you could have commented on a decent DVD player for my 5088w which is what I was hoping some people would post about.I didn't post my comments with any "attitude," by the way. These are just simple facts. However, since we're exchanging our throughts in a thread dedicated to the Oppo DV971H, I would have assumed you were already seriously thinking or at least reading up on the aforementioned player.Is there much difference between Video 1 mode and Video2 mode when using DVI out?I read somewhere on this msg board that Video 2 is what a website used to get the high quality they were shooting for, so that's what people recommend using with the DVI cable.

I contacted one of the approved Oppo Sellers in the UK itsuppliers.net and they said they can no longer sell Oppo's players due to EU RoHS Compliance Regulations which came into force on the 1st of July.

Anyone heard of this?

Si

I have been using a Sony DVP-NS725P dvd player hooked up via component cables to a 65 inch Hitachi RPTV for 2 years. I hooked up my Oppo 971 today via DVI and used all the settings I have read about on the forums.

I had a copy of The Incredibles in both players at the same time and synched the movie on both within a second or 2. Going from vid 1 to vid 2 I really saw no difference in the clarity of the picture, even though the SOny was 480P and the Oppo was 720p or 1080i.
What I do see is that the Oppo picture seems like it has a filter over it or the colors are washed out. The Sony player was a cheap $100 player back in 2004 but I have always liked the picture.

Why don't I see any differnce between 480p component and 720p or 1080i DVI? And why do the colors seem washed out or like a haze over the picture. I changed the brightness to 10 but that did not really help much.

I have been using a Sony DVP-NS725P dvd player hooked up via component cables to a 65 inch Hitachi RPTV for 2 years. I hooked up my Oppo 971 today via DVI and used all the settings I have read about on the forums.

I had a copy of The Incredibles in both players at the same time and synched the movie on both within a second or 2. Going from vid 1 to vid 2 I really saw no difference in the clarity of the picture, even though the SOny was 480P and the Oppo was 720p or 1080i.
What I do see is that the Oppo picture seems like it has a filter over it or the colors are washed out. The Sony player was a cheap $100 player back in 2004 but I have always liked the picture.

Why don't I see any differnce between 480p component and 720p or 1080i DVI? And why do the colors seem washed out or like a haze over the picture. I changed the brightness to 10 but that did not really help much.

Now this is the kind of post I was looking for.....cough, StratMangler, cough.....jk. I don't think you had any attitude and I have done plenty of research. I just wanted to hear some more comments on the player. oh and thanks for the comparison 65T500. Right now I am somewhat siding with the Sony but the 970 does seem like a good deal

There is if you are using PAL sourced DVDs. Video 2 will enable 2:2 Video Cadence support for the Faroudja chipset.

I attempted to change from Video 1 to Video 2 but the Video 1 is greyed out and I can't change it. What am I missing?

You have to stop the player to change the Video settings. Also there will be no difference between video modes unless you are watching PAL disc which is Europe's format. American dvds use NTSC format, so use video 1 for NTSC disc and viedo 2 for PAL disc

Now this is the kind of post I was looking for.....cough, StratMangler, cough.....jk. I don't think you had any attitude and I have done plenty of research. I just wanted to hear some more comments on the player. oh and thanks for the comparison 65T500. Right now I am somewhat siding with the Sony but the 970 does seem like a good deal

Subwoofer,

Its not that the picture of the Oppo is not good. I just dont see a difference between 480P 780P and 1080i. Maybe it's because I'm using a RPTV. I also don't understand the softness to the picture. And as for the remote, I absolutly HATE it. It's useless in the dark and I watch movies in the dark. I will give it time to see if I can adapt to the remote.

I contacted one of the approved Oppo Sellers in the UK itsuppliers.net and they said they can no longer sell Oppo's players due to EU RoHS Compliance Regulations which came into force on the 1st of July.

Anyone heard of this?

Si

Restriction of Hazardous Substances. There are 6 materials that the EU is now only allowing to be used in electronics in limited levels. The most well known one is lead. It's likely that the Oppo player still uses tin/lead solder.

It takes some amount of effort to convert over to lead free soldering and components and it sounds like Oppo decided not to do it.

Bought the Oppo 970HD today. What a value.

To anyone having trouble getting their player to eject. I just spent hours looking for someway to fix it. I noticed someone here said to "tap" the top of the player. That didn't work. However, slapping the top of it with more force than I usually hit my video gear with worked like a charm. One firm smack, and now it's functioning fine.

