I have a Samsung DLP HL-S5687W which has a native 1080P resolution.

Which player is the better one? Which one would you reccomend?


Thanks guys, I'm new to this stuff.

I have a Samsung DLP HL-S5687W which has a native 1080P resolution.

Which player is the better one? Which one would you reccomend?


Thanks guys, I'm new to this stuff.

The 980 is recommended for DLP owners.

-Bill

Can you tell me why it's reccomended for DLP owners?

Can you tell me why it's reccomended for DLP owners?

DLPs often exhibit enhanced macroblocking with Faroudja-chip players like the 981. There will be no risk of this with the 980, which uses a custom Mediatek chip.

-Bill

Is there really any differences in the picture between the two players? Thanks for the info.

Is there really any differences in the picture between the two players? Thanks for the info.

I have and use both, and they both produce fine images.

The 980 is often described as sharper, but with rougher deinterlacing. The 981 as smoother, more film-like, which some people call "soft".

These are subtle differences unless you are really fanatical about your DVDs.

-Bill

I have and use both, and they both produce fine images.

The 980 is often described as sharper, but with rougher deinterlacing. The 981 as smoother, more film-like, which some people call "soft".

These are subtle differences unless you are really fanatical about your DVDs.

-Bill


What does rougher deinterlacing mean? Will I even notice it? I'm not a fanatic but I want the best upconverting DVD player.

What does rougher deinterlacing mean?

SD-DVD images are stored as 480i (NTSC) and have to be deinterlaced to 480p before being scaled to HD resolutions. Deinterlacing is an important and difficult task and you get different results depending how you do it. The most common deinterlacing artefect would be jaggies on diagonal lines, but there are many others.

Will I even notice it?

I'm always metaphysically disoriented when people ask that. How would anyone be able to predict what you are going to notice? Some peple try all sorts of gear and see no difference at all.

I'm not a fanatic

Then you probably wouldn't notice

but I want the best upconverting DVD player.

You've got to state a price range before saying that; there are expensive machines out there. The Oppo 980 is a bargain at $169. The Toshiba XA2 is probably better (and plays HD-DVD) but is hundreds of dollars more.

-Bill

Sharpness issues aside, for a Mitsu 52144 LCD, which of these two players 980/981 would be better? I have been told the Mitsu does a very good job of upscalling, but don;t know if the oppo (either) would be better or not. Thoughts?

Sharpness issues aside, for a Mitsu 52144 LCD, which of these two players 980/981 would be better? I have been told the Mitsu does a very good job of upscalling, but don;t know if the oppo (either) would be better or not. Thoughts?

Deinterlacing performance is the biggest difference in picture quality. In this regard I prefer the 981, but this is also what makes the 981 "softer".

The 980 has features the 981 doesn't:

* component as well as HDMI
* USB
* 480i over HDMI

The 981 has better PAL playback, if you buy imported discs.

-Bill

Deinterlacing performance is the biggest difference in picture quality. In this regard I prefer the 981, but this is also what makes the 981 "softer".

The 980 has features the 981 doesn't:

* component as well as HDMI
* USB
* 480i over HDMI

The 981 has better PAL playback, if you buy imported discs.

-Bill

Thanks, not sure if any of those features are really important to me...

I have Denon 3808 and am going to buy Oppo, but not sure which one to get. 980 can output 480i/576i through HDMI, Denon has Faroudja upscaler. Will I be fine and go around with 980 or I would have to go with 981 to get the best picture? Seems like denon can do all the upscaling and use oppo as transport. I need PAL playback and heard that 981 is the best for PAL. How 980 would do it using denon's farourdja? I use 720p projector.

Which of these players will be better if using a new 32 or 37 inch Samsung / sony LCD Panel at 1080i.
What if they are used with a 1080p 42 inch LCD panel ?

I have Denon 3808 and am going to buy Oppo, but not sure which one to get. 980 can output 480i/576i through HDMI, Denon has Faroudja upscaler. Will I be fine and go around with 980 or I would have to go with 981 to get the best picture? Seems like denon can do all the upscaling and use oppo as transport. I need PAL playback and heard that 981 is the best for PAL. How 980 would do it using denon's farourdja? I use 720p projector.

The 981 has better PAL deinterlacing than the 980. If you are using 576i on the 980 then the deinterlacing is not an issue and the 980 would be fine.

-Bill

Which of these players will be better if using a new 32 or 37 inch Samsung / sony LCD Panel at 1080i.
What if they are used with a 1080p 42 inch LCD panel ?

It depends on your viewing preferences. I have and use both on a 37" LCD. I could live with either, but prefer the 981.

The 980 is sharper but with rougher deinterlacing. The 981 is smoother, more film-like, but some people call it "soft".

-Bill

I wonder if it is the same Faroudja chip on Denon and Oppo? I just thought what is the point to pay for another Faroudja if I already have it in my receiver and receiver is brand new model. The guy at Oppo said: "it is the software that is important and Oppo has a great one, not sure about Denon". :confused:

some of you are owners of both units being the 980 and the 981 therefore I value your response since you had the pleasure of comparison, I have read through the reviews of sharpness vs. softer pic quality, and also some have stipulated that on a small display the quality is great and the differences are negligent. I would like to feed a 1080p projector with roughly 130" screen, and like the other member - don’t really care for pal media or some of the other options like separate component / 480i over hdmi, because I do not see myself buying a thousand dollar video processor (hence I am buying an oppo). And I have also read that the new oppo resolves the 980/981 issues but at $400 dollars it infringes on blu media players which in turn do provide the true HD. To my original question, which player would do a better visual presentation on large screen size? if the viewer was picky about presentation. Thanx for your opinion.

some of you are owners of both units being the 980 and the 981 therefore I value your response since you had the pleasure of comparison, I have read through the reviews of sharpness vs. softer pic quality, and also some have stipulated that on a small display the quality is great and the differences are negligent. I would like to feed a 1080p projector with roughly 130" screen, and like the other member - don’t really care for pal media or some of the other options like separate component / 480i over hdmi, because I do not see myself buying a thousand dollar video processor (hence I am buying an oppo). And I have also read that the new oppo resolves the 980/981 issues but at $400 dollars it infringes on blu media players which in turn do provide the true HD. To my original question, which player would do a better visual presentation on large screen size? if the viewer was picky about presentation. Thanx for your opinion.

For front projectors, large screens, when the choice is 980 or 981: 981. Oppo will tell you the same thing: http://www.oppodigital.com/dv983h/dv983h_comp.asp

-Bill

some of you are owners of both units being the 980 and the 981 therefore I value your response since you had the pleasure of comparison, I have read through the reviews of sharpness vs. softer pic quality, and also some have stipulated that on a small display the quality is great and the differences are negligent. I would like to feed a 1080p projector with roughly 130" screen, and like the other member - don’t really care for pal media or some of the other options like separate component / 480i over hdmi, because I do not see myself buying a thousand dollar video processor (hence I am buying an oppo). And I have also read that the new oppo resolves the 980/981 issues but at $400 dollars it infringes on blu media players which in turn do provide the true HD. To my original question, which player would do a better visual presentation on large screen size? if the viewer was picky about presentation. Thanx for your opinion.

For your 130' screen, I recommand 981.

Yes - I did see the response from oppo, but like every manufacturer, their vision most of the time is skewed towards their more expensive product, this is why I like to inquire with third party owners. I thank you for your honest opinion, and now i have to go and pick up a 981 model. Thanx again for all info.

Yes, for big screen 981 is great. But in my case I have external scaler, Denon 3808 with Faroudja chip, why would I need 981 duplicating a chip I already have. I think 983 is overpriced. What is the point to buy $400 player when I can wait a little and buy BR player for this kind of money. I don't think 983 will make SD DVD's look better than 981/980.

I think 983 is overpriced. What is the point to buy $400 player when I can wait a little and buy BR player for this kind of money. I don't think 983 will make SD DVD's look better than 981/980.Just a FYI, SD-DVD has been around since 1997 and the vast majority of DVD titles are still only available on SD-DVD format. Lots of AV buffs have large collections of SD-DVD titles and won't be buying the same title again in BR format for the most part, especially at $30 a title. Thats the whole point with the 983H. No the 983 will not make a SD-DVD title look as good as a Blu-Ray DVD, but it comes reasonably close, and thats a plus for spending $399 on a SD-DVD player with no macroblocking issues.

