Oppo DV971H FAQ / Brain Dump

Welcome to the thread!

The Oppo Digital DV971H has been one of the more exciting players to appear recently. Combining solid hardware choices with nicely implemented firmware, the DV971H is a top ranked inexpensive player with great disc handling ability and excellent picture quality. Oppo Digital's customer support is amongst the best -- combine that with a responsive development team and the DV971H is a player that is getting better and better.

Please note the reported results do change with the firmware. Because of this, the first post is always a work "in progress".

Contents:
------------
News
Firmware
Manual/Tips/FAQ
Defect/Wish Llist
Review/Test Results

NEWS!!!!!!

DV971H Selected as one of the Best of 2005 by Secrets of Home Theater

Secrets "Best of 2005" (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12_4/secrets-best-of-2005-awards-12-2005.html)

DV971H Scores 98 on Secrets of Home Theater Benchmark

Secrets of Home Theater DV971H review (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=124#Oppo%20DigitalOPDV971H%20(DVI))

NEW VERSION (3rd style) REMOTE:

Click on http://www.oppodigital.com

Click on "Buy Now"

That action will present the page on how to obtain the revised, new-style remote.

Click on the remote picture for a larger view.

Ergonomically, it's the best remote yet for the DV971H. The "glow-in-the-dark" buttons have returned. It uses AAA batteries. It is compatible with the second version of the remote codes and the latest firmware.

FIRMWARE:

The firmware is cumulative -- it contains all prior fixes.

MVer: 05.00.01.07 Batch: 11-0830
Release Date: September 21, 2006

This release addresses a rare occurrence of no center audio channel output through the 5.1ch analog audio output. It also includes all the following new features and improvements from the 10-0720 major release version:

1. Improved handling of "forced subtitle" for DVD discs

This version improves the handling of "forced subtitle" for DVD discs. For certain DVD discs that contains foreign "forced subtitle" tracks, foreign subtitle text will no longer erratically appear when there is english text in the picture. Additionally, when the dialog is in a foreign language and the DVD disc contains a corresponding English "forced subtitle" track, English subtitle will automatically show.

2. Improved disc compatibility

This version resolves the playback problem with certain Sony DVD discs that contains a "Commentary Disclaimer" screen. It also improves compatibility with DVD-Video disc recorded using older version of Nero Burning ROM program.

3. Improved audio/video synchronization (previously included in the F-0316 beta firmware)

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

Special thanks to Gary Bosman for his contribution to this improvement.

4. Eliminated Chroma Up-sampling Error (CUE) for component output

Chroma Up-sampling Error is a problem that could happen when the reduced resolution Chroma data (color information) on the DVD discs are up-sampled to create full resolution color image. When it happens, edges, especially diagonal edges of saturated color will have a "staircase" or "mini-blind" effect. The OPDV971H does not have CUE with its DVI output. This version eliminates CUE on its component output.

5. Improved resume play function

This function works for DVD-Video discs only. To save a playback position so that you can resume later, press the "EJECT" button on the remote while the video is playing. The player will show "Saving Breakpoint…" on screen and eject the disc tray. Next time when the same DVD disc is loaded into the player, it will automatically resume from the saved playback position. You may cancel this automatic resume playback and start play from the beginning by pressing the "STOP" button on the remote control.

The memory function can remember 1 breakpoint only. Any new "EJECT" operation will overwrite the previous breakpoint with a new one.

6. Improved DivX video playback functions

This version of firmware properly supports DivX video files larger than 2GB. Fast forward and reverse speed are improved. It also improved compatibility with DivX video files that contains incomplete or corrupted index. With previous firmware version, these files may not play completely. With this firmware version the player will try to play the entire program despite the missing or corrupted index. However fast forwarding or reverse may not work in this case. For DivX files with associated text subtitles, the font size of the subtitle can be adjusted using the DVD player's setup menu.

7. Output resolution display

When the "DVI" button on the remote control is pressed, the current DVI output resolution will be displayed on the screen as well as the on the player's front panel. To actually switch the output resolution, stop playback so the OPPO logo screen is shown. Press the "DVI" button once to display the current resolution. Press it again to switch to the next available output resolution. The new resolution will also be displayed on both the screen and front panel.

8. Enhanced front panel dimmer control

The "Light Control" setup menu option has been expanded to support 4 modes:

On - Both the Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) window and the button LED lights are on.
LED Off - Button LED lights are turned off; VFD window is on.
Dim - Button LED lights are turned off; VFD window is at reduced brightness.
All Off - All front panel lights and displays are turned off. This setting resumes back to "On" after the player is turned off to avoid user confusion.
9. Skip function for digital music files

When playing digital music files, the "Skip Prev" (|<<) and "Skip Next" (>>|) buttons on the remote control can be used to skip to the the previous or next track. This function enables the user to skip tracks without using the navigation menu on the video screen. When playback is stopped, these buttons can still be used to turn pages for the the on screen navigation menu, just like with the previous firmware version.

Located Here:Oppo 0830 firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/Download/Firmware_971h-11-0830.iso)

MVer: 05.00.01.07 Batch: F-0302
Release Date: March 15, 2006

Summary of Changes in This Release:

Rolled back the improvement to audio/video synchronization of F-0220 release due to side effects to DivX/MPEG-2 playback and picture quality.

Previous fixes are included.

Located here:Oppo 0302 firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/Download/Firmware_971h-f-0302.iso)

05.00.01.07 Batch: F-0220
Release Date: February 27, 2006

Summary of Changes in This Release:

Improvement to DVI output timing.
Improvement to audio/video synchronization.
Longer audio delay option.
Picture settings applied for PAL mode.
Longer file name display in file browsing mode.
Proper "Skip Prev" function for CD playback.
Support for DivX Video-On-Demand activation.

Known Issue:

Playback of some DivX/MPEG-2 files may not be smooth but appear "choppy". OPPO Digital is working on improvement to this issue. If you primarily use the player to watch DivX/MPEG-2 contents, please do not upgrade to this firmware version.

Located here: Oppo 0220 firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/Download/Firmware_971h-f-0220.iso)

If suffering from "choppy" video, look here for temporary beta firmware (does not contain all updates):

Oppo 0228 beta firmware for "choppy" video" (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_0228_download.html)

Also new is the updated user's manual:

Updated DV-971H manual (http://www.oppodigital.com/Download/OPDV971H_User_Manual.pdf)

Version: OP971-1111B
Release Date: November 22, 2005

*For "Black" and "3rd style" remote users at the present time*

The firmware level has been reported to cause a shift in image with certain displays, if this problem occurs revert to firmware 1022 to resolve.

Summary of changes in this release:

Default brightness level set to studio level.

Located here: Oppo 1111B firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_1111_download.html)

Version: OP971-D-1022
Release Date: October 25, 2005

Summary of changes in this release:

Added support for 2:2 Cadence for PAL playback. This feature is not perfect yet, please see the note above and review the Release Notes for more details.
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.

Located here:Oppo 1022 firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_firmware_1022_download.html)

Version: OP971-8-0628
Release Date: June 29, 2005

This firmware release addressed the following:

Fixed shimmering that bothered certain percentage of the user population
Added Off option for Sharpness
Improved audio/video synchronization
Added five Audio Delay options to suit various receiver systems. Options include 10ms, 20ms, 30ms, 40ms, and 50 ms.
Added On/Off options for Faroudja “CCS” (Cross Color Suppression)
Added On/Off options for Faroudja “TrueLife” enhancement
Added On/Off options for Angle icon
Added support for 540p DVI resolution
Added a toggle between the silvered-colored remote and the new black-colored remote by pressing and hold the STOP key on the front panel of the OPPO player for 3 second and then release. The firmware is default to support the silver-colored remote.


Located here: 0628 Oppo Firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/%5COP971HFirmware0628.htm)

MANUAL/TIPS/FAQ:

Oppo Digital's DV971H Manual

Oppo Digital's DV971H manual .pdf (http://www.oppodigital.com/Download/OPDV971H_User_Manual.pdf)

Oppo Digital's DV971H FAQ page:

Oppo Digital's DV971H FAQ (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_FAQ.htm)

Quick Settings Guide for the DV-971H (includes new 2005 settings)

Oppo DV-971H settings guide (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=48957)

Inaccessable Settings
Certain settings are not accessible while a disc is playing or loaded.
In this case, eject the disc to access the settings.

Settings affected:

DVD-Audio
Video Mode
DivX(R) VOD

Preference Page (The far right box)

DVI output resoluton

Twelve steps to update the firmware:
Burn firmware on onto CD-R using .iso image then:
Write down/remember the current player settings -- they will revert to factory default
Turn on player.
Open tray.
Place disk on tray.
Close tray.
Press "Play" button on front panel when prompted on-screen.
The disk will read and eject.
Remove the disk from the tray.
Do nothing!
A couple of minutes later the tray will automatically close and the player reboot.
Done! Enjoy!

Change Remote Function (black and 3rd remote users):
Turn on your DVD player and display device.
Eject any disc that may be inside of the DVD player. Remove the disc and close the tray.
Wait for the display message "No Disc" to appear in the upper left corner of your display device.
Press and hold (hard) the Stop button on the front panel of the DVD unit (NOT THE REMOTE) for 5 seconds. Release.

The message "New RC" will appear briefly in the upper left hand corner of your display unit.

DV971H SETTINGS:
Default settings are utilzed, for the most part. Some suggestions:
TV Display = Wide/SQZ (Will "pillarbox" 4:3 material with a slight penalty in 4:3 resolution)
Brightness = 0 (optimized for DVI "studio" luminance range)
Sharpness = OFF (will eliminate edge enhancement and the previously reported "shimmering")
CCS = OFF (may reduce some flicker between bright colors)
TrueLife = OFF (setting to ON will enable the Noise Reduction feature to be used)

With the latest firmware the center positions of Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation are an excellent starting point.

DIRECT PLAY:
To skip over the majority of warnings, promos, etc:

As soon as the DVD will allow:
Press Stop
Press Menu

"Direct Play" may appear briefly on the screen and the movie should begin.

CHECK FIRMWARE VERSION
Check Firmware Version (available with firmware 1022 and later):
Power on the player with no disc inserted.
Press "OSD" on remote.
Note the popup on the screen. The "Batch" notation will be the firmware level.

MAKE REGION FREE:
The latest shipment of units are not region free. To change to region free mode do this:
Press Setup on remote control to access the setup page
Enter 9210 on the remote
A secret menu will pop up
Select 0 to 6 in region code (0 is region free)
Press Setup on remote again to exit

USE WITH HDMI:
Use a DVI/HDMI adapter or adapter cable.
Audio is not transmitted over DVI.
Should be no compatibility issues (I use a DVI/HDMI cable presently).

TOONCES T. CAT'S DUAL LAYER BURN:
Yes, I now have great success with +R DL burns on the OPPO. For me, the key was in getting two very specific things right:

The book-type...set in the burner itself...needs to be set to DVD-ROM. Most burners have utilities available to set the book-type. IMGBurn, a free download, will do it for virtually all burners. Non DVD-ROM DL burns will NOT play in my OPPO.
The layer-break must be in the correct place or it is highly likely that the OPPO will choke on it. Here is my guaranteed method that has yet to fail me: Rip the DVD as an ISO file with DVD Decrypter. The program will automatically create an MDS file with the same name as the ISO you create. Then burn the DL disc using IMGBurn. When you browse to the file, just select the MDS, and not the ISO, for a DL disc and it will place the layer-break in exactly the right place.

This is the process I have found that ALWAYS maintains the precise integrity of the original image. Nero, DVD Fab, DVD Shrink, and every other program I have used all move the layer-break and create problems during the transition. It may not be the case for every unit, but my OPPO is quite sensitive to moving the break.

-Toonces

DEFECT/WISH LIST:

04/24/2006, in approximate order of severity:

The remaining issues are relatively minor. Aside from the macroblock enhance that may affect your display when playing badly encoded disks, the picture over DVI is spectacular. This is a very impressive player for the price.

CURRENT DEFECTS:
The image does not fill the entire frame. There is a 3-4 pixel border around the image in all DVI resolutions. Many displays hide this problem with overscan. BUT... it appears that the MTK chip is responsible, and this could explain the banding that can be seen in the DVE resolution patterns, because the 480x720 image on the DVD would be slightly downscaled, resulting in a small loss of resolution. Fixing this problem may result in an even cleaner image from the DV971H!
The MTK chip handles the DVI pillar-boxing (Wide/SQZ mode) and the zooms. While this is necessary for the component output, it causes a loss of resolution and a loss of zoom quality on the DVI output. The Faroudja chip is designed to handle this, and does a significantly better job. It would be good if OPPO could provide the option to leave the Mediatek chip in WIDE mode, and use the Faroudja chip to handle at least the 2 most common scaling scenarios: An automatic pillar-box for 4:3 content, and an automatic letter-box zoom for 4:3 letter-box content. (The player should be able to read the 4:3 "letterbox" flag to automatically zoom to fill the screen - it already reads the 4:3 "pan and scan" flag to automatically pillar-box in Wide/SQZ mode).
Colorful ghosting on the vertical edges of saturated colors. When Sharpness is set any higher than OFF, this ghosting intensifies and the vertical edges break up. For example, in the setup menu, the yellow selection bar looks ragged on the left and right edges, with a band of blue/magenta next to those edges. The same effect can be seen on the Avia DVD Hue and Saturation Bars - the colors bleed into each other, and into the black text. OPPO's DVD-DL317 Mini DVD Home Theatre System (powered by a similar MTK chip) has a fine-adjustment for sharpness, and as you increase it, the same weird colors begin to appear around menu lettering and saturated colors. It must therefore be a Mediatek problem.
When Truelife is OFF, the NR circuit appears to default to LOW, even though the menu says it's OFF. This causes image retention/ghosting problems in snappy action sequences. Turning on Truelife fixes that issue, but increases the likelihood of macroblock-enhance.
The subwoofer output is disabled when the front speakers are set to "Large". (This applies to the analog outputs only).
Does not automatically display the DVD subtitle-set containing the translation for brief foreign dialog. DVD’s like "Star Wars" have this extra subtitle. The DV971H defaults to ALL subtitles OFF, or else it shows foreign language subtitles where English signs or text appear in the film (as in "The Incredibles").
Some languages are not recognized and displayed in the subtitle and audio track options, like Portuguese, Korean, and German (e.g. No Portuguese, on the R4 Brazilian version of LOTR).
Slight Y/C delay on the 480p output.
Minor twitching of parts of the image on some rare DVD material (partly fixed now).
Uneven color saturation over the component connection. Red and Green are about 15% high.
Will not pass "blacker-than-black" over the component connection.

WISHLIST:
Audio Delay feature for the RAW SPDIF output. It is still uncertain whether the current hardware will be able to support this. The inconsistent lip-sync problem has been resolved. A small consistent delay remains, but this can be compensated for, by using the Audio Delay feature on the analog outputs.
A further reduction in the video delay from the MTK chipset may be possible. The Faroudja delay cannot be reduced (this is unavoidable... all of the better upconverting DVD players have a measure of video delay due to the frame-buffering and video processing required for motion-adaptive de-interlacing).
Save the breakpoint when pressing EJECT or PWR-OFF (whichever comes first). Resume from the breakpoint by default (easy to cancel by pressing STOP twice).
1080p DVI output.
854x480 DVI support for projectors like the Infocus 4805.
Ability to reposition subtitles on the screen. Helpful for disks where the subtitles normally fall in the black letterbox bar, which is a nuisance for front projection users who mask their screens.
Ability to convert the black pillarbox/letterbox bars to an adjustable shade of gray, to reduce burn-in on plasma displays.
Kill the preview pane to display file names more easily.
While displaying DVD stills, the pause button sometimes causes a chapter-skip or causes the player to temporarily stop responding to remote commands (particularly in the Avia test patterns).
"Jacket_P" Support. When a DVD with "Jacket_P" info is paused for a while, the player would display the movie's splash screen instead of the OPPO logo.
Remove On-Screen-Display for "Pause".
Selectable Frame / Field pause mode.
Quick-replay / review function
Faroudja's "macroblock-enhance" bug. Macroblocking appears on some DVD’s as an artifact of heavy MPEG compression. It looks like patches of moving/pulsating off-color blocks, and is most often seen on background walls and floors, in mist, and in fade-in/fade-out scenes. It is normally very subtle, but for some reason, the Faroudja chip exaggerates it. This bug appears to be very display dependant, so it only becomes distracting on some displays. This problem has already been reduced to some degree with the "Truelife" and "Noise Reduction" options. Panasonic worked with Faroudja to reduce this problem in the S97 player, but it seems to have no significant advantage over the OPPO in this area. Apparently, it cannot be fixed altogether, so it remains a trade-off with the use of this otherwise fantastic de-interlacing and scaling chip.
Gamma adjustment.
Display remaining chapter and title time on the LED display without having it appear on the screen.