Unno

I've just installed the latest patch and now I see these wavy lines on my screen. It becomes obvious when I turn on the setup menu. It even appears in the DVD movies I play. I've upgraded from many firmwares before and I know for sure I didn't make any mistake upgrading.

Am I the only one who see swimming lines? I've switched to other resolution but it's still the same result! It's even worse on my preferred resolution 720p 60hz (I have a DLP TV with native resolution of 720p).

I have those lines too with the latest patch. Did not have them with 1022.
Really annoying.

Regards

TommyL

Just got the 971 to pair with a new Panny plasma. W/O calibrating, it looks sweet already!

I was curious as to some settings...

1. All the video settings on the Oppo- when I calibrate with Avia, should I just leave them be on the Oppo and change them on the TV?

2. Audio - I have a 5.1 setup, using coaxial from the Oppo. On the "Speaker Setup Page," what should I set "Downmix" to? 5.1 CH? I'm assuming "Front Speaker" of Large or Small is just a personal preference?

3. Audio Setup Page - SPDIF Output - PCM or RAW?

-LPCM Out - ???

I've selected both DTS and Dolby 5.1 watching Band of Brothers, and my receiver won't output it (at least not according to the OSD on the receiver - it's still in PLII). The receiver supports both, and I used coaxial with my old TV/DVD player and it output DTS and 5.1 fine.

Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

Just got the 971 to pair with a new Panny plasma. W/O calibrating, it looks sweet already!

I was curious as to some settings...

1. All the video settings on the Oppo- when I calibrate with Avia, should I just leave them be on the Oppo and change them on the TV?

I don't have my Oppo yet, but most suggest that, as your TV adjustments are much finer.

2. Audio - I have a 5.1 setup, using coaxial from the Oppo. On the "Speaker Setup Page," what should I set "Downmix" to? 5.1 CH? I'm assuming "Front Speaker" of Large or Small is just a personal preference?

Downmix applies to PCM output, but if you have it set to raw, this shouldn't matter. Front speaker large or small either (small) activates a high-pass filter or (large) deactivates the high-pass filter. Basically determines whether frequencies below 60 Hz (?) are sent to your front speakers. I think this only applies to the analog outs, though.

3. Audio Setup Page - SPDIF Output - PCM or RAW?

You want RAW to run to your AVR.

-LPCM Out - ???

I believe this only applies if you select PCM output and the Oppo will downmix to this bitrate setting.

Neuromancer, I don't have a question, but more of a comment. You're a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge on many topics and see you posting regularly answering many questions everyday. I simply want to congratulate you on doing this everyday without resorting to sarcasm and a "holier than thou" attitude.
Two thumbs up from me. :)
Greetings,
I'd like to second that as well,
b.

To anyone having trouble getting their player to eject. I just spent hours looking for someway to fix it. I noticed someone here said to "tap" the top of the player. That didn't work. However, slapping the top of it with more force than I usually hit my video gear with worked like a charm. One firm smack, and now it's functioning fine.

Unno

If any of the cables have come loose from their contacts, then some of the functionality will no longer be working. One solution is to tap around the loader to ensure that all the cables are properly matted.

Another alternative is to physically shake your unit a bit, then try to eject the tray.

Well after a few days of comparing my old Sony 480p dvd player against the Oppo I have decided to send the Oppo back. I am using a 65 inch Hitachi 65T500 RPTV and in my case there was no difference between the Sony 480p component and the Oppo 720p/1080i DVI. The Sony puts out a nice picture on my tv but I figured if I could get a better pic I would take it for under $200. I would assume the reason I see no difference is that my scaler on the RPTV is doing a better job than either DVD player.

I also don't have a single master remote and the Oppo's remote was driving me crazy. Too many tiny buttons. If I was getting a much better picture I would have ended up buying a master remote.

Here is a suggestion for a firmware upgrade(unless it's there and I couldn't find it)....

On my Sony when I hit the onscreen button I can scroll thru song time, total time, song time left. I like to set it for time left when I watch a movie. The onscreen comes up and I scroll to time left and it displays it on the screen for about 5 seconds and then it goes away but the display on the DVD player still displays time left.

On the Oppo I have to scroll to display off to get it off the screen but I can't leave the dvd player display set to anything like movie time left or time left in the song. Is there away to do that? If not it should be fixed in the firmware.