Rather than start a new thread on this topic, I'll just add to this one.

With the advent of the 983HD, I'm unsure which Oppo player would be right for me.

I'm very shortly to buy my first HDTV, a 42" 1080p Panasonic plasma is the plan. I already have a Onkyo 6.1 home theater audio receiver that supports DD EX and DTS/E, though my speaker setup is 5.1 for now.

Video-wise, I'm looking to send a 1080p signal over HDMI to the new TV with a SD DVD source. All 3 Oppo players will do this, with the 980 having the "worst" picture, 981 w/ Faroudja processing being better, and the new 983 w/ ABT chips the best. "Worst" in this case is still pretty darn good from what I understand.

Audio-wise, I'm a bit more confused. First my requirements: I only will be playing DVD movies and redbook CDs, I have no DVD-audio or SACD discs, and no plans to acquire any. As I said above, I have an Onkyo receiver that does DD EX and DTS-E decoding, but also has 6.1 analog audio inputs, so my impression is that I have the choice to either let the DVD player pass audio bitstream to the Onkyo for decoding, or pass already decoded analog audio from the Oppo to the Onkyo.

I am also under the impression that if I let the Oppo player decode audio, and purchase the 980HD, I'll lose DTS decoding (but the 980HD will still pass bitstram DTS to a receiver over digital, it just won't decode DTS internally)?

The confusing factor being that from what I have read, the 980HD and 983HD have "better" audio than the 981HD. Am I right in assuming that such distinctions ONLY apply with the use of the Oppo analog audio outputs? And that they'll all sound identical feeding a raw bitstream into my Onkyo receiver?

Rather than start a new thread on this topic, I'll just add to this one.

With the advent of the 983HD, I'm unsure which Oppo player would be right for me.

I'm very shortly to buy my first HDTV, a 42" 1080p Panasonic plasma is the plan. I already have a Onkyo 6.1 home theater audio receiver that supports DD EX and DTS/E, though my speaker setup is 5.1 for now.

Video-wise, I'm looking to send a 1080p signal over HDMI to the new TV with a SD DVD source. All 3 Oppo players will do this, with the 980 having the "worst" picture, 981 w/ Faroudja processing being better, and the new 983 w/ ABT chips the best. "Worst" in this case is still pretty darn good from what I understand.
"Worst" in this case is pretty darn good. For this size screen, the differences between the three players are likely to be less readily apparent.
Audio-wise, I'm a bit more confused. First my requirements: I only will be playing DVD movies and redbook CDs, I have no DVD-audio or SACD discs, and no plans to acquire any. As I said above, I have an Onkyo receiver that does DD EX and DTS-E decoding, but also has 6.1 analog audio inputs, so my impression is that I have the choice to either let the DVD player pass audio bitstream to the Onkyo for decoding, or pass already decoded analog audio from the Oppo to the Onkyo.

I am also under the impression that if I let the Oppo player decode audio, and purchase the 980HD, I'll lose DTS decoding (but the 980HD will still pass bitstram DTS to a receiver over digital, it just won't decode DTS internally)?
I think you are getting confused by the audio options spawned by HDMI, DVD-Audio, and SACD. For standard DVD's, using the coaxial or optical output to connect any OPPO player to your receiver will allow you to deliver Dolby Digital and DTS to the receiver for decoding. You will lose nothing, and all three OPPO players will perform equally in this regard.
The confusing factor being that from what I have read, the 980HD and 983HD have "better" audio than the 981HD. Am I right in assuming that such distinctions ONLY apply with the use of the Oppo analog audio outputs? And that they'll all sound identical feeding a raw bitstream into my Onkyo receiver?
You are right that the differences in audio between the three OPPO players relate to the analog output, not the digital output.