Comments welcome. Please bear in mind that Oppo Digital is doing a tremendous job of addressing firmware defects (and reasonable requests) from fussy consumers like us. If your issue is listed here, don't badger Oppo with calls or complaints - they will be fixed in due course.

REVIEW/TEST RESULTS:

Keep in mind that the display can introduce its own artifacts. It will be noted if it is thought the display is contributing to any anomaly.

Basically, this is a rundown of the DVE video test patterns with certain tests from Avia included. The first description notes the test and expected results. Beneath that are the actual tested results, in italics.

Let me know what you think of this format.

EQUIPMENT:

Display: Panasonic TC-22LH1, Hitachi 32HDT55, Dell W1900, Sharp LC-26D7U
Cable: Monster DVI-HDMI, Samsung DVI, Dell-supplied DVI
Discs: DVE, Avia
Other: 6500K florescent light

REVIEW (DVI & Component):

Physical:
I think the Oppo is an attractive looking player -- I really like the understated styling and brushed metal accent on the front panel. The player is solid feeling. While the tray is thin and flexes, it appears to be tough. Solid metal on five sides. The disc door opens quietly. The discs spin smoothly and there seems to be no unusual vibrations. The RCA connectors are gold plated. Four foot pads with simulated "feet" in front. The remote is decent and much nicer than the Momitsu V880 -- larger buttons and better "feel". The buttons glow-in-the-dark. Uses two AAA batteries. Beginning 11/28/2005 a new style remote is being shipped. This remove is a huge leap in quality over the previous two versions. Great ergonomics, more solid "feel", nice balance. The glow-in-the-dark buttons have returned.

Operation:
Fast, secure, disc handling. Skipping tracks and general navigation is a joy. As with other MediaTek players, layer change is lightning fast. The Panasonic S97 has a lot more configuration items, no doubt about it, however the simplicity of the Oppo has its appeal as well. No HDCP issues as there isn't any HDCP! The "zoom" feature, works much like the Terapin TT-1800 with both anamorphic zoom and reduction. The quality of the zoom is not quite in the leauge of the Momitsu V880, but the picture looks fair. DVI was enabled "out of the box". With component there is only 480i available. Did not find any means to configure for 480p component. I would urge Oppo to enable 480p component (and pass BTB at component) as the MediaTek does a good job of deinterlacing. The picture controls do not operate at 480i so contrast and brighness are not adjustable at that resolution. A built in DTS decoder is available w/latest firmware. One disc lockup with DVE noted when testing 480i when trying to access top menu.

Picture:
The Oppo player has a *lot* of detail. Beginning with the 4/13/2005 update, the picture controls work properly with "center" being a good (if not optimum) starting point. With these settings, color, tint, BTB, grayscale all looked correct and verified via DVE, filters, and 6500K reference. Good motion characteristics -- as expected with Faroudja. Pans looked smooth. With firmware 6/28/2005 and later there are no edge enhancement issues. Macroblock enhance is noted in some dim scenes. Some light random blocks of color tint noted with black and white material. Individual results may vary, but after lenghty viewing I think the Oppo may be doing a slightly better job than the S97. In many ways, the picture of this player reminds me of the 'S97 -- not real surprising given the Faroudja processing. Macroblock enhance aside, I would say the picture is vastly better than the V880. The Oppo does not exhibit the "green depression" noted with the Sony '975. No odd grayscale tinting noted. Component is a bit disappointing, no 480p, and 480i did not pass BTB.

DVD COMPATIBILITY (if listed, it's "OK"):

DVD-R : DVD Video
DVD+R : DVD Video, Divx/Xvid
DVD-RW : DVD Video (but not VR mode)
DVD+RW : DVD Video
CD-R : MP3, JPEG, NTSC VCD, PAL VCD, SVCD, Divx/Xvid
CD-RW : <tbd>
DVD-Audio : YES. For two channel set the Downmix to "Stereo", for multichannel set to "5.1CH".

While the EQ and SF buttons will not affect the sound as in other modes, these are undocumented "Previous Page" and "Next Page" DVD-Audio operations.

PAL : (region free)
NTSC: (region free)

CONNECTION COMPATIBILITY:
DVI: Digital only. DVI->VGA adatper will not work. HDCP not present.
Component: Will not upconvert via component / not progresssive via component
480i via DVI : No - only 480p, 720p, 1080i

VIDEO PERFORMANCE:
1080i : HDMI w/Panasonic TC-22LH1, Sharp LC-26D7U
720p : DVI w/Hitachi 32HDT55, Dell W1900, Sharp LC-26D7U
480i : Component w/Panasonic TC-22LH1

SUMMARY:

Blacker than Black :
1080i : Passes BTB
720p : Passes BTB
480i : Does not plass BTB

Whiter than White :
1080i : Passes WTW
720p : Passes WTW
480i : Possibly (need to recheck)

Macroblock enhance :
1080i : Present, visible, no better/worse than other players
720p : Present, visible, no better/worse than other players
480i : no (no Faroudja processing)

Chroma Upsampling Error :
1080i : no
720p : no
480i : no

Subtitle Sync :
1080i : Good, some occasional combing noted
720p : Good, some occasional combing noted
480i : Excellent

Bad Edit :
1080i : OK
720p : OK
480i : OK

Layer Change :
1080i : *Blink* of an eye
720p : *Blink* of an eye
480i : *Blink* of an eye

Motion Adaptive Deinterlacer :
1080i : Yes
720p : Yes
480i : N/A

Frame/Field pause :
1080i : Field
720p : Field
480i : N/A

4:3 display on 16:9 (aka "pillarbox"):
1080i: Yes (with a slight penalty of reduction in resolution)
720p: Yes (with a slight penalty of reduction in resolution)
480i: No

DVE TEST PATTERN RESULTS (DVI @ 720p and Component @ 480i):

12 - Video Test Signals, Display Setup Patterns

12.2 - DVD PLUGE w/Gray Scale - Check for BTB, uniform color w/6500k ref, uniform geometry

720p : BTB OK, gray OK, geometry OK
480i : No BTB, gray OK, geometery OK

12.3 - DVD PLUGE w/White - check for BTB, change in BTB bars, uniform geometry

720p : BTB OK, gray OK, geometry OK
480i : No BTB, gray OK, geometry OK

12.4 - Needle Pulse - mostly for CRT. Ensure vertical line does not bend (lower white level if line bends)

720p : No problem noted
480i : No problem noted

12.5 - DVD PLUGE w/Gray & Bars - "catch all": check for BTB, black/white crush,color w/gray reference

720p : BTB OK, no black/white crush, color OK
480i : No BTB, no black/white crush, slight dip in blue, colors slightly skewed

12.6 - Color Bars w/Gray Reference - color check w/filter: red based colors the same, green based colors the same, blue based colors the same

720p : Color Bars OK. No "green depression".
480i : Color Bars, slight dip in blue, slightly skewed. No "green depression".

12.7 - Split Bars w/Gray & DVD PLUGE - "catch all": check for BTB, black/white crush, split bars

720p : BTB OK, no black white crush, color bars OK
480i : No BTB, no black white crush, color bars, slight dip in blue, colors slightly skewed

12.8 - Combination - "catch all": check for BTB, color, Y/C delay, luminance sweeps

720p : BTB OK, color OK, some Y/C delay noted, some fading with luminance sweeps at high frequency
480i : No BTB, color slight dip in blue, colors slightly skewed, Y/C looked good, slight fading with luminance sweeps at high frequency

12.9 - 20% Window w/DVD PLUGE : the pluge should not change with the varying window brightness no bars should appear or disappear

720p : BTB OK
480i : No BTB

12.10 - 100% Window w/DVD PLUGE : as with 12.9

720p : BTB OK, no fading or brightening
480i : No BTB, no fading or brightening

12.11 - 40% Window w/DVD PLUGE : as with 12.9

720p : as with 12.10
480i : as with 12.10

12.12 - 80% Window w/DVD PLUGE : as with 12.9

720p : as with 12.10
480i : as with 12.10

12.13 - 20% Window w/DVD PLUGE : as with 12.9

720p : as with 12.10
480i : as with 12.10

12.14 - Reverse Gray Ramps (with steps) - even color with ref 6500K - no black or white crush within the framing "dots"

720p : even color with 6500K, no black/white crush
480i : even color with 6500K, no black/white crush

12.15 - Reverse Shallow Ramps - criss-crossed gray ramps. The ramps should be smooth with almost imperceptible steps. The gradation should be smooth and visible with both the top and bottom ramps. If not, crushing is taking place.

720p : Ramps OK
480i : Ramps OK

12.16 - Ambient Light Reference - adjust 6500K backlight to match brightness, if used

Not/Applicable

12.17 - 1.33 Overscan Pattern - check for overscan and edge enhancement (very much display dependent). The center cross should not be outlined by a white line on any edge.

720p:
Top 4%
Bottom 2%
Left 1%
Right 3%
No edge enhancement noted

480i:
Top 4%
Bottom 1%
Left 3%
Right 2.5%
Some edge enhancement noted

12.18 - 1.33 Aspect Ratio & Geometry Pattern - left: all horizontal/vertical lines visible: no flashing,no banding. right: all diagonal lines visible, smooth, no flashing, no banding

720p : Mostly OK, some banding of high freq, horizontal/vertical lines noted (may be display). Otherwise OK.
480i : Mostly OK, slight banding of high freq, horizontal/vertical lines noted (may be display). Otherwise OK.

12.19 - 1.78 Aspect Ratio & Geometry Pattern - as above with 1.78 markers

720p : as with 12.18
480i : as with 12.18

12.20 - 1.78 Convergence & Geometry - should be centered

720p : see 12.17 some cropping/off center noted (may be display)
480i : see 12.17 some cropping/off center noted (may be display)

12.21 - Video Black


13 - Video Test Signals Picture Resolution

13.2 - SMPTE RP 133 - multiple:
1. Alphabet on all sides should be complete and readable.
2. Gray blocks should be uniform in color w/reference 6500K source. Next to the 0% box there is a 0% outer and 5% inner box. The 5% inner box should be visible. Next to the 100% box there is a 100% outer and 95% inner box. The 95% inner box should be visible. If either inner box is not visible, crushing is occurring.

720p :
1. Top row of capital letters cut off (may be display). Left "A" cropped.
Right "M" missing.
2. Inner boxes OK.

480i :
1. Top row of capital letters cut off (may be display). Left "A" cropped.
Right "M" missing.
2. Inner boxes OK.

13.3 - Multiburst Vertical - all lines visible, even brightness, no banding, no
flashing, no jittering.

720p : Some banding noted with "full" (may be display), otherwise OK.
480i : very slight banding noted at "full", otherwise OK

13.4 - Multiburst, Horizontal, 0.5 to 5.75 Mhz - all lines visible, even brightness of segments, no banding no flashing, no jittering.

720p : Even brightness, some banding noted at higher frequencies (may be display)
480i : Even brightness, very slight banding noted at higher frequencies (may be display)

13.5 - Multiburst, Horizontal, 5.75 to 6.75 Mhz - all line visible, even brightness, no banding no flashing, no jittering. If the brightness decreases, freq response is fading. If brightness increases left to right, freq response boost or edge enhancement

720p : Even brightness, some banding noted at higher frequencies (may be display)
480i : Slight decrease in brightness, very slight banding noted at higher frequencies (may be display)

13.6 - Luminance Sweep, 0.5 to 5.75 Mhz - all lines visible, even brightness, no banding, no flashing, no jittering.

720p : Even brightness, some banding noted at higher frequencies (may be display)
480i : Even brightness, slight banding noted at higher frequencies (may be display)

13.7 - Pb & Pr Sweep 0.25 Mhz to 2.785 Mhz - all lines visible, even brightness, no banding, no flashing, no jittering, no fading to gray

720p : Even brightness, some banding noted at higher frequencies,some fading to gray (may be display)
480i : Even brightness, some banding noted at higher frequencies,some fading to gray (may be display)

13.8 - Video Black


14 - Video Test Signals, System Evaluation

14.2 - 20% Flat Field - even gray at 6500K

720p : Even color gray w/6500K reference
480i : Even color gray w/6500K reference

14.3 - 40% Flat Field - as above

720p : as with 14.2


14.4 - 60% Flat Field - as above

720p : as with 14.2
480i : as with 14.2

14.5 - 80% Flat Field - as above

720p : as with 14.2
480i : as with 14.2

14.6 - 100% Flat Field - as above

720p : as with 14.2
480i : as with 14.2

14.7 - 100% Window w/PLUGE - BTB check, still OK?

720p : BTB OK
480i : No BTB

14.8 - Red 100% Amplitude - red, no orange tine, no other color, no noise, dead pixel check

720p : Color good
480i : Color good

14.9 - Green 100% Amplitude - green, no other color, no noise, dead pixel check

720p : Color good
480i : Color good

14.10 - Blue 100% Amplitude - blue, no other color, no noise, dead pixel check

720p : Color good
480i : Color looks slightly subdued

14.11 - Red 75% Amplitude - should be no change in color from 100%

720p : Color good
480i : Color good

14.12 - Green 75% Amplitude - should be no change in color from 100%

720p : Color good
480i : Color good

14.13 - Blue 75% Amplitude - should be no change in color from 100%

720p : Color good
480i : Color looks slightly subdued

14.14 - Cyan 75% Amplitude - check for noise

720p : Color good
480i : Color looks a bit greenish

14.15 - Magenta 75% Amplitude - check for noise

720p : Color good
480i : Color slightly reddish

14.16 - Yellow, 75% Amplitude - check for noise

720p : Color good
480i : Color good

14.17 - Horizontal Color Bars 100% Saturation - check w/filters

720p : Color good
480i : Blue looks slightly subdued, other colors as noted previously

14.18 - Vertical Color Bars 100% Saturation - check w/filters

720p : Color good
480i : Blue looks slightly subdued, other colors as noted previously

14.19 - Video Black


15 - Video Test Signals, 1.33 Pattern

15.2 - Convergence, 1.33:1 Linear - pillarbox check, should be white line around entire pattern

Not Applicable

15.3 - Convergence, 1.33:1 1.78 letterbox markers - same with 1.78 markers

Not Applicable

15.4 - Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate Test Pattern, 2/3 rate - ideally the concentric rings should move smoothly,no breakup, no flashing, no distortion as it moves and changes direction. This tests the motion adaptive deinterlacing. In practice it is normal with a good motion adaptive deinterlacer for the concentric rings to distort for a moment, then resume good shape when redirection occurs. The diagonal lines on the left should be smooth with no jittering. If output is 480i then the motion adaptive circuitry used will be that of the TV -- if present. 480i will be more of a test of the display.

