Oppo DV971H FAQ / Brain Dump [Text View] - Page 7

BigFoot_Lives

10-10-05, 09:05 AM

ronjon2,

Commercial DVD's play good on the Oppo (except as below). However, DVD's that I record on my Pioneer 231s and a neighabors DVD recorder wont play. After the DVD loads. the first screen I see has a yellow folder symbol and the text "DVD_RTAV" beside it. I cannot find a way to get out of the folder to find a menu to play the DVD or access any features of the machine. I have tried turning off and back on but it's always the same yellow folder. I am using a Samsung 5667W DLP set with DVI to HDMI. I recorded on DVD-RW and the other recorder was a DVD_R but neigher will play on the Oppo. Have I got something set up wrong? Any ideas how to get out of the folder to a usable menu?

In my experience, a "DVD_RTAV" folder involves VR recording - a very incompatible recording format. If you put the disc in a computer and open the folder contents you will find a .VRO file. This recording format allows the recorder to behave more like a vcr (allowing multiple recordings added to the same disc if space allows) and may even allow for advanced playback options like chasing play (viewing the program from the beginning, while continuing to record). This recording format does not adhere to the DVD specification, so it is generally not very compatitble with standard players.

You should be able to setup your recorder to record according to dvd specification that will play in the OPPO, but you will have to consult the recorder's manual (something that may not be very easy to decipher). Good luck and let us know if you get it worked out.

-BigFoot_Lives

Paul Bigelow

10-10-05, 11:02 AM

The Oppo does not utilize "VR". I have a Sony RDR-GX7 which has "VR", I tried and it and didn't work. The Oppo is not spec'ed for VR mode.

Paul

ronjon2

10-10-05, 12:45 PM

Well guys, that was the key, I was in VR Mode.

You're right, the manual is ambiguous. It touts the VR Mode as the better choice because of multiple recording, chapter insertion and other features. It mentions Video Mode recording briefly on two lines of text.

However, I was disappointed with the final result. Recording from the Travel channel and the beautiful scenery and inside mansions - the result in quality was far below what my analog TV was showing. I was in 720P but it played looking like 250p or like an analog broadcast on a HDTV. Is there any final tuning I can do to get a clear picture?

Thanks guys, you're the best.

Tom Koegel

10-10-05, 08:21 PM

Unfortunately, the Oppo uses the mediatek chip to do the zoom, so the picture is not as good as me using my projector's aspect ratio control to zoom in on non anamorphic titles.

Amen to this. Like several others in this thread, I have a Fujitsu panel (the 50" in the current 40 series). I would love to use Wide/SQZ for convenience, since it is much easier for my son/wife to figure out what to do than requiring them to switch from 720p to 480p output (which is necessary to get the Fujitsu to allow you to use a Wide mode necessary to expand a 4:3 letterbox picture to reach the left and right edges of the screen) and then find the right Fujitsu Wide mode. But the picture quality using the Oppo 720p-Wide/Sqz on the few 4:3 letterbox discs I have tried is far far inferior than letting the Fujitsu do the scaling and expansion. It's enough to make me question whether it makes sense to use the Oppo scaling at all--or whether I should just leave it set for 480p. I think a purist would use 720p-Wide/Sqz for anamorphic and for 4:3 full frame, but use 480p plus the Fujitsu scaling for 4:3 letterbox. But that would be much too much work for many of us.

Clever workarounds (or even more clever scaling from Oppo in a firmware release) will be most welcome.

Paul Bigelow

10-10-05, 09:57 PM

ronjon2,

Just to be sure, the DVD recorder will not record 720p. Anything recordeed/viewed via a DVD-recoreder will be downrezzed to the limits of S-Video or worse. Played back through a dedicated DVD player (even an upconverting one) the results will still be at the limits of S-Video. The superior deinterlacing of the Oppo however may make the playback better in certain respects.

Consumer 720p recordings are the domain of D-VHS and hard-drive recording solutions.

Paul

dgkp

10-11-05, 08:01 AM

[QUOTE=Tom Koegel] But the picture quality using the Oppo 720p-Wide/Sqz on the few 4:3 letterbox discs I have tried is far far inferior than letting the Fujitsu do the scaling and expansion. It's enough to make me question whether it makes sense to use the Oppo scaling at all--or whether I should just leave it set for 480p. I think a purist would use 720p-Wide/Sqz for anamorphic and for 4:3 full frame, but use 480p plus the Fujitsu scaling for 4:3 letterbox. But that would be much too much work for many of us.

This is true from my experience also. As long as you are watching things in 4:3 OAR, rather than 4:3 letterbox then zoomed, the wd/sqz mode gives excellent results. It should be stressed (as Tom does) that it is the zoom on the oppo that needs urgent attention not the wd/squeeze option.

Dave

Josh Z

10-11-05, 03:47 PM

This is true from my experience also. As long as you are watching things in 4:3 OAR, rather than 4:3 letterbox then zoomed, the wd/sqz mode gives excellent results. It should be stressed (as Tom does) that it is the zoom on the oppo that needs urgent attention not the wd/squeeze option.

The Wide/SQZ is also problematic, because the Mediatek chip does all the pillarboxing.

DaViD Boulet

10-11-05, 05:16 PM

Apparently the Faroudja chip is able to do the pillarboxing...any notion as to why OPPO isn't using that feature instead to provide better scaling of the pillarboxed image?

dissonant

10-11-05, 06:49 PM

The lip sync issue is driving me insane. It will look ok then get bad. I try to fix it with the delay option but it's really hard to get it so it looks right. Very frustrating and difficult to explain to my gf and others why I'm sitting there tweaking the hell out of my DVD player just to watch a simple movie. I thought perhaps I was the only one that noticed but an 8 year old asked me why the lips weren't moving right...

Oppo replied to my email with:

-----------------

Audio-sync issues are a combination of DVD mastering, display unit, and
video buffering.

We are aware of the issue and are looking into increasing the audio
delay functionality to 120ms, as well as increasing the accuracy of the
video buffer in a future firmware. This issue has been very tricky
because the Faroudja chipset buffers video and not audio, certain
display devices (like DLPs) will also buffer video and not audio, and
not all DVDs are mixed a like.

-----------------

So basically I have to wait for a fix or I either have to rewind a bit or stop it and then resume? I don't get how the Faroudja chip makes it tough for them when other DVD players seem to work fine with them.

guitarman

10-11-05, 07:29 PM

I must have the perfect combo with the HK7200 and Oppo. I don't even use any delay and don't see lip sync problems. I have the Pany S97 and use the Oppo exclusively. I just like the thing. :)

Hagendos

10-11-05, 08:05 PM

I must have the perfect combo with the HK7200 and Oppo. I don't even use any delay and don't see lip sync problems. I have the Pany S97 and use the Oppo exclusively. I just like the thing. :)
Same here, only with the Oppo and the Visio P50. Only time I get sync problems is when I mess with the Oppo's settings while a DVD is playing. I leave the the Oppo in "Wide" mode and when I have 4:3 material, I hit the Visio's mode button and change to "Normal" which gives me 4:3 and black pillar bars, no degradation or artifacts. Same with non-anamorphic wide-screen, I hit the Visio's mode button and change to "Zoom" mode and the picture is expanded the correct amount vertically. If I want to get rid of any black bars, I can with the Visio's +zoom- buttons in 10% increments. All this without changing resolutions from 720P. I also have no underscan showing, if it is underscanned, it's beyond the display area. The Visio also allows you to zoom HD content on the HDMI port, unlike the Panny and Fujitsu. The Visio and Oppo seem to be a great combination. :)

Paul Bigelow

10-11-05, 08:15 PM

dissonant,

Try configuring the delay to a center setting, say, 30ms and leave it there. If the delay gets too bad, then try pause/play. If one tries to compensate by going into the menus and adjusting the delay, the act of going into the menus will introduce its own delay problems.

Maybe it will help.

Paul

wwwin

10-11-05, 09:57 PM

Same here, only with the Oppo and the Visio P50. Only time I get sync problems is when I mess with the Oppo's settings while a DVD is playing. I leave the the Oppo in "Wide" mode and when I have 4:3 material, I hit the Visio's mode button and change to "Normal" which gives me 4:3 and black pillar bars, no degradation or artifacts. Same with non-anamorphic wide-screen, I hit the Visio's mode button and change to "Zoom" mode and the picture is expanded the correct amount vertically. If I want to get rid of any black bars, I can with the Visio's +zoom- buttons in 10% increments. All this without changing resolutions from 720P. I also have no underscan showing, if it is underscanned, it's beyond the display area. The Visio also allows you to zoom HD content on the HDMI port, unlike the Panny and Fujitsu. The Visio and Oppo seem to be a great combination. :)

How about macroblocking? I have read that Visio prone to it.

Neuromancer

10-11-05, 11:58 PM

So basically I have to wait for a fix or I either have to rewind a bit or stop it and then resume? I don't get how the Faroudja chip makes it tough for them when other DVD players seem to work fine with them.

Because you are comparing a small outfit (yes, they are the seed of BBK, but they run pretty much indipendently) to large companies that have hundreds of engineers to work on firmware, have speaking rights with Genesis and other companies, and most likely have full source code access.

I have been fortunate to not experience audio-sync errors. I wonder what the percentage of of audio-sync errors are attributed to the display also being the audio amplification device vs not enough compensation by Oppo.

renaldow

10-12-05, 01:14 AM

So how bad is the macroblocking? Is it noticable on every movie or just some?

FWIW, since I bumped the Brightness to +5 and then recalibrated with Avia, I haven't noticed any macroblocking at all on my Zenith plasma.

Hagendos

10-12-05, 11:20 AM

How about macroblocking? I have read that Visio prone to it.
As renaldow just mentioned, after calibrating with Avia macroblocking is very minimal. I've turned off all the "noise" compensating features and "color" correcting features on both the Oppo and the Visio, I even have sharpness set to zero on both.

With the Visio being fed a 720p signal from the Oppo, the Visio doesn't have to do any de-interlacing, I think, so that helps. I've seen much worse macroblocking on other plasmas. I think that many of the people who talk about MB on their Visio's don't have them calibrated correctly, not that I'm a wizard. But I've noticed that bumping up brightness (black level) just a notch or two from the Avia setting will enhance MB greatly.

Source material has a great impact as well, I can really appreciate how badly some DVDs are authored by watching Superbit titles. I have both Superbit and standard versions of "Underworld", and the difference is night and day so to speak. A very dark movie and in the standard version MB can be severe, where with the Superbit it's virtually absent. Superbits look almost HD with this combination of player and display.

videoaddikt

10-12-05, 11:21 AM

FWIW, since I bumped the Brightness to +5 and then recalibrated with Avia, I haven't noticed any macroblocking at all on my Zenith plasma.

In the recent Oppo review by Audioholics it was suggested you could eliminate or greatly reduce some artifacts perhaps by altering both the controls on the player and the display settings for the DVD input.
I've done just that and am very happy with the picture.
Strange thing is, they stated it like it was something you would not want to do. Not sure why if that particular display input is dedicated to the player, the results are what count. Or am I missing something.

Mr Mago

10-12-05, 11:32 AM

I have a question in regards to hooking up via the s-video. I have an X-1 so I bought the Oppo as a future upgrade. When hooked up via s-video I get flashes or pulsing in bright scenes. I tried 4 different cables and I'm using the latest firmware. When I hook it up via component via the X-1 s-video adapter the problem is gone. It seems to be the s-video connection on the Oppo. Any suggestions?

Ja Phule

10-12-05, 11:58 AM

andrewjm

10-12-05, 12:52 PM

Daphoid

10-12-05, 12:55 PM

I've been sincerely considering the new Oppo player to go with my Runco projector, as it's not overly expensive, and it'll be a great holdover until HDDVD/BluRay players come onto the market.... Any reasons why I shouldn't?

- D

EDIT: Upon further consideration (the fact that it doesn't upconvert over component, and that I'd have to get a DVI switch)... hmmm I just posted on a whim, I haven't decided on anything yet... I'd still like some comments on the player coupled with DLP projectors.

Ja Phule

10-12-05, 01:10 PM

Hagendos

10-12-05, 01:12 PM

I am having real problems getting any DVD+R DL discs burned with either the latest Roxio or Nero software.
I have tried Verbatim and Memorex discs and different recording speeds but my Oppo still keeps refusing to even identify the disc. Does anyone have any tips as to what I might be doing wrong. The discs work fine on my PC.
I don't have any problems with DL disks playing in the Oppo. In fact, the Oppo has been the most forgiving player I've owned for playing writeable media. I normally rip an image with DVDDecrypter, then burn it also using Decrypter, usually to Verbatim disks. Couldn't get Verbatim disks last time I went to Fry's so I bought TDK (not a fan of Memorex, have had problems with all their CD and DVD blanks). Burned a backup of the "Lost" special features disk, ripped in "file" mode by Decrypter, with Nero 6.6 and it plays fine.

Do you have the latest firmware in the Oppo? What burner are you using? I'm burning with the Sony 710A with latest firmware.

Tom Koegel

10-12-05, 01:13 PM

What's the default on TrueLife and CCS? I'm at the office, so I can't check, but I was surprised last night to find that both of them were set to OFF. And is the prevailing wisdom that the right settings, given the limitations of the firmware about tweaking sub-settings, for TrueLife ON and CCS OFF? Thanks, Tom

Toonces T. Cat

10-12-05, 01:14 PM

dusterscott

10-12-05, 01:23 PM

Chris Ma

10-12-05, 01:32 PM

I... Couldn't get Verbatim disks last time I went to Fry's so I bought TDK (not a fan of Memorex, have had problems with all their CD and DVD blanks). Burned a backup of the "Lost" special features disk, ripped in "file" mode by Decrypter, with Nero 6.6 and it plays fine. ......................

I thought I heard from somewhere before that ALL recording tapes and recording media were produced by Memorex on behalf of other brand names..that could be just hot air may be...

Toonces T. Cat

10-12-05, 01:35 PM

I thought I heard from somewhere before that ALL recording tapes and recording media were produced by Memorex on behalf of other brand names..that could be just hot air may be...

Not so and, in fact, the current batch of Memorex DL+Rs out there were made by Ritek... :eek:

-Toonces

MikeSRC

10-12-05, 01:39 PM

What's the default on TrueLife and CCS?

I believe the default with the current firmware is ON for both. Until the next firmware revision solves the problem, you currently have to leave TrueLife on, as turning it off also turns off DCDi. CCS can be on of off, depending on your preference. It can induce flicker in highly saturated colors (ie: some animation) when on.

Neuromancer

10-12-05, 01:49 PM

Neuromancer

10-12-05, 01:53 PM

GSB

10-12-05, 02:48 PM

I've been sincerely considering the new Oppo player to go with my Runco projector, as it's not overly expensive, and it'll be a great holdover until HDDVD/BluRay players come onto the market....

I haven't decided on anything yet... I'd still like some comments on the player coupled with DLP projectors. Daphoid, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I have a DLP RPTV and the results are fantastic. Macroblocking is the only concern with DLP, but it can be reduced to perfectly acceptable levels by setting the Oppo's brightness to +5, and properly calibrating the display to the player.

Gary

GSB

10-12-05, 02:57 PM

As renaldow just mentioned, after calibrating with Avia macroblocking is very minimal. I've turned off all the "noise" compensating features and "color" correcting features on both the Oppo and the Visio, I even have sharpness set to zero on both.

