I am very sorry if this questions has been asked recently (didn't see it in the search), but this is what I am looking for.

From all my reading of the great information provided here and some honest answers from OPPO, apparently the 981 is having MB issues as is the Samsung and really anything that uses the Faroudja chip.

This leaves me with a 1080p DLP and needing to get something like the 970, but only at 1080i.

Yes I know there isn't much of a difference if any... but if it is out there I know you guys know about it and I'll pick it up.

Thanks!

Denon 2930, 3930 and Toshiba HD-XA2 use a different chipset and output 1080p.

So if I want a 1080p upscaling dvd player that works with DLP keeping its image quality its a grand. Bleh.



Thanks for the response though!

So if I want a 1080p upscaling dvd player that works with DLP keeping its image quality its a grand. Bleh.

I think there are some successful Oppo 981 DLP users, but I don't recall the models. You might search the 981 thread for reports. Oppo has a 30-day return if you can't get it to work.

-Bill

So if I want a 1080p upscaling dvd player that works with DLP keeping its image quality its a grand. Bleh.



Thanks for the response though! If the TV is any good you should be able to feed it 480p and let it scale to 1080p as well as if a DVD player did it. It's the exact same thing.

larry

Yeah, except sometimes the DVD player does it better.

I'm using an older Samsung HD931 which I have set to upconvert to 1080i for my Samsung HLS6187w via a DVI->HDMI cable. I have watched a number of movies and not seen any MB?

READ MY POST:

1080i same PQ as 1080p...


There, I said it, so it must be true!

(seriously, it's the same damn thing for the type of display you own)

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.

Good thread. I was going to ask the same question myself. I'm looking for an upconverting SD DVD player that plays 1080p without the MB issues. I was hoping some of the store bought models would fit this description since I have a Best Buy gift card to use. Do any of the Samsungs, Sonys, Pioneers, etc work just as well as the Oppo?