I have today ordered this player but are now having second thoughts because of some rumours going around that this player sometimes has problems playing DVD-R and DVD+R. This might have been answered earlier in the thread but it is too long to read it all.

I have had this problem with my Pioneer NS-DV99(built in DVD player). If I burned a DVD as DVD-R or DVD+R the movie froze a different places during the DVD. If I play with DVD-RW or DVD+RW there has not been a problem. I have tried with different writing speeds, wrote as DVD-Rom and high quality DVD's(Verbatim) but with the same problem. I have read that it might be a heat problem and the players doesn't like high tempratures on the DVD.

So the question is, will I have the same problem with the Oppo DV971H or has it been fixed with updated firmware?

I have today ordered this player but are now having second thoughts because of some rumours going around that this player sometimes has problems playing DVD-R and DVD+R. This might have been answered earlier in the thread but it is too long to read it all...

...So the question is, will I have the same problem with the Oppo DV971H or has it been fixed with updated firmware?

If you are using Verbatim media and setting your book-type to DVD-ROM, then you will have no problems at all with excellent playback in the OPPO. I still use the 1022 firmware and my unit even plays dual-layer +R media without a hiccup. Do a search for my earlier posts and you will find one that is basically a reference for proper burn procedures.

I often like to joke that my OPPO would get an image out a pizza if I put one in the tray. Personally, I find the OPPO to be the most forgiving play-back unit with burned media I've ever seen.

-Toonces

I have today ordered this player but are now having second thoughts because of some rumours going around that this player sometimes has problems playing DVD-R and DVD+R. This might have been answered earlier in the thread but it is too long to read it all.

I have had this problem with my Pioneer NS-DV99(built in DVD player). If I burned a DVD as DVD-R or DVD+R the movie froze a different places during the DVD. If I play with DVD-RW or DVD+RW there has not been a problem. I have tried with different writing speeds, wrote as DVD-Rom and high quality DVD's(Verbatim) but with the same problem. I have read that it might be a heat problem and the players doesn't like high tempratures on the DVD.

So the question is, will I have the same problem with the Oppo DV971H or has it been fixed with updated firmware?

I have one media type in my collection which my 971 will not play (and which an old Apex did play). This is still the case with the current firmware:

CMC MAG. AM3 (Memorex DVD-R)

I have verified that these are OK:

CMC MAG. AE1 (Imation "Video" DVD-R)
RITEK/D01 (Memorex DVD+R DL)
TYG02 (Taiyo Yuden)
PRINCO (generic white label)
CMC MAG. (unknown)
MKM/001 (Verbatim DVD+R DL)
CMC00RG200 (unknown)

After research in the blank media forum at cdfreaks.com, I now use nothing but Taiyo Yuden DVD-R and Verbatim DVD+R DL. (I think the TY DVD+R have the same quality, but I haven't used them). I buy them from rima.com.

Note that just because I have trouble with CMC MAG. AM3 it doesn't mean that all Memorex DVD-R will be bad. The big vendors buy up many types of media and put their own labels on them.

You can research media codes here: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia, but I found the comments at cdfreaks.com to be most helpful.

-Bill

Hi Everyone,

I've noticed that the settings for the IN72 combined with the Oppo 971H have not been posted. For the 4805...

SP4805:
Gains: 58
Offsets: 29
Contrast: 50
Brightness: 50

Oppo 971H:
Brightness: +3
Contrast: 0
Saturation: +1

were the "accepted" settings. What's the consensus on the IN72??? Are people using the 480p DVI out from the player to the pj or are you using the internal scaler of the IN72? Also, what are the opinions on feeding SD vs HD signals for pic quality? I posted this question in the PJ's <$3,500 thread to no avail. :( Thanks for the help!

I have the OPPO 971 with the newest firmware that I loaded last week. I have the InFocus 4805 as well. I haven't checked my OPPO settings for a long time. Using DVI out, do still need to make adjustments to the OPPO like bmrr mentioned?

Does this upconvert divx/xvid? or just dvds?

I know if I put in a DVD of say Amiercan Pie 2 it will upconver it to 1080i right?
How about if I rip that DVD into a divx/xvid, burn it on a DVD and place it in my dvd player? Does it play at 480i/p or get upconverted 1080i?

It will upconvert DivX/XviD but there is no real benefit to this.

Why wouldn't there be a benefit to have your xvid/divx rips upconverted to 1080i?

