Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 856

To update my situation: Much to my surprise, Oppo somehow managed to conduct the repairs in the course of 5 hours and already have it en route to me via FedEx (who have been just as inept, if not more so, in the past when trying to make deliveries...I blame the driver again). Oh me of little faith indeed.

Dec 19 (estimated delivery date) is certainly before Christmas and I will actually give FedEx the benefit of the doubt here since their hub is a little further than I want to travel for pickup if it's not absolutely necessary.

Will there be a quick summary included in the box of what was done specifically with regards to repairs? I have to add that my trusty Samsung BD-UP5000 performed admirably in the BDP's absence.

See, I told you I wasn't familiar with Denon processors.


My statement assumes that any base management performed in the processor, will envoke a A->D->A conversion, thus negating the advantageous audio reproduction of the dedicated 2CH analog output from the player.
Therefore you would not want to turn on base mangement in that situation.
Just as well, that particular statement was aimed at an inquiry about the recently manufactured Onkyo/Intrgra series of pre-amps and AVRs.
It does not necessarily apply to your particular setup.

If in fact your AVR or processor can perform that function without doing those conversions, and without degrading the audio, then of course you are safe with the 80HZ crossover for your particular setup.

I won't say much here except that I am happy for your great experience with OPPO thus far.

Not sure about the summary. Maybe someone else who has had an experience with a repair can chime in and say wether they got a note inside or not.

As for the 5000, I guess it gets the basic job done when needed.
I really don't miss mine at all. I don't miss any of the Samsung BD players I used to own, and I will leave it at that.

Won't the 80Hz crossovers in the speaker block the full range signal? So I take it that if my receiver doesn't limit full range output (via 7.1 outputs) to my speakers that they can become damaged?

Yes, inside the box you will have a return receipt with a summary of the problem(s).

They will list:

Diagnostics - what they found defective
Problem resolution - What part(s) were replaced
Upgraded firmware revision - confirm reload of newest firmware
Standard post-repair diagnostics - this will state it passed

Have any of the FW updates been to add support for different file types? I read the FAQ and see which ones are supported and which are not. Just curious to see if Oppo ever extends their coverage of the various - or maybe more common media files that are out there?

We discussed this recently but I'm not sure we came up with a conclusion. Older players would pass CC info normally when using 480i over component and I'm presuming composite. Could you experiment with this? You might have to set PRIMARY OUTPUT to COMPONENT and your display will have to have a CC decoder.

I think you are the first person to ask about this for mpeg files rather than DVD Video; I don't know if it works the same.


I'm guessing that would be a difficult job of video processing, but googling "closed caption transcode" shows some possible hits. I've never done it myself.

I'm surprised the studios and authoring houses haven't automated some sort of CC to subtitle process. All that work to make the CC data, why throw it away? I've seen one DVD series (CADFAEL) where the subtitles have an all-caps, automated look, but I don't know for sure how they were done.

-Bill

MKV was added during the pre-release beta but there has been nothing major since. HE-AAC audio appeared without notice after release and I wouldn't be surprised if it went away again.

We keep asking for more, but the suspicion is that media file support is at the end of the line after Blu-ray, DVD, and DVD-A/SACD. Which is understandable.

Media files also need support from the decoder chip vendor and it they are busy with other things there is not much OPPO can do.

-Bill

Not sure if this is the thread to post this quesiton or not, so please bear with me. I just bought a 58" Sammy B650 and the Blu-ray picture is stunning. However, it seems the majority of Blu-ray movies have the 2.35.1 format that leaves the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Is there a way to make those bars grey, rather than black, via the Oppo? The TV is still in "break-in mode" and I understand that the grey bars are easier on the TV. I know I can use the Sammy menu to give 4:3 TV content grey side bars, but I wasn't sure if it was possible on Blu-ray movies.

Thanks in advance.

Swiggs,

I think this can only be done in your TV. I am able to change the color of the bars in my Pioneer Elite.


Respectfully,
Willie

Thanks, Willie. I'll play around a little more in the menus tonight and see if I can figure it out. I know I can use the zoom function on the Oppo to eliminate those bars, but I hate losing the picture detail on the sides.

Swiggs,

Is your 650 a plasma or LCD? I am under the impression that burn in is not as prevalent on an LCD as a plasma. So it might not be as important if you own an LCD.

It's a plasma. It's not something that I'm overly worried about, but the TV is only a few weeks old and want to break it in appropriately. I can always use the zoom function for a little while.

Nothing can be done to change their color if the black bars are part of the Blu-Ray picture, i.e. encoded as part of the disc creation. Bars generated in the player or display, such as for 4:3 material or some anamorphic DVDs can be changed.

