I'm concerned that on Oppo's site they don't recommend the 970 for screens larger than 50" and they do for the 971 and 981. Is anyone running this DVD player with their projector displaying 720p on a screen bigger than 80"?

Chris

Can the subwoofer out on the 970 be used to power a subwoofer such as a Sony SA-WM250 (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SA-WM250-100-Watt-Active-Subwoofer/dp/B00026KYFS/ref=dp_return_1/103-6312156-1270242?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics) or would I have to buy a receiver?
The 970's output can be used to drive a powered subwoofer like the Sony you mention, but without a receiver in the mix you're going to have an interesting volume control issue. I assume the other audio duties are being handled by the TV, in which case the left and right analog outputs are going to the TV and the TV's volume control determines how lound things are. The sub, on the other hand, would get the line level output straight from the 970 and would not be affected by the TV's volume control.

You could use the 970's volume control, but then you'd have to determine a chosen volume level to always use on the TV so you have the sub and the TV's speakers balanced - that would entail setting the TV to a volume level (probably fairly high) and using test tones such as those on DVE or AVIA to get the left, right, and sub channels even by adjusting both the sub's volume knob and the channel trim settings in the 970. Once that was done, you would have to set the TV to that same volume level and use the 970's volume control when watching DVD's. A receiver would make this all much easier, since it would serve as the central volume control all the time. Of course, you'd also need speakers as well, which you probably don't have if you're using your TV's speakers currently...

Hello all,
After reading every post on this thread and the posts on the 981hd thread, I want to thank everyone for the great input . I recently ordered the 970HD and it should be here on Jan 4th. I have a sony VPL HS20 projector with a 92" screen--Yes I know Oppo says use the other models for larger screens, but I wanted to see how this unit performs in my theater, and see how the usb port works, since we have slide shows from vacations etc in the theater from time to time....It will likely go to the family room and replace the 9 year old mitsubishi dd1000 eventually, and I'll get a 981hd, but I really am hesitant due to the chance of macroblocking...
I'm currently using a Marantz DV8400 universal dvd player(480P). I paid a mint for it back in the day. I'm curious to see how the sound on SACD and DVD-A compares to the marantz, and I'm hoping for a little better video quality. I will post my observations of the 970HD with a larger screen size probably by next weekend for ravencr and others interested, after I have a few days of playing with it. Keep the great info flowing.........Pete

I'm concerned that on Oppo's site they don't recommend the 970 for screens larger than 50" and they do for the 971 and 981. Is anyone running this DVD player with their projector displaying 720p on a screen bigger than 80"?

Chris

I'm running an Oppo 970 on a screen (DLP 1024x768) 7' wide and it looks fine even in 480p. I would imagine 720p would be much better.

Not quite sure what you meant by this... LED is very easy to dim.

LED is either Off or On. You can dim it by reducing the voltage, but the means the entire front panel will have a reduced voltage, which in turn could mean reduced functionality response by the IR sensor.

Just ordered the 970HD, planning on sending signal into a sanyo PLV-60 with components- no hdmi-. If I upgrade the oppo firmware of A3-0916 then 4a-1220 and then the 0613aMod, will I be able to get the benefit of all the upgrades and still be able to upconvert on component cable?

Each firmware is self contained. That is, it will overwrite the firmware entirely. So if you installed the 4A-1220 firmware, it will be completely overwritten by the hacked 1-0613 Firmware.

I will post my observations of the 970HD with a larger screen size probably by next weekend for ravencr and others interested, after I have a few days of playing with it. Keep the great info flowing.........PeteThanks Pete! That would be great!

Chris

I'm running an Oppo 970 on a screen (DLP 1024x768) 7' wide and it looks fine even in 480p. I would imagine 720p would be much better.That's really good to hear. My estimated diagonal will be roughly 87". Is the reason you're running 480p based on your projector/tv not supporting a higher reso? Just curious and trying to understand this stuff a little better.

Chris

Since I just bought mine, do I definitely want to download this:

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd-firmware-3a-0916.html#ISO

Chris

raven,

If you just bought your 970, it may include that firmware. If by chance it doesn't, then you'll definitely want to download the upgrade.

Once I get it, how do I check to see if it has the latest version already installed?

Chris

two questions:

1- on page one it says upconversion only for non-copy-protected dvds. these are becoming more and more widespread - will they not play, or look like crap? is this standard for all converters?

2- what is the quality of the hdmi cable? should i upgrade?

Once I get it, how do I check to see if it has the latest version already installed?

Chris

To check firmware version:
1. Both TV and OPPO on.
2. Press the eject button on the OPPO remote. (tray is open)
3. Press the button on the remote labled OSD.

The latest version on the OPPO website is
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd-firmware-4a-1220.html

Brian

Thanks Brian. You guys are great!

Chris

two questions:

1- on page one it says upconversion only for non-copy-protected dvds. these are becoming more and more widespread - will they not play, or look like crap? is this standard for all converters?

2- what is the quality of the hdmi cable? should i upgrade?

1. HDMI is not restricted. The restriction is for the component port (for licensing reasons). Disks will play over component at 480 only. Unsupported firmware is available that removes this restriction.

2. Oppo cables have worked well for me. They are said to be similar to cables available from monoprice.com.

-Bill

LED is either Off or On. You can dim it by reducing the voltage, but the means the entire front panel will have a reduced voltage, which in turn could mean reduced functionality response by the IR sensor.


LED brightness is controlled by current. As they are forward-biased diodes, they are almost short circuits once the junction voltage is exceeded. For programmably controlled brightness, you could insert a FET or switched resistors in series with the display without doing anything to the rails.

Guys...any recommendations on where to buy the DV-970HD (direct from Oppo?)

I put an order in with Amazon, at the beginning of this month but it's been out of stock and I just received an email from them that they don't expect to ship until sometime in February. So, I canceled the order and am now looking for a new vendor to buy from.

If I wasn't using this with a Panny plasma, I'd look at the 971 or even the new 981. The faroudja chip in both of those are reported to give the Panny macroblocking fits if I understand what I've read.

I'd order straight from oppo. They've got stock (last time I checked, at least) and they're great to deal with.

I'd order straight from oppo. They've got stock (last time I checked, at least) and they're great to deal with.
might just do that...only other source I saw after a quick check was projector people. same price, same shipping cost. might as well order from the manufacturer. even amazon was the same price but I was saving the $15 shipping cost going through them.

I bought mine from projectorpeople.com when I also purchased my HD1000U projector. It was $149.00 + $10 shipping. It was in stock, as well.

Chris

I'd order straight from oppo. They've got stock (last time I checked, at least) and they're great to deal with.I heard a rumor that Oppo has refurb 970's for $119, but I can't find them anywhere on their website.. anyone have a link to that deal?

thanks ahead of time!

You might need to call them for B-stock.

I heard a rumor that Oppo has refurb 970's for $119, but I can't find them anywhere on their website.. anyone have a link to that deal?

Because B-Stock is in flux, OPPO does not have B-Stock listed on their website. You will need to purchase it through the phone (650-961-1118).

I got my 970 a few weeks ago, but only today got around to actually hooking it up and trying it out (I moved in the middle of this month, so I've been busy). I installed the component hack, and started up DVE, and the player froze on two seperate occasions in the span of about a half-hour. The only thing that I could do was unplug the player from the wall - it was completely unresponsive.

If it was just one lock-up, no big deal, but two in such a short time period has me a little concerned. I don't think the problem is with the hack, since everything went fine when I installed it, and I know that a number of other people use it with no issues. Physically, the disc is perfect; no scratches or anything like that.

Any ideas? I'd really prefer to keep using the hack, so trying out another firmware version wouldn't do much for me. Doesn't seem like a whole lot of other people are having this issue (which I guess is bad for me, and good for everyone else).

reflash it. sometimes there might be glitches. If it still freezes, I'd contact oppo as it might just be a bad unit.

jeff

I have a question about back up copies made using DVD X Copy Platinum Edition. Will this player play these discs at all? If so will they up convert using HDMI? I'm a newbie with all of this so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, J.T.

Can anyone give me any insight on this?

This should not be a problem. I personally due 1:1 backups or rips (main film only) but I use other programs, I do not think you will have problems with DVD X Copy.

This should not be a problem. I personally due 1:1 backups or rips (main film only) but I use other programs, I do not think you will have problems with DVD X Copy.

Thanks. :)

LED brightness is controlled by current. As they are forward-biased diodes, they are almost short circuits once the junction voltage is exceeded. For programmably controlled brightness, you could insert a FET or switched resistors in series with the display without doing anything to the rails. Correct.

I suppose that the real reason this LED panel is not dimmable, is that switched resistors were not included in the hardware design.

Gary

I installed the component hack, and started up DVE, and the player froze on two seperate occasions in the span of about a half-hour. The only thing that I could do was unplug the player from the wall - it was completely unresponsive. I have found that lockups can occur if a series of many commands are sent in rapid succession, as in navigating DVE for example. The lockup is not permanent, though. If you leave the player alone for a while, the player "catches up" with the last few commands that had been sent, and recovers just fine.

Gary

]I suppose that the real reason this LED panel is not dimmable, is that switched resistors were not included in the hardware design.

They are not, which is why you would need to change the current on the entire board itself, which will effect the rest of the electronics on the front panel.

Apparently disables HDCP/Enables Component outputs. Can anyone confirm?[/QUOTE]
In response to your question regarding the firmware upgrade, I can confirm that it indeed works and is quite easy. I'm a bit of a moron when it comes to computers, but even I was able to make it work. Here's my story:

I recently purchase a Sony KDL-V402500 LCD flatscreen, and I was a bit disappointed with the PQ with my old DVD player. TV is hanging on the wall with the receiver across the room, and HDMI was not available when the in-wall wiring was complete. I plan to install HDMI when true HD-DVD is reasonably priced, so I wanted a temporary solution for now.

I read the multiple posts on this forum and decided the OPPO would be a great solution. I decided to download the file BEFORE purchasing the DVD player to make sure it was legit. I followed each link and found the rapidshare link to be the only one still active. I was a bit nervous by the advertising at the link, but went for it anyway(no one has ever steered me wrong on these posts). I followed the steps for a "non premier" member and downloaded the file to my desktop. I then double clicked the icon and my CD burning software automatically opened. I could see it was going to write an ".iso" file, so everything looked good. I chose the appropriate source and destination and hit the "burn" button. It worked!

Next, I purchased the DVD player and set it up temporarily via the included HDMI cable. PQ was greatly improved with the upscaling via HDMI, so I decided to try the firmware upgrade and check out the component cables. I installed my recently burned CD and the DVD player instantly read the CD and gave me directions to perform the upgrade(basically, push "play" and wait). The upgrade took about 2 minutes, and now I can watch upconverted picture via component cables.

Very happy with the performance so far(did the upgrade last night)!

I hope this post helps! I really wanted to show that it actually works and is also quite easy, even for a non-computer guy like myself.

So are you guys saying that by doing hte firmware upgrade off of Oppo's site, it allows for the use of compenent cables instead of HDMI at the 720p resolution?

Chris

So are you guys saying that by doing hte firmware upgrade off of Oppo's site, it allows for the use of compenent cables instead of HDMI at the 720p resolution?

Chris

No, that is unsupported firmware not available from Oppo. Search this thread for "rapidshare".

-Bill

No - the firmware from OPPO's site includes the latest revisions (gapless SACD playback being the biggie), but HDCP remains in effect and copy protected discs are still limited to 480p output via HDMI. There is a [hacked version of an older firmware, created by folks unassociated with OPPO and not available from OPPO's site, that disables HDCP and allows 720p/1080i output for copy protected discs.

I found 3 links to the firmware upgrade on page 57 of this thread. The only one that still appeared active was the rapidshare link. Don't be alarmed by the "find local girls in your area" advertising, the link definitely works!

Which has the better PQ, upconvert thru component or upconvert thru HDMI?

I've had a 970 for about a month now and I just found out over the weekend that my Samsung HL-S6188 has different picture modes available depending on what type of signal (SD or HD) it receives. On initial setup, I set the output to 1080i and have watched a few movies. It looks great!