Just a FYI, SD-DVD has been around since 1997 and the vast majority of DVD titles are still only available on SD-DVD format. Lots of AV buffs have large collections of SD-DVD titles and won't be buying the same title again in BR format for the most part, especially at $30 a title. Thats the whole point with the 983H. No the 983 will not make a SD-DVD title look as good as a Blu-Ray DVD, but it comes reasonably close, and thats a plus for spending $399 on a SD-DVD player with no macroblocking issues.

I have huge collection of DVD's and I know what you mean, I don't think I would start buying BR discs soon, unless discs come down in price. All I am saying that I don't think you will see a big difference between 981 and 983 on the screen, but the price difference is double. The other thing that I am not sure about is, as I said, I have Faroudja scaler in my receiver and I am not sure if 980 would be just enough, as it can output 480i via HDMI and I could let my receiver do the upscaling. Will it perform as 981?

I have huge collection of DVD's and I know what you mean, I don't think I would start buying BR discs soon, unless discs come down in price. All I am saying that I don't think you will see a big difference between 981 and 983 on the screen, but the price difference is double. The other thing that I am not sure about is, as I said, I have Faroudja scaler in my receiver and I am not sure if 980 would be just enough, as it can output 480i via HDMI and I could let my receiver do the upscaling. Will it perform as 981? The idea of putting a inline deinterlacer/scaler into the receiver was to enhance a progressive DVD player that a person owned. Personally its a trend in a lot of receivers that I find unwanted as now most people own decent upconverting DVD players. ;)

Yes you could get a Oppo 980H and make use of the internal Denon 3808 Faroudja FLI02310 video processing for deinterlacing and scaling. I'm not sure it would be equal to the Oppo 981HD as that player was optimized with many software changes.

Looking through the topics here there is some discussion on this topic. BFDTV (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=874304&highlight=3808) offered this statement I found interesting

"The FLI2310 is not in the same class with the other solutions discussed. It's a very low cost solution for SD deinterlace and scaling -- it's the same chip you find in $100 upconverting DVD players. It was featured in a number of receivers last year. It is not intended as a high-definition solution.

At least one 2006 Yamaha receiver used the Anchor Bay ABT1010, which their SD solution and alternative to the FLI2310.

This is the first year vendors have announced receivers with high-definition processing at <$3000. Onkyo is using Silicon Optix HQV in their 875/905, Denon is using it in their 5308, and Yamaha may use the ABT1018 or ABT2010 high-definition solutions in one or more of their upcoming models."

If that being the case then the fact that the new $399 Oppo 983H using the ABT102 +ABT1018 is of interest.

BTW the audio aspects of the Oppo 980H or Oppo 983HD are superior to the Oppo 981HD.

I think you are getting confused by the audio options spawned by HDMI, DVD-Audio, and SACD. For standard DVD's, using the coaxial or optical output to connect any OPPO player to your receiver will allow you to deliver Dolby Digital and DTS to the receiver for decoding. You will lose nothing, and all three OPPO players will perform equally in this regard.
That is what I was hoping, but wasn't totally clear to me before, thanks for the explanation.

Is it then also possible to set the 980 to output redbook CD audio via the analog outputs (thereby using the Oppo's DAC for CD audio), or will it be locked into sending the CD signal to the receiver as PCM over the coaxial/optical output?

Asked another way, will the 980 allow two parallel connections to the same receiver:
1- Digital coax (or optical) for DVD video compressed audio formats (DD, DTS)
2- Analog stereo for CD audio playback

It seems obvious that it should, but I'd like to be sure.

All of the 980H's audio outputs are active at all times, unless the source material prevents it (such as coaxial and optical with SACD). As a result, you don't have to do anything to get analog output from CD's as well as digital bitstream output from DVD's.

gonk: Thank you for answering my questions, it looks like the 980HD would fit the bill nicely for me then.

The 983 would be even better, but at that price point I'll be going to BRD instead.

I have just spoken to Oppo and tech support guy said Oppo uses FLI2310LS, which is the same I have in my Denon. He also said that I would only need 980 in this case if Denon does HDMI-HDMI, which does. I called Denon and asked them about Faroudja that Denon uses and they said there was no way they would put cheap scaler in $1750 model, plus 3808 has the ability to be updated through the internet and Denon updates its software which includes Faroudja updates. This is what I was told, not sure if this is a case.

