I can't wait for getting mine :)

It will be region free and multivoltage 110-220, right?

Yes

Why doesn't Oppo include a HD or BR drive in its players? For the same price I can get a Samsung BDP 1200 which upconverts as well as any of the top players. If I am going to spend that much I would get BR player. Already have two HD DVD players.

The Oppo players, especially the 983, do much more than just dvd playback. The HD players do not have these funtions. Oppo is for now, catering to a niche market. They are not trying to compete with HD players, but trying to create the best SD upconverting universal player available for a decent price. They are trying to "make a name" for themselves right now. Hopefully Oppo will step into HD playback by mid '08.

Why doesn't Oppo include a HD or BR drive in its players?

Because OPPO is small. One of the issues with going HD DVD or Blu-Ray is that you have to pay a new set of licensing fees and have to transition your entire hardware and software support team to the new high definition video and audio formats. You can't make these changes on the fly.

I saw the photos posted a few pages back, but I was wondering...

Is the 983 only equipped with HDMI out, or does it have any composite/component out connections? This is the only thing that has stopped me from buying an Oppo in the past...don't have a TV with HDMI yet, I'm about 5 years behind the curve in that regard :D Thanks!

It has a full allotment of analog video (composite, s-video, component) and audio outputs.

So is it still looking like late winter on this, Feb'ish or so?

I emailed OPPO the same question - when - the reply
was anytime between now and February.

I'm chomp'in for a Blu-Ray player too, but maybe! I can wait
for OPPO to release one - I'd consider a separate unit from them
for HD and one for Blu-Ray if this would speed street dates.

ldm

The longer they wait, the more likely people interested will grab a BD/HDDVD player instead, IMO.

It has a full allotment of analog video (composite, s-video, component) and audio outputs.

If I want to use Component,then i should be able to get SD movies scaled up to 1080i or 720p? I thought there were some discussion about limiting component to only 480p due to HDCP restriction.

If I knew Oppo was going to come with HD player(s) in 2008
I would definitely postpone my entry into an HD player to
get something from them. I just love the 980H. The picture,
the features, the controls, it's ability to multi-disk. Not to
mention this company's service and their attitude toward
their market in building great products.

dxr

If I want to use Component,then i should be able to get SD movies scaled up to 1080i or 720p? I thought there were some discussion about limiting component to only 480p due to HDCP restriction.

Limited to 480p when playing CCS encrpyted media ova component .Non CCS is able to be scaled to 1080p. HDMI has no such issue.

Will this famous player be available in silver also?

Many multimedia equipment in europe is sold in silver ...

Will this famous player be available in silver also?

Many multimedia equipment in europe is sold in silver ...

I don't know for sure as of yet, but I would guess probably not. Most enthusiasts in the USA prefer their equipment to be black.
Maybe Neuromancer can give a better answer.

Many multimedia equipment in europe is sold in silver ...

My condolences.

For a long time I preferred silver because it looked cool, but I'm back in black now. I want to eliminate as many reflections as possible when watching movies and the light hitting shiny silver A/V gear is distracting.

Will this famous player be available in silver also?

Many multimedia equipment in europe is sold in silver ...

Unfortunately no.

Will this famous player be available in silver also?

Many multimedia equipment in europe is sold in silver ...

No, black only. OPPO will likely not carry both colors as to keep their ordering and shipping system easy. Two or more SKUs can increase ordering and shipping errors.

If I knew Oppo was going to come with HD player(s) in 2008
I would definitely postpone my entry into an HD player to
get something from them.

They will be forced to do HD DVD or Blu Ray. It is a matter of which technology they go with and at which time.

A combo player would be a great move for the company. For me there players are too expensive for a SD player. I have a Sylvania DVL 1000f downstairs to my Plasma and just bought a LG DN788 for my new 52" Samsung LCD, it has the same chip as the Oppo and I purchased both for less then half of the cost of a Oppo. For my needs, both players have all the features I need.

They will be forced to do HD DVD or Blu Ray. It is a matter of which technology they go with and at which time.

Currently I'm very happy to get a famous DVD player with great upscaling capabilities as addition to my Blu-Ray player that only provides an average DVD picture and has no HD-JPEG support etc.

Neuromancer, do you know the expected but noncommittal release date of the 983 player?

Oppo really needs to get their act straight. 300$+ for an SD Player is unrealistic. With 300-400$ one can get an very good Blu-Ray ( Samsung BD-P1400 / Sharp BDHP20U ) or an excellent HD-DVD player ( Toshiba HD-XA2 / Toshiba HD-A35 ). True the Upconvert of the Oppo MAY be a bit better when someone wants to see SD movies ( Cant tell for sure since there are virtually no reviews/tests of an Oppo 981 vs HD-DVD.Blu-Ray and the 983 has minor picture improvements over the 981 ) but to have an FutureProof nextgen Player such as a Blu-Ray or an HD-DVD with native 1080p resolution is far better.
In anycase if these guys ask 300-400$ for a SD player one can only imagine what they will ask for a nextgen HD player...Especially if it plays both formats.......

Theres no way it can be that expensive! :eek:

Theres no way it can be that expensive! :eek:

Yes, way. Haven't you been reading this thread?

Oppo is a tiny company. They don't need to sell millions of units or take market from HD-DVD/Blu-Ray to make money. Their players have features and play media that the others don't. Some people want that.

-Bill

I'm looking for a full featured DVD player providing SACD over HDMI/DSD and great upscaling quality for such a long time, that I am prepared now to pay up to 500 EUR for the last DVD player in my life.

By the way the premium DVD players from Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha etc. cost around 1000 EUR and provide a worse scaling quality than the anchor bay chipsets.

:)

http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a216153.html
http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a230039.html
http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a98236.html

Some people want that.

-Bill

we all want that , but at what price . geez its going to have to be impressive,i suppose though if the current players are anything to go by, it will be just that.Bring it on!

And why not wait for a few months when HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray players will also be able to play more media ? I dont see why people wanna rush things and get an previous generation DVD player....DVD players have existed for almost 10 years, its about time we all start looking to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
Now IF Oppo was to make a combo HD/Blu-Ray DVD its a safe bet they would sell it above 1500$ so my guess is that they wont make one for a long time to come.
Oppo is a great company but the fact remains that they have Limited availability of their products and thats why they sell them so expensive.

Some people maybe just want SotA SD video together with DVD-Audio and SACD - in one box, to handle their current media investment as well as possible, within reason, before they look to future formats (still developing). If someone brought out a true universal High-Def player (HD-DVD,Blu-Ray,DVD-V, CD,.., and DVD-A,SACD) with HQV/Gennum/Qdeo/.. SD video processing, at a great price too, then there'd be no question. ...it's also the USB2 with ABT that interests me...

Oppo is a great company but the fact remains that they have Limited availability of their products and thats why they sell them so expensive.

They'd cost twice as much if sold in stores.

-Bill

This has been touched on before (numerous times, in fact), but the players OPPO is making are not intended to be what every person needs - after all, building a player like that is impossible anyway, and the market is glutted with basic sub-$100 players. Some people would be just as well off with an HD-A2 as a 980H, and for them the HD-A2 is a reasonable choice. What OPPO has done is provide several things that can't be had on either Blu-ray or HD-DVD players: DVD-Audio support, SACD support, PAL support, a region-free option, DIVX/XVID, very quick layer changes (something that my HD-A2 can't claim), and really good video processing. I get the impression that the 983H will be offered in addition to the 980H and 981HD, thus creating three tiers of performance - with the principal difference between the three being the video processing provided. I also wonder about the possibility OPPO using the 983H as a chance to get familiar with some additional video processing chipsets as an aid in future product development.
In anycase if these guys ask 300-400$ for a SD player one can only imagine what they will ask for a nextgen HD player...Especially if it plays both formats.......
Well, they also ask $170 for an SD player, depending on what you want/need, so I don't know how much can be extrapolated from that. And as someone else mentioned, they are far from the only manufacturer in existence selling DVD players for more than $99. Have you seen what Denon charges, for example?

Now IF Oppo was to make a combo HD/Blu-Ray DVD its a safe bet they would sell it above 1500$ so my guess is that they wont make one for a long time to come.
I wonder about how safe a bet this is. Do you have some information that is guiding you in this direction, or is it speculation alone?

Here's some speculation that I feel pretty comfortable with, for what it's worth: the biggest reason you aren't seeing an HD player (HD-DVD, Blu-ray, or combo) from OPPO right now is the immaturity of the formats. Blu-ray players from the companies that created the format are only just now starting to include some basic features like BD-Java, over a year after format launch. If Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung are only just now able to start providing profile 1.1 hardware, how can you expect a company like OPPO to get a Blu-ray player to market? It would have been suicide for them to release a profile 1.0 player that would be seen as obsolete by the end of this year, and it'd probably be pretty unwise to do profile 1.1 now with profile 2.0 still close at hand. That makes both Blu-ray and combo players out of reach for the time being. They might be able to do a standalone HD-DVD player right now, but why on earth would they want to when Toshiba is selling players for such low prices that it'd be impossible for them to set a profitable price and sell any appreciable product? Market pressure will eventually drive them to one or both HD formats, but no amount of market pressure can overcome some of these realities and produce an OPPO HD player in the immediate future. In the meanwhile, they are developing a standard DVD player that will give them experience with some very respectable video processors. There is a market for such players, even if it isn't huge, so it's not a complete waste, and the establishment of a working relationship with ABT may serve them well on future projects.

Gonk, I have been wrestling with these same issues. After reading the "HDDVD 2.8 wish list" thread. I think I have come to the same conclusion that HD/BR format &player&DVD$$$$$ are not really ready for primetime. If I can pick up a TA2 for ~$99. I will get it for those special movie nights. I will wait and see what the 983 offers & hope it will offer a bigger improvement over my current Oppo player==Music 1st – good movies 2nd and all the many functioning options.

Gonk you are saying the same exact thing.......Oppo WONT be making any HD DVD players since they wont be able to sell them at a price lower than toshiba, samsung , sony , sharp and others. In any case in the end its all about what TV one has. 42+inch TVs should only look torwards the new HD formats.

Gonk you are saying the same exact thing.......Oppo WONT be making any HD DVD players since they wont be able to sell them at a price lower than toshiba, samsung , sony , sharp and others.
I don't expect them to make an HD-DVD player because they can't sell it for less than Toshiba already is, I agree with that. Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, LG, and others aren't making HD-DVD players - they are making Blu-ray players, and they are selling them at prices that are less brutally aggressive than Toshiba's HD-DVD prices. I have no reason to believe that the Blu-ray player prices (even with the drops we've seen in the last four to six months) are going to prevent OPPO from entering the market and no reason to expect that OPPO would find themselves at a four-figure price tag for a combo player.

My point in my earlier post was the I don't believe price to be the issue currently keeping them out of the Blu-ray or combo HD market - I believe it is the moving target that Blu-ray profile specs represent and the repercussions that has for either Blu-ray or combo player development. There are likely a dozen more obstacles on the road to such a player that we as consumers aren't aware of, but that one would seem to be a big issue affecting make aspects of design. Manufacturing and development costs are going to be a factor in the design process (as with any design process). Even though OPPO is a small company, they have ties to a very large manufacturer (BBK) that should help achieve a strong price point when the time is right. I just don't think that the time is right yet for a small company like OPPO to release such a player. A year from now, the landscape is likely to be quite a bit different, though...
In any case in the end its all about what TV one has. 42+inch TVs should only look torwards the new HD formats.
This one goes back to the issue of individual needs, though. If someone has a 60" TV or even a 120" screen with a front projector, they may still have need of a good standard DVD player with support for PAL and multiple regions if they have a large library of discs that they still want to watch. A case like that would cry out for a player like an OPPO, and be a very poor fit for an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player.

Nobody is saying that the 983H is a player that everyone needs. It can still be a real treasure for some people, though, and a price in the $300 to $350 range could seem like a bargain if they were considering an alternative such as a much more expensive Denon universal player or a 980H and a $1000+ video scaler.

Actually since Samsung, Sharp and SONY have Blu-Ray players in the 300-400$ range its a safe bet that OPPO wont be storming that area either...

Hello,

So this will be a great player for PAL DVD's? I have two Panasonic Plasmas HDTV (TH-50PX60U & TH-42PZ77U) and I've been waiting for the right OPPO DVD Player.

You guys think that the OPPO DV-983H will be a good match up with my Panasonic Plasma?


Regards,

It will do PAL as good as if not better than the DV-981HD, all without the annoying macroblock enhancement or green push errors.

I don't expect them to make an HD-DVD player because they can't sell it for less than Toshiba already is, I agree with that. Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, LG, and others aren't making HD-DVD players - they are making Blu-ray players, and they are selling them at prices that are less brutally aggressive than Toshiba's HD-DVD prices. I have no reason to believe that the Blu-ray player prices (even with the drops we've seen in the last four to six months) are going to prevent OPPO from entering the market and no reason to expect that OPPO would find themselves at a four-figure price tag for a combo player.


Last time I checked Toshiba sells a full featured HD DVD player for $500 msrp.

Very good news!

Thank you Neuromancer for your fast response. I will upgrade my Pioneer DV-588A-S with the "Ultimate SD Multi Region Universal Machine" (OPPO DV-983H) when becomes available.

Regards,

Last time I checked Toshiba sells a full featured HD DVD player for $500 msrp.
Very true. They also cleared out the old entry-level HD-DVD player (HD-A2) recently for $99 and the current entry-level player (HD-A3) can be had pretty readily for at or below $200, often with as many as ten free discs. Sure, an HD-DVD player from OPPO would most likely have a feature set superior to the HD-A2/A3, but you are still talking about an environment where they would be at a marked disadvantage.

I think this new DVD player could do extremely well in PAL territories. There are probably many home theatre enthusiasts who bought Region 1 & Region 3 DVD's over their native Region 2 or Region 4. Movies on PAL suffer from a 4% speed up. Movies aimed at NTSC displays don't. Many people therefore bought Region 1 and suffered the resolution drop over the 4% speedup. Also in the early days of DVD, Region 1 had a much larger catalog and better extras. And still to this day a movie is likely to be released on Region 1 DVD many months before it has a Region 2 or 4 release. In some cases a movie is available on R1 even before it has hit the theatre in PAL territories.

