If/when blu ray becomes mainstream then I'll go that route.BluRay is "mainstream" right now................

My VP50 passes DSD over HDMI so not sure if your statement is true.

You are comparing apples to oranges in terms of design integration. Since I am too lazy to explain it, I will just post the "bad news" from an OPPO Digital Beta update:

Due to the insertion of the ABT video processor chipset in the signal path, the DV-983H cannot output DSD in its native format via HDMI. This is because adding the video processor chipset requires an external HDMI transmitter, but the decoder chip does not have native DSD output to feed into an external HDMI transmitter. The DV-980H uses the HDMI transmitter built into the decoder chip, and can get DSD data internally.

This is the same reason why 480i/576i over HDMI is impossible.

Do you guys think that's gonna happen??? :eek: This is gonna be bad. :mad:

Even if the component was passed through the ABT solution you wouldn't get the benefit of any of the scaling anyways.

And if you are worried about the component quality, go do a search on the DV-980H threads and see what people are saying there. The performance of component will likely be the same between the DV-980H and the DV-983H.

Even if the component was passed through the ABT solution you wouldn't get the benefit of any of the scaling anyways.

Remember, this was with specific reference to PAL->NTSC conversion, which would definitely benefit from the ABT102's deinterlacing, and the ABT1018's framerate conversion. The process should go something like:

decode 576i50 -> deinterlace to 576p50 (ABT102) -> scale to 480p60 (ABT1018)

I know that with the 981HD, the conversion quality from the analog outs is miserable, particularly with video-based material, which ends up appearing "filmized." From HDMI (in Video2 mode), the quality is much, much better, though it still suffers from the Faroudja's shortcomings with hybrid PAL footage.

Ok, I have been thinking about just getting this player since I have hundreds of dvds and find it so hard to spend 30.00 on blu discs when i can get the sd version for 5, plus the little I watch them too. My question to anyone who is in the know about this player that can say anything is this. I know it has a USB 2.0 what would happen if i had a external HD hooked up to it with all of my music on it in WMA format, could I use the player as the source to listen to all of them? I think the HD is formatted in FAT32. Thanks.

I have tried both PCM and DSD over HDMI and like the option of either.

Jim

Can you hear a difference?

Believe it or not, I'm the only guy on Earth who prefers component over HDMI... :rolleyes:

No you arent! With some combinations of components so do I !

Yes but they could of had both and hide the front port behind a door(ie Toshiba HD DVD player).I don't want to be a troublemaker but I think my other points are valid as well.IMO all TV's,DVD players and AVR's manufactured since 1/07 should be HDMI 1.3.There is no reason for them to be using 1.1 or 1.2 anymore.
I do stand corrected on the scaler comment and I apologize.
A door on the front would not have fit the design very well - I'm glad they went with the rear panel only. If it doesn't appeal to you, so be it, but it's worth pointing out two things. First, no design can please everyone, so whatever choice they made (USB on front, USB on rear, or USB on both) would disappoint someone. Second, odds are that more people will see the rear-mounted port as a positive than as a negative. If I were likely to use a thumb drive regularly (and didn't have an external USB hard drive hooked up) I'd find the shortest USB extension cord I could and leave it plugged in.

The reason that many of us (myself included) object to people's insistance on having HDMI v1.3 on standard DVD players is simple practicality. The very valid reason that people are still using v1.1 and v1.2 HDMI output chips is that there are still perfectly serviceable v1.1 and v1.2 output chips available for use. Why should they discard an otherwise perfectly functional HDMI output chip just because it isn't v1.3? Do they need any v1.3 features? No! Will other v1.3 components refuse to work with v1.0, v1.1, or v1.2 players? No! Insisting on HDMI v1.3 for a DVD player is pointless. At best, it highlights how badly the HDMI group handled development of their interface and how much confusion it has created in the marketplace.

The reason that many of us (myself included) object to people's insistance on having HDMI v1.3 on standard DVD players is simple practicality. The very valid reason that people are still using v1.1 and v1.2 HDMI output chips is that there are still perfectly serviceable v1.1 and v1.2 output chips available for use. Why should they discard an otherwise perfectly functional HDMI output chip just because it isn't v1.3? Do they need any v1.3 features? No! Will other v1.3 components refuse to work with v1.0, v1.1, or v1.2 players? No! Insisting on HDMI v1.3 for a DVD player is pointless. At best, it highlights how badly the HDMI group handled development of their interface and how much confusion it has created in the marketplace.


That argument doesn't fly,most software will work on a Pentium III but they don't make that chip anymore.Why can't I buy a new PIII CPU?Because of customer demand for faster CPU's that's why.Why do people demand an ABT or a Silicon Optix chip in their AV gear?Because it's produces better picture quality.Discerning buyers know that HDMI 1.3 is a value added feature.
HDMI 1.3 is now the industry gold standard and there is no more confusion in it's spec than any other version.

That argument doesn't fly,most software will work on a Pentium III but they don't make that chip anymore.Why can't I buy a new PIII CPU?Because of customer demand for faster CPU's that's why.Why do people demand an ABT or a Silicon Optix chip in their AV gear?Because it's produces better picture quality.Discerning buyers know that HDMI 1.3 is a value added feature.
HDMI 1.3 is now the industry gold standard and there is no more confusion in it's spec than any other version.

Just close your eyes and pretend it is 1.3. After all, your eyes and ears will not be able to tell the difference anyway.;)

That argument doesn't fly,most software will work on a Pentium III but they don't make that chip anymore.Why can't I buy a new PIII CPU?Because of customer demand for faster CPU's that's why.Why do people demand an ABT or a Silicon Optix chip in their AV gear?Because it's produces better picture quality.Discerning buyers know that HDMI 1.3 is a value added feature.
HDMI 1.3 is now the industry gold standard and there is no more confusion in it's spec than any other version.

It is really quite simple, an SD-DVD player would not benefit from the "enhancements" that HDMI 1.3 adds to the HDMI spec. The two major "enhancements" are Deep Color and High Bit Rate Multi Channel Audio (Dolby TrueHD and dts Master Audio). Neither one of these are supported by the DVD spec. The reason features are referred to as "enhancements" is that HDMI is always backwards compatible. So while your HDMI source/repeater/display may support Deep Color or High Bit Rate Audio, if a connected device in the chain does not, you will still get "Shallow" Color and/or "Low" Bit Rate Audio.

The fact that HDMI 1.3 is not included on a SD-DVD player shows that a manufacturer is dedicated to delivering a solid product with proven chipsets, rather than add HDMI 1.3 as a pure marketing feature.

I think your statement about there being no more confusion in the HDMI 1.3 spec than any other version is right on, but meaningless because of all the confusion with every version...

I know it has a USB 2.0 what would happen if i had a external HD hooked up to it with all of my music on it in WMA format, could I use the player as the source to listen to all of them? I think the HD is formatted in FAT32. Thanks.

Yes, you can use this player to play all your WMA files in the HD.

John

Well, that was one of their factors. If you have people who are heavy hitters in the industry telling you to sell the product at a higher price, you will at least listen to them.

And what economic bracket are THOSE people in? The ones who decide it's easily worth $400 suddenly lose a lot of credit if their income is well-above the average.

Even if the component was passed through the ABT solution you wouldn't get the benefit of any of the scaling anyways.

And if you are worried about the component quality, go do a search on the DV-980H threads and see what people are saying there. The performance of component will likely be the same between the DV-980H and the DV-983H.

So, Film Mode Inverse 2:2 Pull Down (PAL movie) are not supported, as it is not with the 980H?

Yes, you can use this player to play all your WMA files in the HD.

John

Really. How do you select songs, or does the player just start with the first file and play them in order?

Really. How do you select songs, or does the player just start with the first file and play them in order?

All the Oppos have a browser for media files. Plus shuffle, random, repeat, etc.

-Bill

It is really quite simple, an SD-DVD player would not benefit from the "enhancements" that HDMI 1.3 adds to the HDMI spec. The two major "enhancements" are Deep Color and High Bit Rate Multi Channel Audio (Dolby TrueHD and dts Master Audio). Neither one of these are supported by the DVD spec. The reason features are referred to as "enhancements" is that HDMI is always back wards compatible. So while your HDMI source/repeater/display may support Deep Color or High Bit Rate Audio, if a connected device in the chain does not, you will still get "Shallow" Color and/or "Low" Bit Rate Audio.


So Josh,are you saying there is such a thing as "deep color" that can be had even though the software does not support it?:confused:

So Josh,are you saying there is such a thing as "deep color" that can be had even though the software does not support it?:confused:

HDMI 1.3 supports Deep Color and the xvYCC color space. But there are very few deep color sources: a few camcorders. None of SD-DVD, Blu-Ray, or HD-DVD support it. I'm not even sure the HDTV spec knows about it.

The display would have to support it also. And finally, the film sources would have to be remastered. This is all a bit futuristic. I suspect another 10 years away.

-Bill

HDMI 1.3 supports Deep Color and the xvYCC color space. But there are very few deep color sources: a few camcorders. None of SD-DVD, Blu-Ray, or HD-DVD support it. I'm not even sure the HDTV spec knows about it.

The display would have to support it also. And finally, the film sources would have to be remastered. This is all a bit futuristic. I suspect another 10 years away.

-Bill


So then, if deep color is not a process that can even be supported, how does HDMI 1.3(a or b) fit into all of this.For the movie buff,of course...
Thanks...

So then, if deep color is not a process that can even be supported, how does HDMI 1.3(a or b) fit into all of this.For the movie buff,of course...
Thanks...

It's for the future. When the entire chain has to be upgraded before a feature can be used, something has to be first. It turned out to be the cabling. I suspect the film buff will have to wait for whatever comes after Blu-Ray for a practical benefit.

Some useful reading:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Joshua_Zyber/High-Def_FAQ/High-Def_FAQ:_Is_HDMI_1.3_Really_Necessary/853

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=789994

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10306417&&#post10306417

-Bill

That argument doesn't fly,most software will work on a Pentium III but they don't make that chip anymore.Why can't I buy a new PIII CPU?Because of customer demand for faster CPU's that's why.Why do people demand an ABT or a Silicon Optix chip in their AV gear?Because it's produces better picture quality.Discerning buyers know that HDMI 1.3 is a value added feature.
HDMI 1.3 is now the industry gold standard and there is no more confusion in it's spec than any other version.
That's not an accurate comparison. The differences between HDMI v1.1/v1.2 and v1.3 are nothing like the difference between a Pentium III and a modern dual-core chip, or the differences between a modern video processing solution and something from five years ago. It's apples to oranges. HDMI v1.3 is a value added feature only if it adds value, and in this case it doesn't add value. You are welcome to seek out DVD players that offer it, but I see no reason to condemn any manufacturer for choosing not to use it on a DVD player.

Why do you want HDMI 1.3? It does not help a standard definition DVD player at all.

You don't get it. HIGHER NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS BETTER.

;)

You don't get it. HIGHER NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS BETTER.

;)

:)

Yep, got me 0.1 more HDMI than you do.:eek:

I recently bought a OPPO 980 to replace my dying Denon 2900. I've been pretty happy with it, except it's performance on video based material. I have a large collection of anime and other video sources and I see many more artifacts with the OPPO than with my 2900. (My display suffers from macroblocking, that is why I've ruled out the 981.)

This leads to my question: Would I be better off returning the 980 and buying a 983 when it becomes available? It sounds like the ABT solution in the 983 would be better for poorly flagged video material; Is this a correct assumption?

I don't mind paying more to have a player that suits my needs. I just want to make sure that the 983 would resolve the problems. Thanks in advance for any advice.

