Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 192

I just tested a few audio discs.

DTS-CD

Alan Parsons - "On Air" (disc played faster than normal)
Don Henley - "End of the Innocence" (disc played faster than normal - it was funny to hear Don Henley sound like a chipmunk)

DVD-Audio

Faith Hill - "Cry" (loaded but would not play)
Fleetwood Mac - "Say You Will" (loaded and played but I did not play it very long)
Queen - "Night at the Opera" (loaded and played but would skip further into a track after one second at start of each song)
Porcupine Tree - "In Absentia" (loaded but would not play)
Yes - "Magnification" (loaded but would not play)

Finally got my Oppo unit. That was almost 2 weeks of torture waiting for this player. Initial testing was done using Elite PRO151FD, Elite SC-09TX, Definitive Mythos ST, Def Tech BP2X and Def tech Mythos 10 for center. I was impressed the way oppo ship this item. There packaging was very good compare to other manufacturers. After i removed the unit from the box, initial set up was a breeze. First thing i did was play my SA audio Miles Davis, i have been reading on what set up to use if playing SA Audio and i followed them. All i can say is that audio is superb to say the least. Same goes when i test my Dmitry Shostakovich DVD-Audio. The only problem that i have with the DVD-Audio was i cant bitstream it. I have to use LCPM for it to work properly. But I guess that is to be expected because it was a known issue. After changing it to LCPM everything works fine. Af far as playing BD movies, i have tried Dark Knight and Bolt. With Dark Knight i was amazed at the depth and the 3 dimentional look that it gave me. I am not exaggerating about the picture quality that i got from oppo coz i use to have the BDP5000 from samsung which is a no slouch in picture quality department. With Bolt, all i can say is WOW. Unbelievable to say the least. I have also tried a couple of SD DVD and SuperBit. And all the rave about the upconverting capabilities of the 983 oppo is no lie coz it mimics everything that the 983 had. Picture was phenomenal. Gladiator was used first as my intial sd dvd, my friend though that he was watching it on hd because of how the picture looks. I will test it more within the next few days. If my initial impression is any indication, there is no doubt that i will vote yes. But before i do vote, i will surely take my time and test this player as extensive as i can. Being able to be in the EAP gave me the opportunity to experience a universal player that is almost perfect and did not break my wallet. As my friend said when he saw me playing with the oppo. " I sure wish my elite BDP-09FD plays DVD-A and SACD"

During my testing, there are 2 problems that i have encountered si far. SuperBit Zorro freezed the first time i tried to play it. After i removed the movie and insert it again it played fine. Also once i got home and unpacked the unit. The remote was not working even though it was working when i tested it out earlier. I unplugged the unit and remove the battery of the remote and put it back in, the result was the same. Remote was not working. Finally i took a spare double A battery and replace the one that came with oppo and walla. The remote worked again, i just find it weird why it happen but hey now its working again.

If the OPPO is giving a significantly different image out compared to any other blu player then the OPPO is doing something it shouldn't to the image...

Cheers,

Mark

I sampled the DTS version of Saving Private Ryan last night, and I'm pleased to report that I discerned no sync problems whatsoever. I paid particular attention to the D-Day battle scene, which normally would give any player/AVR combo a major test on sync, but the Oppo was as good as my PS3 (Indeed, that scene revealed a need to delay audio just a hair, though I could not discern a sync issue with normal dialogue). I will try to find other DTS DVDs and test them, but for now I'm hopeful that the DTS sync issue is limited to Moulin Rouge. Has anyone else discovered any sync problems on DTS disks other than Moulin Rouge?

I will be receiving my unit today. It takes a while to get it to NY. I will test it and vote in a few days. I think the reason many have not voted yet is that they have just received their units. I don't think Oppo used two day shipping for the 2nd EPA

I've seen similar reports of HDP users having problems in color space (and to a lesser degree with lipsync) with the new Meridian HD621 audio processor which splits out the video and audio from HDMI streams to allow Meridian surround processors to work with the audio stream. That inclines me to believe that it is a Lumagen problem but admitedly on only a bit of evidence.

I never had this Lumagen but I have the Radiance and I've had no problems at all in combination with the Oppo (running in source direct mode). Not sure where the problem is but if there is something that can be done I bet the techs from these two companies will figure it out. They both have great customer support.

Had you actually read my post, you would know that I have my player. I further stated that if I did not get selected for EAP-2, that I would have been willing to continue to wait for GA release.

While that may sound to you like an "easy" statement, based on the fact that I was selected for EAP-2 - trust me. I would have waited. I'm a big boy and many, many years ago, my mother taught me patience.

I have the DTS CD "End of the Innocence" as well -played it again last night matter of fact and it plays normal. I can't imagine what the differences are in the disk or our BDP-83 machines that allow this.

I don't think it's even remotely fair for non-owners to try to put pressure on those of us who are in the EAP to vote "yes". I'm not prepared to vote either way yet as I want to give OPPO a chance to fix some problems with a firmware update or 2. The results of those updates will have a tremendous impact on which way I vote. I'm not going to give a yes vote simply to make the people who continue to bitch that they weren't picked happy as that would be completely irresponsible!


It's also a reflection that there are still some problems that some of us feel need to be resolved before we vote.


Try some other HDCD's - Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band's album was one that had the skipping sound for both me and BradH. Other HDCD's don't attempt to light the HDCD indicator on my surround sound processor at all (and should as they do when played through my Denon DVD-3930CI).


The time largely depends on which shipping option you selected - it only took 2 days to get to the Boston area which is slightly further than NY .

Despite the strong pressure to get your vote out, i caution eapers to really test this. I have been plagued with lipsynch issues on both blu ray and sd dvd. I watched the blu ray version of the 1981 film body heat sunday night - had to hit pause the play about ten times to try to keep the dialogue synched. very annoying. the same was repeated with cadillac records, but not as consistent. Sd dvds are worse - even with 24fps off. hopefully this is a quick fix via firmware, but i would be very annoyed if i bought this as an off the shelf product and had these issues. I must say, this might have changed my vote...it's been really annoying and made the wife question the $500 investment a bit! on the bright side, load times and PQ are awesome!

Mods, can you please correct my typo in subject line? no coffee means a missing o

I am very interested in your testing as I have a Lumagen HDP feeding my 1080p plasma. One thing I have been trying to figure is if it is even useful to run the BD-83 through the lumagen hdp. On the plus side you would get the excellent scaling and calibration features, but I am pretty sure the lumagen is not up to the same standards in the deinterlacing department. It would be nice to be able to let the player do the deinterlacing and the lumagen do the rest but I would think that wouldn't be optimal using the "too many cooks in the kitchen" adage.

For your issues, I also wouldn't rule out edid setting suggestions. I found that Lumagen's "auto" did not work when testing 1080P with a directv receiver. I had to manually include the resolutions I was looking for to get it to work properly. I was hoping to get in on the eap so I could test these things as well, but alas, no luck.

Keep us posted though, I have found lumagen's support to be exemplary and I am sure they are interested in making sure the hdp is compatible with the BD-83.

Neuromancer: Source Direct is a major reason why I bought the BDP-83, and the only reason that I am fiddling with EDID is that Lumagen thought that this might help. In Default mode, the HDP doesn't send any information, which Lumagen thought might lead the BDP-83 to conclude that 4:2:2 and 1080P24 were not supported, and hence that it would not allow operation in Source Direct. They assumed that in User EDID mode with all but 480i, 1080P24, and 4:2:2 turned off, that the BDP-83 would read the permitted modes at power up and allow operation in Source Direct mode. It didn't work. Hopefully, as Jack D comments, their excellent techs can resolve this. I am in communication with both, and will post on any resolution. I think that it is clear that there are compatibility issues between the BDP-83 and the Lumagen. The question is whether Oppo is willing to help work through these. Lumagen makes high-end video processors, and is a premier solution for videophiles. Since Oppo is releasing a high-end player in the BDP-83, I am pretty certain that a larger than normal percentage of your owners will use a Lumagen solution. From their perspective, a very high fraction of their users are likely to choose the BDP-83, assuming that its general release is praised. Randy and Lumagen’s founder and President (Jim Peterson) are very interested in assuring optimal compatibility between the BDP-83 and their products. I would be happy to help facilitate this; I could send my BDP-83 and Vision HDP to either party, and Randy was also willing to work directly with Oppo. Their web site is: www.lumagen.com, and contacts are Randy Freeman, as well as their founder and President, Jim Peterson.

Kevin

Oh you DID say that, didn't you.

Switching to bitstream, like Hooked on Phonics, worked for me, but it was always to fix the audio leading the video. An audio delay is a different issue.

Any speculation on when that might be?

I'm going to start SACD and Red Book testing tonight.

This should be in a separate thread, not here. Stay on topic, please.

OK - then I guess today

Of course, it's wrong, but it's still my guess

On another topic, I reported some of my "quirks" to Oppo on Saturday, using the support@ email address. I asked for some advice/guidance and have not heard back. I'm guessing they are flooded and I'm in the queue. Hearing that others have had responses measured in hours, not days - I'm wondering if I used the right address. Should I have used the service@ address?

I am in the same boat as Perpendicular, definitely a speed up issue for me with this disc. Very noticeable.

On another note, every DVD, Blu-ray, SACD I have thrown at the player has been stellar. DVD-A out of 3 discs I own 2 play and 1 does not (The Who's Tommy.)

Two quick questions I am sure you have already done:

\\1: Are you on the latest HDP firmware?

\\2: Did you try only enabling 480i EDID in the HDP?

Obviously, this would only confirm that sd-dvd worked properly in source direct, but it might help troubleshoot what is going on.

The best scenario would be for Jim and Randy at Lumagen to get a hold of a BD-83 to test.

Don't know if this would be useful since Lumagen seem to be on the case, but some speculation I saw about the color space problem between the Meridian HD621 and the HDP: The DVI connection on the HDP gets the Meridian "confused" as it "thinks" there is no receiver attached and then forces the source to output RGB PC.

I received my BDP-83 yesterday as a member of EAP2. Initial impressions are positive. I have to admit when I picked up the box and heard some rattles/movements, I was a bit concerned. The unit itself was carefully packed and arrived in excellent condition. The rattle was merely the remote and cords moving which are all packed in a separate box inside.

I removed my current Blu-Ray player (Pioneer Elite BDP-95FD) and hooked up the BDP-83. My initial impressions playing videos:

1. The player is surprisingly quicker. Faster starting, faster loading a disc, etc.
2. Menu graphics are extremely nice and detailed. Smack of high quality.
3. Quality of video is stunning and as good as the Pioneer. I need to spend some more time here
4. I tried some region-free PAL format DVDs which I can use with my Denon DVD-2930. The Denon will convert them to NTSC so I may view on my Sony XBR1; no joy with the OPPO - it does not convert (which the manual does state). I was hoping to replace the Denon too. Looks like I will need to keep it. CORRECTION: I had incorrectly set the video to source direct so the player was not doing any PAL-to-NTSC conversion. It does work; initial impressions is that it does a better job that my Denon!
5. I have also experienced the lip sync problems. I was able to reproduce easily on the BluRay of Groundhog Day by switching between the DolbyHD soundtrack and director's commentary using the Audio button. After switching a few times, both would clearly lose sync.