As far as I am aware, no HD-DVD player or Blu-Ray player gives the ability to play DVD's outside its region. And there is no unlock to be able to do this. Therefore those people in PAL territories wanting the best for their legacy DVD's will be looking for DVD players that allow them to get the best out of their legacy DVD collection on their HD displays.

I live in Spain and my first DVD player was a region 1 Pioneer DV-505 which I bought to amazon. I didn't bothered with a region 2 DVD player as by 1998 the available titles were very limited. Still to this say I keep on buying region 1 DVDs for 3 reasons:
1- Pal and NTSC. NTSC certainly has lower resolution than Pal, but on the opposite way, I find Pal low scanning frequency (50 Hz Pal Vs. 60 Hz NTSC) very annoying, I prefer NTSC rock-solid and free of flicker picture quality.

2- Price. An average region 2 DVD is 29.95 € which is 37 $, a real rip off.

3- Title availability. This has become less of an issue as most titles released in the US also see the light of day on other markets, but most doesn't mean all.

I intend to go the same way with Blue-ray Disc, I'll first buy a US player and get Blue-ray Disc titles by amazon, then when the format settles down, prices go down and more advanced players appear I'll try to get a multiegion Blue-ray Disc player if they ever show up-

How could OPPO make something better than Toshiba who created HD-DVD ? They wouldnt...They would only make something better when toshiba and the rest would stop making HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays better and start research on something even better.
Thats what they did with DVD....Up to a few years back noone knew them and for the last 3 years where Blu-Ray and HD-DVD started to rise they made some cool DVD players. Either way i dont think they have the ability to surpass Toshiba and the rest of the major companies in an new format.

How could OPPO make something better than Toshiba who created HD-DVD ? They wouldnt...They would only make something better when toshiba and the rest would stop making HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays better and start research on something even better.
Thats what they did with DVD....Up to a few years back noone knew them and for the last 3 years where Blu-Ray and HD-DVD started to rise they made some cool DVD players. Either way i dont think they have the ability to surpass Toshiba and the rest of the major companies in an new format.
This line of reasoning confuses me... Why does Toshiba's role in developing the format mean that another company can't make a better piece of hardware than Toshiba? Why can't they develop a better analog output to support people without HDMI v1.1+ on their receivers? Why can't they do a better job of scaling standard DVD content? Why can't they include support for formats that Toshiba has ignored (DVD-Audio and SACD)? I don't buy it. Just because a company helped write the spec for a format doesn't mean they can't make mistakes later in designing hardware to support it or make compromises in a product to achieve a target price point. I'll be the first to say that Toshiba has done a first-rate job with developing HD-DVD hardware considering the newness and compexity of the format, but they have still left room for improvement even without considering the things I mentioned above. And Blu-ray has had a really hard time with hardware development, especially player features and responsiveness. Look at the DVD format, for that matter - how many players from the first couple generations are still considered "reference quality" players today? It'll be a very small number, and yet most of those players were designed by companies that helped write the spec.
Thats what they did with DVD....Up to a few years back noone knew them and for the last 3 years where Blu-Ray and HD-DVD started to rise they made some cool DVD players. Either way i dont think they have the ability to surpass Toshiba and the rest of the major companies in an new format.
Nobody had heard of them a few years ago because they didn't exist - they released their first product at the end of 2004. They didn't wait seven years to enter into the DVD format just to avoid the major manufacturers' initial offerings.

How can you compare a small company like Oppo with Toshiba , Sony , Philips, Sharp , Samsung ? Oppo cant match the resources they have nor the staff they have.
Oppo made 3 great DVD players from 2004-2007 when most companies started working on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players. I dont consider that a coincidence.

Obviously, OPPO is a different kind of company than the companies you list. I'm not trying to argue that. In a number of ways, they are miniscule in comparison. As a result, there are certain limitations that they must operate under. Those limitations are exactly why I've been saying that the company is still focusing on producing standard DVD players rather than trying to produce an HD player right now. Those limitations do not mean that they can't produce a good quality product at a competitive price, given the opportunity. But the environment is still not one for which they are well suited to producing such a product and succeeding with it.

I do disagree that their success in the DVD arena is due to some sort of HD-induced withdrawal by the larger manufacturers. For companies like Toshiba, Panasonic, and Sony, the DVD player had already become a commodity by 2003 or so - years before either HD format was far enough along to affect the teams developing such players. It was largely a reaction to the sub-$100 players that started showing up next to grocery store check-out lanes, and it led to players getting cheaper, lighter, and in many cases not as good at their job as earlier models had been. I'll use Panasonic as an example here because they are one manufacturer that I kept a pretty close eye on at the time. Their performance in the Secrets benchmarks started dropping appreciably around early 2003 (if not even before then). I watched that down-turn with frustration because I'd owned and been very pleased with several Panasonic DVD players, but saw those reviews and the S35 player that my dad had and recognized the ramifications of the widespread change in focus - those companies by and large quit trying to build "flagship" DVD players, and even their remaining offerings suffered in many cases. There has been a bit of a rebound in recent years, due at least in part to development of some third-party chipsets (including the Mediatek chips used by OPPO), which doesn't match up well with the idea that the big companies were being distracted by the HD formats.

None of the above companies created the Mediatek Chips...A third party company created them. Its only natural for big companies to focus on new formats. They did it when we passed from VHS to DVD and they are doing it now from DVD to HD-DVD / Blu-Ray. Thats just the way of things.

Very true. They also cleared out the old entry-level HD-DVD player (HD-A2) recently for $99 and the current entry-level player (HD-A3) can be had pretty readily for at or below $200, often with as many as ten free discs. Sure, an HD-DVD player from OPPO would most likely have a feature set superior to the HD-A2/A3, but you are still talking about an environment where they would be at a marked disadvantage.

I guess I am just not making the connection on how the blowout sales of Toshiba's previous gen entry level player and holiday deals on their current entry level model would have anything to do with Oppo's decision making process in a next generation disc player. People who buy Oppo want all the bells and whistles. If Oppo was able to put out an HD DVD player (or Blu Ray) and add things like easy region free hack, PAL>NTSC conversion, nice scaling and deinterlacing, and maybe even DVD Audio and SACD playback for $350-$450, I think almost every member on AVS and other forums around the net would have one. If they were able to pull off a true combo player then of course the price would go up. I think that finalized specs would have much more weight on Oppo's opinion than holiday blowout sales.

If you were to say that Toshiba's top models do not sell while the entry levels do then there could be a point made but in fact sales for the top models have been good. Also if I were to carry this same logic over to DVD, there are many sub $100 DVD players as you yourself have stated yet Oppo still has found a market.

And why not wait for a few months when HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray players will also be able to play more media ? I dont see why people wanna rush things and get an previous generation DVD player....

I can think of one very good reason: the format war. No matter which HD player you get, some movie titles will be exclusive to the other format. Why would anyone risk building an incomplete (at best) library and find out in a few years that the format you picked has died?

Plus, given that most people have an extensive SD library and that both camps of HD players have a history of poor SD up-conversion, then why bother? Not to mention that both sides released some pretty awful hardware the first go-around (i.e. over 30 seconds to start a movie is insane).

I wish the two camps had come together a couple years ago. There can be no winners in this ego-driven battle. Except for the likes of Oppo; catering to the SD crowd with good upconverting players solves the biggest problem with most people's existing libraries.

-Dave

I'm wondering what to do about an SD player. I bought a Pioneer PRO-110FD display a couple of months ago, my first foray into high-end video, widescreen, or anything beyond my 10 yr. old JVC television. My understanding from reading what some have said is that the Pioneer has excellent processing. I'm wondering if I should wait for the 983, or if the Pioneer's processing makes that unnecessary - i.e., the picture would be better with the display doing the upconverting to 1080p. Like others here (I just finished reading this entire thread - whew), I'm not interested in HD or BR yet (well, I'm very interested, but the issues are too big now and my budget is very tight for the foreseeable future).

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

I'm wondering what to do about an SD player. I bought a Pioneer PRO-110FD display a couple of months ago, my first foray into high-end video, widescreen, or anything beyond my 10 yr. old JVC television. My understanding from reading what some have said is that the Pioneer has excellent processing. I'm wondering if I should wait for the 983, or if the Pioneer's processing makes that unnecessary - i.e., the picture would be better with the display doing the upconverting to 1080p. Like others here (I just finished reading this entire thread - whew), I'm not interested in HD or BR yet (well, I'm very interested, but the issues are too big now and my budget is very tight for the foreseeable future).

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
I have the 6010 and the HD-XA2 at 1080i gives me a better image than the OPPO 980 at 480i. The Pioneer TV's processing is not bad, but not as good as the Reon implementation in the XA2. I would wait for the 983 if you really want the best DVD playback.

I guess I am just not making the connection on how the blowout sales of Toshiba's previous gen entry level player and holiday deals on their current entry level model would have anything to do with Oppo's decision making process in a next generation disc player. People who buy Oppo want all the bells and whistles. If Oppo was able to put out an HD DVD player (or Blu Ray) and add things like easy region free hack, PAL>NTSC conversion, nice scaling and deinterlacing, and maybe even DVD Audio and SACD playback for $350-$450, I think almost every member on AVS and other forums around the net would have one. If they were able to pull off a true combo player then of course the price would go up. I think that finalized specs would have much more weight on Oppo's opinion than holiday blowout sales.

If you were to say that Toshiba's top models do not sell while the entry levels do then there could be a point made but in fact sales for the top models have been good. Also if I were to carry this same logic over to DVD, there are many sub $100 DVD players as you yourself have stated yet Oppo still has found a market.

How would Oppo be able to pull something like that off when they charge 180$ for their CHEAPEST DVD player and 300-350$ for the 983?

How would Oppo be able to pull something like that off when they charge 180$ for their CHEAPEST DVD player and 300-350$ for the 983?

Well I am not an electronics expert but since you asked I will take a guess. I think DVD Audio and SACD support could be optional. I personally don't own any and don't that many people do. It seems a bunch of Oppo fans might be a little upset by this though. Next, I do not think they would have to put the ABT scaling and deinterlacing in their first model. They could probably just use the DCDi first and then later offer a premium model with the ABT and DVD Audio/SACD support. They could drop the free HDMI cable as well. This would be very effective in lowering costs. Fitting all of this into a < or = $450 package does not seem far fetched to me at all.

I do not think there is really anything all that complicated about an HD DVD player. My guess would be the biggest challenge is developing the software to run it. If Oppo were able to take an HD DVD player like the A35, refine it and add the SD features they are known for, it would be an instant success.

Toshiba can afford to make 10$ per player profit, OPPO cant and thats one of the reasons why OPPO wont be entering the HD market anytime soon. But dont take my word for it, time will tell :)

Toshiba can afford to make 10$ per player profit, OPPO cant and thats one of the reasons why OPPO wont be entering the HD market anytime soon. But dont take my word for it, time will tell :)

You really think Toshiba makes only $10 profit on the A35? Also all the money would be going directly to Oppo without the need for retail mark up. I do agree that Oppo very well may not be entering the HD market any time soon but not for the reasons you are stating.

Toshiba can afford to make 10$ per player profit, OPPO cant and thats one of the reasons why OPPO wont be entering the HD market anytime soon. But dont take my word for it, time will tell :)

That's a valid point,Toshiba is a member of the DVD Forum so they make money on every DVD player(SD & HD DVD) sold.Toshiba also makes laptops,TV's,etc while Oppo only sells DVD players.
If Oppo is to survive they will have to allow B&M stores to sell their products.Cyberhome was very successful here in the US because they sold inexpensive players in every B&M store and they had a low overhead,their problem is they forgot to pay royalties to the DVD Forum.

HellasV,

By that logic, no niche or hifi player would exist. From Denon/Onkyo/HK, etc, on up, all charge a premium and all make more than $10/unit. They make more b/c of real and perceived value added. Hence Oppo can enter any market it wants so long as the value added is there.

How many people want a Toshiba prev generation 1080i semi HD player for cheap? Lots. But many people who are more discerning want more. So add some value, and sell to them. If they have a reasonably priced, nearly best upscaling player on the market ( visably better than my PS3), then I'll buy it. Compared to the price of my SD collection (and my 1080p hdtv), it's pennies on the dollar. Almost literally. So I'll pay $300 for an Oppo super upscaler, but no way for a Denon $1k, etc., upscaler.

The trick for Oppo is that they depend so highly on word of mouth from forums, etc. to sell things. So they have to provide something worth buying to a much greater extent than Bose which can advertise and price itself into a perceived high end.

I'm ignorant here, but does Oppo get shelf space at the boutique dealers? If not, then they don't have that option either (like NAD and up). So Oppo has to deliver the goods at a decent price. Which is just what we consumers want. Even a region free player is worth something, although aside from Danton, I'd like some education on what non-R-1 disks I should want??

Hello Guys,

I have a question regarding this DVD player. My ES DVD player died recently and I'm thinking of getting a player that does a very good job of upconverting DVDs. Nowadays I mostly buy BDs and HD DVDs but I still have a huge library of DVDs (and I still keep buying DVDs anyway).
Right now it seems like one of the best players for SD is Toshiba HD-XA2 which uses Reon. The problem is I already have a HD DVD player (HD-A35) and HD-XA2 doesn't do any other formats beside HD DVD and DVD and also no Region 2 DVD support.
So my question is, does OPPO 983 provide a picture comparable or better to HD-XA2? If it does, I can hold my purchase till 983 comes out. My PS3 (being used as a BD player) does a fine of upconverting DVDs temporarily.
OPPO 983 also has the advantage of being universal, cheaper and multi-region. But at the end I care about PQ.
So what do you guys think? is it worth waiting for OPPO 983 or HD-XA2 will provide a better picture?