It sounds like the ABT solution in the 983 would be better for poorly flagged video material; Is this a correct assumption?

Yes.

-Bill

It's for the future. When the entire chain has to be upgraded before a feature can be used, something has to be first. It turned out to be the cabling. I suspect the film buff will have to wait for whatever comes after Blu-Ray for a practical benefit.

Some useful reading:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Joshua_Zyber/High-Def_FAQ/High-Def_FAQ:_Is_HDMI_1.3_Really_Necessary/853

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=789994

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10306417&&#post10306417

-Bill Thanks Bill,great read...:)

THE big question I have is whether I will get better picture quality with a 980 outputting 480i via HDMI (or maybe a 983 outputting 480i) into my Pioneer Kuro 1080p 50" Elite plasma (the 110); or with the 983 doing the deinterlacing/scaling. Prior to the 983, I had come to understand (from a lot of reading) that 480i into the Pio was the way to go.

Of course, the other huge question is how I will ever determine the answer to this first question. I don't own any Oppo now (just a *very* old cheap Toshiba with component outputs). I suppose I could buy both Oppos and return the one that "loses". I hate to do that, though. Not because I can't afford to do it. I could simply put them on a credit card, and I'm assuming it wouldn't take me that long to determine which gives me a better picture. I just hate to buy two players from Oppo, if I know that I will be returning one.

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks...

Holy goodness, if I could preorder this thing I definitely would. It makes me laugh to think it's been what, close to 8 months since I first came across this thread? Like many others, I have had $400 sitting in an envelope waiting for the release of this player.

I know there has been some objection to the price, but for me personally this will probably be the last standard def DVD player I buy, and it looks to be a great one. Of course Blu-ray is "the future" of HD media, but to date, anything remotely close to this price range like the Panasonic BD30 has delivered sub par performance on standard definition DVDs. As a result, I am really looking forward to buying this player for my current library and then investigate Blu-ray further down the road. The extra bit about the USB 2.0 port being able to read media files is an awesome bonus for me as I'll be using this as a music player from both CD's and an external drive. Even though there were times when I thought it would never be released, I feel relieved today to see a concrete release date for this player, and am looking forward to becoming an Oppo customer.

On a side note, when it is "released" March 10th, will the player be primarily for sale through Oppo's website, or does anyone think March 10th would be a date it would hit resellers like Amazon as well? I wouldn't expect the latter, as it usually seems to take a few weeks after an "official launch"

Holy goodness, if I could preorder this thing I definitely would. It makes me laugh to think it's been what, close to 8 months since I first came across this thread? Like many others, I have had $400 sitting in an envelope waiting for the release of this player.

I know there has been some objection to the price, but for me personally this will probably be the last standard def DVD player I buy, and it looks to be a great one. Of course Blu-ray is "the future" of HD media, but to date, anything remotely close to this price range like the Panasonic BD30 has delivered sub par performance on standard definition DVDs. As a result, I am really looking forward to buying this player for my current library and then investigate Blu-ray further down the road. The extra bit about the USB 2.0 port being able to read media files is an awesome bonus for me as I'll be using this as a music player from both CD's and an external drive. Even though there were times when I thought it would never be released, I feel relieved today to see a concrete release date for this player, and am looking forward to becoming an Oppo customer.

On a side note, when it is "released" March 10th, will the player be primarily for sale through Oppo's website, or does anyone think March 10th would be a date it would hit resellers like Amazon as well? I wouldn't expect the latter, as it usually seems to take a few weeks after an "official launch"

"Blu-ray is "the future" of HD media" not really, physical media is the past. Things like Netflix, Apple TV, etc. using set top boxes and computers are the future. Blu-ray will be a nice disk technology for backups of your hard drive.

So, Film Mode Inverse 2:2 Pull Down (PAL movie) are not supported, as it is not with the 980H?
Well, I'm sure it's supported over HDMI...

On a side note, when it is "released" March 10th, will the player be primarily for sale through Oppo's website, or does anyone think March 10th would be a date it would hit resellers like Amazon as well? I wouldn't expect the latter, as it usually seems to take a few weeks after an "official launch"

March 10 will be the day OPPO sells it. Places like Amazon.com will likely get it two weeks later if the release of the DV-983H is like their previous launches.

Well, I'm sure it's supported over HDMI...

Yes, but I needed over components...

Unfortunately analog video users will not be satisfied with the player. The DV-983H is geared for high quality digital video.

thats rubbish sorry

Component can be as good as HDMI if done properly - with decent analogue components

edit sorry re-read your post

you'renot saiyng component can't be as good

just this Oppo is not geared towards it

I am saying OPPO, like many other Standard Definition DVD manufacturers, will put their emphasis on the HDMI output. With component being restricted to 480p maximum output resolution under most conditions, it is costly to implement a working component solution.

It is not that component is inferior, it is just the restrictions placed on component makes them obsolete to a company which puts emphasis on scaling.

The 983 will not output 480i via hdmi. So, more than likely, if the best pic quality is your #1 priority, then the 980 will be the way to go.


THE big question I have is whether I will get better picture quality with a 980 outputting 480i via HDMI (or maybe a 983 outputting 480i) into my Pioneer Kuro 1080p 50" Elite plasma (the 110); or with the 983 doing the deinterlacing/scaling. Prior to the 983, I had come to understand (from a lot of reading) that 480i into the Pio was the way to go.

Of course, the other huge question is how I will ever determine the answer to this first question. I don't own any Oppo now (just a *very* old cheap Toshiba with component outputs). I suppose I could buy both Oppos and return the one that "loses". I hate to do that, though. Not because I can't afford to do it. I could simply put them on a credit card, and I'm assuming it wouldn't take me that long to determine which gives me a better picture. I just hate to buy two players from Oppo, if I know that I will be returning one.

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks...

Here is an OPPO first: Pre-Order DV-983H (http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DV983H). Estimated Ship Date is March 10.

Apparently its not OK to question another's intelligence since my post was removed. I'd just like to say that moviegeek needs to listen to the 4 or 5 industry experts who posted in the thread.


anyways, looks like all the buffs can order now, what happened to March 10th Neuromancer?

The 983 will not output 480i via hdmi. So, more than likely, if the best pic quality is your #1 priority, then the 980 will be the way to go.

I'd have to disagree and say that, most likely, I would imagine the 983 would do a better job of 480i to 1080p scaling than the Kuro, but there is no way to be 100% sure of that. I'm sure the Kuro has a decent scaler, but given how well the 983 is supposed to do 1080p, I can't imagine the Kuro is quite as good.

who will be the first to open it up and snap some pics of it for us :)

yep - totally agree Neuromancer

pity - my SD-9500 (why did I get rid of it :( ) had sublime component out

Mark.

I am saying OPPO, like many other Standard Definition DVD manufacturers, will put their emphasis on the HDMI output. With component being restricted to 480p maximum output resolution under most conditions, it is costly to implement a working component solution.

It is not that component is inferior, it is just the restrictions placed on component makes them obsolete to a company which puts emphasis on scaling.

who will be the first to open it up and snap some pics of it for us :)

After March 10 all the Beta Testers should be able take pictures of their units.

Started a new thread for the Official DV-983H Unveiling (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13258426#post13258426). Please note that I will not be able to discuss more about the product than has been posted here.

I will use this thread as the main thread for the DV-983H going forward (much like I did for the DV-980H).

Here is an OPPO first: Pre-Order DV-983H (http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DV983H). Estimated Ship Date is March 10.

Ok to preorder? wOOOOt !!!!:):):)

Europe screwed over again :(

http://www.oppodigital.com/

how long for it to get to Europe ? or will this be a US product only?

Here is an OPPO first: Pre-Order DV-983H (http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DV983H). Estimated Ship Date is March 10.

Thanks for the link, I just placed my preorder as well.

Maybe we could get a counter here on AVS to see how many avs members bought a 983- i just ordered and hopefully i can view and test against my 970 on the 18th or so....
db

how long for it to get to Europe ? or will this be a US product only?

Transit times to Europe from OPPO are usually within 7 business days.

Right now I only know of OPPO Digital (US) manufacturing the product, but if it is like the DV-981HD and DV-980H, expect Europe to start carrying a month or two after the US release.

thanks Neuromancer

not really a dig at Oppo its the same with most AV kit

we get them non-fresh - couple of months late - and normally about 40% more expensive !

:(

Mark.

The 983 will not output 480i via hdmi. So, more than likely, if the best pic quality is your #1 priority, then the 980 will be the way to go.

I don't understand this answer, but I'm not very astute or knowledgeable when it comes to video; so maybe I don't understand something basic. Wouldn't the issue be which methodology results in a better picture? i.e., either 480i via the 980 to the Kuro (the Kuro doing the the converting), or the 983 converting the 480i to 1080p?

Can you explain further why you say the 980 is the way to go for the best pic quality? If you know for sure that's actually true, that would certainly be great from a financial standpoint. If the 983 will do a significantly better job, though, then I would have to consider that very seriously.

Thanks.

thanks Neuromancer

not really a dig at Oppo its the same with most AV kit

we get them non-fresh - couple of months late - and normally about 40% more expensive !

:(

Mark.

How come you dont just order direct from Oppo on the U.S. website and you will get it within a few days - when its available. I am in Australia and it only took me 5 days to get my last order direct from Oppo U.S.

I'd have to disagree and say that, most likely, I would imagine the 983 would do a better job of 480i to 1080p scaling than the Kuro, but there is no way to be 100% sure of that. I'm sure the Kuro has a decent scaler, but given how well the 983 is supposed to do 1080p, I can't imagine the Kuro is quite as good.

Whoops...maybe I responded to Smarty-pants too quickly. This is what I've been wondering (and what he seemed to miss addressing).

Does anyone have a 980 and a Kuro? If so, are you going to investigate the 983 to see if it does a significantly better job?

I don't understand this answer, but I'm not very astute or knowledgeable when it comes to video; so maybe I don't understand something basic. Wouldn't the issue be which methodology results in a better picture? i.e., either 480i via the 980 to the Kuro (the Kuro doing the the converting), or the 983 converting the 480i to 1080p?

Can you explain further why you say the 980 is the way to go for the best pic quality? If you know for sure that's actually true, that would certainly be great from a financial standpoint. If the 983 will do a significantly better job, though, then I would have to consider that very seriously.

Thanks.

Ok, I should not have insinuated the Kuro would do better than the 983. I guess if you have money to burn, then get the 983 IF it's better, but then you're throwing away all that investment in the Kuro's scaling capabilities.

My issue is I have a 60" Kuro (6010) and I have a Denon 3808ci which upconverts everything to 1080p with Faroudja DCDi.

Is it wiser for me to get the 980 which I can set to 480i and have the Denon upconvert (Faroudja) or should I go with the 983 (ABT) to upconvert?

For me it becomes a battle of upconverters. Suggestions/comments?

My issue is I have a 60" Kuro (6010) and I have a Denon 3808ci which upconverts everything to 1080p with Faroudja DCDi.

Is it wiser for me to get the 980 which I can set to 480i and have the Denon upconvert (Faroudja) or should I go with the 983 (ABT) to upconvert?

For me it becomes a battle of upconverters. Suggestions/comments?
I believe the Denon only does so on analog inputs and ignores HDMI inputs for scaling.

You can choose whether you want analog signals or both digital and analog signals to be upconverted.

This is an either or application. You can either use the HDMI or the component. Unlike the DV-980H and the DV-970HD, you can't upconvert out of both the component and HDMI at the same time. This is due to the MTK solution being separate from the de-interlacing and scaling solution (ABT).