I guess you feel upconverting DVD players give no advantage in picture quality?

Im just assuming this since:

A. Xvid of the DVD - > 1080i
B. DVD - > 1080i

These should have the same output more or less with the exception of how much the xvid file is compressed. If its encoded to be 0 loss in compression the outputs would be identical. So since A and B are the same. If A = no point, B = no point too. Therefore if a lossless upconverted xvid file is pointless, upconverting the original dvd is pointless too?

Do you feel upconverting dvd players don't make a different in regards to overall PQ then?

My reason I was wondering this is because I know this DVD can play xvid, and it can upconvert dvds but I was wondering if its upconverting and xvid playback can be done at the same time to upconvert a xvid rip.

If so, I wonder if I recorded and old tv series like ST: TNG into xvid and upconverted it to 1080i would it look better than it originally did when showing on tv at 480i via cable?

I noticed this too when I first plugged in the unit. The image was off the edge of my screen (103") about an inch on the top, left, and bottom of the scree. My fix was to physically adjust the zoom and position of my projector to recenter the image on the screen. For 16x9 movies this works well.

On cinema wide (2.35:1) I do see what looks like a border on the top edge of the image, in the top row of pixels. This is something new to me. Any ideas on how to fix it?

Now here is something interesting. Talked to Oppo about this (their support is second to none) and they said it is a problem with the chip set. They aslo said that no adjustements should be necessary to the unit except maybe setting the unit to Video 2. I went in to the setup, told the unit to reset all setting to the factory defaults, the selected Video 2. The image shift and border issues corrected themself.

I have since fixed my D1 by replacing a capacitor. Now I have two DVI units with very, very similar picture quality.

Why wouldn't there be a benefit to have your xvid/divx rips upconverted to 1080i?

I guess you feel upconverting DVD players give no advantage in picture quality?

Im just assuming this since:(...)Yes, you're assuming a hell of a lot, since Neuromancer didn't say anything to that effect and simply answered your question. IMHO, there's no benefit to upconvert a DiVX/XviD-encoded file, since it's already a compressed file, so the inherent quality of said file is already debatable. Upconverting that definitely won't make it look any nicer.If so, I wonder if I recorded and old tv series like ST: TNG into xvid and upconverted it to 1080i would it look better than it originally did when showing on tv at 480i via cable?That goes without saying as the DiVX rip you downloaded is most likely a rip of the DVD release of that show. Therefore, unless you have a stellar reception, the standard aired version would be inferior to the DVD-ripped (DiVX-encoded) version... assuming it was encoded at a high enough bitrate.

...IMHO, there's no benefit to upconvert a DiVX/XviD-encoded file, since it's already a compressed file, so the inherent quality of said file is already debatable.
The same can be said for DVD which uses MPEG compressoin. In fact, DiVX/XviD compression is superior to MPEG at comparable bit rates.

Why wouldn't there be a benefit to have your xvid/divx rips upconverted to 1080i?

De-interlacing is the primary reason why you choose a progressive scan, or upscaling DVD player. Most DivX/XviD encodes are done in a progressive state to begin with, so there is no benefit of having a well designed de-interlacing chipset.

As a secondary factor, DivX/XviD encodes do not have cadence flags, so a de-interlacing chipset is not applying any of its inherent algorithms. You will not, in this case, be removing aliasing, interlacing, or other errors associated to the encode, as it is hard encoded.

As mentioned, DivX/XviD encodes are much more highly compressed, and lossy, to their DVD counterpart. So, you have less information to work with when you are producing your "magic".

Do you feel upconverting dvd players don't make a different in regards to overall PQ then?

If I felt like this, I wouldn't have nearly 2000 posts in threads about upconverting DVD players.

The same can be said for DVD which uses MPEG compressoin. In fact, DiVX/XviD compression is superior to MPEG at comparable bit rates.That is untrue in most respects. MPEG-2 is of course a compression alghorithm. However, it's entirely factual that it outperforms DiVX in terms of rendition. Not only is it easily verifyable, but if this were untrue, we'd most likely be buying DVD discs with 4-5 movies instead of one single movie taking 4.5 gigs or more.

If you disagree with this statement, you likely either don't have proper equipment or simply aren't discriminating enough to see the difference in quality, which is OK.

To put things in perspective, MP3 is superior to FLAC inasmuch it compresses more, but obviously sound quality suffers as a result.

