Just had an interesting email exchange with Oppo (this is why I love them, they responded in less than 24
hours, and on a holiday.) I tried to address some of the issues with sharpness, Source Direct, etc. and get
clear answers. This exchange doesn't clear up everything, but at least makes clear what's known, what's
intentional, what's a question, and just what Source Direct in HDMI 1 means.
Me: As I'm sure you're aware, debate about sharpness and other issues on the 103 continue to bounce around on
the AVS Forum. Even the on line experts seem to sometimes contradict each other. Perhaps you can clear up
some confusion.
1) If one uses HDMI 1, 1080P out, with all controls on the Oppo set to zero, is the QEDO still doing some noise
reduction and/or other processing? In other words, does it make sense that HDMI1 with all controls at 0 still
produces a slightly different (to my eye softer) image than HDMI 2?
Oppo: There is some amount of Noise Reduction applied to HDMI 1 to correct visual errors when streaming from Netflix.
From our engineering the amount of NR added to the signal is negligible for disc media playback, which is why it remains
in our firmware. We are looking into the observations that our customers have reported, but at this time we believe that the
HDMI 1 sharpness output is correct, and any alteration of the sharpness is personal preference.
2) Does that change on Source Direct? Is Source Direct from HDMI 1 unprocessed by the QEDO? Should that look identical
with HDMI 2?
Oppo: Source Direct does not bypass the NR being applied since this is a default value that we have enabled in the player.
3) Is there a reason that, at least to some of us, the processing on HDMI 1, outputting 1080P, set at 0 seems more aggressive
than that on the 93 and 83 (which, I know, had a different chip)? In other words, has Oppo intentionally chosen a more aggressive
processing level at all 0, or is that still something you are investigating as a possible bug?
Oppo: This is still being investigated, so we do not have an answer for your question at this time.
4) Would it be possible to implement the processing less aggressively or even not at all with controls at zero if it seemed like that
would improve customer experience?
Oppo: This is something that we can change in the firmware, but only if we find that the HDMI 1 output is not working to our original
engineering specifications.