Thanks in Advance

wakashizuma, it has been a while since I saw a pic from the XA2, but from what I remember, I would give a slight edge to the XA2 for upconverting quality of SD dvds. However, being as how you would lose all the "extra" features that the Oppo 983 includes compared to the XA2, I would definately choose the 983. (now I'm only talking SD of course since the Oppo can't do HD)
Now what about those "extra" features? You already mention what seems to be important to you, otherwise why would you mention them? SACD, DVD-A, multi-region. The HD players do not offer those things. So if you want them, then you HAVE to go with the Oppo.

Ok, in your situation, one may want to get everything in just one player. You can't even do that though since you want HD-DVD AND BR. So you've already got 2 players. Might as well make it three. I personally would do just that if I were you. You've already got the 2 HD players, so just add the 983 to the mix and you've got everything you could ever want (relatively speaking).

So you've got a choice.
-Get rid of the A35 and bring in the XA2 for HD AND SD upconversion. Though you can NOT watch non-region-1 dvds, nor can you listen to multichannel audio. Of course there is the laundry list of other things that the Oppo also does too that the Toshiba doesn't do. You will have the best upconversion of SD dvds though.

OR

-Keep the A35 and add the 983 to the mix. Now you have the best of everything except maybe sacrificing just a pinch of quality on SD upconversion.

Seems like oppo is going to be bringing out another great player.

I have never owned one before, but i was considering getting a cheap upconverting player for my dad. Didnt want to spend more than $100, but think i might strectch for the oppo 980H. Anymore than that and i am just wasting my money.

Cant see how people can spend more for DVD when a little bit more and they will be in HD heaven. I actually dont bother watching DVD's anymore eventhough i own many. I am so hooked to HD-DVD and Blu-ray right now!!

I just hope the 980H is better than some other ones out there for less (Samsung 1080P, Toshiba 7990/6000, LG 798, Onkyo 405)

Mandrake i have never heard OPPO saying that they have a better DVD upscaler than DENON.....And they dont...However i do agree that DENON sells its products a lot more but its like comparing an Mercedes ML Jeep and an DAEWOO Corado jeep...Both have the same engine type made by mercedez benz ( slightly different Litre capacity ) but the first costs 5-6 times as much.

Ps : Certain members in here seem to be really eager to promote OPPO and thats troublesome... ( Not refering to you Mandrake )

HellasVegabond, perhaps it's OPPO's track record causing a slight lean toward their products here. Diligent customer service 99.8% of the time, dozens of firmware upgrades, all at an affordable price. Also, you're fairly new to the forum and might have missed many much more critical comparisons a few years back. I had the Denon 3910 and it was a close call as to which one produced better DVD images. If I gave the Denon's PQ a 98% rating, I'd give OPPO a 97.5. Now of course that's just me, using my gear, other's experiences might vary. I chose the OPPO over the 3910 because people's voices were more intelligible on the OPPO (both 971 and 981). When watching a movie on the Denon I was often catching myself saying out loud,"what did he say?".

Since ive been around this forum ever since OPPO first appeared and since i was in the Electronics industry up until a year ago i dont think that i dont know what im talking about.
True OPPO makes fine products and has many satisfied customers ( The majority anyways ) but they themselves state that their players provide better IQ than most of the far more expensive players BUT not ALL of the most expensive players. I for once cant compare DENON or ONKYO TOP dvd players when it comes to quality of materials cause like i said its like comparing an Mercedes with an less advanced and quality-wise brand.
Yes they make awesome players but no they aint the best ones around and since OPPO only exists for like 4 years in the industry i would expect their products to be less expensive especially when nextgen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players keep getting cheaper by the day.

As for the promotion well i never considered this forum to be a place for people to promote something with exaggerated comments like some i have located a few times in this thread. For all i know some people may have something to gain by that...

Since ive been around this forum ever since OPPO first appeared and since i was in the Electronics industry up until a year ago i dont think that i dont know what im talking about.
True OPPO makes fine products and has many satisfied customers ( The majority anyways ) but they themselves state that their players provide better IQ than most of the far more expensive players BUT not ALL of the most expensive players. I for once cant compare DENON or ONKYO TOP dvd players when it comes to quality of materials cause like i said its like comparing an Mercedes with an less advanced and quality-wise brand.
Yes they make awesome players but no they aint the best ones around and since OPPO only exists for like 4 years in the industry i would expect their products to be less expensive especially when nextgen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players keep getting cheaper by the day.

As for the promotion well i never considered this forum to be a place for people to promote something with exaggerated comments like some i have located a few times in this thread. For all i know some people may have something to gain by that...

Why does everyone keep comparing SD to HD. Oppo is not trying to compete with HD right now. The only thing that comes close to Oppo's performance in the SD arena is an XA2, and that costs about $500 and does not play DVDA, SACD, is not region free, etc... etc... etc...

You are going to have to put your money where your mouth is. You need to specify exactly what comments you believe to be exaggerated, and post how you prove those claims to be wrong. Most people here that praise the products of Oppo do so because they believe the Oppo players to be high quality and they enjoy using them. I don't ever remember hearing/reading someone say that an Oppo player is the best SD player in existance. Most who are "in the know" state that Oppo is extremely high quality, and that they are comparable in performance to the high end players costing 3-5 times more than the Oppo. If the 2 top rated SD dvd players are rated at 9.7 and 9.8, and the Oppo would be rated at a 9.4 but costs less than half the price of those high end players?... then I am going to chose the Oppo every time (assuming I don't become filthy rich very soon), which is what I have done since Oppo released the 971.

Since when is a public forum only used to non constructively criticize and scrutinize a certain product? Maybe you should start you own thread called "I hate Oppo, how 'bout you?". No, just kidding (my name is Smarty-pants. :)) Seriously though, I don't think there is any such heavy promotion of Oppo. There are some here who do have an interest in keeping Oppo in the sunlight for various reasons. I don't think there is anyone who's gonna lose their house if Oppo doesn't become extremely successful, nor do I think anyone here is gonna get rich if Oppo starts doubling their profits. So it's basically the same as with any other product. You've got your different opinions scattered throughout the various comments, and as those comments collect to develope a generalized opinion of Oppo products...I believe that Opinion is, that Oppo makes great dvd players for a fantastic value.

Why does everyone keep comparing SD to HD. Oppo is not trying to compete with HD right now. The only thing that comes close to Oppo's performance in the SD arena is an XA2, and that costs about $500 and does not play DVDA, SACD, is not region free, etc... etc... etc...

You are going to have to put your money where your mouth is. You need to specify exactly what comments you believe to be exaggerated, and post how you prove those claims to be wrong. Most people here that praise the products of Oppo do so because they believe the Oppo players to be high quality and they enjoy using them. I don't ever remember hearing/reading someone say that an Oppo player is the best SD player in existance. Most who are "in the know" state that Oppo is extremely high quality, and that they are comparable in performance to the high end players costing 3-5 times more than the Oppo. If the 2 top rated SD dvd players are rated at 9.7 and 9.8, and the Oppo would be rated at a 9.4 but costs less than half the price of those high end players?... then I am going to chose the Oppo every time (assuming I don't become filthy rich very soon), which is what I have done since Oppo released the 971.

Since when is a public forum only used to non constructively criticize and scrutinize a certain product? Maybe you should start you own thread called "I hate Oppo, how 'bout you?". No, just kidding (my name is Smarty-pants. :)) Seriously though, I don't think there is any such heavy promotion of Oppo. There are some here who do have an interest in keeping Oppo in the sunlight for various reasons. I don't think there is anyone who's gonna lose their house if Oppo doesn't become extremely successful, nor do I think anyone here is gonna get rich if Oppo starts doubling their profits. So it's basically the same as with any other product. You've got your different opinions scattered throughout the various comments, and as those comments collect to develope a generalized opinion of Oppo products...I believe that Opinion is, that Oppo makes great dvd players for a fantastic value.


I never said they dont make awesome DVD-Players, i think you can see that in my postings. Im just stating 3 things.
A) They dont make the BEST DVD players.
B) They charge TOO MUCH for a company that has been in the industry for 4 years and is nothing in comparison to SONY , SAMSUNG , SHARP , TOSHIBA and the rest of the major companies.
C) The money they charge for a plain DVD-player ( yes even with some extra features ) namely the 983 are enough to either buy the Toshiba HD-DVD XA2 or the Sharp Blu-Ray BD-HP20U which are the latest in HD technology.

I never said they dont make awesome DVD-Players, i think you can see that in my postings. Im just stating 3 things.
A) They dont make the BEST DVD players.
B) They charge TOO MUCH for a company that has been in the industry for 4 years and is nothing in comparison to SONY , SAMSUNG , SHARP , TOSHIBA and the rest of the major companies.
C) The money they charge for a plain DVD-player ( yes even with some extra features ) namely the 983 are enough to either buy the Toshiba HD-DVD XA2 or the Sharp Blu-Ray BD-HP20U which are the latest in HD technology.

Really? Why haven't you mentioned this before? Could you repeat it several times a day until the 983 is generally available? Then we'll be busy with other things.

-Bill

I never said they dont make awesome DVD-Players, i think you can see that in my postings. Im just stating 3 things.
A) They dont make the BEST DVD players.
B) They charge TOO MUCH for a company that has been in the industry for 4 years and is nothing in comparison to SONY , SAMSUNG , SHARP , TOSHIBA and the rest of the major companies.
C) The money they charge for a plain DVD-player ( yes even with some extra features ) namely the 983 are enough to either buy the Toshiba HD-DVD XA2 or the Sharp Blu-Ray BD-HP20U which are the latest in HD technology.

OK. There are probably too many statements about people saying that OPPO makes the best DVD players.

I personally do not think OPPO charges too much given the quality and feature sets delivered. I think that it is great that a new company has come in to raise the bar for the big boys. I kinda think of OPPO as the Lexus of CE companies.

Regarding the 983 I think that the many of the same people who already own both BD and HD DVD players will want something like the 983 for dedicated DVD playback. The prices being bounced around are very competitive if the DVD quality is close or better than the HD-XA2. Many people paid around $900 less than year ago to get the HD-XA2. The 983 would be a bargain in comparison. The XA2 is very good for DVD playback -- but is slow as heck, does not do DVD-Audio or SACD, cannot be made region free and the 24fps DVD playback that people rave about is still a defective implementation since it does no support DVD menus.

Sure you could spend a bit more money and get an HDM player today, but there are still no perfect or even "complete" HDM players. For example, how many can internally decode DTS HDMA audio for BD or HD DVD? It is a fairly rational decision for someone to wait for an HDM player that is complete, reliable and responsive -- and dual BD/HD DVD. How much longer before we will have an HDM player that meets those requirements and is also a pure superset of the 983 in terms of DVD PQ, audio support, region-free, etc.

We need OPPO. Many of "respectable" CE companies have completely lost track of quality in their greedy race to dominate the HDM arms race.

I never said they dont make awesome DVD-Players, i think you can see that in my postings. Im just stating 3 things.
A) They dont make the BEST DVD players.
I agree with this statement - as would any of the regulars in the various OPPO threads, I would expect.
B) They charge TOO MUCH for a company that has been in the industry for 4 years and is nothing in comparison to SONY , SAMSUNG , SHARP , TOSHIBA and the rest of the major companies.
This is a statement of your opinion only - and I think that presenting this opinion as if it were a fact is one reason that a number of people in this thread have disagreed with some of your statements. Personally, I've found their offerings to represent a respectable value for the price compared to some other products I've owned. That's just my opinion, though, based on products that I've owned.
C) The money they charge for a plain DVD-player ( yes even with some extra features ) namely the 983 are enough to either buy the Toshiba HD-DVD XA2 or the Sharp Blu-Ray BD-HP20U which are the latest in HD technology.
The 983H is not going to be their main seller, I'm sure - something that I suspect they would agree with. Your posts consistently seem to be condemning them for trying to build the 983H, though, as if the idea of it invalidates the 980H and 981HD's existence in their product line.

Someone who is considering a player like the 983H is going to be well aware of the HD format war and the players available for both formats. If an XA2 or a Sharp HD20 will suit their needs better, they'll buy one. If a 983H (or a 981HD or a 980H) suits their needs better than one of those, however, they can buy that instead. Or maybe they can simply buy an $80 player and wait for the format war to shake out...

Can someone answer this question. How does the sound from either a HD or BR player sound? Let's say for just CD music using a 5.1 or 2ch system [i'm not talking about SACD or DVDA].
Then how does a Movie sound track sound in comparison to any of the Oppo players. I'm getting the feeling the 983H is going to deliver - great video>great music>rich feature options. And non of the other manufacters are poviding in one unit unless you go to the $$$+$$$ level.

OK. There are probably too many statements about people saying that OPPO makes the best DVD players.

I personally do not think OPPO charges too much given the quality and feature sets delivered. I think that it is great that a new company has come in to raise the bar for the big boys. I kinda think of OPPO as the Lexus of CE companies.

Regarding the 983 I think that the many of the same people who already own both BD and HD DVD players will want something like the 983 for dedicated DVD playback. The prices being bounced around are very competitive if the DVD quality is close or better than the HD-XA2. Many people paid around $900 less than year ago to get the HD-XA2. The 983 would be a bargain in comparison. The XA2 is very good for DVD playback -- but is slow as heck, does not do DVD-Audio or SACD, cannot be made region free and the 24fps DVD playback that people rave about is still a defective implementation since it does no support DVD menus.

Sure you could spend a bit more money and get an HDM player today, but there are still no perfect or even "complete" HDM players. For example, how many can internally decode DTS HDMA audio for BD or HD DVD? It is a fairly rational decision for someone to wait for an HDM player that is complete, reliable and responsive -- and dual BD/HD DVD. How much longer before we will have an HDM player that meets those requirements and is also a pure superset of the 983 in terms of DVD PQ, audio support, region-free, etc.

We need OPPO. Many of "respectable" CE companies have completely lost track of quality in their greedy race to dominate the HDM arms race.

Well said and I completely agree with it.
I think Oppo players represent great value for what they do. I'm sure there are folks who have huge DVD libraries and they want to make the best out of them.
I love my DVD library. Although I was thinking of getting HD-XA2 for maximum DVD quality, I see much great value in Oppo 983. I have PAL DVDs, some DVD-As and SACDs and it's great to be able to play all those from one machine.
My 2 cents.