The player has Border Control to change the color of black bars, but it will not help you with 2.35 Blu-ray. The control applies only to bars which the player adds, such as DVD 4:3 pillarboxing. On Blu-ray 2.35 the letterboxes are part of the actual image on the disc, as are the pillarboxes on 4:3 titles.

The various zoom modes are the best the OPPO can do for you.

-Bill

You may want to just zoom in for the time being until the break-in period is done. After that, you can watch the movie all over again at the proper zoom level to get all of the pic.

Eric

Be sure you mix your viewing content. When my 111FD was new, I watched everything I wanted, and in OAR. I stuck to HD channels, though, so I got a variety of content, mostly 16:9. I set the side bars on my TV to gray, and away I went. After 162.5 hours (when it was calibrated), I stopped fussing and just enjoyed the picture. I do use the Orbiter function also.

Does the Samsung have a similar feature?

Bill,
As usual, thank you for your timely and informed answers.

Thank you for that! I'll remember this posting for the next time the issue comes up.

-Bill

Tell me about it. I sent it back yesterday and I already miss it.

Luckily, I have a Pioneer BDP-51 as a back-up, which works
well, but is extremely slow.

I just talked to Oppo Support about this (they said they would probably purchase the disc and test it), but thought it might generate some data if I post it here. BDP-83, HDMI, Bitstream, 5.1 set up (Onkyo 805).
I purchased JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Orchestral Suites No.1,2&3 / Tripelkonzert - Acoustic Reality Experience [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-ray] on 11DEC09. When I tried to play it on my 83, at 37'15" the audio cut out. The timer continued to count up, no sound. Reversed the play to 37'20" and then hit PLAY, and the music resumed until the next drop out point. Reversed the play to 37'00" and hit PLAY, music resumed until 37'15", the no audio. There appear to be several places on the disc where the dropouts happen.
Returned the disc to Amazon for replacement. Just tried the new disc, same problem exactly. Then I tried changing the 83 from Bitstream to LPCM, reversed to 37'00" and at 37'15", the indicator flashed to 37'07" and back to 37'15, the music continued. At the next dropout point (~38'05") there was an audible hiccup but play continued.

I also purchased Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Concertos for Double Orchestra - Acoustic Reality Experience [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-Ray] which plays perfectly via Bitstream.

Unfortunately, as I was warned on another thread, they are very poor duplications on cheap media, RiDATA. I have three of them, and as I recall with earlier firmware, one of them wouldn't play at all. I was disappointed by the sound, hoping that a Blu-ray classical would be sonically nice, but this company's offerings should be avoided. I don't play them, so I couldn't tell you if they play all the way through. I believe they show as AVCHD in the display.

I have one of these, the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, and although I make no claim to being any kind of audiophile, I think it sounds great, played through my Oppo bitstreaming to a Denon 3808 with only 5.1 speakers connected, running Audyssey. (And yes, it plays all the way through on the 0925 firmware.) I'm curious what you find disappointing in the sound.

As far as the quality of the discs/copies themselves, they do look cheap to me as well, but I was considering getting a couple more of these given the way the Rachmaninoff sounds. I even think the performance/interpretation is good. Shows what I know, I guess.

If you limit the time you spend viewing still images, avoid ultra-bright modes like Vivid, and are extra cautious during the first 200 hours of the set’s life (the phosphors are most prone to permanent burn-in when they’re new), you shouldn’t experience any problems. Hope this helps.

Just that, as compared to the 2L Blu-ray sonics, these seem more CDish in audio quality. Similar setup to me, so order a 2L and compare...well worth the purchase.

If you have a reliable backup player for movies as I do, it'll be back before you know it. I'm eagerly awaiting for its return myself.

ThePrisoner, I thank you for the information...glad to know Oppo is providing an itemization of the problem/fix. I would actually expect nothing less.

And thanks for the hand-holding, Dave aka Smarty. It all rests on FedEx now.

Yes, it has a pixel shift function that I currently have engaged.

I know that this has probably been asked a million times already, and I did do some searching, but didn't really find specific info.

Does anyone have any experience with either a HW or SW hack that will region unlock the BDP-83? Can anyone provide links? Any recommendations as whether to do it in HW or SW?

Thanks

I actually have purchased a couple 2L discs (Sampler & Opera Sampler) but I'm an Early Music freak (Haydn and Mozart are a bit too Classical for me) so I went for these two discs. Won't buy any more.

With a hardware mod you're not tied to an obsolete firmware revision.

Try: http://www.bluraychip.dk/index.php?lang=en