I have just spoken to Oppo and tech support guy said Oppo uses FLI2310LS, which is the same I have in my Denon. He also said that I would only need 980 in this case if Denon does HDMI-HDMI, which does. I called Denon and asked them about Faroudja that Denon uses and they said there was no way they would put cheap scaler in $1750 model, plus 3808 has the ability to be updated through the internet and Denon updates its software which includes Faroudja updates. This is what I was told, not sure if this is a case.I would go with just the Oppo 980H then. I think what BFDTV was getting at was the Faroudja video scaling is no longer high end compared to alternatives offered now in other receivers. (like the ABT, VXP, or Realta).
Cheers

Yesterday I was looking at Yamaha 1800 specs and saw that it uses ABT. I was just thinking if I bought 983, why would I need 3808, so I could take it back to the store and get Yamaha instead, it is $300 cheaper, here is the money for 983.:confused:

Yesterday I was looking at Yamaha 1800 specs and saw that it uses ABT. I was just thinking if I bought 983, why would I need 3808, so I could take it back to the store and get Yamaha instead, it is $300 cheaper, here is the money for 983.:confused:Just a FYI but I would also consider the fact that most Denon's don't run hot (actually quite cool), while some Yamaha, Onkyo receivers can almost burn your hands. Something to consider while you are debating which Oppo DVD player is best for your setup. I always like to go to a showroom and put my hands on the receiver to find how it will behave in a limited ventilation space.

Just a FYI but I would also consider the fact that most Denon's don't run hot (actually quite cool), while some Yamaha, Onkyo receivers can almost burn your hands. Something to consider while you are debating which Oppo DVD player is best for your setup. I always like to go to a showroom and put my hands on the receiver to find how it will behave in a limited ventilation space.

Yes, you are right, it is warm. Didn't notice it before you mentioned it. Just spoke to on guy who has 980 and 3808 and he said it works fine, he used 980 both ways, upscaling through Denon or using 980to upscale. Denon seems to be a little better, not a huge difference. I wonder if he could see a huge difference on 983?

I have just spoken to Oppo and tech support guy said Oppo uses FLI2310LS, which is the same I have in my Denon. He also said that I would only need 980 in this case if Denon does HDMI-HDMI, which does. I called Denon and asked them about Faroudja that Denon uses and they said there was no way they would put cheap scaler in $1750 model, plus 3808 has the ability to be updated through the internet and Denon updates its software which includes Faroudja updates. This is what I was told, not sure if this is a case.My vote would be to get a PS3 :D I mean the 980 costs US $177 delivered, for $123 more, you'll get a 40GB PS3. I had been very hard-nosed "anti-PS3" (and initially got a Wii) until I got my Epson 720 projector.

Like you, I was in the same boat, and incidentally also looking to get a Denon 3808 for scaling. But the PS3 is just amazing, given how much more you will get for a mere $100+ or so - you will also have the option of turning off upconversion on the PS3 when using it in conjunction with the Denon, or you could turn on its scalar when connecting directly to your projector - you'll have so many more options - ripping audio, using it to stream A/V, store pictures, etc. etc. My unit is not very close to my seating area - I hardly even hear the unit. The internal 40GB can be upgraded to a whopping 320GB right now. Enough said - just my $0.02 :D Oh BTW, did I mention free blu-ray capability :D :D Once you get one or more of them blu-ray disks, you will find your projector viewing stunning!

Yes, you are right, it is warm. Didn't notice it before you mentioned it. Just spoke to on guy who has 980 and 3808 and he said it works fine, he used 980 both ways, upscaling through Denon or using 980to upscale. Denon seems to be a little better, not a huge difference. I wonder if he could see a huge difference on 983?You need a larger screen to notice what the 983 offers, but it is evident when watching a recent title such as DieHard 4 for example, very clean, no jaggies or artifacts. If your display is closer to say 40" then a Oppo 980H is adequate.

My vote would be to get a PS3 :D I mean the 980 costs US $177 delivered, for $123 more, you'll get a 40GB PS3. I had been very hard-nosed "anti-PS3" (and initially got a Wii) until I got my Epson 720 projector.