However, about a week ago while watching Rocky II DVD, noticed that I didn't have the ability to use the "Zoom 1" picture setting. I kept thinking I had the DVD in the player on the 4:3 side or that the OPPO's setting somehow defaulted. I finally gave up troubleshooting and watched the film letter and pillarboxed. :mad:

It wasn't until this past weekend when I started watching "The Abyss" that I figured out the issue. When I set the OPPO to output 480i or 480P, my TV gets all the picture mode; 4:3, 16:9, Wide Fit, Zoom 1 and Zoom 2. When the OPPO is set to output at an HD resolution, my TV will only switch between 4:3, 16:9 and Wide Fit. So, with "The Abyss" I couldn't get the picture to the proper aspect ratio until I set the OPPO to output at 480P. :p

Is there a setting that I'm missing? :confused:

reflash it. sometimes there might be glitches. If it still freezes, I'd contact oppo as it might just be a bad unit.

jeffI burnt a new copy of the upgrade and re-flashed it, and movies continued to freeze. At that point, I downloaded the newest official firmware and flashed it with that, settling with 480p output just to test a few movies - I was able to play two straight through without the player locking up (one of which had caused freezes on two separate occasions earlier).

This morning I re-flashed the hacked firmware AGAIN, and my player locked up within about ten minutes. My player either really doesn't like the hacked firmware, or it doesn't like outputting at 720p at all.

Seems silly to waste all this time testing, but I just really didn't want to send the player back, which is what I'll probably have to do now.

Is there a setting that I'm missing? :confused:

I suspect the problem is that THE ABYSS is a non-anamorphic title. That is, it is a widescreen picture embedded in a 4:3 aperture with black margins above and below. The player, when upscaling, displays this pillarboxed (I presume you are using Wide/Auto?) as it does any 4:3 title.

There is no automatic way for the Oppo to expand the picture to the full widith of the screen. (I don't have the 970, but this is the same on the 971 and 981). If could be you have better aspect and fill control by using a 480 signal and using the display's controls.

I'm not sure about ROCKY II; there have been a couple of disk versions.

-Bill

biggestmuff
I too have a samsung. That is a function of the tv not the oppo. The samsung will only give you 16:9, widefit (move) and 4:3 option when the feed is 720p or 1080i. The other zoom1, zoom2 options are only present for SD feeds.

DVhost
I had the same sony in and oak wall unit. The sony was a perfect fit. Then it stopped working.The problems was do I spend a couple of hundred dollars to fix or take this as an opportunity to finally purchase a plasma. Ended up doing both (long story). The plasma I purchased (samsung 42" fit edge to edge on the wall unit. I would not fit inside (about 1/2" too wide). I built a 2x4 sub frame inside the wall unit and mounted the plasma barcket to it. Even the wife was happy with the look. I alway thought my Sony had a terrific picture until I connect OTA hd transmission.

wmcclain, The Abyss was only pillarboxing in when the TV was set to 4:3, as expected. The 16:9 setting made the movie's ratio wider than 2.35:1, it filled the TV's frame horizontally, but vertically it was smashed; actors and circular object were short, squashed and oval. The WideFit setting expanded the image vertically, but the sides of the film were off of the screen.

jhb-snowboard, thanks for the confirmation. I knew it was the TV, but was unsure if the availability of the picture settings were due to the received signal. Thanks for confirming it.

The problem just caught me off guard, because I've watched over a dozen films in the last 6 weeks or so and hadn't ran into that problem yet.

which connections do you on the player (component, s-video, multi-channel audio, etc.)? I have component, s-video and multi-channel audio hooked up and am running the hacked firmware with no issues. Might be a bad player?

jeff
I burnt a new copy of the upgrade and re-flashed it, and movies continued to freeze. At that point, I downloaded the newest official firmware and flashed it with that, settling with 480p output just to test a few movies - I was able to play two straight through without the player locking up (one of which had caused freezes on two separate occasions earlier).

This morning I re-flashed the hacked firmware AGAIN, and my player locked up within about ten minutes. My player either really doesn't like the hacked firmware, or it doesn't like outputting at 720p at all.

Seems silly to waste all this time testing, but I just really didn't want to send the player back, which is what I'll probably have to do now.

which connections do you on the player (component, s-video, multi-channel audio, etc.)? I have component, s-video and multi-channel audio hooked up and am running the hacked firmware with no issues. Might be a bad player?

jeff

Hey, Jeff. Just curious, why do you have component and s-video connected?

Hi Pete, I also have a Sony HS20 and am interested in the Oppo 970HD as well. Appreciate if you could share your comment on your HS20+970HD. Thanks.

Each firmware is self contained. That is, it will overwrite the firmware entirely. So if you installed the 4A-1220 firmware, it will be completely overwritten by the hacked 1-0613 Firmware.

So, as I understand, I have to make a choice of which features I want- ie: if I'm going through component cables, I go with the 1-0613 hack to upconvert , and if I go with any other upgrade I would get the fixes but not bevable to upconvert through the component cable? :(

So, as I understand, I have to make a choice of which features I want- ie: if I'm going through component cables, I go with the 1-0613 hack to upconvert , and if I go with any other upgrade I would get the fixes but not bevable to upconvert through the component cable? :(
That is exactly correct - until somebody creates a newer hack based on the latest OPPO firmware, you have to choose between the latest official firmware or the older firmware with the component video hack.

Just wondering if my post got lost in the shuffle? My original post follows:

Speaking of the Beatles Love DVD-A...

Is anyone else experiencing a glitch between tracks? Playing the high resolution MLP tracks via HDMI to a Denon Avr-887 I get a skip/drop-out between songs that cross track boundaries. It is very quick, unlike the 1 second SACD issue (which the new firmware did fix, thank you very much).

I just got this player today and so far it looks hopeful. It's replacing a Toshiba DVD-A/SACD & Outlaw ICBM with 12 RCA interconnects. If I can get DVD-A/SACD playback reliably with just 1 cable I'll be thrilled.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Update: I tried the Pink Floyd DSOTM & Chicago DVD-A's and get the same result. Next I tried the DVD Video layer of these discs over HDMI and the track changes are seamless, so my problem is strictly with the high resolution layer.

I see I am not the only one as evidenced here:

If I mention something already stated in this thread, please excuse me, because this thing has a life of it's own.
On the audio side, everyone knows about the SACD bug which adds a two to three second pause between tracks on a disc, even though there does not supposed to be one (Dark Side of the Moon, etc.). There is also a similar, although not as pronounced flaw when playing DVD-Audio discs. I have a copy of Beethoven's 5th and 6th Symphonies by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. In the 5th Symphony, between the third and fourth movements, the Oppo hiccups slightly between the tracks. Anyone familiar with the 5th knows that the third and fourth movements run right into each other, with no break. I hope this minor flaw is also on Oppo's plate, as both the SACD and DVD-Audio situation really needs to be fixed.

__________________
Catdaddy

Would others please report their findings on this issue?

Thanks

Isn't that problem supposed to be fixed by the "new" firmware???

What Catdaddy describes is the gap in SACD playback that the new firmware should fix. The fix was first incorporated into the 981HD, and I found it to be truly gapless - the test I used was DSOTM, which really is intended to be gapless. What RAFABAMAD describes may be related to using the HDMI connection for audio, and may (just guessing here) be due to the processor re-acquiring the signal for some reason between tracks.

What Catdaddy describes is the gap in SACD playback that the new firmware should fix. The fix was first incorporated into the 981HD, and I found it to be truly gapless - the test I used was DSOTM, which really is intended to be gapless. What RAFABAMAD describes may be related to using the HDMI connection for audio, and may (just guessing here) be due to the processor re-acquiring the signal for some reason between tracks.

No, he also describes an issue with DVD-Audio. See the bolded text below. For the record, I agree the SACD issue has been resolved. I stated so in my original post.

If I mention something already stated in this thread, please excuse me, because this thing has a life of it's own.

On the audio side, everyone knows about the SACD bug which adds a two to three second pause between tracks on a disc, even though there does not supposed to be one (Dark Side of the Moon, etc.). There is also a similar, although not as pronounced flaw when playing DVD-Audio discs. I have a copy of Beethoven's 5th and 6th Symphonies by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. In the 5th Symphony, between the third and fourth movements, the Oppo hiccups slightly between the tracks. Anyone familiar with the 5th knows that the third and fourth movements run right into each other, with no break. I hope this minor flaw is also on Oppo's plate, as both the SACD and DVD-Audio situation really needs to be fixed.

__________________
Catdaddy

I just burned Verbatim +R DL 8x-rated discs using a Sony DRU-820A at 8x and 2.4x, and neither could be read by my Oppo. An older Verbatim +R DL 2.4x-rated disc burned on the same drive (IIRC at 8x) could be read. Is it possible the Oppo needs a firmware update to recognize the ID of the new media?

No, he also describes an issue with DVD-Audio. See the bolded text below. For the record, I agree the SACD issue has been resolved. I stated so in my original post.
I noticed your comments about the original SACD issue - which is what led me to suspect that the issue is related to the HDMI connection. I haven't used a 970HD, but I haven't noticed any sort of gap on DVD-Audio discs using the multichannel analog output. If nobody chimes in here with useful feedback, you might want to drop OPPO an e-mail. They may have already encountered it and be working on a fix, or you may have uncovered something previously unseen.

If the issue is related to signal acquisition time, then about all OPPO could do is find a way to keep the digital bitstream from being interrupted (and whether or not that's even possible is beyond me), with the rest of the mix being on your receiver to deal with acquiring the signal.

I just burned Verbatim +R DL 8x-rated discs using a Sony DRU-820A at 8x and 2.4x, and neither could be read by my Oppo. An older Verbatim +R DL 2.4x-rated disc burned on the same drive (IIRC at 8x) could be read. Is it possible the Oppo needs a firmware update to recognize the ID of the new media?

My player can read Verbatim DVD-R DL 8x (pinkish top) just fine. What are you using to burn? Make sure book-type is set to "DVD-ROM"

Burn speed should not matter.

Hey, Jeff. Just curious, why do you have component and s-video connected?

the component cables go through a switch and a transcoder box to the HD input of the tv (mits 73908 featuring rgbhv bnc connection - a single one). this my setup for video. the s-video connection I use to monitor music playback. It's nothing special, just the way I choose to cable it.

Best,
jeff

My player can read Verbatim DVD-R DL 8x (pinkish top) just fine. What are you using to burn?
You mean +R, right? I used the DVD Writing Tool that's part of TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.0. The identical tool, with the identical settings and DVD folder contents, burned a Memorex +R DL that the Oppo reads just fine.

You mean +R, right? I used the DVD Writing Tool that's part of TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.0. The identical tool, with the identical settings and DVD folder contents, burned a Memorex +R DL that the Oppo reads just fine.

Oops, yes I did mean +R. Try ripping a DVD that works, using DVDShrink and re-burning the ISO with DVDShrink or Nero. I've only ever used Verbatim and they have always worked no matter what.

I noticed your comments about the original SACD issue - which is what led me to suspect that the issue is related to the HDMI connection. I haven't used a 970HD, but I haven't noticed any sort of gap on DVD-Audio discs using the multichannel analog output. If nobody chimes in here with useful feedback, you might want to drop OPPO an e-mail. They may have already encountered it and be working on a fix, or you may have uncovered something previously unseen.

If the issue is related to signal acquisition time, then about all OPPO could do is find a way to keep the digital bitstream from being interrupted (and whether or not that's even possible is beyond me), with the rest of the mix being on your receiver to deal with acquiring the signal.

Thanks for the response. I'm trying to get away from the analogs. I guess I'll have to try them just to see if that's the case. SACD and DVD-A playback over HDMI are the only reason I bought the player. If I don't have the problem using the analogs, then maybe the 981 will provide what I'm looking for?

If you don't have problems with the analogs, pass along the info to OPPO along with your other findings - I can't swear that it's an issue with the 981HD itself (may be related to the receiver and how it acquires digital signals from the HDMI input, after all), but if they can do something about it they will.

i'm entering oppo land tomorrow. buying the 970 through their website. looking forward to it.

someone above asked about the PQ difference between using component versus hdmi. i'd like to know, too, and no one has answered. anyone seen this to comment on it?

thanks from both of us,
anscules

What is PQ?

Chris

PQ == picture quality.

I got the Oppo(970) just last week. I have it hooked up through my reciever as well as two other DVD players. No issue with the other two just with the Oppo. On the splash screen the backgroung is light green and the letters white. Just a note I made all of my cables using canare cable and RCAs and tested them out for continuity. Is this a cable problem or not. Also the picture on the Oppo is rather bland and some colors are missing. Thanks.

Forgot to add that all of them are hooked up with component cables.

Only issue I have with this nice player is the remote. Non-contrasting lettering and small size makes it impossible for me to read the key functions. For an extra charge OPPO should consider selling a quality back lighted remote.

Richard.

I got the Oppo(970) just last week. I have it hooked up through my reciever as well as two other DVD players. No issue with the other two just with the Oppo. On the splash screen the backgroung is light green and the letters white. Just a note I made all of my cables using canare cable and RCAs and tested them out for continuity. Is this a cable problem or not. Also the picture on the Oppo is rather bland and some colors are missing. Thanks.