720p : Looks OK, concentric rings motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth
480i : Looks Fair, concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth

15.5 - Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate Test Pattern, frame rate - as above

720p : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth
480i : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth

15.6 - Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate Test Pattern, field rate - as above

720p : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth
480i : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth

15.7 - MPEG Decoder Test - *major* catch all test pattern:
1. diagonal lines on left smooth, no jittering
2. No banding with 4:2:0 on bottom left, it should be flashing alternate colors
3. Red and blue triangles in the center left should have smooth diagonal edges
4. Concentric blue/yellow and red/cyan circles in center upper left and right should be smooth and even brightness (aka ICP test)
5. Luminance sweeps at bottom should be even with no bleeding.
6. Rotating box in upper right should be smooth with no jaggies or combing

720p :
1. Diagonal lines smooth
2. No banding, flashing alternate colors
3. Red and Blue Triangles have smooth diagonal edges
4. Concentric blue/yellow and red/cyan circles are smooth - passes test
5. Little bit of bleeding noted (may be display)
6. Rotating box is smooth

480i :
1. Diagonal lines fairly smooth
2. Banding present
3. Red and Blue Triangles have fairly smooth diagonal edges
4. Concentric blue/yellow and red/cyan circles are somewhat smooth - some ICP present
5. Little bit of bleeding noted (may be display)
6. Rotating box is smooth

15.8 - Black Stretch Test - check for BTB

720p : BTB does fade a bit with this test (probably display)
480i : No BTB is passed to fade/enhance

15.9 - Bounce - no geometry changes with flashing. Mainly for CRT displays.

720p : No problems noted
480i : No problems noted

15.10 - Video Black


16 - Video Test Signals, 1.78 Pattern

16.2 - Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate Test Pattern, 2/3 rate - as with 15.4

720p : Looks OK, concentric rings motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth
480i : Looks Fair, concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth

16.3 - Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate Test Pattern, frame rate - as with 15.4

720p : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth
480i : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth

16.4 - Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate Test Pattern, field rate - as with 15.4

720p : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth
480i : Concentric rings not motion adapted, diagonal lines smooth

16.5 - A/V Timing Clock - color ramps w/flashing white bar on top. The colors should be smooth and the flashing white bar should coincide with the tone.

720p : Colors smooth, timing OK.
480i : Colors smooth, timing OK.

AVIA (selected) TEST PATTERN RESULTS (DVI @ 720p):

Color Decoder - primary colors should be at 0% with reference to background gray

720p : Colors OK when adjusted, no green depression noted.
480i : Colors OK except for blue when adjusted, blue about 10% down, no green depression noted.

Y/C Delay - primary colors should match up with gray box below at 0.00. Keep in mind that this test is only a rough estimate (Fixed with latest firmware update).
1080i:
Blue : -0.00
Red : -0.00
Green : -0:00


720p:
Blue : -0.00
Red : -0.00
Green : -0.00

480i :
Blue : 0.00
Red : 0.00
Green : 0.00

Moving Zone Plate - Concentric and diagonal lines should retain shape and detail upon movement

Fair, lots of breakup, diagonal lines hold together a bit. The reported "shimmering" can be seen with this pattern as the Vertical Edge Enhancement interferes with adjacent detail lines.

Pixel Crop (4:3) - Should be no pixels cropped from sides or top. Highly display dependent. When run through a Sharp LC-26G7U via the computer DVI route, no pixel cropping was noted. These following figures are from a Dell (720p) and Panasonic (1080i) displaya and are almost certainly the result of overscan with the displays.
720p :
TOP : 12
BOTTOM : 9
LEFT : 12
RIGHT : 20

480i :
TOP : 14
BOTTOM : 5
LEFT : 20+
RIGHT : 16

Thank you: Jeffhdz (for compatibility check), LiteUp! (for region free), GSB, MikeSRC, Josh Z, Guitarman, Neuromancer, Toonces T. Cat, Casey Ng, everyone at Oppo Digital, anyone who has contributed suggestions and reports that have made the DV971H one of the best values in DVD players today.

Paul

Very nice Paul, thanks.

Thanks Paul for a great review. Now for the big question. Which machine would you recommend? Which one would you use or keep? The Panasonic,
Sony, or Oppo.? If you will keep all three which one would you use yourself?

Are these players sold at brick and mortar stores ? Exactly where are people purchasing this unit and what is the retail ?

Originally posted by psujohny
Are these players sold at brick and mortar stores ? Exactly where are people purchasing this unit and what is the retail ?

Extremephoto and Amazon.com for $200 plus shipping. I have not seen any reports of a sighting at a brick and mortar store. The player is manufactured by Winbase Electronics Corp. which also has what appears to be exactly the same model with Winbase on the faceplate but I can find nobody that carries Winbase.

http://www.winbase.com.cn/proframe.htm

Chris

I *think* Winbase is strictly an OEM.

Paul

Thanks for all the hard work Paul. Come Monday you're all going to get an earfull out of me about this player. Here's to hoping it's good.

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
I *think* Winbase is strictly an OEM.

Paul

There is a picture of a 971H with Winbase on the faceplate and several other products appear to be available with the Winbase name. It may be that Winbase doesn't sell in this country but the website sure makes it appear that they do more than build for other companies.

Paul, thanks for all the information. I am fighting the urge to buy this player since I just bought the Zenith DVB318. I only need DVD video playback but the Oppo sure looks better than my choice.

Chris

Oppo doesn't have a brick and motar store, though you're welcome to drop by the main office if you like. The machines go for $200 + S/H from amazon.

Hey Oppo, on the up-coming firmware, can you add a feature to the zoom where you can watch a 2:35 movie and get rid of the black bars? The first zoom is too much, cuts off a small portion on the top and bottom, and the zoom OSD stays on.

Paul, thanks for doing this again. You are a dedicated videophile ;)

This reference thread will save us a lot of time.

Rich,

I was hoping it might! ;)

Seems to be be a very interesting player with some great potential. Hopefully, Winbase/Oppo Digital are particularly responsive concerning firmware updates. I think we'd all be happy to go to the trouble of finding faults if there is a reasonable chance that the faults will either be fixed or explained why they can't be. While the macroblock might be a tough one, the other issues should be fairly easily addressed.

Still have to do component, verify disc format capababilities, etc.

The macroblocking was pretty muich expected given the processor, I'm hoping the compatibility issue with the Panasonic LCD TV @ 1080i HDMI can be resolved or was a fluke. Only the Denon and Toshiba I briefly owned had problems with 1080i HDMI. Other players such as the Panasonic, Sony, do not. The Momitsu was OK except for the menu and subtitles.

Paul

Hi Deaf,

Good point. I place the suggestion into the first posting of "things to fix".

Paul

If macroblocking is present why are people buying these new Faroudja based players? Is macroblocking really display dependent or are some people less tolerant of it than others?

Jay, could be both. Some displays do show it more than others. I've seen it. I'm thinking that if a display is susceptible to false contouring that the macroblocking is going to be more visible.

Paul

I just received my Oppo today and hooked it up in place of my Samsung HD841. The 841 will get donated to someone I don't necessarily like!...lol

The PQ of the Oppo at 480p is fantastic, better than the 720p of the Sammy. Perhaps it needs to be, because...

I can't seem to get the Oppo to upscale. Whenever I hit the DVI button on the remote I get the "function not allowed" circle and slash in the upper left corner. I also cannot acess the "initial setup" menu.

My monitor is a Hitachi 65WX20 which is capable of supporting 720p and 1080i, is HDCP compiant and has worked perfectly with a Bravo D1, the Samsung 841 and a Denon 1910. I have a DVID cable from Pacific Cables, and a DVID cable I purchased from Extremephoto along with the Oppo. I have tried both cables without any change.

Anyone have any idea what may be happening? Did I just get a bum unit?

That's odd. Try unplugging the player for one minute and try again.

Paul

Are you trying it when the DVD is playing or when it's stopped.? It needs to be stopped.

Originally posted by Hi Deaf
Are you trying it when the DVD is playing or when it's stopped.? It needs to be stopped.

Thanks Hi Def...that did the trick. I was used to being able to change resolutions on the fly with the 841, and since the Oppo manual didn't specify stopped, I never thought to try it stopped.

I ran a quick setup using THX optimiser on AOTC. The PQ of this thing is AWESOME at 1080i. Jitter is very low and layer changes lightning quick. The 841, which secrets says it a somewhat fast 1 second, is a snail by comparison. On layer change it regularly would interrupt the audio to my Rotel RSP 1098 long enough to make it's relays start clicking into default PLII from either DTS or DD. This of course was annoying.

Now I can't wait to get my PJ and 100+ inch screen!

Thanks again!

I wonder how this player stacks up in the audio compared to the 1910's

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Jay, could be both. Some displays do show it more than others. I've seen it. I'm thinking that if a display is susceptible to false contouring that the macroblocking is going to be more visible.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the excellent technical review. My main concern is with macroblocking considering I have a Benq DLP FP shining on a 100" screen. Can you explain what you mean be false contouring? I don't think my FP exhibits this but I need to be sure before I pull the trigger on this unit. I still have not seen a definitive answer on why the Faroudja 23XX chip installed INSIDE a FP exhibits no macroblocking versus INSIDE a DVD player. The scaler/deinterlacer in my FP is not the best hence my search for a suitable DVD DVI player.

John

John,

You're welcome!

"False Contouring" also known as "posterization" or "solarization" is the unnatural appearance of:

1. Concentric circles of color on facial highlights such as cheekbones
2. Bands of blue appearing underwater or in the sky

Typically these situations would call for smooth transitions in the color of skin tones, water, and sky but instead the color is noticibly "stepped". Some displays do better than others.

Paul

Tried out some MP3's. Nice display, IMHO. Displays: Time, Title, bit rate, volume level, even a spectral display.

DVD-RW: OK
DVD+RW: OK
CD-R: OK

Paul

Thanks, Paul.

I have not seen the false contouring on my FP based on your description. But I'm using a cheap Philips DVD player through progressive component and letting the FP scale the image. In your estimation is the macroblocking quite evident or do you really have to look for it? I don't see any with my setup but I'm not using a Faroudja scaler/deinterlacer.

John

John,

The Philips DVD player probably doesn't have the issue. I see it with the Oppo and Panasonic, but I have to look for it and it isn't visible most of the time. Other people with other displays report differently -- some report seeing it much more often and much worse (at least with the Panasonic 'S97 player). I do not know how it will look on your display.

Paul

johnny_marin,

For what it is worth, I've got a single chip DLP and a 106" screen and have seen no macroblocking so far. I didn't know what it was so I read several of the threads on macroblocking and found some picture examples and have not seen what was posted. I've had no evidence of macroblocking in any of the space scenes in Star Wars or any of the darker moody Imperial scenes. I also tried to find scenes in other movies with expanses of light such as sky or sand; nothing there either. If I did not experience it in those scenes, I don't know where I would.

I know macroblocking exists, I have seen pictures of it. And I don't doubt that the Faroudja FLI23xx may be prone to it in some circumstances, but I sometime think things get posted so much on this forum that they almost become a meme.

DVD Video on DVD-R: OK
DVD Video on DVD+R: OK
Divx/XviD on CD-R: OK
Divx/Xvid on DVD+R: OK
SVCD on CD-R: OK
PAL DVD Region 6 original DVD: OK
NTSC DVD Region 1: OK
PAL VCD on CD-R: OK
NTSC VCD on CD-R: OK
JPEG pictures on CD-R: OK

These are the discs I have tested so far. It played everything I put in! Nice "Explorer" style navigation for Divx.

It seems that Macroblocking is display dependent. If you see no problem
you are probably fine.

Very nice Paul. You are really getting quite polished at these things. ;)

Thanks for the effort.

RJ
...

Jeffhdz,

Thanks! I'll use that info and place in the first post.

Bytehoven.

Thank you as well. Nothing replaces seeing a player in person but I hope this information make a good starting point.

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Nothing replaces seeing a player in person but I hope this information make a good starting point.
Yes, it certainly does. Both the Panasonic and Oppo Braindump threads have proven extremely informative and useful. Thanks Paul. We appreciate what you're doing.

I've made my choice - Oppo it is! As long as they back their promise of downloadable firmware fixes, I'm happy!

Gary

Originally posted by wensteph
johnny_marin,

For what it is worth, I've got a single chip DLP and a 106" screen and have seen no macroblocking so far. I didn't know what it was so I read several of the threads on macroblocking and found some picture examples and have not seen what was posted. I've had no evidence of macroblocking in any of the space scenes in Star Wars or any of the darker moody Imperial scenes. I also tried to find scenes in other movies with expanses of light such as sky or sand; nothing there either. If I did not experience it in those scenes, I don't know where I would.

I know macroblocking exists, I have seen pictures of it. And I don't doubt that the Faroudja FLI23xx may be prone to it in some circumstances, but I sometime think things get posted so much on this forum that they almost become a meme.

Thanks, Wensteph

I too have a single chip DLP (Benq PE7800) and your observations are reassuring. I'm about ready to spring for this player and this is the type of information I needed to make up my mind.

John

Hey paul i got 2 questions for you

first do you think i would even see macroblocking on a 34" crt widescreen tube tv, like the sony 910??

and out of the dvd players which one do you feel is the best overall, between the oppo, panny, and momitsu??

I don't think upconversion is really that useful on a 34".

Most of the time, macroblocking is barely visible, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Chhoung,

I don't know. Still evaluationg the Oppo player. I don't have the Sony CRT or any CRT with compontent, composite, or DVI.

As for which is "best". I would say the Oppo and Panasonic are better than the Momitsu in some regards but the Momitsu might be better depending upon the situation.

For example, if one needs upconverting via component or non-HDCP DVI then the Momitsu would be the best choice.

Picturewise, between the Oppo and Panasonic, depending upon the display, I would say it's *real* close. Disc access speed/layerchange the Oppo is better. Picture configuration, Panasonic. Variety of disc playback, Oppo. I'm a bit concerned about the Oppo Y/C at 720p (480p was very good, however) and the HDMI conflict with my Panasonic at 1080i but I'm looking at trying to isolate what is happening.

Paul

OppoDigital-

When the new firmware is issued will players made after that date incorporate it? Any idea on the date of the firmware release? Thanks.

Bob

I've looked through two of the threads associated with this player and my curiosity is piqued. I currently have a v880 (original) using the dvi and wouldn't mind giving this player a shot if the pq is the same or better and the build quality is better.

I see that it played a region 6 dvd and I know that it does PAL to NTSC fine.

How is the region free ability handled? Is there a menu where you can select the region so that the RCE discs will play fine? Or is the player just a region 0 (all) player that will potentially have problems with RCE discs?

Thanks for this thread. It's great to have a place to put the pertinant info in one spot.

Paul,
I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have a pioneer 5045 plasma that I just got and I'm looking for an upconverting DVD player. I have it narrowed down to the panny S97 and the oppo (mainly from this thread). I would be hooking it up DVI to HDMI on the media center. Would you get macroblocking with this plasma? Assuming they are roughly the same price, which one is a better player? Anyone.

I know this is my first post, however, I've been following this forum for more than 6 months now just learning. Thanks in advance.

A couple more suggestions for improvement:

add a tint control
sharpness should actually control sharpness, not saturation or color.
Hide menu during all picture adjustments
No hi, medium, low settings. Precise control is better.


add support for 1366 x 768 material (for hs20 sony)

The Oppo is a hundred dollars less than the Panasonic. How is that the same price?

Originally posted by twallison
Paul,
I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have a pioneer 5045 plasma that I just got and I'm looking for an upconverting DVD player. I have it narrowed down to the panny S97 and the oppo (mainly from this thread). I would be hooking it up DVI to HDMI on the media center. Would you get macroblocking with this plasma? Assuming they are roughly the same price, which one is a better player? Anyone.

I know this is my first post, however, I've been following this forum for more than 6 months now just learning. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the forum twallison!

I do not know if the macroblock enhance problem will occur with the plasma. I don't have that display. The problem is, in part, display dependent. I do see the macroblock enhance on my plasma.

Which player is better can be subjective depending upon current and future needs and perfromance level. If one is really into burning and playing DVDs of a lot of different formats and wants virutally invisible layer change the Oppo would be superior. If one needs extensive picture adjustment controls, the Panasonic would be superior. Picture-wise, on my plasma, both players share a lot (but not all) of the same picture characteristics.

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Rich,

. . . , I'm hoping the compatibility issue with the Panasonic LCD TV @ 1080i HDMI can be resolved or was a fluke. . . .

