Oppo 981 Vs. Oppo 970

The 970 is no longer produced. Oppo's current players are the 980 ($169) (which replaced the 970), the 981 ($229) and the 983 ($399).

The 970 uses a Mediatek chip for both deinterlacing and scaling. The 981 uses Faroudja.

The 970's image will be sharper, with rougher deinterlacing. The 981 will be smoother and more film-like.

The 970 has the option of 480i over HDMI; the 981 doesn't.

The 970 has HDMI and component; the 981 does not have component.

The 981 has better PAL playback.

For audio they are about the same.

Faroudja-chip players like the 981 sometimes enhance macroblocking on displays that are susceptibe to it. I most commonly hear this from DLP owners.

Oppo has a comparison matrix for it's current players here: http://www.oppodigital.com/dv980h/dv980h_comp.asp

-Bill

The 980 is the natural replacement for the 970. It uses a custom Mediatek chip that corrects a vertical squeeze issue the 970 had on some displays at upscaling resolutions. Oppo sometimes has refurbished players available at a lower price, same 30-day return and 1-year warranty. You have to contact them for availability.

-Bill

Here is one persons positive review of the 980 vs the A1.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post14158907

No, I have no experience with the A1.

I would point out that the video quality differences between the better players is relatively minor. You can see differences when doing A/B switching, but to me the differences fade away when I am watching a real movie.

I always recommend using a calibration disc before spending on new gear; it can make a bigger improvement.

-Bill