Like you, I was in the same boat, and incidentally also looking to get a Denon 3808 for scaling. But the PS3 is just amazing, given how much more you will get for a mere $100+ or so - you will also have the option of turning off upconversion on the PS3 when using it in conjunction with the Denon, or you could turn on its scalar when connecting directly to your projector - you'll have so many more options - ripping audio, using it to stream A/V, store pictures, etc. etc. My unit is not very close to my seating area - I hardly even hear the unit. The internal 40GB can be upgraded to a whopping 320GB right now. Enough said - just my $0.02 :D Oh BTW, did I mention free blu-ray capability :D :D Once you get one or more of them blu-ray disks, you will find your projector viewing stunning!Although the PS3 is a excellent Blu-Ray player for the price, it offers somewhat average upconversion. The Oppo 983 will pass every test you throw at it, while the PS3 has problems with most cadence tests. (use very high detail test patterns)

A recent Secrets review of the PS3 said the following: "The Sony PS3 continues to have extremely poor results in our SD DVD tests. The fact of the matter is, it just cannot lock onto a high resolution test pattern for any of our cadence tests. This is worse performance than we see with even sub-$50 players at your local big box store. One could argue that the player will probably do just fine with real world content since it probably doesn’t have as high detail as our test patterns, but I think that argument would mainly come from those trying to justify their purchase."

BTW the Oppo 980H has excellent audio performance, and for its price its a bargain.

I have Denon 3808 and am going to buy Oppo, but not sure which one to get. 980 can output 480i/576i through HDMI, Denon has Faroudja upscaler. Will I be fine and go around with 980 or I would have to go with 981 to get the best picture? Seems like denon can do all the upscaling and use oppo as transport. I need PAL playback and heard that 981 is the best for PAL. How 980 would do it using denon's farourdja? I use 720p projector.One more thing ..... I would also suggest you test drive various players. My PS3 experience is based on my ownership and satisfaction of the unit compared to my old DVD players as well. You will get opinions on this forum from people who own these units and those that have seen neither and will provide you opinions based on second hand information (fair enough :D). Assuming upscaling is paramount, there is no reason you could not try and test drive these units (I believe you can return most of these units within 30 days).

You need a larger screen to notice what the 983 offers, but it is evident when watching a recent title such as DieHard 4 for example, very clean, no jaggies or artifacts. If your display is closer to say 40" then a Oppo 980H is adequate.

I use a projector and have 92" screen. I don't see jaggies or artifact with my current progressive scan dvd player and 3808 receiver. I would assume Oppo 980 would be the same or better. I just need something to play NTSC and PAL and do good upscaling.

I agree I will test drive these units and see what works for me.

Hate to add yet another "this vs. that" topic, but I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a Yammy V3800 (uses the ABT chip for video processing). I am intrigued by the Oppo 980H (I have a relatively "small" monitor), but wasn't sure if I would see any benefit to upscaling SD-DVDs through the Oppo vs. just letting the V3800 do it? I'm also assuming that most folks on this board would say that the V3800 and the Oppo 980H are better at upscaling SD-DVDs than the Panny BD30?

Any thoughts are appreciated...

Hate to add yet another "this vs. that" topic, but I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a Yammy V3800 (uses the ABT chip for video processing). I am intrigued by the Oppo 980H (I have a relatively "small" monitor), but wasn't sure if I would see any benefit to upscaling SD-DVDs through the Oppo vs. just letting the V3800 do it? I'm also assuming that most folks on this board would say that the V3800 and the Oppo 980H are better at upscaling SD-DVDs than the Panny BD30?

Any thoughts are appreciated...You are correct on that last statement, most Blu-Ray players offer disappointing SD upconversion performance.

After putting in the Blu Ray in place of the HD A2 I am not happy at all with the SD DVD playback. I am going to put bk the Toshiba for regular viewing and get a Mono HDMI switch and have 2 units for DVD playbk. Any other suggestions?

After putting in the Blu Ray in place of the HD A2 I am not happy at all with the SD DVD playback. I am going to put bk the Toshiba for regular viewing and get a Mono HDMI switch and have 2 units for DVD playbk. Any other suggestions?