Next, I wanted to try SACD, DVD-A, and HDCD audio performance. Initial impressions here:

1. As many have stated here earlier, DVD-A is a bit sketchy. I was unable to play the MLP tracks on any disc I tried. At best, some sound with skips, loud pops, etc. Many simply would not play at all.
2. SACD performance is much better. Everything I threw at it worked fine.
3. HDCD - Tried a couple of discs (Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philly and Kenny Wayne Sheppard - Trouble Is). Both did play and the OPPO did light up they were HDCD's. The HDCD light never lit on the Denon 3808 receiver when playing Mark Knopfler but would light sporadically when playing Kenny Wayne Sheppard. (Connection was via HDMI.) Sound of each was not as good as when listening via the Denon 2930; the OPPO sound was a bit thin.

Regards, Kirk

I was having serious lip sync problems playing standard definition DVD Moulin Rouge in DTS with 24p on. After several suggestions from Oppo and others on the forum last night I tried several different settings:

Sound - Video - Sync Adjustment - Result
DD - 24p Off - 0 - Looked fine
DD - 24p On - 20ms - Looked fine
DTS - 24p Off - 40ms - Looked fine
DTS - 24p On - 80ms - Looked fine

My wife and I judged these together. She's good at it because she couldn't care less about the technology she just wants the picture and sound to look and sound decent. With each change I adjusted the A/V sync setting until it locked in. While sometimes it looked "pretty good" when it was right it was obvious so I'm pretty sure of my results. Now I did this by constantly backing up to the same scene so if a time lag builds up over the length of time it is played I wouldn't have seen that.

I also ran the same test with "Field of Dreams" and at every setting it looked fine. So Smarty seems to be right that Moulin Rouge is a troubling disc. I'm looking forward to it's BD release. Field of Dreams is already pre-ordered by me.

Just e-mailed this to Oppo.

That works for me and other people. How is it failing? Do you have the player system type set to NTSC?

-Bill

I set mine up last night and tried several different Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs, SACD and DVD-As. DVD-A aside, everything seems to be working great. Blu-ray is phenomenal, of course, and it is nice seeing hi-rez audio show up on the 'ol Integra. A couple of things that I've noticed: Nickel Creek (Nickel Creek) SACD seemed to be playing at an accelerated rate. My girlfriend noticed it first, so I don't think that I'm just imagining it. It's very slight. Pink Floyd DSOTM played fine. Colors on regular DVDs seem saturated/over exaggerated. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm on a non-calibrated Pio 5010, but with D-Nice settings which looks superb on the PS3. I'll keep playing.

The Oppo does convert PAL <-> NTSC. I'll refer you to the manual p48.

I personally like the color saturation especially for movies (that won't be named) that were filmed that way. It's what I liked about my PS3 over my old Denon. The 83 seems even more so. You can always tone it down.

I'm not able to test 24p; could that be a problem with PAL sources? I know it is not allowed for 1080i50 material.

-Bill

Mike P: Thanks for the useful suggestions. I will confirm my HDP firmware currency this evening, as well as try setting EDID to 480i only and see how SD disks play.

Jack D: Yes, I think that the BDP-83 isn't hearing that the HDP can handle 480i, 1080P, and 4:2:2 color space. Hopefully it can.

Kevin

My experience has been that with 24p enabled, playing a PAL DVD results in no conversion to 24p, but the PAL is converted to NTSC just fine.

Has anyone used the S&M disc to check player/display settings?

I've noticed that the results of the crop tests on that disc differ greatly from those on the DVE disc and HDNET test patterns (stored on DVR).

With S&M, when calibrating for optimal height/width, that will cause serious misplacement of DVD/BD movie source material. The horizontal is waaaaay off, with the image skewed about 30% to the right and vertical shows about 15% less black bar above, than below the image.

Going back to using either DVE or HDNET, I get perfectly aligned image with movie playback after calibration.

I've tried this with all resolutions, including Source Direct. There are variations, as expected, however - they all are visually wrong, when using normal BD/DVD content.

The S&M disc in my PS-3 is almost exactly the same as DVE and HDNET.