Talk me out of buying an Oppo BDP-93 (1 Viewer)

[Charles Smith]

I've been enjoying the BDP-93 for over three months now. It's a wonderful machine, and the hardware region mod (I put mine on the back, so no installing had to be done) was worth every additional penny. Got a new question:

A few weeks ago I began noticing that at the start of a disc, or at the start of a chapter, either the audio or the video (or both -- but most often it's the audio) doesn't kick in for the first fraction of a second. This is NOT a sync issue, but a very short delay before one or the other is heard or seen. Actually, it's only been perceptible with the video a handful of times.

I first noticed it when playing CDs, and it's very consistent: In skipping to track 2, or any other track, there's no audio until, say, half a beat into the music. If I jump back to the beginning of that track, the same thing is likely to happen. In order to hear the very start of the music, I must go back to the end of the previous track and let it play straight through. Only in this way will the audio be "on" from the very beginning of the track. (Clear as mud?) With DVDs or BLUs, the situation is very similar -- it's not uncommon for the first fraction of a second of the studio logo's audio to be cut off at the top of a disc, or even at the start of the feature.

I never noticed any such thing throughout the first several weeks, then one day, there it was. I've made no changes in settings or in the physical connections -- or in the receiver -- that I'm aware of. I'll call Oppo if I have to, but will appreciate hearing any ideas here first. Thanks!

 

[AndyMcKinney]

...just an update...
...and first, thanks to all who responded; it was greatly appreciated!
So I finally got around (busy at work) to connecting my new replacement OPPO to the Samsung, set to NTSC. And the same thing happened...everything started off fine–my Region A Blu-Ray played flawlessly, as did a US DVD, and a few 25 fps .avi's from my USB-connected HD did too. Then tried playing an HD 25 fps .mkv, and our old pal judder returned. Tried playing some of the same 25 fps .avi's again, and judder was now there as well. Didn't even try playing the Blu-Ray again.

I can't speak to how well it would handle a .mkv file, as I'm assuming that's not a properly-formatted DVD-VIDEO or Blu-Ray disc, but just a media file from your USB hard drive, rather than a commercial disc. Maybe it's something to do with the file format, how the file was encoded, etc.?
Commercial DVDs/BluRays should work file when set to NTSC, though. You might give those a try rather than just giving up.

I think I'll just give the Samsung to my old friend/landlord who lives across the way, and who primarily watches broadcast TV, and look for a better match for my OPPO when I get around to it.
AndyMcKinney...I still haven't tried using the SuperDisk, primarily from fear that everything'll go to hell again ("the OPPO's been infected by bad Samsung voodoo!"), but I'll get around to it. I've got too many foreign DVDs not to.

When you've got the time/money to invest in a new TV, if you're like me and have a lot of 50hz/PAL material, it would make good sense to go with a Sharp, or take your Oppo player to the store and road-test the TVs yourself if the sales staff will let you. That's what I did. With all the 50hz material I've got, I wanted to finally be able to watch it without any conversions going on. It definitely makes a big difference, though I will admit that the Oppo does the best in-player NTSC conversion that I've seen, if a person is going to be stuck with having to convert their discs.

 

[Carlo_M]

Chas - can you give your complete sound signal chain when doing the various tasks? i.e. Oppo -> HDMI -> Receiver model, or Oppo -> optical -> Receiver model? This would help us diagnose the problem.
Years ago my old receiver/DVD player would miss half beats of songs because the Panny was going optically to an old Sony receiver which always took a quarter-second to properly identify what type of signal was coming through the optical cable (stereo PCM, DD, DTS?). Even after playing a CD, so that it should know that a 16/44.1 stereo PCM signal was coming, if I skipped a song (forward or back) it would try to "reacquire" the signal and miss that initial quarter-second.
With the Oppo going HDMI to my Pioneer SC-05 I haven't seen/heard this happen. Have you tried using the stereo RCA outs to see if this happens there? That was the only "fix" for my old Panny RP91 to Sony receiver combo - luckily the RP91 had pretty decent DACs on it so I didn't mind going that route.

 

[Charles Smith]

Oppo -- > HDMI -- > Pioneer VSX-21TXH. That's all I'm using.

I checked the Oppo's setup and HDMI output was set to Auto. (Optical/Coax was set to bitstream.) I changed HDMI to bitstream and ran a quick test chaptering through two CDs. No delays, no misses at all! I'll be playing and watching several things this evening and will pay close attention, but let me know what you think. Could that have been my problem?

