For those that might be interested in changing the background screen on you Oppo 971, here is a document I pulled together. Remember that changes to the firmware may lead to hosing your Oppo if something goes wrong, so proceed at your own risk!!

Thanks goes to Powered Monk for the links that make this possible. His original post is here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6825203&highlight=mklogo#post6825203)

Let me know if I have left something out or the procedure is unclear.

I read Monk's post and some of the steps were unclear to me. I also went to the link page to read more info and I concluded that some of the steps are not needed for the OPPO 971. So I came up with my own compiled steps . Of course I followed some of the steps from the original author. Like I said a lot of step can be left out. The site did provided a lot of useful info. I thank the author for his work and sharing his knowledge us all.

I tried to open your doc file when I realized that I don't have MS Word installed, I just re-installed windows and haven't got around to installing it yet.

I'll have to try it out sometime.

When resizing the picture to 704x480, is it a good idea to get the original image approx 852x480 (or 854x480) and then stretch/scale it down to 704x480 right?

I have updated the document in the first post to include extracting of the Oppo firmware ISO file using WinRAR. I have also added the settings for Nero Burning ROM at the end of the document for burning the newly created 935.bin file as an ISO file.

I'll have to try it out sometime.

When resizing the picture to 704x480, is it a good idea to get the original image approx 852x480 (or 854x480) and then stretch/scale it down to 704x480 right?


You could be right about that. I just used Photoshop to resize my image to 704 x 480. You will just have to try different techniques to find what works best for the image you have created.

Thanks for the great write up.

One problem, when I put in the disc to update it says unknown disc. Could it be because I've already updated to the most current firmware and I'm editing the same update?

Thanks for the great write up.

One problem, when I put in the disc to update it says unknown disc. Could it be because I've already updated to the most current firmware and I'm editing the same update?

Have you updated your Oppo before? What burner program are you using? Might be something not quite right with the ISO file. You should be able to read the file, even if it is the same version, or an earlier version.

bakpakva,

Dude, what a great contribution! Just had to say something:)

Thanks,
Dave

bakpak,

I too followed all the steps and get the infamous "unknown disc" message.

I show a .bin when I read what's on the cd.

I've burned almost all the firmware, including the latest 0316 beta.

I have used Nero 7 to update with no problems.

Can't figure this out.

Thanks!

bakpak,

I too followed all the steps and get the infamous "unknown disc" message.

I wonder why?

Thanks!

GoSpurs,
There is something odd going on if it doesn't work with Nero, as that is what I used to burn mine. Perhaps someone will find the error in our ways. I have always started with the Russian firmware when doing customizations, but I don't see how that should matter.

From the Russian Oppo Site (http://www.opdv971h.com/)

How to correctly burn a firmware update CD with Nero Burning Rom

1. Download and unzip the firmware **
2. Insert a writable CD-R or CD-RW into the burner
3. Start Nero Express. Select “Compile a new CD”, click Next. Select “Data CD”, click Next. Select “Create a new data CD?”, and click Next, then Finish.
4. Drag and drop the file “935.BIN” into the right part of the window.
5. In the “Edit” menu, select “Properties”.
6. Go to “ISO” tab, and set all settings as shown (click to enlarge the screen shot):

Screen Shot (http://www.opdv971h.com/firmware/burn.png)

7. Click OK and burn the CD.

**In our case, in step one we modify the firmware.

Okay,

The new information worked!

The process is correct.

Here's the difference.

I downloaded the new FW (not beta, which I previously had installed).

I followed the instructions as before, but at the burning stage I had to make a few small changes in the burning procedure, which were:

File System: ISO 9660 Only

And I also made sure all boxes were unchecked under "Relax Restrictions".

I'm ready for the play-offs now with my Spurs-Oppo logo!

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/8636/spursoppobootscreen28qb.jpg

I reduced image size and quality. Image on screen looks tons better

Glad it works now for you! I had added the screen shot to the document, so hopefully your findings will help others!
Great looking screen shot!


Okay,

The new information worked!

The process is correct.

Here's the difference.

I downloaded the new FW (not beta, which I previously had installed).

I followed the instructions as before, but at the burning stage I had to make a few small changes in the burning procedure, which were:

File System: ISO 9660 Only

And I also made sure all boxes were unchecked under "Relax Restrictions".

I'm ready for the play-offs now with my Spurs-Oppo logo!

May I make an observation?

Step 6 should also let people know that the "1" in "mklogo backgr.bmp 1" is the compression level. With 1 being the least compressed, and the most being...?

Thanks again bakpak.

It's sooo cool looking! Great way to start the play-offs:)

darn, I gotta go to work, but I'll double check my burn settings tonight. thanks for the quick responses!

I'll have to try it out sometime.

When resizing the picture to 704x480, is it a good idea to get the original image approx 852x480 (or 854x480) and then stretch/scale it down to 704x480 right?


