I am seriously considering buying this dvd player. But I keep hearing something about getting black bars on the top and bottom of movies with this player. Does it just have something to do with the aspect ratio of some movies, or do you get it on every dvd movie?? is it that it just doesn't stretch a certian aspect ratio, or do you get it on all movies, even things formatted for 16:9, please help me understand this... thank you.

It doesn't behave any differently then any other DVD players out there. It correctly displays all aspect ratios.

It doesn't behave any differently then any other DVD players out there. It correctly displays all aspect ratios.

Really? I asked the tech support from Oppo and this is what they told me, which by the way confused me even more.

"The black boarders on the OPDV971H are caused by slight underscanning.
Most displays will cover up this underscanning, with only displays
which have no underscanning showing thin lines around the boarders of
the picture.

The DV-970HD, on the other hand, has a vertical compression error. You
will see slight boarders at the top and bottom of your display.

So im really confused, does the Oppo 970 have some kind of black bars on the top and bottom of the screen that I wont see with lets say a Onkyo DVSP404, because the Onkyo uses the Mediatek chip also and it plays divx so I was debating on which player to get.

So im really confused, does the Oppo 970 have some kind of black bars on the top and bottom of the screen that I wont see with lets say a Onkyo DVSP404, because the Onkyo uses the Mediatek chip also and it plays divx so I was debating on which player to get.


i have the onkyo dvsp404 and i do get small black bars on the top and bottom when in 720p or 1080i mode, but with 480p the whole screen is filled with 1.85:1 movies. i also have a panasonic 42px60u plasma tv.

i have the onkyo dvsp404 and i do get small black bars on the top and bottom when in 720p or 1080i mode, but with 480p the whole screen is filled with 1.85:1 movies. i also have a panasonic 42px60u plasma tv.

Okay that is probably because the Onkyo 404 and Oppo 970 both use the same MediaTek chipset. They both seem to be about the same dvd player, they both play DivX and can both be region free (onkyo requires a easy hack) but from what I understand with the Oppo you can hack it to upconvert from Component, I wonder if you can with the Onkyo?? I work at Circuit City, I can get the Onkyo for $125, so it seems they are VERY similiar, I just dont know if the upconvert with component is worth the extra $25.. Im thinking it might be though since I have the Sony A10 which is LCD Proj, I think the HDMI might kill my contrast levels..

If you look at the 970 thread and search for "squeeze", you'll find nice descriptions of this issue by GSB and others.

the issue is that the chipset does squeeze the output image some 5-10 pixels vertically. If you have overscan set very low, say 0%, then the squeeze will reveal black bars top and bottom for an image that, with another different player, would fill the screen.

Oppo has a beta firmware that will fix the issue, but the fix causes a bit of resolution loss vertically. I notice it (the squeeze), but it's very easy to forget about it. Concentric circle test patterns, don't really show it up. what you'll notice is that for 2.35:1 AR films, there's more top and bottom black bar than there used to be with a different player.

I was concerned about this in the beginning, but the PQ is so good with the player AND it's universal, I view the purchase as an outstanding one and am sorry I waited so long to make it.

Best,
jeff

If you look at the 970 thread and search for "squeeze", you'll find nice descriptions of this issue by GSB and others.

the issue is that the chipset does squeeze the output image some 5-10 pixels vertically. If you have overscan set very low, say 0%, then the squeeze will reveal black bars top and bottom for an image that, with another different player, would fill the screen.

Oppo has a beta firmware that will fix the issue, but the fix causes a bit of resolution loss vertically. I notice it (the squeeze), but it's very easy to forget about it. Concentric circle test patterns, don't really show it up. what you'll notice is that for 2.35:1 AR films, there's more top and bottom black bar than there used to be with a different player.

I was concerned about this in the beginning, but the PQ is so good with the player AND it's universal, I view the purchase as an outstanding one and am sorry I waited so long to make it.

Best,
jeff

Which 970 thread?

Dude...seriously?!

my 60" SXRD has overscan so I do not have any problems with the OPPO. Great player, buy it and do not look back.

And somewhere in the recesses of this site is a BOATLOAD of info on the Oppo 970
hint: USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION!