Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 1266

For whatever reason, a disc producing that message is unreadable. More specifics about the discs in question would be required to offer anything about why that is.

Just to clarify, the issue I'm having is with the front panel "Power" button and not the "Open/Close" button.

This can happen if the disc is damaged or dirty, or if the laser lens in the player needs cleaning.
--Bob

Give OPPO tech support a call and describe what's happening. Your front panel Power button may need service.

I presume you know that the Power button does not also Open the tray the way the Tray Open button does, and that there's some delay after pressing Power before Tray Open will respond.
--Bob

Thanks Bob,

When I load a disk in the player I usually press the open/close button which works every time. Most often I preload the disk for viewing/playing later. After the disk is inserted I use the Power button to close the drawer and power off the player. This is when the problem occurs. Sometimes it will close the drawer immediately on the first button press. But most often, I have to press it several times and it rarely closes unless I push the button at the lower half area of the button.

I haven't called Oppo as it's out of warranty and it's a minor inconvenience at this point. When Oppo comes out with the next player I will probably upgrade to it. Then I will probably sell my trusty old 980H. Although I'm not sure there's still a market for that player since it's not a blu-ray player. It still plays DVD-A/SACDs wonderfully though.

From what I can see, $65-85 average on eBay for the 981, the 980 is probably worth a bit less. A mint 981 recently sold for $130. 970's and 971's still show up regularly as well. There will always be a demand for a good digital transport for high res discs and files, Oppo support doesn't hurt either.

I encounter a situation whereby all disc would show a "No disc" message, even cleaning the lens with a disc cleaner would not help. I eventually strip open the player, dismantled the drive rom and clean the lens with a cotton swap and lubricated the transport mechanism. All problem solved!

Brand new disks produce this. All my older disks work fine, it has just been lately with the new disks that I am getting this problem. That why I thought it may have been the firmware. An important note: After the firmware upgrade, some of the disks that previously did not work ,now do. But others just won't play.
Brand new disks. I will see if I can clean the laser.

Another import thing to mention would be that it is a region free machine. Will this affect anything? All disks up until now played fine.

A new disc is by no means a guarantee of a clean or blemish-free disc. In some cases, the opposite is true. That said, if the player is unable to read a number of discs, it's probably time for service. If it's limited to BD discs, a lens cleaning might help. This presumes you're not buying your BDs from an eBay seller in China.

I only buy legitimate disks and it only happens on bluray. Some of my kids DVD's are scratched to the shithouse and they still play fine.I won't be a happy camper if I have to send it back to the US for a service.

Open it up and clean the blue laser. It's possible for just the blue laser to fail, but more likely it just needs cleaning since this is an intermittent issue. But of course do clean the red laser too, its right next door.

Just started using the 24p option on my 83 and though the picture seems sharper and smoother I found myself a bit dizzy.At first i thought it was my imagination or i was getting sick but today i watched a film with 24p on and felt the dizzy effect so i turned it off and after a while the dizzy feeling went away.Im using a samsung 55 8500 as my tv.Has anyone else experienced this odd effect.Simple solution is to keep the 24p option off.

^ If your TV provides a "motion smoothing" feature, try turning that OFF as it may be handling /24 input poorly.
--Bob

Samsung 8500 has a very advanced custom two part motion control setting .Ill take a shot at shutting them both off and see what happens.

Here I thought I was just seeing and experiencing things.. I get the same type of "issue", although I'm using a JVC RS-40 projector.

Tried CMD (frame interpolation) on the projector but didn't like what it did to the picture..messed around with the sharpness controls and that seemed to help.

Its strange because the picture looks fine and its after I have viewed a film that i get that dizzy feeling watching 24p

Do you know what refresh rate your display uses when fed /24 video input? If it is just 24fps, perhaps you are sensitive to flicker. Try turning up the room lights, which will lower your contrast sensitivity and see if that makes a difference. If so, you can probably find a compromise setting for backlighting the display which will give you suitable image quality without this issue.

Also if your room lighting is a non-incandescent type of bulb, it too will flicker and you may be sensing beating between the two flicker rates -- for example 60Hz light flicker vs 72Hz frame rate if that's what your display is using. Try temporarily using an incandescent bulb for room light and see if that makes a difference.
--Bob

Just wanted to give kudos to Oppo's service department. I've been having the disc tray opening sticking problem and finally decided to send the unit in. I e-mailed service and without any problem was given a RMA number; this even though my 83 SE was out of warranty. I shipped my unit on Monday with FedEx from LA. On Wednesday I got an e-mail that Oppo had received the unit. Thursday I received an e-mail that the unit was repaired and tested and a tracking number for the return shipping. On Saturday FedEx delivered my unit. My unit is fixed and working as new. The service that I received is a credit to Oppo and significantly increases the value of Oppo products. Thanks, Oppo!