Forgot to add that all of them are hooked up with component cables.
make sure your resolution is set to 480i or 480p unless you are using the hacked firmware.

also go into your setup and put the color space in RGB or 4:4:4 and see if either works to correct the color output.

If you tv supports HDMI, i suggest you run straight to the TV via HDMI.

-Gagan

I noticed your comments about the original SACD issue - which is what led me to suspect that the issue is related to the HDMI connection. I haven't used a 970HD, but I haven't noticed any sort of gap on DVD-Audio discs using the multichannel analog output. If nobody chimes in here with useful feedback, you might want to drop OPPO an e-mail. They may have already encountered it and be working on a fix, or you may have uncovered something previously unseen.

If the issue is related to signal acquisition time, then about all OPPO could do is find a way to keep the digital bitstream from being interrupted (and whether or not that's even possible is beyond me), with the rest of the mix being on your receiver to deal with acquiring the signal.

Yes the DVD-A version of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2003 does suffers from momentary gaps. Same goes for the quad version of the DSOTM on DVD-A. Both were fine on my Denon 2900. I did dowload the SACD "fix" which seems to only work on SACD. Bummer!
[This is through the analog outputs.]

Only issue I have with this nice player is the remote. Non-contrasting lettering and small size makes it impossible for me to read the key functions. For an extra charge OPPO should consider selling a quality back lighted remote.

Richard.
Or just use a quality universal remote ;-)

jeff

Yes the DVD-A version of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2003 does suffers from momentary gaps. Same goes for the quad version of the DSOTM on DVD-A. Both were fine on my Denon 2900. I did dowload the SACD "fix" which seems to only work on SACD. Bummer!
[This is through the analog outputs.]

Thanks for the info. Do you plan on contacting OPPO or do you just intend on living with it?

someone above asked about the PQ difference between using component versus hdmi. i'd like to know, too, and no one has answered. anyone seen this to comment on it?

There are way too many variables in any answer to that question. Not the least of which is that PQ is very subjective. Having said that, I prefer 1080i over component on my 57" CRT. YMMV.

I've spent some time with the 970HD using component outs at 1080i to my mits 73903 (73'' crt rp set). the 970 replace a zenith 318 that was also running component out. I am very impressed at the sharpness of the picture. I didn't think it could get any sharper, but it is.

Throw-in universal player (the 970 also replace my 563a) and this really is a bargain. I'm *very* happy with this upgrade.

Regarding the squeeze issue. If you a/b, you'll see it. I estimate on my set (36'' tall) that it's nearly about 1/2 inch overall. On an overscan test pattern it looks like about 2% or so.

Best,
jeff

Regarding the squeeze issue. If you a/b, you'll see it. I estimate on my set (36'' tall) that it's nearly about 1/2 inch overall. On an overscan test pattern it looks like about 2% or so.
Can you explain the squeeze issue??? I tried to go through this thread, but it was daunting, so I page through and didn't really understand that issue.

Regarding the squeeze issue. If you a/b, you'll see it. I estimate on my set (36'' tall) that it's nearly about 1/2 inch overall. On an overscan test pattern it looks like about 2% or so.

Do yourself a favor. Don't A-B it and you'll never know you're missing anything. :D

Can you explain the squeeze issue??? I tried to go through this thread, but it was daunting, so I page through and didn't really understand that issue.

The DV-970HD has a slight vertical compression of 5 to 10 pixels from the top and bottom. This can be addressed through firmware (beta which is available by contacting OPPO direct).

Do yourself a favor. Don't A-B it and you'll never know you're missing anything. :D

I didn't systematically a/b it. I disconnected the zenith and 563a, hooked up the oppo, checked calibration and hook-ups and haven't looked back ;-)

Thanks to sfhub for the 970HD jp1 device upgrade. I tweaked 2 buttons and I was good to go.

Best,
jeff

The DV-970HD has a slight vertical compression of 5 to 10 pixels from the top and bottom. This can be addressed through firmware (beta which is available by contacting OPPO direct).
Does that mean 5 to 10 lines of pixels are missing? The vertical size of the picture is not 480, 720 or 1080, but actually less? Leaving blank lines at top and/or bottom of the screen? A circle would be slightly squished?

I'd like to know this too. I never gave the squeeze thing too much thought until I watched Star Wars ANH last night and I noticed the Death Star is a bit oval shaped.

No response in the 971 thread, so I'll try here...

I have a Samsung 32" LCD (3251D), and I emailed Oppo asking which dvd player they recommend for my display between the 970 and 971. They responded:

Scott,

Either DVD player will work on your display. The main difference
between the OPDV971H and the DV-970HD are their de-interlacing characteristics.
The OPDV971H has the superior de-interlacing and scaling chipset which
can reduce jagged edges and combing errors. However, the amount of
processing done will slightly decrease sharpness. If sharpness is your
main worry, then you will want to go with the DV-970HD, as it supports
better sharpness.

Best Regards,

Customer Service

Now to the average viewer, which player would present a "better" picture on my display? Also, what is combing? Thanks for any help.

it appears that the current firmware addresses the squeeze. is this true? i was going to order this tonight until i read about the oval death star. i just read the breakdowns for the various firmware releases and they did not mention anything like this.

i'm going to delay my purchase until i can get confirmation on this. my oppo would be hooked via hdmi to a pioneer 4270, with digital coax to pio rec.

Try ripping a DVD that works, using DVDShrink and re-burning the ISO with DVDShrink or Nero.
An as-supplied GetGray ISO burned with Nero also can't be read by the Oppo. Anyone else have success or failure with Verbatim +R DL rated at 8x ("up to 10x speed")?

it appears that the current firmware addresses the squeeze. is this true? i was going to order this tonight until i read about the oval death star. i just read the breakdowns for the various firmware releases and they did not mention anything like this.

i'm going to delay my purchase until i can get confirmation on this. my oppo would be hooked via hdmi to a pioneer 4270, with digital coax to pio rec.

There is a beta firmware that addresses the squeeze, I believe it is different from the current beta on their website which addresses SACD issues. For those interested in the squeeze beta, it's been posted and I will repeat, email Oppo to ask for it.

Neuromancer - Could you clear something up?

I email Oppo directly for the squeeze fix firmware and they sent me 3A-0911_UnderscanFix_iso. Do you know the differences from the newer 4A-1220 firmware? Should I stay with 1220? 0911 seems so old.

Is everyone who's listening to DVD-A via HDMI experiencing the added gaps between tracks? If not, what receivers are involved?

Neuromancer - Could you clear something up?

I email Oppo directly for the squeeze fix firmware and they sent me 3A-0911_UnderscanFix_iso. Do you know the differences from the newer 4A-1220 firmware? Should I stay with 1220? 0911 seems so old.

I asked a similar question to Oppo, waiting on their response. I'll post when I hear from them if Neuromancer doesn't answer first.

Cool thanks Mather.

Oppo is aware of the DVD-Audio issue. Following are my email to Oppo support and their response.

Greetings,

DV-970HD & DVD-Audio playback

When playing the high resolution MLP tracks of DVD-Audio discs, I get a skip/drop-out between songs that cross track boundaries. It is very quick, but similar to the 1 second SACD issue (which the new firmware did fix,thank you very much).

I tried the DVD Video layer of these discs and the track changes are seamless, so my problem appears to be strictly with the high resolution layer.

The player is connected via HDMI to a Denon Avr-887. I have not tried the analog connections since a couple others on avsforum have reported the same issue connecting via analog.

I just got this player Friday and so far it looks hopeful. It's replacing a Toshiba DVD-A/SACD & Outlaw ICBM with 12 RCA interconnects. If I can get DVD-A/SACD playback reliably with just 1 cable I'll be thrilled.

Thank you,
Robert

Beatles "Love" is a known issue and will be addressed in a future firmware release. This issue will likely fix the errors with your other DVD-Audio MLP discs.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119

Thank you...that particular disc hasn't left my Denon 2900 since Nov. 21, so I'm happy it's getting its own firmware. :) Can't wait to go HDMI for hi-rez...

Thanks to you all...
After looking through this forum and reading all that you have said about the OPPO, I decided to get one to replace my broken Sony DVP-9000ES.
Ordered it on Tuesday (12/26) evening, received it on Friday! (12/29)
(I'm lucky, I live in the bay area , not far from OPPO's offices)
After going out and getting the appropriate cables (the cable manufacturers should subsidize OPPO, as I spent more on cables then the DVD player), and hooking the player up, I was amazed at the PQ! :D
Hooked it up to my Mits WS-65903, which I've had since '99, boy what a nice picture.
But then disaster struck...while changing back and forth between 480i and 480p, I hit a wrong button, and now have no video image.... :mad:
Looks like I'm gonna get a new tv soon... :)
Switched the OPPO to the other tv, a Hitachi 42HDT51, upconverted the signal to 1080i and watched the Da Vinci Code.
Absolutely amazing picture!
Once again thanks everyone! :)

Neuromancer - Could you clear something up?

I email Oppo directly for the squeeze fix firmware and they sent me 3A-0911_UnderscanFix_iso. Do you know the differences from the newer 4A-1220 firmware? Should I stay with 1220? 0911 seems so old.

3A-0911 is the only firmware which addresses the vertical compression. All the firmware on the website for OPPO fixes SACD gapless playback. There is no firmware which fixes both (yet).

Now to the average viewer, which player would present a "better" picture on my display? Also, what is combing? Thanks for any help.

To the average viewer the DV-970HD will produce the best picture quality to the eye, as it is the sharpest and does not have macroblocking errors. I personally find it to be very "digital" looking which is why it is not my main DVD player.

They are not, which is why you would need to change the current on the entire board itself, which will effect the rest of the electronics on the front panel.
Actually, you wouldn't need switched resistors or any other kind of hardware support to implement a front panel dimming solution. You could do it entirely in firmware by altering the duty cycle of the individual display elements via pulse width modulation.

An as-supplied GetGray ISO burned with Nero also can't be read by the Oppo. Anyone else have success or failure with Verbatim +R DL rated at 8x ("up to 10x speed")?

I use this media successfully on the 971 and 981, but have never had a 970 to try.

-Bill

I also use the Verbatim DVD+R DL with absolutely no issues on the 970. I have burned almost 50 backups and not one fail, or skip.

Oppo is aware of the DVD-Audio issue. Following are my email to Oppo support and their response.
I was gonna contact them but there is no need now I guess. These guys are on top of things. kudos Now if only they would make a BD player. LOL

I was gonna contact them but there is no need now I guess. These guys are on top of things. kudos Now if only they would make a BD player. LOL

My thoughts exactly, I'd buy Oppo without reservation.

Well, after reading here about the vertical squeeze issue, I'll postpone my plans to buy a Oppo.

What do you mean about vertical squeeze? In what situations do you experience this with an Oppo 970?

Chris

Pop back to this post in this same thread. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9336736&&#post9336736

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze.

Richard.

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze. Richard.
Well, in that case...it's time to order one...Thanks...

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze.

Richard.

Good to hear, I ordered mine yesterday.

what would you guy's suggest for me... I am interested in getting an upscaling dvd player that plays divx... my primary use for the dvd player is for the divx... should I get the oppo 970 or 971? or any other? thnx

I presume that once the vertical squeeze fix passes 'beta', it will be included in some downloadable firmware update?

Absolutely - once they get a fix they're satisfied with, there's no question that they'll post an official firmware release that includes it.

Mine just arrived at home a half-hour ago. Can't wait to get home and hook it up. Was very happy with the 981, but just couldn't deal with the excessive macroblocking. I'll let you all know my impressions...

Mine just arrived at home a half-hour ago. Can't wait to get home and hook it up. Was very happy with the 981, but just couldn't deal with the excessive macroblocking. I'll let you all know my impressions...
Let us know how 970 looks to you.

Mine should be in today with my HD1000U as well. I can't wait to get it installed! My mount is in from Mountdirect, as well. I'll probably need to get some cables though.

Chris

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze.

Richard.Confirmation of this from Oppo?!? Email response perhaps? If so, please post and share.

This is the first time I've read this and there is nothing on the Oppo website to verify this.

Would be great news if Oppo finally has a fix that meets their exacting standards!

Two questions:

1. As I am currently using HDMI(only 1 HDMI connection on my TV) for HD-Cable box. Should I use HDMI or Component for Oppo?
2. My USB external disk drive(120GB) formatted as Fat32 - 32 GB each partition shows as "No USB". Anything I can do to fix this? I would like to utilize the USB on this player.

Anyone please?

To the average viewer the DV-970HD will produce the best picture quality to the eye, as it is the sharpest and does not have macroblocking errors. I personally find it to be very "digital" looking which is why it is not my main DVD player.

Neuromancer, what do you use as your main dvd player?