Its not necessary, all the image files I use were 1024 x 768, when you use a photo or paint program to scale it down the file will be 990 KB. After you use c2bin, it will creat a .bin file that will be even smaller.

Its not necessary, all the image files I use were 1024 x 768, when you use a photo or paint program to scale it down the file will be 990 KB. After you use c2bin, it will creat a .bin file that will be even smaller.

The original Oppo Screen is actually 720x480, so you can probably go larger than the 704x480. It probably gets cropped. I have also tried bin images larger than 41k and they seem to work ok. Even an image that is 82k appears to be acceptable. Larger images may create a problem at some point, that is why I recommended that you stay at the same size as the original. There may be extra space in ROM but I do not know what the limit is, or what may happen if you exceed that limit. The size of the image depends on the content, and how many defined edges you have. You can also use a blur function to smooth the image before using mklogo as explained in the first link of the downloadable document.

By adjusting the amount of compression when running mklogo, you can create a file size that will work. The amount of compression goes from very little (1) to the maximum (32).

Its not necessary, all the image files I use were 1024 x 768, when you use a photo or paint program to scale it down the file will be 990 KB. After you use c2bin, it will creat a .bin file that will be even smaller.

I mention getting the image to 854x480 (equiv to 16:9) so that the image will be the right proportion when scaled to 16:9 on the Oppo. If I were to use a 1024x768 pic, wouldn't it be stretched when displayed on the Oppo at 16:9?

Ja Phule,

I compared the the two images and they look the same porportion wise. I will try and resize an image to 854x480 and see what the results will be. I will post my findings here.

When using the mklogo program it will only accept widths of 352, 480, 704, 720. Check out the error I got when I resize an image to 854.



Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

E:\OPPO>mklogo ic@854.bmp
*************************************************
* *
* MENU /LOGO conversion tool *
* *
* ESS Technology Inc. 7/30/1998 *
* *
* *
*************************************************
sorry, only do width of 352, 480, 704, 720

E:\OPPO>

Edited: Don't click on the ic at 854.bmp link, because its not a link to a image but the system thinks its a link to an email. The ic at 854 was only use for testing.

All of my images have been at the max. widths of 720. If you start with a nice image the quality will be nice as well.

I cannot download or even open the file....is anyone else having this problem?

Basilisk,
I guess what I'm trying to say is, when making your custom pic, it should be in a 16x9 resolution like 852x480. Once you've created the picture, you should then resize it to 704x480 (in other words, creating an anamorphic image) and then create the modified firmware.

For example, this is what the image is:
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/KBOppo852.jpg

In order for it to show up correctly on the Oppo, I would have to resize it to this:
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/KBOppo704.jpg

In any case, I've followed the directions and the modification works and looks great using these instructions. Thanks.

I cannot download or even open the file....is anyone else having this problem?

Which file are you having a problem with? The instructions are in a word document format. If people are having problems opening it, I can change it to another format and zip it to stay under the 500k limit.

Basilisk,
I guess what I'm trying to say is, when making your custom pic, it should be in a 16x9 resolution like 852x480. Once you've created the picture, you should then resize it to 704x480 (in other words, creating an anamorphic image) and then create the modified firmware.


Ja Phule, you seem to be on to something! I think I will resize my original to 853 x 480 and see how it looks. I can't really tell if my background screen is stretched horizontally, because of the content. It would be easy enough to tell by making a large O as your background and see it stays round. I like the way you have created an anamorphic image and that is the way I will do mine if I ever change to a different background.

MarkusH,

You can't just left click on the file.

Right click and select "save as".

Hope this helps!

Dave

I'm going to go through this process tonight.

Great work bakpakvz.

Great option for those that enjoy customization. I went throught the process and it worked great. My wife was wondering what I was up to and once I loaded the 0316 fw update with the new background, she also said "wow."

One question for the group - has anyone attempted to modify the icons & messages that appear on the background (no disk / press any key to continue) or their location? I had not anticipated these icons with my customized background, and would like to modify them as well.

Also wanted to confirm that I saved my bmp image at 720x480 and had to compress it by a factor of 11 to get it just under 41k. Left & right sides of image are slightly cropped when displayed, but I had anticipated this and left enough of a border on my bmp image.

Attached is a picture of my background. I'll try to post another picture of the image displayed on my JVC for comparison later.

I followed the instructions using Nero 7 and when I try to burn the CDR it tells me that I have to use a DVDR. Is there something wrong or do I actually have to use a DVDR?

OK I figured it out. I had to select CD from the drop down. It worked fine.

Make sure when you started Nero that you started a CD compilation, and not a DVD compilation.

Nice work guys. Keep em coming... we like to see this kind of creativity.

Gary

Will this work with the new oppo 970 coming out in the next few days?

If you can download their firmware, then yes, the same modifications work.

