Oppo (1 Viewer)

[viperdream26]

I disagree.

The 971/981 models from Oppo with their Fajouda chip will tend to enhance "macroblocking" artifacts present on a disc, and so do most rear-projections, especially DLP's. When the two are put together, it becomes obvious they are a bad couple.

On the other hand, the MTK/Mediatek based OPPO 970 does not enhance macro-blocking & is recommended by OPPO for RPTV's. The unit has both HDMI & Component outputs. But there is a catch...

The HDMI output CAN easily be converted to DVI, so long as the DVI-input on your television is "HDCP-Compliant". (HDMI's Encryption protocol.) This information can often be found in the specifications section of your user manual or perhaps by conducting a search online. If the HDCP compliance is not present or shaky, no "hdcp-handshake" will occur & you will get a corrupted and/or no picture.

Also, you can potentially use the component outputs, although there is a restriction that CSS-encrypted discs must remain at 480p and not be upconverted to 720p or 1080i. (It automatically senses & drops the resolution on a per-disc basis.) Out of the box, the unit WILL upconvert non-CSS-encrypted discs (like home-made, or any burned discs) to 720p or 1080i.

To break the HDCP-HDMI restriction AND the component upconversion restriction (allowing non-hdcp dvi devices to connect to the OPPO or CSS-encrypted discs to upconvert to any res over component), there is a "firmware-hack" available at xxx.videohelp.c0m. It works perfectly. Go to the DVD Hacks section from the left-most menu & then search for "OPPO 970." One of the user-created comments is regarding the hack.

Good luck,

-DB.

 

[John Gido]

viperdream,

Thanks for the quick response. That is pretty much what I have been reading on-line. Also, the 971 seems to only be available in a "refurbushed" model so the 970 is probably going to be my choice.

 

[gene c]

I bought a 970 about 6 months ago based mostly on it's audio performance and as I recall from reading OPPO's web site, the 981/971 were supposed to better on video, including DLP rear projection tv's larger than 46". But it would be hard to argue with Dereks reply. My 55" rptv tops out with component input and too me the picture is quite nice. In any event, I'm very happy with the 970 and I'm pretty sure others would be too.

 

[antivirus6613]

I got a 981hd mainly for xvid and divx purposes. It doesnt really upconvert xvid and divx but im fine. Anyways I cant get the xvid movie to fit my screen. The movie plays but it has the black bars on top and sides even though my projector rs1 is set to 16:9 and my oppo is also. Any way to get xvid to fit without any black bars?

 

[viperdream26]

Virus,

The OPPO players DO up-convert (scale) even XVID/DIVX files, but that doesn't mean they will look any better at the higher selected resolution.

The black bars may be part of the actual media file, hence the bars are matted & part of the original media. (Some of the older DVDs were like this if you remember, instead of being anamorphic.)

Verify whether this is the case by playing it on a computer. If the bars are part of the image, there really isn't anything you can do....on any player I believe.

-DB.

 

[antivirus6613]

Yea, I emailed oppo and there service department is really helpful. Anyways they said to take the format to 480p and then make sure its on 16:9 wide not auto and zoom to make it fit.

 

[Dave H]

The problem with the 971/981 (Faroudja chipset) with DLP owners is macroblocking. Oppo usually recommends the 970 to these owners as a result.

 

[frogpond]

Wow!! Sent it back just for a half second(15 frames) at the beginning of a CD, now thats nitpicking!! If I nitpicked that much I think my house would be empty, is your house empty?

 

[ThomasC]

I've already got a universal DVD player (Pioneer DV588A) and was hoping the Oppo would be an improvement. I don't like the controls for SACD and DVD-A (pressing Enter and arrows instead of Play for playback and navigation, where my Pioneer uses the usual buttons to navigate), that was another reason not to keep it. Also, navigating from track to track, the sound fades in and out. I wanted to try the Oppo because the drive mechanism in the Pioneer isn't dead silent, but the Oppo is. But I didn't care to live with the other factors that I mentioned, so I sent it back.

 

[JohnRice]

CDs don't have frames.

My good CD playback system (yeah, system, not player) does the same thing. It is mildly annoying. It takes a fraction of a second from the time the DAC senses a signal to lock on and start output. It is usually not an issue, since most CDs don't start the music the instant the time starts, but some do. It really isn't that big a deal, plus it sounds so good I'm willing to put up with it.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Oppo is set to release a new Universal SACD/DVD-A/DVD-V/CD player, the DV-980H, which replaces the well received DV970HD. Compared to the DV970HD this player adds:

HDMI 1.2a
Analog 7.1 output
Upscales to 1080p
USB 2.0
Available in black

Otherwise it is certainly very similar to the DV970HD. I think it is the best budget player I have ever seen and I have seen a ton of them. Hopefully Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity will post an objective analysis of the DVD-V performance soon. The DV-980H does pure DSD over HDMI but still does the DSD>PCM conversion for the analog output. I love this player at $170. Here is a link:

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv980h/

Chris

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I have both the DV588A and the Oppo DV970HD. I like the DV588A, but I believe the Oppo offers better performance, particularly DVD-V performance. I haven't done a side by side comparison of audio performance and probably never will, but I think both are good for budget players. I have seen posts indicating the Oppo DV970HD is a better SACD/DVD-A player in terms of audio performance. Of course if little operation design issues are most important to you, then that wouldn't matter.