With the Visio being fed a 720p signal from the Oppo, the Visio doesn't have to do any de-interlacing, I think, so that helps. I've seen much worse macroblocking on other plasmas. I think that many of the people who talk about MB on their Visio's don't have them calibrated correctly, not that I'm a wizard. But I've noticed that bumping up brightness (black level) just a notch or two from the Avia setting will enhance MB greatly.

Source material has a great impact as well, I can really appreciate how badly some DVDs are authored by watching Superbit titles. I have both Superbit and standard versions of "Underworld", and the difference is night and day so to speak. A very dark movie and in the standard version MB can be severe, where with the Superbit it's virtually absent. Superbits look almost HD with this combination of player and display. Hagendos, you have it 100% correct!

Gary

Hagendos

10-12-05, 03:04 PM

Hagendos, you have it 100% correct!

Gary
I was interested in a comment made in the Audioholics review:

"Putting up some test patterns on an ISF-calibrated display we saw that in order to get the player to have correct black and white levels, brightness (black level) had to be set to around +10 and contrast (white level) needed to be bumped to -1. "

The consensus around here seems to be that brightness at +5 seems to be sufficient to pass blacker than black, +10 would seem to be overkill and require downward adjusting at the display. Also, wouldn't you want to leave white level at zero and adjust that at the display? :confused:

GSB

10-12-05, 03:08 PM

In the recent Oppo review by Audioholics it was suggested you could eliminate or greatly reduce some artifacts perhaps by altering both the controls on the player and the display settings for the DVD input.
I've done just that and am very happy with the picture.
Strange thing is, they stated it like it was something you would not want to do. Not sure why if that particular display input is dedicated to the player, the results are what count. Or am I missing something. A general rule of thumb states that it is better to leave the player at the default levels of brightness, contrast, saturation, etc, and to do the calibration on the display. But in the Oppo's case, the brightness may need to be bumped up to +5 to conform more closely to the DVI standard of brightness (this is not much of an issue on my display). Nevertheless, as you said, the results are what count. If you can reduce macroblocking or other artifacts by fiddling a little with the Oppo's controls and then recalibrating the display to match, that's the way to go.

Gary

GSB

10-12-05, 03:14 PM

I was interested in a comment made in the Audioholics review:

"Putting up some test patterns on an ISF-calibrated display we saw that in order to get the player to have correct black and white levels, brightness (black level) had to be set to around +10 and contrast (white level) needed to be bumped to -1. "

The consensus around here seems to be that brightness at +5 seems to be sufficient to pass blacker than black, +10 would seem to be overkill and require downward adjusting at the display. Also, wouldn't you want to leave white level at zero and adjust that at the display? :confused: This can get sticky. They "put up some test patterns on an ISF-calibrated display". That display may have been calibrated to another player, so they may have adjusted the Oppo's settings to match. That's OK, but not ideal. A few experts in this forum have actually measured the DVI output values and concluded that the Oppo conforms to the DVI standard most closely, when brightness is adjusted to +5 and contrast is left at the default (0). Guitarman was the first to bring this to our attention.

Incidentally, the Oppo DOES pass blacker-than-black at the default brightness (0). The +5 adjustment is only necessary on SOME displays that have a more limited range of brightness adjustment.

Gary

monkmanusa

10-12-05, 05:07 PM

andrewjm

10-12-05, 05:25 PM

Andrew,

Go to my post here:

How to make DL+R media work in your OPPO player[/URL]

I think it might fix you right up... :D

-Toonces

Thank you so much. I had to download some software (BookType135.EXE) to force the Sony drive into mode but the first disc I burned work perfectly. I should have asked the question sooner as I wasted about 10 discs messing with this! (DVD+R DL discs are too expensive to make mistakes)

dissonant

10-12-05, 05:52 PM

Because you are comparing a small outfit (yes, they are the seed of BBK, but they run pretty much indipendently) to large companies that have hundreds of engineers to work on firmware, have speaking rights with Genesis and other companies, and most likely have full source code access.

I have been fortunate to not experience audio-sync errors. I wonder what the percentage of of audio-sync errors are attributed to the display also being the audio amplification device vs not enough compensation by Oppo.

Yeah they do sound really small. I admire their honesty I guess but I'm still dissapointed.

-----
Another Oppo email:

There is no ETA. We have known about the issue since we released the
current firmware back in late June, but we have not been able to
successfully impliment a greater delay system. The engineers
responsible for creating the audio delay are doing their calculations
based on the physics of audio waves through air, instead of the
standard "time delay'. These engineers are also not with the company
anymore, and the new engineers are having difficulty increasing the
delay beyond 50ms.

Your cheaper units and PS2 do not do any processing that requires video
buffering. Because of this, they have eliminated one of three possible
causes of audio delay. The introduction of video buffering through the
OPDV971H is enough to eskew your performance beyond the normal
tollerable levels of the display units buffer and the mastering of the
DVD.

We are taking the issue seriously, but we do not speculate on release
dates as a fix is never done until it is "done".

-----

brinyhenry

10-12-05, 07:09 PM

Wow - this thing is awesome for the money.
Just got it this past Friday, hooked it up - now my DVD's look almost as good as the HD signals from my HD DVR.
Cannot believe the capabilities of this little thing.

One question - anyone noticed an excessive amount of heat on the top of the unit after playing it for a couple of hours? I watched a movie and went over to the unit and boy was it hot......just don't want ot melt anything inside it - or one of my DVD's!!!

Thanks.
Yes I've noticed a little heat, however I don't think it is excessive with proper ventilation. The Panasonic S97 I once had and my DMR E80H get just as warm. I don't really find my DVD's all that warm just out of the machine either.

Finalheaven

10-12-05, 09:22 PM

I just connected my new Oppo to my HDTV through an HDMI switcher.
Some problems I encountered and solutions I found worked for me:

1. First off, I upgraded the Oppo's firmware. I then had to press Stop for 3 seconds to get the black Oppo remote working.

2. When I first tried displaying the Oppo on my TV, it was shaking constantly. I found pressing the DVI button to display 720p, or 1080i fixed this. 480p will still shake though. Odd.

3. The bright blue light on the front of the DVD was bothering me. Go into General Setup and set Light to Off.

4. I found the image to be very very sharp, but it seemed darker than it should be. I calibrated my TV using DVE and a DVP-NS775V. I also confirmed my calibration with HD cable. Reading on here, it seems everyone agrees the Oppo is on the dark side. I'll be turning the Brightness up to 5+ to fix this. If that doesn't work, I'll set it to 10+ and Contrast to -1 (per audioholic's suggestion).

That's all I got to report for now. I don't have a long enough HDMI cable to test my PJ yet. :)

EDIT: Quick question though. What's macroblocking and will I see it with the Oppo on the Z3? Thanks.

Paul Bigelow

10-12-05, 11:28 PM

Macroblock enhance is a peculiarity of the Genesis Microchip/Faroudja FLI-23xx series of deinterlacers. The effect, when seen, will appear to be small blocks of enhanced color or brightness randomly shifting about in certain areas of the picture. Solid colors and dim scenes scenes are those most often reported when seen. Depending upon one's display, calibration, movie being watched, the effect may be severe, moderate, slight, or non-existant. There is an explanation and picture example in the first post on the Panasonic DVD-S97S FAQ thread.

Generally, if seen, ensure the display is accurately calibrated to help minimize the effect, though it is no guarantee of success.

Paul

dgkp

10-13-05, 04:09 AM

Has anyone experienced macroblocking in black and white movies? For example, in the R1 version of Now, Voyager (slated as a reference quality disk somewhere on this site) the picture often has a greenish cast (no pun intended, though Bette David does look a bit seasick) with noticeable pink splodges. I take this to be classic macroblocking. It isn't likely to be a calibration issue as you can pause the picture and play with all the settings within reasonable levels and it doesn't shift it (the set up is Avia calibrated).

If anyone has seen this I have found a way to remove it, at least for my system ae700). Just set colour/saturation to the absolute minimum (-32 on the 700) on the display device. The macrocloking goes away and you are left with a beautiful b&w picture. Obviously the dispay no longer shows the pink and green patterning.

Unfortunately, for those very rare pictures that are in both colour and black and white (e.g., the R2 Heimat) which also show macroblocking there seems to be no relief. Any suggestions?

Dave

(By the way, I certainly found that setting brightness on the oppo to +5 then recalibrating helped to get rid of MB in some darker scenes (e.g. the opening sequence in the R2 Downfall)--but not in B&W or in lighter scenes.

Paul Bigelow

10-13-05, 08:30 AM

Dave,

The S97 FAQ thread has a "Macroblock Survival Kit" section in the first post where some suggestions are offered, but it appears you have performed the major suggestion -- calibration.

Paul

Finalheaven

10-13-05, 12:16 PM

Dave,

The S97 FAQ thread has a "Macroblock Survival Kit" section in the first post where some suggestions are offered, but it appears you have performed the major suggestion -- calibration.

Paul

By calibration, you mean actually calibrating the Oppo, not just the display? It gets a little confusing when you have an HDTV, PJ, and a DVD player to calibrate. LOL, I'm losing a reference. Luckily, I calibrated my HDTV with DVE and a DVP-NS775V before switching to the Oppo, so I have a decent reference point. And HD cable looks great on my HDTV already, so I know that's all set.

dusterscott

10-13-05, 12:25 PM

Your display must be calibrated to the Oppo. We've found that in order to attain proper calibration, the Oppo's brightness setting must first be bumped up to at least +3 and a few people have noted a +5 brightness requirement. Yes, you should be in the ballpark but each source is different.

DaViD Boulet

10-13-05, 12:36 PM

Josh Z

10-13-05, 12:53 PM

When you change the contrast on the OPPO to +5 it will pass full black...

I think you mean +5 Brightness, not Contrast.

Raising the Oppo's Brightness to +5 brings it in line with all of my other digital input sources.

Neuromancer

10-13-05, 12:59 PM

DaViD Boulet,

I have a question about Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition. In the scene were the green plastic soldiers are jumping out of their container, did you see a ghosted image of the container's edge using the 971H? I don't know if it my player acting weirdly, my plasma working improperly, or a mistake on the DVD print (highly doubtful).

Ja Phule

10-13-05, 01:08 PM

When you change the contrast on the OPPO to +5 it will pass full black...but also throws off the calibration of a "normal" DVI signal....

so you'll need to recalibrate on your DVI input on your HDTV after adjusting the OPPO to the +5 contrast.

Does you set allow for different adjustments for different inputs? Or if you have more than one DVI source...can you save different settings for your different devices that can apply to the same input?

"Normal" dvi should be studio dvi levels (aka video dvi levels). The problem with the Oppo is though, at its default of 0 brightness, it is not at the correct (normal) dvi level. Setting it to +5 would bring it to the correct dvi level and you shouldn't have to change your display's dvi input settings. Leaving the oppo brightness at 0 means you would have to change your display's dvi input settings.

DaViD Boulet

10-13-05, 01:35 PM

But that's not the case. Taking the OPPO to +5 doesn't make it "normal" dvi...it just lets it pass the full black data...but you've thrown off the contrast in other ways so you need to compensate by display calibration.

ie: it's not like +5 is the "real" ("normal") 0 setting that's been mislabled in the menu.

DaViD Boulet

10-13-05, 01:37 PM

I think you mean +5 Brightness, not Contrast.

yes. Thanks.

Raising the Oppo's Brightness to +5 brings it in line with all of my other digital input sources.

Interesting. Others have reported that it threw off brightness in other ways such that they needed to recalibrate.

Anyone have the definitive word? Has OPPO responded to this issue?

Ja Phule

10-13-05, 01:45 PM

yes. Thanks.

Interesting. Others have reported that it threw off brightness in other ways such that they needed to recalibrate.

Anyone have the definitive word? Has OPPO responded to this issue?

If that is the case, then their display isn't set to the correct studio dvi levels. My Infocus 4805, for example, was not set to the correct studio dvi levels. I had to go in and change its levels (as it was set to pc dvi levels).

Did you have a change of thought since this post?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6107280&highlight=accupel#post6107280

Neuromancer

10-13-05, 01:55 PM

Anyone have the definitive word? Has OPPO responded to this issue?

Oppo has repeatedly stated that they pass blacker than black at defaults, but this default setting is too low for most display types (ie. the display unit has to bee outregiously increased in brightness, increasing instances of macroblocking). They recommend +5 as a base level for the brightness, and all other calibration should be done through the display device.

In the new firmware, they have artficially increased the brightness "+5", so the default 0 will now reflect the currently recommended "+5. "

DaViD Boulet

10-13-05, 02:03 PM

perfect.

Set the Oppo to +5, then set the Brightness and Contrast controls on your display with a test pattern from Avia or DVE.

I must have been confused...thinking that the +5 *required* display calibration when a display had already been calibrated for "normal" DVI levels. Glad to now understand that apparently the +5 setting *is* normal DVI.

Glad also to hear that the new firmware will set this at "0" for clarity.

Hey...when is that new firmware ready for downloading?

dusterscott

10-13-05, 02:26 PM

Setting it to +5 would bring it to the correct dvi level and you shouldn't have to change your display's dvi input settings. Leaving the oppo brightness at 0 means you would have to change your display's dvi input settings

My experience is that after increasing the Oppo's brightness to +5, you still have to adjust your display using a calibration dvd in order to attain proper calibration. Proper calibration can't be attained by leaving the Oppo at the default '0' setting for brightness because a portion of the picture is not being sent to the display. I'm sure most displays out of the box are not properly calibrated and that there is even variation within a given model number.

I haven't noticed an objectionable picture from my OTA STB but I have no way of testing for proper calibration of my display when viewing that source.

Finalheaven

10-13-05, 02:46 PM

By new firmware, I assume we mean after the June 29th, 2005 update, right?

And anyone have an opinion on the weird shakiness I'm seeing on my KV-30HS420 when my Oppo's DVI is set to 480p? My HDTV display handles 480i,480p,720p,1080i, so I don't get the problem. I'm connecting through HDMI. I don't see the shakiness with 720p and 1080i.

Josh Z

10-13-05, 03:39 PM

My experience is that after increasing the Oppo's brightness to +5, you still have to adjust your display using a calibration dvd in order to attain proper calibration. Proper calibration can't be attained by leaving the Oppo at the default '0' setting for brightness because a portion of the picture is not being sent to the display.

This is the case for any video source. You will always have to still calibrate the display. Televisions are almost never set for decent values out of the box.

The +5 setting on the Oppo brings it in line with the defaults for other DVD players. However, if you chose to, you could just as well leave the Oppo at 0 and calibrate your display around that. The only problem in doing so is that the display settings you arrive at will not apply to any other video source you have connected to the same TV.

Finalheaven

10-13-05, 03:49 PM

This is the case for any video source. You will always have to still calibrate the display. Televisions are almost never set for decent values out of the box.

The +5 setting on the Oppo brings it in line with the defaults for other DVD players. However, if you chose to, you could just as well leave the Oppo at 0 and calibrate your display around that. The only problem in doing so is that the display settings you arrive at will not apply to any other video source you have connected to the same TV.

Exactly. Which brings us to the whole point of how do we calibrate our display, when the device supplying the signal needs to be calibrated as well. I like the Oppo a lot, but I'm a little unnerved by the idea of calibrating my DVD player.