Two questions:

1. As I am currently using HDMI(only 1 HDMI connection on my TV) for HD-Cable box. Should I use HDMI or Component for Oppo?
2. My USB external disk drive(120GB) formatted as Fat32 - 32 GB each partition shows as "No USB". Anything I can do to fix this? I would like to utilize the USB on this player.

Anyone please?
At least in my experience, you're likely to be better off using the HDMI input for the OPPO and switching the HD cable box to component - my HD cable box's DVI output is indistinguishable from the component output, but the OPPO's HDMI output will allow scaling to 720p and 1080i resolutions on all DVD's while the component output will be limited to 480p. (True, there's a hack that allows 720p and 1080i over component, but it's based on older firmware.)

I'm afraid I'll have to defer to others with experience with the 970HD's USB input for the other question.

Two questions:

1. As I am currently using HDMI(only 1 HDMI connection on my TV) for HD-Cable box. Should I use HDMI or Component for Oppo?
2. My USB external disk drive(120GB) formatted as Fat32 - 32 GB each partition shows as "No USB". Anything I can do to fix this? I would like to utilize the USB on this player.

Anyone please?

The oppo only supports FAT16, max 2GB partition per this
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8021190&&#post8021190

What do you use an external HD for?

Neuromancer, what do you use as your main dvd player?

I am using the DV-981HD as my primary DVD player. I am very happy with the results, and am not keen on spending 800+ for a better DVD player at this point in time.

What do you use an external HD for?

As an alternative way to play content on the player.

You can use either USB drives or memory cards. For instance, my mother had a memory card from her digital camera filled with JPEG images from a trip to Antarctica. We just popped it in the card reader and viewed the pictures as a slide show.

It's a cool little feature. Yes, it would be nice if it was USB 2.0, or supported large drives etc. But, at that point, you should think about adding an HTPC...

I tried to hook up my external hard drive to the oppo 970 via usb. It gave me an error message and said the drive could not be read. I have an extensive collection of ogm and avi files i would like to watch and not burn to dual layers. Can anyone suggest how to fix this or will it not support an external hard drive?


From another forum I found this information concering the use of an external hard drive with the phillips 5960. They recommend using swissknife formating utility.

ytsejam :
FFNogoodnik :
From reading this thread I understand that in order to use an external hard drive with the DVP5960 it needs a USB connector and be formated with FAT32. I am still not sure if it needs to be seen by windows as a removable drive.

I have a 125 gb drive that I would like to use and am in the process of removing the video files that are on it by converting them to Divx and putting the Divx version on another drive. I figure this may take me a couple of days.

My question then becomes the drive is not seen as a removeable drive and as such am I wasting my time in moving all the stuff I have on it now just so I can format the drive as FAT32?

Thanks,
FFNogoodnik


I was wrong with my initial results. Your drive should be read by the 5960 with no problems. Just make sure it's formatted FAT32 and if you have an external power source for the enclosure, use it because the 5960 provides very little power through the USB port.


Use SwissKnife to format drive (FAT32 format).
http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm


Let me know if that works.

Thanks.

What do you use an external HD for?

For streaming video, audio and picture files.

The oppo only supports FAT16, max 2GB partition per this
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8021190&&#post8021190

I dunno about that. A lot of users are using a FAT32 formatted external drives in the capacity of 300 GB.

Does anyone know off the top of your head how long the HDMI cable is that's included with the DVD player? Also, if I run optical or coaxial for the sound, I'll have to buy that cable, right? Which is the better to use for sound quality?

Chris

Does anyone know off the top of your head how long the HDMI cable is that's included with the DVD player? Also, if I run optical or coaxial for the sound, I'll have to buy that cable, right? Which is the better to use for sound quality?
6 footer hdmi is included.....no optical cable included.

Glad I asked. If I run directly from the DVD to the projector witht he HDMI, I need approx 20-22 feet of both essentially. Off to Circuit City after work! :)

Chris

i've been trying to read as much as i can about color space lately since hooking up my Oppo dvd player and calibrating with DVE. Currently, the setup is an Oppo 970 ssending 480i via HDMI to a Pioneer 4360. Within the Oppo's setup screen, theres a colorspace option that can be selected (4:4:4, RGB, Auto) I switched it from RGB to 4:4:4 in my ignorance and calibrated the set. I know that Pioneers inherently have a lot of green push and to my surprise, when adjusting color and tint, the only way to adjust them properly with the blue filter was to have the tint pretty far on the green side of things. wouldn't this exaggerate the green push? i do see things in movies like lawns that look overly flourescent.

I'm having a bit of a time trying to figure out if i should have it set to 4:4:4 or RGB or if it even matters since some of the material i've read says that HDMI devices select the proper color space for the type of input it detects. conversely, since i'm using the 480i option, having the player set to 4:4:4 i think may be sending incorrect information since what i've read in the archives says that the source material is SD and uses a 601 color space (RGB). is this correct?

since the Oppo is a SD player and even though it upconverts it's still not an HD source, why would you want the option of sending a 4:4:4 colorspace to a device? if i'm right in my guess, wouldn't that be inaccurate to do?

Thanks for any help.

shinner - i've always used coax as i've heard that optical cable produces a sound that is a bit on the shiny side. as in, tending toward brittle.

of course, i've never used an optical in my own environment, so who knows.

shinner - i've always used coax as i've heard that optical cable produces a sound that is a bit on the shiny side. as in, tending toward brittle.
Both are digital. They should transfer the same bits. No reason for them to be different.

Hi all, sorry if my questions have already been covered, I can't find my answers despite the search:

1. I am owner of DV971H, will upgrading to DV-970HD to get 1080p on my native 1080p HP DLP worth it? Will I get a "better picture"?

2. Does 970HD allow playing of "high-res" Divx files such as those encoded at 960x720 or 720p? My DV971H gives me the message "file not compatible etc.."

Holy smokes! I can't believe how much CC wanted for and 20' HDMI and 28' component video cables. All they had was monster cable, so I knew I was going to pay too much. But, is it worth it? It was over $350 for two cables. What are my options for good cable at a lower price?

Chris

Holy smokes! I can't believe how much CC wanted for and 20' HDMI and 28' component video cables. All they had was monster cable, so I knew I was going to pay too much. But, is it worth it? It was over $350 for two cables. What are my options for good cable at a lower price?

Chris

Go to Monoprice and get your cables there.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check them out right now.

Chris

Neuromancer - Could you clear something up?

I email Oppo directly for the squeeze fix firmware and they sent me 3A-0911_UnderscanFix_iso. Do you know the differences from the newer 4A-1220 firmware? Should I stay with 1220? 0911 seems so old.

3A-0911 is the only firmware which addresses the vertical compression. All the firmware on the website for OPPO fixes SACD gapless playback. There is no firmware which fixes both (yet).

Here was my question to Oppo.

Thank you for the beta firmware below. I updated and all seems well. I do have a question regarding this firmware. How recent is this compared to what's on the website? For example, there's the new SACD beta 4a-1220 and the current 3a-0916. Does this squeeze beta more current than the 3s-0916? If not, how far back is this release compared to the 0913 sept release firmware?

Below is the response direct from Oppo regarding the squeeze firmware. Looks good to me. :D

The 3A-0911 is the same as the 4A-0916 firmware with the inclusion of the squeeze error correction. There has been no firmware designs which combine the squeeze error and SACD gapless playback.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119

I hate to ask this here, but I'm about to buy my cables and need to know what I need to hook everything up. I am so frustrated with figure this all out. :( Here's my setup:

1) Onkyo HTIB - No HDMI
2) Opp 970HD DVD
3) Dish Network Non-HD Receiver
4) HD1000U

Thanks a lot for the help,

Chris

as far as coax v. optical goes, i know they're both digital and should sound the same. i myself have never heard, to my knowledge, sound from an optical interconnect, and have just heard from multple sources that optical sounds slightly tinny. that's all.

well, i bought the oppo DV970HD a few minutes ago. yesterday i bought the monster power hts mk2 1000.

things are falling into place... tv is next. and then i have to get rid of this 180 lb. sony crt.

:confused:

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze.

Richard.

My oppo arrive two weeks ago. Noticed the slight squeeze on the first dvd I put in. But hasn't stopped me from enjoying the great PQ. Afte a few moments it isn't noticable. Just patiently waiting for the fix.

by the time the fix goes online, i'll probably just be getting around to getting the tv. the oppo will live like a hermit in my closet until then.

i'm by no means a star wars dork, but that account of an oval death star nearly scared me off.

as far as coax v. optical goes, i know they're both digital and should sound the same. i myself have never heard, to my knowledge, sound from an optical interconnect, and have just heard from multple sources that optical sounds slightly tinny. that's all.

They were wrong. It is not technically possible for a digital cable to "color" sound quality the way that an analog cable may. It is simply, flat-out, 100% impossible for that to happen. The bits get there or they don't. End of story. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding himself.

They were wrong. It is not technically possible for a digital cable to "color" sound quality the way that an analog cable may. It is simply, flat-out, 100% impossible for that to happen. The bits get there or they don't. End of story. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding himself.
what? 1s and 0s over coax sound no different than the same over optical? The hell you say :)

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze.

Richard.


Elaborate please.
Neuromancer just said that there is no unified firmware upgrade that addresses both the squeeze issue and the SACD issue. I'm guessing the current shipping units still have the SACD "gaped" playback?

Current shipping units dont suffer from vertical squeeze.

Richard.Well, I emailed Oppo about this and here's their response:

All shipped units will have the latest official release which should
have the vertical compression error associated to them. We do
not include beta firmware in shipped units.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

Since the "official" firmware release does not address the vertical squeeze, it appears that current shipping units DO suffer from vertical squeeze still and the fix is still a beta.

As promised, I got home yesterday and hooked up my new 970. All I can say is "WOW". I reviewed a couple of scenes from the Chronicles of Narnia that prompted me to ship back the 981 in the first place. No macroblocking, crystal clear PQ, great audio. I should have listening to Oppo's tech who suggested the 970 in the first place...

Live and learn....

Will the 970 hook up through component and still be able to get 720p?

Holy smokes! I can't believe how much CC wanted for and 20' HDMI and 28' component video cables. All they had was monster cable, so I knew I was going to pay too much. But, is it worth it? It was over $350 for two cables. What are my options for good cable at a lower price?

Chris


www.firefold.com

These guys have great cables for excellent prices

I've ordered many things and they have been superior so far.

Will the 970 hook up through component and still be able to get 720p?
With the official firmware, the component output will only scale up to HD resolutions (720p or 1080i) on non-copy protected DVD's (which excludes most commercial titles). There is a hacked version of an older firmware that disables HDCP and allows 720p and 1080i output via component for all discs, but it's not based on the latest firmware and isn't officially supported by OPPO.

One question. Which resolution would be the best for me to use? My TV will go up to 1080i, is that what I should set the 970 to?

One question. Which resolution would be the best for me to use? My TV will go up to 1080i, is that what I should set the 970 to?
The best place to start is the resolution closest to your TV's native resolution. Many DLP and LCD displays have a native resolution of 768 lines, for example, making 720p a better place to start with even though the TV's can accept a 1080i input. It's still not a bad idea to compare both 720p and 1080i just to find out which signal the TV works best with (since the TV will still have to do some manipulation in most cases, in order to get the signal into that specific native resolution), but more often than not the resolution closer to the native resolution will win out.

Thanks Negative1!

Chris

gonk -

Thanks. I've got the Oppo set to 720p, I think I will try some experimentation and see for myself...

As promised, I got home yesterday and hooked up my new 970. All I can say is "WOW". I reviewed a couple of scenes from the Chronicles of Narnia that prompted me to ship back the 981 in the first place. No macroblocking, crystal clear PQ, great audio. I should have listening to Oppo's tech who suggested the 970 in the first place...

Live and learn....

