Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 1274

Lies in the metadata? I really don't know the details.
--Bob

Back on topic, this old BDP-83 really is a jolly good machine. I have watched hundreds of BDs on it without a single problem or playability issue.

Just as a test, I was able to load up two known problematic titles tonight: Prometheus and Crank 2.

Crank 2 loaded fine with the stock 1GB internal memory, while other players needed extra memory to load it.

Toy Story, some of the other Disney Pixars, and Terminator 2 Skynet edition are all examples of blu-rays with 5.1ES soundtracks (the 6.1 on the case of the latter is a confirmed typo). These movies have always had some kind of matrixed rear channel in the mix, which is how they were designed for cinemas. I wouldn't expect this information to be suddenly stripped from the mix for the blu-ray releases, just because it's not part of the DTS-HD Master Audio spec, so it should be there for the taking, if your hardware can decode it.

I understood all the posts stating that these Oppos do not decode the matrixed rear channel, but what I didn't realize was that the on-screen display doesn't even identify them as 5.1ES. I guess these Oppos are totally oblivious to it, whether they are doing the decoding or set to bitstream, and I never noticed. Also the last time I tested these titles was on my Sony players that DO display them as 5.1ES, regardless if they are doing the decoding or set to bitstream.

There IS a bug in the Oppo display that pops up when you press the audio button on the remote. Normally when I play Toy Story 3 the Oppo window indicates:

1. DTS-HDMA 7.1 (highlighted)
2. DTS-HDMA 5.1
3. etc.

After selected 5.1ES via the disc menu and starting a scene in the movie the Oppo window incorrectly indicated:

1. DTS-HDMA 5.1
2. DTS-HDMA 5.1 (highlighted)
3. etc.

After selecting 1 via the Oppo window it correctly displayed:

1. DTS-HDMA 7.1 (highlighted)
2. DTS-HDMA 5.1
3. etc.

I think you can forget all that if you can confirm that your player is set to bitstream not PCM? Is it possible you are just seeing some form of the display bug in the Oppo pop-up menu with the Dreamworks titles?

I've posted several times that I am bit streaming. Read my posts and you will see that my setup is correct. For whatever reason the Oppo can't handle (or display the correct info on) some discs. Oppo has had several responses to this (and to me), which I have also posted. I assume that a 7.1 signal is reaching my receiver, as the receiver shows that to be the case. The issue is that the rears have a much lower volume than the rest of the speakers. Is this a chip issue? Probably. When I get around to buying a 103, I assume I'll have a more definitive answer (if the signal has more equal volume across all speakers AND the display is correct).

As I keep saying, 7.1 signals from different companies react in different ways (other discs are fine). The discs we are discussing do have 7.1 showing up on the display of the receiver, as does TrueHD. It's merely a matter of how much oomph the rears have on these particular discs (I used the Oppo audio settings to up the rears to +10db and lowered the rest and things seem a bit better). The Oppo OSD on the TV reports 5.1, nothing to do with the receiver (which gets no video signal). And Oppo has basically said that it is an Oppo 83 issue. We just seem to go round and round on this (for the past year) with three discs. I'm ok with it, I'm over it, it's some kind of limitation of the 83 and discs encoded this way. I'm just going to buy a 103 and move the 83 into the bedroom where it will play through the tv speakers. Not a biggie, as I'm looking forward to getting the 103. Now, if my receiver still has issues when using the 103, then I will mea culpa here, but I don't think I will need to. Especially when Oppo has responded twice to my emails that there are problems with some discs and the chip in the 83.

Hang on! If you are successfully modifying the speaker levels by changing the settings in the OPPO, then you are *NOT* using HDMI Bitstream output. Those speaker level control settings in the OPPO only affect the player's multi-channel ANALOG outputs.

What everyone is suggesting you do for playing these 7.1 discs is to use HDMI Bitstream. To be sure that's what you are using, temporarily disconnect the Analog audio output cables from the back of the OPPO. That way you can't possibly hear the Analog audio by mistake.

What you appear to be describing is that your receiver reports it is getting 7.1 input on HDMI but, despite that, you are actually LISTENING to the player's Analog outputs instead -- which of course produce audio which is the result of decoding the Bitstream inside the player -- just the thing you are trying to avoid.
--Bob

Bitstream bitstream bitstream. BITSTREAM!!!!!! H-D-M-Freakin' I. No analogs. None. Nada. Oppo Settings>Audio Processing>Speaker Configuration>Downmix Mode 7.1>each speaker>Trim. Since I can HEAR sound changes when I change db using Trim, and since my rears are much louder now that I upped rears Trim and lowered the rest, and since I AM BITSTREAMING AND HAVE NO ANALOG CABLES, I think, just maybe, I've boosted the rears and lowered the rest.

Something very weird is going on here. Those settings DO NOT ALTER the speaker volumes for HDMI audio output. You can't alter speaker volumes in a digital Bitstream anyway. It has to be decoded first.

If changing those settings in the OPPO is producing volume differences on your HDMI Audio Bitstream output then your player is broken. Do you follow what I'm saying? What you are reporting is not how the player is supposed to work.