I actually have been watching film in my small one room,no window theater for four years and it has a lumens light behind the display and my walls are painted the color recommended for home theaters so my display floats in space in the room.I had no problems until i read on the forum about the possible pq differences one could find using the 24p setting.I just started in using it and thats when my issues started.Last night i watched a concert dvd that did not push 24p and I was fine.

Apologize for the newb questions, but I finally picked up a supposed "mint" condition 83 off of Ebay. It is supposed to be region free, but come to find out from the buyer after the fact that it is region free via software and not the hardware mod. and thus I can NOT update the firmware. I get reassured by the seller that it will play any disc I throw in it though..... I get the player and it is full of what looks to be scented candlewax drippings on the top panel and on the face of the control panel! Nice! Then I figure I better test it with some newer titles.... Both the Dark Knight and Avatar spin forever and then show Unknown Disc errors. I then try a regular region 1 DVD and it shows Incorrect Region error. I am thinking that this player is messed up and needs to go back immediately.... Is there any way I can fix or trust this player to work? I feel the seller should take care of servicing this player himself and I should get my money back....thoughts?
Thanks

So updating firmware on this player wih its type of region free software mod, I can do the firmware and it shouldn't affect bluray region free performance? According to the seller he has never updated firmware, and I was almost thinking that could be why those first titles I tried didn't play.... definitely disconcerting to spend $300+ on a universal player and it doesn't play anything.... Even if I do decide to try and clean it the laser, I am not certain I could trust that it will hold up... Not to mention while I was testing it, it appeared that the tray wouldn't open like it should ... opened an inch and went back in again. I believe that may be a known issue with this model also?

Updating the firmware on the 83 has never effected the mod chip, go ahead and update it, it's risk free.

Grounds for an immediate "item not as described" refund I think, unless the seller provided pictures to show you what it was like. Take photos of the candle wax condition to support the appearance side. Only problem is that you will probably be asked to send the item back before receiving a refund.

If the player has been used in an area with scented candles, cigarette smoke, incense etc, then the laser is probably coated with crud and that is likely why it won't play. The actual condition of the electronics might be fine but the laser assembly will likely need cleaning.

I wouldn't do anything that might open you to accusations of tampering and deliberate abuse if you intend to claim an ebay refund. If you think you might want to keep the item, perhaps raise a dispute immediately and negotiate a partial refund with the seller.

Personally, with the benefits of the newer Oppo 93 for $499 with new warranty, I wouldn't bother with an obviously abused Oppo 83 with its deficiencies for $300 (and that's from someone who bought a used Oppo 83 from ebay for $385 not that long ago but which is in mint condition and with hardware mod). It might be worthwhile keeping for $200.

If the player hasn't been firmware updated ever, I would try playing the oldest titles you have available: newer titles have updated DRM that may require the latest firmware in order to play.

I'm not aware of software region free patches for the Oppo 83, apart from super_disk which is only for DVD.
Edited by IanD - 8/6/12 at 5:01pm

The seller made it sound like it was not a hardware mod though...sounded like it was a software/firmware of some sort performed on the player by a third party that sold it on Ebay shortly after the player originally was released for sale... He was very insistent that if I were to allow the player to update it's firmware, the region free playback would be gone.... confusing. I just have to decide if I should really have to take apart and try to fix a player which was sold to me on the premise of it being in mint condition....

You make some very good points! Yes, the listing for sure was very misleading regarding the player's true condition and region free capabilities... Topped off with it just plain not working at all. I think I have a very good case for a return.

It is possible there was a software patch to make the Oppo region free, but these are relatively useless, because you then can't update the firmware to play the latest titles with revised DRM.

No, you shouldn't have to take apart and try to fix a player which was sold as mint condition and obviously isn't. I wouldn't try that anyway if you want to raise an ebay dispute.

The condition is not as described. It obviously is not region free for DVD and it won't play the Bluray discs you have tried: immediate strike.

I'd be returning it. Candlewax.....wow!

+1

"software mod" refers only to DVD region-free function, not BD. But its easy enough to confirm and firmware flashing doesn't effect it.

Rather than send this player back, send it to Oppo for service. Cost is minimal and you'll get a refurbished player. It might still be ugly though.