Chris

 

[frogpond]

CDs don't have frames.

I know but as an editor I see everything in frames.

 

[Charles_Y]

I'm a new Oppo DV-981HD, Onkyo TX-SR805 & SONY KDL-32XBR4 owner (expensive month!). I have some questions about configuring the 981 - Audio. I'm hooking the Oppo directly to my SONY 32" LCD via HDMI and running a Optical Digital Audio cable out to the receiver.

The Onkyo 805 has extensive speaker set-up and I ran the Audyssey auto calibration last night. I'm something of a audio newbie or at least not that knowledgable.

My questions:

SPEAKER SETUP -
The Oppo uses the "size" references for the speakers (I really guess these all have to do with woofer size). The problem is the Onkyo does NOT use size any more and uses the term "Full Band" for instance for the Front Mains. My old Yamaha used size I believe. I have an older Klipsch 5.1 system.

Shouldn't there be a way of setting these selections to off? I would think this should be more properly handled by the receiver. What is Oppo doing here? Wouldn't the raw digital audio feed go out without any processing here?

If I DO have to set this is there anyway to gauge speaker size for my system so I get this right?

Side query - Down-mix mode what is best choice here? Default is Stereo. I will be primarily listening to DVDs and some CDs, where does this come in?

AUDIO SETUP -
LPCM Rate - Does anyone know this rate for the Onkyo 805? - 48k/96k/192k. As the audio will be passed by the optical cable and NOT the HDMI line, I guess this is an issue for me.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Large speakers are those that can reproduce 20 Hz-- 20KHz
Small speakers are those that cannot-- the bass is redirected to a subwoofer. The Oppo's settings really only apply to the 5.1 analogue outputs. Perhaps those settings mess with HDMI audio, too-- I don't know. Unless you plan to play SACDs and DVD-Audio, they're largely irrelevant.

 

[Charles_Y]

Some other questions about the video. I just fired it up last night and configured it, mostly leaving the defaults in place as they seemed proper.

I ran some DVDs and CDs (Sin City, Shreck, Master and Commander, Lord of the Rings). Most looked very good to excellent. I wish it were a touch sharper though. There were also some transient "motion artifacts." At least I assume they were as these type of defects are new to me.

A few older films just out on DVD recently that looked fine recently on my XBR '27 CRT don't look that great on my new SONY KDL-32XBR4 (Fantastic Voyage (1966) and Prince of Foxes (1948?) -a REAL disappointments!

Question - when hitting the HDMI out Resolution button I only got 1 option (480P) and then a slashed 0 (meaning no other resolutions available?). Why is this?

I'm a newbie to digital tv. On the new TV the specs say 1366 (dots) X 768 (lines) with (720P) listed as "High Definition." Shouldn't these discs "scale up" to 720P? Every DVD played through the Oppo gave me this number even the display res via the SONY showed the same number.

Is something wrong here and if not why aren't any of these discs outputting at 720P. Is the 1366 X 768 the "native resolution" of this monitor? These numbers sometimes confuse me as my grasp of digital/HD terminology is weak in most ways.

More clarify would be appreciated as I "think" everything is working properly but the HD resolution issue really worries me.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Ah, "768p" the bastard stepchild of HD. Apparently it was invented as a cost saving measure.

Try each of the resolutions in turn, see what looks best.

 

[Charles_Y]

Thanks, that's what I had to do. I read these component manuals but sometimes I miss what's in front of my face.

Yes, I stopped the player and the recognized progression for this monitor was 480p/720p/1080i. I noticed substantial improvement from 480p to 720p but little or none from 720p to 1080i. Should I leave it on 1080i or 720p?

I would actually like to ask are these resolutions equivalent (interlaced vs. progressive)? If so, I guess it doesn't matter which is used. I'd like to also add that I notice a big difference with TV shows through my raw cable tv feed between shows with 1080i and those with 720p. The 1080i offerings are much crisper and cleaner to my eye.

That being said, the Fantastic Voyage DVD could still be improved. I guess here the issue is now the print used and/or the mastering and compression involved.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[ArtC]

It depends on the native resolution of your TV. My TV is 720p and, like you, I see almost no difference between 720p and 1080i, but a distinct difference between 480p and 720p.

 

[Charles_Y]

Well, I'm still a little confused here. As I said the resolution given for the monitor is 1366 X 768 with the term "High Definition" listed with 720P. From this data what would you say is the "native resolution" of my set? They don't use that term and I would like to know. Full 1080P is clearly not here.

Also, as I said before, I don't notice any difference from 720P to 1080i. I also got a 1080P resolution listed in the progression on a new calibration disc (Monster/ISF) used but no difference in the image. I guess the SONY is down/upscaling accordingly.

I would suppose it's best to leave it closest to the native res. Is this 720P?