Paul

Paul,

Could you explain what compatability problems you were having at 1080i?
I read this thread and can't find your definitive description of it.

street price difference is $69. That's roughly the same price for a low end upscalling DVD player. I guess what I'm looking for is the best PQ between the two and which player would match my pioneer 5045 plasma better.

zeram1,

I don't have a definitive description. I'm still trying to figure it out or isolate it.

I've only seen this problem with 1080i w/ DVI->HDMI on a Panasoniic TC-22LH1 LCD HDTV, there was no problem with 1080i w/ DVI->DVI on a Hitachi 32HDT55.

Basically, horizontal resoluion looks like 240 rather than 480 (DVD resolution is still approx 480 even when upconverted) with lots of jagged lines. If 480p is selected via DVI->HDMI, the picture is fine. Have not determined wheter or not the problem is with the display. Momitsu V880 with 1080i DVI->HDMI works fine to the Panasonic TV.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the prompt reply (as well as for info).

I was concerned because I just purchased a Panny plasma, and was concerned with the DVI to HDMI conversion.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Can anyone confirm this player plays VCD's and SVCD's as well?

I got my Oppo yesterday and overall, it's a pretty nice player.

I spent last night testing PAL playback.

With a TV type of NTSC, PAL to NTSC conversion is OK. There is a little lip synch delay but that could be due to the conversion.

With a TV type of PAL, it plays DVDs in 720p and 1080i as well, but there is a bug. It plays the DVDs at 60Hz. At the standard resolution (575p), it does use 50Hz (My HT1000 projector does play native PAL; Native PAL resolutions look significantly sharper than the NTSC equivalents).

In PAL DVD playback, there is also a visible chroma delay problem (faces have a left contour in green over the skin).

If these problems are addressed, this will be an awesome player!

Paul - 1080i in PAL is actually 540p. Maybe you're getting 540p somehow instead of 1080i during your tests?

Hello,

Component (480i) results added to first post.

A few things noted:

No 480p via component (or at least I couldn't figure out how to configure it) only 480i.

No built in DTS decoder

One disk lockup noted

Paul

Paul,

I checked that, for an NTSC TV, 1080i is actually 540p.

Also, on my projector, I only get half a screen (vertically - I only see the left side) at 480 resolution. I forgot to check if it's 480i or 480p.

Thanks Rich. For some reason, the Panasonic likes other 1080i sources via the HDMI, just fine.

Haven't seen the "half screen" issue. Is that via component or DVI?

My guess is that something in the DVI output of the Oppo needs tweaking.

Paul

The half-screen problem occurs at 480p on the DVI output to the HT1000 pj.

In component mode, I only get 480i.

From the Extremephono Oppo DV971H fact page:

"It includes full Dolby Digital (TM) and DTS (TM) decoder built in..."

It had better, this is really a deal breaker for me.

Has anyone other than PaulBigelow noticed lack of DTS?

Originally posted by GoSpurs99
From the Extremephono Oppo DV971H fact page:

"It includes full Dolby Digital (TM) and DTS (TM) decoder built in..."

It had better, this is really a deal breaker for me.

Has anyone other than PaulBigelow noticed lack of DTS?

Thats interesting that it claims to have a DD/DTS decoder builtin. Does this mean that you don't need an A/V receiver if you get this DVD player??!!

<of course, assuming that you don't have any other audio/video source that may need switching>

The website claims it does 480p over component and it doesn't.

Got the Oppo today.
I have an Infocus LP350 DLP which supposely supports 1080i and 720P but not the ones from the Oppo :(
The projector does not synch to the right HDTV resolution / frequences:
1280*720 44.95 Khz, 59.94 Hz
936*526 33.71, 59.99 Hz
2989*480 31.46 Khz, 59.94 Hz

In 1280*720 I get a recognizable picture except that there are 6 horizontal bars with a shifted picture, 4 litle black bars at the bottom and some red and green skarks everywhere. Also the picture does not occupy the bottom of the screen which stays with the default projector blue.

In 2989*480 the picture use 2/3 of the screen width (which ruins the aspect ratio), it has no bars but a lot of sparks.

In 936*526 the picture use 2/3 of the screen weight, and has about 25 horizontal bars.

I would definitely need custom DVI settings or I will have to return it and get a Momitsu.

Strange, from the quality I get over component, I think its 480p.

It is not 480p unless there has been discovered a way to configure it.

Paul

Confirmed. 480p not available through component.

Paul

Hello Paul

There have been some reports about deinterlacing problems (combing, diagonal line shimmer, and pixelation). Read the 4 consecutive posts by nothru22, starting with this one: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4963525#post4963525

Can you confirm this?

Gary

Hello Gary,

I've read the posts. Have not tried the specified discs yet. I don't recall seeing combing, shimmer, and pixelization issues with the discs I looked at. There do seem to be some display compatibility issues occuring with users and I'm wondering if it's related. Not sure what nothru22 is using for viewing -- DVI or 480i component.

Paul

Paul,
Great Review!! As I have a SE 20HD, it does not have HDCP compliant DVI. So I need a player which does DVI without HDCP. Does the Oppo have any issues with this, as you mentioned earlier in your thread that if you need 'old' non-HDCP compliant DVI, then the Momitsu is better.

Thanks,
Sreeni

Sreeni,

The Oppo does have a HDCP compliant DVI. The Oppo's DVI output will not successfully negotiate the DVI connection with the projector. The Momitsu would be an alternative choice.

Paul

Edit: Fixed double negative! (whoops!)

Paul,

Do you mean that the Oppo has an HDCP-compliant DVI output? Double-negatives are confusing ;)

EDIT: Thanks for fixing the sentence, Paul.

I am using DVI on a Hitachi 51 inch CRT RPTV with HDCP compliant DVI.

Hello,

I bought this dvd player immediately after the pre-order started. I am extremely satsfied with it. IT SMOKES THE Zenith on my optoma rd 50. My display is NOT HDCP compliant and the oppo works perfectly. I am another anxious person awaiting the firmware fix for the DVD audio and reset of the dvi resolution.

Originally posted by nothru22
I am using DVI on a Hitachi 51 inch CRT RPTV with HDCP compliant DVI.
nothru22, what resolution? Is it the NATIVE resolution of your TV? Is the combing/pixelization consistent, or is it a momentary trip-up?

Gary

It occurs at 480p and 720p, where I can choose on the TV to display as 540p or 1080i, and at 1080i where the TV is locked in 1080i mode. This is the TVs native resolution.

OK, here comes my review. I thoroughly tested the Oppo this weekend. Bear in mind that this is my first experience with an upscaling player, so this review may be particularly useful to the uninitiated.

Until now, I have been using a very good 480i player with component out. I have a Samsung HLN437W DLP TV with 720p native resolution. The TV already has its own Faroudja-based upscaling. When properly calibrated, the picture from this combination was excellent, except for a few flaws introduced by the D-A and A-D conversion. For both players, I use an optical TOSLINK connection to a DD/DTS receiver.

My impressions of the Oppo were very mixed at first, but after calibrating the TV, AND having a high degree of faith in Oppo’s promises to provide firmware upgrades to fix some of its issues, I think I’ll be keeping it.

The fully digital upscaling of this player has distinct advantages:
1. The picture was definitely sharper and the level of detail was excellent.
2. It gave better results in flesh-tones, with less banding in graduated colors or grayscale ramps.
3. It eliminated the considerable amount of noise that a component connection introduces.

On the other side of the coin, fully digital upscaling also has some disadvantages:
1. Seeing more detail, allows you to see more flaws in the source material... badly recorded movies or heavily compressed data looks even more awful than before.
2. MACROBLOCKING. In short, I was HORRIFIED. But do read on…

Before doing any calibration, I connected the player and threw in "Princess Diaries 2" for the family to watch. The macroblocking was absolutely unbearable. There was simply no way I could continue to watch that. The picture was so bad that the entire family went "EEEEEW… we thought this player was supposed to be better!" It looked WAY worse! I was surprised to see the macroblocking, to some degree, in almost every single scene, on every single color or shade, from the brightest picture to the darkest. However, the most distracting occurrence was in the mid- to low-tones, particularly on background walls and floors. Absolutely HORRIBLY OBNOXIOUS.

Then I calibrated the TV. I left the Oppo at the default settings for brightness (0), contrast (0) and sharpness (low), and set the output to 720p on DVI. I used the AVIA DVD to set brightness, contrast, D65 grayscale, and color saturation. The most important tweak was to use the FULL range of the TV’s contrast ratio to reduce banding and macroblocking.

After calibration, we watched the same material again. The macroblocking was still there, but it was reduced to bearable levels (seriously). It only occasionally became distracting. Then we watched "Toy Story", "Chicken Run", "Mask of Zorro (SB)" and "Shrek 2". The picture was spectacular, with no noticeable macroblocking at all!

So I started a crusade to find out what’s happening. I read the macroblocking threads again with great interest. (Bob’s explanations RULE!) Macroblocking is an artifact of heavy MPEG2 compression (often exaggerated by a bug in the Faroudja/Genesis processor). So I slipped the "Princess Diaries 2" DVD into the component player and, sure enough, looking closely, I could see the macroblocking all over the place. It was somewhat subdued, masked by the softer image and the dithering effect of the noise from the component connection, but it was there all right! I then tried a bunch of other DVD titles, like the often-mentioned "Monsters Inc." opening scene, next to the clock. Each time I saw macroblocking on the Oppo, I switched the disk to the component player and saw the macroblocking there too.

So I’ve come to accept that this is as good as it gets for the money. A well-recorded DVD looks simply stunning. Bad DVD transfers can look really bad… all the imperfections are CLEARLY visible, including edge-enhancement and macroblocking. DVD's are very limited in the amount of information they can store, and with the advent of HDTV, we are trying to suck information out of them that isn’t even there. But it makes me mad when the studios compress the heck out of a movie to fit both fullscreen and widescreen versions, plus dozens of languages, mindless "special features" and games on a single side. The result really SUCKS!

Back to the Oppo…
I noticed 5 problems that others have mentioned, in order of severity (for me):

1. 4:3 material is expanded to 16:9, even when the player is set to output pillar-box.

2. The "shimmer", or flickering, of bright, sharp edges, particularly noticeable on 1 or 2-pixel white lines/squares on a darker background. It did not look like combing to me, and it did not occur on digitally-generated material, like Avia or "Shrek", only film-based material (which may have been shaking slightly, or perhaps it has to do with the cadence. I wondered if nearby macroblocking was causing it too).

3. Y/C delay was pretty bad. The AVIA red bars had dark transitions on their left sides and light transitions on their right sides. This was not a problem with my component player.

4. Pixel cropping – 2 pixels cropped at the top, 5 on the right. I used the TV’s X/Y position controls to expose the entire image coming from the player.

5. DVI 720p output setting will not stick when the player turns off.

But I noticed another thing that concerned me:

6. The color decoder seemed all over the map. The best I could do was: Red: +5%, Green: -10%, Blue: -5%. However, I cannot eliminate my TV as the source of this error. Can anyone else look into this? Paul, you mentioned "Colors OK when adjusted". Adjusted where? On the TV or the player?

With these issues fixed, and DVD-Audio added, this will be a killer player for the money. I could not fully evaluate the deinterlacing capabilities of the player, so I look forward very much to Kris Deering's "Secrets" review.

Gary

It appears as if Kris will not be reviewing this player. The shimmering is horrible to me. Worse than macroblocking. At least you can turn badly macroblocking movies down to 480p (like Return of the King) and it'll mostly go away. The clock is ticking on this problem being fixed over firmware. Love the xvid capability, even if it won't play mp4's.

Originally posted by nothru22
The shimmering is horrible to me.
Have you noticed that it only occurs in SOME material, and not in others? Do you have another upscaling player to compare the same scenes with - at the same resolution?

Gary

GSB,

Good review!

The adjustments were at the display. It has been noted that the color with the Oppo is very, very strong requiring that color be reduced rather sharply (as compared to other players). The Oppo has no provision for adjusting color.

Paul

I need someone's help.

(My display is an Samsung HL-P5674W)

I received my Oppo about 2 weeks ago.

When I turn on the player and put in a commercial DVD, things go waay wrong.

1. First is to press stop after inserting the DVD.

2. I press DVI and the screen goes blank. I press DVI again and the screensaver comes on but all the right side edges of the graphics have an extreme shimmer that is is green in color. Then my Oppo AND my TV stops reacting to any commands.

3. Next I have to unplug the TV and DVD player. I wait a couple of minutes for them to cool off.

4. Then I Turn on everything again. Start the DVD player then press stop.

5. Then I press DVI and check that it is set to 720P (by checking on my TV if it is set to "Expand". That is the only way I can tell if it is set to 720P or 1080i. If someone has a better way, please...

6. So everything finally starts working, and the picture is stunning (after a lot of calibrating with DVE and Avia.

Any guesses as to why this is happening, especially why the TV stops taking commands, but is still on?

Thanks guys and gals!!

Go, you know I have the same TV. When I put in a disc, and press stop, I get the blue Oppo screen. I press DVI, the screen goes dark for a second, and then I get the 720p blue Oppo screen.(used Expand to check at first) I've never had the no reaction problem. Maybe a bad player?

Yes, I have compared the Oppo to the Panasonic S97 and my old HK DVD 25 and there is no shimmering on the latter players, the first two at 1080i. The shimmering is definitely an artifact introduced by the Oppo. The Oppo tech support guy suggested it's a flaw in the 1080i implimentation of the player (even though I see it at 480p and 720p but not at all on 480i out of components.)

Fooey! I really hope they fix that. I haven't noticed the shimmer/flicker very often, but it is distracting when it occurs.

I saw something similar in one of my movies, in the STATIONARY white credits. In a number of places, on each page of credits, single pixels were flickering on the edges of arbitrary letters. It was evident on both horizontal and vertical lines.

I also saw it in "Zoro", in a stationary sunset shot with a building in the distance, where all the windows were lit up. On my screen, each window was a tiny rectangle of about 4-6 pixels, and some of those pixels were flickering. This was certainly not evident with the component connection.

If this occurs on a stationary image, it is definitely not combing.

I can be patient - as long as I know they're working on it. Oppodigital has assured us of their commitment, so let's see...

nothru22, do you prefer the Panasonic to the Oppo at the moment? And how do you know that Kris may not be reviewing this player?

Gary

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
GSB,

Good review!

The adjustments were at the display. It has been noted that the color with the Oppo is very, very strong requiring that color be reduced rather sharply (as compared to other players). The Oppo has no provision for adjusting color.

Paul
Thanks Paul.

The DVI input on my TV only allows changes to the overall saturation, not to individual colors. Can you confirm the DISPARITY that I saw between the 3 colors on the AVIA color decoder chart, or do they appear even to you?

Gary

Hi, it might be. I probably will wait to see what happens with the firmware fixes.

It doesn't happen evey time.

Thank you!

I'm not sure if I can say why Kris isn't reviewing this player, just that he definitely isn't. I would've loved to keep the Panasonic if it did PAL conversion but it didn't, which meant I had to keep my old HK. Also, sometimes the picture looked better over 480p component than it did over DVI with certain movies, especially macroblocking ones. The Panasonic is another player that claims to play mpeg4's but will not. Mpeg4 is not the same as Divx, Divx is an mpeg4 variant.

Sorry to be so dense, but who is Kris?

Originally posted by Charles J P
Sorry to be so dense, but who is Kris?

Kris Deering, he handles the Secrets DVD player comparisons.

Chris

Paul, did you spot my last question?
Originally posted by GSB
Can you confirm the DISPARITY that I saw between the 3 colors on the AVIA color decoder chart, or do they appear even to you?
Gary

Originally posted by nothru22
I'm not sure if I can say why Kris isn't reviewing this player, just that he definitely isn't.

Probably because even with all of it's flaws the Oppo will probably whallop a lot of the compitition. Kris probably doesn't want to put up with the resulting hate mail!

I would hope that's not the case. That would be pretty sad that they review 3 modes per player for 7 Denons and then dont review this player at all. Like I said, I hope that's not the reason.