OPPO may not be a large company, but does produce some of the best quality DVD players. Let us not forget, almost all the companies that produce high-end audio equipment are small companies, and none of them Japanese. To this day, large Japanese companies have never figured out how to make decent speakers. I agree that these large Japanese companies do make very good flat screen TVs.

Some of us have a large SD DVD library, including Region 2 PAL and Region 3 DVDs. This is because some of the best foreign films are never available in Region 1 DVD format. Also, Criterion, generally acknowledged as the company producing the best quality DVDs, has no intention of issuing either Bule-Ray or HD DVD in the near furture. This means that I would want the best DVD player for my SD DVDs. Considering the cost of building a DVD library, a $300 price tag for an outstanding SD DVD player is a small price to pay, especially one that can play both NTSC and PAL DVDs from any region.

Last but not least, OPPO is a US subsidiary of BBK, a very large DVD player manufacturer in China. I believe BBK actually manufactures many DVD players for the large Japanese companies.

I love Oppo being so small. When I got my 980H I didn't know
I need to switch video to at least 720p to get multichannel
SACD over HDMI. I called them and instantly somebody picked up,
explained me everything. It was very personal and great.
When I had a question about Onkyo 885, I tried to call them,
I was on hold for an hour and a half, and then when somebody
picked up, he had no clue.

BTW, if I understand correctly, there is no audio quality
improvement in 983H over 980H, right?

BTW, if I understand correctly, there is no audio quality improvement in 983H over 980H, right?
Based on what I've seen in this thread, that would be correct - there's been no mention of improvements to the 980H's analog section.

So, is there any chance that the 983 will start shipping before Christmas?

Any pics? a date? come on oppo give us something!... oh the anticipation

So, is there any chance that the 983 will start shipping before Christmas?

There has been no official release date, but I would say "no".

-Bill

May I ask a simple question? I know what Oppo's competition on the up-side is. (PS3, Toshiba XA3, Denon +++). What is Oppo's best competition on the down-side now? I see dozens of up-convert 1080p players advertised now, some as low as $30---presumably not very good. Are there $50-$100 players that can do 90% of what the 983 will do? (what is the cheapest upscaler using the same ABT and/or HQV chipsets?)

sincerely,

/iaw

While OPPO is working on the 983, I hope they're thinking about making an HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player that does EVERYTHING the 983 will do.

I'd be just as happy, perhaps happier, to see HD DVD or Blu-ray capability added to a player with the 983's feature set, rather than a "combo HD" player, given the apparent difficulty in creating a reasonably-priced glitch-free player which integrates both HD formats. If the "format war" continues for some time (which appears likely) that may mean 2 separate OPPO HD models.

So be it.

There has been no official release date, but I would say "no".

-Bill
What is the range of dates being thrown around?

I emailed OPPO the same question - when - the reply
was anytime between now and February.
ldm

From post #509...

just zipped through the last few pages. lots of you seem to complain about the video aspect... remember this is NOT ONLY A DVD player. for that just buy any ole' 1080i/p upscale DVD player and it'll work fine, there are alternates with abt upscale as well (som1 else furnish those).

find me ANOTHER SACD/DVD-Audio player where they pass pcm AND dsd over hdmi @the same price point.

add to that mp3, abt upscale chipset and other stuff and this is considered a "steal".

i, too, want the 983+hd dvd+bd playback. i already have the hd combo playback and am content with it. so for me, this will be an "audio" purchase instead of video.

but if i didn't have a combo player, my plan would have been: 983 for now and wait for future hd dvd+bluray combo player to come down in price.

We are 33 days away from 2008 and its really something to watch people still talk about plain DVD players even if they have extras that other DVD players dont. True the 983 sounds like one hell of an machine but the price tag just doesnt seem right. If it was to cost 200-250$ then yes it would be a steal but for a price tag reaching ( if not surpassing ) the 350$ barrier well thats not what i would call a steal not when you can get latest gen HD players for the same money or 50$ more. Yes again some will say that the 983 does things the other HD players dont but im sure that we will begin to see HD players that do what the 983 will and thats just a matter of time.
Bottom line its better to wait a few months more and spend 400-500$ on an next gen HD player that will do everything the 983 will ( if not everything then most things ) than to go out and spend 350-400$ on a absolete technology such as an DVD player. And lets not forget that everyone here is plainly Speculating about the 983. We dont have Official specs, no photo and no previews-reviews whatsoever not to mention not even an official launch date...

We are 33 days away from 2008 and its really something to watch people still talk about plain DVD players even if they have extras that other DVD players dont. True the 983 sounds like one hell of an machine but the price tag just doesnt seem right. If it was to cost 200-250$ then yes it would be a steal but for a price tag reaching ( if not surpassing ) the 350$ barrier well thats not what i would call a steal not when you can get latest gen HD players for the same money or 50$ more. Yes again some will say that the 983 does things the other HD players dont but im sure that we will begin to see HD players that do what the 983 will and thats just a matter of time.
Bottom line its better to wait a few months more and spend 400-500$ on an next gen HD player that will do everything the 983 will ( if not everything then most things ) than to go out and spend 350-400$ on a absolete technology such as an DVD player. And lets not forget that everyone here is plainly Speculating about the 983. We dont have Official specs, no photo and no previews-reviews whatsoever not to mention not even an official launch date...


First, the 983 in not a "plain" dvd player. Although I'm not really sure what you mean by that term. If you mean that it is SD and not HD then yes. No one claims it to be HD and it is not trying to compete with those players either.

Yes, you can buy an current generation HD dvd player that upscales SD dvd just as good as the 983, and it does play HD dvds too, but as it's already been said over and over, those HD players don't play SACD, DVDA, non-region 1 dvds, ect... ect... and they do cost substantially more than the speculated price of the 983.
You can't even play HD-DVD and BR discs on those players either unless you spend $1000 on a combo unit, and that unit has the same shortcomings as the others.

If you think that there are new players coming in the next few months that will do the same as the 983 and play HD dvds, then you can always hope you are right and you can then come back here and say "I told you so", but until then you are just hoping and guessing.

Oh, and now SD dvd is just "obsolete" technology according to you. Well, you are dead wrong sir. Why are studios still releasing 100% of all movies on SD dvd format?... and SD dvd players are still outselling HD players as well. A good upscaling SD player, when properly calibrated with a quality display, will look almost as good as HD. SD is NOT obsolete, and is going to be very popular for quite a while.

As far as speaking out of speculation, that comment may include youself, but not me. I speak what I know of and NOT what might be or might not be.
If you think the 983 is not for you, then don't buy it, but for you to state outright that it not for anyone is just you speaking out of ignorance. There will be plenty of people buying the 983, that's for sure.

Touche Smarty Pants. I will definitely purchase the Oppo 983 or 981. Quick question. What is the difference between the 981 and the 983. I was almost ready to ante up on the Oppo 981 instead of the HK DVD 48. Both seem to be excellent machines. and the y both have the audio features I want; SACD, DVD-A etc.

Touche Smarty Pants. I will definitely purchase the Oppo 983 or 981. Quick question. What is the difference between the 981 and the 983. I was almost ready to ante up on the Oppo 981 instead of the HK DVD 48. Both seem to be excellent machines. and the y both have the audio features I want; SACD, DVD-A etc.
I can't speak to the picture quality benefits of the 983 over the 981 (others around here can handle that better than I), but the 983 uses different hardware than the 981 to deinterlace and scale - it uses a pair of ABT chips instead of the 981's Faroudja chip. On the audio site, it appears to be at least very comparable to the 980H since it's built on the 980H platform, which suggests that it will provide somewhat better analog output than the 981HD as well as HDMI v1.2 support (DSD output of SACD's, assuming your receiver can handle that).

We are 33 days away from 2008 and its really something to watch people still talk about plain DVD players even if they have extras that other DVD players dont.

Why haven't you mentioned this before? Could you post that again for us?

-Bill

Thanks Gonk. My receiver is the HK 745. It has a faroudja chipset and may actually be more compatible with the Oppo 981. I'm not sure. Looks like I will have to do a little more research. I am also still a little enamored with the HK DVD 48. This is a tough call because this will probably be the last standard DVD player I will buy.

Thanks Gonk. My receiver is the HK 745. It has a faroudja chipset and may actually be more compatible with the Oppo 981. I'm not sure. Looks like I will have to do a little more research. I am also still a little enamored with the HK DVD 48. This is a tough call because this will probably be the last standard DVD player I will buy.

The scaler in the 983 is better than the one in your HK. How much better would be up for debate, and it would be up to you to decide if would be worth it or not.

ive got 600-700 sd dvds and i really want to maximize their potential . ive played them thru panny s77 upscaler into 720p panny pj onto 108" screen for the last 3 yrs and they've looked just great!:D 3 weeks ago i got a w/m hd-a2 and its even a little better as an upscaler, plus the hd is even better than that!:p i couldnt be much happier.

i'll definitely be interested in a 983 if it will offer up an even better sd image than what ive already got! i cant wait!!

First, the 983 in not a "plain" dvd player. Although I'm not really sure what you mean by that term. If you mean that it is SD and not HD then yes. No one claims it to be HD and it is not trying to compete with those players either.

Yes, you can buy an current generation HD dvd player that upscales SD dvd just as good as the 983, and it does play HD dvds too, but as it's already been said over and over, those HD players don't play SACD, DVDA, non-region 1 dvds, ect... ect... and they do cost substantially more than the speculated price of the 983.You can't even play HD-DVD and BR discs on those players either unless you spend $1000 on a combo unit, and that unit has the same shortcomings as the others.

If you think that there are new players coming in the next few months that will do the same as the 983 and play HD dvds, then you can always hope you are right and you can then come back here and say "I told you so", but until then you are just hoping and guessing.

Oh, and now SD dvd is just "obsolete" technology according to you. Well, you are dead wrong sir. Why are studios still releasing 100% of all movies on SD dvd format?... and SD dvd players are still outselling HD players as well. A good upscaling SD player, when properly calibrated with a quality display, will look almost as good as HD. SD is NOT obsolete, and is going to be very popular for quite a while.

As far as speaking out of speculation, that comment may include youself, but not me. I speak what I know of and NOT what might be or might not be.
If you think the 983 is not for you, then don't buy it, but for you to state outright that it not for anyone is just you speaking out of ignorance. There will be plenty of people buying the 983, that's for sure.


3 Things.
A) 350$ to 450$ ( Cost Of Toshiba XA2 and Sharp Blu-Ray ) is only 100$ more and that IF the 983 will only cost 350$....Time will tell...
B) Companies release DVDs cause 99% of the consumers still use them. Did they stop releasing VHS when DVD first came to the stores ? No, so why would they now ? It would be stupid to only support 1% and not 99%.
C) To compare an 480p DVD to an 1080p is weird to say the least. Have you even seen an comparison between a DVD and an HD-DVD / Blu-Ray ? I have and the differences are HUGE especially when we see them on an 42+ inch TV set. How you can come to the conclusion that by calibrating a TV with a plain DVD player ( yes even the Oppo 981 ) is almost as good as an HD ( 1080p ) player is something i cannot even begin to understand.

C) To compare an 480p DVD to an 1080p is weird to say the least. Have you even seen an comparison between a DVD and an HD-DVD / Blu-Ray ? I have and the differences are HUGE especially when we see them on an 42+ inch TV set **. How you can come to the conclusion that by calibrating a TV with a plain DVD player ( yes even the Oppo 981 ) is almost as good as an HD ( 1080p ) player is something i cannot even begin to understand.

insert at **: "from very close to your 42+ inch screen". There are these wonderful graphs, e.g., at http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html
that suggest that if you sit around 12' away from your 42" screen, you can barely tell the difference between 480p and 720p. I have been at some local electronics store where they show a demo DVD, which moves between HDTV and SDTV for DVD in order to convince you to purchase one or the other. Yes, I can see the difference, but from a reasonable distance, it is not *THAT* huge a difference.

So, an uneducated guess: the Oppo 983 (or good competitors) may succeed in making your DVD movie appear like 720p from a normal viewing distance, but not like 1080p. In fact, I vaguely recall a review in which an upscaling Oppo was considered as good as a Blu-ray on a 720p display, but not an 1080p display.

Or do Blu-ray and/or HD-DVD have significant advantages in color spectrum and contrast, too, that one would loose?

PS: I like DVDs for their lower price and their ease of use---without crazy DRM stuff, and worries about what is allowed to pass between my player and HDTV. This is not because I would not pay for the media, but because I don't even want to think about incompatibility.

[and if someone knows the answer to my earlier question (are there cheap step-down upscaling DVD players for $50-$100 which perform 90% as well as the Oppo 983), please let me know. I need one for another bedroom.]

regards,

/iaw

Actually i have seen Transformers in HD-DVD using the Toshiba EP10 player and in DVD upsampled by the Oppo981 , both on my 55inch 1080p tv and the difference was huge even from 3 meters distance where i watch movies. However when you get closer the difference is even more noticable but thats another story.

Will it support HD Divx?

Will it support HD Divx?

I don't believe that it will. Neuromancer should be able to give a definitive answer on this.

Has anybody compared Star Wars on DVD to Blu-ray or HD DVD? What about Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet, Chocolat, The English Patient, Farewell My Concubine, Da Vinci Code, Cleopatra, Cinema Paradiso, the Incredibles LA Confidential, Jurassic Park, Lawrence of Arabia, Rashomon, ...?

Has anybody compared Star Wars on DVD to Blu-ray or HD DVD? What about Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet, Chocolat, The English Patient, Farewell My Concubine, Da Vinci Code, Cleopatra, Cinema Paradiso, the Incredibles LA Confidential, Jurassic Park, Lawrence of Arabia, Rashomon, ...?

I'm confused why you're asking that question in this thread... seems out of place.
Also, most of those movies that you mention are not even available in HD formats.