At that point, how does reference material come into play? Because then you're calibrating the DVD player, according to the display, or vice versa. And personally, I use HD cable and upscaled DVDs on my HDTV as well as my PJ. Blah, so now it's all one big mess. :)

MikeSRC

10-13-05, 04:37 PM

Bringing the brightness level to +5 just makes the player's baseline brightness level to what would normally be zero with other DVD players. All calibration is still done on the display, not the Oppo. If you calibrate your HD display's DVI or HDMI input, adjusting on the display itself and using the Oppo as the source, it will be properly adjusted (other than using a signal generator) for other HD sources as well. As mentioned previously, this will be a moot point once the next firmware upgrade is released.

Josh Z

10-13-05, 05:04 PM

As Mike says, it's best to do your calibration at the display, not the DVD player. Where the DVD player's controls come into play is for situations where you have multiple components (for example, 2 or more DVD players) connected to your TV but the TV will only save one batch of settings. If the components do not exactly match, you'll have to use of one of the players as your "reference", calibrate the TV to that, and then tweak the other DVD players individually to match the output of the first one.

Neuromancer

10-13-05, 05:05 PM

Hey...when is that new firmware ready for downloading?

When it is 'done', though I have heard Monday.

By new firmware, I assume we mean after the June 29th, 2005 update, right?

That is correct.

GSB

10-13-05, 05:58 PM

The +5 setting on the Oppo brings it in line with the defaults for other DVD players. However, if you chose to, you could just as well leave the Oppo at 0 and calibrate your display around that. The only problem in doing so is that the display settings you arrive at will not apply to any other video source you have connected to the same TV. Josh and Mike are correct. You do not have to calibrate the player. Most displays CAN be calibrated to the Oppo's default settings, and the player does pass blacker-than-black at those settings.

Setting brightness to +5 is only necessary on SOME displays (with a more limited adjustment range), or if you need to match the Oppo's output to other DVI equipment.

Gary

dusterscott

10-13-05, 06:32 PM

The +5 setting on the Oppo brings it in line with the defaults for other DVD players. However, if you chose to, you could just as well leave the Oppo at 0 and calibrate your display around that. The only problem in doing so is that the display settings you arrive at will not apply to any other video source you have connected to the same TV.

With the Oppo's brightness at '0', many displays are not calibratable. On my display, no matter what I did to my display's settings, I could not properly calibrate it. Blacker than black isn't passed to the display with the Oppo at '0'.

Neuromancer

10-13-05, 07:28 PM

With the Oppo's brightness at '0', many displays are not calibratable. On my display, no matter what I did to my display's settings, I could not properly calibrate it. Blacker than black isn't passed to the display with the Oppo at '0'.

I found on my Panny TH-42PX50U that if I left the brightness at 0 on the 971H and used only the television set, dark scenes were way to dark, and bright scenes were overly saturated. Macroblocking became a huge issue. But after changing the brightness to +5 and recalibrating brigthness/contrast on the Panny, I macroblocking and improper visualization is pretty much a thing of the past.

wwwin

10-13-05, 09:43 PM

wwwin

10-13-05, 09:46 PM

[QUOTE=In the new firmware, they have artficially increased the brightness "+5", so the default 0 will now reflect the currently recommended "+5. "[/QUOTE]

Not good

alexkidd

10-13-05, 11:49 PM

Hi. Just upgraded my firmware to 0628.. As advertized, it solved my problem with shimmering/flickering in 1080i. But now, I have a new problem that I haven't seen posted here:

Randomly, every couple or few seconds, the display will jump or twitch briefly. This happens not only during playback, but any time the player is powered on. Blue Oppo welcome screen, setup screens, and during playback/paused images -- they all have this random "jump" or twitch in the image, mostly on the top 1/3 or 1/4 of the screen. If there is a playback symbol being displayed at the time (i.e. the [||] pause symbol), the symbol will twitch along with it.

Also, on certain very light / bright scenes (but not all), the top edge of the image will wiggle/vibrate horizontally -- similar to the above, but a continuous vibration rather than random twitch. Again, any playback symbol being displayed will wiggle with the rest of the top of the image.

Anyone else notice this after upgrading to 0628?

I just got my Oppo today and have noticed this already on a couple DVDs. Its really annoying. My Bravo did something similar and it was one of the reasons I wanted a new DVD player!

I also think its sucks that the Oppo does not support long file names. This is horrible when I have a DVD-R full of divx files. I really hope they change this in the next firmware.

The only other problems I have noticed so far is that all my divx shows are not pillarboxed. Also I have a crappy optodisc dvdr that skips alot and usually dies near the end. I use this disc to test how good dvd players are with bad discs. My Phillips 742 can play it right thru with only a couple hiccups. My Bravo D2 freezes at certain points. Bad news is, the Oppo wouldnt even play any chapters past the halfway point :(

Neuromancer

10-14-05, 03:49 AM

The only other problems I have noticed so far is that all my divx shows are not pillarboxed.

This should finally be fixed shortly.

Not good.

Care to elaberate, or is this just going to be another comment about plasma problems?

wwwin

10-14-05, 10:24 AM

This should finally be fixed shortly.

Care to elaberate, or is this just going to be another comment about plasma problems?

I said "not good" because if I raise the brightness to +5 I get a lot of macroblocking, and the TV is properly calibrated before you start blaming the TV

dusterscott

10-14-05, 10:33 AM

I said "not good" because if I raise the brightness to +5 I get a lot of macroblocking, and the TV is properly calibrated before you start blaming the TV

Just raise the Oppo's brightness enough so that you can correctly calibrate your display to the Oppo. I found I could get away with +3 on the Oppo. What do you mean your TV is already properly calibrated? To what source? You have to calibrate your display for EACH source you have connected to your tv. You can save different picture settings for each of your inputs/sources right? What calibration dvd are you using?

DaViD Boulet

10-14-05, 10:36 AM

Randomly, every couple or few seconds, the display will jump or twitch briefly. This happens not only during playback, but any time the player is powered on

I had this happen too. Then I turned on that "true life" (or whatever it's called) and it works ok now. Weird thing is that it fixed the skpping during the DVD player's menu and splash screen as well...which I wouldn't have thought would have been affected either way.

Finalheaven

10-14-05, 11:24 AM

With a new Z3, Oppo, and my existing Sony Wega, I think I'm just gonna spring for a professional. The piece of mind I'll get from a professional calibration will justify the price.

Paul Bigelow

10-14-05, 12:29 PM

The newly introduced True Life option was incorrectly implemented with the 0629 update. It does not turn on/off True Life, it turns on/off the DCDI deinterlacing.

Paul

Neuromancer

10-14-05, 01:24 PM

The newly introduced True Life option was incorrectly implemented with the 0629 update. It does not turn on/off True Life, it turns on/off the DCDI deinterlacing.

Paul

I don't know how the engineers missed this one. Even a simple 3:2 pulldown test would have told them that something was wrong. This is another thing that has reportably been fixed.

delpis

10-14-05, 02:18 PM

how much better is this then my philips dvp642? will i see a day and night difference in the picture?

Hagendos

10-14-05, 03:21 PM

The newly introduced True Life option was incorrectly implemented with the 0629 update. It does not turn on/off True Life, it turns on/off the DCDI deinterlacing.

Paul
So, what is True Life meant to do when dissasociated from DCDI? I thought True Life was the label they gave to the Faroudja features and that they were all either on or off?

Paul Bigelow

10-14-05, 03:26 PM

From Genesis:

TrueLife Enhancer:

Two dimensional, non-linear, luma & chroma video enhancer brings out details in the picture producing a more life-like image.

Paul

alexkidd

10-14-05, 04:11 PM

I had this happen too. Then I turned on that "true life" (or whatever it's called) and it works ok now. Weird thing is that it fixed the skpping during the DVD player's menu and splash screen as well...which I wouldn't have thought would have been affected either way.

I have truelife on but mine still does the skipping. Maybe I need a firmware update? I just got the Oppo yesterday, how can you tell which firmware is loaded?

Neuromancer

10-14-05, 05:09 PM

I have truelife on but mine still does the skipping. Maybe I need a firmware update? I just got the Oppo yesterday, how can you tell which firmware is loaded?

Press Setup. Then quickly press "9210". At the bottom you will see "Version". Check the last four digits. If they read "0624", "0628" or "0628B", then you have the latest firmware.

Updating the firmware is always encouraged with any playback anomalies because the 971H does not do ECC. A single corrupt bit can cause minor to major problems.

GSB

10-14-05, 07:35 PM

I said "not good" because if I raise the brightness to +5 I get a lot of macroblocking, and the TV is properly calibrated before you start blaming the TV Did you calibrate the TV AFTER setting the Oppo's brightness to +5? Otherwise you would be pretty much guaranteed to see macroblocking.

Gary

wwwin

10-14-05, 10:55 PM

Just raise the Oppo's brightness enough so that you can correctly calibrate your display to the Oppo. I found I could get away with +3 on the Oppo. What do you mean your TV is already properly calibrated? To what source? You have to calibrate your display for EACH source you have connected to your tv. You can save different picture settings for each of your inputs/sources right? What calibration dvd are you using?

AVIA for the Oppo, it is fine a 0 brightness, but not fine if I increase to +5

dusterscott

10-15-05, 12:30 AM

Well I guess you're 'good to go' then as far as your display's picture calibration then. Lots of Oppo owners have to raise the Oppo's brightness first.

Josh Z

10-15-05, 07:35 PM

AVIA for the Oppo, it is fine a 0 brightness, but not fine if I increase to +5

I know you think I'm "stalking" you or whatever, wwwin, but hear me out on this. Right now, adjusting the Oppo's Brightness to +5 merely brings it in line with the DVI output values of every other DVD player. If the next firmware adjusts the scale so that what is now +5 will be the new default 0, there is really no situation in which that can be a bad thing. If you feel that the current +5 is too bright for your display and emphasizes macroblocking, but 0 is correct, when the next firmware comes out all you'll have to do is adjust the Brightness to -5. The Oppo does have a negative value scale. Meanwhile, everyone else who is expecting the Oppo to have the same scale settings as every other DVD player will be relieved to know that the default 0 is now correct.

The only case in which moving the scale down 5 places might affect someone is if the person was currently using an Oppo Brightness setting of the minimum -20, which in the next firmware will be effectively removed as an option unless they expand the scale to a -25. Considering that the current -20 is unwatchably dim by any rational standard, I cannot imagine that any owner of this player uses it or would be affected by that change.

wwwin

10-15-05, 11:16 PM

I know you think I'm "stalking" you or whatever, wwwin, but hear me out on this. Right now, adjusting the Oppo's Brightness to +5 merely brings it in line with the DVI output values of every other DVD player. If the next firmware adjusts the scale so that what is now +5 will be the new default 0, there is really no situation in which that can be a bad thing. If you feel that the current +5 is too bright for your display and emphasizes macroblocking, but 0 is correct, when the next firmware comes out all you'll have to do is adjust the Brightness to -5. The Oppo does have a negative value scale. Meanwhile, everyone else who is expecting the Oppo to have the same scale settings as every other DVD player will be relieved to know that the default 0 is now correct.

The only case in which moving the scale down 5 places might affect someone is if the person was currently using an Oppo Brightness setting of the minimum -20, which in the next firmware will be effectively removed as an option unless they expand the scale to a -25. Considering that the current -20 is unwatchably dim by any rational standard, I cannot imagine that any owner of this player uses it or would be affected by that change.

OK, if I can bring it to -5 is not a big deal to me. But how can I be sure that -5 on upcoming firmware will be exactly the same as 0 in the old one. I don't want to have to calibrate again. And how about PAL, currently PAL at 0 seems to be brighter than 0 at NTSC. Sometimes I have to output PAL just so I can read subtitles when I zoom with TV b/c PAL seems to put the subtitle a little higher on the screen. If they could just cure the underscan or add 1024 x 1024 resolution (as they told me was in the works) I probably would not have to zoom with TV at all.
I don't think that you are stalking me. Just don't pretend to tell me the what the size of the undersanned border is ON MY DISPLAY, when you watch from a projector and I have a 42", 1024 x 1024 plasma. You lose credibility WITH ME when you do that.

Toolboxx

10-16-05, 10:56 PM

Ja Phule

10-17-05, 03:08 AM

OK, if I can bring it to -5 is not a big deal to me. But how can I be sure that -5 on upcoming firmware will be exactly the same as 0 in the old one. I don't want to have to calibrate again. And how about PAL, currently PAL at 0 seems to be brighter than 0 at NTSC. Sometimes I have to output PAL just so I can read subtitles when I zoom with TV b/c PAL seems to put the subtitle a little higher on the screen. If they could just cure the underscan or add 1024 x 1024 resolution (as they told me was in the works) I probably would not have to zoom with TV at all.
I don't think that you are stalking me. Just don't pretend to tell me the what the size of the undersanned border is ON MY DISPLAY, when you watch from a projector and I have a 42", 1024 x 1024 plasma. You lose credibility WITH ME when you do that.

There is a difference in brightness when I change from NTSC to PAL. There is also a change in brightness on my other players when I change from NTSC to PAL. I don't think this is an issue with the Oppo, but just more of an issue of NTSC and PAL in general.

Neuromancer

10-17-05, 04:33 AM

I just received my new Oppo DV971H yesterday but I'm having a problem and wanted to see if anyone can help me. I have the Oppo connected via DVI to my Mitsubishi WS-55313 RPTV. After going through the menu's and setup, changing the resolution to 1080i, I noticed the screen is shaking, a slight flicker problem that is really noticable on the OPPO main screen. I'd say that the shaking of the OPPO logo moves about...maybe 3 lines of vertical resolution.

Could this be power or cable related? I have not noticed this problem before until yesterday...

Try 540p instead of 1080i. This should get rid of the flickering, and will most definately remove the shaking. For some reason, the 971H has a problem producing a proper interlaced signal.

brinyhenry

10-17-05, 09:26 AM

I use the Oppo DVI - DVI on my CRT RPTV and the picture is rock steady on all 3 resolutions, 480p, 540p, and 1080i. The Oppo must be a perfect match in my situation. One comment: With all the varying results using these upconverting players, I'm just wondering what the future holds for us with the dawn of HD DVD coming. Compatability seems to be a real issue in regarding higher yielding signals connected digitally to televisions. Even in my own situation, it took me trying 4 upconverting players before I found a good match. I've never had such a problem. Maybe piping a true HD signal through these inputs will lay to bed these issues? Comments?

Josh Z

10-17-05, 10:36 AM

OK, if I can bring it to -5 is not a big deal to me. But how can I be sure that -5 on upcoming firmware will be exactly the same as 0 in the old one. I don't want to have to calibrate again.

Even if the -5 isn't the exact value that 0 is now, it wouldn't take a full recalibration. All you'd have to calibrate is one setting, Brightness on the Oppo. Just put up an Avia or DVE brightness pattern and if -5 isn't correct, adjust the Oppo to -4 or -3 or whatever works best. You shouldn't have to touch the display's settings at all, and this shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to do.

MikeSRC

10-17-05, 12:05 PM

Even if the -5 isn't the exact value that 0 is now, it wouldn't take a full recalibration. All you'd have to calibrate is one setting, Brightness on the Oppo.

Almost. You should also check contrast as it can be affected by the brightness setting. In any event, it still should only take a few minutes to check both and usually, the contrast will be fine. Just a good rule of thumb to check the other setting when you adjust one of them.

jdurbin

10-17-05, 12:54 PM

This can get sticky. They "put up some test patterns on an ISF-calibrated display". That display may have been calibrated to another player, so they may have adjusted the Oppo's settings to match. That's OK, but not ideal. A few experts in this forum have actually measured the DVI output values and concluded that the Oppo conforms to the DVI standard most closely, when brightness is adjusted to +5 and contrast is left at the default (0). Guitarman was the first to bring this to our attention.

Incidentally, the Oppo DOES pass blacker-than-black at the default brightness (0). The +5 adjustment is only necessary on SOME displays that have a more limited range of brightness adjustment.

Gary

The reviewer made the point that you can calibrate the display to the player or the player to the display and that it is generally better to calibrate the display to the player. BUT, since he knew that his display was spot-on due to use with a number of different players he realized that he needed to tweak the OPPO's settings instead of the display's settings.

This is also relevant when you have a source (such as cable or OTA antenna) which might preclude you from using AVIA or something like it. If you adjust the display to the OPPO but the OPPO is off a bit then you will not have the ability to tweak the display back to perfect with your other source.

jdurbin

10-17-05, 01:05 PM

I just received my new Oppo DV971H yesterday but I'm having a problem and wanted to see if anyone can help me. I have the Oppo connected via DVI to my Mitsubishi WS-55313 RPTV. After going through the menu's and setup, changing the resolution to 1080i, I noticed the screen is shaking, a slight flicker problem that is really noticable on the OPPO main screen. I'd say that the shaking of the OPPO logo moves about...maybe 3 lines of vertical resolution.

Could this be power or cable related? I have not noticed this problem before until yesterday...

I had the EXACT same problem with my InFocus 61md10 and one of the people here pointed out that the InFocus native resolution was 720. The OPPO was upscaling to 1080i and the InFocus was downscaling to 720. I switched to 720p on my OPPO and it is ideal.

Josh Z

10-17-05, 02:25 PM

Almost. You should also check contrast as it can be affected by the brightness setting. In any event, it still should only take a few minutes to check both and usually, the contrast will be fine. Just a good rule of thumb to check the other setting when you adjust one of them.

My assumption was that he's already tuned his contrast settings to work with the current "0" on the Oppo, and will just be looking for the new brightness setting equivalent to that previous 0.

tattootearz

10-17-05, 04:23 PM

As if there isnt enough information on this thread already... I went and started a Callibration thread for all Oppo owners driving a Toshiba 720p DLP set.

Anyone lookng to exchange settings, check it out.

Toshiba 720p DLP & Oppo HDMI DVD Player Optimal Settings/Callibration Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=592427)

I know, it's probably a dumb thread but I felt it might help 1 or 2 people who are pairing up these units find the best settings.

ronjon2

10-17-05, 05:25 PM

Neuromancer

10-17-05, 06:12 PM

My Samsung 5667W worked great. I adjusted the brightness to +5 as mentioned many times. Then I used DVE to calibrate. Now I have macroblocking bad for the first time. I have the first firmware. Do I suspect the Samsung, the Oppo, or the DVE disk as a problem?

Reduce your brightness on the Oppo and most likely your DLP. If possible, turn off DNIe. On my friends DLP the macroblocking would become very hideous if the brightness was incorrectly calibrated. I think we used black levels slightly lower than the ones used when calibrating with DVE. When we used AVIA, no settings were changed from calibration to playback.

wwwin

10-17-05, 07:19 PM

Even if the -5 isn't the exact value that 0 is now, it wouldn't take a full recalibration. All you'd have to calibrate is one setting, Brightness on the Oppo. Just put up an Avia or DVE brightness pattern and if -5 isn't correct, adjust the Oppo to -4 or -3 or whatever works best. You shouldn't have to touch the display's settings at all, and this shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to do.

OK, thanks.

Neuromancer

10-17-05, 08:30 PM

NEW 1012 FIRMWARE RELEASED

Here is the release information:
1. Added support for 2:2 Cadence for PAL playback.
2. Proper DivX aspect ratio support. 4:3 content will no longer be stretched to fit the screen.
3. Enhanced DVD+R Dual Layer support.
4. Fixed TrueLife turning off DCDi. Turning Off TrueLife functionality will now retain all DCDi functionality.
5. Added Noise Reduction function.
6. Fixed Frame Stepping for Black remote users.
7. Fixed proper aspect ratio support while zooming.
8. Added support for DTS and Dolby Digital tracks on DVD-Audio discs
9. Added memory function for single ejected disc
10. Added Random and Shuffle functionality for Audio CD playback.
11. Increased the DVI mode change display time.
12. Added firmware Version display through OSD button.
13. Added support for DivX Digital Right Management (DRM) and Video on Demand (VOD)
14. Increased baseline Brightness. Default Brightness is now equivalent to “+5” in previous firmware.
15. Changed user interface font to Arial.

Here is the Support link (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html)

Toonces T. Cat

10-17-05, 08:42 PM

NEW 1012 FIRMWARE RELEASED

Is it still possible to change back to the white remote by holding the "Stop" button on the player for 3 seconds?

If not, then I am on hold for awhile until OFA updates their remote capture for the OPPO.

Thanks in advance!

-Toonces

MikeSRC

10-17-05, 08:45 PM

Is it still possible to change back to the white remote by holding the "Stop" button on the player for 3 seconds?

The default after installation of the firmware is for the white remote. You have to hold down the Stop button to change it to the black remote. This is in the firmware instructions.

Neuromancer

10-17-05, 09:27 PM

MikeSRC is correct. All firmware that is downloaded/distributed by Oppo is defaulted to the old silver remote.

Paul Bigelow

10-17-05, 09:31 PM

Enjoy the 1012 firmware update!

Paul

aaronwt

10-17-05, 09:45 PM

I just installed the upgraded firmware. So what should CSS and True Life be set to? On or off?

MikeSRC

10-17-05, 09:47 PM

I just installed the upgraded firmware. So what should CSS and True Life be set to? On or off?

Whatever you prefer. Personally, I turn them both off to avoid any issues with the occasional CCS flicker or the TrueLife edge enhancement, but the effect is very minor IMO.

Toonces T. Cat

10-17-05, 09:53 PM

GFletch

10-17-05, 10:10 PM

I was hoping the subtitle issue would be on the list this time. Oh well, it didn't happen that much before, so I'll just keep on enjoyin' my Oppo.

nate358

10-17-05, 10:17 PM

Am I missing something? When I got my Oppo I got a black remote.... It works fine. Was I supposed to do something? If I upload the new firmware will I have to hold down the stop button for 3 seconds?

Toonces T. Cat

10-17-05, 10:31 PM

Am I missing something? When I got my Oppo I got a black remote.... It works fine. Was I supposed to do something? If I upload the new firmware will I have to hold down the stop button for 3 seconds?

Yes...

-Toonces

M6450

10-17-05, 10:39 PM

I've checked the Oppo support page and it shows a linkonly to the 628 firmware. Does anyone know where the 1012 can be found?
Thanks

TUFU

10-17-05, 11:26 PM

I've checked the Oppo support page and it shows a linkonly to the 628 firmware. Does anyone know where the 1012 can be found?
Thanks

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html
http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_1012_download.html

CJayB

10-17-05, 11:59 PM

Whatever you prefer. Personally, I turn them both off to avoid any issues with the occasional CCS flicker or the TrueLife edge enhancement, but the effect is very minor IMO.

Agreed with the new firmware. See my notes over at the longer Oppo thread for my reasons why. Basically, most of the time I'd leave CSS, TruLife, Sharpness, and Noise Reduction all set to OFF, though Sharpness set to Low with some discs can look fine.

ronjon2

10-18-05, 01:31 AM

Where is the longer Oppo thread, a search didn't turn it up?

Neuromancer

10-18-05, 02:06 AM

Where is the longer Oppo thread, a search didn't turn it up?

The Larger Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=482239&page=1&pp=30)

CJayB

10-18-05, 02:09 AM

Where is the longer Oppo thread, a search didn't turn it up?

This thread in the DVD player section, it has two and a half times the number of pages as this Brain Dump thread:

Oppo DV971H Faroudja DCDi

Forsyth

10-18-05, 08:02 AM

Two minor notes on the new firmware:

.1) - It resets the region code to "1" so you will have to do the setup, 9210, 0 thing to get it back to region free status.

.2) - The change remote by holding "Stop" on the player works great because I had to do it twice... :o I'm using my OFA Kameleon remote and it's set up for the white control. I have customized the 1, 5 and 0 buttons so I had to reset to the black unit to get to region 0 and then reset again to get back on my OFA remote.

-Toonces

Hi,

I´m new at this forum and is stationed in Sweden i.e we use PAL and 576 lines. In the new firmware some of my colleauges that have updated the player has discovered that the support for 576p is not available. Is that correct or is it my friends that are doing something wrong. I have not been able to upgrade myself yet, since my burner is in vacation :)

They have reset it to Region 0 again after installation so it is not because it´s Region 1.

Rgds

Mike

dvdr

10-18-05, 08:21 AM

Hi

my Oppo arrived yesterday, and overall, I am very very pleased with it. There are two issued, though, that bother me. Maybe, the experienced contributors in this forum may be able to help (firmware of the player is something like ...971-9-...B,
some intermediate between the June and the October release posted on the website today)

- Overall colour, brightness and contrast differ majorly between HDMI and component output. On component output, faces seem to have a sunburn, colours are much stronger and "out of normal balance". Is there any way to correct that, since on HDMI I want to attach the Player to my projector and with Compontent out to my everyday TV-Screen (of course, for the test, I ran both outputs to my projector, a calibrated Sanyo Z4, to have a common base for comparison). The differences do not vanish in any resolution/upsampling setting I choose. Could it be, that I have a wrongly calibrated unit?
Can a video-technician calibrate component outputs? If so, how?

- On both outputs, I seem to get a lot of "edge enhancement" and some sort of "ghost pictures" around objects. You can see that especially on titles & big contrasts (for example: with black titles on a light-gray background, the letters are surrounded by a very well visible, white line instead of having a sharp and fixed border to the background).
It does not seem to be a mastering issue of the DVDs, since I saw that with different DVDs. In the player settings, sharpness is turned off, and the effect stays whether CCS and/or TrueLife is turned on or off.
The effect is also present on all resolutions / upscaling settings, with both outputs and with the unit set to AUTO, NTSC or PAL. Neither is that an issue of my Sanyo Z4 beamer, since my other two DVD-Players do not show such behaviour, when connected to the Z4.
Another example of strange visual effects you can see with the Warner Bros. Logo at the beginning of a movie (every DVD I used). The writing WARNER BROS. on the big logo fades in during the clip, and both edges and the single colour surface of the bold letters do have some sort of strange and very well visible and disturbing artifacts moving on and around them. Here as well no change with the mentioned different settings from above.

Hopefully, someone here can give good advise and point out a solution

Thanks!

Joerg

deanster2u

10-18-05, 08:36 AM

No longer audio delay? Bummer. I would think that is the most requested change for the player.

[QUOTE=Neuromancer]NEW 1012 FIRMWARE RELEASED

Here is the release information:
1. Added support for 2:2 Cadence for PAL playback.
2. Proper DivX aspect ratio support. 4:3 content will no longer be stretched to fit the screen.
3. Enhanced DVD+R Dual Layer support.
4. Fixed TrueLife turning off DCDi. Turning Off TrueLife functionality will now retain all DCDi functionality.
5. Added Noise Reduction function.
6. Fixed Frame Stepping for Black remote users.
7. Fixed proper aspect ratio support while zooming.
8. Added support for DTS and Dolby Digital tracks on DVD-Audio discs
9. Added memory function for single ejected disc
10. Added Random and Shuffle functionality for Audio CD playback.
11. Increased the DVI mode change display time.
12. Added firmware Version display through OSD button.
13. Added support for DivX Digital Right Management (DRM) and Video on Demand (VOD)
14. Increased baseline Brightness. Default Brightness is now equivalent to “+5” in previous firmware.
15. Changed user interface font to Arial.

Paul Bigelow

10-18-05, 08:48 AM

dvdr,

1. Component output is not one of the DV971H strong points. 480i only. Not adjustable via Oppo settings.

2. Ensure that that latest firmware is installed and then set the DV971H "sharpness" to "off".

Paul

Paul Bigelow

10-18-05, 08:50 AM

deanster2U,

Not in this update but give the firmware a try anyway.

Paul

Ja Phule

10-18-05, 10:26 AM

dvdr,
You need to calibrate your picture settings on your display for each input (component and dvi) with a calibration dvd such as AVIA, Digital Video Essentials, or even THX Optimode if you haven't already.

dvdr

10-18-05, 11:22 AM

Hi
thanks for the answers.
The Z4 is calibrated for both component AND HDMI input (yes, they store their user settings separately for both inputs), so my basic comparison setting is the same reference point.

Any ideas on the second issue, which bothers me even more?
I'll try the new firmware, maybe that helps.

Joerg

Neuromancer

10-18-05, 12:57 PM

second issue, which bothers me even more?
I'll try the new firmware, maybe that helps.

Joerg

I would reduce the sharpness settings on the Sanyo Z4.

dvdr

10-18-05, 01:04 PM

Paul Bigelow

10-18-05, 01:30 PM

Joerg,

Oppo digital addressed an ehancement issue (called "shimmering" in the two major threads) originating from the MediaTek chip. Make sure you have the 0629 or the 1012 firmware and set the Oppo "sharpness" setting "off". The 1012 is really nice update and my brief use of it so far is quite positive.

Paul

Neuromancer

10-18-05, 02:32 PM

FIRMWARE UPDATE:

Note: After the release of the OP971-C-1012 firmware OPPO has identified a problem with the 2:2 cadence support for PAL playback. The "Video 2" mode would not allow for PAL/NTSC conversion. For this reason OPPO recommends that you do not download and install the current firmware at this time. A proper OP971-C-1012 release will be forthcoming. However, if 2:2 Cadence for PAL and PAL/NTSC conversion is important for you, then use OP971-C-1011 in the interim.

Version: OP971-C-1011
Release Date: October 18, 2005

Oppo Digital Support Page (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html)

jriihi

10-18-05, 02:43 PM

as I said, the Z4 is calibrated, that includes EVERY setting. I did not turn on any edge enhancement on it.
With all other DVD-players I have tested it with, whether with DVI or component, there is no such "ringing" on the edges.

Check Z4 threads for its problems with HDMI input and edge enhancement generated by Z4.

dvdr

10-18-05, 04:31 PM

Paul & jriihi

Thanks for your help - I upgraded to FW 1012 and it seems, that it partly corrected the problem. I will check the Z4 threads....

Another thing does not seem to have been corrected with the new firmware:
the brightness- issue. In Auto or PAL-mode I always have to go to the settings for brightness with every new disc or when I switched off the Oppo: the Oppo still forgets the REAL brightness I set up.
The setting is still at -1 for example, but to really get the desired REAL VISIBLE brightness level back again, I have to move the cursor to -2 and back to -1. Even though -2 is a lower level, the picture gets much lighter in that moment (about 4 to 5 points). So: with every new disc the brightness level goes down to something quite dark....

Any idea, when this will be solved?

Joerg

GSB

10-18-05, 04:44 PM

NEW 1012 FIRMWARE RELEASED

Here is the release information:
Added support for 2:2 Cadence for PAL playback.
Proper DivX aspect ratio support. 4:3 content will no longer be stretched to fit the screen.
Enhanced DVD+R Dual Layer support.
Fixed TrueLife turning off DCDi. Turning Off TrueLife functionality will now retain all DCDi functionality.
Added Noise Reduction function.
Fixed Frame Stepping for Black remote users.
Fixed proper aspect ratio support while zooming.
Added support for DTS and Dolby Digital tracks on DVD-Audio discs
Added memory function for single ejected disc
Added Random and Shuffle functionality for Audio CD playback.
Increased the DVI mode change display time.
Added firmware Version display through OSD button.
Added support for DivX Digital Right Management (DRM) and Video on Demand (VOD)
Increased baseline Brightness. Default Brightness is now equivalent to “+5” in previous firmware.
Changed user interface font to Arial.
Here is the Support link (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html)I am delighted with the new additions and I much prefer the cleaner menu font.