I was referring to the options in Denons UI concerning which signals you would like to upconvert.

I guess my question is it worth the extra price of the 983 to scale or shall I use the 980 and rely on my receiver to upconvert.

Personally I don't think a Faroudja chipset in a receiver/television/projector is going to be well integrated.

Well I just preordered the 983. Thanks a lot, Neuromancer! :-D

No problem. I hope you like it.

Ok, I should not have insinuated the Kuro would do better than the 983. I guess if you have money to burn, then get the 983 IF it's better, but then you're throwing away all that investment in the Kuro's scaling capabilities.

Thanks, I guess maybe we just have different styles of communicating. Clearly, I would need to find out the "IF" part first; and determine *how much* better - i.e., if the 983 picture was better. If I then do decide to spend the extra money on it, I wouldn't consider that "throwing away" anything. My investment is in the whole picture :) (pun intended to a degree)

Hey Neuro,

Have you seen the actual remote that comes with the unit? I have the -981 and find the buttons too hard to read (I'm getting a little older ... just a little).

Thanks,

Bob

Just ordered mine. Fed Ex 2 day air. wOOOOOt!!!! :D:D:D
Thanx Neuromancer!

Hey Neuro,

Have you seen the actual remote that comes with the unit? I have the -981 and find the buttons too hard to read (I'm getting a little older ... just a little).

Thanks,

Bob

The Oppo remotes are all very similar.

-Bill

Aye, the remote is the same. This is one thing I really hope OPPO can fix in the future. No matter how much I poke and prod them, they havn't come up with a new remote control.

Sorry for cluttering this thread further but I was wondering if OPPO has ever released sales figures for any of their players? For example, do we know how many 980 and 981's have been sold?

This is just pure curiosity on my part.

Bill+Neuro,

Thanks for the feedback. It may be a deal-breaker for me. I don't want to put on my glasses just to play a DVD.

Bob

Sorry for cluttering this thread further but I was wondering if OPPO has ever released sales figures for any of their players? For example, do we know how many 980 and 981's have been sold?

They are a private company, so they do not release that information.

Where did you guys preorder the player from? I don't see any preorder page on the Oppo site or Amazon.

Here is an OPPO first: Pre-Order DV-983H. Estimated Ship Date is March 10.

Just pre-ordered. I've been watching in the background now for months... Of course I confirmed the WAF (wife approval factor) first.

Where did you guys preorder the player from? I don't see any preorder page on the Oppo site of Amazon.

They do not have it listed on the front page. It is available under the Products catagory: DV-983H Product (http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DV983H)

Here is an OPPO first: Pre-Order DV-983H (http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DV983H). Estimated Ship Date is March 10.
Hooray! :D

I can't believe they're doing pre-orders. Don't get me wrong, that's a GOOD thing. I would think that this very thread is the cause of that. The anticipation has been waining far too long. :)

Anyone surprised? Got myself a pre-order set in stone with 3 day fedex.... just want it for Fri/Sat/Sun ASAP.

There isn't any chance that Oppo will get too many pre-orders to fill and have some of our units not be shipped out on Mon March 10th is there?

Can you hear a difference?

Yes, but sometimes it sounds better PCM then DSD but other times DSD sounds better, I feel it depends on how the recording was done.

Anyone surprised? Got myself a pre-order set in stone with 3 day fedex.... just want it for Fri/Sat/Sun ASAP.

There isn't any chance that Oppo will get too many pre-orders to fill and have some of our units not be shipped out on Mon March 10th is there?

Doubt that there will be "backorders", it's not like they are going to sell nearly as many units as their other models.

Here is an OPPO first: Pre-Order DV-983H (http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DV983H). Estimated Ship Date is March 10.

Ordered mine!

Do you think that the DV-983 will be a huge improvement over the Sony DVP-NS77H on a 37" Sharp Aquos LCD TV?

Do you think that the DV-983 will be a huge improvement over the Sony DVP-NS77H on a 37" Sharp Aquos LCD TV?

37" is awefully small to notice much of a difference... if any. Others have stated that they can see a difference on a 30", but when I hooked mine up to my Philips 37" (1366x768) LCD, I couldn't notice a great improvement over the 980 model. Now in my theater on a 9' screen... WOW, the 983 looks fantastic!

The 983 will not output 480i via hdmi. So, more than likely, if the best pic quality is your #1 priority, then the 980 will be the way to go.
I suppose there are are a few options to consider for the Pioneer Kuros.

OPPO 980 @ 480i -> Pioneer Kuro Display (w/ PureCinema 3:3 pull-down)
OPPO 983 @ 480p -> Pioneer Kuro Display
OPPO 983 @ 1080i -> Pioneer Kuro Display (w/ PureCinema 3:3 pull-down)
OPPO 983 @ 1080p -> Pioneer Kuro Display

Any thoughts on how PQ would compare?

I suppose there are are a few options to consider for the Pioneer Kuros.

OPPO 980 @ 480i -> Pioneer Kuro Display (w/ PureCinema 3:3 pull-down)
OPPO 983 @ 480p -> Pioneer Kuro Display
OPPO 983 @ 1080i -> Pioneer Kuro Display (w/ PureCinema 3:3 pull-down)
OPPO 983 @ 1080p -> Pioneer Kuro Display

Any thoughts on how PQ would compare?

SO hard to say. I do not have any extended experience with Pioneer TVs. It's more than likely a good educated guess, that the 983 will edge out the Kuro... but would it really be worth a $400 premium, for probably only a 1-2% improvement. Another educated guess would be that the 980 @ 480i would be the second best pic... maybe. The only way to really know for sure, is to buy both and return one of them.:o (<-speculation at it's finest eh'?)

SO hard to say. I do not have any extended experience with Pioneer TVs. It's more than likely a good educated guess, that the 983 will edge out the Kuro... but would it really be worth a $400 premium, for probably only a 1-2% improvement. Another educated guess would be that the 980 @ 480i would be the second best pic... maybe. The only way to really know for sure, is to buy both and return one of them.:o (<-speculation at it's finest eh'?)
I'll probably wait for a review from somebody else with a Kuro. On the other hand, my curiosity is getting the best of me and I only live 10 minutes from the OPPO office in Mountain View.:cool:

I'll probably wait for a review from somebody else with a Kuro. On the other hand, my curiosity is getting the best of me and I only live 10 minutes from the OPPO office in Mountain View.:cool:

:eek:DUDE! I'd be camped out front with a pair of binoculars :D:p.
Seriously though, you could be one of the first to street test the 983. I would not be able to resist if I lived close enough for pick-up.:D;)

I can't believe they're doing pre-orders. Don't get me wrong, that's a GOOD thing. I would think that this very thread is the cause of that. The anticipation has been waining far too long. :)

I would bet that the pre-orders were initiated due to the increased traffic from Secrets which did not transfer into sales (ie. no product to purchase). So to capitalize on the first review, they opened up rather limited pre-ordering.

I suppose there are are a few options to consider for the Pioneer KurosI'm currently using a PDP-4280HD Pioneer Kuro (768p) with an Oppo DV-980H which yields absolutely beautiful picture-quality. The DV-983H can only be better.

Sorry if this has been discussed earlier but what are the pros and cons between 981 vs 983? Is it worth the upgrade for a 104" screen?

That argument doesn't fly,most software will work on a Pentium III but they don't make that chip anymore.Why can't I buy a new PIII CPU?Because of customer demand for faster CPU's that's why.Why do people demand an ABT or a Silicon Optix chip in their AV gear?Because it's produces better picture quality.Discerning buyers know that HDMI 1.3 is a value added feature.
HDMI 1.3 is now the industry gold standard and there is no more confusion in it's spec than any other version.
This makes no sense, a bad analogy. What benefit at all would 1.3 be to an SD player? Video? Audio? Any idea?

"Discerning buyers", the ones who know how it works, know that 1.3 would be a waste.

Sorry if this has been addressed earlier. I'm a big fan of Oppo (currently have a 971H) and I was wondering for those that have tested the unit how does it compare with the Toshiba XA2 for upscaling? I purchased my HD player in November and primarily now use it as an upscaler. Will I see any improvement with the 983 over my XA2? Should I sit tight and wait for Oppo's Blu Ray offering?

Sorry if this has been discussed earlier but what are the pros and cons between 981 vs 983? Is it worth the upgrade for a 104" screen?
The short version: unless you already have a high quality external video processor, the improvement will probably be very noticeable on a 104" screen. The 983 uses the same chipset from ABT as used in their iScan VP30 (http://www.anchorbaytech.com/products/systems/vp30.php) with it's optional Precsion De-Interlacing Card (ABT102) (http://www.anchorbaytech.com/products/systems/addons/precision_deinterlacing_card.php). As an aside, you will need to connect the 983 via HDMI realize the full potential of the 983 unless your projector has a very good scaler, which would partially negate the benefits of the 983 in the first place. YMMV.

Review of DV-983H (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-dvd-player-product-reviews/dvd-players/oppo-digital-dv-983h-dvd-player---a-secrets-dvd-benchmark-review.html).

Will I see any improvement with the 983 over my XA2?

That is a metaphysically disorienting question.

Should I sit tight and wait for Oppo's Blu Ray offering?

It doesn't exist, and will not even be specified for a long time. How can anyone answer your question?

-Bill

[QUOTE=wmcclain;13264357]That is a metaphysically disorienting question.



It doesn't exist, and will not even be specified for a long time. How can anyone answer your question?

-Bill[/QUOTE

I should have explained myself more clearly. For upconverting SD DVD's will the 983 do a better job than my XA2?

Also regarding Oppo's Blu offering, I realize it might be a year or longer however there's nothing currently in the Blu world that even comes close to my Toshiba XA2. I want something with profile 2.0 and from what I've read, the first players won't be out until May. I figure by the time they tweak and perfect 2.0 we'll be pushing the Fall and into the Xmas shopping season. I would think this should be closer to an Oppo Blu player, maybe next Spring? And if they throw in the upscaling capabilities of this new 983 unit, that would be the player for me! (wishing)

I have a Panasonic 900 FP and a 92" diag screen will the 983 be an improvement over the 981? Is it worth the money?

I suppose there are are a few options to consider for the Pioneer Kuros.

OPPO 980 @ 480i -> Pioneer Kuro Display (w/ PureCinema 3:3 pull-down)
OPPO 983 @ 480p -> Pioneer Kuro Display
OPPO 983 @ 1080i -> Pioneer Kuro Display (w/ PureCinema 3:3 pull-down)
OPPO 983 @ 1080p -> Pioneer Kuro Display

Any thoughts on how PQ would compare?You want send at least 480p from the 983. The deinterlacer in the Kuro is "ok", but not a ABT102 quality. And I'm not convinced the Kuros go into 72Hz mode for 1080i film - lthough there is no way to determine.

larry

Do you think that the DV-983 will be a huge improvement over the Sony DVP-NS77H on a 37" Sharp Aquos LCD TV?

It depends on how critical your eye is. If you are a serious videophile, you should be able to notice the defference even on a small screen. Sure, the bigger the screen, the easier to notice and bigger the defference.

I have a Panasonic 900 FP and a 92" diag screen will the 983 be an improvement over the 981? Is it worth the money?

I would say there WILL be AN improvement. Night and day?... no. On a screen that big, to me personally, I'd go for the 983. The premium for the 983 over the 981 is what, $170? If you plan on watching a lot of SD, or you have a large library of SD, then the 983 is the best choice. If your wallet is lacking, then you may want to try a 981 refurb from Oppo (if you don't already own it).