I'm confused why you're asking that question in this thread... seems out of place.
Also, most of those movies that you mention are not even available in HD formats.
There are those questioning the value of a high quality DVD player in the "new age of HD." My point is that there are lots of movies that you can only buy on DVD and that any player that maximizes the presentation of these movies is worth it's weight in gold.

Okay, I'm tired and need to go to bed. That one flew over my head like a fighter jet. :D
sorry

(very good point on your part)

Miata the Toshiba XA2 HD-DVD has TOP DVD upconverting to 1080p so i am not saying that you should Abandon plain DVDs, just give a few bucks more and get something more future proof.

The point was made that standard def DVDs will be produced for quite awhile, while the high def varieties are only now being produced for some movies, not all. On top of that, consider your present library of discs, and a player dedicated to producing strong pictures from a standard def is not a foolish thing. I would imagine this player will outperform a high def player that also will convert standard discs, and that difference will be evident on the larger panels that more people are now able to afford.

Miata the Toshiba XA2 HD-DVD has TOP DVD upconverting to 1080p so i am not saying that you should Abandon plain DVDs, just give a few bucks more and get something more future proof.
I have the XA2. It has very good DVD PQ. However, it is not region-free, it does not play SACD/DVD-Audio and it is very, very slow compared to the OPPO 980 I also have. If the 983 has as good or better or better PQ than the XA2 I will get one. I will then move my XA2 and 980 into the bedroom and get an HD-A2 for the the main room. In other words in terms of performance:

(OPPO 983 + HD-A2) > (OPPO 980 + HD-XA2)

In terms of price they will be very similar. If anything the 983/A2 option will be less expensive. If one has more patience the smart thing to buy is the 983 because it will never become obsolete. Then wait for a dual format HDM player to be released that is truly "future-proof." You say that the XA2 is future proof. Well, as soon as studios start releasing DTS-HDMA audio on HD DVD in the US, my HD-XA2 is obsolete. My AVR us not HDMI 1.3 compliant. Not to mention to mention the obvious -- the HD-XA2 only plays half of the HDM formats. You still need to buy a Blu-ray player to watch all HD titles.

Does anybody know of an *inexpensive* ($100 or less) that outputs 480i via HDMI?

Your best bet is to look for the Oppo DV-970H that may still be selling somewhere for <$100

OPPO may not be a large company, but does produce some of the best quality DVD players. Let us not forget, almost all the companies that produce high-end audio equipment are small companies, and none of them Japanese. To this day, large Japanese companies have never figured out how to make decent speakers.

Anyone heard a pair of the new Pioneer EX series speakers? How about the TAD line? Personally, I prefer a slightly richer/warmer sounding speaker, but the new EXs are pretty darn awesome. Never heard the TAD-1's but they are supposed to be even better. Both lines are "reference" class in sound.

is there a SACD/DVD Audio universal DVD player that passes PCM+DSD over hdmi that cost about the same as the 983? please enlighten us.

The DV-980H ... at almost half the cost.

I'm a bit interested in how the 983 will perform against the XA2 for film-based DVDs. I just bought the XA2. Initially I was happy with the unit, but there's a couple of things I've discovered with it that I'm not happy about it. I've considered returning it and getting the A30 (I need 1080p as my set doesn't deinterlace 1080i optimally) and maybe picking up the 983 depending on how it turns out. It will be years - if ever - that many of the movies I watch will ever be released on HDM so I do want top-notch SD DVD quality.

The A20, A30 and A35 do not deinterlace properly.

I believe they do a very good job deinterlacing HD DVDs to 1080p/24, but not to 1080p/60. They may well be good choices if your TV accepts 1080p/24 and can display it as 1080p/72.

Getting both the 983 and A30 is an option I'm considering as well.

Hi all,

Neuromancer, Mr. Deering or someone else who actually has access to a physical unit, could you please answer these two questions:

Someone from DVDO could chime in too if they like.

[1] The DVDO VP## scaler line which uses the same chips as the 983 touts an automatic audio sync delay that is considered necessary to synv the video with the audio after the video processing has completed.

I know it sounds like it should be obviously included in the 983 but I have read all 21 pages and havent heard any mention of this being included.

[2] The Oppo 980 and a DVDO VP20 + ABT102D add-on were going to be my definite purchase options in the months to come but the 983 has pretty much taken the cake as being 2-in-1 for me with one exception.

I rent, rip to HD, watch later and then delete all my rentals.

My initial purchase plan above entailed sending them out my HTPC as 480i over component to the DVDO and then via HDMI from there to the PJ.

With the 983, is VOB or, more importantly, IFO support, being implemented through the USB 2.0 port???

Thanks in advance.

I believe they do a very good job deinterlacing HD DVDs to 1080p/24, but not to 1080p/60. They may well be good choices if your TV accepts 1080p/24 and can display it as 1080p/72.

Getting both the 983 and A30 is an option I'm considering as well.

They do not deinterlace HD DVDs to 1080p/24. They read it directly off the disc so the deinterlacer does not come into effect. If your TV accepts 1080p/24 then they are definitely a good choice.

They do not deinterlace HD DVDs to 1080p/24. They read it directly off the disc so the deinterlacer does not come into effect.I initially thought (and hoped) that 1080p/24 was the native format for film-based HD DVDs, but seemed to remember reading somewhere that it was actually 1080i/30 (or 1080i/60, depending on whether one refers to frames or fields, respectively). I gladly stand corrected. :)

Since the TV I'm planning on getting does indeed accept 1080p/24, I'll be strongly inclined to get an HD player which outputs this format. If the 983 does so as well, that'll be the icing on the cake.

I have the A2 and the Oppo 981 and while I was considerating the XA2 for its HD prowess and SD upconversion abilities, I haven't read one "professional" review where the Toshiba outperformed the Oppo 981. Now, with the new firmware update for the Toshiba, maybe (still no published reviews) the XA2 has eclipsed the Oppo. Who knows. All I can say is that I'm keeping the Oppo 981, iffy on the keeping the A2, strongly considering the Samsung dual player and will most definitely buy the Oppo 983 as soon as it becomes available. I have a hunch that Oppo will solidly be at the top of the DVD player class (AGAIN) with this soon-to-be released player.

By the way, Denon the best of the best?? Try giving their "customer service" dept a call...

What the heck is with all the F-ing thread crapping here lately??
Just because you don't want to buy the Oppo, doesn't mean you have to rain on everyone elses parade.
"You people" want to come in here and make your snide remarks about how the Oppo is not an HDM player. SO WHAT! It's not for playing HDM dvds!
It's been explained over, and over, and over again what the purpose of the player is.
SACD, DVDA, non-R1 dvds, superior upconversion of SD dvds, USB hard drive interface... and the list goes on and on.

are you guys nuts? why pay over 300 for this hippo when you can get real hd toshiba a3 for 250. and you get 7 free hd dvds.
If the 983 is as good as it sounds so far I will be replacing my HD-XA2 with a 983 and an HD-A2. If you want a simple, all in one DVD player that also plays HD DVDs then the A3 might be the way to go. Just keep in mind that a Toshiba is not an OPPO;)

I have a question re: authorized resellers.

On Oppo's website at
http://www.oppodigital.com/wheretobuy.html

They have Amazon listed as a reseller...does this indicate that Amazon is an authorized reseller and that the factory warranty on an Oppo player purchased through Amazon would be honored? I'm (hopefully) getting some extra Amazon gift cards for Christmas, so if I could save a few bucks on my purchase and still have the original warranty offered, that would be great.

Man, this 983 makes my heart go all a-twitter every time I read this thread...can't wait for the official announcement. Maybe it's a good thing it won't come out until next year so that my bank account can recover from the holidays!

They have Amazon listed as a reseller...does this indicate that Amazon is an authorized reseller and that the factory warranty on an Oppo player purchased through Amazon would be honored?

Yes.

-Bill

I have a question re: authorized resellers.

On Oppo's website at
http://www.oppodigital.com/wheretobuy.html

They have Amazon listed as a reseller...does this indicate that Amazon is an authorized reseller and that the factory warranty on an Oppo player purchased through Amazon would be honored? I'm (hopefully) getting some extra Amazon gift cards for Christmas, so if I could save a few bucks on my purchase and still have the original warranty offered, that would be great.

Man, this 983 makes my heart go all a-twitter every time I read this thread...can't wait for the official announcement. Maybe it's a good thing it won't come out until next year so that my bank account can recover from the holidays!


Yes, there are a few places that are "authorized" to sell Oppo products and Amazon.com is one of them. You will get the full warranty just as if you purchased it from OppoDigital.

For the second time, stick to talking about the 983, please.

larry

Neuromancer, Mr. Deering or someone else who actually has access to a physical unit, could you please answer these two questions:

Can't answer these questions yet.

What the heck is with all the F-ing thread crapping here lately??

Aye, this is a thread about the DV-983H, not a thread of what the DV-983H is not. I appreciate the enthusiasm of this thread. I will have to start an "Owner's" thread in the future to limit the conversations to the products itself.

Hi all,

Neuromancer, is that due to the NDA???

The reason I asked is because:

[1] The audio sync stuff could be checked in the menu OR just by playing a movie and checking the lip sync on the screen.

[2] The USB functionality could be checked using a USB key and one or more VOB files decrypted from a disk you own.

I will understand completely if you dont have the time.

Thanks for the reply.

There is the standard Audio Delay functionality. However, I do not know if there are any hidden or automated AV synchronizations going on. Right now I am not able to talk about functionality which may or may not make it into the product. I am "allowed" to talk about features which are for sure in the product, and will remain in the product at launch.

VOB is like the current players: VOB only. No IFO support.

Neuromancer, could you possibly tell us if the 983 will have any auto-off and/or screensaver functions?

No auto-off. Same screensaver as current OPPO players.

is there a release date yet for this player?

no, but I can guarantee not this year.

I discovered this thread late, and am excited to hear about this new Oppo player. It sounds excellent.

The current design of the player follows the previous Zoom designs of OPPO products. As state previously, OPPO is working diligently on this product, and are continually adding new features. A Zoom and Crop Zoom will likely make it to the final product, but the unit I have still uses the standard Zoom controls of previous OPPO players.
I just want to beg and plead with Oppo to please add a quality vertical stretch function for non-anamorphic discs. That alone would get me to buy a 983H. Thanks.

I just want to beg and plead with Oppo to please add a quality vertical stretch function for non-anamorphic discs. That alone would get me to buy a 983H. Thanks.

Do you mean 4:3 letterboxed titles? They need a full-width horizontal zoom, right? Or are you looking for a stretch feature for CIH projectors?

-Bill

I think he's looking for the vertical stretch so it can be used with a horizontal stretching anamorphic lens in a CIH set up.

I too am hoping for this feature. Couple that with positioning sub-titles inside the image and Oppo can have the CIH market all to itself. I would love to ditch my HTPC and go back to the simplicity of a DVD player.

I think that Oppo is puting forth their BEST EFFORTS to include as many features as possible in the DV-983H ;):);).

lets just hope its actually ever released.

hopefully before end of 1st qtr

I think that Oppo is puting forth their BEST EFFORTS to include as many features as possible in the DV-983H ;):);).
Please expand on why you "think" this!:D I don't mean to pick on you smarty pants, however it is becoming very frustrating for us potential customers. There has been no real information released on this product for the last 3 months. I personally would buy a scaler if a good one was available for under a grand. The 983 may be the right player for me if it can provide the features I am looking for. The main ones being state of the art deinterlacing, the ability to play film content at a multiple of 24 and aspect ratio control. I'm not ready to jump on the HD bandwagon yet until the hardware and software become more affordable.
The normal reason to have a thread on a new product like the 983 is to get customers interested in your product so they don't buy someone else's product. I know the hardware the 983 contains has the ability to implement the features I desire, but it would be nice to know if Oppo intends to implement them. Oppo should be releasing information as it becomes available.

Please expand on why you "think" this!:D I don't mean to pick on you smarty pants, however it is becoming very frustrating for us potential customers. There has been no real information released on this product for the last 3 months. I personally would buy a scaler if a good one was available for under a grand. The 983 may be the right player for me if it can provide the features I am looking for. The main ones being state of the art deinterlacing, the ability to play film content at a multiple of 24 and aspect ratio control. I'm not ready to jump on the HD bandwagon yet until the hardware and software become more affordable.
The normal reason to have a thread on a new product like the 983 is to get customers interested in your product so they don't buy someone else's product. I know the hardware the 983 contains has the ability to implement the features I desire, but it would be nice to know if Oppo intends to implement them. Oppo should be releasing information as it becomes available.

Detailed information that you are seeking is, to put in simply, not available to the general public. The player is not ready, and until it is, Oppo can not guarantee what features will or will not be implemented. So the answer to your question is no, I can not expand.

question please ?

how does the ABT1010 compare vs the ABT1018 ?

just wondered why the Oppo doesn't use the newer 1018 ?

Let me add that I understand your frustration. Just a little longer, PLEASE be patient. :)
I know it seems to be taking forever, but that is due in part to the fact that the cat was let out of the bag far too early on this project. Everyone wants to know what this thing can really do, and soon enough you will.

question please ?

how does the ABT1010 compare vs the ABT1018 ?

just wondered why the Oppo doesn't use the newer 1018 ?The 983 does use the 1018 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11605810#post11605810).

To anyone who might know or hazard a guess, and regarding the 980 and 983, if one desires to send 1080i over HDMI to a display, will the 980 perform as well as the 983? IOW, will the 980 upscale to 1080i as well as the 983 (obviously the 983 is superior with regard to deinterlacing, which I presume is not involved in this particular case).

Thanks. :)

but that is due in part to the fact that the cat was let out of the bag far too early on this project. .

I wonder whos responsible for that, maybe this forum....unbelievable

Do you mean 4:3 letterboxed titles? They need a full-width horizontal zoom, right? Or are you looking for a stretch feature for CIH projectors?

I think he's looking for the vertical stretch so it can be used with a horizontal stretching anamorphic lens in a CIH set up.
To clarify, no, I wasn't talking about CIH. I do not have a CIH setup and do not plan on ever going that route.