Particularly nice, are the Truelife, and Noise Reduction controls, that (along with proper display calibration) can help reduce macroblocking to some degree. Results will vary from one setup to another, AND one DVD to another, so play around with the settings yourself. Now what we really need, is the Gamma adjustment that has been advertised from the beginning. The Mediatek chip has a great Gamma control that Oppo made available in their DVD-DL317 "Mini DVD Home Theater". Gamma is another good tweak for macroblock-reduction.

**Note that macroblocking cannot be completely removed from badly-encoded DVD's. Even SDI modded players connected to expensive external scalers will show that kind of macroblocking. What we are concerned with, is the Faroudja macroblock ENHANCEMENT on certain display types. The current Oppo controls cannot remove this Faroudja issue completely, but they certainly can help.

I'm very glad that the zoom aspect ratios have been fixed. They're all working well now. HOWEVER, the Mediatek zooms are unfortunately rather lack-luster. It would be much appreciated if Oppo could provide the option to leave the Mediatek chip in "WIDE" mode, and use the Faroudja chip to handle at least the two most common scaling scenarios: An automatic pillar-box for 4:3 content, and an automatic letter-box zoom for 4:3 letter-box content.

Gary

Ja Phule

10-18-05, 04:47 PM

I'm very glad that the zoom aspect ratios have been fixed. They're all working well now. HOWEVER, the Mediatek zooms are unfortunately rather lack-luster. It would be much appreciated if Oppo could provide the option to leave the Mediatek chip in "WIDE" mode, and use the Faroudja chip to handle at least the two most common scaling scenarios: An automatic pillar-box for 4:3 content, and an automatic letter-box zoom for 4:3 letter-box content.

Gary

I concur.

Neuromancer

10-18-05, 04:51 PM

Neuromancer

10-18-05, 05:04 PM

Now what we really need, is the Gamma adjustment that has been advertised from the beginning. The Mediatek chip has a great Gamma control that Oppo made available in their DVD-DL317 "Mini DVD Home Theater". Gamma is another good tweak for macroblock-reduction.[/b]

Gary

The DVD-DL317 is using a different MediaTek chipset IIRC. The problem with the 971H is that it is using the MediaTek Revision B chipset. This chipset is the only chipset that is designed to work with the Faroudja chipset. The problem with this combination is that the MTK chipset will not properly transmit the Gamma and Hue settings over the high bandwith digital connection to the Faroudja chipset. This communcation can be compensated for through software, but the engineers at Oppo have not been able to figure out how to make the communication work. I know I have personally asked for these settings in the past because several of my friends' new DLP and Plasma displays lack Gamma and Hue controls.

What I find funny is that they have Gamma and Hue listed in the manual, even though it was never there to begin with.

GSB

10-18-05, 05:55 PM

The DVD-DL317 is using a different MediaTek chipset IIRC. The problem with the 971H is that it is using the MediaTek Revision B chipset. This chipset is the only chipset that is designed to work with the Faroudja chipset. The problem with this combination is that the MTK chipset will not properly transmit a the Gamma and Hue settings over the high bandwith digital connection to the Faroudja chipset.Nice to know.

MAN... nothing has been a simple fix for Oppo's engineers, has it?. Being an engineer myself, I really feel for them!

Gary

digibal235

10-19-05, 08:56 AM

What's the deal with video 1 and video 2? What's the shortcut for frame advance without pulling up the virtual keyboard?

DaViD Boulet

10-19-05, 09:54 AM

I'd like to know the quick way to do frame-advance from the paused postion myself. There *must* be a way!

Originally Posted by GSB
I'm very glad that the zoom aspect ratios have been fixed. They're all working well now. HOWEVER, the Mediatek zooms are unfortunately rather lack-luster. It would be much appreciated if Oppo could provide the option to leave the Mediatek chip in "WIDE" mode, and use the Faroudja chip to handle at least the two most common scaling scenarios: An automatic pillar-box for 4:3 content, and an automatic letter-box zoom for 4:3 letter-box content.

Gary

Agreed as well.

Hey...when is the new firmware update ready for downloading? It is out?

Finalheaven

10-19-05, 10:53 AM

Not yet.

I've been checking http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html periodically. They took 1012 down, but 1011 as a quick replacement for the time being, and 1012 will be due out shortly.

I could upgrade to 1011, but I'll just wait for 1012, so i don't have to flash the Oppo twice in a short time frame. Not that it makes a difference. ;)

JSein456

10-19-05, 12:37 PM

The new firmware is a joy. There's so many options that it makes my head spin. And they're also working on the underscanning and audio delay options but there's no way to know when they'll be implemented.

I was just wondering what the noise reduction level was set to before they gave us the option to turn it off. Was it low or medium? I'm asking because I never had any ghosting until I tried it on high and it looked cool, if not weird.

Paul Bigelow

10-19-05, 01:16 PM

What's the deal with video 1 and video 2? What's the shortcut for frame advance without pulling up the virtual keyboard?

Video 2 provides 2:2 cadence support for PAL.

Step: Pause the player then use the "fast forward" and "fast reverse" keys.

Paul

Neuromancer

10-19-05, 01:51 PM

I'd like to know the quick way to do frame-advance from the paused postion myself. There *must* be a way!
....
Agreed as well.

Hey...when is the new firmware update ready for downloading? It is out?

They posted and then recalled OP971-C-1012 due to a problem with Video 2 (which controls 2:2 Cadence) not allowing for NTSC/PAL conversion. They have an interim firmware (1011) which has everything that the 1012 had, but with the added aggrevation of having to change PAL or NTSC modes manually.

Stepping has been added into the black remote by pausing then pressing the forward/reverse buttons.

worldwide

10-19-05, 04:16 PM

integrated amp? I guess I'd have to go through the Front LR output, but would that give me all audio information or just the front channels? Interesting question. Thanks.

Dixie Flatline

10-19-05, 04:37 PM

integrated amp? I guess I'd have to go through the Front LR output, but would that give me all audio information or just the front channels? Interesting question. Thanks.
Why not use the MIXED L and R outputs? That's what they're there for. Using FRONT L and R would only give you the front channels of the 5.1.

Neuromancer

10-19-05, 05:56 PM

integrated amp? I guess I'd have to go through the Front LR output, but would that give me all audio information or just the front channels? Interesting question. Thanks.

That will only give you the front left and right speaker audio. You will need to use the Mix output for all audio channels.

jkirby

10-19-05, 08:29 PM

They posted and then recalled OP971-C-1012 due to a problem with Video 2 (which controls 2:2 Cadence) not allowing for NTSC/PAL conversion. They have an interim firmware (1011) which has everything that the 1012 had, but with the added aggrevation of having to change PAL or NTSC modes manually.

Stepping has been added into the black remote by pausing then pressing the forward/reverse buttons.

Wait- so are you saying that the 'auto' feature (e.g. will detect PAL or NTSC automatically) is disabled with this firmware?

yarrumc

10-19-05, 08:35 PM

Wait- so are you saying that the 'auto' feature (e.g. will detect PAL or NTSC automatically) is disabled with this firmware?

I think only in video 2 mode.

worldwide

10-20-05, 01:46 AM

Neuro and Dixie, sorry, I'm a bonehead, I hadn't noticed the 'mixed' output on the back of the player

Neuromancer

10-20-05, 02:40 AM

jkirby -

Only in Video 2 mode. In the 1012 firmware, it would auto detect the format (NTSC or PAL), but it would not do PAL/NTSC conversion. This is why the firmware was recalled. In the 1011, you can do 2:2 cadence with proper PAL/NTSC conversion, but no auto format detection.

worldwide -

If it makes you feel better, I couldn't for the life of me find the Angle shut off. Even though it is right there in the first Setup tab!

TerryJ

10-20-05, 12:03 PM

Upgrading my firmware to the latest release seems to have removed the Region Free status of my Oppo (now set to Region 1). That seems to be locked in now.

This happen to anyone else?

-Terry

Toonces T. Cat

10-20-05, 12:14 PM

Upgrading my firmware to the latest release seems to have removed the Region Free status of my Oppo (now set to Region 1). That seems to be locked in now.

This happen to anyone else?

-Terry

Yes...See my earlier post regarding this issue (might be a page or two back in this thread). You will have to do the region-free hack again using the secret menu. For the instructions, see the very first post in this thread.

-Toonces

TerryJ

10-20-05, 12:16 PM

Yes...See my earlier post regarding this issue (might be a page or two back in this thread). You will have to do the region-free hack again using the secret menu. For the instructions, see the very first post in this thread.

-Toonces
Whew... thanks!

-Terry

brinyhenry

10-20-05, 12:52 PM

If you hit the setup button on the remote and press the numbers 9-2-1-0 and then press 0 while your in the new screen that comes up, you will see that the player is now region free. Then exit out of there.

Toolboxx

10-20-05, 07:41 PM

Try 540p instead of 1080i. This should get rid of the flickering, and will most definately remove the shaking. For some reason, the 971H has a problem producing a proper interlaced signal.

Thanks for the good suggestion. I tried this a few nights ago and my screen is no longer flickering and my Mitsu is still reporting a 1080i input. :) I calibrated with Avia and watched Million Dollar Baby - it looked awesome!

GSB

10-20-05, 08:56 PM

Spassvogel42

10-21-05, 02:04 AM

My setup:

Oppo, connected to Samsung 5668 via HDMI-DVI (it's hooked into the HDMI/DVI port, which the Samsung calls HDMI2).

I did some minor tweaking with the THX optimizer, (waiting for a proper calibration disc to arrive).

I put in Star Wars, A New Hope in and fired it up.

Instead of a black screen, the 2.35 area of the screen is grayish. As the Lucasfilm logo fades in, there are weird splotches before and after, like using a solarizing filter, or pushing your finger on a laptop screen...if that makes sense.

All during the opening crawl, the space isn't really black, it's gray-ish, with shimmering purple splotches. These splotches even bleed outisde of the 2.35 frame and into the black bars. These splotches continue as the camera pans down the planet and the ship starts to "fly over"

But...as soon as that flash explodes on the blockade runner, space turns perfect black, the stars are sharp, there is no purple blotching. Occasionally this blotching will return. During some scenes (like the Death Star folks having that meeting where Vader chokes the sarcastic force-doubter) are perfectly sharp with great black levels, but then in the scene where Princess Leia is brought in as they're about to blow up Alderaan, the blotches return.

Another series of scenes where this blotching occurs: 3P0 and R2D2 in the dark sandcrawler...the blotching returns, it bleeds into the black bars...they become less black as well...then the scenes inside Ben Kenobi's house, the blacks are all deep black, the letterbox bars are black...cut to the exterior of the Deathstar, the blotching returns, space and the letterbox bars look grayish. Cut to the meeting room on the Death Star, back to sharp black again.

Is there some setting that I've set wrong? The settings are all back to default as I try to figure this out. CCR is turned off, TrueLife is On. The upconversion is set on 1080i. Another version of this blotching, was when the Oppo's screensaver kicked in and there were blotchy remnants all over my screen from where the little Oppo oval had been. The only way to "clean them off" was to hit stop and switch the player to 720.

Any ideas?

SV

dgkp

10-21-05, 04:30 AM

Quote from SV: "Instead of a black screen, the 2.35 area of the screen is grayish. As the Lucasfilm logo fades in, there are weird splotches before and after, like using a solarizing filter, or pushing your finger on a laptop screen...if that makes sense.

All during the opening crawl, the space isn't really black, it's gray-ish, with shimmering purple splotches. These splotches even bleed outisde of the 2.35 frame and into the black bars. These splotches continue as the camera pans down the planet and the ship starts to "fly over" "

Sounds like classic macroblocking. I got this first time I played LOTR on the oppo. Green or pinkish blobs in scenes largely free of detail are sure signs (such as opening credits/splashes). It's basically an artifact caused by compression that's always present but usually undetectable--there's tons of info about it on this thread. I got rid of mine by doing a thorough calibration (Avia). Brightness is the main culprit, especially if it's set too low. It's always going to be a slight problem with the oppo, brought about by it's otherwise miraculous Faroudja chip.

So, calibrate. In the meantime, turn the oppo's brightness up a bit (if it's the old firmware then + 5 is a start) and play with a few things and see if it settles. Maybe pause a troublesome scene turn up the brightness on the oppo then turn it down on your display sevice until the black boraders are black again.

Dave

Spassvogel42

10-21-05, 04:36 AM

The reason I didn't consider macroblocking was because there could be two different scenes either in the same location, or the same type (i.e., two or three of the space shots have the problem, most do not).

Fiddling around with settings, I actually turned brightness down, and it seemed to help. I think my Oppo (with new firmware) is set to -3 and contrast is -3. Perhaps a good calibration disc will do the trick. I missed out on Eliab's tour through the pacific NW unfortunately.

SV

Josh Z

10-21-05, 01:01 PM

GSB

10-21-05, 02:50 PM

I concur with those who have said that the previous +5 brightness now equates to -3, not to 0. I noticed immediately that 0 was too bright, and did an Avia brightness calibration. Sure enough, -3 was spot-on.Strange how different the results have been. The important question, though: Does the Oppo's new 0 brightness setting conform to the DVI spec? Or is it -3 now?

Gary

GSB

10-21-05, 03:44 PM

Oppo, connected to Samsung 5668 via HDMI-DVI (it's hooked into the HDMI/DVI port, which the Samsung calls HDMI2).

I did some minor tweaking with the THX optimizer, (waiting for a proper calibration disc to arrive).

Is there some setting that I've set wrong? The settings are all back to default as I try to figure this out. CCR is turned off, TrueLife is On. The upconversion is set on 1080i. Another version of this blotching, was when the Oppo's screensaver kicked in and there were blotchy remnants all over my screen from where the little Oppo oval had been. The only way to "clean them off" was to hit stop and switch the player to 720. Spassvogel42, I agree that your set is begging for a good calibration. Bear in mind that DVD compression is responsible for the artifacts, but what you are seeing is quite severe.

Leave the Oppo at default settings for brightness, contrast, saturation, etc, and make sure that sharpness is OFF. On the Samsung set, the BASIC things to do are: Select "movie" or "cinema" mode, turn off DNR and DCDi (if you can), set contrast to 100% and sharpness to 0%. Then set the Samsung's brightness and saturation correctly with Avia/DVE. The THX optimizer has been known to be inaccurate.

After calibration:
Experiment with the Oppo's Truelife and NR settings to reduce macroblocking on your set. Everybody's results will vary. Also, the 1080p TV's currently "bob" deinterlace 1080i, which is not ideal, so compare the results with the Oppo's 720p, 540p, and 480p settings as well. Pick the setting that looks best in terms of clean lines, good resolution and fewest artifacts.

Gary

Josh Z

10-21-05, 04:27 PM

Strange how different the results have been. The important question, though: Does the Oppo's new 0 brightness setting conform to the DVI spec? Or is it -3 now?

-3 on the 1012 firmware puts the Oppo's DVI output in line with the default brightness of my other DVI sources. 0 is brighter than other DVI sources.

wwwin

10-22-05, 12:58 AM

Strange how different the results have been. The important question, though: Does the Oppo's new 0 brightness setting conform to the DVI spec? Or is it -3 now?