I would say there WILL be AN improvement. Night and day?... no. On a screen that big, to me personally, I'd go for the 983. The premium for the 983 over the 981 is what, $170? If you plan on watching a lot of SD, or you have a large library of SD, then the 983 is the best choice. If your wallet is lacking, then you may want to try a 981 refurb from Oppo (if you don't already own it).
I had the 970 and just went to the 981 recently. Just not sure if I should just stick with it. I only have a SD library. I never jumped on the HD/Bluray wagon yet.

OK;:eek:
Long story short,since I believe that bd is the most believable image that can be had for the enjoyment of movies at home,can some one explain to me, what comments such as, "the oppo's have a pq that almost matches hd in performance" . Do people actually "believe" that or is the 983 that good of a device for sd-dvd?:confused:

Just curious....

I had the 970 and just went to the 981 recently. Just not sure if I should just stick with it. I only have a SD library. I never jumped on the HD/Bluray wagon yet.

It's your personal call of course. Do you think the 981 looks good enough? Is it worth it to you to pay the premium for the upgrade to the 983? The 983 will look better... just maybe 3%, maybe 5% better?...
Oppo does have a good return policy if you don't like it. I'm not sure, but I think maybe the buyer has to pay return shipping, but that's it.
Good luck.:)

OK;:eek:
Long story short,since I believe that bd is the most believable image that can be had for the enjoyment of movies at home,can some one explain to me, what comments such as, "the oppo's have a pq that almost matches hd in performance" . Do people actually "believe" that or is the 983 that good of a device for sd-dvd?:confused:

Just curious....

983 is that good... yes. Of course it all depends on different variables like... your display, the quality of the transfer on dvd, ect..

I had my brother over one day, and we were going through testing dvds, mostly sampling soundtracks. I threw in 5th Element and went to the bathroom... came back and he was like "Dude, you think your pretty slick don't you?" I was like what are you talking about. He said "You put an HD movie in... NO, I said. 5th Element is only on BR and I don't even have a BR player yet. He said... "Holy s***... that looks GOOD!";):cool::D

ROFL, I just bought the 980 (it arrived 2 days ago) since my Onkyo 885 should be here next week. Then I read on integra 9.8 thread about a oppo 983, I a bit pissed off because it wasn't even listed on oppo's front page that it was coming out when I ordered my player last Friday. But now that I have seen the price I am now glad I didn't see it, I'll let the Reon scaler in the 885 do the scaling than spend $400 on the oppo (going to get a BD30 instead for the money). Still though oppo might have made another sale if it had just been listed on the front of their page before I placed my order.

can some one explain to me, what comments such as, "the oppo's have a pq that almost matches hd in performance"

I wish people wouldn't make comments like that. I answer questions from frustrated people every day who think that a new SD-DVD player will put them into a new realm of video quality.

SD-DVD is capable of quality that most people have never seen, but the notion that 720x480 can be nearly as good as 1920x1080 seems unwise. Of course it depends on the disc, the display and the distance, but people don't wait to hear about the qualifiers.

I tell them to use a calibration disc before spending money on a new player.

-Bill

I would appreciate your feedback on whether 980H or 983H would be better in my scenario. I have a 55 inch Sony KDS-55A3000, so I expect 983 may have better video performance. I plan to directly connect the TV and the DVD player with HDMI, and use a separate audio connection (analog or digital coax/optical) to a HK AV 500 receiver (no HDMI input). For audio, will 983 provide better audio for redbook CDs comapred to 980h in this case?

Thanks,

For audio, will 983 provide better audio for redbook CDs comapred to 980h in this case?

Thanks,

I second the question about the 983 performance with redbook CDs.

Kal?

Thx

I second the question about the 983 performance with redbook CDs.

Kal?

ThxMay issue.

OT question but I believe some people in this crowd can possible assist me with a place to start.

I'll have a 983 as soon as Fedex gets it to me. But there's one feature I'd like to have (in my A/V setup/system as a whole) that I'm not going to get with an Oppo player where the PS3 would provide. Althought I don't want/need the game system, BR player (yet) and much prefer Oppos SD upscaling.

I'd like a way to get home captured HD footage (say from a Canon HD camcorder already as a PC file) displayed (streamed, on tumbdrive/DVD, etc...) in any form (still as HD, not downscaled Divx on Oppo, not always playing back off camcorder) on my livingroom HD TV. I'd hope not to pay an arm and leg for it as the 983 is my big video device expenditure for a while. But I can hold off till end summer / fall '08 if emerging solutions are coming out.

Again only looking for some quick pointers, not to derail this monster anticipation thread.

May issue.

Thanks Kal.

Can you please go a step further and tell us when does the May issue come out?


Thanks,

Nikos

I would appreciate your feedback on whether 980H or 983H would be better in my scenario. I have a 55 inch Sony KDS-55A3000, so I expect 983 may have better video performance. I plan to directly connect the TV and the DVD player with HDMI, and use a separate audio connection (analog or digital coax/optical) to a HK AV 500 receiver (no HDMI input). For audio, will 983 provide better audio for redbook CDs comapred to 980h in this case?

Thanks,

Look back a couple of pages - video was discussed on a 60A3000.

I wish people wouldn't make comments like that. I answer questions from frustrated people every day who think that a new SD-DVD player will put them into a new realm of video quality.

SD-DVD is capable of quality that most people have never seen, but the notion that 720x480 can be nearly as good as 1920x1080 seems unwise. Of course it depends on the disc, the display and the distance, but people don't wait to hear about the qualifiers.

I tell them to use a calibration disc before spending money on a new player.

-Bill


Thanks Bill,

I think I'll concentrate on building a bd library.The notion of bd quality images using sd equipment is pure fantasy. imho;)

For $399, I guess I'll be sticking with the 981 player.

Yeah..I was hoping that there wouldn't be such a high price jump from the 981 and really big jump from the 980.

cost HIGHER than $300 player and NOT dsd over hdmi? lol. i know it's got the 'best' video performance, but that means enthusiasts of BOTH video and audio will have to own the 980H for the DSD over hdmi AND the 983 for the audio? lol...

som1 start a new thread for the DV-984 Blu-Ray universal player =P.

So the 980 does DSD over HDMI and the 983 doesn't? Was just asking as not only is this to be my video player, but also my audio player so I wan't the best sound as well as picture.

Good job Oppo, another record broken...looks like I'll have to trade in the old 970 (but I think I might try and wait for the Blu-ray iteration of this one, please use the ABT chip and give it all the universal goodies for under $500, we will respond by buying it in bulk).

Sure would.

I read in this thread that there may be a blu-ray from Oppo by April. If that is the case I think I'll just wait for that, or is that just another rumour? I have been holding out on buying a BR player for a long time and was just about to get a 980 or 981 when I saw this thing comming out. Now it's starting to get up there in price and would hate to see a BR player come out only a month after I got one with all the same features plus BR.

I read in this thread that there may be a blu-ray from Oppo by April. If that is the case I think I'll just wait for that, or is that just another rumour?

I don't recall seeing that here. It's not true. I have no inside info but I think it very unlikely we'll see a Blu-Ray player this year. See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=997188

-Bill

...I read in this thread that there may be a blu-ray from Oppo by April....
I think you read into that, rather than read it! Maybe April of next year? Neuromancer may want to comment about how Oppo has determined the market for these players, and possibly how the 983 will function as compared to a BluRay player from them in the future.

I read in this thread that there may be a blu-ray from Oppo by April. If that is the case I think I'll just wait for that, or is that just another rumour? I have been holding out on buying a BR player for a long time and was just about to get a 980 or 981 when I saw this thing comming out. Now it's starting to get up there in price and would hate to see a BR player come out only a month after I got one with all the same features plus BR.

LOL:D, yes I do believe when that was stated, it was referring to the year 2009.

Thanks Bill,

I think I'll concentrate on building a bd library.The notion of bd quality images using sd equipment is pure fantasy. imho;)

Ignorance is so bliss indeed. I dream of being able to go back to those days, I really do.:)

:Dreally too bad price point of 983 is too high for me at 399 to get maybe 5% pq improvement over 981 on my setup....don't flame me on 5%, just my conclusion from what i've read

i already have 981 and luv it with my panny 50" plasma not only with DVD but great with DivX playback

as mentioned numerous times here already, calibration is the key!!

looks like i will hold off on 983 and save for the oppo BR....assuming it will have all the goodies of 983 plus BR

thx to all in the known for their inputs to this thread....your great info is much appreciated

let's go oppo, get that 988BR out already:D :D :D

:Dreally too bad price point of 983 is too high for me at 399 to get maybe 5% pq improvement over 981 on my setup....don't flame me on 5%, just from what i've read

i already have 981 and luv it with my panny 50" plasma not only with DVD but great with DivX playback

as mentioned numerous times here already, calibration is the key!!

looks like i will hold off on 983 and save for the oppo BR....assuming it will have all the goodies of 983 plus BR

thx to all in the known for their inputs to this thread....your great info is much appreciated

let's go oppo, get that 988BR out already:D :D :D

Well, that 5% MAY well be a common denominator for the general public, but really depends on a lot of variables. The biggest one being your display. You'd see the most "improvement" on a high quality 1080p projector on a large screen. Also, to beat that dead horse one more time, if the transfer of the dvd is crap, then NO player in the world is going to make it look "good".
As for the price, to a lot of people the price is too much for what they are willing to pay, or can even afford for that matter. As far as the price-4-quality/performance in the industry, there is NO greater bargain that the 983 in a universal SD dvd player. Just a couple years ago, to get the same picture quality from the 983, you'd have to spend about $2000 or more.

As far as the price-4-quality/performance in the industry, there is NO greater bargain that the 983 in a universal SD dvd player. Just a couple years ago, to get the same picture quality from the 983, you'd have to spend about $2000 or more.

agreed 100%....983 probably best bang for buck, hands down best DVD player ever but i already have 981 and willing to pass on 983 for oppo BR for my setup

agreed 100%....983 probably best bang for buck, hands down best DVD player ever but i already have 981 and willing to pass on 983 for oppo BR for my setup

Just so you know, Oppo BR is a long way off. It was torturous enough on everyone to have to wait 6 months on the 983. It will be even longer (more than likely) for the BR player.

Just so you know, Oppo BR is a long way off. It was torturous enough on everyone to have to wait 6 months on the 983. It will be even longer (more than likely) for the BR player.

:D:D:D...tell me about the torture........i've read every 64 page of this thread so far:o:o:o i know the oppo BR will be lonnnnnnnnnnng wait...in the mean time i'll just kick back and enjoy 981 and Bell HD PVR for now :cool:

Thanks Kal.

Can you please go a step further and tell us when does the May issue come out?


Thanks,

NikosWhen do you think? Some time in late April.

The 983 may be worth it for you because it won't Macroblock with your Panny like your 981 is doing.
When I switched from the 981 I really noticed a difference in my picture without the Macroblocking on my Panasonic 50 plasma.
Or a 980 might do it to.
Or you can go nuts and pick up a closeout Toshiba HD A3 or D3.
Try one of those last two on your display.

The 983 may be worth it for you because it won't Macroblock with your Panny like your 981 is doing.
When I switched from the 981 I really noticed a difference in my picture without the Macroblocking on my Panasonic 50 plasma.
Or a 980 might do it to.
Or you can go nuts and pick up a closeout Toshiba HD A3 or D3.
Try one of those last two on your display.

hey foil174....thx for info

what did you switch from 981 to for your panny?

thanks kal.

by then myself included will have it in our living room....as i have pre-ordered.

Was "hoping", not thinking.. that somehow we would get a peak closer to the march 10 release...