I was just requesting a feature to zoom (vertically stretch) non-anamorphic discs so that they will display correctly on a standard 16:9 display in full mode. Basically, the player would be converting the non-anamorphic image into an anamorphic one. (Some progressive scan players did this in the past, like the Panasonic RP91.)

The reason I would like this is that my current display offers no satisfactory way to watch non-anamorphic discs. Its zoom mode only works with 480i/p signals, and is of low quality. My Oppo 971H is great for anamorphic discs, but useless in this regard for non-anamorphic.

Switching subjects, this reminds me of another request that I forgot to mention: Oppo, please make the 983H so that it retains all resolution when it "squeezes" and windowboxes fullscreen 4:3 material. That would be great. See the PS3 for a player that correctly does this.

I was just requesting a feature to zoom (vertically stretch) non-anamorphic discs so that they will display correctly on a standard 16:9 display in full mode.

I was thinking of that as "horizontal stretch" because it breaks out of the 4:3 aperture in the center of the screen, but I see what you mean by calling it "vertical". 4:3 letterboxed titles already have full horizontal resolution; they just need to be displayed correctly. You just want these titles at full width with the correct aspect ratio, right?

Switching subjects, this reminds me of another request that I forgot to mention: Oppo, please make the 983H so that it retains all resolution when it "squeezes" and windowboxes fullscreen 4:3 material. That would be great. See the PS3 for a player that correctly does this.

That would be the loss of horizontal resolution on 4:3 titles when using Wide/Auto pillarboxing, correct?

-Bill

I'm really looking forward to this player. I'm currently using the Toshiba XA2 for upconverting and it does a fabulous job, however I love the region free aspect of my Oppo 971H. The one thing that the 983 will have to have is the 1080p/24 fps feature. This takes your standard DVD's to the next level. I won't be interested in the unit if it doesn't do this.

I'm really looking forward to this player. I'm currently using the Toshiba XA2 for upconverting and it does a fabulous job, however I love the region free aspect of my Oppo 971H. The one thing that the 983 will have to have is the 1080p/24 fps feature. This takes your standard DVD's to the next level. I won't be interested in the unit if it doesn't do this.
I know the XA2 does 1080p/24fps for DVD, but the implementation is still a bit flawed and most people are recommending not to use 24 fps for DVD. For example, the DVD menus don't work in 24 fps mode. It seems that 24 fps might be more difficult to implement than some think.

I think he's looking for the vertical stretch so it can be used with a horizontal stretching anamorphic lens in a CIH set up.

I too am hoping for this feature. Couple that with positioning sub-titles inside the image and Oppo can have the CIH market all to itself. I would love to ditch my HTPC and go back to the simplicity of a DVD player.

me 3!:D cih, i mean.

I know the XA2 does 1080p/24fps for DVD, but the implementation is still a bit flawed and most people are recommending not to use 24 fps for DVD. For example, the DVD menus don't work in 24 fps mode. It seems that 24 fps might be more difficult to implement than some think.

True, I do get some studdering or missing icons on some SD DVD menus however the way in which the feature looks outweighs any negatives. I will say I'm not much of a menu or extras person. Just give me a good presentation.

I'd hope they would improve the angle of reception for the remote. I have to get within about two feet and point straight at my 970 for it to respond.

I wonder whos responsible for that, maybe this forum....unbelievable

Oppo wanted it out otherwise they would not have personally flown out and hand delievered a demo piece to DVDO's booth for Cedia. If they didn't want anyone to know they would not have given one to Mr. Deering either. They are likely finishing it up and getting their inventory together.

What's the word now. When is this unit coming?

Definitely an early 2008 release.

True, I do get some studdering or missing icons on some SD DVD menus however the way in which the feature looks outweighs any negatives. I will say I'm not much of a menu or extras person. Just give me a good presentation.
We may get what we want, or not. This is the email response I got from Oppo when I inquired about 24/48Hz support.
"Unfortunately at this time we are not talking about the final specifications of this player. All we can say is that we are looking into 24/48Hz support, but we can't confirm it as being in, or not being in, the final product.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
2629B Terminal Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com"

To anyone who might know or hazard a guess, and regarding the 980 and 983, if one desires to send 1080i over HDMI to a display, will the 980 perform as well as the 983? IOW, will the 980 upscale to 1080i as well as the 983 (obviously the 983 is superior with regard to deinterlacing, which I presume is not involved in this particular case).

Thanks. :)

Deinterlacing has to take place.

So, the process for DVD 1080i has to look like this:

480i -> 480p -> 1080i

So, the 983 will be superior still.

Thank-you, David. I had a hunch that 480i to 1080i upconversion might involve more than simple scaling. Things in A/V are almost never as simple as they seem (or as one would hope). :(

Incidentally, if you have a digital display, it is usually better to feed it with a progressive signal for best results. Here's why: Most digital displays are natively progressive. So feeding it with a progressive signal, means that de-interlacing happens only once (in the player).
Feeding the display with 1080i means that the player has to de-interlace the 480i signal on the DVD, scale it to 540p/1080p, and re-interlace it for 1080i. Then the display has to de-interlace it again.
Many TV's do not de-interlace 1080i properly.
Scaling a progressive signal is much easier for a TV to do than de-interlacing.
Gary

I have a question about audio connections on the Oppos (983 but likely same as 980, etc..). Can you have the 7.1 analog outputs connected to a reciever along with the optical or SPDIF digital ouputs connected at the same time? This is assuming the case (my case) where your AVR doesn't have HDMI inputs. The idea is that any DVD playback can be done as RAW over the digital and any SACD/DVDA playback can be done over the 7.1 analog outputs with the only "inconvience" being switching the input you are listenging to on the reciever? The idea is the player would just use the output you wanted for that specific disk playback type.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, I haven't owned a previous Oppo model and have read through several fairly complete reviews (of 980, 971, 981) and have yet read anyone specifically come out and say they've set it up this way. I've read that you can use the 7.1 analog and options with it and then of course you can use the Digital and options for it but not both "together" (not same time) but only for certain playback cases. This could be so obvious though that the reviews never specifically stated it.

All of the oppo's 5.1 analog out (7.1 out for the 980 and 983) will allow you to have both analog and digital connections made. So in your case, sacd and dvd-audio will be listened through your analog outs from the oppo connected to your reciever/pre-pro and or directly to your multi-channel amp. Regular redbook cds and dvds will be listened to by your choice of digital connection (coax or toslink). However, depending on your receiver/prepro's DAC you might try listening to your oppo's DAC and see if it is better (by using the analog outs instead of digital outs) than your receiver/ prepro's on board DAC.

Can you have the 7.1 analog outputs connected to a reciever along with the optical or SPDIF digital ouputs connected at the same time? This is assuming the case (my case) where your AVR doesn't have HDMI inputs. The idea is that any DVD playback can be done as RAW over the digital and any SACD/DVDA playback can be done over the 7.1 analog outputs with the only "inconvience" being switching the input you are listenging to on the reciever? The idea is the player would just use the output you wanted for that specific disk playback type.
This is exactly what I am doing with my 981HD (http://www.prillaman.net/oppo981_review.html) and what I did with my 980H (http://www.prillaman.net/oppo980_review.html) as well. I select the "7.1 Direct" input for DVD-A and SACD, but use the "DVD" input (configured for coaxial digital audio) for other material.

I talked to Oppo today about this unit; I was told it's 3-4 months away and will start at least at $350 - it was implied it may be priced even higher than that.

I talked to Oppo today about this unit; I was told it's 3-4 months away and will start at least at $350 - it was implied it may be priced even higher than that.

That is worst case scenario. That's where they have to start, ya know. It might be ready in 7 weeks, but then it might not. I do NOT know when it will be available to the general public, but I do not believe that it will take 3-4 months.

Hi. Will the USB port in the 983 support the the NTFS format and WAV files. I know the 980 only recognizes the FAT and FAT32 format. All my external hard drives were formatted in NTFS. It would be a nice upgrade! Thanks

That is worst case scenario. That's where they have to start, ya know. It might be ready in 7 weeks, but then it might not. I do NOT know when it will be available to the general public, but I do not believe that it will take 3-4 months.

So, you have no clue when it will be released, but you know it won't be 3-4 months as I was told directly from Oppo? Okay.

So, you have no clue when it will be released, but you know it won't be 3-4 months as I was told directly from Oppo? Okay.

Funny how you're going out of your way to change what I said. I didn't say that I "know it won't be 3-4 months", what I said was that I don't BELIEVE it will be 3-4 months. My opinion only. I thought that part was implied well enough.

Hi. Will the USB port in the 983 support the the NTFS format and WAV files. I know the 980 only recognizes the FAT and FAT32 format. All my external hard drives were formatted in NTFS. It would be a nice upgrade! Thanks
I can offer a guess, for what it's worth. Based on what has been reported previously, there are a number of issues preventing devices like the 980H (and thus the 983H as well) from accessing NTFS partitions, so I would expect that limitation to remain. Likewise, the 983H is said to be based on the 980H platform, so they are likely using the same Mediatek chip - which would suggest that they'll have the same limitation that has so far prevented WAV support. Of the two, the WAV support is the only one that I think has a chance of changing, assuming that Mediatek can find a way to provide support for it (OPPO has asked for this in the past), but since it hasn't happened yet I wouldn't hold my breath that it'll happen...

Thanks for the info Gonk. I was ready to purchase the 980 yesterday but I just might wait and see how the 983 turns out. Will be monitoring this thread. I'm hoping your right about the WAV support. About the NTSF support, I can always format an extra external hard drive to FAT32 and then transfer the WAV files from the NTSF hard drive. Thanks again.

Funny how you're going out of your way to change what I said. I didn't say that I "know it won't be 3-4 months", what I said was that I don't BELIEVE it will be 3-4 months. My opinion only. I thought that part was implied well enough.

Okay. You have no clue as to when this unit will be released, but you don't BELIEVE it will be 3-4 months. May I ask, why? Have you heard some other information from another source that would make the Oppo employee I spoke to incorrect?

Okay. You have no clue as to when this unit will be released, but you don't BELIEVE it will be 3-4 months. May I ask, why? Have you heard some other information from another source that would make the Oppo employee I spoke to incorrect?

First, thanks for the "edit" ;). I appreciate it :).
Second, I have no other information that I can give you. (sorry)
Third, even the "employee" that gave you the time frame, is not even sure. Is it 3 months or 4 months :rolleyes:?? So no one is giving any type of real "release date". I guess from the time he gave you that info, that would put the early part, at the first week of march. So that doesn't seem too far off.:)

its actually quite hard to format an external hard disk to FAT 32 !!

Thanks for the info Gonk. I was ready to purchase the 980 yesterday but I just might wait and see how the 983 turns out. Will be monitoring this thread. I'm hoping your right about the WAV support. About the NTSF support, I can always format an extra external hard drive to FAT32 and then transfer the WAV files from the NTSF hard drive. Thanks again.

its actually quite hard to format an external hard disk to FAT 32 !!

Not really - try this little app (http://www.compuapps.com/Download/swissknife/swissknife.htm).

the only standalone player I know of that can convert SD-DVD's to 1080/24p is the Toshiba HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and probably the HD-XA2 but I'm not sure about the XA2. It does a good job of the frame rate conversion with film sourced material. Other than the Toshiba you have to use a video processor. All Blu Ray players I've tried output regular DVD's at 1080/60p they won't convert them to 1080/24p.

It would be great if this new Oppo converted SD-DVD's to 1080/24p as well, as the deinterlacing in the ABT chip should be superior to whats in the Toshiba especially for video sourced dvds (you would watch them at 1080/60p though, not 24p).

the only standalone player I know of that can convert SD-DVD's to 1080/24p is the Toshiba HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and probably the HD-XA2 but I'm not sure about the XA2. It does a good job of the frame rate conversion with film sourced material. Other than the Toshiba you have to use a video processor. All Blu Ray players I've tried output regular DVD's at 1080/60p they won't convert them to 1080/24p.

It would be great if this new Oppo converted SD-DVD's to 1080/24p as well, as the deinterlacing in the ABT chip should be superior to whats in the Toshiba especially for video sourced dvds (you would watch them at 1080/60p though, not 24p).

I'm really hoping for this as well. This is really the next step in picture quality.

I talked to Oppo today about this unit; I was told it's 3-4 months away and will start at least at $350 - it was implied it may be priced even higher than that.Oppo emailed me this when I inquired last week,
"We are aiming for an early 2008 release. Likely February."

the only standalone player I know of that can convert SD-DVD's to 1080/24p is the Toshiba HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and probably the HD-XA2 but I'm not sure about the XA2. It does a good job of the frame rate conversion with film sourced material. Other than the Toshiba you have to use a video processor. All Blu Ray players I've tried output regular DVD's at 1080/60p they won't convert them to 1080/24p.

It would be great if this new Oppo converted SD-DVD's to 1080/24p as well, as the deinterlacing in the ABT chip should be superior to whats in the Toshiba especially for video sourced dvds (you would watch them at 1080/60p though, not 24p).The current Oppo models deinterlace and scale well. The thing that would set the 983 apart is frame rate conversion. I'm actually surprised Oppo hasn't already included it in one of the current models. If the Bravo can do it, surely Oppo can do it. I won't consider buying the 983 unless it can do 720p/48 or at least 1080p/24.

It would be great if this new Oppo converted SD-DVD's to 1080/24p as well, as the deinterlacing in the ABT chip should be superior to whats in the Toshiba especially for video sourced dvds (you would watch them at 1080/60p though, not 24p).

Speaking as a member of this forum, and not as a beta tester or OPPO insider, I can say do not hold your breath on this one. The reason why the Toshiba XA2 and A35 can do this properly is that they are using a lot of processing power to determine which frames are duplicates.

The MTK solution in the DV-983H is pretty much the DV-980H in terms of processing (no floating point). OPPO, and other manufacturers, would have to invest in a costly, separate hardware solution for this functionality. For this reason, it would be a miracle if we see a standard DVD player with 24/48Hz capability.

Speaking as a member of this forum, and not as a beta tester or OPPO insider, I can say do not hold your breath on this one. The reason why the Toshiba XA2 and A35 can do this properly is that they are using a lot of processing power to determine which frames are duplicates.

The MTK solution in the DV-983H is pretty much the DV-980H in terms of processing (no floating point). OPPO, and other manufacturers, would have to invest in a costly, separate hardware solution for this functionality. For this reason, it would be a miracle if we see a standard DVD player with 24/48Hz capability. The "ideal" solution would be for the MPEG decoder to detect the 24Hz progressive frames on the disk and pass them directly to the scaler. That way, the extra steps of interlacing (MTK) and de-interlacing (ABT) could be skipped. BUT... this is too much to ask of an MPEG decoder that is designed for interlaced output (hardware limitation).

However, there is another solution that should be relatively simple to implement:

Normally, the job of the MPEG decoder chip (MTK), is to pass interlaced fields to the de-interlacer (ABT), which assembles those fields into progressive frames, and displays them in a repeating 3-2 pattern as represented in this image from the SECRETS website:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/images/dvd-benchmark-part-5-main-2.jpg

Since the de-interlacer (ABT) is responsible for the output frame-rate, it could simply display the reassembled progressive frames in a 1-1 sequence for 24Hz, a 2-2 sequence for 48Hz, or a 3-3 sequence for 72Hz. The advantage of this scheme, is judder-free motion.

Gary

The problem with DVD sources is that they are 480i/60Hz. For a DVD player, you have to intelligently perform a reverse telecine from the 2-3 pulldown. In this process you only need to identify a single frame and follow the rest of the 2-3 sequence to lock it. The problem is, most DVD mastering does not follow the 2-3 pulldown pattern. This is either do to video edits, poor encoding, or the original content is video based.

Without the chipset intelligently determining what is and what is not a repeated frame, it will make errors. The core ABT solutions do not do this on their own. ABT uses a second processor to tell it what frames are considered junk. So unless you have this functionality built into the MTK solution, or spend the cash on a processor which specializes in this functionality, 24/48Hz proper is a pipedream.

Uggh! After watching a Blu-Ray movie at 1080 p /24 I'm hooked. It's like having your eye on a camera lens. I'd sure like to see standard DVD's without judder.

So unless you have this functionality built into the MTK solution, or spend the cash on a processor which specializes in this functionality, 24/48Hz proper is a pipedream. That makes sense. True 24Hz progressive (straight off the disk) would certainly be difficult to attain with a common DVD decoder chip.

However, it would still be possible to do the next-best thing... to use the ABT to de-interlace and then to display the progressive frames in a 1-1 sequence for 24Hz, a 2-2 sequence for 48Hz, or a 3-3 sequence for 72Hz. At least we'd still have the benefit of judder-free motion.

Gary

Speaking as a member of this forum, and not as a beta tester or OPPO insider, I can say do not hold your breath on this one. The reason why the Toshiba XA2 and A35 can do this properly is that they are using a lot of processing power to determine which frames are duplicates.

The MTK solution in the DV-983H is pretty much the DV-980H in terms of processing (no floating point). OPPO, and other manufacturers, would have to invest in a costly, separate hardware solution for this functionality. For this reason, it would be a miracle if we see a standard DVD player with 24/48Hz capability.Like I said before. If the Bravo can do it, surely Oppo can do it. If the 983 doesn't support 24/48Hz, what is the point of the 983? The 980 and 981 already have good deinterlacing and scaling.

Like I said before. If the Bravo can do it, surely Oppo can do it. If the 983 doesn't support 24/48Hz, what is the point of the 983? The 980 and 981 already have good deinterlacing and scaling.
Better deinterlacing and scaling:-) ?

Like I said before. If the Bravo can do it, surely Oppo can do it. If the 983 doesn't support 24/48Hz, what is the point of the 983? The 980 and 981 already have good deinterlacing and scaling.

No macroblocking.

The problem with DVD sources is that they are 480i/60Hz. For a DVD player, you have to intelligently perform a reverse telecine from the 2-3 pulldown. In this process you only need to identify a single frame and follow the rest of the 2-3 sequence to lock it. The problem is, most DVD mastering does not follow the 2-3 pulldown pattern. This is either do to video edits, poor encoding, or the original content is video based.I know this used to be very common [years ago], but is this still true for modern DVD releases?

Like I said before. If the Bravo can do it, surely Oppo can do it. If the 983 doesn't support 24/48Hz, what is the point of the 983? The 980 and 981 already have good deinterlacing and scaling.I do agree it would be nice if Oppo would use a decoder with the ability to ignore repeat bits and output 24p. This seems to be a fairly common feature on decoders released in the past 12 months.

This is one area where the Toshiba HD-A20, HD-A30, and HD-A35 players are superior to the Oppo DV-983H. Of course, as noted above, a significant percentage of DVDs are not 24p with repeat bits; if the DVD isn't encoded that way, then the decoder's ability to ignore repeat bits does absolutely nothing for you.

I do agree it would be nice if Oppo would use a decoder with the ability to ignore repeat bits and output 24p. This seems to be a fairly common feature on decoders released in the past 12 months.

This is one area where the Toshiba HD-A20, HD-A30, and HD-A35 players are superior to the Oppo DV-983H. How do you know that the Toshiba's decoder is ignoring repeat bits? How do you know that the player is not deinterlacing first?

Gary

Like I said before. If the Bravo can do it, surely Oppo can do it. If the 983 doesn't support 24/48Hz, what is the point of the 983? The 980 and 981 already have good deinterlacing and scaling. 24/48/72Hz has not been ruled out completely... TRUE 24p, reading progressively directly from the disk, has. And that's the fault of the DVD standard - it was designed for interlaced playback only. The Bravo is likely deinterlacing first, then converting the frame rate.

Gary

How do you know that the Toshiba's decoder is ignoring repeat bits? How do you know that the player is not deinterlacing first?Because output quality in 24p mode on progressive encoded titles is excellent, whereas quality in 24p mode on titles encoded as 60i video...isn't so hot. The Toshiba 24p mode forces that regardless of whether the source on disk is 24p or 60i.

Because output quality in 24p mode on progressive encoded titles is excellent, whereas quality in 24p mode on titles encoded as 60i video...isn't so hot. The Toshiba 24p mode forces that regardless of whether the source on disk is 24p or 60i. That's a rather inconclusive assumption. Naturally, a 24p source would look good displayed at its original frame-rate of 24p (no matter whether an interlace/de-interlace step is involved or not). And it's no surprise that a 60i source looks bad when converted to 24p, because it involves tricky cadences (skipped/repeated fields/frames) to reduce 60Hz to 24Hz.

Gary

That's a rather inconclusive assumption. Naturally, a 24p source would look good displayed at its original frame-rate of 24p (no matter whether an interlace/de-interlace step is involved or not). And it's no surprise that a 60i source looks bad when converted to 24p, because it involves tricky cadences (skipped/repeated fields/frames) to reduce 60Hz to 24Hz.The NEC decoder does not support IVTC on 1080i30 signals. The Toshibas ignore the repeat bits to achieve 1080p24 output on HD-DVD titles. This is a well-known fact.

You're assuming that the same 24p menu option on the Toshiba treats 480i signals differently. That could be true, but I don't think it is likely.

You're assuming that the same 24p menu option on the Toshiba treats 480i signals differently. That could be true, but I don't think it is likely. We're both making assumptions here, but because the data and flags on DVD and HD-DVD are totally different, I would expect the Toshiba to have to treat 480i signals differently.

Gary

things are getting tougher for oppo. I think the Samsung BD-P1400 uses the Reon chip. not as good as realta, if I believe earlier posts, but it now costs under $300:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071211-blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-battle-heats-up-as-christmas-approaches.html

now wait until after x-mas for the pricing of these players. yikes for oppo. yes, it will not take its entire niche away. if blu-ray reon players go below $200, however, then there will be some substitution from some of their potential customers.

/iaw

Samsung 1400 does NOT have Reon but the 1200 does. Just FYI. The 2400 does though but not out yet and likely will be more costly.

No Reon in Samsung 1400, and the 2400 will not be released.

I wonder how the DV-983H will compare to the Denon 2930CI? From a picture performance standpoint, I am curious if the ABT deinterlacing/scaling solution would be better than the Reon.

Hi Guys, slightly off topic, but I need help with a snag. I have the OPPO 981 and have been assuming I'll get the 983 when released to replace it. First, will it only have HDMI like the 981, or will it have a component out as well?

Here's my situation: OPPO HDMI to my InFocus IN72 pj. Cable box HDMI to my pj via an HDMI to M1 cable ( Infocus still uses M1 for one digital input). Audio from DVD via coax to Arcam AVR 300 receiver, six analogue cables for SACD. Cable audio via optical cable to receiver.

I just bought an LG 37" TV so that I don't have to use the pj for everyday watching anymore. They're in the same room. I have the TV connected to the cable box by component cables. (not so great, but OK for now) Since the 981 doesn't have component outs, how best to send a DVD signal to the new TV without lowering the signal quality to the pj.

* Is there a 1>2 HDMI adapter?

* Do I need a switcher?

* Is it time for a new receiver ( I'm waiting for Arcam or a comparable manufacturer to make a receiver with new audio formats compatible with HD_DVD and Blu-Ray)

* Do I buy the 983 and keep the 981 where it is, or just get the best standard DVD playing Blu-ray or HD-DVD player (whichever model that is and use the 981 for DVD-A, SACD ?

Any thoughts and advice will be appreciated, hell, I'm confused myself, and it's my system.

Forgot to mention, it would be nice to connect the new TV via HDMI, it's a one cable solution since it carries audio instead of 3 component and 2 audio cables. The TV has two HDMI ins, so both cable and DVD can be connected that way.

First of all, 983 will have component, but of course when useing the component out on the Oppo, you will be restricted to 480i/480p when watching comercially manufactured dvds.

The LG TV would then upsample to it's 720p native, so I would lose the option of 720p from OPPO to TV. I guess that's OK, as long as I'd have that option to my pj.

The LG TV would then upsample to it's 720p native, so I would lose the option of 720p from OPPO to TV. I guess that's OK, as long as I'd have that option to my pj.

If you are talking about useing the same dvd player to go to the pj AND the tv, then it is either 480i/p to both OR 720p/1080i to both. Not possible to do two different output resolutions at the same time.

No Reon in Samsung 1400, and the 2400 will not be released.

I wonder how the DV-983H will compare to the Denon 2930CI? From a picture performance standpoint, I am curious if the ABT deinterlacing/scaling solution would be better than the Reon.

That's my biggest question too. I used to have the 2930CI and it was a fantastic player (wish I never sold it). Dakmart is selling refurb'd 2930CI units for around $500 + shipping. If the Oppo 983 cannot meet the 2930CI for film-based image quality, I may spring for another 2930CI.

I'm on the fence between the 980 and 983 and would appreciate some feedback.

While I'm currently using a SD CRT, I'll be purchasing an HDTV sometime in 2008. The most likely type will be an LCoS/SXRD/D-ILA RPTV, unless some LCD or plasma of comparable image quality gets close in price in the interim.

How much of a difference would there likely be between the two on such a set? I'm a long-time audiophile and somewhat videophile and tend to notice small details in both realms, although I rarely get the chance for ideal listening or viewing these days.

I'm wondering if I'm betting off waiting for the 983 or go ahead and get a 980 now and save the money. One thing arguing for getting the 980 now is that our current cheap (for the time) DVD player is starting to freeze up during playback, and Santa is going to be bringing some new disks for the kids.

dh2040, the 983 will obviously be a better player. So if the (ahemm) price, does not bother you, then I'd wait for the 983. The biggest differences will be in the video realm. You could just get a $30 dvd player to tide you over if you can stomach it for a couple more months :).

Oh ya, welcom to AVS ;) :).

The biggest differences will be in the video realm.

Guys sorry for the newbie question but I just can't seem to grasp this concept. Generally speaking;

Video= Content that was originally made for TV, such as Tombstone, Band of Brothers, Rome, etc?

Film= Content that was originally produced as a theatrical release. Practically every movie ever made?

And the biggest difference between the two being frame rates?

Guys sorry for the newbie question but I just can't seem to grasp this concept. Generally speaking;

Video= Content that was originally made for TV, such as Tombstone, Band of Brothers, Rome, etc?

Film= Content that was originally produced as a theatrical release. Practically every movie ever made?

And the biggest difference between the two being frame rates?

Not quite that simple. Many TV shows are shot on film at 24fps, or even HD at 24fps progressive.

Not quite that simple. Many TV shows are shot on film at 24fps, or even HD at 24fps progressive.Check that, most TV series and virtually all TV movies are shot in (or telecined to) 24p.

Band Of Brothers Tech Specs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185906/technical)

Tombstone Tech Specs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/technical)

Miami Vice Tech Specs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430357/technical)

In case you want to see the difference between shot-on-film and shot-on-HD within the same show, watch the Miami Vice movie referenced above.

I saw it this week on a Mitsubishi HD1000U DLP on an 87" matte white wall and it was very obvvious what was video and what was not.

I havent watched Band Of Brothers on the DLP yet but thats one I will be waiting to put the 983 through its paces with.

Of course, an LOTR marathon will be the master test and the only surefire cinematic way to welcome the new 983 into the house.

Thanks for the info guys, I have much to learn!

hi,
Someone knows what is the MPEG decoder?

thanks

MTK solution. Can't tell you the actual model number, however.

The biggest differences will be in the video realm. Guys sorry for the newbie question but I just can't seem to grasp this concept. I believe Smarty-pants was referring to picture quality differences, as opposed to audio quality. Not video performance as opposed to film performance.

Gary

I believe Smarty-pants was referring to picture quality differences, as opposed to audio quality. Not video performance as opposed to film performance.

Gary

correct

I believe Smarty-pants was referring to picture quality differences, as opposed to audio quality. Not video performance as opposed to film performance.

Gary

correct

Thanks for the clarification guys. I had interpreted it as meaning video vs. film, had me really confused as to why that would be.

Pioneer has not been using their Elite branding that well the past couple of years. As an example, the DV-48AVI is nothing more than a DV-980H in a different package. The chasis is small, and they added a 1.5lb bottom plate to increase the weight, and feel, of the player, all so they can charge you $300 MSRP.

If the new Elite is anything like the DV-48AVI, then you are being fleesed by the marketability of the name, and not the actual quality of the product.

Please let me know where you got your information, have you opened the units or read about this somewhere ?

The Oppo is made in China and the Pioneer (ABT auth. big knock off MSRP) in Thailand, also side by side the Pioneer is smaller front to back. Neville and i agree that for some reason DSD from the Pioneer sounds better, i now have both units on the very top of my rack and constantly compare my reference SACDs toggling the HDMI (3 ft. 24AWG silver coated copper, gold plated connectors) cable between the two, i am no expert but i have to say the Pioneer is better. FYI my meagre system, Yamaha RX-V3800/Sherbourn monoblock biwired front stage feeding Paradigm Reference 100s with matching center/Adcom feeding Athena dipoles surrounds/Belden 10AWG-silver-goldspades, SPL calibrated, Behringer FB destroyer on Hsu VTF3 sub.

Sorry had to reply, and YES, the Oppo is a great player, superb SACD player, but the difference above is audible to me, the amateur without an agenda.

Your comparison isn't blind, and is likely subject to bias.

Please let me know where you got your information, have you opened the units or read about this somewhere ?
I actually own both. I am a huge Pioneer fan (my current receiver is an older Elite VSX-54TXH, and I only recommend their plasmas to friends and families) but their business practices have changed drastically over the years as they attempt to penetrate a larger portion of the consumer market. The Elite name has been branded on items which were obviously non-Elite products. The newer Kuro PDP and flaship Blu-Ray and receivers are moving back into "Elite" status.
Sorry had to reply, and YES, the Oppo is a great player, superb SACD player, but the difference above is audible to me, the amateur without an agenda.
Personally I do not hear or see any difference between these two products when used as a standard transport. Your mileage will very based on personal tastes.

Neuromancer i have also owned both for a week. I now tend to agree more with your statement, however drastic it sounded in the beginning.

The DV-48AV stopped doing HDCP handshakes and made all resolutions above 480p invisible, also it only does 2 channel DSD via HDMI as stated discreetly at the very end of the manual under the "Troubleshooting" section. And the slow command response times only add to the dissatisfaction. Goodbye Pioneer, going back to ABT, a great store BTW.

Needless to say, now i can live with the Oppo having to be restarted for every disc.

Just for reference, my A35 and BD30 work perfect at 24p, never a handshake A/V problem.

So, for now there is only one affordable 5.1 DSD via HDMI player, period!

Does the new Oppo play back HD Divx files in native HD (i.e. Divx in either 720 or 1080)?

Does the new Oppo play back HD Divx files in native HD (i.e. Divx in either 720 or 1080)?
Since it's based on the 980H core, I would doubt so - the limitation on video file playback was a function of the Mediatek chip, and thus would presumably still apply.

Same 720x480/60Hz or 720x576/60Hz restriction of previous players.

Please let me know where you got your information, have you opened the units or read about this somewhere ?

The Oppo is made in China and the Pioneer (ABT auth. big knock off MSRP) in Thailand, also side by side the Pioneer is smaller front to back. Neville and i agree that for some reason DSD from the Pioneer sounds better, i now have both units on the very top of my rack and constantly compare my reference SACDs toggling the HDMI (3 ft. 24AWG silver coated copper, gold plated connectors) cable between the two, i am no expert but i have to say the Pioneer is better. FYI my meagre system, Yamaha RX-V3800/Sherbourn monoblock biwired front stage feeding Paradigm Reference 100s with matching center/Adcom feeding Athena dipoles surrounds/Belden 10AWG-silver-goldspades, SPL calibrated, Behringer FB destroyer on Hsu VTF3 sub.

Sorry had to reply, and YES, the Oppo is a great player, superb SACD player, but the difference above is audible to me, the amateur without an agenda.
Open your player up take a look for yourself, nice piece of lead inside indeed.

I emailed Oppo about HD Divx support, they replied:

"At this time we have no plans on support HD DivX, XviD, h.264 or HD DVD/Blu-Ray. This is something we will pursue in the future."

Um, guys, the future is NOW.

[QUOTE=bobpaule;12518419]also it only does 2 channel DSD via HDMI as stated discreetly at the very end of the manual under the "Troubleshooting" section. QUOTE]

In looking at the manual, it refers to Digital Audio out. Pio seems to refer to audio outs on this model in 3 contexts:

Analog
Digital
HDMI

I do believe they are referring to you can not output multichannel DSD, etc via Optical or Coax.
I am not aware of a product that can.

In other places on the forum, I have read that others have confirmed they are outputting multichannel DSD via HDMI.

I will confirm this as I will be picking up this player to try out in the next few days.

when is the 983 due for release in north america and what is its estimated price?

when is the 983 due for release in north america and what is its estimated price?

2-4 months from now. No set release date. No price yet, but more than likely $350+.

when is the 983 due for release in north america and what is its estimated price?

I only know what I've read in this thread. There is no announced date, but "early 2008" has been mentioned. Price estimated to be less than $400.

-Bill

HomeTheaterHiFi.com has listed the 983 as one of the best units for 2007...however, they do not have a review of it as yet.

HomeTheaterHiFi.com has listed the 983 as one of the best units for 2007...however, they do not have a review of it as yet.
There is no review because there is no final product yet. Kris Deering has apparently had a sample for some time, though, much like Neuromancer has. (Also, they listed the model number as "983HD" which differs from the "983H" commented on repeatedly in this thread. Can you tell that I've spent all day so far in a coordination review meeting, spell checking technical notes on plans? ;))

HomeTheaterHiFi.com has listed the 983 as one of the best units for 2007...however, they do not have a review of it as yet.

That's jumping the gun!

-Bill

It's just strange that a player, officially not out in 2007, should be the best of class for 2007! (...and, the award to the 983 does list it as...983HD...)

HomeTheaterHiFi.com has listed the 983 as one of the best units for 2007...however, they do not have a review of it as yet.

I think as the very least, that must be a typo. Either that or they are very stupid. :D

That's jumping the gun!

Especially with the current problems with the player. But I know Kris is in love with it.

[QUOTE=bobpaule;12518419]also it only does 2 channel DSD via HDMI as stated discreetly at the very end of the manual under the "Troubleshooting" section. QUOTE]

Confirmed, I am outputting MC DSD over HDMI

Hi Guys,
I am an Aussie newbie that has been lurking around here for awhile but a first time poster. I need some help in deciding between the 980 and the 983. I have recently bought a Pioneer Kuro screen ( 508XDA model No here ) which I love especially when watching FTA HD but find DVD's PQ quite poor. How well do upscaling DVD players work? Am I destined to always be disappointed with my large DVD collection? I have about 75% PAL DVD's and 25% NTSC so I think the 983 would be the better player but with the cost ( even with as well as the AU dollar is doing I would expect to pay at least $100 more than USA ) would I be better off buying the 980 and saving the difference for a Bluray player?
Thanks in advance for your help, I love how much I learn on this forum

Hi Guys,
I am an Aussie newbie that has been lurking around here for awhile but a first time poster. I need some help in deciding between the 980 and the 983. I have recently bought a Pioneer Kuro screen ( 508XDA model No here ) which I love especially when watching FTA HD but find DVD's PQ quite poor. How well do upscaling DVD players work? Am I destined to always be disappointed with my large DVD collection? I have about 75% PAL DVD's and 25% NTSC so I think the 983 would be the better player but with the cost ( even with as well as the AU dollar is doing I would expect to pay at least $100 more than USA ) would I be better off buying the 980 and saving the difference for a Bluray player?
Thanks in advance for your help, I love how much I learn on this forum
I have a PDP-6010 Kuro connected to an OPPO 980 at 480i over HDMI and it looks quite good. That combination has finer resolution according to DVE than the HD-XA2 Reon based player any of its supported resoutions/frequencies. You should make sure that you are feeding the Kuro a 480i signal -- HDMI is best, then Component, then S-video. I did all of my comparisons in PureCinema Advanced mode.

Hi Guys,
I am an Aussie newbie that has been lurking around here for awhile but a first time poster. I need some help in deciding between the 980 and the 983. I have recently bought a Pioneer Kuro screen ( 508XDA model No here ) which I love especially when watching FTA HD but find DVD's PQ quite poor. How well do upscaling DVD players work? Am I destined to always be disappointed with my large DVD collection? I have about 75% PAL DVD's and 25% NTSC so I think the 983 would be the better player but with the cost ( even with as well as the AU dollar is doing I would expect to pay at least $100 more than USA ) would I be better off buying the 980 and saving the difference for a Bluray player?
Thanks in advance for your help, I love how much I learn on this forum

PAL deinterlacing on the 983 should be better than the 980. If you are using 576i for PAL then the 980 should be fine.

There is still no announced date for the 983, so no one knows how long you would have to wait.

I would look hard at HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, but note that (in the US at least), none of those players are region-free for SD-DVD or do both NTSC and PAL.

-Bill

HomeTheaterHiFi.com has listed the 983 as one of the best units for 2007...however, they do not have a review of it as yet.

Typically, a company (Oppo) may like to use this award info for their marketing needs. If the model gets released in 2008 officially, won't the "Best Product of 2007" award would give an impression for that model being "not very new" but "last year's model?" Not to make a big fuss out of it, but was just wondering....

Typically, a company (Oppo) may like to use this award info for their marketing needs. If the model gets released in 2008 officially, won't the "Best Product of 2007" award would give an impression for that model being "not very new" but "last year's model?" Not to make a big fuss out of it, but was just wondering....

I would think that anyone savy enough to be buying the 983 in the first place, would "know better" than to give any attention to something like that.

Aye. Anyone remotely interested in the DV-983H will be much more informed than the typical "it must be good because they got an award" consumer.

I emailed Oppo about HD Divx support, they replied:

"At this time we have no plans on support HD DivX, XviD, h.264 or HD DVD/Blu-Ray. This is something we will pursue in the future."

Um, guys, the future is NOW.
That would mean using something non-MTK, which I don't think they do. I think every player made by Oppo has used a MTK chip.

I think as the very least, that must be a typo. Either that or they are very stupid. :D
Or maybe his beta unit is still better than anything else out there?

Chris is hardly "stupid"

Or maybe his beta unit is still better than anything else out there?

Chris is hardly "stupid"

Ok, maybe a momentary lapse of reason for him... is that better :);)?
The 983 is not better than anything else out there. If it was, to state the obvious, they'd be hitting the street right now.

The 983 is not better than anything else out there. If it was, to state the obvious, they'd be hitting the street right now.

Depends what you are looking for. For me the major reason is SACD over HDMI - PCM only for my case - but since it will replace another universal player it has to do PAL properly. If a firmware upgrade will handle 2:2 cadence it is fine with me.

Ok, maybe a momentary lapse of reason for him... is that better :);)?
The 983 is not better than anything else out there. If it was, to state the obvious, they'd be hitting the street right now.
I agree that it should be saved for 2008 awards since it's not publicly available. I don't have one, so it hasn't it widespread beta testing yet. It's a long ways aways I think.

But I guess since he has one, he must just simply feel he can't give the award to anything else. I dunno, he must have his reasons.

I agree that it should be saved for 2008 awards since it's not publicly available.

Yes, but it just shows you how much little quality there is for people who want a dedicated DVD player. If a buggy, unreleased BETA DVD player is the best DVD player available in 2007, then that speaks volumes as to the proposed quality of this player.

I'm just siting back with my popcorn and awaiting the notice that a release date has been given (or better yet just notice they are for sale!). I don't want to missout and have my 983 order be to late and on backorder! Plus I am kind of hoping to atleast be placing an order between 2 weeks from now to March.

The closer to March the harder it is not to give in to my brother's argument of getting a PS3 for SD upconverting instead of this Oppo and gain all the other features of the PS3 (Yes I know Oppos has SACD, etc... PS3 has more extras than Oppos that I'll use but I want the dedicated better Chipsets/software of Oppo!). I'm still putting the 983 1st on my list with eager anticipation!

I think it is the ratio between performance and price getting out of whack. Any good DVD players (real good ones) can cost more than $1,000. With Oppo price, it is fure sure attracting good following.

i hadn't thought about that but yeah, if this went onsale much later than when it gets first released, u can buy it for around $150 AND you can install the latest firmwares, which are bound to pop up!

JediFonger: Can you post what player you are refering to? The one for $150 and having latest firmware. That could be any Oppo or the PS3 (both mentioned in recent posts) but there isn't any quote or mention of which. I'm just trying to follow what you mean.

i hadn't about that but yeah, if this went onsale much later than when it gets first released, u can buy it for around $150 AND you can install the latest firmwares, which are bound to pop up!

Too much eggnog... :D

Yes, but it just shows you how much little quality there is for people who want a dedicated DVD player. If a buggy, unreleased BETA DVD player is the best DVD player available in 2007, then that speaks volumes as to the proposed quality of this player.

Not sure how this beta compares to the Pioneer Elite DV-58AV model (and whether Secrets evaluated it), which is available in 2007. Would anyone with access to both these models would like to drop a hint without violating Oppo NDA?

let's say 983 comes out in march 2008. if you bought this player in march 2009. it'd be cheaper and with more firmware updates.

None of the Oppo models have headphone jack, so chances seem less, but I was wondering if anyone can divulge whether they'll add headphone jack to the 983 model. It's OK to exclude it for video-only players, but I think it would be very useful for CD, DVD-A and SACD listening. I understand most prepros/receivers would have it, but having it on the player is more useful (to me).

None of the Oppo models have headphone jack, so chances seem less, but I was wondering if anyone can divulge whether they'll add headphone jack to the 983 model. It's OK to exclude it for video-only players, but I think it would be very useful for CD, DVD-A and SACD listening. I understand most prepros/receivers would have it, but having it on the player is more useful (to me).

Unlikely.

Would a y-cable adapter from the L/R audio out accomplish the same thing?

-Bill