Great thread! I've successfully done this, but have a question. In order to get the file size to 41k, I needed to compress to level 18, and the resulting image was very grainy - not useable.

I've read the document, and the original linked site, but none of their tips have had an appreciable reduction in compression level.

Does anyone have any advice on how to optimize a jpeg file prior to compression, to preserve as much detail as possible?

TIA.

Great thread! I've successfully done this, but have a question. In order to get the file size to 41k, I needed to compress to level 18, and the resulting image was very grainy - not useable.

I've read the document, and the original linked site, but none of their tips have had an appreciable reduction in compression level.

Does anyone have any advice on how to optimize a jpeg file prior to compression, to preserve as much detail as possible?

TIA.

Congrats and welcome to the Customized Splashscreen family! I have read somewhere that if you use a smoothing filter in photoshop on your bmp first, then your filesize my be smaller. Unfortunately, the more high frequency (edges) you have in your image, the larger the file will be. You may want to try a different image or remove certain parts, that may help.

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, it had no appreciable change in quality. I am no Photoshop expert, so if anyone out there has any additional advice, I'm all ears.

If it helps, I started with a 2MP photo, cropped it (about 33% I would estimate), resized it to 704 x 480, added some text on top, and saved it as a bitmap. The starting size of the .bmp was the same as in the guide (about 991k, if memory serves me correctly), but it didn't compress nearly as efficiently as everyone else for some reason. (BTW - I have viewed the cropped image onscreen via Tivo Home Media Option, and it looks pretty good.)

Another possible workaround would be to allow the backgr.bin size to expand to some larger filesize. However, I am very hesitant to do this unless one of our Oppo insiders can assure me that I have headroom up to xxkb, whatever xx may be. I love this player and don't want to turn it into a doorstop.

Any more advice from the experts? TIA.

This is REALLY cool. Thanks for everyone who helped to document and put this together. I was able to get this working and here is our new splash screen... :D

http://home.comcast.net/~robert.mail/HTBanner.jpg

Cheers!

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, it had no appreciable change in quality. I am no Photoshop expert, so if anyone out there has any additional advice, I'm all ears.

If it helps, I started with a 2MP photo, cropped it (about 33% I would estimate), resized it to 704 x 480, added some text on top, and saved it as a bitmap. The starting size of the .bmp was the same as in the guide (about 991k, if memory serves me correctly), but it didn't compress nearly as efficiently as everyone else for some reason. (BTW - I have viewed the cropped image onscreen via Tivo Home Media Option, and it looks pretty good.)

Another possible workaround would be to allow the backgr.bin size to expand to some larger filesize. However, I am very hesitant to do this unless one of our Oppo insiders can assure me that I have headroom up to xxkb, whatever xx may be. I love this player and don't want to turn it into a doorstop.

Any more advice from the experts? TIA.


Rumor has it, that there is some extra space in the firmware for the image. I forget the numbers, but if you go back to the original links by Monk, I think he mentions almost double the current space. As you so rightly mentioned, anything more could make the Oppo a nice boat anchor in theory. :D

This is REALLY cool. Thanks for everyone who helped to document and put this together. I was able to get this working and here is our new splash screen... :D



Cheers!


AWESOME!

I think the levels step in the image procedure may be off. It states to change output levels to 19-239. However, video levels are 16-235. I would assume the correct output levels should be 16-235.

I think the levels step in the image procedure may be off. It states to change output levels to 19-239. However, video levels are 16-235. I would assume the correct output levels should be 16-235.

I noticed that as well in the beginning, but since I didn't know why, I just went with the original posts. Since it is only a splash screen, I figured a few steps here or there wouldn't amount to much of a difference. Could have been left over from problems with the Apex on black levels? Doesn't hurt to try both and see if it looks better.

Rumor has it, that there is some extra space in the firmware for the image. I forget the numbers, but if you go back to the original links by Monk, I think he mentions almost double the current space. As you so rightly mentioned, anything more could make the Oppo a nice boat anchor in theory. :D
Yes, he mentions that he was successful with a file about double the OEM size (81k or so). I'm comfortable using an image file that size for the current firmware, but can any knowledgeable Oppo experts tell me/us if future firmware upgrades will maintain that level of "headroom" for the image file, so that I can continue to use the larger image when new firmware upgrades are released?

Anybody ever figure out a way to replace the screen saver images as well?

Also, what was the final verdict on the correct size to resize your original BMP to in order for it to display correctly on a widescreen set?

Thanks,
Jeff

The screensaver is like a 4-bit image. It is nearly impossible to change. If you use MTK Tools you can look at the Screensaver, and all it is made of is a bunch of 0, 1, and 2 (there is no such thing as 2!). Basically, the DVD player says "1 change to green, 0 change to red" and now you have a red background with green text.

Gotcha. Thanks for the update, Neuro.

Regs,
Jeff