Secrets has reviewed players as inexpensive as $39.99. Kris also expressed interest in the Oppo at the beginning of the other thread. If its true that he won't review it, there would have to be some other clandestine reason.

Gary

Hello Gary,

I spotted a disparity via the 480i component with blue and documented it. Can't explain it.

Paul

Ask him over PM.

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
I spotted a disparity via the 480i component with blue and documented it. Can't explain it. So no color disparity over DVI? I have -10% green on a DLP, but it could well be the display.

Gary

Hello,

Have updated the Oppo with the latest firmware.

1. 4:3 "pillarbox" appears to work with the new "Wide/Squeeze" mode.

2. DVD-Audio does not appear to be fully operational. From my tests, it will recogonize the disc and DVD-Audio will appear on the screen but that's it. No Title menu will appear. After a long wait with some discs sometimes "white noise" will be heard.

Anyone else try DVD-Audio with the firmware?

Paul

Updated a few items in the first post of this thread. Will revisit with Dell 1900 and update 720p items.

Paul

Paul,

There was a second issue of the firmware update that fixed DVD-A. This is the OppoDigital thread that links to the update:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=503290&highlight=oppo

The link in our Oppo/Farjouda thread was to a beta firmware update.

Actually, I went through the Oppo Site so that was strange. But in any event, I see this morning that the file size of cd2 has changed to 2+ Meg so I will reburn and retry.

Paul

I would be awesome if someone who already has cables needs to do a semi-formal write up on the DVD-A functionality. I dont want to go out and purchase a disk and 5.1 cables only to find out that the bass management isnt implemented or something strange. Is anyone availble to test this?

With the revised firmware update DVD-Audio is now functional. Two-channel DVD-Audio can be obtained by setting the Downmix to "Stereo" in the "Speaker Setup" . 5.1 Audio can be achieved by setting the Downmix to 5.1CH.

DVD-Audio seems to work fine so far and have played a few discs.

Good work Oppo Digital! Let's keep those updates coming!

Paul

Paul, any idea on the bass management. As a relic of the first gen DVD-A players, I still have it stuck in my head that the bass management is assumed not to work for DVD-A unless specifically tested.

I see no bass management. There are individual trims for each channel but I see no implemenation for crossover points (yet).

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
SETTINGS:
Oppo settings :
TV Display -> Wide/SQZ Hey Paul

I noticed you used Wide/SQZ for your display setting. With this setting, you LOSE horizontal image information. You really need to use WIDE, and get the TV to add the pillarbox bars. Please see this post, which explains why:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5124988#post5124988

Also, edge enhancement is pretty bad on this player in 720p/1080i. I don't know why you've reported seeing no EE. Check the Avia Sharpness pattern. I've seen the EE on 3 different displays now. Maybe your Wide/SQZ setting is reducing its effect.

Gary

Gary,

The Wide/SQZ is to allow for the automatic pillarboxing. It is a heavily requested feature because many displays do not allow for the 4:3 setting when there is a 720p/1080i signal (such as my Panasonic TC-22LH1). The loss of horizontal resolution is a side effect. This loss of horizontal resolution also occurs quite dramatically with the Panasonic DVD-S97, less so with the Sony DVP-NS975V, and virtually no loss with the Momitsu V880.

Paul

I'd like to know if anyone has experienced this odd icon appearing on some DVD's. When I start up Video Essentials I get an unusual icon that stays on the screen for some time. Take a look and let me know. I've seen it occasionally as well when I make my own DVD's. I guess if anyone else can confirm that it's there, then there's another candidate for firmware changes. However, since I cannot recall anyone else noting this one, it may be my player. Anyway check the attachment.

Having some trouble with image attachment. How is this done? Anyway, until I can show you this what it appears to be is a pic of an old style movie camera with 1/2 right next to it. Hopefully someone can tell me how to get the jpeg attached to this or another response.

Sounds like the angle icon.

I know. That's what I thought. But it doesn't appear to be possible for this section of the DVD. And I've never seen it displayed. Usually it is a hidden element, not displayed

Finally figured out how to get this image posted. Anyway, although it looks like something to do with angle, it comes out of nowhere. Let me know if anyone else can confirm/deny that VE starts out with this bit.

Angle for sure. Even has the 1 of 2 symbol next to it.

There *is* a multiple angle for that opening sequence, believe it or not. Give it a try and you will see the back of his head. Not sure why it was done but the multiple angle is there.

Paul

Is there a way in the Oppo to turn off the multiple angle option from showing on the screen? Seems that this should not come up automatically, or at least you should be able to toggle its presence. If not, we've another bit that needs to get fixed in firmware, I'd say.

I believe it's been reported.

Paul

And it's about to get fixed. From a recent communication with OppoDigital:
>The upcoming firmware will change the default to having the on
>_screen display disappear after a few seconds, such as a in Zoom and
>_Angle. We expect to release the next firmware soon.

From the Oppo Digital page:

OPPO OPDV971H DVI DVD Player Firmware Release Notes
Version: OP971-2-0412 Release Date: April 13, 2005


This release of firmware addressed the following issues:

Fixed pixel cropping
Improved Y/C delays via DVI and component outputs
Corrected the mislabeled Sharpness/Contrast/Brightness control options. Added Saturation control as an option.
Corrected PAL 720p and 1080i output at 50Hz instead of 60Hz

This release added the following new features:

Supports multiple aspect ratios for DivX AVI files, including: 720x480, 720x576, 704x480 704x576, 352x240 and 352x288
Automatically closes the tray when pressing the POWER button on the player unit to power off
Enabled DTS decoding through analog connection in addition to digital connection
Zoom and Angle on-screen-displays are set to disappear after 5 seconds. The “Pause” is set to stay on screen to remind the user of the pause mode, based on the user input.
Adds more zoom options: 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.5x, 2.5x, and 3.5x, in addition to the original 2x, 3x, 4x, ½x, 1/3x & ¼x options. This allows letterbox to fill the screen with a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD.
Pressing the Backward key skips to the beginning of the chapter; pressing it again skips to the beginning of the previous chapter.
Adds Saturation control as an option.
Memorizes previous DVI setting in TV “Auto” mode in addition to in NTSC and Pal modes

This release changed the following default setting:

Changed the default setting of Subwoofer to 'off" on the Speaker Setup Page.

Paul

This firmware is a major update, as advertised.

"Secrets of Home Theater" score: 94

Paul

First post of thread is in progress of being updated to reflect the 4/13 firmware.

Paul

Can someone answer this question:
Can you use a dvi-i to vga adapter and will it still up convert? My
projector only has Component and VGA.

Chad

I'm not sure if it was ever on the list or if its been removed, but I'm not seeing the foriegn character subtitle issue listed. Also, 1080i does not work with Sony HS10 and possibly HS20 projectors. It is stretched outside the screen and distorted.

cburbs,

No. The DVI connector on the Oppo only has DVI-D pins (no analog/RGB). VGA/DB-15 connectors are analog signals.

Thanks......

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
First post of thread is in progress of being updated to reflect the 4/13 firmware.

Paul

Paul, if you're interested, there's also a minor update for those few who have an inadvertant tray closing problem that I posted on the other Oppo thread here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5554087#post5554087). There's no reason to use it unless you have that problem though.

Charles,

There have been reports of issues with 1080i (my Panasonic LCD is one of those sets, and I recall seeing reports about Sony displays). Oppo is aware of it.

I've just obtained a new Sharp LCD panel and am in the process of connecting it up.

We'll see how it does.

If all goes well, I'll revise the first post further with the new information.

Paul

Originally posted by LiteUp!
cburbs,

No. The DVI connector on the Oppo only has DVI-D pins (no analog/RGB). VGA/DB-15 connectors are analog signals.

Not absolutely true! A DVI-to-VGA converter works fine, (I posted this a week ago in the regular Oppo thread) as long as its a digital DVI-D to-VGA box, like my Dtrovision DC-DA1 ($259). But no, a "gender changer" kind of adapter, like we used on the Momitsu, doesn't cut it. The Momo had DVI-I (which is quite an anomaly for DVD players in the US).
Ted

P.S. Paul, why do you say, in a Feb 3 post, that to play stereo DVD-A you change downmix to "stereo" and to play mulitchannel you change downmix to "5.1"? If you choose the stereo layer of a DVD-Audio (usually group 2) it outputs stereo to the analog "mix" outputs, and the downmix selection can stay at "5.1". You would only choose "stereo" if you have no 5.1 capability, thereby sending both true stereo group 2 stuff (if selected) and folded-down-to-stereo group 1 surround mix to the "mix" stereo outputs. Right?

ted_b,

Yes...I understand..but he is talking about the simple connector converter, like you get with some PC video cards, I believe. Those will not work, as you mentioned.

Originally posted by LiteUp!
ted_b,

Yes...I understand..but he is talking about the simple connector converter, like you get with some PC video cards, I believe. Those will not work, as you mentioned.

You're probably right (about the type of converter/adapter he was asking about...the cheap $5 kind) but I thought I'd add my converter solution just in case. :)

Ted

Somewhat along these lines (re DVD-a), I'm hoping the next Oppo unit -- which I'll likely be first in line to purchase -- will go with an HDMI output instead of the DVI. Though there are few receivers/pre-pros on the market with HDMI inputs/switchers, this is likely to change drastically in the next year's models. Passing DVD-A via HDMI will solve alot of issues, not the least of which being a drastic reduction in cabling.

HDMI is, apparently, the future as has been stated. Plenty of TV's and DVD players, now Cable Boxes, and A/V receivers need to catch up.

Paul

ted_b,

At that time, the player was connected to the TV via 2-Channel audio.

Paul

Paul,

Now that the players are not shipping region free, standard, can you post this information on the first post in this Brain Dump thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5567268#post5567268

Paul, thanks for addressing my HS10/1080i question. How about the subtitle issue (foriegn characters are not getting subbed in english movies i.e. Dances with Wolves, Hidalgo etc. where characters speak native american languages that are supposed to be subbed and are on other players).

LiteUp!,

Done! Thanks!

Charles, there is an issue with garbled subtitles with certain discs depending upon screen format. I don't have any discs with Native American languages, that I can recall.

Paul

I find it odd that subtitles don't show up correctly. DVD subtitles are stored as images, they should show up fine.

I'm not sure its a problem with the player not showing characters fine. I think it may have something to do with the Oppo not showing forced subs. Basically it's not showing the sub when its supposed to, I'm guessing it will show the native american subs if you turn them on right before.

Paul, I dont think its just native american subs. Try any movie where someone says something in another language that is supposed to be subbed or where characters have a conversation in a foriegn language.

Would this work?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040101&p_id=2030&seq=1&format=2&style=

for this player?

Originally posted by cburbs
Would this work?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040101&p_id=2030&seq=1&format=2&style=

for this player?

No, that and any other plain adapter assumes a DVI-I connection at the DVD player (like the Momitsu has). DVI-I means integrated, and contains analog and digital signal. However, the Oppo is DVI-D (digital only) and therefore requires some horsepower to convert the signal to vga (or any other analog form). That's whay it takes a product like the Dtrovision converter (see my post earlier) @ $259 to do the trick for DVI-D to vga. (Dunno if there is a specific DVI-D to component box, but it would also be some $$.)

Ted

This would work from what you are saying then?
http://www.nti1.co.uk/dvi-vga.html

Originally posted by cburbs
This would work from what you are saying then?
http://www.nti1.co.uk/dvi-vga.html

Hmmm.....dunno....the DVI data rate and VGA bandwidth is same as mine, but worrisome is the fact that it only supports up to 1280x1024. No 1080i capability. Not sure if this will work. T
This is what I use......
http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/DCDA1.ASP

Note the larger resolution figures.

Ted

I do not know if that is possible by a software update but it would be although, like S97, Oppo includes a function of adjustment like the mosquito NR to improve bad transfer DVD.

I wouldn't mind a selection for field/frame freeze.

Paul

Mine was shipped today. Very excited and will post my impressions on this unit with a Mits 55" CRT projo as soon as possible.


GB

Can the Oppo read MP3s off of DVD-/+ R or RW like the Pioneer 578 can?...

Yes, the Oppo is capable of reading MP3s off burned DVD+/-R/RWs.

Just got finsihed setting up the Oppo with VE on my Mits WS55315 and I must say I am very impressed. I watched several movies clips including Monster Inc, Star Wars I , II, Top Gun , and Fast & Furious (known as a rough and heavy voice dubbed movie) and I see nothing but perfection. I am using the Coaxial Digital output (always prefered that to optical). I expected to see a soft picture with anti-alaising issues or jaggies but really in contrast I had a very clear and sharp picture without artifacts. Blacks are excellent as this player steam rolled BTB.
I also agree they could have designed a tougher looking tray but I do not see it being an issue. Other than that the design is solid. It does not feel cheap at all. Even in the box the unit is actually stored in a cloth nap sack that has Oppo silk screened on it vs. just plastic or foamy paper. They over glued the new pop up info card on the unit but I left it on there because it will not be seen and years down the road may make a better Ebay picture.
I can only speak for Mits CRT with DVI input on the back. I would think most good CRT projos would yield similar results but I see a few Toshiba people not satisfied. If you are using a Sammy with DVI out (tried it the other day) trash it. This player walks all over it for PQ.
Last... I agree that players are going to get torn on apart on avs no matter what but for $200 this is worth a try. I also recieved it in 3 days.

What could improve this player? I would have paid $249 if it could do 480p, The windows media HD format, photo card reader and lastly an input for component/s-vid/composit and the ability to use its technology to upscale via an aux input on the back (line input). That would have knocked it out of the park!

GB

greenbud,

an input for component/s-vid/composit and the ability to use its technology to upscale via an aux input on the back (line input).

you're asking a DVD player to be a video processor. there are devices that do this (DVDO, DVP-1080 and even the Harman/Kardon AVR7300), but asking it from a DVD player is just unreasonable.

i have the same television and am also setup using DVI (1080i output) and the picture just looks amazing. i've wired my system with optical insted of coaxial (probably little audible difference, but immune to RF interferrence) for audio into my AVR7300.

i agree with you that this DVD player lacks the 'extras' that other consumer grade DVD players do (WMV, SmartCard Readers), but it makes up for it in other areas like advanced DivX support (Q-PEL -and- GMC supported!) and it's MP3 and picture viewer have a pleasant GUI.

overall i'm very, very pleased with the Oppo picture and audio quality.

Did any one try XVID files on this besides DIVX MP4?

Just a wish...LOL

Originally posted by zoro
Did any one try XVID files on this besides DIVX MP4?
The Oppo plays Xvid files fine.

-Terry

Thanks Man!! Could you pls tell me if I want to make a XVID DVD, What would be MAX storage to get the best results?

After the 20 minute mark I found the oppo frequently going out of sync with xvid files, but other than that, they looked and sounded great! It can't play high res xvid files. It couldn't play xvid files on a dvd-rw.

Good report greenbud!

I finally have a new LCD DVI display to work with so some updates to the first post will be coming soon.

Stay tuned!

Paul

This player is getting better, folks.

Paul

After reading through these post for the last couple of days or weeks, I decided to order mine today. Supposedly it already shipped. I ordered from Amazon. Did anyone have their's delivered USPS? I was really unhappy when I found out it was being shipped USPS and not Fedex.

My wife works for the Postal Service and I know how they operate. I sometimes get the back or front only of a magazine with my address on it in a plastic bag apologizing for the damage or loss of my mail!!!

I hope this player is as good as everyone says, this will be my fifth try at finding a suitable player. Samsung 841(couldn't get it to work through DVI), Tosh 5980 (pretty good picture but seemed like a very cheap product), LG 418 (Black crush and horrible audio) and Harmon Kardon 22 ( this has been the most trouble free but no upconvert or DVI, doesn't have the sharpness I would like but it is an excellent player).