Gary

Who knows. Why are they messing with something that was fine before, just some people had to +5 brightness and now same people have to -3 brightness. They should concentrate on fixing real problems like lip synch and underscan instead of this brightness stuff.

CJayB

10-22-05, 02:26 AM

Who knows. Why are they messing with something that was fine before, just some people had to +5 brightness and now same people have to -3 brightness. They should concentrate on fixing real problems like lip synch and underscan instead of this brightness stuff.

Well, I don't think that by Oppo spending time correcting the brightness level they are delaying the fix for these other things. I do think if not vastly important, it is necessary for them to get the brightness level correct, which should be at the 0 setting in the Oppo menu. I strongly suspect that at this point in time -3 is the correct DVI level, and this shouldn't be, even if lip synch is a far bigger issue. For me, underscan is just fine and dandy (I can adjust both overscan and underscan with my iScan HD+), and even lip sync is not a real problem (though obviously it is for many). Everyone has their own concerns. And frankly, even with the current firmware (well, the current firmware bug fixed for the 2:2 PAL issue) I can live quite happily. My biggest wish is for them to add a gamma control; this was promised a year ago along with hue. I would also like to see a greater range of adjustments for all the settings, especially more than just on and off for trulife.

.

CJayB

10-22-05, 02:31 AM

Is it just my imagination or is the Low setting for sharpness less sharp? I seem to be able to tolerate turning on sharpness to Low a lot more than with past firmwares. In fact, the Medium setting now seems like the old Low setting.

Neuromancer

10-22-05, 02:59 AM

Who knows. Why are they messing with something that was fine before, just some people had to +5 brightness and now same people have to -3 brightness. They should concentrate on fixing real problems like lip synch and underscan instead of this brightness stuff.

Ahh, but the Brightness is number 14 on their list of 15 additions/fixes/enhances. Obviously, Brightness wasn't the only thing that was concerning Oppo.

Generally, you never change something unless you need to. Going by this forum and others, the previous default setting for brightness was too low for the majority of users. How much so was dependent on display and viewing habits. Because of this, is makes sense that the default brightness be pushed to some level which is acceptable to most users, not just the one on this forum.

Unfortunately, it seems that the increase of +5 was not a linear one. It will be interesting to see if Oppo releases another firmware with a different default setting, or stick with the current firmware because it at least increases the overall brightness for previous and new users who never bothered using the 971H's options as part of their calibration.

Neuromancer

10-22-05, 03:05 AM

My biggest wish is for them to add a gamma control; this was promised a year ago along with hue.

I actually asked Oppo about this when I first got the DVD player, and their response was somethig to the effect that they could not get the Gamma and Hue controls to properly translate through the Faroudja chipset. I'll see if I can't dig up the actual e-mail.

GSB

10-22-05, 05:04 AM

Going by this forum and others, the previous default setting for brightness was too low for the majority of users. How much so was dependent on display and viewing habits. Because of this, is makes sense that the default brightness be pushed to some level which is acceptable to most users, not just the one on this forum.Woah! Default brightness level should be set to the DVI standard, not to the level that is acceptable to most users. That standard appears to be at +5 for the old firmware.

Gary

Birchwood

10-22-05, 08:26 AM

renaldow

10-22-05, 08:53 AM

Dixie Flatline

10-22-05, 09:06 AM

This may be of use to some of you. I have been putting up with constant adjustments to lip sync issues with many DVD's and have been using the Oppo's audio delay adjustment with a limited degree of success.

Recently I decided to make extra adjustment using my Yamaha Receiver's audio delay as well as the oppo's for a particularly troublesome DVD. Later I turned off the Oppo's delay and left the Yamaha at about 30ms.

Guess what, I hardly ever get problems with sync and when it is detectable it is tolerable.

I know this doesn't make sense, I would have expected 30ms audio delay on the Yamaha equals 30ms delay on the Oppo. It is working for me, give it a go if your sick of fiddling with the oppo stop/start or audio delay.

I run the DVI-HDMI from the Oppo to my Panasonic AE700 and use an S-Video lead when I need to see the Yamaha's OSD.
Actually makes a certain amount of sense, if you read the white paper that Neuromancer posted about (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6357772&&#post6357772) in the other thread a few days ago. It mentions that audio that's coming in advance of the video is more annoying and noticeable than audio that's lagging the video. So if no fixed delay is configured, the audio starts in sync with the video, and as the video processing lags the picture, the audio gets ahead of it and becomes annoying. If you're configuring a fixed delay on the receiver, then the audio will start out lagging the video (less noticeable), and move closer to perfect sync as the video gets delayed. Of course, that still doesn't explain why doing it on your receiver is more effective than doing it on the Oppo... :confused:

aaronwt

10-22-05, 09:07 AM

No underscan or lip sync problem here that can't be corrected with my external scaler, so those aren't issues for me.

dusterscott

10-22-05, 09:32 AM

Having the Oppo output at the DVI standard level is very important to me. I only have one DVI input on my tv so I have share it with my OTA STB and my Oppo. If I have to adjust my display's PQ settings too much to compensate for the Oppo, then my picture won't be correct when watching OTA programming.

Regarding the lip sync issue, I've found that just leaving the audio delay at 50 ms works for me. One DVD I own could use just a little more delay and the lip sync is noticeable only during certain parts of it. On DVD's where 50 ms is too much delay, I don't notice it. People tend to notice video delay more than they notice video that is advanced.

GFletch

10-22-05, 11:24 AM

Toonces T. Cat

10-22-05, 11:47 AM

The Black Level issue is becoming a mess. Is the DVI output now -3 from the standard level? Did their engineers just bump it up 5 clicks according to the Oppo scale based purely on user suggestion? Was that even the correct number to begin with? One reviewer said he had to bump the brightness to +10. Amazing. I'm glad I've got only the Oppo connected to my DVI input. And that I've got the range available to compensate for these changes. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

I think the bottom-line on the whole brightness issue, IMHO, is that it's being put out there from OPPO's take as though it was a linear change of +5 steps on their scale. From the end-user's POV it is not linear. Many here were using +5 as their "calibrated" setting and now have to use -3 to get the same results on-screen....a difference of 8 points on the OPPO scale. I was using "0" as my calibrated setting and to get back to the same point I have to use -5 on the OPPO scale...a difference of 5 points.

And for any that may be wondering, I am using the DVE and the THX Optimizer from the "T2 eXtreme Edition" both of which give me the same result...There might be a hair's worth of difference, but you'd need instrumentation to detect it...;)

I have to add that in my almost 42 years of studying, designing, working on, and generally earning a living from things that are filled with electronic components, I have never seen a truly linear redesign of a piece of equipment...Sorry, but that is not how circuitry works unless very sophisticated...and usually very expensive...compensation and balancing comonents are built into the system.

I think it's the principle reason people can build swimming pools in their backyards with the profits garnered from keeping this stuff in calibration...:D

-Toonces

wwwin

10-22-05, 11:48 AM

Speak for yourself!

As someone who isn't effected by the sync issues or underscan, I'm glad they dealt with the brightness and some of the other things.

Just because you consider something important, doesn't mean everybody does.

I agree with that, and underscan is important to me. But they didn't resolve the brightness at all, now the people that had to +5, have to -3. Nothing was fixed.

wwwin

10-22-05, 11:52 AM

Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Maybe so. They should just comply with the standards. DVI brightness standard and scanning standards, not underscan. If they did their own testing and comply with the standards everything would be much better by now.

Toonces T. Cat

10-22-05, 11:57 AM

I agree with that, and underscan is important to me. But they didn't resolve the brightness at all, now the people that had to +5, have to -3. Nothing was fixed.

Basically, you are correct. I replied to you in the other thread with the above post. What they actually did is move their...OPPO's...calibration point from one place on the scale to another...:eek:

What it did accomplish is it extended the possible brightness range 5 points in one direction, more or less, and reduce it by 5 points, more or less, in the other. Was it so far off that some were literally unable to reach a calibration point? If yes, then changing it would make a lot more sense.

-Toonces

CJayB

10-22-05, 12:08 PM

I actually asked Oppo about this when I first got the DVD player, and their response was somethig to the effect that they could not get the Gamma and Hue controls to properly translate through the Faroudja chipset. I'll see if I can't dig up the actual e-mail.

So does this mean that the Denon 2910/3910 don't have a gamma control, since they use the same Faroudja chipset? I would be surprised if the Denons don't offer gamma. But I could be wrong. Will have to go to the Denon website and check the owner's manual.

*****

Just checked the Denon website and can answer my own question. The 3910 has Gamma control (using two different scales), Hue control from -6 to +6, DNR from 0 to +6, CSS from 0 to +3, Sharpness from -6 to +6 along with about a dozen other adjustments that can be made. These are the sort of adjustments I would like to see on the Oppo to make it a showstopper.

Neuromancer

10-23-05, 01:26 AM

Woah! Default brightness level should be set to the DVI standard, not to the level that is acceptable to most users. That standard appears to be at +5 for the old firmware.

Gary

But you are assuming Oppo can do DVI standard levels on the 971H. You have to remember that users here, as well as Oppo themselves, have warned about the DVI signal falling outside of the normal standard. If they are unable to reach DVI standard in their current hardware, then the best they can do is offer a setting which works best out of box.

Neuromancer

10-23-05, 01:31 AM

I agree with that, and underscan is important to me. But they didn't resolve the brightness at all, now the people that had to +5, have to -3. Nothing was fixed.

But the base level is nor more acceptable to the end user who will not be using the 971H's internal controls. If you look at many comments about macroblocking, you will see that people continually pushed their display unit, without regard to the 971H. The new brightness is less taxing on the internal controls of the display device.

Yes, they should have put out a firmware that had "proper DVI brightness/contrast", but like I said above, I don't think Oppo can truly do that in this hardware.

Spassvogel42

10-23-05, 02:07 AM

A couple people have mentioned Underscan probs with the oppo...I had been wondering whether this was the DVD player or the TV. It seems that the letterbox bars aren't big enough in some cases, so the side edges are cut off the picture. I noticed this with Mulholland Drive (which is 1.85 I think) as well as Lord of the Rings. (2.35 I assume).

You can tell how much you're missing by zooming out with the zoom button. I had been wondering whether it was yet another setting I messed up on my TV.

Maybe not...

SV

utility

10-23-05, 04:19 AM

Hi Neuromancer

as I said, the Z4 is calibrated, that includes EVERY setting. I did not turn on any edge enhancement on it.
With all other DVD-players I have tested it with, whether with DVI or component, there is no such "ringing" on the edges. So this must be some enhancement within the Oppo. I would turn it down on the Z4, but my computer, my satellite-receiver and another DVD-player are hooked up the the Z4 as well and I do not want to loose their crispness.....

Joerg

i also have the Z4 and the oppo and i am having the exact same problems as dvdr!
these "edge enhancement" like effect is extremely annoying and completely unacceptable.

i also had absolutely no success in getting rid of it.
i tried several different firmware versions (incl. 06/28, 10/11 and 10/12).
i tried with activating/deactivating sharpness, truelife, noise reducitons etc.
i also deactivated all edge enhancements on the Z4 incl. setting sharpness to -7.
nothing helps.
it just is more or less visible with different combinations.

if you have "o brother where art thou" for example you can see it extremely in the scene at the beginning
where the three are arriving at the house and the kid welcomes them with the shotung.
the roof edges and the tree on the righ side of the screen are shimmering so much that i get headaches.
it also seems as if the image is not stable, like it would jump up and down in the range of maybe one pixel.
but this could just be looking like it because of the shimmering. i just don't know.

just as extra info: this DVD is PAL. i am using video1 mode with NO PAL->NTSC conversion.
(the Z4 correctly displays 50Hz in info)
but this is not the only DVD i am having this problem with.
its just one where the effect is most annoying.

as a comparison i fed the Z4 with my old cheap sony ns730p.
this one is component only but can do 480p and 576p.
the picture is not as crisp as with the oppo (surprise) but it has absolutely no shimmering or "edge enhancement" artifacts, no jumping.
with the sony it is absolutely clean and rock steady.

only when i disable progressive scan on the sony, the image looks a bit jumpy and shimmering like on the oppo but not that extreme.

i also sincerely hope (like dvdr) that someone can help us.
otherwise i'd be completely disappointed with the oppo and i would need to replace it with a better player.

in the latter case, maybe someone could give me hints to an not too expensive player with DVI/HDMI out and good internal scaler/deinterlacer.
of course without the above mentioned effects.

dvdr

10-23-05, 06:18 AM

Hi utility

I am a bit better off now with the mentioned problem with the firmware 1012 (the one, that they called back).
My settings on the Z4 are based on creative cinema mode
sharpness -4
and in enhanced settings (whatever they call that in english, I am german) I set the enhanced Sharpness to OFF instead of L1)

The ringing effects are almost gone. But I discovered, that with L1 a normal picture of a movie gets a bit more depth effect. So whatever setting you choose there, is living with a compromise: a bit more depth and crispness or a bit less ringing and reduced perceived depth of the picture.

There is another question, I'd like to raise - this applies to PAL support:

We did extensive tests with the 1012 firmware at my dealers shop, comparing it with a DENON reference model (which is unfair, I know, but anyway....). The DENON had the disadvantage of running over component, the Oppo used the Digital input of the Sanyo Z4, we used the Peter Finzel PAL Test disc.

Black&white bursts are not good from 6MHz on and above (DENON was fine up to the extremes)
Colour burst: Oppo does not reach 3 Mhz and above, the DENON does
Progressive and interleave tests: the Oppo is much better than the DENON on that test disc.

PAL-support:
Watch Lord of the Rings, Two Towers (PAL Version, Oppo set to PAL and Video2, 720 p)
Opening sequence, the big pan accross the mountains. With the first pan, the mountains in the back sometimes do stutter a bit.
Then, when we fly across the mountain, shortly before we "enter" the cave, the camera flies over a snow-covered rim with a few gaps in between the snow.
On that white diagonals, sometimes the Oppo "falls out" of whatever mode he is in and displays jagged lines and starts to stutter. That does not happen always.

Next scene to watch: start of Scene 4 (if I recall it right), when we first see a few rocks, and then the camera pans down to a hord of those black "soldiers" running towards us. Watch the rims of the two most prominent rocks: they will stutter as well.

Question to the experienced ones here: is THAT the so often quoted problem with 2:2 cadence support? Do these effects happen on your NTSC-discs as well?

How far are we in terms of Firmware from a full PAL support? I would appreciate, if you could give me an explanation of the above mentioned effects and also point out, what in your opinion does not fully work in the current firmwares regarding PAL. I would be fine in manually switching settings, if this would improve things.

And also: please correct the following points, maybe then I will understand Oppos current PAL-"status"/support a bit better (always referring to the digital output, of course)

- Setting the Oppo to PAL fully switches on PAL support. All NTSC-Discs will be converted to PAL then, as well
- If you set the Oppo to PAL, you also need to switch to VIDEO2-mode. If you leave the setting to VIDEO1-mode, then PAL-discs will not play as they are supposed to
- If you want to watch an NTSC-disc, you should set your Oppo to:......
- If you have a projector, that both accepts NTSC and PAL-signals in 720p (so to say: a multi-region projector, such as the Sanyo Z4), these are the settings you should choose with the Oppo: ......