Hi - can I ask what type of TV you have? I recenlty got the 981 and I notice macroblocking and an overly green picture on my Samsung HL-S6187W 61" DLP. I am considering switching out to the 970 as well. Have many other people switched from the 981 to the 970 in order to get a better picture, presumably without macroblocking?

i just got the oppo with the latest fw; doing some pq testing now. i have a question regarding playing protect dvds via component...

i've stopped the dvd player and put it on 1080i. i play the movie. when i press the hdmi button again to check the resolution, it still says 1080i. i've tried this with non-protected dvds and i do see a noticeable difference between 480 and 1080; however, with protected dvds, not so much of a difference.

is it safe to say that the dvd player is really outputting 480p (protected dvds over component) although the osd says 1080i?

also, something weird happened with a particular dvd. it's a non-protected ntsc dvd, but i don't think it's region 1. the menu is pretty much a still menu except for a little animation that brings all the elements on screen. when outputting 1080 over component, the image will flicker. i'm not sure if it's the movie, dvd player, or just the tv (tv is rather old). i'm thinking something to do with the frequency? however, when i start playing the movie, it's fine.

something weird also happens with xvid (mpeg-4) movies (well, i only tried one right now). again, i'm outputting 1080 over component. the movie will play fine, but every now and then, it's almost as if it's regrabbing the 1080. the screen will go black for a half second, like a single huge flicker, then the movie will play fine again. is the dvd player truely upconverting the mpeg-4 movie to 1080? and what can this flickering problem be attributed to? edit: i also like the vobsub capability. i've yet to own a divx player that can display them; the problem is, most of the subtitles will display fine, except for a few which look scrambled, although somewhat legible. is it just a problem that future fw can fix?

thanks.

edit: oh yes, i'll be doing more testing with a much newer tv set with hdmi as well as a projector.

What is macroblocking? I just hooked up my Oppo 970 to my HD1000U last night and what I notice is the picture has a small amount of light above and below the actual picture kind of just like when you play a typical DVD on a normal non-widescreen tv. Is this normal? If so, I imagine the screen I'm making needs to be the 16:9 ratio for dimensions right?

Chris

I expected that my Sony 60A2000 would look best when fed 480i through an HDMI input since it would handle all the conversion up to its 1080p/60 display rate. It looks great that way, but my subjective conclusion is that it looks even better when feed 1080i/60 from this player; don't know why.

Richard.

i just got the oppo with the latest fw; doing some pq testing now. i have a question regarding playing protect dvds via component...

i've stopped the dvd player and put it on 1080i. i play the movie. when i press the hdmi button again to check the resolution, it still says 1080i. i've tried this with non-protected dvds and i do see a noticeable difference between 480 and 1080; however, with protected dvds, not so much of a difference.

is it safe to say that the dvd player is really outputting 480p (protected dvds over component) although the osd says 1080i?
That is exactly correct. When using the component output with official firmware, the highest resolution possible with protected discs is 480p - even when the player is set to 1080i, the component output will be limited to 480p on those discs. The HDMI output is providing 1080i, which is why the player indicates that 1080i is active.

That is exactly correct. When using the component output with official firmware, the highest resolution possible with protected discs is 480p - even when the player is set to 1080i, the component output will be limited to 480p on those discs. The HDMI output is providing 1080i, which is why the player indicates that 1080i is active.

Just to add a bit more on this as it tripped me up at first with my 970HD... the player is lying to us. Hitting the HDMI button once shows the "output resolution". If, with the player stopped, you cycle through the resolutions and set it to 1080i, it'll show 1080i. Put in a copy protected disc and hit play. While playing, hit the hdmi button. You'll still see the player show 1080i. But the output has been downrezed to 480p.

How do I know it's been downrezed? I know because my tosh locks into full display mode on 1080i input. Attemtping to change the display mode when receiving 1080i input gives the message "not available". I did not get this message even though the player shows 1080i output - meaning it's really outputing 480p.

Not a big deal, but it took me a bit to figure out what was going on.

Best,
jeff

the player is lying to us.
Not exactly lying - the HDMI output is at that listed resolution at that very instant. What the player isn't doing is telling you what the component output is doing, and in the case of protected discs the two outputs are doing different things.

Not exactly lying - the HDMI output is at that listed resolution at that very instant. What the player isn't doing is telling you what the component output is doing, and in the case of protected discs the two outputs are doing different things.
Ok fair enough ;-)

Anyone familiar enough with the internals of the 970 to know the steps between reading the disc and output via component/hdmi when upconverting? How much is shared? I'm asking because of my question about the colorspace in a separate THREAD. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=780632)

I just received my Oppo 970HD yesterday. I ordered it on Xmas. Well-packaged unit, sleek looking. It is replacing my beloved Zenith DVB-318 (one of the first lots, that had the component upconversion included). The Zenith tray has not been working properly. I won't need the Oppo for music; just movies -- I use a dedicated high-end CD player for music.

I'm connecting the Oppo via component, as my one DVI connection on the back of my TV is being used by a HD-DVR. I did the region free hack and the rapidshare upconversion-over-component hack. All worked fine. I have not watched a movie though; just tested one out to make sure everything is okay. So far, so good, but I look forward to watching a flick soon enough. My initial impressions with the pic were favorable compared to the similarly upconveted DVB-318. I also like the fast responsiveness of the unit; faster than my Zenith. I am also very impressed with the Oppo web-site, firmware updates, and instructions. This company seems excellent. If I find that the player freezes as someone else here has reported (bocmir in post #3274), or that some veritcal squeeze issue is present and distracting, I'll either revert to the most current firmware from Oppo or check out a squeeze-related beta version firmware soon to be posted on their web-site or email them to get the squeeze beta firmware update.

I would like to know if anyone else has done the component upconversion hack and subsequently un-did the hack for one reason or another (e.g. no difference in pic quality; traded off other features included in newer firmware that are more advantageous, hack mucked things up, etc.). I have a 34" Toshiba CRT.

thx, - walkman

Well, I emailed Oppo about this and here's their response:

All shipped units will have the latest official release which should
have the vertical compression error associated to them. We do
not include beta firmware in shipped units.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

Since the "official" firmware release does not address the vertical squeeze, it appears that current shipping units DO suffer from vertical squeeze still and the fix is still a beta.


Just ordered a 970, asked for the squeeze error correction firmware, was told they will ship it with my unit.
So, as above, the squeeze firmware is still in beta, it is not the flashed on the current shipping units (as Oppo states on the web site); however Oppo happily includes it in your shipment if you ask for it.

I am looking forward to see how it stacks up against my Denon 1920/756.

On a separate attaboy, I have say Oppo truly has super customer service! Its a lost art these days.

Yeah, I called them, too. Excellent service. They are right on the phone and patient.

- walkman

Got a refurbished unit this morning. Hooked it up to the HD70 FP via HDMI and watched a few movies. Picture is definitely better than my 6-year Toshiba dvd player, as it should be. However, audio is about the same, no improvement. It's a good dvd player, but does not live up the hypes thrown around on the internet.

For $150, all I'd expect is improved video. Improved audio for that price? I think you need to spend a significant sum on a Denon, Sony or dedicated CD player. There are many gradations to this view.

Got a refurbished unit this morning. Hooked it up to the HD70 FP via HDMI and watched a few movies. Picture is definitely better than my 6-year Toshiba dvd player, as it should be. However, audio is about the same, no improvement. It's a good dvd player, but does not live up the hypes thrown around on the internet.
Audio is the same through which connection playing what?

As thehun points out, digital audio output should be just the same - all it's doing is passing a raw, unaltered bitstream from the disc (either a CD or DVD) to your receiver.

I hate to ask this here, but I'm about to buy my cables....
Not sure what all your equipment is, or what connections it has, but the easiest connection configuration is to just run the video out of the DVD player to your display, and the sound out of the DVD player into the home theater receiver. You don't need to buy cables of any length longer than about 1 meter to run the sound, coax or optical, and then only the video cable to the display is what you'll need the long length for. Of course, you also need to supply the cable box signal to the display also, but agian, it's sound can go right into the receiver. Stack those units, and run short cables.

Audio is the same through which connection playing what?

Hi,

Audio is hooked up through a toslink cable. What it has I don't need -- sacd, card reader, usb, etc. What I need it does not have -- display dimmer, auto-off and timer. I can't believe not many people care about these features of convenience.

Audio is hooked up through a toslink cable.
If there was a difference in audio between two players connected to the same receiver using an optical digital audio cable (or coaxial, for that matter), that would indicate something significantly wrong with one player - either output set to PCM instead of bitstream/raw (which would cause the player to decode and downmix the DD or DTS source, leaving with you straight stereo instead of suround) or an actual defect of some sort with one player. The fact that your audio sounds the same simply confirms that both players are doing exactly what they are supposed to: deliver the audio bitstream to your receiver without errors.

Hi - can I ask what type of TV you have? I recenlty got the 981 and I notice macroblocking and an overly green picture on my Samsung HL-S6187W 61" DLP. I am considering switching out to the 970 as well. Have many other people switched from the 981 to the 970 in order to get a better picture, presumably without macroblocking?

Samsung HL-R5678W, Oppo's tech support told me not to get the 981 to use it with that TV because of the macroblocking (but of course I didn't listen). I would strongly suggest the 970...

Hi,

Audio is hooked up through a toslink cable. What it has I don't need -- sacd, card reader, usb, etc. What I need it does not have -- display dimmer, auto-off and timer. I can't believe not many people care about these features of convenience.

Believe it. I don't care about dimming or auto off. I do care about SACD, DVD-A, SD/CF reader, and USB. Different strokes...

After looking at many models, I finally decided on the 970. I ordered a b-stock unit today and can't wait to see how it looks.

Believe it. I don't care about dimming or auto off. I do care about SACD, DVD-A, SD/CF reader, and USB. Different strokes...
I'm completely with Styln on this also ... one more stroke.

After looking at many models, I finally decided on the 970. I ordered a b-stock unit today and can't wait to see how it looks.
What's a b-stock???

Hello all,
I just wanted to let everyone know that I received my 970hd from Oppo, today and I quickly hooked it up. I can say that it looks much better than my way more expensive 480p marantz DV8400. I watched Cars the other day in 480p and the jagged lines on the top of the car and the neon light chapter #28 were distracting. The Oppo smoothed out all that very nicely. I bought the 25ft HDMI cable from Oppo and connected it to my sony VPLHS-20 LCD projector without problem. The cable was very thick and appeared to be well built. I am very pleased with the 970HD and the Oppo HDMI cable, so far. Even though the screen is 7.5 feet wide, and Oppo recommends the other players, the 970 did a great job to my eyes. I plan on tweaking it this weekend. Just a few quick thoughts from my last couple of hours in my theater....Pete

Hi Guys.

New to this forum - thanks in advance for your expertise.

Just Received the 970 today. Outputting over HDMI to a Panny TH-42PHD8UK with native resolution of 1024x768. Playing a DVD results in a bright white 'flash' at approx 5 second intervals - then the Panny will just go to a black screen with no apparent input. this occurs roughly after 1 minute or so of play (always with the bright white 'flashes' till the Panny goes black).

Cycling power to the OPPO brings the Panny back to life and the whole process starts over again.

Disabled all features like 3:2 Pulldown and Video NR from the Panny's HDMI input - no help.

Tried a different HDMI cable - no help.

Oppo Tech suggested I update the firmare from their site - they show a Sept 06 Version - '916' available for download .

My OPPO was shipped with apparently a later version '919', so I didn't upgrade the firmware.

Any idea what the problem could be, should I really go to '916' Firmware, or did I just get a defective player?

What's a b-stock???

That's usually the refurbished or returns, cheaper price, same warranty, I see nothing refurb'ed or sign of returned on mine. Call Oppo to order as they are usually not listed on site.

I would like to know if anyone else has done the component upconversion hack and subsequently un-did the hack for one reason or another (e.g. no difference in pic quality; traded off other features included in newer firmware that are more advantageous, hack mucked things up, etc.). I have a 34" Toshiba CRT.

thx, - walkman

I'm thinking of buying one of these and would like to know this as well. Is it easy to go back and forth between new and old firmware? Also, is the component upconverting hack still available somewhere? No go on rapidshare.

Wow, I can't believe the hack is gone. I just downloaded it 2 weeks ago from the rapidshare site, too. Post your email address and one of us can maybe send it to you. It is easy to go back and forth with firmware versions. Just burn the firmware from the website onto a cd and install into the Oppo. Same process. Oppo describes this on their web-site. You just have know how to burn an iso image onto a cd. It's not tricky, but it's not the same as making a typical data cd. There are lots of instructions on the web and herein.

Quick question - does the region free hack work to play PAL DVD's over component?

Quick question - does the region free hack work to play PAL DVD's over component?Yes it does, but don't forget that the 970HD does NOT have 2:2 pull-down, so you will see more judder on PAL movies as the 970HD only does 3:2 pull-down. If PAL is your main "diet" you should really be looking at the 971H which does have 2:2 and 2:3 pull-down. The 971 also doesn't need a hack as it has a DVI output that is NOT HDCP encrypted, so you can upscale all the way to 1080i. But, its doesn't do upscaling over its component output.

Got my 970 back in November and had some trouble playing video off the USB and card ports. After upgrading my SD card from a standard SanDisk to a super high speed ATP (rated 10 MBps) divx files seem to be playing well enough.

Also, purchased a 500 GB external HD on boxing day to act as a simple media server. The 970 wouldn't recognize the HD when formatted using NTFS, but once I reformatted the drive with FAT32, the 970 had no problems reading the music/video files off the HD.