My unit arrived today USPS. I ordered it directly from OPPO. Shipped 5/3 arrived 5/5. The unit was double boxed and the unit is inside a blue woven bag with OPPO on it. The box is at least 3 times bigger than the unit. The only thing I do not like about USPS is the hokey tracking. Hocked it up and it looks great. The only down side is the manual. Does not give adequate discriptions of the options. The setup is simple and does not take an expert to figure it out. Very happy after my Sony 975 problems. Only time will tell so far so good.

Yeah I agree with USPS tracking I have yet to be able to track a package, I usually have it already and USPS still doesn't have it in their system.

Ordering from Amazon seems to be no different than ordering directly from OPPO, the email I received stating it was shipped came directly from OPPO. Amazon doesn't even show that it has been shipped.

I'm very anxious to evaluate this player.

How do CDs sound compared to a good stand alone CDP?.....

Hi all,

As the title says I'm wanting to replace my Samsung HD-931 DVD player. I want to do this because there is no way to pillarbox 4:3 material over DVI with the Samsung, and it is said to crush blacks. Seems like all the DVI upconverting players have their own drawbacks. But this Oppo is looking pretty good. I've read the first post (the brain dump) but still have some questions:

!!! _All of these questions pertain to the DVI output_ !!!

1. Anyone ever compared the Oppo with the Samsung HD-931? Was there a noticeable improvement in PQ?

2. I have a Samsung HLN467 DLP TV (DVI input). Has anyone else tried the Oppo with a Samsung DLP? Was there any macroblocking? According to hometheaterhifi, the HD-931 and the Oppo both use the faroudja 2310, so seems like macroblocking would be similar between players. I've never noticed MB with the HD-931 and my DLP TV. But I've read MB can be affected by how the FL2310 is implemented. Also, since the HD-931 is said to crush blacks, maybe it crushes the MB too.

3. I see from the first post that the latest firmware allows pillarboxing 4:3 material. This is great. Does the Oppo detect 4:3 material and pillarbox automagicaly, is it a button press away, or is it an option buried in a nested menu?

4. Does the Oppo have discrete ON/OFF IR codes?

5. Is there a zoom mode for non-anamorphic widescreen movies (eg. Armeggedon)? If so, is it detected or does it required menu navigation?

6. The first post lists improvement suggestions. What does "8. Zoom tailored for 2.35 anamorphic zoom (In progress)" mean?

7. From the same list, what does "10. Selectable Frame/Field pause mode" mean? What is the difference?

EDIT:

8. Oh, almost forgot. When you put the player in region free mode as described in the first post, does it stay region free through power cycle (OFF/ON)?

Thanks for any answers,

Sooke

Sooke,

1. Don't have the 931.

2. I don't have the Samsung DLP, but in my experience, the Genesis Microchip FLI-2310-based players have about the same level of macroblock enhance. If the display doesn't show it then great! The Panasonic S97 has made some inroads into the macroblock problem with its 536, 540 firmware updates but hasn't eliminated it.

3. The 4:3 / 16:9 ratio is handled correctly and automatically by the Oppo

4. Don't know

5. The Oppo will perform the "anamorphic zoom". A zoom button on the remote has to be pressed to go through the various modes. Be aware that there is some loss of picture quality when the zoom is used. Oppo has been working on this feature and the various updates have various differences in the results. The forthcoming update works fairly good.

6. A zoom setting that will make 2.35 movies fit a 16:9 screen width almost perfectly with no undue cropping of the image off the sides.

7. DVD is inherently 480i for the most part -- that is two 480i fields make up the enitre frame. A field pause freezes the infomation for one 480i field, the result is less blurriness but less sharp. A frame pause uses both of the 480i fields, the result may be a sharper picture but conversely it may also be blurry. In a nutshell, field pauses are better for fast motion stills, frame pauses are better for slow or no movement stills.

8. Yes

Paul

Hello,

The forthcoming firmware update introduces more fixes:

1. Some 1080i compatibility issues are addressed.

2. Zoom has better operation.

My Panasonic LCD display has a compatibility problem with the 1080i / DVI signal. Basically, it would turn into a 120p-looking picture with amost complete loss of horizontal resolution. Thus, no 1080i results in the first post.

In working with a Sharp TC-26D7U display (previous to 4/30 updates) it was noticed while 480p and 720p would show up as resolutions with the DVI out, the "1080i" was shown to be 540p, not 1080i. The Sharp was OK with 540p, not so the Panasonic.

With the new 4/30 firmware the Sharp now reports 1080i and the Panasonic works well with that signal. Some slight jitter with still lettering is noted but otherwise the image looks good, so far. Have not tested extensively.

The still operation has been improved slightly with 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 now working correctly as well as the "reduction zooms". Some cropping is noted so there still isn't the "perfect" 2.35 anamorphic zoom yet.

So far, all positive news with this 4/30 update.

Should have more info tonight.

Those who have no issues with 540p might want to keep the current firmware, users with 1080i problems similar to mine should probably upgrade.

A suggestion would be a setting to allow for both 540p and 1080i

Paul

Thanks Paul. Let us know if there are any others changes, like if CCS is still turned on.

Paul, do you have any idea when the next firmware update will be released? Is the update you are working with available?

Thanks again for all your great work on this player and the 97S. Did you
get you hands on a 77S yet to compare it?

rwestley,

You're welcome!

The Oppo firmware is supposed to be released soon. I have no date but it could be just a few days, if not sooner.

Have not seen the S77 yet though some people have reported that they have just received their units. I have not seen it in the stores. The initial reports is that the firmware shows all zeroes. Bit of a puzzle.

Paul

Hello,

So far, so good with 1080i. An issue I still see is some jaggedness as seen with certain kinds of diagonal lines. It's not always there but it's just enough to notice.

Paul

Guys....how do you know which version of firmware you're using? Is there some "info button" or something to push?
Javry

Originally posted by javry
Guys....how do you know which version of firmware you're using? Is there some "info button" or something to push?
Javry

From the Oppodigital.com "Support" page:

Q : How do I find out the firmware version of the OPDV971H DVD player?
A : Do the following to find out the firmware version:
• Press Setup on the remote controller
• Enter 9210 on the remote controller
• A menu will pop up to show the firmware version of the OPPO player.

You can also set the region code at this screen by entering the number you want ("0" for region free).

got it....thanks
Javry

Some updates to first post to reflect 4/13 and 4/30 fixes.

Paul

Was checking out this player on the Extremephono website and saw this feature listed in a table:

" Upsampled digital S/PDIF output"

The table said "YES" for the Oppo, and "NO" for the Denon 1910, 2910, 3910, Samsung 941 and Zenith DVB318. Now, I know all these players can output DD5.1 or DTS 5.1 bitstreams over their S/PDIF, so this must mean something else.

Anyone know what this means?

Here is a link: http://www.extremephono.com/Oppo_DV971.htm

Thanks,

Sooke

What is the CCS (cross color suppression) and what does it do (good and bad)?

Ok, so I found this

Cross Color Suppressor (CCS) - Removes
cross color artifacts in composite video
signals due to poor Y/C separation in
standard 2D video decoders, eliminating the
need for expensive 3D video decoders.

It seems to be needed when using composite input according to that quote. So we never really need it then, do we?

CCS :

BAD: flickering in solid colors, banding in video based material
GOOD: Removes color from the luma (brightness) portion of the signal

Like many enhancements there are trade-off. Certain Denon (2910 and above) players allow this feature to be switched on/off.

Paul

Thanks,
I saw the option to turn it on/off on my 4805 also, wasn't sure whether I should or not, but now I know. :)

I definitely hope Oppo adds in a switch to enable/disable the CCS.

Paul: Please shed some light on my thinking....
I have a Sony GWIV. In numerous posts it appears that the GWIV's have an excellent upscaler, and the consensus seems to be feed it a 480i signal which the sony will upconvert to its native 788 resolution.

I have been reading the posts on the Oppo and that its excellent test results were done in DVI output.

As it appears that the best image results with DVD players and the popular Sony's seem to be component output in 480i, I am wondering whether the Oppo or any of the other current crop of upscaling dvd players would be of any benefit to Sony GWIV owners.

Would the OPPO be a real n improvement over my 2 year old Panasonic S35
Are there any standard non progressive non upscaling dvd players that have been tested and had good results. I am confused and wondering if I should invest in a new "upscaling" dvd player.
Thanks for your help!
Jim

Jim,

The great results for the Oppo player are for the DVI output. The picture at 480i component with the Oppo is OK but about on par with with much less expensive MediaTek-based players (Terapin TT-1800 comes to mind).

The Sony DVP-NS975V offers 480i via the HDMI output. Some people have reported nice results using that output/resolution, letting the TV do the scaling but still being fed a theoretically cleaner digital signal.

The reason for getting an upscaling DVD player would be to try to improve upon the TV's own scalar. My Panasonic LCD has a medicre scaler and a so-so 480i/p picture but has a beautiful picture when fed 1080i.

The upscaling players (so far) do a better job at upscaling than my display, therfore the upscaling feature has real benefits for me.

Paul

Just a quick digression. My OPPO arrives today, and I wanted to praise all who have participated in this thread. It is a perfect example of what a forum is (or, at least, should be) all about. Folks simply helping each other. Paul, I doff my hat to you. A Fabulous Job! I'm profoundly grateful for your efforts. http://bestsmileys.com/clapping/2.gif

Rijax,

You're very welcome! Glad to help out. Enjoy the Oppo when it arrives and if there are any questions -- just ask.

So much has changed in the firmware since the player was released but I don't think there will be any "gotchas" as far as set up is concerned. DVI should work out of the box and the resolutions can be changed only when the player has no disc in it (or is at a full stop with "Oppo" on the screen).

Keep an eye open for firmware updates as it appears the player is going to get better.

Let us know how you like it!

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Rijax,

Keep an eye open for firmware updates as it appears the player is going to get better.

Let us know how you like it!

Paul Will do, on both counts. According to the website "All OPDV971H players shipped on or after April 12, 2005 already come with the latest firmware version (OP971-2-0412) thus do not need the firmware upgrade.. So I should be good to go unless I have a problem that requires the 4/30 firmware (I have a Sammy 4365 DLP, and crossed fingers).

I will, however, continue following this thread, and checking the website for further firmware updates. The company seems to be doing a GREAT job of addressing the problems that everyone is discovering. They deserve a "BRAVO" for that (the accolade, not the DVD player. ;)).

I have a question.
Paul, possibly you can shed some light on this for me. I have a Sony HS20 and am considering this player as others I've seen have had "issues". Some specifically with the HS20. Do you think the Oppo will do well with this FP, or are there any issues you may be aware of.

Rijax,

That is correct. The 4/30 hotfix addresses, mainly, 1080i compatibility. Many people may not need it. Some displays do not support 720p (including my LCD display) thus the need for the fix, otherwise 720p for many is the way to go.

We're doing our best to help make the Oppo the "best bang for the buck" DVD player ever.

Paul

DKALANIM,

I think the Oppo should do well.

There have been reports of 1080i connectivity issues with the Sony HS10/20, if I recall. The 4/30 hotfix may take care of that problem. Other HS10/20 reports I recall have to do with some sighting of jagged lines. I don't think that issue is with the display as such and has been seen in certain cicumstances on other displays, myself included. I don't see the jagged lines often or in scenes where I would normally expect to see jagged lines. It's a known, reported problem but nothing that would prevent me from buying the player.

Paul

Thanks Paul. I think I'll order it and give it a try.

OK!

Let us know how it works out!

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
................... resolutions can be changed only when the player has no disc in it (or is at a full stop with "Oppo" on the screen)................
Paul

btw,
if you want to change the res while a movie is in play mode, push the stop button, make the change, and then hit the play button. the movie will resume where it left off.
javry

If the display changes mode fast enough one should see a 480p/720p/1080i notation in the upper display corner.

Paul

Does the Oppo support 480i (interlaced) out over the DVI port?

It does not.

Paul

so still no date on this new firmware release, eh? will it fix the shimmering problem? thats the only thing that is keeping me from buying this player right now.

Fixes have been coming at a fairly quick rate, no date yet.

Paul

My Oppo arrived Thursday, and first impressions are REAL good. The PQ via DVI is "WOW!" I had to do some major adjustments with the brightness and contrast controls using DVE, but that's probably because my Sammy DLP was ISF calibrated. Once that was done, I was VERY happy with what I was seeing.

I am not a videophile by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not sure I'd know macroblocking if I saw it. And, like rainbows on my Sammy, I have no desire to go looking for it, or any of the other problems so often reported with today's DVD players. In this case, ignorance IS bliss.

So far the Oppo has performed flawlessly, but I've only had a few discs in it. I'm going to be using it exclusively for DVD video, so I've not experimented with it's DVD-A capabilities. I have a Denon 2910 for multichannel music. PQ via DVI is what this player is all about.

I do have a few minor complaints that are hardly deal breakers, at least for me. Most HT gear is 17 1/8 inches wide. This puppy, for some reason is only 16 1/2 inches wide.

The front panel is only 1 1/8 inches in height (the rest of the player is 1 5/8", and with the feet, the whole thing is more like 1 3/4"). As a result the display is a little small. I wish they had left the front panel of the unit the same size as the rest of the unit, and made the display a little larger. This, combined with the blue readout and the font used, makes the display, for me, somewhat difficult to read. I'm only about 8 feet from it, and I have to move closer to make it out (however, I'm old. Younger eyes may not have this problem).

The very thin, flexible disc tray will take a little getting used to, but it seems sturdy enough.

It has a couple of features the purpose of which I've not yet discerned. It has a PSM (Power Spectrum Meter) button, which yields a 13 bar meter on the screen that resembles a VU meter. The bars vary in amplitude with the audio portion of a DVD. Looks cool, but I don't yet know it's practical application.

For those of you who like to sing along, it has 2 "key" buttons. "Press KEY button to adjust tone in order to assort your singing tone range." I guess it puts the song in your key.

Since the included remote has no lighting whatsoever, if you're in a darkened room, simply press the "Virtual Keyboard" button, and a simulated remote appears on the TV screen around which you can navigate with the remote's cursor buttons. Just press the "select" button to perform the desired task. Since I use an MX-850 remote which has more than adequate backlighting, I have no need for this.

I haven't experimented with comparing the 720p output to the 1080i, but intend to do that this weekend to see which, if either, I prefer.

I haven't noticed any sync problem. One poster stated that he noticed a sync problem with Shakespeare In Love. I have that DVD and will try to take a look at it this weekend. Like macroblocking, I fear if I look for a sync problem, I'll find it. :(

One of the really good things about this unit is that, so far, the company has been VERY responsive to any problems discovered, and has shown a willingness to issue firmware updates promptly.

So far I'm completely happy with this thing.

Now that the lip-synching issue has come up, I have a couple of issues with the player. I put in my Incredibles DVD last night using DVI direct. When watching this DVD, I almost always at least take a quick trip through the THX Optimizer. Last night, I noticed that the steering going through my speakers was out of synch with what was on the screen. In other words, the screen would be showing the center channel but the steering would be at the left front speaker. When the steering went to the right front speaker, the screen would show the center speaker. It went around the whole speaker setup like that. I switched over to my XP-30 to see if it was the DVD or the player and the Optimizer played perfectly through the XP-30. Then I switched to my DV-50s and again, the Optimizer played perfectly. When going back to the Oppo, the video segment of the Optimizer seemed to go okay so I went ahead and started up the movie using the Oppo.....and there I saw some of the worst lip synching I have ever witnessed. When I switched back to my other players, the lip synching goes away. But on the Oppo, it's there in spades. And it doesn't appear with all DVDs. Just some. I'm planing on watching Ray for the first time tonight. I hope the Oppo doesn't do this.

In contrast, the video coming out of this thing is some of the best I've seen. I've decided that if I'm going to keep this player, I'll probably always go DVI direct. Sending the player through an Iscan doesn't do much in my experience unless your using 480i. A mosquito might improve some of the ghosting artifacts and other noise but it's already pretty good as it is. I think it needs some work in the sound department though. Perhaps there's some firmware on the way?
Javry

Rijax,

I haven't found a real use for the PSM other that it puts something to watch on the display when playing music only.

