i just bought the Sony Bravia 52" 1080p LCD and wanna make use of that resolution. Can the 981 play any file i throw at it? such as WMV or WMV HD?

any pros or cons to the Oppo 981? do you recommend the 981 the best? or is there something else which is better?

thanks!


Marwan

i just bought the Sony Bravia 52" 1080p LCD and wanna make use of that resolution. Can the 981 play any file i throw at it? such as WMV or WMV HD?

any pros or cons to the Oppo 981? do you recommend the 981 the best? or is there something else which is better?

None of the Oppos play any HD file format.

I have been very pleased with the 981.

-Bill

i got an email notification from Neverwinter, but when i clicked the link i dont see the post....did it get deleted or is there something wrong with the forum?

here it is anyways,

I got the OPPO DV-981HD model last month for my Samsung HLS-5687W and I
saw very bad macroblocking enhance issue with it, a little worse than
the macroblocking I also saw when using my Denon 1920.

Although DLPs and plasmas are vulnerable to macroblocking, it really
depends on the quality of the DVD. On most DVDs, the macroblocking either
does not exist or was barely noticeable under specific conditions. But
on some DVDs specially those with a lot of dark and interior scenes,
the macroblocking was very distracting and annoying. It shows up mostly
on the background of interior scenes like walls or doors.

I had the display ISF calibrated and the macroblocking was diminished
by only a fraction. The macroblocking is even worse when using players
based on the Genesis Faroudja FLI-23XX series deinterlacers that most
Denons and Oppos 971 and 981 use.

I originally bought the 981 because it upconverted to 1080p unlike the
970 which can only go to 1080i, but finally, I could no longer take the
Russian roulette that I was playing when watching DVDs, where I would
be praying that the next DVD I would watch would not be one of those few
that showed macroblocking.

So I exchanged my Oppo 981 for a 970 and wow, what a difference! The
macroblocking has totally disappeared. I am so happy with my 970! The
picture quality is the best I have seen in a DVD player under $850 and
any other player worth more than that would only have a little better
picture quality. You would have to go to HD-DVD or BlueRay for a
significant improvement.

Putting the macroblocking issue aside, I saw no difference in picture
quality between the 981 upconverting to 1080p and the 970 upconverting
to 1080i and both seemed to have a little better picture and audio
quality when compared to the Denon 1920.

All things being equal, the picture quality of the Denon was a little
better through component when compared against itself through HDMI.
While the picture quality of the 970 was better through HDMI when compared
against itself through component. The picture quality of the Oppo 970
was the same through component as the picture quality of the Denon
through HDMI.

And both Oppos and the Denon were better than my Xbox 360 or its HD-DVD
player for upconverting DVDs.

I had considered buying the Denon 2930CI instead of the OPPO DV-970HD
because the Denon does not use the Faroudja chip but the $700 difference
did not justify the little benefit in picture quality. Better for that
money to go for a video scaler.

The Oppo 981 is a great player that should be selling in the
neighborhood of $800 instead of $230 but if your display is vulnerable to
macroblocking, I would suggest the Oppo 970 instead which should be selling in
the neighborhood of $750 instead of $150.

Just my 2 cents.


so is macroblocking a disc(DVD) issue from the type of compression? or is it from the DVD upscaler?

im confused, i ordered the oppo 981 from amazon since i want 1080p on my 52" Bravia.......should i cancel and settle for the 970 which doesnt have the Faroudja chip?

my order ships in 4 days, so i i would appreciate more feedback on wheather i should get the Oppo 981 or 970.

thanks

so is macroblocking a disc(DVD) issue from the type of compression? or is it from the DVD upscaler?

im confused, i ordered the oppo 981 from amazon since i want 1080p on my 52" Bravia.......should i cancel and settle for the 970 which doesnt have the Faroudja chip?

my order ships in 4 days, so i i would appreciate more feedback on wheather i should get the Oppo 981 or 970.

Macroblocking is most often reported by plasma and DLP owners. I almost never see it on my LCD and I use both the 971 and 981.

It is a compression artifact in the disc. The Faroudja chip is said to enhance the effect and make it more visible. Even on plasma and DLP, some owners are able to reduce the effect by careful calibration.

Oppo gives you a 30 day return period. You should certainly give the 981 a try. If it doesn't work, return it and try the 970.

-Bill