N

Well.
A Toshiba A2 ( Had a skipping audio track so I took it back)
A Sony ###77 (it was OK pic seemed a little soft and unsaturated Took back)
Oppo 970 ( Good picture. worked fine. Evrythinge was good until I tried out a
Toshiba HD D3. They OPPO and Toshiba had the same sharpness and picture detail, but the color on the Toshiba was just more real, to me that is)Some colors just lept off the screen. I was watching the Deadwood series and when I played it on the Toshiba ( vs my old 981) Wow! Look that is a purple dress.Look at that blood it is so red.
Anyway the Toshiba has pointed out to me that it is not all about detail and resolution for a good picture , though it did seem to match the 981 fordetail. Colors were the difference
I really liked OPPOs service, great company.
C****O ha the HD D3 on closeout.
Yes, slow start and load times. And maybe touchy firmware on some of them.
But evey disc I have used has worked fine.
Hope this helps to confuse you.
Oh I tried the Toshiba HD A30 with the Panny and they seemed the same to me for picture quality.

Last fall I compared the HD-A3 and the DV-980H and the 980 wins. More sharpness and detail without artifacts. If color saturation is what is desired, that can be accomplished by calibrating player and display.

LOL:D, yes I do believe when that was stated, it was referring to the year 2009.

My bad. That makes it a whole lot easier:)

I think I'll just go ahead and pre-order one of these then. Here's hoping it sounds as good for audio as I have read the 980 is.

EDIT: One more thing. Anyone know how SD discs look on a PS3 compared to any of the Oppo offerings?

Yeah..I was hoping that there wouldn't be such a high price jump from the 981 and really big jump from the 980.


I agree. Its a fairly high price to pay for an SD player that you will probably want to replace with an Oppo SD/BR player within 12 months. Whilst it is no doubt a good price for the technology compared to other manufacturers offerings, I think it could have been cheaper.

One of Oppos main attributes has been to make players as keenly priced as possible. I hope they arent starting to get greedy. Whilst R&D is no doubt expensive, electronic components have never been cheaper. You just need to check the price of computer components to see that.

Is it also possible that they are expecting to sell a lot less of these than their mainstream players and therefore have added more margin than usual.

I agree. Its a fairly high price to pay for an SD player that you will probably want to replace with an Oppo SD/BR player within 12 months. Whilst it is no doubt a good price for the technology compared to other manufacturers offerings, I think it could have been cheaper.

One of Oppos main attributes has been to make players as keenly priced as possible. I hope they arent starting to get greedy. Whilst R&D is no doubt expensive, electronic components have never been cheaper. You just need to check the price of computer components to see that.

Is it also possible that they are expecting to sell a lot less of these than their mainstream players and therefore have added more margin than usual.

Could you find us a price comparison with other devices using ABT for both deinterlacing and scaling?

-Bill

Could you find us a price comparison with other devices using ABT for both deinterlacing and scaling?

-Bill

Why?

Why?

You can't say a product is overpriced without comparing it to products in the same class.

As far as I know, the 983 will be the only DVD player that uses ABT for both deinterlacing and scaling. Video processors that do cost more than $1000.

-Bill

I dont mean to violate anyone's NDA, but can someone describe what the 983's disc tray is like?

You can't say a product is overpriced without comparing it to products in the same class.

As far as I know, the 983 will be the only DVD player that uses ABT for both deinterlacing and scaling. Video processors that do cost more than $1000.

-Bill

Try Marantz DV9600 (just under $3k list) and Arcam DV139 (orig list $3K) for their upscaling DVD players a few years ago.
Pretty good company for the 983 I'd say :-)

I dont mean to violate anyone's NDA, but can someone describe what the 983's disc tray is like?

Square, black, rigid, recessed grooves for hold discs... just a regular tray. (not sure what think may be "revealed")

You can't say a product is overpriced without comparing it to products in the same class.

As far as I know, the 983 will be the only DVD player that uses ABT for both deinterlacing and scaling. Video processors that do cost more than $1000.

-Bill

I already said "Whilst it is no doubt a good price for the technology compared to other manufacturers offerings....."

Comparisons to other manufacturers inflated costs arent really relevant... you can pay over $1000 for a Faroudja based player but the Oppo one is $229 so obviously there is more to it than the cost of the chip's used as a basis of the pricing. I expect Oppo's prices to be based on economics rather than what they can charge because another manufacturer's prices are so inflated.

Some of the premium priced players included extremely high end audio circuitry and heavy duty build quality.

I will wait to see what their BR/SD offering brings and I'm quite happy to use my 981 for another 12 months.

I would definitely buy this player if I didnt want my next player to be able to player SD and HD content. I am sure those that do buy it will be well pleased!

With the 980 costing $170 and the 983 $400, what do you get for that $230 difference? Better grade transport, multiple power supplies, and superior video processors. Just the transport and ps upgrades alone should improve the audio and video performance considerably. Throw in superior video processors, and the 983 is a bargain! Well worth $230 premium over a 980, IMHO.

I have the 981 and thought the audio was ok, but not great. But it wasn't not worth it for me to dump my 981 for the 980 just to get better audio and have to sacrifice video performance. So a big thanks to OPPO, for releasing the 983!

[QUOTE=bearchan;13273690]With the 980 costing $170 and the 983 $400, what do you get for that $130 difference? Better grade transport, multiple power supplies, and superior video processors. Just the transport and ps upgrades alone should improve the audio and video performance considerably. Throw in superior video processors, and the 983 is a bargain! Well worth $130 premium over a 980, IMHO.

I have the 981 and thought the audio was ok, but not great. But it wasn't not worth it for me to dump my 981 for the 980 just to get better audio and have to sacrifice video performance. So a big thanks to OPPO, for releasing the 983![/QUOTe

Isn't the difference between $400 and $170 more like $230 instead of $130? It's been a long time since I studied math, but that's what my calculator says.

I have the Toshiba A35, and I plan to get one of the Onkyo/Integra HDMI units, which also include processing capability. I have a 92-inch screen. I'm assuming that an Onkyo or Integra unit would provide deinterlacing, and with some models, good upscaling. Would the 983 provide a significantly better picture than this combination? I'm leaning toward the 980, which I understand provides good SACD and CD audio capabilities, and perhaps getting their Blu-ray player later.

Jim

When converting DSD to PCM, what bit depth and sampling rate does this player use?

[QUOTE=bearchan;13273690]With the 980 costing $170 and the 983 $400, what do you get for that $130 difference? Better grade transport, multiple power supplies, and superior video processors. Just the transport and ps upgrades alone should improve the audio and video performance considerably. Throw in superior video processors, and the 983 is a bargain! Well worth $130 premium over a 980, IMHO.

I have the 981 and thought the audio was ok, but not great. But it wasn't not worth it for me to dump my 981 for the 980 just to get better audio and have to sacrifice video performance. So a big thanks to OPPO, for releasing the 983![/QUOTe

Isn't the difference between $400 and $170 more like $230 instead of $130? It's been a long time since I studied math, but that's what my calculator says.

I have the Toshiba A35, and I plan to get one of the Onkyo/Integra HDMI units, which also include processing capability. I have a 92-inch screen. I'm assuming that an Onkyo or Integra unit would provide deinterlacing, and with some models, good upscaling. Would the 983 provide a significantly better picture than this combination? I'm leaning toward the 980, which I understand provides good SACD and CD audio capabilities, and perhaps getting their Blu-ray player later.

Jim

Oops! Have edited my post. Thx for catching that.

I have a really basic question, sort of OT but it keeps coming up in this thread. What exactly is a "transport", and what differentiates it from a "player" (or something else)? Thanks.

Better grade transport, multiple power supplies, and

Hi Bearchan, thanks for the additional info... what improvements have been made to the transport and how have 'multilple power supplies' been used?

What exactly is a "transport", and what differentiates it from a "player" (or something else)? Thanks.

A transport is something that is basically used to transfer the data from the source material without (or at least minimal) manipulation for processing at the receiving device (video processor, audio processor). So a video transport for a DVD player will just decode the DVD and send out a 480i signal with little to no change to the original source information. This is optimal to allow an external video processor to apply its video processing.

For SACD this means a player which will send DSD over HDMI without converting to PCM.

When converting DSD to PCM, what bit depth and sampling rate does this player use?

24-bit/88.2KHz, same as all the other OPPO players.

Just so you know, Oppo BR is a long way off

And a few months ago Oppo said there wouldn't be one. In any case, if they are pricing a standard DVD player at $400, I hope that doesn't mean their first BD player will be much more than that.

M

I don't care what they charge. If their Blu Ray player has ALL the features and qualities of the 983 plus BLU 1080p/24 and the new audio codecs, it will be a bargain at anything under 1G.

well the cost isn't $399.00
it's 399+8.95(shipping)+32.92(ca state tax)= 440.87

I was planning to run down and pick one up at HQ. But with the cost of gas here in CA it cost me about the same as shipping. gas $3.79
;^)

Hi Bearchan, thanks for the additional info... what improvements have been made to the transport and how have 'multilple power supplies' been used?

Hi btiltman:

I have no inside info. All I know about the 983 is what I read/inferred from this thread and the new thread Neuromancer started announcing the pre-order sale.

well the cost isn't $399.00
it's 399+8.95(shipping)+32.92(ca state tax)= 440.87

I was planning to run down and pick one up at HQ. But with the cost of gas here in CA it cost me about the same as shipping. gas $3.79
;^)

ouch:( ... on all counts

Apologies for the OT, but it slightly ticks me off that OPPO charged my credit card the same day I placed my order (Friday).

Apologies for the OT, but it slightly ticks me off that OPPO charged my credit card the same day I placed my order (Friday).

You should take that up with Oppo then.
As a rule of thumb, when ordering products on the net, unless it specifically states that your cc will not be charged until your order ships... well then you should assume that it will be charged when you place the order.

My payment was initiated the day I placed my preorder but has not actually been charged yet. Just shows up as a pending transaction.

Will the 983 be able to convert standard film sourced DVDs to 1080/24p, or is it now 100% certain that it will not have this feature. I know it was speculated that it would not be able to do this, but the Toshiba A35 does this quite well so it's far from impossible for a standalone dvd player to do, and of course several video processors do this also, including the older Lumagen VisionPro.

Will the 983 be able to convert standard film sourced DVDs to 1080/24p, or is it now 100% certain that it will not have this feature. I know it was speculated that it would not be able to do this, but the Toshiba A35 does this quite well so it's far from impossible for a standalone dvd player to do, and of course several video processors do this also, including the older Lumagen VisionPro.

Maybe Neuromancer can comment on that peticular topic. NDA may prohibit discussion until the 983 streets.:rolleyes::(

The OPPO and Toshiba had the same sharpness and picture detail, but the color on the Toshiba was just more real, to me that is)Some colors just lept off the screen. I was watching the Deadwood series and when I played it on the Toshiba ( vs my old 981) Wow! Look that is a purple dress.Look at that blood it is so red. This is a strange and unfair way to compare any two players. Calibration software reveals that the OPPO players are set up with the correct amount of color saturation. If you like the over-saturated look, there is a saturation control on the player (and on the TV) where you can boost the color and make it "LEAP off the screen" all you like.

Many manufacturers use oversaturation and other torch-mode tricks to grab people's attention at the stores, but that is obviously not an accurate picture.

Gary

This is a strange and unfair way to compare any two players. Calibration software reveals that the OPPO players are set up with the correct amount of color saturation. If you like the over-saturated look, there is a saturation control on the player (and on the TV) where you can boost the color and make it "LEAP off the screen" all you like.