I think the issue with the display is that it is too far recessed into the unit. If that display could be moved right up front, the angle of viewing would be much better.

The remote does "glow in dark" -- the buttons are luminescent. Take a flashlight and give it a burst of light! ;)

The flexible tray is a bit disconcerting at first but it seems to be tough in use. I've had no problems with the loading mechanism.

The Key +/- is an interesting (unique?) feature. Never seen it in DVD player before.

Javry,

DVI is the way to go with the Oppo. The 480i composite is workable but doesn't take advantage of what the player is capable of (the Faroudja processing is completely bypassed in component output).

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
............Javry,

DVI is the way to go with the Oppo. The 480i composite is workable but doesn't take advantage of what the player is capable of (the Faroudja processing is completely bypassed in component output).

Paul

Paul,
I agree with your assessment. What I tried last night....just for grins....was to run the 480i into an Iscan HD+ and from there to the PJ. Both the Iscan and the PJ can upscale the 480i to 720P. And frankly....it looks pretty good. If I had never seen the DVI direct, I could live with it. Now, for some reason, running the 480i direct into the PJ produces a bunch of video noise that just ain't cool. With DVI direct, the picture just takes on a sharpness and clerity that outruns the Iscan option just enough to make it an exceptional viewing experience. I'm sure it's the way I want to go. So for now, the Iscan goes back in the box where it's been since I bought it. I just can't find a use for it. Gotta talk with Jason 'bout dat.
Javry

Originally posted by Rijax
Since I use an MX-850 remote which has more than adequate backlighting, I have no need for this.

Hi Rijax,

Have you programmed your MX-850 to control the Oppo yet? If so, where did you find the IR codes?

Reason I ask, I have the MX-700. I checked its IR database last night and the Oppo isn't in there. So that means I would have to teach all those codes to the MX-700 (kind of a pain). Was hoping you found an easier way.

Thanks,

Sooke

Sooke,

Here is an Oppo OPDV971H .mxd file (http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=mx700&db=devices&br=oppo&dv=dvdplayer&md=opdv971h&fc=&kw=&st=&dt=&so=&pg=1&file=mx700/devices/dvd/opp-dvd-opdv971h.zip) from Remotecentral,com. You just download the file, unzip it, save the .mxd file to a location on your computer. Then you can import the Oppo device into your configuration.

You can find many files not included in the MX-700 IR database at the Remote Central File Area (http://www.remotecentral.com/files/index.html). As well as the .mxd files in the MX-700 section, you can also use .ccf files that can be found in the "Phillips Pronto and ProntoPro" section. You open the .ccf file with the Universal browser and then you can drag and drop specific commands to specific buttons. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no Oppo .ccf file available.

I think there were a couple of the commands that, for whatever reason, I had to re-teach the remote ("skip" to next chapter, and "skip" to previous chapter which are assigned to the channel up and down buttons; the keyboard command; the +10 button; and, strangely, the play button). Be sure to delete the commands that don't work before you reteach the button.

Also, I don't believe the gentleman who kindly uploaded the file included the "clear" and "return" commands, so I had to teach those commands as well.

The point is, once imported to your configuration, be sure to check all commands to find the ones, if any, that need to be retaught.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Rijax.

so no one knows when this new firmware is coming out? i'm very interested in the player but the shimmering/jaggie issue is the only thing holding me back.

Paul,

Another thing Oppo needs to look at: the Zoom function significantly degrades the picture. I was hoping to use Zoom to eliminate the black bars at the top and bottom of 2.35:1 material. But even the 1.2X Zoom level is almost unwatchable. Text breaks up and pictures are “block like”. That is, the pixel size increases far more than the magnification. Angled lines become “staircase” even at low Zoom levels.

I have an old Samsung HD931 which has a screen fit function which enlarges the 2.35:1 picture to eliminate the top and bottom bars. This function works quite well with no perceived picture degradation beyond the magnification effect which enlarges everything. With the Oppo magnification (Zoom) set to eliminate the bars (about 1.5X) the picture is much much poorer.

It’s very disappointing as Oppo promotes the Zoom feature to remove the top and bottom black bars. From their firmware update page:

“Adds more zoom options: 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.5x, 2.5x, and 3.5x, in addition to the original 2x, 3x, 4x, ½x, 1/3x & ¼x options. This allows letterbox to fill the screen with a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD.”

But the picture it creates is dismal.

I am using a Samsung DLP (HLN-507W) at 720p. The Oppo firmware is OP971-2-0412.

With no Zoom, the Oppo picture is very nice. It accurately reproduces some material that my Samsung HD931 messes up.

Phil

Hopefully, they are going to have a new release soon. So far they have had releases on 4/13 and 4/30. If they continue with their release pattern of twice a month, they probably already have a new firmware they are about to release now. Am I ambitious?

Hello Phil,

I agree that the "zoomed" image is mediocre. It'll be reported. Not sure what can be done -- basically, it works like another of my MediaTek players the Terapin TT-1800.

Paul

Originally posted by Yahmoncool
so no one knows when this new firmware is coming out? i'm very interested in the player but the shimmering/jaggie issue is the only thing holding me back.

I feel the same. I am so close to buying this, but I have read too many posts with this problem. Does anyone know if this is on the latest firmware fix? If I was to know that this will be fixed in the next revision, I will buy this, otherwise I am affraid I will get this and then find out they can't fix it.

Just got my oppo and I am very dissapointed due to the shimmering problem.
I was already to sell my Pioneer 59avi and buy about 3 of these players.
Deinterlacing , menu speed and everything else is great but if your always pulled out of the movie when you see the shimmering /jaggies what good is it.
I did notice that it is less obvious using the supplied 5 foot dvi cable instead of a high quality monster.
Shimmering and movement on the HQV test dvd(color bar and resolution sweeps) is very apparent. The pioneer is rock solid.
The pioneer is not as good at deinterlacing as the oppo using the 3 moving bar test on the HQV dvd but I can live with that as I cant see it.

The issues have been reported. Awaiting feedback.

Paul

Originally posted by PThackray
Paul,

Another thing Oppo needs to look at: the Zoom function significantly degrades the picture. I was hoping to use Zoom to eliminate the black bars at the top and bottom of 2.35:1 material. But even the 1.2X Zoom level is almost unwatchable. Text breaks up and pictures are “block like”. That is, the pixel size increases far more than the magnification. Angled lines become “staircase” even at low Zoom levels.

I have an old Samsung HD931 which has a screen fit function which enlarges the 2.35:1 picture to eliminate the top and bottom bars. This function works quite well with no perceived picture degradation beyond the magnification effect which enlarges everything. With the Oppo magnification (Zoom) set to eliminate the bars (about 1.5X) the picture is much much poorer.

It’s very disappointing as Oppo promotes the Zoom feature to remove the top and bottom black bars. From their firmware update page:

“Adds more zoom options: 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.5x, 2.5x, and 3.5x, in addition to the original 2x, 3x, 4x, ½x, 1/3x & ¼x options. This allows letterbox to fill the screen with a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD.”

But the picture it creates is dismal.

I am using a Samsung DLP (HLN-507W) at 720p. The Oppo firmware is OP971-2-0412.

With no Zoom, the Oppo picture is very nice. It accurately reproduces some material that my Samsung HD931 messes up.

Phil
Why would you want to remove the bars on 2.35:1 material? You'll be cropping the sides and losing part of the picture.

The Oppo zoom feature is designed for non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs, where the picture does not fill the screen (resulting in letterboxing + pictureboxing, i.e. black bars above and on the sides).

In this regard, the Oppo zoom does need some improvement; it cannot accurately fill the screen with a non-anamorphic DVD. The zoom really needs to be slightly different in the vertical and horizontal directions.

I'm not sure if there's much that can be done in firmware to improve the image, though, because by the time the Oppo zoom is enabled, the picture resolution has already been degraded by the MP3 decoder.

In any case, eliminating the bars on 2.35:1 material should not be the primary goal. I really can't understand why a HD TV owner would want to chop off the sides of a movie...

KRIS DEERING,
How can you recommend this player while it has the shimmer/jaggie artifact being so obvious?
You owe it to all of us and your own credibility to inform people of this problem rather than rate this player as almost top dog.
If it is the ESS being left on in the faroudja chip and not fixable please step up and help solve this problem.
Granted, deinterlacing etc. is great as is the access speed layer change etc. but with a visable problem like this with the picture it almost makes everything else about the player not matter.
Sorry to have to post this but I was unable to find your email address or I would have contacted you privately.

I'm agree...the shimmer/jaggie artifact is very bad...enough so that if is not fixed quickly, I will return the player... It is sad because besides this problem, it is really an excellent DVD player :(

Originally posted by steviec
KRIS DEERING,
How can you recommend this player while it has the shimmer/jaggie artifact being so obvious?

It has me perplexed as well. I try not to say anything negative about this player because Oppo and ExtremePhono have such excellent customer service. I think shimmering is ten times worse than macroblocking.

I have noticed the same effect as well. There seems to be, in some scenes not all, a strong edge enhancement . It almost makes the picture look extremely overprocessed. I watched SW Episode I as my initial demo and many of the scenes showed a visible glow around objects.

BTW, I have a Sony HS20 FP with a Da-lite HCCV screen. Can anyone with this setup or any knowledge of it help me. Unfortunatley, when I switch between resolutions on the Oppo the display from the Sony comes up indicating (DVI - input). It overlaps the Oppo display which tells me whether I'm in 720p or 1080i etc. I therefore don't know which resolution I'm in. Hold on, just had a Brain Freeze. I can look at my HS20 onscreen menu to see input status. I'll try later to comfirm when I get home. That should be the answer, DUH?

Greetings,
I have been following the "shimmering" issue which seemed to have come onto the board about one day after I ordered my Oppo. Does anyone know if this a general issue or just with specific displays?
I have a Sammy 5674 and if this is either a general issue or specific to my display I'd just as soon not even open the box and just return it.
Thanks,
b.

Anyone have the Oppo / HS20 setup that can share their preferred settings???

I have a HS20 connected to the Oppo and have the same problem. What I have figured out is the Oppo resolutions are in order, 420, 720, and 1080,
When you are on the 1080 resolution, you can see the 0 of the 1080 resolution being displayed.

72purity, my reasoning is the same though I would prefer to be sure. I think the HS20 menu will supply resolution and frame rate data. I'm not at home, but I believe it is the last choice on the HS20 menu at the bottom. The icon is an italic "i" inside a circle.

Bob4action,

You have a PM.

The shimmering is a general issue as best I can tell. The issue is content dependent so some discs may show it more than others. Content with lots of pans comprised of closely spaced vertical/diagonal lines or sharp leading edges will tend to show the problem more than steady closeups of faces.

How one perceives the severity of the problem can vary.

Oppo has been very receptive and responsive to correcting problems.

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Bob4action,
The shimmering is a general issue as best I can tell. The issue is content dependent so some discs may show it more than others. Content with lots of pans comprised of closely spaced vertical/diagonal lines or sharp leading edges will tend to show the problem more than steady closeups of faces.

How one perceives the severity of the problem can vary.

Oppo has been very receptive and responsive to correcting problems.

Paul

I asked this on the other Oppo thread, but I'll post here too.

I just got the Oppo to replace my now-dead Bravo D2. I notice shimmering on The Incredibles, after watching only the first 10 minutes.

Does anyone know or have a theory as to the cause of this? Is this something that could potentially even be fixed with a firmware upgrade?

Thanks!

Shimmering is caused by vertical edge enhancement which is added by the Farjouda chipset, Oppo has been very supportive and this is listed as one of their top priorities.

The Vertical Edge Enhancement can be "addressed" (pun intended) in the Faroudja chip.

Paul

Oppo emailed me and confirmed that a setting to have sharpness OFF is in the works for the next firmware.

However, they cannot tell me when the new firmware will be ready. I asked them if it will be this year and they said YES.

Oppo emailed me and confirmed that a setting to have sharpness OFF is in the works for the next firmware.

However, they cannot tell me when the new firmware will be ready. I asked them if it will be this year and they said YES.

They better have a new firmware out sometime this year. :) I've been waiting 6 months for the firmware update for my Infocus 4805.

Patience, patience, we've travelled so far so quickly. ;)

Paul

I am almost to the end of my 30 day 'trial', so hopefully there will be news on the vertical shimmer fix soon. I am confident they are working on it, but a reassurance that it is possible to fix would be much appreciated. I would hate to second guess my purchase of this unit over the S97.

The Vertical Edge Enhancement can be "addressed" (pun intended) in the Faroudja chip.

Paul

Paul,

Do you think that this problem is directly responsible for the "shimmering" issue? Or is it just related?

Do you believe turning Sharpness off on the Oppo (when possible with new firmware) will fix "shimmering"?

Or do they have to do additional work to fix the shimmering?

Thanks

I have noticed the same effect as well. There seems to be, in some scenes not all, a strong edge enhancement . It almost makes the picture look extremely overprocessed. I watched SW Episode I as my initial demo and many of the scenes showed a visible glow around objects.

Although the Oppo's sharpness "enhancement" does add some edge halos to the image, the Star Wars Episode I disc is simply a lousy DVD transfer. What you're seeing is mostly on the disc itself, not something added by the Oppo.

The Vertical enhancement would be a major contributor to the cause.

When one looks at the DVE hi-freq patterns at some of the highest frequencies, it is noted that the vertical lines are not evenly spaced (as they are with the S97). Overly applied Vertical Edge Enhancement will cause this problem. This pattern would "shimmer" in the Oppo if the image was panned.

For more fun take a look at the Avia "Moving Zone Plate" pattern. ;)

Paul

I just wanted to put in a plug on the DIVX capabilities of this player--very cool!

I burned a Divx file to a DVD-R disc and popped it in. The Oppo immediately recognized it and displayed a Windows-Explorer-like list of files on the disc.

Upon selecting the file to play, it said, "decoding" for a few seconds and then began playing. Fast-forward worked great, up to 32X.

This was a wide-screen format recording of an HD television show.

Picture quality was pretty good, especially given the compression of Divx. On my 123" screen, it was very watchable (not as good as HD or DVD, but decent).

The great thing is that it seems that you could store as much as 12 hours of content in Divx on one DVD-R! Great for archiving content.

The next firmware update is scheduled for June. The plan is to have the major issues (ie: audio sync and shimmering) addressed in this update. Having the ability to turn CCS and TrueLife off will be a big help in resolving video issues.

The next firmware update is scheduled for June. The plan is to have the major issues (ie: audio sync and shimmering) addressed in this update. Having the ability to turn CCS and TrueLife off will be a big help in resolving video issues.
That will be awesome!

Oppo is doing a great job of quickly cranking out firmware updates. If they can fix the shimmering and lip-sync problems, this player will hold me through for sure!

Go Oppo!

Oppo is working hard to get it done.

The Oppo is one of the few machines that will load and play my "problem disc": "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines". My Panasonics and Sony will choke on this disc for some unknown reason. Only the Oppo, the Momitsu, and, oddly enough, the Toshiba SD-P1000 portable DVD/LCD will load and play it. Quite a nice drive in this unit.

Paul

Have made a few updates. Added a "shimmering" section, reported that "Portuguese" and "Korean" are not labeled on-screen when the subtitle is selected.

After a lot of viewing I'm beginning to think the Oppo just might be doing a slightly better job with the "Macroblock Enhance" than the Panasonic.

Paul

Paul,

I agree...the Oppo will practically play a pizza. This is refreshing in this day of many players being extra picky about media types and disc quality. I'm loving it.

Hello,

LiteUp!, the Oppo to me is a very nice player. We're trying to make it better and better.

A couple more issues reported to Oppo. 4-30 Firmware. These issues may not be major but are noted:

ZOOM PROBLEM:

The zoom mode can be made inoperable. Here are the steps:

1. In the Settings for the "TV Display" configure the player for "Wide/SQZ" mode.
2. Load a DVD with 4:3 material and begin play.
3. Select "Settings" and change the "TV Display" to "Wide"
4. Select Zoom of 1.2
5. Reconfigure the "Settings" "TV Display" for "Wide/SQZ" mode.
6. Press the zoom button.
7. Note the zoom will not not respond, and cannot be changed.
8. Select "Settings" and change the "TV Display" to "Wide".
9. Zoom is now operable.
10. Select zoom until the picture is no longer in a zoom mode
10. Reconfigure the "Settings" "TV Display" for "Wide/SQZ" mode
11. Zoom is now operable.