Not only is it easily verifyable, but if this were untrue, we'd most likely be buying DVD discs with 4-5 movies instead of one single movie taking 4.5 gigs or more.

Notwithstanding Neuromancer's post, there is something called compression bitrate though. A typical bitrate of MPEG2 compression is about 3-4 times higher than a typical DIVX.
I would be very interested to see an uncompressed raw video , sent through a divx encoder and mpeg2 encoder using the same bitrate and compare the picture quality (In real life you unfortunately never see that as DIVX would be much bigger in size). I will bet that the picture quality of DIVX would be better.

The reason MPEG2 is used in DVDs is not quality but the timing of it. No DIVX encoder was invented when DVD was invented. Plus Encoding/Decoding with DIVX is a lot more taxing on the hardware (i.e. you need more powerfull hardware)

That is untrue in most respects. MPEG-2 is of course a compression alghorithm. However, it's entirely factual that it outperforms DiVX in terms of rendition. Not only is it easily verifyable, but if this were untrue, we'd most likely be buying DVD discs with 4-5 movies instead of one single movie taking 4.5 gigs or more.

If you disagree with this statement, you likely either don't have proper equipment or simply aren't discriminating enough to see the difference in quality, which is OK.

To put things in perspective, MP3 is superior to FLAC inasmuch it compresses more, but obviously sound quality suffers as a result.

I think a better argument could be made regarding MPEG-2 compression and MPEG-4 compression (of which divx/xvid/mp4 are all containers). In this context it seems as though MPEG-4 is the way of the future.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6322529.html

Notwithstanding Neuromancer's post, there is something called compression bitrate though. A typical bitrate of MPEG2 compression is about 3-4 times higher than a typical DIVX....hence why MPEG-2 looks much better at higher bitrates.I would be very interested to see an uncompressed raw video , sent through a divx encoder and mpeg2 encoder using the same bitrate and compare the picture quality (...). I will bet that the picture quality of DIVX would be better....only at lower bitrates.The reason MPEG2 is used in DVDs is not quality but the timing of it. No DIVX encoder was invented when DVD was invented. Plus Encoding/Decoding with DIVX is a lot more taxing on the hardware (i.e. you need more powerfull hardware)Not the sole reasons, but it's more or less true. Another compression scheme that was in the running was a one-off of Motion JPEG. It was deemed MPEG-2 had the exact same image quality, but was less memory-intensive, so it was used instead.

Does anyone have the 971 paired with a Samsung LN-S3251D lcd?

I finally have the Oppo 971 paired up with my Samsung HLS-6187. I was watching a DVD last night and decided to switch between the different picture settings 540, 720 and 1080. I did not see a big difference in the picture quality to my surprise. Maybe it was the DVD which was Spiderman 2. I have it connected via DVI-HDMI. Anyone else also have this setup that may be able to help or give your opinion??

The Spider-Man DVDs are notorious for bad transfers. There was a thread with a list of good transfers to test with, but I forgot where it was. :(

The Spider-Man DVDs are notorious for bad transfers. There was a thread with a list of good transfers to test with, but I forgot where it was. :(

Here is the link.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=372989

Thanks a bunch! Looking for it was like looking for a needle in a haystack! :(

Notwithstanding Neuromancer's post, there is something called compression bitrate though. A typical bitrate of MPEG2 compression is about 3-4 times higher than a typical DIVX.
I would be very interested to see an uncompressed raw video , sent through a divx encoder and mpeg2 encoder using the same bitrate and compare the picture quality (In real life you unfortunately never see that as DIVX would be much bigger in size). I will bet that the picture quality of DIVX would be better.

That's my point. DivX is a superior algorithm. DVD outperforms a DivX transfer of the same movie because the MPEG bitrate is much higher.

Please choose your words carefully. DiVX can compress more, yes. Unfortunately, the picture quality doesn't rival one created with MPEG-2 at a higher bitrate. At lower bitrates, DiVX wins.

Don't know about you guys, but you all seem more concerned with how much space a movie inherently takes more than its quality. I'll stick with raw DVD transfers and you guys can stick with compressed DiVX streams. ;)

I've just collected my Euro-Oppo from the local post office and connected it. The build is not as light as I expected, it's a lot slimmer than my Pioneer DV747, but not much lighter. But.... (und zis is a great but):

Disappointment #1 (slight): the cheesy powercord. I had hoped to be able to use my separate audiophile powercord, but no. At least I can migrate that to my projector.