Many manufacturers use oversaturation and other torch-mode tricks to grab people's attention at the stores, but that is obviously not an accurate picture.

Gary

Exactly. On the A2 that I have, when I first hooked it up, on a lot of scenes the actors looked like The Simpsons (orange skin). Not a good look IMO, I prefer D65.;) A calibrated memory setting on my pj takes care of that problem though.

hi!!!! new to this forum. i just found out about the dv-983h!!!! i am pre ordering it tomorrow!!!!! anyone know of any comparisons with the dv-981hd?
art

My payment was initiated the day I placed my preorder but has not actually been charged yet. Just shows up as a pending transaction.

Based on my experience working almost ten years as a Cust Svc rep for a major internet/B&M retailer, this is typical. Moreover, for back-ordered merchandise I believe the FTC has regs against charging until the item ships.

If a customer cancels the order before it ships, the pending transaction drops off the cust charge account after so many days.

Dana

hi!!!! new to this forum. i just found out about the dv-983h!!!! i am pre ordering it tomorrow!!!!! anyone know of any comparisons with the dv-981hd?
art

Not yet. You'll have to wait till it streets, then when people who already own the 981 have a chance to compre the 2 models, they'll start posting their findings.

Based on my experience working almost ten years as a Cust Svc rep for a major internet/B&M retailer, this is typical. Moreover, for back-ordered merchandise I believe the FTC has regs against charging until the item ships.

If a customer cancels the order before it ships, the pending transaction drops off the cust charge account after so many days.

Dana

Right. I was addressing epsilon who was upset about the charge. It was likely a pending transaction and not actually a posted transaction.

Right. I was addressing epsilon who was upset about the charge. It was likely a pending transaction and not actually a posted transaction.

Correct. It's called "authorization hold" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_hold . The FTC calls it "card blocking." http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/credbloc.shtm

Dana

well the cost isn't $399.00
it's 399+8.95(shipping)+32.92(ca state tax)= 440.87

I was planning to run down and pick one up at HQ. But with the cost of gas here in CA it cost me about the same as shipping. gas $3.79
;^)

I'm picking mine up in person, but not to save money!

Apologies for the OT, but it slightly ticks me off that OPPO charged my credit card the same day I placed my order (Friday).

OPPO authorizes the payment immediately (ie. They tell the bank to set that money aside for a future removal, but the money is not transfered to OPPO). For debit cards, this money is actually removed from your balance, while for credit cards it does not go against your balance. This is the very reason why OPPO NEVER did pre-orders in the past.

Will the 983 be able to convert standard film sourced DVDs to 1080/24p, or is it now 100% certain that it will not have this feature. .

I posted this earlier: NO 24Hz output at any resolution.

I picked up two 980H's in person. I'm so close, it made sense. I am really curious how much better the 983H picture quality will improve over the 980H and wether I can use it with my 61" rear project DLP?

I picked up two 980H's in person. I'm so close, it made sense. I am really curious how much better the 983H picture quality will improve over the 980H and wether I can use it with my 61" rear project DLP?Thats been my #1 question. How much better will the 983H be for use with a 61" rear project DLP compared to a Oppo 980H?

OPPO authorizes the payment immediately (ie. They tell the bank to set that money aside for a future removal, but the money is not transfered to OPPO). For debit cards, this money is actually removed from your balance, while for credit cards it does not go against your balance. This is the very reason why OPPO NEVER did pre-orders in the past.

It was many moons ago but actually, OPPO did pre-orders for the 981. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9045257#post9045257 As I recall, the same issues arose then, too.

Dana

eventual products related to sd playback.

gefen home theater scaler pro (realta based)? to market 4-'08?
toshibas spursenging processor? long time away, most likely.

maybe things to consider.

eventual products related to sd playback.

gefen home theater scaler pro (realta based)? to market 4-'08?
toshibas spursenging processor? long time away, most likely.

maybe things to consider.

Why competition for the 983? I don't know how much the Gefen scaler costs, but I can't imagine less than the 983.:confused:

Why competition for the 983? I don't know how much the Gefen scaler costs, but I can't imagine less than the 983.:confused:The $699 Scaler Pro uses the HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) T2-400 Realta engine chipset, supporting HDMI 1.3 and “eWARP2 geometry processing,” the company says.

MSRP for the High Def Scaler is $349. The 1080p Scaler MSRPs for $299.

Oppo 983H is a safe buy at $399!

Related news link (www.cepro.com/article/gefentv_adds_3_scalers_to_lineup/).

I posted this earlier: NO 24Hz output at any resolution.

If they are asking $399 for a friggin' standard def DVD player this seems like a feature that ought to be included. I mean a lot of people that are willing to throw down that kind of money for a DVD player probably have displays with 24p capability.:mad:

It's funny, I can go out now and buy an HD-DVD player that will output DVDs at 1080p/24 AND play HD-DVDs for A 3RD OF THE PRICE.

DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT I was hoping this player would have this feature.:confused::confused::confused::confused:

If they are asking $399 for a friggin' standard def DVD player this seems like a feature that ought to be included. I mean a lot of people that are willing to throw down that kind of money for a DVD player probably have displays with 24p capability.:mad:

It's funny, I can go out now and buy an HD-DVD player that will output DVDs at 1080p/24 AND play HD-DVDs for A 3RD OF THE PRICE.

DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT I was hoping this player would have this feature.:confused::confused::confused::confused:

The way the hardware is implemented will not allow it. Personally, I think 1080/24 is somewhat over rated, just like 1080p in general. Never-the-less, that feature is becoming more "in demand" and thus could be considered the 983s greatest shortcoming. The player is still fantastic, and I love the pic it produces... even without 1080/24.

Square, black, rigid, recessed grooves for hold discs... just a regular tray. (not sure what think may be "revealed")

Is it less flimsy than the tray on previous Oppo models?

I think the goal of oppo was to create the best upverting/deinterlacing DVD player possible.

The reviews I've read are that "some" players can do "part" of what this player does, as good. But this player is "the best" at all aspects. Using the best chip combos available, etc.

So, if you have a very large collection of DVD's and obviously you will not replace most of them with Blu-ray. For all the obvious reasons. This is it. "Probably" the best DVD player for you and your collection.

Blu-ray manufacturers will create players that do a "good" job but a dedicated player will always be better. Blu-ray manu's are also focused on profiles and cost and picture quality related to 1080p. I think this "may be" Oppo's swan song to DVD as they focus on Blu-ray here out. Sounds like they've been working on this one for a very long time.

If you will have a large collection of DVD's, and you have a large HDTV you need the best upverting DVD player you can get. The best picture quality you can get.

Is it less flimsy than the tray on previous Oppo models?

The tray on previous models was deliberately made to be flexible so that, if knocked, it just flexes and obsorbs the impact rather than cracks or breaks. I cant recall anyone ever having a problem with it. I hope they stick with this thinner and flexible design.

Wow great review by secret. I must have it now.

The tray on previous models was deliberately made to be flexible so that, if knocked, it just flexes and obsorbs the impact rather than cracks or breaks. I cant recall anyone ever having a problem with it. I hope they stick with this thinner and flexible design.

Ah, that's good to know! I had always wondered why it appeared as if Oppo dropped the quality floor so low on their trays.

FOr those who have a demo unit a quick question:

1) How does it handle non-anamorphic DVD transfers (example = Die Hard Trilogy, Original red box set)?? I'm debating keeping these disks and just getting the 4th movie or waiting till a new box set with all 4 are out and anamorphic transfers. I hate rebuying movies. Is it a manual option (some kind of zoom) or an automatic feature that detects the transfer has the black bars built in?

2) I'm drawing a blank as to what my 2nd question was.... need more coffee. Ahh now I got it: When playing back a Dvix file (from the USB stick and/or burned DVD/CD) does the player make use of both of the ABT chipsets for the deinterlacing and scaling still? And can it play files with the *.avi extension?

cost HIGHER than $300 player and NOT dsd over hdmi? lol. i know it's got the 'best' video performance, but that means enthusiasts of BOTH video and audio will have to own the 980H for the DSD over hdmi AND the 983 for the audio? lol...

som1 start a new thread for the DV-984 Blu-Ray universal player =P.

Can anyone confirm this? It says "...SACD DSD..." in the title. Am I missing something? Just want to make sure before I do the pre-order thing. I mean, is this thing going to be a big upgrade over the giant killer 980? DSD is DSD so it better be one hell of a picture for the extra $220 which would buy me two 980's and I'd still have enough cash left over for some media or cables.

Can anyone confirm this? It says "...SACD DSD..." in the title. Am I missing something? Just want to make sure before I do the pre-order thing. I mean, is this thing going to be a big upgrade over the giant killer 980? DSD is DSD so it better be one hell of a picture for the extra $220 which would buy me two 980's and I'd still have enough cash left over for some media or cables.

It was planned, but hardware limitations prevail. NO DSD on the 983 :(.

It was planned, but hardware limitations prevail. NO DSD on the 983 :(.

Wow...that's kind of a bummer. I think I'll just order up the 980 for DSD, very nice video quality, and then just wait out for the Oppo BR next year and hope it has the 983 SD quality to it. Thanks for the clarification Smarty:) Someone might want to change the title of this thread to delete the DSD part.;)

Wow...that's kind of a bummer. I think I'll just order up the 980 for DSD, very nice video quality, and then just wait out for the Oppo BR next year and hope it has the 983 SD quality to it. Thanks for the clarification Smarty:) Someone might want to change the title of this thread to delete the DSD part.;)

If DSD is the only reason you're not buying the 983, then you a selling yourself short. (just my opinion)

Does the 983 do pillarboxing on 4:3 material without sacrificing video quality? I have the 971H and this bypasses the DCDI chip when you zoom or pillarbox.

A quick question for you computer savvy avs guys. I'm assuming the new Oppo has the "capture" feature as on older models. What resolution jpeg do you use for a 1080P Sony SXRD? I've found all kind of high resolution, widescreen wallpaper on the net but all have strange numbers like 1920 or 786 I assume for computer displays. Hate showing my ignorance but what gives? :confused:

Wow...that's kind of a bummer. I think I'll just order up the 980 for DSD, very nice video quality, and then just wait out for the Oppo BR next year and hope it has the 983 SD quality to it. Thanks for the clarification Smarty:) Someone might want to change the title of this thread to delete the DSD part.;)
Well, if you live in the bay area, then don't order it and you can buy my 980H, which I just bought and still have the box. I'll give you a nice discount and put the money towards the 983. I don't have any SACD's.

A quick question for you computer savvy avs guys. I'm assuming the new Oppo has the "capture" feature as on older models. What resolution jpeg do you use for a 1080P Sony SXRD? I've found all kind of high resolution, widescreen wallpaper on the net but all have strange numbers like 1920 or 786 I assume for computer displays. Hate showing my ignorance but what gives? :confused:
The resolution for 1080-line HD is 1920x1080. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about Sony's SXRD line to know if that is also their native resolution.

The tray on previous models was deliberately made to be flexible so that, if knocked, it just flexes and obsorbs the impact rather than cracks or breaks. I cant recall anyone ever having a problem with it. I hope they stick with this thinner and flexible design.The thin platter was unattractive and looked cheap per the reviews. The current design looks a lot better.

If DSD is the only reason you're not buying the 983, then you a selling yourself short. (just my opinion)

Mostly it's the extra $230.00 that I'll be able to put toward the BR player next year. They way I figure it, I have to give something up to get something else. I'm sure most people will say that the 983 is FAR superior to the 980 in picture quality (especially those who get a 983), but the 980 will sound just as good if not better by virtue of DSD and this is just to get me through til the BR player comes out and at that time I can put the 980 to use in a second system.