When using USB, the video files do get choppy during fast action or rapid panning sequences. I didn't notice this problem when using the SD card. My conclusion is the card port is faster than the USB 1.1 port. Overall, I'm satisfied, but I still hope the speed on the USB port can be improved by future firmware updates...

Yes it does, but don't forget that the 970HD does NOT have 2:2 pull-down, so you will see more judder on PAL movies as the 970HD only does 3:2 pull-down. If PAL is your main "diet" you should really be looking at the 971H which does have 2:2 and 2:3 pull-down. The 971 also doesn't need a hack as it has a DVI output that is NOT HDCP encrypted, so you can upscale all the way to 1080i. But, its doesn't do upscaling over its component output.

Hmmm I already have the 970... is this a "deal breaker" that would make a movie unwatchable?

Hmmm I already have the 970... is this a "deal breaker" that would make a movie unwatchable?Depends on what you're used to. In PAL land, OTA broadcasts are done at 25fps, so you get exactly 2:2 pull down at 50Hz. If your display can't do 50Hz, then it's really not an issue as 2:2 pull-down isn't going to give you smooth movement anyway. If you already have the 970HD, why not try a decrypted PAL movie and see what it looks like. The hacked FW will behave the same way, so this'll give you a good idea what the judder will look like.

Any word on an updated hack? It seems as though the original hack is hard to find these days.

I could use a copy of the original hack if someone is willing to Email it to me. No longer available anywhere on line.

what's the original hack? and what's not the original (updated) hack?

i have 613AMOD.iso, which is just 935.BIN on a data disk, which can be found on that yahoo groups page, which i think is the same thing. allows upconversion over component, based on older fw (not sure which).

It's based on 613A

Edit: Rehosted, http://www.filefactory.com/file/ebf391/

To make searching for it easier, 1A-0613A HDCP Hack And Removal Firmware (http://www.filefactory.com/file/ebf391/). This is the same as the Rapidshare 0613AMOD

Thank you to both Stimby and Neuromancer.........

Hello,

I have a 970HD purchased in September. I have it hooked up through HDMI to
my Mitsubishi WD-57831 DLP. Recently, (within the last week), macroblocking
on dark scenes has become so bad it is almost unwatchable. I haven't changed
any settings on the player, or the TV. The TV acts fine otherwise.
Any ideas as to what has happened? I'm going to email Oppo also.
Perhaps this thing has gone bad?


Mark

Yes it does, but don't forget that the 970HD does NOT have 2:2 pull-down, so you will see more judder on PAL movies as the 970HD only does 3:2 pull-down.
I know Oppo says the same thing but, why did the 970 pass 2-2 film in the Secrets review? Is that test something else?

Hello,

I just received my oppo 970 and was wondering. how I should go about setting it up. I have a TOSHIBA rear projection 1080i/480p TW57HD Component only (NO HDMI). If I just bought an oppo has the older firmware already been installed by OPPO? Which firmware should I use from the start? I plan to use the firmware to upconvert through component? If I run the upconvert firmware first and additional firmware later will there be any problems? Any additonal settings I should set the player from the start? I do not plan to play much music on it. I am looking for the best picture quality available.


Any Tips for an OPPO Newbie would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

I recently purchased 3 DV-970HD DVD Players because of their ability to handle a wide variety of video file types.

However I am having problem playing certain video files. The video stutters very much. There is about 1/2 second of motion, then frozen frame for about 5-6 seconds, then 1/2 second of motion, then frozen frame for about 5-6 seconds again. This repeats with every file of this type. I have tried burning and playing from a few different DVDs and also from a few different burned CDS. It appears the DVD/CD media and burn type makes not difference. It is the particular encoding of the file.

Following is the GSpot information for the problematic video files. Does anyone know what in particular about this encoding is causing the stuttering problems with the 970HD? The bitrate is approximately 960 kbs which is well under that divx home video 2Mbs/s standard

FILE_SIZE 734,932,992
CONT_AUDIO_STREAM_COUNT 1
CONT_BASETYPE AVI(.AVI)
CONT_BYTES_MISSING 0
CONT_INTERLEAVE_ALIGN Split
CONT_INTERLEAVE_PRELOAD 512
CONT_INTERLEAVE_TIME 42
CONT_SUBTYPE OpenDML (AVI v2.0),
CONT_TOTAL_BITRATE 0
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_AVI1
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_AVI2
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_CVD1
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_CVD2
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_DVD1
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_DVD2
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_SVCD1
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_SVCD2
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_VCD1
VIDEO_ASPECT_CONVERT_VCD2
VIDEO_ASPECT_SOURCE_MATCH
VIDEO_ASPECT_TYPE_NTSC
VIDEO_ASPECT_TYPE_PAL
VIDEO_BITRATE 965
VIDEO_CODEC_NAME XviD ISO MPEG-4
VIDEO_CODEC_STATUS Codec(s) are Installed
VIDEO_CODEC_TYPE xvid
VIDEO_DAR 2.353
VIDEO_DURATION 1:09:03
VIDEO_FIELDS_PER_SEC
VIDEO_FRAME_COUNT 11863368
VIDEO_FRAMES_PER_SEC 23.976
VIDEO_H264
VIDEO_MPEG2
VIDEO_MPEG2_3X2
VIDEO_MPEG2_BFF
VIDEO_MPEG2_I_L
VIDEO_MPEG2_PPF
VIDEO_MPEG2_PROG
VIDEO_MPEG2_TFF
VIDEO_MPEG4 MPEG-4
VIDEO_MPEG4_BVOP B-VOP
VIDEO_MPEG4_GMC GMC
VIDEO_MPEG4_NVOP
VIDEO_MPEG4_QPEL QPel
VIDEO_PAR 1.000
VIDEO_PICS_PER_SEC 23.976
VIDEO_QF 0.231
VIDEO_SAR 2.353
VIDEO_SIZE_X 640
VIDEO_SIZE_Y 272
AUDIO_BITRATE 448
AUDIO_BITRATE_TYPE CBR
AUDIO_CHANNEL_COUNT 6
AUDIO_CODEC 0x2000 (Dolby AC3) AC3
AUDIO_CODEC_STATUS Codec(s) are Installed
AUDIO_MPEG_STREAM_ID
AUDIO_MPEG_SUBSTREAM_ID
AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE 48000

Also should note I am using this version of the firmware:
05.00.01.07 Batch: 3A-0916

Hi,

Can someone help me? I play the 970 on my tube tv using component cables , but there are no picture, just a punch of lines. The other connections work fine. Is this normal or do I have a defective unit?. Thanks.

does you tv expect a certain resolution on the component input? hit the hdmi button on the remote and cycle through the possible resolutions (see the manual for the cycle) and see if you get anything on any resolutions. Some tv's expect certain scan rates on certain inputs. Also check your manual about the scan rate restrictions on certain inputs.

jeff

[QUOTE=LongbowBRO]:) :p :)
Thanks, but I figured things out. It dawned on me that the reason I was losing a single tract of sound was precisely because the Oppo was set to output audio 5.1 (you made me think...it was already set to 5.1)...I haven't hooked up the Bose 5.1 speaker system to my Mother-in-Laws TV; so, currently the audio passes through her TV speakers...her Panasonic simply couldn't "downconvert"(?) the audio signal out of the Oppo to stereo, without manually setting the Oppo's audio to stereo first...hence, piece of the sound tract was lost in that opening scene.

Made the Oppo audio switch to stereo and everything worked well.

QUOTE]

I have a 50px60u and lifestyle 12 and had to set my audio switch to audio as well. I'm running an optical cable from the panny to an optical coax conventer to the bose. Are you running something similiar? What are your other audio and speaker settings?

does you tv expect a certain resolution on the component input? hit the hdmi button on the remote and cycle through the possible resolutions (see the manual for the cycle) and see if you get anything on any resolutions. Some tv's expect certain scan rates on certain inputs. Also check your manual about the scan rate restrictions on certain inputs.

jeff

I guess it's an old tv and only accepts 480i. I cycled through the resolutions as you suggested and found 480i to be the correct one. Thanks for your help.

Please Help

I recently installed the upconversion hack in the OPPO 970. Everything was fine. I can't figure out how to change the resolution output on the DVD player to 1080i for the component output.

Thanks

Please Help

I recently installed the upconversion hack in the OPPO 970. Everything was fine. I can't figure out how to change the resolution output on the DVD player to 1080i for the component output.

Thanks


Had me scratching too. On the remote there is a small button all the way down on the left-it's there believe me!

Believe it. I don't care about dimming or auto off. I do care about SACD, DVD-A, SD/CF reader, and USB. Different strokes...

Yeah, whatever! I put this dvd player under my tv in the bedroom. The bright display distracts when I watch tv. It distracts me when I try to sleep. It has a nice auto-play feature. You would think that it would have an auto-off feature too. But no, the geeks the Oppo apparently decided to leave out features important to sensible people.

The reality behind designing any consumer electronics product is that you can't please everyone. The 970HD is an upconverting DVD player with DVD-Audio and SACD support, HDMI v1.1 (including a neat trick for SACD output via HDMI v1.1), and several other handy features for only $150 - at that price point, they simply can't do everything, and their feature set tends to make their target market budget home theater setups where auto off isn't likely to see much use. A dimmable front panel could certainly be popular with some users in this environment, which is probably why OPPO ended up adding it to their 981HD. Of the various DVD players I've had, only a couple have supported dimming the front panel display and even fewer have had an auto off (my old Panasonic RA60 would turn off automatically after the disc finished playing, but I think that may be the only one of the six or seven players I've had). Are these features that all sensible people must have? I think that's an extreme statement.

eggman11, to be sure, when the player is turned on, and there is no disc playing in the Oppo970, hit "hdmi" on your remote to cycle through the output resolutions. I am doing the same as you, upconverting over component with the firmware hack...and did this, and found 1080i, and then settled on that. - walkman

Yeah, whatever! I put this dvd player under my tv in the bedroom...It distracts me when I try to sleep...

Try closing your eyes while you're sleeping. :D

The reality behind designing any consumer electronics product is that you can't please everyone. The 970HD is an upconverting DVD player with DVD-Audio and SACD support, HDMI v1.1 (including a neat trick for SACD output via HDMI v1.1), and several other handy features for only $150 - at that price point, they simply can't do everything, and their feature set tends to make their target market budget home theater setups where auto off isn't likely to see much use. A dimmable front panel could certainly be popular with some users in this environment, which is probably why OPPO ended up adding it to their 981HD. Of the various DVD players I've had, only a couple have supported dimming the front panel display and even fewer have had an auto off (my old Panasonic RA60 would turn off automatically after the disc finished playing, but I think that may be the only one of the six or seven players I've had). Are these features that all sensible people must have? I think that's an extreme statement.

Well put Gonk. I can't imagine why sensible people would even need auto shutoff when all you have to do is hit the power button on the remote. I bought the 970 for the DVD-A/SACD support at a great price point, with high quality video and audio through HDMI. The brightness of the display doesn't bother me a bit, as I have my components off to the side of my TV enough to where it's not a distraction at all. It would be hard to find a better bang for the buck than the 970 IMO.

-- Rich

vertical compression
Does anyone have and idea of when the veritical compression fix will be out of the beta update and into a mainstream update release? My understanding the verical compression fix is only in the beta fix a couple of releases back, and not in subsequent beta releases.

Yeah, whatever! I put this dvd player under my tv in the bedroom. The bright display distracts when I watch tv. It distracts me when I try to sleep. It has a nice auto-play feature. You would think that it would have an auto-off feature too. But no, the geeks the Oppo apparently decided to leave out features important to sensible people.

I think I have just been insulted?!

Not sensible you say on a budget universal player... try this very sensible solution:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9273435&&#post9273435

I think I have just been insulted?!

Not sensible you say on a budget universal player... try this very sensible solution:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9273435&&#post9273435

Perhaps sensible isn't the right word. I was thinking "people who are style-oriented." All of you are right. If you don't need these features, then they are not important. I am used to having them. My first dvd player, a cheap panasonic model, has auto-off, display dimmer and sleep timer. My second dvd player, a toshiba model, has display dimmer and auto-off.

I want my av system to be heard and not seen. And I don't mean hiding the components in a cabinet. I just don't want them to call attention to themselves. Turning off the display accomplish this. Take the 970 for example. This dvd player is beautiful and even intriguing to look at. But when you turn it on, the bright display just screams "dvd player" and distracts at night.

Seems like a low priority attribute...but different things are important to different people. I'm okay with the bright display cos the quality of the player, upconversion over component, and service are all very good and more important, to me.