Disappointment #2 (serious): the tray won't open. I get a lot of crunching and grinding noises, and that's it. The tray has an obvious skew to it. Anything I can do about it, or is it back to the importer? (Send it saturday and wait for another week... Shees.)

Walter Zed, Unhappy in Almere

UPDATE: I sent a mail to the importer, and gor a reply within 30 minutes. Problem solved. These guys are brilliant!

Hey all, I'm pretty interested in this unit, but primarily for its divx/xvid/mp3 properties.

I currently have an LG (I think the LDA-511, but I don't recall) and its driving me nuts lately. The slot load is getting clunky and I have to help it load/unload a lot; as of late, it seems many of the xvid/divx files I've been throwing at it don't play properlly; and the UI is annoying. So, with that, I was wondering if any of you could advise me about the OPPO.

First, I'd like a little assurance that the video files that don't play on the LG have at least a better shot of playing on the OPPO. I don't know why in particular certain xvid/divx files aren't working, all I know is that they play fine on my computer, but either have wierd sound, no sound, or sometimes unwatchable stuttering throughout when played on the LG. This is the primary reason I want to get rid of it. I can stand to be annoyed by the clunky drive mechanism (until it fails) and UI (grrrrrrr) if that's all I'll be rid of by spending $200 on the OPPO. However, I may as well inquire about the UI, so....Here's what annoys me about the LG's user interface:

1) No page/up down through the folders (I see the OPPO allows this in the manual, why the LG doesn't is beyond me)

2) The LG truncates a lot of the file/folder name, in fact it never shows the whole file name unless I press info after I've already selected to play it and never shows the whole folder name at all. This is annoying, I name my folders artist - album and many times on the LG all I can see is the artist and half an album title. I have to guess which one is the one I want, then, if I'm incorrect, back up to the parent directory...this is compounded by:

3) When moving back to the parent folder, the LG resets the folder list to the top rather than to the location of the child folder I just left. You can imagine that without page up/down that if the folder was in the middle of 50 folders, pressing the down button another 25 times to get to the next folder quickly gets annoying.

There's probably other stuff too...but this is what irritates me most. I'd like to know that the OPPO's UI is a little better thought out before buying it.

Thanks y'all.

Disappointment #2 (serious): the tray won't open. I get a lot of crunching and grinding noises, and that's it. The tray has an obvious skew to it. Anything I can do about it, or is it back to the importer? (Send it saturday and wait for another week... Shees.)

Ensure that the tray itself is not stuck on the loader opening. Run a thin object along the entire span of the loader opening.

Open the unit and ensure that no cables, or other obstructions, are in the way of the loader assembly.

Hi Neuromancer,

thanks for the tips, but it wasn't necessary, simply giving the tray a slight push inwards as it tried to opn was enough.

First reactions: Wow. Oh vey. Yowza. Magificent colours, excellent detail, and a very non-fatiguing image. Sound is excellent as well, though I'll have to hold back on commenting on CD audio playback, as the sound is radically different from what my old (and now retired) Pioneer DV747 produced. FIrst impressions are very positive though.

My setup includes an Infocus IN76 projector, Audiolab 8000S integrated amp, DCM TF600 speakers, and ludicrously expensive but effective speakercables, interconnects and power strips and cables.

Walter Zed

ARGH! Found two DVD's (Gettysburg and Streets of Fire) with what looks like a jitter problem, i.e. what looks like a missing frame or jump 70-80x per minute. The importer put the lates firmware on it. The Oppo is set to Video 2 and 720p (IN76 projector), with Truelife, CCS and Noise Reduction OFF. I've played around with these settings, but no joy. It's a damn shame as picture quality in Gettysburg is magnificent. ANy tips? No doubt this has already been answered somewhere, but there's too many posts to wade through.

Walter Zed

There's an Oppo beta firmware with better DVI output and better audio/video sync. Might want to give it a try.

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

Are you doing PAL-PAL or PAL-NTSC?

What is your firmware revision (Eject->OSD - check your Batch Number)?

Are you doing PAL-PAL or PAL-NTSC? What is your firmware revision (Eject->OSD - check your Batch Number)?

I've tried both Video 1 and 2 if that's what you mean. Firmware is MVer 05-00-01-07 Batch 10-0720, i.e. the latest.