If the 983 was say $100 more than the 980 I would probably go for it, but my SD library is only about 80 strong so image just isn't that important until I get a BR player and I'm hoping that the Oppo BR will have all the quality of the 983 on SD. Taking my chances I guess.

Does the 983 do pillarboxing on 4:3 material without sacrificing video quality? I have the 971H and this bypasses the DCDI chip when you zoom or pillarbox.

Yes, there is no resolution loss when doing a 4:3 pillarboxing. Pillarboxing is handled by the scaler solution, rather than the decoder.

I don't know if this is NDA territory or not for the beta testers, apologies if it is...

The Secrets review (like many others, I'm sure) is very impressive, and has me thoroughly convinced of its video performance. My only remaining question(s) concerns the audio portion, which will also be released by Secrets sometime this week, hopefully. I'm wondering if the 983 is keeping the exact same chipset (Cirrus Logic CS4361 I think) for analog output as the 980H, or if there's a brand new solution being implemented.

I've read several good things about the sound quality of the 980, so I'm just waiting pending the Secrets and initial user reviews here to make a final decision. Besides the superb SD DVD playback, I'm looking to use this as a CD/SACD/DVD-A playback device, and so the quality of sound over the analog outputs is a somewhat important thing to me.

So, with that in mind, anyone that can comment on the chip used or the implementation, feel free to. I'm pretty much all but convinced this is the player for me pending audio results, so anyone that cares to push me the rest of the way, feel free to! Thanks!

-Tyler

1) How does it handle non-anamorphic DVD transfers (example = Die Hard Trilogy, Original red box set)?? I'm debating keeping these disks and just getting the 4th movie or waiting till a new box set with all 4 are out and anamorphic transfers. I hate rebuying movies. Is it a manual option (some kind of zoom) or an automatic feature that detects the transfer has the black bars built in?

There is a Zoom which will remove the black bars at the top and bottom and the sides of the image for 4:3 Letterbox media.

2) I'm drawing a blank as to what my 2nd question was.... need more coffee. Ahh now I got it: When playing back a Dvix file (from the USB stick and/or burned DVD/CD) does the player make use of both of the ABT chipsets for the deinterlacing and scaling still? And can it play files with the *.avi extension?

Yes, you can playback DivX/XviD (usually *.AVI extension). These files will be processed and scaled with the ABT solution, but you will likely not see that much of an improvement in PQ.

Do you think the 983's upscaling will be noticeably better than the 981, given that the 4280 is a 1024 x 768 panel? I understand the other advantages of the 983.

Bonus question:

I have a Denon 2930 for my Pioneer 6010 (1920x1080).

Do you think i should get switch the 2930 to the Pio 4280 and get the 983 for the Pio 6010?

Noticeably? Probably not. Personally I can't recommend the DV-983H for people who do not have a front projection. It is on a truly large display that the differences become very noticeable.

Noticeably? Probably not. Personally I can't recommend the DV-983H for people who do not have a front projection. It is on a truly large display that the differences become very noticeable.

This is what I keep trying to tell people, but... you know...;)

Noticeably? Probably not. Personally I can't recommend the DV-983H for people who do not have a front projection. It is on a truly large display that the differences become very noticeable.

Does that go for the 980H as well? What size screen will you really start to notice a difference?

I remember reading the review @ http://www.prillaman.net/oppo980_review.html about the 980H in that it isn't quite as good as the 981HD, but really only noticeable on large screens. I imagine that the 983H will show more of a difference than the 981HD, but at what screen size is the question. I'm at 61" and just very curious to know.

Thanks Neuromancer and Smarty-pants.

Whaddya think about the 983 vs. Denon 2930 for the Pio 6010?

havn't used the Denon 2930 so I can't comment on its performance versus that of the DV-983H.

Does that go for the 980H as well? What size screen will you really start to notice a difference?

A large screen just helps you notice the quality differences. I can personally see the difference on small screen down to 17", but most of the people who I interact with have to be shown the difference of the two solutions on screen sizes 60" and below. Once they notice the difference they will become accustomed to it (and will shun less quality), but just putting them in front of the DVD player and a 47" screen is usually not enough.

A large screen just helps you notice the quality differences. I can personally see the difference on small screen down to 17", but most of the people who I interact with have to be shown the difference of the two solutions on screen sizes 60" and below. Once they notice the difference they will become accustomed to it (and will shun less quality), but just putting them in front of the DVD player and a 47" screen is usually not enough.Thanks for the feedback.

I certainly notice artifacts on certain scene's with the 980H, say, fog in the background and sometimes a slight grainy quality. Nothing too major, but definitely noticeable.

A large screen just helps you notice the quality differences. I can personally see the difference on small screen down to 17", but most of the people who I interact with have to be shown the difference of the two solutions on screen sizes 60" and below. Once they notice the difference they will become accustomed to it (and will shun less quality), but just putting them in front of the DVD player and a 47" screen is usually not enough.Neuromancer could you please expand upon what differences a viewer would see on a 60" and above when comparing the two players (980H and 983H).

Your standard differences. You should see less aliasing (jagged edges), no interlacing errors (combing on the horizontal plane), no artificial edge enhancement (ringing or haloing along edges), no CUE or Y/C Delay (color bleeding), less or no moire (shimmering), no loss of resolution when zooming, and so forth.

Neuromancer could you please expand upon what differences a viewer would see on a 60" and above when comparing the two players (980H and 983H).

Your standard differences. You should see less aliasing (jagged edges), no interlacing errors (combing on the horizontal plane), no artificial edge enhancement (ringing or haloing along edges), no CUE or Y/C Delay (color bleeding), less or no moire (shimmering), no loss of resolution when zooming, and so forth.

I didn't think the 980 had YC delay or ringing.

I didn't think the 980 had YC delay or ringing.

It does with PAL sources (Y/C Delay) and can introduce ringing much sooner when enabling the Sharpness than the DV-983H.

Do you justify upgrading an OPPO 981 for the OPPO 983 if I have a 40" LCD?

Thanks !

CSR says maybe another week delay past the 10th for start of shipping. :(

Do you justify upgrading an OPPO 981 for the OPPO 983 if I have a 40" LCD?

Thanks !

great question!!!!!! someone please reply to this :rolleyes:

Do you justify upgrading an OPPO 981 for the OPPO 983 if I have a 40" LCD?

Thanks !

For me: no. I have both the 981 and 980 and am pleased with them.

I'm not sure what people are expecting. We must be near the limits of what can be done with SD-DVD; there just isn't that much more room for improvement.

I'll have more when the NDA is lifted.

-Bill

I certainly notice artifacts on certain scene's with the 980H, say, fog in the background and sometimes a slight grainy quality. Nothing too major, but definitely noticeable. The artifacts you are describing are MPEG compression artifacts, or film grain/CMOS sensor noise, they are not introduced by the player. You can reduce grain by decreasing sharpness and using noise reduction filters.

Gary

I don't know if this is NDA territory or not for the beta testers, apologies if it is...

The Secrets review (like many others, I'm sure) is very impressive, and has me thoroughly convinced of its video performance. My only remaining question(s) concerns the audio portion, which will also be released by Secrets sometime this week, hopefully. I'm wondering if the 983 is keeping the exact same chipset (Cirrus Logic CS4361 I think) for analog output as the 980H, or if there's a brand new solution being implemented.

I've read several good things about the sound quality of the 980, so I'm just waiting pending the Secrets and initial user reviews here to make a final decision. Besides the superb SD DVD playback, I'm looking to use this as a CD/SACD/DVD-A playback device, and so the quality of sound over the analog outputs is a somewhat important thing to me.

So, with that in mind, anyone that can comment on the chip used or the implementation, feel free to. I'm pretty much all but convinced this is the player for me pending audio results, so anyone that cares to push me the rest of the way, feel free to! Thanks!

-Tyler

If you are going with HDMI, you'll lose the DSD on SACD and will have to use PCM and therefore have a downgrade in sound imo. If you are going to run the 983 with analog outs you are going to get better sound according to this clip that someone got from Oppo on another thread:

"The two channel performance is better on the DV-980H over that of the DV-981HD or DV-970HD. The DV-983H should further improve on the analog accoustics, but it will also sell at a premium price.

For all of our players we use different revisions of the Cyrrus Logic DACs"

Then I asked more specifically what changes they made to the analog design and here is the response...


"The expected retail price will be $399.00.

We have redesigned the audio board. We have upgraded to even higher quality capacitors and resistors and improved the layout for more efficiency. We have also increased the power and efficiency of the power board.

DSD over HDMI is not supported. Like the DV-981HD the DV-983H will processes DSD to PCM"

So I guess it's just how much multi-channel audio software do you have as all the reviews of the DSD on SACD and such say that it is definitly better.

If you are going with HDMI, you'll lose the DSD on SACD and will have to use PCM and therefore have a downgrade in sound imo. This is not a universally accepted presumption.

The artifacts you are describing are MPEG compression artifacts, or film grain/CMOS sensor noise, they are not introduced by the player. You can reduce grain by decreasing sharpness and using noise reduction filters.

GaryI figured it was the player since I don't notice it with other sources. My sharpness on the tv is down quite a bit and I'll have to look into the other. Thanks!

This is not a universally accepted presumption.

No I guess it's not, and that is why I prefaced it by saying in my opinion, but going from D/A and then A/D when using analog outs isnt' the way that high bit rate audio was intended to be used. It just came down to copyright thing basically. I trust you guys at places like Stereophile and I'm quite sure that I would agree with your findings on the matter, or did I read you wrong?:

Kalman Rubinson reviewed the OPPO DV-980H Universal Up-converting DVD Player together with Integra DTC-9.8 preamplifier-processor. "In fact, for multichannel SACD and DVD-A playback, I would take the Integra-OPPO combo over anything else I've had in this system. I'd been waiting years to experience SACD and DVD-A with decent room EQ and competent bass and channel management without redundant A/D/A conversions, and the experience came up to my expectations."

We shall see. I have a 980 on the way, and now I think I'm going to buy a 983 as well. I got the bug:)

If Oppo does a blu-ray player next year will it not be able to or made to play standard definition DVD's Region-Free? Just because it would be a blu-ray player and no blu-ray players out now can be made to play SD DVD's Region Free?

If Oppo does a blu-ray player next year will it not be able to or made to play standard definition DVD's Region-Free? Just because it would be a blu-ray player and no blu-ray players out now can be made to play SD DVD's Region Free?

Correction, they can be made to play ALL sd-dvds, however the manufacturers choose not to implement that feature.;)

No I guess it's not, and that is why I prefaced it by saying in my opinion, but going from D/A and then A/D when using analog outs isnt' the way that high bit rate audio was intended to be used. It just came down to copyright thing basically. I trust you guys at places like Stereophile and I'm quite sure that I would agree with your findings on the matter, or did I read you wrong?:You didn't read me wrong but your quote includes the conditions under which the conclusion was reached. Under different conditions, different conclusions might be reached. I was reacting to what seemed a generalization on your part. The conversion of DSD to PCM is not necessarily inferior to straight DSD to analog, depending on the context, imho. Sure, I would like to avoid any unnecessary conversions/processing but conversion of DSD to PCM permits the use of other features which more than compensate for the relatively innocuous, again imho, effects of DSD-PCM conversion. Some respected folks have even stated that it is, when done well, a completely transparent event but I cannot comment on that.