It is noticed in "Wide" mode Zoom of 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 2.0.... can be selected but in
"Wide/SQZ" mode only 1.5, 2.0, 2.5... can be selected (1.2 and 1.3 are not options).
It may be the inconsistencies of the zoom values available in the different "TV Display" type is the source of the problem.

CONTRAST PROBLEM:

The contrast control operates in an odd manner as seen at 1080i through the DVI connection.

When viewing color bars and decreasing the contrast, the colors begin to change in intensity and tint. For example, at Contrast -20 yellow becomes an almost brown color and red becomes very intense. When set at "0", the color bars are accurate.


Paul

I ordered my OPPO last Fri, received it yesterday (5/25). I ohly had a short time to go over it last night. So far, it looks pretty good. :) Mine came with the 4/13 firmware, and I changed it to all-region.

Wishlist:
Currently, it appears that you can only frame advance, not frame reverse. So, I'd like:

Pause button toggles between Pause and Play (I think this is more standard anyway)
Frame Advance: Press Pause first, then FF to advance a frame at a time
Frame Reverse: Press Pause first, then FR to go backwards a frame at a time

Also, I wish one could change resolutions faster and with the picture still on the screen (instead of having the Stop page displayed), so it would be easier to compare, say, 720p and 1080i.


Jim

Good report Jim!

Good suggestions! I would like to see a step backward function as well.

Paul

Thanks, Paul. :) BTW, my display is a Hitachi 42HDT50. Do you think 1080i would be better to use for it than 720p (I'm using DVI into it)?

Jim

Hey Jim,

We have related plasma displays! My plasma is a Hitachi 32HDT55 -- except for screen size/pixels and glass coating they are, essentially, identical TVs.

Typically, the response would be: "use 720p to match the native resolution". I think in this case, however, 1080i or 720p will be a toss up. Neither screen is 1280x720 so neither has "native 720p".

If I recall, the Hitachi literature for this model line make a point of touting 1080i for SD material, so maybe there's something to that point -- everything might be converted to 1080i at the screen.

In my viewing this player though the Hitachi, the differences between 720p and 1080i are imperceptible.

Paul

Oppo is an awesome player. I do wish it were HDMI rather than DVI, but oh well an adapter works fine. Probably the next model out will be HDMI. I can't wait to go back to China so I can pick up more dvd's. No need to worry about them playing in this player. Every disk I have put in it has played, many that my old Sony would choke on. ;-)

The single connection of the HDMI would make for a nice single cable digital solution and introduce some other interesting configuration possibilities as well. As it stands, the digital DVI connection provides a truly outstaning player for those whose DVI displays are HDCP-challenged.

I really like the disk handling capabilities of the is player: almost any format and navigation is quick. MediaTek and Faroudja is an ideal combination.

Paul

You make a good point, Paul. I have an AE700, so the addition of audio that HMDI provides really wouldn't do me any good. I will probably get a DVI to HDMI cable at some point and ditch the adapter. It is just big and bulky on the back of the projector, and no way to secure it. It would be nice if HDMI had a "snap" connector like RJ-11 or something to hold it firmly in place. (Not that I am back there yanking on the cable or anything). Having the audio on the coax works better for me. Otherwise I would have to spend money on a new receiver that had HDMI switching capability. It is a vicious cycle.

What impresses me most about the player is the "blink of an eye" layer change, and the rapid response of the remote. I also like the construction of the box. I was surprised that the dvd drawer does not seem to come out as far as my old player (Sony), but it seems to work well. I also like being able to 'dim' the display. Now if I could just get the HDVR hard drive to be as quiet as this player, I would really be happy!

bakpakva,

If you're using the Montster DVI-HDMI adapter, I know what you mean. I don't think the Monster adatper has to be as big as it is but I guess that's in keeping with the product line.

HDMI is a bit puzzling in that there isn't a mechanism to secure the plug - friction only. A small indentation that would go "click" would a bit better and couldn't be that much harder to add to the design. As it is, I haven't had a problem with HDMI cables being pulled out but I'm sure others have.

DVI, on the other hand, is a secure connection -- no doubt about it. ;)

Paul

Thanks, Paul. :) I wasn't able to tell much difference between 720p and 1080i, either, but I thought it might just be me. Naturally, we all want the *best* resolution for our viewing. :)

BTW, I just viewed some JPEG files on a CD. The images were all "squashed," no matter what their size or orientation. Finally, I switched the DVI output to 480p, and that seemed to fix the problem. The image is smaller, but at least there's no squashing. :)

Jim

I'm considering purchasing the Oppo to replace my POS Samsung HD-841. Actually, I could still use the Sammy for playing SACD's. It seems like there are still some issues with the Oppo and I'm wondering if I should wait until the next firmware release before buying or not. I've got a Sony Grand Wega RP-LCD. Should I wait?

There are some issues as there are with any player. However, as can be seen from the three firmware updates, these issues are rapidly diminishing in number -- while the number of features are being increased. The remaining problems are being worked on by Oppo engineers. I'm looking forward to the next firmware update, but I'm enjoying the benefits of the player now.

Is there a specific problem that is a cause for concern?

Paul

what are the advantages/downfalls of the Oppo as opposed to a HTPC with Theatertek?

I really like the TT interface and for me with an adjustable screen masking system for my Sony projector i really like the height adjustments that TT provides. For example on a 2.35:1 or letterbox movie i can shift the image to the top of the screen so then i can mask the bottom black bar via motorized masking. I prefer this over the bars above and below the image in my system. You can set your aspect ratios for all dvds and with a HTPC it remembers the AR's and disks start points (bookmarks) so one does not have to view all the menus/warnings each time a dvd is inserted. Very slick...

Does the Oppo do any of the above? The image shift feature on a per aspect ratio/per dvd basic is a necessity for me and for those with automated front projector set-ups. Thinking about going to a dedicated player route but the features/limitations is what disturbs me. What can i expect?

Serge,

Welcome to the world of dedicated DVD players!

The Oppo doesn't offer that kind of pixel/location control (yet), but it wasn't designed to do that, either. Different functionality for a different customer. Control of pixels and location is possible within the player's Faroudja chipset firmware -- it's just that the control isn't made available to the public in the Oppo (or any other player I'm aware of). The HTPC can spoil one with the high number of features the software can allow for.

What the Oppo does offer:

No fan noise, lightweight, costs $200 MSRP, resistant to viruses ;) , keyboardless operation, plays an uncommon amount of disc format types for a dedicated player, and documented video performance here: DV971H performance (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=DVD+Player&manufacturer=0&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0#Oppo%20DigitalOPDV971H%20(DVI))

The Oppo isn't a HTPC and wasn't designed to be, but within its design, it's an outstanding DVD player.

Best regards,

Paul

There are some issues as there are with any player. However, as can be seen from the three firmware updates, these issues are rapidly diminishing in number -- while the number of features are being increased. The remaining problems are being worked on by Oppo engineers. I'm looking forward to the next firmware update, but I'm enjoying the benefits of the player now.

Is there a specific problem that is a cause for concern?

Paul

Yes, I just want to make sure that I'm not buying another lemon. I don't have much patience for 'bugs'. The shimmering and macro blocking issues especially concern me.

Hello dusterscott,

I understand the concern. The degree of scrutiny that players receive on the forum makes it difficult to determine a suitable player. Keep an eye on the Oppo threads and the firmware site for updates: Oppo Firmware (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_support.html) to see how the player progresses.

In any event, the "macroblock enhance" issue will probably not be resolved until the release of a revised chipset by Genesis Microchip. In any current FLI-23xx player, the occurance of the "Macroblock Enhance" problem is a real possibility.

Paul

Got it fast, they have great service!

Have it hooked up component until my Infocus M1-DVI adaptor cable shows up for my Screenplay 5700.

I love the features, compatability is great...

But...

I noticed the shimmering right away. It's more like an aliasing problem, as in only really happens on hard lines. I also noticed a little stairstepping on hard, angled edges and lines too.

I have NEVER seen this on another DVD player. My $50 Sampo (a region free chinese player that just broke) had a better picture.

I have doubts that a firmware sharpness fix alone is going to address this!

I have read that the DVI on the Oppo is where is really shines... has anyone else gone from component to DVI on this player and seen an improvement?

Does upsampling help?

Don't get me wrong, I really want to love this player, they seem to have gotten so much right on it... but no amount of cool features or disc compatability in the world is going to matter if the picture is poor.

One thing that surprised me is that, after all is said and done, the Oppo is really just another cheap Chinese DVD player, folllowing in the footsteps of Apex, Cyberhome, Sampo, etc.

As far as cheap chinese players go, it's a nice one, no doubt - but all one needs to do it read the manual and look at the very bad menus and you know what this player's herritage is!

So, what makes people think that THIS player should use higher quality components or in any way be better than the others?

Yes, the have an office in California... but clearly none of the work on the player is done here, and the guy who answers emails can't even tell me WHEN the next firmware will be ready - so how much can this guy/office really have to do with the process?

Anyway I am not trying to be a naysayer or overly cynical... I was just surprisred that after all the hype this player got, I discovered it's just another Chinese player with some good features.

Don't get me wrong, I really want to love this player, they seem to have gotten so much right on it... but no amount of cool features or disc compatability in the world is going to matter if the picture is poor.

You are using component. This is basically DVI only player.

Have it hooked up component until my Infocus M1-DVI adaptor cable shows up for my Screenplay 5700.

Am I wrong or isn't the Faroudja only utilized when using the DVI output? If you're outputting at 480i via component and still getting shimmering, does that mean the implementaion of the Faroudja chip may not be the problem after all?

Also, in trying to learn as much about this player as possible, I've been scouring the web for reviews and have seen several concerns about the tray design. Here is one example on "Home Theater Sopt" (?) forum:

The tray is wider than a DVD and will close at the slightest touch - press Eject and carefully remove the disc by poking your finger up through the hole from the bottom, or the drawer will slam shut (sometimes with the disc half in/out).

Other people have mentioned that the tray doesn't come out fully, meaning (I suppose?) you have to slide the disc in somehow rather than just lowering it on to the tray. Is there any scratch risk?

I'm close to buying this player but am waiting on the new firmware to see what issues are resolved, and am also a little concerned about this seemingly odd design flaw. Any thoughts?

Got it fast, they have great service!

Have it hooked up component until my Infocus M1-DVI adaptor cable shows up for my Screenplay 5700.

I love the features, compatability is great...

But...

I noticed the shimmering right away. It's more like an aliasing problem, as in only really happens on hard lines. I also noticed a little stairstepping on hard, angled edges and lines too.

I have NEVER seen this on another DVD player. My $50 Sampo (a region free chinese player that just broke) had a better picture.

I have doubts that a firmware sharpness fix alone is going to address this!

I have read that the DVI on the Oppo is where is really shines... has anyone else gone from component to DVI on this player and seen an improvement?

Does upsampling help?

Don't get me wrong, I really want to love this player, they seem to have gotten so much right on it... but no amount of cool features or disc compatability in the world is going to matter if the picture is poor.

This sounds odd to me. You're sending 480i to your Infocus 5700. The 5700 is deinterlacing your 480i input with Faroudja. Have you done any tinkering with the Faroudja settings in the 5700?

What do you mean by tinkering with the Faroudja setting? There are many, although the only ones I every touch are the RGB color values. The sharpness settings I leave off. I know I have sometimes turned 3:2 on/off, but I generally leave it on.

One note - the only disc I watched last night was PAL. Keep in mind the 5700 is a native PAL unit, and I set the Oppo to output PAL (which I knew it was doing since the 5700 recallibrated itself and reported it was displaying 576).

If anyone has any suggestions for settings I should play with, please let me know.

Ja Phule, do you have experience with both the Oppo and 5700?

The Faroudja processing works with the DVI only. If component is being used then the MediaTek is being used.

The component is 480i (only). See the first post of this thread for 480i component results.

As far as the drawer goes, I have no issue with it. I don't find the tray "touchy" but other people will have different experiences. The disc doesn't fully eject so a little "tilt and slide" motion is needed for insertion and extraction. I always handle the loading and removal of discs by press fitting the disc hole to my finger -- never touching the surfaces or sides. No problem with scratches, in my experience.

On the other hand, during use the DVD is deeper into the player. That might account for the player's relative quiet operation.

Paul

The player is about as good as your $50 Sampo on component, the Farjouda processing isn't used on the component out.

What do you mean by tinkering with the Faroudja setting? There are many, although the only ones I every touch are the RGB color values. The sharpness settings I leave off. I know I have sometimes turned 3:2 on/off, but I generally leave it on.

One note - the only disc I watched last night was PAL. Keep in mind the 5700 is a native PAL unit, and I set the Oppo to output PAL (which I knew it was doing since the 5700 recallibrated itself and reported it was displaying 576).

If anyone has any suggestions for settings I should play with, please let me know.

Ja Phule, do you have experience with both the Oppo and 5700?

No experience with the 5700. I'm using the Infocus 4805, which is lower res than your 5700, but it does use Faroudja and has a few options I can turn on/off such as CCS.

I guess most of us in NTSC land aren't seeing these problems because we are using 480i/480p/720p/1080i. I don't know anything about how the Oppo handles PAL (other than the fact that it can good PAL to NTSC conversion).

Ok well as soon as I get my DVI setup I'll take another look and post my results.

Curse Infocus for that lame M1 connection - is there ANY advantage over a standard DVI port??

Hi-

what are the advantages/downfalls of the Oppo as opposed to a HTPC with Theatertek?

Paul detailed some of the good and bad points of the Oppo vs an HTPC. Now lets detail some of the disadvantages of an HTPC running TheaterTek or just about any software player vs the Oppo. First, read what the Secrets Of Home Theater people have to say about the Oppo and the TheaterTek:

Secrets of Home Theater DVD Player Shootout (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all)

The Oppo is right near the top, just below the $3,500 Denon DVD-5910. Then scroll way down to the Software DVD Players section to find the TheaterTek DVD 1.5.

Oppo rating=94. TheaterTek rating=65. For most people's purposes, the main deficiencies of TheaterTek are the lack of proper playback of DVDs with 3-2 Cadence, Video Flags and 3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags, as well as no Motion Adaptive deinterlacing. What this means is that while most Hollywood DVD movies (not necessarily the extras, though) will play fine through the Theatertek software, if you like to watch DVDs of TV Series, like to watch Anime, or like to watch DVDs made from purely interlaced or hard telecined sources (which would include many, many DVDs from foreign production companies, as well as smaller US companies, such as Kino, Milestone, Image Entertainment, etc.), then they're going to look like garbage. I've encountered many posts on other forums where people complain that their movies look great, but their TV Series DVDs look bad on their HDTV. If you are one of those people, then the Faroudja chipset that the Oppo has is worth its weight in gold.The only Oppo drawback is lack of 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags, which for most NTSC people is virtually a non-issue. This doesn't address the Oppo's sometime problem with shimmering and audio asynch (rare), which I'm convinced will be fixed very soon.

Also, in trying to learn as much about this player as possible, I've been scouring the web for reviews and have seen several concerns about the tray design. Here is one example on "Home Theater Sopt" (?) forum:



Quote:
The tray is wider than a DVD and will close at the slightest touch - press Eject and carefully remove the disc by poking your finger up through the hole from the bottom, or the drawer will slam shut (sometimes with the disc half in/out).




Hi Steven,
That was me that posted over at the Spot. Either I've gotten used to the wider tray or the 4/30 firmware fixed the problem (or both). The gear teeth are on the sides of the tray, so you can't grab the disc by its edges like I'm used to. The tray does come fully out and the disc drops right in, and I've not had any more problems as described. I'm very happy with the player and the next firmware release should get it even better.