Hello,

I have a 970HD purchased in September. I have it hooked up through HDMI to
my Mitsubishi WD-57831 DLP. Recently, (within the last week), macroblocking
on dark scenes has become so bad it is almost unwatchable. I haven't changed
any settings on the player, or the TV. The TV acts fine otherwise.
Any ideas as to what has happened? I'm going to email Oppo also.
Perhaps this thing has gone bad? What have you been watching in the last week then? Macroblocking is a result of bad MPEG compression. Many DVD's are riddled with it - even new releases. "Superman Returns" and "Batman Begins" are just two examples.

Calibration of your TV can help reduce it to some degree, but you cannot get rid of it entirely if it is recorded in the source.

Gary

SO i have a 970HD hooked up through a manual switchbox to my OPtoma HD70 via HDMI. IN every aspect so far this has worked fine.

When trying to play an XVID movie I get only audio with the screen showing only the Oppo filebrowser. The movie plays fine on my PC.

File size 4gbs roughly.
Codec : XVID
Resolution: 1280x576
Frame Rate 23.976023

Interestingly this is also present...

MEta Information
Setting: HAS_INDEX_IS_INTERLEAVED

I have tried several settings to no avail, switching the HDMI resolution etc.

I was all set for a Sunday afternoon with Bourbon in hand to watch 2001 but not to happen.

Any thoughts?

I just ordered my 970HD. It will be hooked up through comp. to a sony reciever then to my 28" CRT Sanyo. I can't wait to get my DVD player.

One question which local stores would carry avia and DVE?

PJ

I just ordered my 970HD. It will be hooked up through comp. to a sony reciever then to my 28" CRT Sanyo. I can't wait to get my DVD player.

One question which local stores would carry avia and DVE?

PJ
I was unable to locate either DVD in stock at any local big-box stores.....had to order the Avia disc online. Perhaps some of the higher-end audio stores might carry it, but by the time you finish searching all of them, you could have it delivered...and probably cheaper!

I was unable to locate either DVD in stock at any local big-box stores.....had to order the Avia disc online. Perhaps some of the higher-end audio stores might carry it, but by the time you finish searching all of them, you could have it delivered...and probably cheaper!


your probably right, looks like amazon has it. thanks anyway. i just ordered avia. yay

SO i have a 970HD hooked up through a manual switchbox to my OPtoma HD70 via HDMI. IN every aspect so far this has worked fine.

When trying to play an XVID movie I get only audio with the screen showing only the Oppo filebrowser. The movie plays fine on my PC.

File size 4gbs roughly.
Codec : XVID
Resolution: 1280x576
Frame Rate 23.976023

Interestingly this is also present...

MEta Information
Setting: HAS_INDEX_IS_INTERLEAVED

I have tried several settings to no avail, switching the HDMI resolution etc.

I was all set for a Sunday afternoon with Bourbon in hand to watch 2001 but not to happen.

Any thoughts?
You can't play files with a resolution greater than 720 x 480 on this player.

You can't play files with a resolution greater than 720 x 480 on this player.720x576 to be more precise.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'm going to have to start thinking HTPC then.

Has anyone experienced low LFE level with SACD, as mentioned at the bottom of this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8855640&&#post8855640

Sorry if it's been covered, but I get a 'search disabled" message more often than not it seems.

I am still experiencing some noticeable skipping on a few movies. It occurs when I skip a few scenes forward, backward or back and forth. Then its as if teh player lost its place, it freezes then skips like someone keeps pausing it but when it plays again it has skipped what occured in the movie during the paused time. I have emailed Oppo about this and will see what they say. It does not occur on many discs, but frustrating nonetheless.

I'm experiencing the same issue at 480p, but I do not press any button, the problem arise alone.... Most cases when had passed more than half of the film or video. The problem is present on back up dvd's and brand new ones. I will e-mail Oppo explaining this.

OK, I now have a copy of the hacked firmware that will allow for upconversion via component.

Do I burn the .iso file to a CD or the actual .bin file that shows up when I double click the .iso?

Thanks in advance!

:)

I'm trying to drive a 2005-vintage Olevia LCD TV (with HDCP-compliant DVI) from the '970's HDMI output and an HDMI>DVI connector adapter and a six-foot DVI cable.

I've run HDCP-DVI output from an off-air HDTV tuner into the TV for some time and it's worked fine. (The off-air tuner is a piece of work... but that's another story!) So I wasn't expecting any big problems hooking up the Oppo.

The Oppo logo screen and the HDMI video format selection work fine over the link. Unfortunately, the video drops into digital noise after a few seconds of playing a DVD. So this is a HDCP handshaking problem, right?

Oppo technical support said to buy a 971 instead (no HDCP on its DVI output). OK, great- but I don't want to go out of my way to acommodate an older, low-end LCD TV.

Maybe the collective intelligence of this group has experienced this or a similar problem? Ideas?

OK, I now have a copy of the hacked firmware that will allow for upconversion via component.

Do I burn the .iso file to a CD or the actual .bin file that shows up when I double click the .iso?

Thanks in advance!

:)


Follow Oppo's instructions...

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd-firmware-3a-0916.html

I'm trying to drive a 2005-vintage Olevia LCD TV (with HDCP-compliant DVI) from the '970's HDMI output and an HDMI>DVI connector adapter and a six-foot DVI cable.

I've run HDCP-DVI output from an off-air HDTV tuner into the TV for some time and it's worked fine. (The off-air tuner is a piece of work... but that's another story!) So I wasn't expecting any big problems hooking up the Oppo.

The Oppo logo screen and the HDMI video format selection work fine over the link. Unfortunately, the video drops into digital noise after a few seconds of playing a DVD. So this is a HDCP handshaking problem, right?

Oppo technical support said to buy a 971 instead (no HDCP on its DVI output). OK, great- but I don't want to go out of my way to acommodate an older, low-end LCD TV.

Maybe the collective intelligence of this group has experienced this or a similar problem? Ideas?

Sounds like a classic HDCP handshaking problem. Make sure the connections are good and snug as possible. If you have DeOxit contact cleaner that might help, otherwise try a direct HDMI->DVI cable without using the adapter. That would reduce the number of physical connections and *perhaps* mitigate any problems if one or the other device is running at the ragged edge of handshaking.

Paul

I purchased this player purely for the purpose of SACD/DVD-A over HDMI, replacing my tank-sized Denon 2900 and a bunch of cables. I had planned on doing all video through my Toshiba HD-A2. Hooking it up last night to play with the menus, though, I have to say it actually looks a bit better than the A2, or even my Oppo 971. And worlds better than the 2900 upsampled by the projector. I've only watched various scenes from The Incredibles that I often use to judge, but it seems sharper (the hair on the characters in the kichen table scene seems much more detailed) with better contrast @ 720p into my AE900.
Didn't really expect that, as this model was supposed to be more geared toward audio which is why I bought it. No HDMI receiver yet, but I can't wait to see what that sounds like if video is "secondary". :)

To take full advantage of the sound quality of SACD I highly recommend that you let the player do the digital to analog conversion and output the 5.1 analog into your receiver. I do that through an Outlaw bass manager and the results are superb. The DSD into PCM conversion is a sonic compromise, at best. Some day OPPO may offer DSD over HDMI into a decoding receiver, but that day is not here yet.

Richard.

I seriously doubt that this player keeps things in DSD before DA, but I could be wrong.

OK, I now have a copy of the hacked firmware that will allow for upconversion via component.
Is this the only benefit of the hacked firmware?

OK, how have you set the OPPO970 setting, and what did you set on your AVR?


To take full advantage of the sound quality of SACD I highly recommend that you let the player do the digital to analog conversion and output the 5.1 analog into your receiver. I do that through an Outlaw bass manager and the results are superb. The DSD into PCM conversion is a sonic compromise, at best. Some day OPPO may offer DSD over HDMI into a decoding receiver, but that day is not here yet.

Richard.

According to Outlaw instructions, in the OPPO, I set every speaker to large and turned off time management. The Outlaw device then takes over bass management with full control over levels and crossover frequencies. I used the OPPO channel tones to set levels and placed my speakers about an equal distance from the listening position according to Dolby/SACD speaker placement recommendations for 5.1 audio sound. I could not believe the improvement good bass management made to my system.

Richard.

To take full advantage of the sound quality of SACD I highly recommend that you let the player do the digital to analog conversion and output the 5.1 analog into your receiver. I do that through an Outlaw bass manager and the results are superb. The DSD into PCM conversion is a sonic compromise, at best. Some day OPPO may offer DSD over HDMI into a decoding receiver, but that day is not here yet.

Richard.
As I've not yet got an HDMI receiver, analog it is at the moment. My goal is HDMI hookup, though, so I'll certainly be trying it ASAP. From the Audioholics review, it seems the HDMI and analog outs are extremely close (no significant difference) sonically once properly configured, and comparable to a Denon 5900's, so I'm hoping to find same.

I used the OPPO channel tones to set levels...
I can't seem to find these tones...what menu?

To take full advantage of the sound quality of SACD I highly recommend that you let the player do the digital to analog conversion and output the 5.1 analog into your receiver. I do that through an Outlaw bass manager and the results are superb. The DSD into PCM conversion is a sonic compromise, at best. Some day OPPO may offer DSD over HDMI into a decoding receiver, but that day is not here yet.
I'm a newbie to the SACD/DVD-A world, so help me understand your comment about the DSD to PCM conversion being a sonic compromise. Since DSD is all digital and PCM is all digital -- what is it that gets lost in the conversion process? Isn't it just a matter of coverting the format but not altering the SQ in any way since its all just zeros and ones?

I am currently running the Oppo's PCM via HDMI to a Pio Elite 72 AVR which decodes it with no problem and does the D/A conversion for the channels that it finds in the PCM stream. This lets me use the extensive/high quality bass management features of the Pio -- and IMO the SQ of this setup is fantastic. Would it be even better if I used the 5.1 analog inputs on the Pio?

Thanks for the info. I guess I'm going to have to start thinking HTPC then.
Whereas HTPC is the most complete solution, you may want to take a look at the Sigma-based players that can do HD resolutions.

I'm a newbie to the SACD/DVD-A world, so help me understand your comment about the DSD to PCM conversion being a sonic compromise. Since DSD is all digital and PCM is all digital -- what is it that gets lost in the conversion process? Isn't it just a matter of coverting the format but not altering the SQ in any way since its all just zeros and ones?

I am currently running the Oppo's PCM via HDMI to a Pio Elite 72 AVR which decodes it with no problem and does the D/A conversion for the channels that it finds in the PCM stream. This lets me use the extensive/high quality bass management features of the Pio -- and IMO the SQ of this setup is fantastic. Would it be even better if I used the 5.1 analog inputs on the Pio?


Those are two different algorithms, and not compatible to one another.Conversion to PCM is done in many cases even in high end players mostly to perform digital BM and TA functions, like those in the high-end Denons. Critics of this procedure claims that SQ do suffer as the signal gets converted to another format.Of course one can argue if there is no difference after the conversion, then why would we even need SACD in the first place, so the argument will continue. However DSD needs to be decoded and converted to analog to be audible to humans naturally,so if we assume that the Oppo do decode DSD without conversion to PCM as most inexpensive players don't, then it's onboard DA converters has to be used instead of your Elite's when using the analog connection. So naturally you would wanna decide which DA converter will do a better job. I would bet the Elite's, so I would stick to the HDMI.

OPPO has just confirmed to me that this player does not directly convert DSD audio (used by SACD's) into analog audio, as do all superior sounding SACD players. Instead it goes through the extra step of converting the very very high resolution DSD audio into very low resolution PCM before again converting this into analog audio.

Sony/Philips invented Sigma Delta Modulation because it sounds better than 16 bit PCM. I have invested in a large collection of SACD's and a high end sound system because I can hear a real improvement over PCM on most disks. A conversion to 16 bit PCM can still sound good but it is not what SACD is all about and is a poor compromise, in my opinion.

This forced conversion to PCM is not stated in any of their posted information and totally defeats the purpose of my purchase. It does not sound anywhere as good as my bottom of the line Sony 500V Super Audio/DVD players, although its video is superior.

This was apparently done as a cheap way of providing bass management and timing alignment, but at a significant sonic cost. Today, most DVD/SACD players take advantage of newer audio chip sets that can provide those processes without converting DSD into low resolution PCM.

Since I turn off both processing functions I have asked OPPO's technical staff if the PCM conversion process can be avoided. I'll let you know what they report.

Richard.

Since I turn off both processing functions I have asked OPPO's technical staff if the PCM conversion process can be avoided. I'll let you know what they report.
Please do. How "low" is this resolution, and is HDMI output also handled the same? I had a funny feeling when they said SACD was sent as an 88.2kHz, which just happens to be twice 44.1, that's why I mentioned it. Hopefully the downsample is only to allow processing, and not using such will avoid it.