How has Toshiba been performing with upscaling? I can buy A3 for $99 and A30 for 149. I tried few BD players and could not stand how long it took those player to load a disc. But when I put CD in Sharp for example it took 5MIN to load. It is insane! And this cost $549??? No way, I will wait when technology improves and continue watching SDDVD's.

Quick question:

Have older JVC 52" D-ILA at 1080i. If I'm correct, the 981 should play nice with this display relative to macroblocking enhancement. I mainly want the Oppo for it's ability to play PAL and region-free-ness. Price is not an object, so should I get the 981 over the 980?

Quick question:

Have older JVC 52" D-ILA at 1080i. If I'm correct, the 981 should play nice with this display relative to macroblocking enhancement. I mainly want the Oppo for it's ability to play PAL and region-free-ness. Price is not an object, so should I get the 981 over the 980?The JVC D-ILA will show macroblocking errors when used with a Oppo 981HD, your choices are 980H or 983H. See this comparison link (http://www.oppodigital.com/dv980h/dv980h_comp.asp).

The JVC D-ILA will show macroblocking errors when used with a Oppo 981HD, your choices are 980H or 983H.

I read here that the 1080p displays were prone to this, but that LYCOS displays in general were not so much affected. The JVC uses LYCOS technology and is 1080i, so I though I would be OK.

I am leaning towards getting the 981HD - to replace an older Buffalo Linktheater. One issue I am not getting a clear input on is the availability, now or in the future, of support for MP4 and H.264 formats in the 981. Will xvid and divx give way to x264/mp4 formats in the near future? Will Oppo support these through firmware updates or will it be a new device? I will be using this to watch DVD in high-quality but will have several GB of home video in a more media-friendly formats, including DivX and x264. Any thoughts on this?

I am leaning towards getting the 981HD - to replace an older Buffalo Linktheater. One issue I am not getting a clear input on is the availability, now or in the future, of support for MP4 and H.264 formats in the 981. Will xvid and divx give way to x264/mp4 formats in the near future? Will Oppo support these through firmware updates or will it be a new device? I will be using this to watch DVD in high-quality but will have several GB of home video in a more media-friendly formats, including DivX and x264. Any thoughts on this?

Very unlikely.

Divx is suppoprted now, but only for SD resolutions.

-Bill

I am leaning towards getting the 981HD - to replace an older Buffalo Linktheater. One issue I am not getting a clear input on is the availability, now or in the future, of support for MP4 and H.264 formats in the 981. Will xvid and divx give way to x264/mp4 formats in the near future? Will Oppo support these through firmware updates or will it be a new device? I will be using this to watch DVD in high-quality but will have several GB of home video in a more media-friendly formats, including DivX and x264. Any thoughts on this?


The 981, as with all Oppo, and most other brands are based on Mediatek. There has been no support for H.264 at all on the Mediatek. No other chipset has support either.

It's been over 4 years since the first divx players came to the market and 4 years later not much has changed. You could grab a modded xbox to play all the formats

I have the same exact decision to make - 980 or 981.

Viewing on Sony XBR 46" LCD. My preference is SD content that appears sharper and you can see as much detail as possible.

Does everyone feel I should go with the 980? Seems like most people feel it produces a "sharper" image?

Thanks!!

I have the same exact decision to make - 980 or 981.

Viewing on Sony XBR 46" LCD. My preference is SD content that appears sharper and you can see as much detail as possible.

Does everyone feel I should go with the 980? Seems like most people feel it produces a "sharper" image?

Thanks!!

The general opinion is that the 980 is sharper but with rougher deinterlacing. The 981 is smoother, more film-like, which some people call "soft".

The 981 has better PAL playback, but the 980 let's you try 480i over HDMI if you want it.

-Bill

Thanks for the responses. I just got the 981HD and can attest to the film-like quality - awesome - even my xvid prints look fantastic, don't know if it upscales those as well (think it does since the HDMI button displays 1080). Still playing with it but I am impressed with the quality of the build and the picture.

Now have to replace my receiver since my current Integra 5.1 does not have HDMI and I cannot play SACD/DVD-A disks over my optical link:mad: due to f...ing "copyright restrictions".