Thank you very much for bearing with me and don't misunderstand: I think, the Oppo is a great step forward for me, I enjoy watching it, but being a perfectionist, I of course want it to perform its best. Since user support of Oppo is amazing and their engineers do a great job reprogramming every wish we have into their firmware, I am very glad to be an owner of this product and am sure, that all issues with PAL-support will be solved. By the way: since BBK seems to be the "mother" of Oppo, but is distributed in Europe - do they have a better/different PAL-support?

Joerg

wwwin

10-23-05, 10:06 AM

But the base level is nor more acceptable to the end user who will not be using the 971H's internal controls. If you look at many comments about macroblocking, you will see that people continually pushed their display unit, without regard to the 971H. The new brightness is less taxing on the internal controls of the display device.

Yes, they should have put out a firmware that had "proper DVI brightness/contrast", but like I said above, I don't think Oppo can truly do that in this hardware.

OK, if they can't do it with this hardware, then they should move on to the other items on the defect list. Brightness for me was never a problem anyway.

jriihi

10-23-05, 10:15 AM

i also have the Z4 and the oppo and i am having the exact same problems as dvdr!
these "edge enhancement" like effect is extremely annoying and completely unacceptable.

Sorry but this is known issue in Z4 projector.

utility

10-23-05, 02:31 PM

Sorry but this is known issue in Z4 projector.

so you are basically saying, that i'd have this problem with any DVI/HDMI upscaling player and i could do nothing about it?
so if i cannot stand the shimmering on some DVD i'll have to go back to component?
am i interpreting this correctly?

or is there still hope to get a overall decent image input into the Z4 via HDMI?

Spassvogel42

10-23-05, 06:15 PM

So can anyone recommend a calibration disc...I have a Samsung DLP and the OPPO.

I tried to order the HQV one that AVS forums has the discount on, but their credit card verification doesn't work, after you hit submit, it times out.

SV

Ja Phule

10-23-05, 06:37 PM

Get AVIA, or Digital Video Essentials. The HQV benchmark is not really a calibration dvd. It's a benchmark to test how well your dvd player's (or scaler and tv's) deinterlacer/scaler/processing is.

Neuromancer

10-23-05, 08:03 PM

OK, if they can't do it with this hardware, then they should move on to the other items on the defect list. Brightness for me was never a problem anyway.

Which is why Brightness was number 14 on their release list. The old brightness for most users was too dark. The current brightness at least has some kick to it so people less stress their television settings. Give them time. Or just remember that there is no such thing as perfect.

GSB

10-23-05, 08:09 PM

But you are assuming Oppo can do DVI standard levels on the 971H. You have to remember that users here, as well as Oppo themselves, have warned about the DVI signal falling outside of the normal standard. If they are unable to reach DVI standard in their current hardware, then the best they can do is offer a setting which works best out of box...

Yes, they should have put out a firmware that had "proper DVI brightness/contrast", but like I said above, I don't think Oppo can truly do that in this hardware.OK, I see what you are getting at... but we are talking about different issues here.

We're not talking about hardware DVI signalling levels, we're talking about digital values for brightness and contrast. The Faroudja chip is fully capable of doing those values correctly. Many other players use this chip and get it right.

With the Oppo's older firmware, it was confirmed that the player WAS giving the correct DVI-standard values of brightness and contrast, as long as brightness was set to +5. Oppo said that the new default brightness (0) is equal to the old +5. Unfortunately, that is not quite true. It only requires another little firmware tweak.

Gary

FiveMillionWays

10-23-05, 08:14 PM

Wow I never saw any ghosting when I had the Oppo player. What I did hate was the syncing of the audio. That alone is the reason I sent it back. The video of course was astounding.

Neuromancer

10-23-05, 08:47 PM

GSB,

Sorry, misred your comment. I should really not post in the wee hours of the morning. The old Thinker does not always work as advertised once the clock hits midnight

There is probably a good reason, or a nice excuse, as to why the DVI is not calibrated to DVI standard. I would probably say it relates somehow to Oppo being based in a HD rich country, and being backed by company (BBK) which is based in a HD poor country.

SteveCoug

10-23-05, 10:07 PM

I am considering buying an Oppo to replace my Zenith 318 DVD player for a couple reasons:

1) I finally got a 50 foot HMDI cable for my Panny AE700 PJ, but the 318 "locks up" whenever I try to use the HMDI cable. It gets stuck in "Hello" mode and I can't get it to do anything. So if I want to use the HMDI cable, looks like I need a new DVD palyer.

2) I want to be able to upscale to 720p from a DVD and be able to watch old movies and TV shows in the OAR of 4x3 without being stretechend into 16x9. I understand that the Oppo will allow me to do that. With the Zenith 318, it does not have any aspect ratio adjustments so I have to watch old movies in 480p and for some reason, that single tends to break up with lines and distortion on my AE700.

I noticed several people on this thread have the AE700 projector, has anybody compared the Zenith 318 to the Oppo on the AE700?

Also, I am concerned about the audio delay problems I have seen discussed here. Is that unique to the Oppo, or do all DVD players have this problem?

Thanks for your feedback.

Steve

dgkp

10-24-05, 03:55 AM

Hi utility

PAL-support:
Watch Lord of the Rings, Two Towers (PAL Version, Oppo set to PAL and Video2, 720 p)
Opening sequence, the big pan accross the mountains. With the first pan, the mountains in the back sometimes do stutter a bit.
Then, when we fly across the mountain, shortly before we "enter" the cave, the camera flies over a snow-covered rim with a few gaps in between the snow.
On that white diagonals, sometimes the Oppo "falls out" of whatever mode he is in and displays jagged lines and starts to stutter. That does not happen always.

Next scene to watch: start of Scene 4 (if I recall it right), when we first see a few rocks, and then the camera pans down to a hord of those black "soldiers" running towards us. Watch the rims of the two most prominent rocks: they will stutter as well.

Question to the experienced ones here: is THAT the so often quoted problem with 2:2 cadence support? Do these effects happen on your NTSC-discs as well?

How far are we in terms of Firmware from a full PAL support? I would appreciate, if you could give me an explanation of the above mentioned effects and also point out, what in your opinion does not fully work in the current firmwares regarding PAL. I would be fine in manually switching settings, if this would improve things.

And also: please correct the following points, maybe then I will understand Oppos current PAL-"status"/support a bit better (always referring to the digital output, of course)

- Setting the Oppo to PAL fully switches on PAL support. All NTSC-Discs will be converted to PAL then, as well
- If you set the Oppo to PAL, you also need to switch to VIDEO2-mode. If you leave the setting to VIDEO1-mode, then PAL-discs will not play as they are supposed to
- If you want to watch an NTSC-disc, you should set your Oppo to:......
- If you have a projector, that both accepts NTSC and PAL-signals in 720p (so to say: a multi-region projector, such as the Sanyo Z4), these are the settings you should choose with the Oppo: ......
[/B]

Joerg

These are good questions. Does anybody know the answer? (Yeah! finally got the quote gizmo to work!)

utility

10-24-05, 04:40 AM

so you are basically saying, that i'd have this problem with any DVI/HDMI upscaling player and i could do nothing about it?
so if i cannot stand the shimmering on some DVD i'll have to go back to component?
am i interpreting this correctly?

or is there still hope to get a overall decent image input into the Z4 via HDMI?

yesterday i compared my old Z2 against the Z4 in this matter.
and the same effects were visible on the Z2.
ofcourse it is worse on the Z4 when you enable "transient improvement" and keep the sharpness control at 0 or higher.
but when you disable the extra feature and set sharpness to -3 or lower the shimmering effect is about the same on the Z2 and the Z4!

so it is definitive not Z4 specific. i can't tell if the Z2 also has hidden edge enhancement feature, but i haven't heard of any yet.

so it may be sanyo specific, but not Z4 specific.

i have to say that this "shimmering" effect does not apply all material i am watching. so far i have only seen it to a annoying degree on the mentioned scenes in "O Borther Where Art Thou" but i'd still be more happy if it won't show up at all :rolleyes:

vjren

10-24-05, 05:01 AM

jriihi

10-24-05, 05:24 PM

yesterday i compared my old Z2 against the Z4 in this matter.
and the same effects were visible on the Z2.
ofcourse it is worse on the Z4 when you enable "transient improvement" and keep the sharpness control at 0 or higher.
but when you disable the extra feature and set sharpness to -3 or lower the shimmering effect is about the same on the Z2 and the Z4!

so it is definitive not Z4 specific. i can't tell if the Z2 also has hidden edge enhancement feature, but i haven't heard of any yet.

so it may be sanyo specific, but not Z4 specific.

i have to say that this "shimmering" effect does not apply all material i am watching. so far i have only seen it to a annoying degree on the mentioned scenes in "O Borther Where Art Thou" but i'd still be more happy if it won't show up at all :rolleyes:

Hm i dont remember anyone saying anything about Z2 and edge enhancement but i didnt follow those discussions. Z4 edge enhancement is known bug in projector. I have Z3 that doesnt have this issue. Use forum search to check.

utility

10-25-05, 03:43 AM

Hm i dont remember anyone saying anything about Z2 and edge enhancement but i didnt follow those discussions. Z4 edge enhancement is known bug in projector. I have Z3 that doesnt have this issue. Use forum search to check.

as i said the issue is not only on the Z4 for me but also on the Z2.
therefore i don't see it as a problem of the edge enhancement of the Z4 only.
anyway i might visit a friend of mine this weekend who has a Z3.
then we'll see if this is an issue with Z4, Z2 AND Z3 or not.
my friend has a Denon 1910 player so i can also compare the two players in this regard (i know the 1910 has the lesser faroudja chip)

what i suppose is that the player creates this effect due to scaling and/or the signal of DVI/HDMI being clearer than via component at first and that the beamer doesn't add to this anymore. the component signal of my old sony progressive player is less sharp so this effect might just get blurred away with it. but i am only guessing right now.

but lets see what the comparisons will bring.

Dirteeboy808

10-25-05, 02:20 PM

Hi Everyone,

Very new to AV, HT, etc., but I've done a little research on this type of equipment. I've followed the reviews, rants and raves about this Oppo player and finally caught the bug and purchased it. The picture when tweaked a little looks awesome when set up throught the DVI->HDMI setup (720p, haven't played with the 1080i yet), although I have ran into a couple of problems: (I've tried the search function, but couldn't find the answers)

I purchased a Pioneer PDP-5060 was running it component to a Sony ??? DVD player all screen size functions worked properly ie.- (Wide, 4:3, Zoom, Cinema, etc.), when I hooked up the Oppo through the DVI->HDMI the "Cinema" screen size function was not there. This size aspect seem to be the best when playing the larger aspect ratio movies not its' gone. Is this because I'm running the 720p instead of the 480p??

The other problem I had is, single layer DVD+R copies seem to freeze up at the start of movies, in fact some do not play at all. The display on the player reads "SETUP."

Thanks ahead for all the help

Tom Koegel

10-25-05, 03:13 PM

when I hooked up the Oppo through the DVI->HDMI the "Cinema" screen size function was not there. This size aspect seem to be the best when playing the larger aspect ratio movies not its' gone. Is this because I'm running the 720p instead of the 480p??

Many displays lock into WIDE mode when presented with a signal above 480. This happens on my Fujitsu. There are a number of possible solutions for 4:3 and non-anamorphic letterbox DVDs:

1. Set your screen size for Wide/SQZ. 4:3 material will be centered normally in the screen. Non-anamorphic letterbox material will be surrounded by black bars on all sides and then you can use the Zoom feature on the Oppo remote to fill the screen. (2.35:1 movies will still have bars on top and bottom, of course.) The disadvantage of this is that the Oppo will not be using the Faroudja chip to display the material, and the Zoom (to many eyes, including my own) looks pretty bad.

2. A display with a good internal scaler may do better than the Oppo Zoom feature. On my Fujitsu, which locks to Wide at 720p and 1080i but not on 480i or 480p, my set does a far better job than the Oppo so for critical viewing I set the Oppo to 480p and have the Fujitsu do the scaling on non-anamorphic letterbox. The "pillarboxing" of 4:3 movies or TV shows on DVD is not as objectionable to me, and so for that I usually leave the Oppo on 720p with the Wide/SQZ mode.

If you want to read more about why the Oppo doesn't do so well using Wide/SQZ plus Zoom, skip back a few pages in this thread.

Tom

P.S. I don't do DVD+R, so can't help you there.

GSB

10-25-05, 04:10 PM

I purchased a Pioneer PDP-5060 was running it component to a Sony ??? DVD player all screen size functions worked properly ie.- (Wide, 4:3, Zoom, Cinema, etc.), when I hooked up the Oppo through the DVI->HDMI the "Cinema" screen size function was not there. Tom's right. This is not a problem - it is fairly common. My Samsung DLP is much the same. It allows aspect ratio adjustments over component connections, but not DVI. It leaves the aspect ratio control up to the player, and assumes 1:1 pixel-mapping from the player.
The other problem I had is, single layer DVD+R copies seem to freeze up at the start of movies, in fact some do not play at all. The display on the player reads "SETUP." The Oppo plays DVD+R perfectly. So this may be a problem with your copies... the burn speed, the media quality, the mastering technique, etc.

Dirteeboy808

10-25-05, 04:44 PM

Thanks alot guys for the extremely fast response...........

I've read about the Wide/Sqz fix, but as you two stated the Zoom feature on the Oppo DVD player isn't very attractive, I can use the Zoom feature setting on the TV but it cuts out the edges, well I guess I have to live with it.

DVD+R burned at 2x (burner can only do DVD+R)
burner that came with the Dell 8200 (brand? can find that out not at home)
Programs: DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, Nero Suite all updated to newest version
-tried low quality CompUSA brand
-mid TDK brands
-semi high quality Ridata

The weird thing is all my DVD+R copies play flawlessly on my Sony ???? DVD player, but seem to hang up on the Oppo.

Hmmm...I guess I'll play with it more

Again thanks a lot guys =)

jwv651

10-25-05, 04:50 PM

[QUOTE=Dirteeboy808]The other problem I had is, single layer DVD+R copies seem to freeze up at the start of movies, in fact some do not play at all. The display on the player reads "SETUP."

I have over 150 DVD+R copies and have not had one not play perfectly...I have a Plextor PX-712A 12x burner and I use Taiyo Yuden (DVD+R47ZZSB8) 8X DVD+R 4.7GB Silver Thermal Lacquer Blank Media...Not one coaster. ;)

GSB

10-25-05, 04:53 PM

The weird thing is all my DVD+R copies play flawlessly on my Sony ???? DVD player, but seem to hang up on the Oppo. Try updating the firmware when it becomes available later today, and if the problems persist, you might want to call Oppo.

Gary

Ja Phule

10-25-05, 05:01 PM

If your burner supports it, set the "booktype" of the dvd+r to dvd-rom for better compatibility. Most burners default to dvd+r booktype.

Neuromancer

10-25-05, 05:13 PM

jwv651

10-25-05, 05:21 PM

[QUOTE=jwv651]

Same. TY is the king of DVD+R media.Were are you buying from...I been getting them from Meritline.com they have excellent prices. :)

Neuromancer

10-25-05, 05:45 PM

[QUOTE=Neuromancer]Were are you buying from...I been getting them from Meritline.com they have excellent prices. :)

I ususally buy in bulk when places like Costco has their 2 for 1 sales. I stock up as soon as these killer deals happen, like a squirrel gearing up for winter.

Anyone have great success with DNR? I tried it out the other night with a couple of "noisy" discs and couln't put the setting higher than Low (which made little difference) without a lot of ghosting. I am using an Optoma H78.