Walter Zed

Please try truelife on, z500. I heard people talking about truelife affecting PAL playback before.

I've tried both Video 1 and 2 if that's what you mean. Firmware is MVer 05-00-01-07 Batch 10-0720, i.e. the latest.

Walter Zed

No, what I mean is if the OPDV971H is set to NTSC, PAL, or Auto. If the DVD unit is set to NTSC, then you will do a PAL to NTSC conversion, which can introduce unwanted errors. If the unit is set to PAL or to Auto, then it is sending a proper PAL signal.

Please try truelife on, z500. I heard people talking about truelife affecting PAL playback before.

Tried it, didn't make a difference. Or maybe it would in a combination I didn't try.

No, what I mean is if the OPDV971H is set to NTSC, PAL, or Auto. If the DVD unit is set to NTSC, then you will do a PAL to NTSC conversion, which can introduce unwanted errors. If the unit is set to PAL or to Auto, then it is sending a proper PAL signal.

Ayup, set it to Auto, dat was it. All I now get is the normal slight jerkiness you get when the camera pans. Thanks!

Walter Zed

:p When connected to component RGB, the player doesn't/can't do progressive scanning, can it ?

Also I found that as soon as I stop, it can resume on the last scene ?

Thoughts please?

I've got a kinda wierd problem, and couldn't find anything when searching the thread. I have an SVCD that plays fine over DVI/HDMI going into my Sony 34HS420 tv. However, it is non-anamorphic, so I want to use the stretch modes of the tv. When I try and watch it via the Oppo's component out, the picture scrolls vertically like mad. Any idea what may be causing this?

:p When connected to component RGB, the player doesn't/can't do progressive scanning, can it ?

Component is 480i only. This is hardware.

Also I found that as soon as I stop, it can resume on the last scene ?

If you press Stop once, you will resume from the last place you stopped. Pressing Stop twice will result in the DVD being played back from the very beginning.

I've been playing with my new (to me, got a refurb) Oppo 971H and have been playing a variety of material and have noticed judder (or at least what I imagine judder to be) quite a few times. Maybe I'm too critical, expecting perfectly smooth motion on camera pans, etc?

I'm using a Maxent 50" plasma, running DVI-HDMI (monoprice) with the Oppo on Video 2, TrueLife disabled, CCS off, 720p resolution. The TV is still new, so I haven't calibrated it just yet (still burning it in), so I'm not concerned with the PQ. (The PQ is stunning, BTW).

I ran the StarWarIII ROTS DVD just now and don't see much judder on the Star Wars logo/scrolling text, but DO see judder when the camera fades down across the planet and ship.

Also, in scene 7, about 10 seconds in, the camera goes by a dome-like structure and it seems jumpy.. Is this judder? Should the Oppo be eliminating this? I can think of many more that are similar to this one... Am I being too critical? is this normal??

I ran the StarWarIII ROTS DVD just now and don't see much judder on the Star Wars logo/scrolling text, but DO see judder when the camera fades down across the planet and ship.

That particular disc is a known problem with both Oppo players. The engineers are looking into it. You shouldn't see that on many (or any) other discs.

That particular disc is a known problem with both Oppo players. The engineers are looking into it. You shouldn't see that on many (or any) other discs.

That particular scene is judder, then? How about the dome pan that I was talking about? Is that me being overly critical, or is that considered judder as well? It's not as pronounced as the jump in that first scene..

EDIT: Just tried Shrek 2. In scene 4, about 20 seconds in.. It's showing "Far Far Away" and then the "camera" goes into the carriage that they are in. It pans from her face to his face and seems to "jump" around with the pan... This is the kind of thing I'm seeing.. Too critical?

Jawatkin, I have ALWAYS noticed what you are describing whenever I see pans on plasma sets. It has something to do with some of the processing being 8 bit and not true 10 bit. It's probably that disc, but having had the OPPO for a quite a while now I haven't noticed such an artifact using either my former Toshiba RPTV or my InFocus projector.

Here's my setup:

HDMI: SA8300
DVI-D: Oppo 971 dvd player
Both are directly connected to an Optoma HD72 projector.

And here's my problem:

When I switch sources from HDMI to DVD-D, the screen starts a green strobe light effect. This can only be fixed if I power down the projector, and power it back on.

This does NOT happen when switching from DVD-D to HDMI.

Is this a SA8300 problem, dvd player, or projector issue?