I'm tempted to ask you to post a photo showing the rear panel of your 83.
--Bob

OK, a quick mea culpa. I checked the Oppo manual, yep, analog only. I think what must have happened is while messing with everything (in every menu of every device I could find- including finding a receiver menu that allowed me to switch ES and EX ON), I switched the Receiver to Straight (non-processing) mode from its standard DVD setting. So when I did that, it sounded like the rears boosted (I was jumping from setting to setting, trying everything- probably not the right way to track down an issue). In any event, my receiver is now sending a straight from the Oppo signal to my speakers, without doing any eq or decoding. I just tried doing a trim and you are right, no effect. It was doing a trim and then switching to Straight that caused the apparent boost. Too much all at once trouble shooting. (:

However, I still think that the 7.1 I get from discs like Golden Compass and Iron Man 2 sounds better than from Panda 2 and Madagascar 3. And I look forward to using a 103.

OK, that makes sense. I guess the next step is for your 103 to arrive, and then we'll see.
--Bob

Bob, I don't think this is possible but would the volume trims in the Oppo have any effect with PCM over HDMI?

Anyway, even on a properly calibrated system I often find rear channels in 7.1 movies disappointingly low. It's just the way they are mixed - more seems to be going on in the sides.


Stefan - AVphile

No, those speaker volume trims don't affect levels in any of the digital audio outputs. They just affect the multi-channel Analog outputs.

But you are quite correct that many movies are mixed with non-aggressive surround fields. Keep in mind that quite a few of the movies sold on disc as 7.1 are actually derived from theatrical tracks which were 5.1.
--Bob

Hi, want to get bdp-83 from ebay. I wanted to know about picture quality of dvd's rips into mkv with makemkv. Is the quality of the rip of dvd the same as the physical dvd or worse? If I rip it to a single vob file will it look like origanal dvd or not? I also wanted to know if the dvd24p feature works with dvd rip into the these containers. I have over 500 dvds and wanted to know which format will be better with no quality lost from original dvd's since 83 does a good job at upconverting dvds. Last question does 83 only upconvert physical dvd's to better picture quality?

MakeMKV does no transcoding so the video data is the same 480i mpeg2 as on the disc. Quality is the same.

VOB will also have the same quality, but I would use MKV. It is a more commonly supported container and you have the tools to add in multiple audio tracks, both VOBSUB and SRT subtitles, and chapters.

DVD 24p works only with the original disc, not media file copies.

You get the same deinterlacing and scaling from MKV containers as with the original DVD disc.

-Bill

Thanks, that help me a lot. I have a bdp-93 and the dvd upscaling is not that great. I was told that bdp-83 is better at upscaling dvd's even better than the new bdp-103.

I really like the DVD performance of the ABT chips, too, but between all these players we are talking differences that don't show up on test patterns. So they are very subtle and depend on subjective tastes.

-Bill

does the 83 recognize ntfs hdd?

No, not on an attached drive.

If you're using DLNA then the server takes care of that and the player doesn't know anything about the file systems used.

-Bill

Thanks. So I would have to download something like twonkey and leave the computer on with the hdd so the 83 will see it?

Is there another way like: ext4, ext3?

is there a firmware update for ntfs or firmware hack?

If you want to use DLNA then yes you will need a DLNA server running somewhere. People use PC software but many NAS also have DLNA.

No, FAT only on the -83. The -93 and -103 add NTFS.

No.

A lot of your questions are answered in the BDP-83 FAQ linked in my signature.

-Bill

would something like this work with 83? BUFFALO LS-X2.0TL 2TB LinkStation Live Network Storage

SECURE CENTRAL STORAGE

With terabytes of storage, LinkStation Live provides a reliable, central location to store all data from every PC and Mac® computer, tablet device and smartphone in your home or small office.
Store, access and share files from anywhere on your home network!

STREAM YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA

LinkStation Live is DLNA Certified™ and can be used as an iTunes® server to stream all of your favorite music, movies and shows to multiple playback devices simultaneously.
Now you can relax and watch movies on your big screen TV while music is pumped outdoors by the pool. Centralize your media files for simple sharing and streaming.

EASY SCHEDULED BACKUP

LinkStation Live features NovaBACKUP® Professional for Windows® and Time Machine® support for Mac for whole home data backup.
Disaster and hard drive failures happen unexpectedly; don't leave your important files and treasured memories in the hands of chance. Schedule backups for every computer in your house and easily protect all of your data, down to the very last byte.

FREE PERSONAL CLOUD SERVICE

While on the go, Buffalo's free WebAccess service allows you to create a personal cloud for easy remote access and file sharing with anyone, anywhere over the Internet. Your data remains securely stored in one place on your home network, but you can access it quickly from any computer, tablet or smartphone device over the Web. Sharing is as easy as sending a link to your friends and family; they can securely access only the files you've selected for them to see.

LINKSTATION NAS SYSTEM

LinkStation Live runs on Buffalo's LinkStation NAS System, providing a host of useful features from network file sharing and security to RAID management, remote access and more. Included on all Buffalo LinkStation devices, LinkStation NAS System simplifies your everyday data needs.

Very likely. You might ask in the OPPO DLNA thread to see if anyone else is using it: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1215071/oppo-bdp-83-dlna-upnp-thread

-Bill

Thanks for all your help. I will look at that thread.

I just turned on my oppo 83 and received a firm
Ware update. anyone know what update was about? I was current from march. I don't see anything on the oppo support website. Just curious. Thanks!

Just checked mine and no update since the BDP83-59-0117B  check your version

Not an uncommon event. The player sometimes mis-reads the files on the server. Can safely be ignored or installed, no difference.

That may be true for .mkvs, but it is not true in general ("media file copies"). I have streamed .mpgs ripped from DVDs to the -83, and it worked beautifully. Perhaps you're thinking of the -93?

You're getting 24p from 480i60 media file sources? I have not seen that.

-Bill