About those test tones?

Early on in the DSD mastering world, DSD had to be converted to PCM to introduce audio processing. Today DSD mastering tools have been developed which avoid the use of PCM in the mastering process. But 16 bit 44.8 kHz PCM was never used in mastering DSD material, but only high resolution PCM. If 24 bit, 88.2kHz PCM processing is used in the 970 it is a step in the right direction, but even 96kHz does not quite match its sonic requirements, and it is an extra conversion step, even if well implemented. At this point I just don't have all the details from OPPO's nice technical staff. OPPO does not even tell us how DVD-Audio is treated in this player. I'll keep digging.

Richard.

Looking all over for 613A but can't seem to find the firmware anywhere. Anyone know where to get it.???? :confused:

There is no DVD player made by OPPO Digital which supports native DSD.
DSD is always converted to PCM.

The PCM is sampled at 24-bit/96Khz.

We can promote it as having superior audio capabilities because our reviews from magazines such as Absolute Sound and The Perfect Vision have been very impressed with the performance of our products. To a purist, the DSD conversion is a huge mistep, but most users have been very impressed with our audio performance.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

I have asked them about how the player treats DVD-Audio and will post their reply here when I get a response. Their response concerning DSD down-conversion was very open and honest. For that they get a gold star.

Richard.

Oppo tech support tells me that DVD-A is sent as 24/96, and SACD is sent as 24/88 (had them confirm it). No mention of going any lower for a processing stage, etc.

I used the 613A firmware and now get white lines sometimes through the screen at 1080i.

Thanks very much to thehun, Feirstein and others for the very informative replies and other posts regarding the issues and options concerning DSD to PCM conversion. I'm learning a lot.

This is really a great thread!! Thanks to all who patiently help us newbies figure all this stuff out. Much appreciated! :D

Oppo tech support tells me that DVD-A is sent as 24/96, and SACD is sent as 24/88 (had them confirm it). No mention of going any lower for a processing stage, etc.
I'm not sure if this info helps in any way, but I was just listening to the DSOTM SACD and used my Pio Elite 72's Direct mode. The display on the Pio read "PCM Direct 88.2KHz" -- which confirms that the Pio is seeing an 88.2KHz signal from the Oppo.

People, don't be steered away by the following quoted posts. The Oppo DV-970HD is an excellent DVD-Audio/SACD player.

Richard, don't take these personally.

To take full advantage of the sound quality of SACD I highly recommend that you let the player do the digital to analog conversion and output the 5.1 analog into your receiver. I do that through an Outlaw bass manager and the results are superb. The DSD into PCM conversion is a sonic compromise, at best. Some day OPPO may offer DSD over HDMI into a decoding receiver, but that day is not here yet.

Richard.

If the receiver is capable of PCM over HDMI and has better sounding DAC's than the Oppo, then don't use the analogs.

If the receiver isn't capable of PCM over HDMI or has poor DAC's, then use the analogs.

The DSD to PCM is not a sonic compromise. Yes, there would be a measurable difference but usually the conversion filters out high frequency noise which is undesirable anyway.

The Outlaw device then takes over bass management with full control over levels and crossover frequencies.

The Outlaw only provides subwoofer level and lfe mix in addition to crossover frequencies.

Instead it goes through the extra step of converting the very very high resolution DSD audio into very low resolution PCM before again converting this into analog audio.

Again, this is not true. If it's DSD 24/88.2 it is sent as PCM 24/88.2
For DVD-Audio 48, 96, or 192 are sent as PCM 48, 96, and 192.

This forced conversion to PCM is not stated in any of their posted information and totally defeats the purpose of my purchase. It does not sound anywhere as good as my bottom of the line Sony 500V Super Audio/DVD players, although its video is superior.

This is all, of course, personal opinion and not fact. But you're entitled to your opinion.

This was apparently done as a cheap way of providing bass management and timing alignment, but at a significant sonic cost.


Again, not true.

Their response concerning DSD down-conversion was very open and honest. For that they get a gold star.

That's good to hear.

Oppo tech support tells me that DVD-A is sent as 24/96, and SACD is sent as 24/88 (had them confirm it). No mention of going any lower for a processing stage, etc.

Jack, see above.

"If it's DSD 24/88.2 it is sent as PCM 24/88.2. For DVD-Audio 48, 96, or 192 are sent as PCM 48, 96, and 192. "

First, there is no such thing as DSD 24/88.2. That is purely a PCM concept. Apparently DSD is converted to PCM 24/88.2 but that sampling rate is only applied to this player's HDMI digital audio output. According to the e-mail from OPPO's tech support both DVD-Audio and DSD are sampled at 24/96 then subject to signal processing (bass management, time alignment) and then converted to analog output. If I am reading this correctly, SACD is converted to PCM 24/96 for analog output conversion, and then downconverted again to 24/88.2 for HDMI digital audio output. There is no word in this e-mail concerning higher sampling rates for DVD-Audio over the HDMI output. I'll pose that question to them tomorrow.

But Delta Sigma Modulation used for SACD has a much higher resolution than 24/96. People in the mastering field suggest it is the sonic equal to PCM at 48/192. It also avoids several digital to analog conversion steps necessary with PCM. To state that DSD to PCM conversion is not a sonic compromise is not useful considering all of the research and demonstrations that have repeatedly and consistently shown that 24/96 is not the sonic equal of SACD, but it is a heck of a lot better than previous efforts that converted SACD down to 16/44.8. And, as we all have heard, even 16/44.8 can sound very decent with quality converters and well recorded and mastered recordings. {I am not trying to pick a DSD v PCM fight, merely suggesting that there is some merit to those who seek DSD to analog conversion without the introduction of a PCM step along the way}.

And the PCM conversion of DSD is only used because OPPO does not purchase a DSD chip set that can handle bass management and time alignment in DSD mode. OPPO did as good a job as it could using PCM. 48/192 PCM converters cannot be used in a $150.00 unit. Sony uses pure DSD audio in its superb low end players, and they sound very very good, but they do not sport bass management or time alignment.

I am not attacking OPPO, just asking for more transparency in their disclosure of its audio features than currently featured in their promotional information.

Perhaps next year OPPO will introduce a player with pure DSD to analog conversion, DSD and DVD-A without lower sampling rate PCM downconversion over HDMI, full 1080p video conversion, and the ability to play blu laser disks and rub my back, all for $99.95. I'm holding my breath.

Richard.

Richard,

Yes, I'm sorry, DSD bit depth is 1 bit. And the sample rates are in the Mhz range. Concerning DVD-A, I could've sworn my receiver showed 192 khz from one disc. I'll have to remember to check that. Please keep us informed with Oppo's responses to your inquiries.

Thanks

I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to dissuade anyone from the unit, I'd just like to know how it works. Final word from Oppo on SACD:

"Processing is done at 24-bit/88.2Khz, all enhancers, such as sampling rate, EQ, Channel Delay, and so forth are done post DSD to PCM conversion."

I didn't get any indication that SACD is sampled at 24/96 at any point. When I asked why I had been told 24/96 in one e-mail, the tech apologized and said he was thinking of DVD-A.
If the requisite capability is already there to process and send DVD-A at 24/96 over HDMI, I can't imagine why they'd downsample SACD from 24/96 to 24/88 just to send it over HDMI.

I have no issue with DSD-PCM conversion. In fact, the DVD-A's in my collection are more important to me for purely musical reasons, I can't tell a difference sonically and stopped worrying about which hi-res format I was buying.

I also asked Oppo about SACD, and the also informed me that SACD is always processed at 88.2Khz/24bit.

RAFABAMAD, yes, DVD-Audio can support 192Khz/24 bit with stereo only, surround sound is limited to 96Khz/24 bit, and of course you can also do stereo 96Khz, although technically you can do that with DVD-video also as long as you don't use too much bandwidth for any video content.

I'm a bit surprised that they chose 88.2Khz as with economies of scale most devices for the last few years have included 192Khz capable convertors. Basically most companies only produce 192K convertors as it is cheaper than trying to design and manufacture multiple chips that support different maximum resolutions. That is why you see a lot of receivers with 192Khz on the spec sheets even though there is not a digital method (except HDMI, although I'm not sure if 1.3 is required for 192) that can transfer 192Khz included in any consumer equipment. Of course none of them support 48bit, but I have never seen 48bit used in a convertor (and I work with profession studio equipment as part of my day job), internally many systems use it for processing in order to maintain quality. 24bit is more than capable of expressing the dynamic range available in analog equipment (really great equipment will have up to about 120dB of range, which can be captured with 20 bits).

All that being said, I have a 970 on order and it should be here next week, so I can't comment on the quality yet. However I expect it to blow my current Pioneer universal player out of the water. I also can't compare it to any pro level DSD equipment due to the extremely high cost of getting into DSD production.

If anyone catches this, working on my setup this evening. Any late night replies appreciated. Can't seem to do the reasonable thing, go to sleep and call Oppo in the morning...
Setup:
Oppo 970 to JVC-401 (HDMI receiver) via HDMI
Rcvr to 62' DLP via HDMI.
7.1 speakers hooked to rcvr. Plan is to use speakers, not TV spkr output.

Video working great, no problems. Testing it with the Cars dvd. (IMHO, it looks better than my Denon 756 which has the Farouda chipset)

Audio setup on the Oppo seems to be a bit convoluted or my caffeine high has ended...
Basically I want to let the rcvr do the audio decompress/decoding. (I moved my Denon756 via HDMI to another TV, never had any decoding setup problems like this previously)

I am certain I have the Oppo setup menu screwed up. The Cars DVD menu has one of the THX video/audio optimizers. I tested the Audio, just for kicks and it outputs sound to either the wrong speakers or combined speakers, especially on the sub test.
I know my speaker setup was correct via previous Denon setup. Haven't touched my rcvr. Just to double check, I tested again via the dedicated rcvr spkr test and my speakers are setup fine.

So, I am guessing I have my audio output setting on the Oppo hosed.
I have looked at both the manual & the advanced manual, as well have pored over the AVS forum, (yep, know where the search button is...) I am pretty technical, and consider myself knowledgable on this but I am getting stumped.

Basically I am playing with the Oppo setup menu, and not getting anywhere. I have played with the down mix, speaker sizes, the audio setup page w/digital output format. I can not access the HDMI audio selection as it is grayed out and set on LPCM. I am sure I have to get to this somehow except I likely have it goofed somewhere else. I am sure I am missing something on p. 7 of the advanced manual.

Any suggestions or how the Oppo settings should be?
(If it is a choice between movies and SACD/DVD audio, I go with the best selection incorporating the HDMI and movies.

Thanks in advance!!!

OK

I hooked up my Oppo via component tonight (frring up the HDMI for a Toshiba A2) and applied the firmware hack. Dare I say that the upconverted PQ is even BETTER via component than it was via HDMI!!

Very impressed.

:)

I think to get the hdmi ungrayed you need to select RAW. Not sure what the other issue are due to.

jeff

Does everyone's regular non-hd tv look pretty crappy on the projector?

Chris

OK

I hooked up my Oppo via component tonight (frring up the HDMI for a Toshiba A2) and applied the firmware hack. Dare I say that the upconverted PQ is even BETTER via component than it was via HDMI!!

Very impressed.

:)
BETTER?? Hmmmm.

Still going.....
Found the HDMI audio is grayed out due to the movie not completely off. If using the setup menu with the movie paused, it won't work. It has to be completely off to adjust HDMI audio...I only had to re-read this just after midnight...

Found out the audio is lagging behind the video, which is why none of the speakers match up with what is showing on the THX optimizer test on the screen.

Any reasons why an HDMI setup would create an audio lag, roughly 1/2 to 1 sec behind the video?
My receiver can delay sound when it the video processing is lagging behind the audio, which is understandable, but why would the audio lag the video?

Any suggestions?
Thx!

OK

I hooked up my Oppo via component tonight (frring up the HDMI for a Toshiba A2) and applied the firmware hack. Dare I say that the upconverted PQ is even BETTER via component than it was via HDMI!! Ah, a calibration problem on your HDMI input then.

Gary

As far as calibrating the 5.1 analog-outs, I used Avia and trimmed using the Oppo's internal controls. My XR55 has neither internal tones for the 6-channel input nor the ability to adjust them. Even using the internal BM/level controls, it sounds fantastic with SACD and DVD-A. Downconverting SACD to PCM doesn't seem to have an adverse effect I can detect compared to the (presumably) straight DSD-to-analog path of my Denon 2900.

And I'll restate that it looks noticeably sharper than my 971, but not in an edge-enhanced way. I think the Faroudja processing has a softening effect that I like in its absence.