We shall see. I have a 980 on the way, and now I think I'm going to buy a 983 as well. I got the bug:)I know what you mean. I am having my 980 modified to provide 3xS/PDIF output so I can feed it directly to my Meridian Ref 861. I expect that SACD performance (and that of other formats) will be even better, despite the DSD-PCM conversion! But, of course, that's in the context of different system. ;)

CSR says maybe another week delay past the 10th for start of shipping. :(

ARRRRGGGH!!!!:(

CSR says maybe another week delay past the 10th for start of shipping. :(

mmm... who is CSR?

mmm... who is CSR?

Customer Service Representative

It was planned, but hardware limitations prevail. NO DSD on the 983 :(.

You mean, no DSD-as-DSD. DSD will be available converted to 88.2/24 bit PCM. So you can play those SACDs without worry. Unless you are a bat. :p

If you are going with HDMI, you'll lose the DSD on SACD and will have to use PCM and therefore have a downgrade in sound imo.

Will someone please explain how transcoding from megaherz/1bit to 88.2kHz/24 bit represents a downgrade in sound, in the real world -- where humans cannot hear frequencies over ~22kHz, and listening environments and recordings rarely if ever permit exploiting >90 dB of dynamic range?

Not to mention that as PCM, the signal can be manipulated to the owner's content without intervening A/D conversion (e.g., DPL II, room correction, DSP modes...)

OPPO authorizes the payment immediately (ie. They tell the bank to set that money aside for a future removal, but the money is not transfered to OPPO). For debit cards, this money is actually removed from your balance, while for credit cards it does not go against your balance. This is the very reason why OPPO NEVER did pre-orders in the past.

Checking my credit card balance today...

02-29 02-29 WWW OPPODIGITAL COM - 650-9611118, CA $413.00


Now I'm a bit pissed, given the expected ship date wasn't until the 10th, and that has been pushed back by a week according to another post in this thread.

OPPO is probably using a shopping cart which does not have "authorization only" options. That is, their system is either "full charge" or "no charge" for all transactions which occur on the OPPODigital.com website. If this is the case, then pre-orders will be a full charge, and are treated like "debit holds" for your product.

Beyond that, the other post is hearsay about the shipment being delayed.

Beyond that, the other post is hearsay about the shipment being delayed.

Exactly. When I preordered mine, I emailed and asked if they would have sufficient stock for preorders.

They replied: We have enough stock to fulfill all pre-orders. and not 'will' have enough. The wording tends to suggest they already have stock on hand.

Originally Posted by Credit Card recent transactions
02-29 02-29 WWW OPPODIGITAL COM - 650-9611118, CA $413.00

Be happy you didn't have to pay CA sales tax--$34
& what's 10 days on your card?

Good guess, heh.

I actually sent an email to Oppo and that was nearly the exact response I was given. They do not do individual authorizations with their shopping assistant. It is a full debit for any pre-order.

Now, I completely disagree with that method, as I feel nobody should be fully charged for anything that has not begun transit to the customer...

On the other note, it's nice to hear the shipments may not have been delayed after all. :)

I just got a reply back to my email from Oppo's customer service and they said there was no delay. Still expected to ship the 10th. :D

Exactly. When I preordered mine, I emailed and asked if they would have sufficient stock for preorders.

The purpose of any delay at this point is not a matter of having sufficient stock, but some flourishes which OPPO wants to include as part of the packaging design. But when push comes to shove, it is ready for prime time.

Now, I completely disagree with that method, as I feel nobody should be fully charged for anything that has not begun transit to the customer...

I agree. But at the same time (playing devil's advocate) OPPO never said they wouldn't charge your card right away.

I personally use a Debit Card for all transactions, so I am used to my money being taken out of my account right away.

I don't agree-but it's not my issue. Cancel today they will credit back the charge. And you can wait until the 10th to re-order that day and they will ship and charge at the same time.... i'am going back to listening to V. Teng CD...


I agree. But at the same time (playing devil's advocate) OPPO never said they wouldn't charge your card right away.

I personally use a Debit Card for all transactions, so I am used to my money being taken out of my account right away.

Neuromancer - Thakns for the answer on the Divx and non anamorphic. Your answer on the non-anamorphic sounded like it applied to 4:3 material. I was wondering about how "widescreen" with built in top and bottom black boarders which on a TV and dvd player setup as widescreen gets another set of black making the image part squished vertically.

Sorry if you answer did apply to my question and I simply miss read/understood.

4:3 Letterboxed has bars around the entire picture. There is a Zoom mode which will remove all these bars so the image takes up the entire screen.

Similarly 2:35:1 Anamorphic movies can be stretched vertically as well.

I don't see what the big deal is.

IMHO they offered a pre-order as a means for us to be on a list of the very first items that ship the warehouse. I see it as a premium you pay to have that benefit.

If you do not want to participate you do not have to. You might be able to purchase the day of and get the same shipping date as I will.... but that is a risk I was willing to take and bought in the pre-order.

I guess we'll agree to have different views on this.

now I wouldn't go as far as angry...but i too am very eager and simply can't wait till i get it as I'm without a good player for now.

I think i'll be ok for a couple of weeks, as long as i get it before the 25th :)

As recommended if you feel deceived simply cancel the order and order later...

and by the way... i do not have $400 laying around...

Like any online retailer, they should probably make it clear in their Terms and Conditions exactly when they're charging your card. Maybe they dropped the ball there... anyone dug through and checked it out?

Noticeably? Probably not. Personally I can't recommend the DV-983H for people who do not have a front projection. It is on a truly large display that the differences become very noticeable.

thats reassuring!

You didn't read me wrong but your quote includes the conditions under which the conclusion was reached. Under different conditions, different conclusions might be reached. I was reacting to what seemed a generalization on your part. The conversion of DSD to PCM is not necessarily inferior to straight DSD to analog, depending on the context, imho. Sure, I would like to avoid any unnecessary conversions/processing but conversion of DSD to PCM permits the use of other features which more than compensate for the relatively innocuous, again imho, effects of DSD-PCM conversion. Some respected folks have even stated that it is, when done well, a completely transparent event but I cannot comment on that.

I know what you mean. I am having my 980 modified to provide 3xS/PDIF output so I can feed it directly to my Meridian Ref 861. I expect that SACD performance (and that of other formats) will be even better, despite the DSD-PCM conversion! But, of course, that's in the context of different system. ;)

Thanks for the reply Kal. I understand where you're comming from and have went ahead and ordered (or pre-ordered I should say) a 983. I will A/B them both, DCD/PCM, Digital/Analog, the works and as I'm sure there will be a thread devoted to the comparisons that will inevitibaly come with the arrival of this new machine, I will post my findings as well. I have no fear that my 92" front projector will be glad that I got the 983, but it's my ears that got me into this hobby (yeah right, obsession) in the first place and my ears that will have the final say.

just curious.
when does ad at top of avs pages start including 983?

Noticeably? Probably not. Personally I can't recommend the DV-983H for people who do not have a front projection. It is on a truly large display that the differences become very noticeable.


Unless their current player suffers from macroblocking artifacts?

That too.

Neuromancer could you please expand upon what differences a viewer would see when comparing the two players (980H and 983H).

Your standard differences. You should see less aliasing (jagged edges), no interlacing errors (combing on the horizontal plane), no artificial edge enhancement (ringing or haloing along edges), no CUE or Y/C Delay (color bleeding), less or no moire (shimmering), no loss of resolution when zooming, and so forth.

It does with PAL sources (Y/C Delay) and can introduce ringing much sooner when enabling the Sharpness than the DV-983H.

Do these differences only apply when using HDMI, or will we see an improvement when using component aswell, with the 983 ? : a little, noticeable, nothing?

One thing I noticed when I first got my ABT102 card was the quality difference in 4:3 squeezed images compared to my Oppo 970 squeezing.

When I would let my Oppo do the "squeezing" to 4:3 on my DVDs and output them at 480i to my VP30/ABT102 the horizontal lines on the sharpness test patterns would bunch up at various points.

When I let my Oppo display the image at 16:9 and let my DVDO do the "squeezing" from 16:9 to 4:3 the horizontal lines have a nice even pattern to them. This is the reason why I don't have my Oppo on auto-detect squeeze and manually adjust the aspect ratio for DVDs since the Oppo 970 seems to do a poorer job at squeezing 4:3 material on a 16:9 screen.

So ya.... im not packin a 1080p projector. Im still workin with the mits hd1000 and a 126 inch carada. Im just wondering what differences if any will I see between the 983 and 980. Im still using the 971, but im about to buy the 980 if there wont be any considerable advantages with the 983 in 720p.

I would love to know how this player compares to the Toshiba XA2 in picture quality. Has any of the beta testers compared the picture from these two players?

Hi all, betatester and technical experts!
I am wondering if I have to buy the 983H now.

I have two questions:

1) Does the 983H or the 980H US version will work correctly in Europe with PAL DVDs? With a projector HD ready Optoma HD720X ?

2) Does for my setup (using the DVD player with the projector HD ready Optoma HD720X and a screen surface of 1,80 meter max) is it better to spend more money for the 983H or the 980H is ok?

Thank you! :)

Do these differences only apply when using HDMI, or will we see an improvement when using component aswell, with the 983 ? : a little, noticeable, nothing?

HDMI. The component performance is the same as the DV-980H.

When I would let my Oppo do the "squeezing" to 4:3 on my DVDs and output them at 480i to my VP30/ABT102 the horizontal lines on the sharpness test patterns would bunch up at various points.

The reason for this is that the decoder is squeezing the image. You lose roughly 180 lines of resolution when this occurs. This is corrected in the DV-983H as the ABT solution is doing the pillarboxing.

1) Does the 983H or the 980H US version will work correctly in Europe with PAL DVDs? With a projector HD ready Optoma HD720X ?

Yes. You will just need to use a different power cable.

2) Does for my setup (using the DVD player with the projector HD ready Optoma HD720X and a screen surface of 1,80 meter max) is it better to spend more money for the 983H or the 980H is ok?

For PAL use, most definitely. The DV-983H supports PAL 2:2 Cadence, while the DV-980H does not.

Yes. You will just need to use a different power cable.



For PAL use, most definitely. The DV-983H supports PAL 2:2 Cadence, while the DV-980H does not.


Thank you for your answer!!

From the Oppo europe website ww.opposhop.com in this comparison page they say that the Film Mode Inverse 2:2 Pull Down (PAL movie) is supported... would there be a difference with the European model?

ww.opposhop.com/en/help/44/oppo_dvd_player_comparisons

If it is the case (oppo 980H supporting the 2:2 cadence), would you still recommend the 983H more costly for my setup (projector HD ready)?
Thank you for your and everyone help!

so it is confirmed that the 983 is delayed- for sometime past 3/10.
*from Oppo's mouth. 10:20AM PST SF CA- USA

Whom said that?

EDIT: E-mailed my man at OPPO and here is his response:

"There will be no delay in the launch of the DVD player. However, the launch will be staggered. The main reason for this is that all units which are currently in our warehouse have to be manually updated to the latest firmware release. This process is time consuming, so not all product will be ready for release on Monday, March 10. Some accessories, such as the upgraded power cable and the User's Manual, also had manufacturing problems. The stock of these accessories and the total number or pre-orders are offset.

What this means is that only partial stock will be available on the March 10 date for shipment. More stock will be upgraded, tested, packed and released on a constant basis with all pre-orders expected to be shipped to customers within 2~3 days of the original ship date of March 10.

We have not determined, however, the preferential treatment of shipments. That is, do we send out first stock to those who purchased a faster delivery service, or do we keep it fair and send out stock based on first come, first serve?

We are dialogging this situation very seriously but have no formal release plans at this time."

Don't Panic. The answer is 42.

Dirk