Dirteeboy808

10-25-05, 06:02 PM

Neuromancer

10-25-05, 07:10 PM

Neuro,

That's the discs I'm currently using, too. (Costco 2 for 1 sale) Have you been having any problems with them playing on the Oppo. If not do you use DVD-R or DVD+R, also what proggz?, burn speed? do you use to create the copies.

Thanks, Mike

I use DVD+R exclusively. Burn speeds are at 8x using a NEC 3540A. I mainly use Nero (Booktype: DVD ROM) and DVD Decryptor. All backups are done either 1:1 (if possible) or ripped using DVD Decryptor/ISOEdit, and processed by a 6 pass CCE. I generally remove region encoding when I make my backups as well.

Paul Bigelow

10-25-05, 10:02 PM

Oppo DV971H defect/wishlist updated.

Paul

Paul Bigelow

10-25-05, 10:13 PM

Also updated first post to reflect 1022 firmware along with link to location.

Paul

Neuromancer

10-25-05, 10:25 PM

Also updated first post to reflect 1022 firmware along with link to location.

Paul

Can you also change the "TrueLife" information to reflect that it is now no longer tied to DCDi?

Paul Bigelow

10-25-05, 10:33 PM

Can you also change the "TrueLife" information to reflect that it is now no longer tied to DCDi?

Item #4 shows that status, doesn't it?

paul

Neuromancer

10-25-05, 10:54 PM

Item #4 shows that status, doesn't it?

paul

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Under the "My Settings" section, you still have: TrueLife = ON (OFF is bad and will, basically, turn off motion adaptive deinterlacing -- it does not turn off "shimmering").

I meant for that to be changed. Once again, sorry for being so vague.

Paul Bigelow

10-25-05, 11:01 PM

Ah!

Thanks Neuromancer! It's been corrected.

Paul

Neuromancer

10-26-05, 02:17 AM

Paul Bigelow,

I'll take any and all opportunities to be insubordinate to my superiors ;)

But really, awesome moderating. I've been in many forums in my life, and I am not used to OPs changing anything important in less than 24-hours (if not a week later).

digibal235

10-26-05, 10:59 AM

I was just wondering what the noise reduction level was set to before they gave us the option to turn it off. Was it low or medium? I'm asking because I never had any ghosting until I tried it on high and it looked cool, if not weird.

Good question. Anybody?

I'm going to try to go back to TrueLife=on.

jntaylor63

10-26-05, 11:03 AM

Did a search in this thread and did not see an answer.

So,
Will it play DivX files on UDF and greater than 2 gigs?

dusterscott

10-26-05, 12:28 PM

I'm going to upgrade to the 1022 firmware tonight. Should brightness on the Oppo now be set to '0' instead of '-3'?

Neuromancer

10-26-05, 01:10 PM

I'm going to upgrade to the 1022 firmware tonight. Should brightness on the Oppo now be set to '0' instead of '-3'?

or "-7"? No one really knows until they try it. I would check out your settings at the new default before changing anything. Most users seem to have it set to "-3", whereas some members have it at default. One or two stragglers are using a whopping "-7"!

Neuromancer

10-26-05, 01:36 PM

Good question. Anybody?

I'm going to try to go back to TrueLife=on.

I believe it was "Off" by default in all previous firmwares. I will have to do some testing tonight (or during lunch) to confirm this.

digibal235

10-26-05, 02:30 PM

I've got mine at -3 now, but before the major firmware update I was running at +2, so I just coincidentally came down 5 even though the consensus seems that it's not a 5 point linear slide for most. I reset to my initial display values (pre-upgrade, for sony WF655 users - picture=60, brightness=36) and set the Oppo to -3, then finetuned with display picture (set it to max=63). Looked at needle and black/gray on Avia. Looks good. Still going to try TrueLife=on for a while.

TerryJ

10-26-05, 05:51 PM

GSB

10-26-05, 06:04 PM

Does the macroblocking (... and false contouring of grey) seem worse after this new firmware... or is it just me?

I mean, even the blocky JPEG-like artifacts in the blue Oppo greeting screen seem much worse, too!

And when you play around with the Oppo's brightness adjustment, the blocky/contour artifacts seem to shift around. Bizarre.

(Yes, I have re-calibrated my display after the firmware brightness adjustment.)

-TerryNo, it has not got worse. This just demonstrates how sensitive the macroblocking enhancement is to the brightness setting with some displays. In your case, you will have to play around with the Oppo's brightness until you find a place where this problem is minimized. Of course, with each attempt, you need to tweak your display's brightness to match.

The "blocky JPEG-like artifacts" in the blue Oppo screen dramatically improved for me this time around, but I can certainly cause them to worsen by playing with brightness and contrast.

Gary

Neuromancer

10-26-05, 06:44 PM

I have to agree with Gary on this one as well. I don't see as much blocking on the OPPO logo as I used to. I will run some tests tonight to confirm.

AlieniceT

10-26-05, 06:53 PM

No, it has not got worse. This just demonstrates how sensitive the macroblocking enhancement is to the brightness setting with some displays. In your case, you will have to play around with the Oppo's brightness until you find a place where this problem is minimized. Of course, with each attempt, you need to tweak your display's brightness to match.

The "blocky JPEG-like artifacts" in the blue Oppo screen dramatically improved for me this time around, but I can certainly cause them to worsen by playing with brightness and contrast.

Gary

I also agree. The processing that takes place in the Faroudja chipset has not been altered. It is merely due to the shifting of the player's grey scale and how it impacts different displays. My brightness and contrast settings both changed after the 1022 firmware. Before updating the contrast on my player, it appeared that the macroblocking had increased. But, after dialing the contrast in with DVE, I saw exactly the same amount as before. Many of us owners of Faroudja-based players are amped up to look for macroblocking. :( Sometimes we think we see a change, but you can't draw conclusions too soon. In my setup, there does not appear to be any change. Which is OK with me, as Oppo did not publicize any improvements on MB with this release.

I don't expect there is much that Oppo can do to improve MB on this player with its' hardware limitations - there is only so much that can be done via firmware. This is true for all of the manufacturers utilizing Faroudja FLI-23XX. The biggest improvement one can make in limiting MB enhancement is mating the player to a forgiving display.

Overall, a nice update that improves the feature set and PQ on 2:2 cadence content.

CJayB

10-26-05, 08:34 PM

I don't expect there is much that Oppo can do to improve MB on this player with its' hardware limitations - there is only so much that can be done via firmware. This is true for all of the manufacturers utilizing Faroudja FLI-23XX. The biggest improvement one can make in limiting MB enhancement is mating the player to a forgiving display.

One of the reasons I've been pushing adding a Gamma adjustment to the Oppo menu is that it might be able to make a major contribution to reducing macroblocking, based on what others have said about Gamma's contribution to reducing it. Unfortunately, neither my display nor my video processor has Gamma adjustment to play around with to see just how much it might affect MB.

Finalheaven

10-26-05, 08:42 PM

I'm passing my audio out to my receiver using Coaxial. I want Raw at 96 KHz (my receiver can process 96 KHz). That right?

And all this talk of macroblocking, I don't recall seeing MB on either my 30" Sony KV-30HS420 or my PLV-Z3.

Neuromancer

10-26-05, 09:39 PM

Finalheaven,

Yes, you will want to select 96Khz if your receiver supports it.

brinyhenry

10-26-05, 09:53 PM

I upgraded to the 1022 firmware this evening. Eventhough I still had to adjust the brightness to -7 on the player, it seems now that everything has returned to normal compared to the 1011 interim firmware. I did notice the issue with brightness regarding the PAL to NTSC conversion, but if you just bump the brightness up 1 and then return to current setting everything falls into place. Not really a big deal. If feel lucky just being able to watch PAL DVD's with such superior picture quality. And on a player for only $200!

TerryJ

10-26-05, 09:54 PM

GSB

10-26-05, 10:02 PM

I also agree. The processing that takes place in the Faroudja chipset has not been altered. It is merely due to the shifting of the player's grey scale and how it impacts different displays. My brightness and contrast settings both changed after the 1022 firmware. Before updating the contrast on my player, it appeared that the macroblocking had increased. But, after dialing the contrast in with DVE, I saw exactly the same amount as before. Many of us owners of Faroudja-based players are amped up to look for macroblocking. :( Sometimes we think we see a change, but you can't draw conclusions too soon. In my setup, there does not appear to be any change. Which is OK with me, as Oppo did not publicize any improvements on MB with this release.

I don't expect there is much that Oppo can do to improve MB on this player with its' hardware limitations - there is only so much that can be done via firmware. This is true for all of the manufacturers utilizing Faroudja FLI-23XX. The biggest improvement one can make in limiting MB enhancement is mating the player to a forgiving display.

Overall, a nice update that improves the feature set and PQ on 2:2 cadence content.Hey AlieniceT, nice to hear from you again!

You're right, there is only so much that can be done with the hardware limitations of the Faroudja chip. Thankfully, though, Oppo has given us a few more knobs to twiddle, and they certainly can help with the macroblocking to some degree. Sometimes I can completely remove macroblocking from one disk or scene, but it pops right back in a different one. Unfortunately, we cannot expect miracles as far as macroblocking is concerned. Gamma would certainly be another effective control to play with. I hope Oppo's engineers will be able to implement it someday.

3 cheers for those engineers who have been doing such a good job!

Gary

TerryJ

10-26-05, 10:43 PM

I've certainly enjoyed the fact that this player is region free and can play PAL discs (and can now play them better with the cadence fix in the last firmware.) And, of course, it's generally sharp, jaggy free picture. I have done some fiddling and I agree with GSB and AlieniceT... it's the same amount of MB as before.

However, I just bought Batman Begins DVD, and all the scenes with fog/smoke (2/3rds the way through the film) look like garbage with all the false contouring (on my Sony KDF55XS955). Man, it almost makes me want to pull my hair out. I'm haunted by MB... and not just this Halloween!

How exasperating.

-Terry

morpheus6d9

10-27-05, 12:06 AM

i noticed in the menu i turned off angle view and it still comes up with dvd's

ronjon2

10-27-05, 01:20 AM

Terry J, this is from the Oppo Brain Dump

Originally Posted by deez
RONJON2:

What you are seeing in Batman Begins is inherent to a bad dvd transfer..........Or rather, they did that on purpose to give the film that grainy comic book look....i have read a few reveiws of this movie and all of them point out the same thing you are seeing.

Which will probably infuriate those those using the DNR

Neuromancer

10-27-05, 03:02 AM

I love when "DVD enhancers" become more of a visual annoyance, than an enjoyment. *points finger at Sony and their Edge "Enhanced" Superbit DVDs*

JayRu

10-27-05, 09:49 AM

SirJohnFalstaff

10-27-05, 10:02 AM

Alex solomon

10-27-05, 10:21 AM

Yes, Elektra is absolutely spectacular.

DaViD Boulet

10-27-05, 10:37 AM

ssj2

10-27-05, 12:25 PM

Is there a new OPPO firmware ready for download that has additional (greater) delay settings or has helped with this issue in any way?

dave

No. Unfortunately, the recent firmware updates do not address audio delay. However, it is supposedly on the horizon.

dgkp

10-27-05, 01:42 PM

Help!

I'm haivng folks over on Friday to watch the new Wizard of Oz DVD but I noticed last night that even with my audio delay set to maximum (50 miliseconds I believe) the video is STILL noticably delayed. This is the frist DVD that has a delay issue that's too severe for one of the delay-settings to fix.

Is there a new OPPO firmware ready for download that has additional (greater) delay settings or has helped with this issue in any way?

Help!!!!!!

dave

Is there any room for delay in your receiver set up? I found and extra 68ms in mine and it's made the world of difference. Even the R2 Ben-Hur which was unwatchable now looks fine.

Dave

PS, as for the few comments about Batman, it also had bad lipsync before I found out what my receiver could do (it's new)--but the picture (again R2 version) is terrific: no MB, no noise--just a great filmic image (to an AE700).

GSB

10-27-05, 02:08 PM

The Batman Begins DVD was one of the first one's I tested my new Oppo DV971H player with and i was very dissapointed. Then I found out that it was the DVD and not the player. Other DVD's like Sin City look amazing. It all depends on the transfer and your settings.Has anyone tried the Two-Disc Deluxe Edition of Batman Begins? It is entirely possible that the standard version is horribly overcompressed to make room for hours of mindless special features. The quality of the transfer can make a WORLD of difference.

Here's what DVDAuthority said about the Two-Disc Deluxe Edition:
"Batman Begins" is shown in a great-looking 2.35:1 anamorphic image that presses the limits of DVD. What I mean by that is that for how dark this movie is (literally), I really couldn’t find a lot wrong with the picture as it appeared on my screen. There were a few shots that seemed a bit soft at times, but I couldn’t really find any edge enhancement, artifacting and even the CGI seemed a lot cleaner and clearer than films like “Spider-Man”. The colors seemed purposely muted and there aren’t too many bright points, visually speaking. The movie is shown on the first disc, leaving plenty of room for the image quality. Suffice it to say that the picture is top notch.Gary

Toonces T. Cat

10-27-05, 02:36 PM

Has anyone tried the Two-Disc Deluxe Edition of Batman Begins? It is entirely possible that the standard version is horribly overcompressed to make room for hours of mindless special features. The quality of the transfer can make a WORLD of difference.

Here's what DVDAuthority said about the Two-Disc Deluxe Edition:Gary

I have to agree with the DVDAuthority on this one. I have the two disc edition and the transfer is amazing!

-Toonces

digibal235

10-27-05, 02:43 PM

I'm haivng folks over on Friday to watch the new Wizard of Oz DVD but I noticed last night that even with my audio delay set to maximum (50 miliseconds I believe) the video is STILL noticably delayed. This is the frist DVD that has a delay issue that's too severe for one of the delay-settings to fix.

I think I may have an idea. Wait until the MGM lion roars for the third time and then hit play. No, nevermind - that's how you synch-up Dark Side of The Moon. I've got nothing, really.

TerryJ

10-27-05, 07:29 PM

Has anyone tried the Two-Disc Deluxe Edition of Batman Begins? It is entirely possible that the standard version is horribly overcompressed to make room for hours of mindless special features. The quality of the transfer can make a WORLD of difference.

Here's what DVDAuthority said about the Two-Disc Deluxe Edition:Gary
Very strange... the one disc edition has no real special features.

Hmm. Perhaps the compression is different between editions.

(ugh.)

-Terry

CJayB

10-27-05, 08:23 PM

Very strange... the one disc edition has no real special features.

Hmm. Perhaps the compression is different between editions.

(ugh.)

-Terry

Interesting. I have the 2-disc version of Batman Begins and my roommate has the 1 disc. Will have to do a comparison.

MikeSRC

10-27-05, 08:37 PM

From what I've heard, there's no difference between the single disk and dual disk editions. Both have the same contents on the "movie" disk. I have not seen them both myself though. That being said, Kris Deering didn't particularly rave about the PQ. Here's his comments about the two-disk set:

"Being one of Warner’s biggest films of the year, I was expecting to be floored by the visual presentation here. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. This DVD looks far from bad but it does have a lot working against it. Namely the beautiful, but chromatically drab photography. The film is very dark. It is also a bit on the soft side. This isn’t really the DVD fault but it is worth mentioning. The only DVD based elements that I found wrong was some strange jaggies in some scenes. I have no idea what caused them, but they were there consistently. Most people will probably never notice them though. Otherwise this is a very faithful representation of the film I saw in theaters."