Thanks!

 

[annagranfors]

AndyMcKinney, thanks again for your continued advice!
An .mkv file is best explained at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.mkv
They seem to be primarily used for HD video captured from TV digital sources, and aren't exclusively 25 fps. Though I know bit-torrenting is a subject of some controversy, the files that brought the judder back were torrents of the last series of Torchwood, from a UK bit-torrent site that's kept me faithfully abreast of UK programming. They're on my external drive, and as I said, play flawlessly now that I have the OPPO hooked back up to my old Olevia, which I'm guessing allows for PAL playback, even though it was my first HDTV and cost a whopping $500 five years ago.
(By way of explanation, I don't usually torrent HD files, but I'm a rabid Whovian (Doctor Who) and wanted to see Torchwood (a Who spin-off) in all its glory. The .mkv files are large (approximately 1 GB=30 minutes), whereas the much smaller (approximately 300 MB=30 minutes) .avi/Xvid/DivX files that are the site's major stock-in-trade look gorgeous thanks to the OPPOs upscaling, and my guilt kicks in when I feel like I'm doing anything more than the 21st century equivalent of making an off-air VHS or cassette copy of an LP back in the day. Anyway–torrenting, if you've been following the news, may soon be a thing of the past due to US studios lobbying ISPs to monitor and control what their customers are downloading. Grr. I want my Brit TV!)
Regardless, I'll investigate the Sharp HDTVs, but am also thinking that since OPPO was so forthcoming about the SuperDisk (I called them, too, and they not only said that they were perfectly fine to use, but even gave me an URL to download the .iso file to make one, and laughed in disbelief that people were paying $15 or more for them on eBay!) that I might give them another call and see if they have any recommendations for newer HDTVs for those of us who want to use our OPPOs to play DVDs from other regions...I'm sure they have a few in-house for test purposes, and probably have a favorite or three that they might suggest. They're seriously one of the finest companies I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
Ooops...I've rambled, haven't I...? But again, thanks for your kind help and advice!
Cheers!

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by annagranfors /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/60#post_3950323
Regardless, I'll investigate the Sharp HDTVs, but am also thinking that since OPPO was so forthcoming about the SuperDisk (I called them, too, and they not only said that they were perfectly fine to use, but even gave me an URL to download the .iso file to make one, and laughed in disbelief that people were paying $15 or more for them on eBay!) that I might give them another call and see if they have any recommendations for newer HDTVs for those of us who want to use our OPPOs to play DVDs from other regions...I'm sure they have a few in-house for test purposes, and probably have a favorite or three that they might suggest. They're seriously one of the finest companies I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
Ooops...I've rambled, haven't I...? But again, thanks for your kind help and advice!
Cheers!

Just reading that the USA versions of Panasonic Plasma sets DON'T allow PAL playback, someone needs to tell these manufacturers it's 2012 not 1982 and people like to import DVD's and Blu ray's from all over the world, i find this astonishing and if i was living in North America i'd be very annoyed about this situation.

 

[Charles Smith]

Hear, Hear!

 

[lvicious]

Well after my big move.. I finally got everything set back up and plugged in my Oppo BDP-83 to my Samsung PN59D8000. Immediately it let me know there were updates and I figured as much since it had some decent down time. I started the updates via ethernet and they completed fine then.. nothing. Couldn't access menus, play bluray and not only that but I could not watch cable anymore or even play ps3/xbox.

I checked the settings via remote and got with tech support @ Oppo and nothing changed. I finally unplugged my plasma and waited about 30 secs and then I could watch cable, play consoles again. However, the Oppo player repeated the same issue and messed up everything else as well.. again. Checked cords and more and the only answer I can come up with is the updates I dl'd are causing issues with my Samsung but why would it make it impossible to watch cable and more like I described above.

So they told me I have to pay to ship it to them and then what will probably happen is a reset back to original settings. Which doesn't solve the problem and so I guess I can't dl any updates again? Not all updates are to fix problems.. Reminds me of a samsung bluray player I had and after a update it made it impossible to play Avatar bluray and they told me I shouldn't be dl'ing updates unless it's to fix a specific issue I have and it was reset as well. I just shake my head at this logic for various reasons. Can't pick and choose from updates and what if I have an issue that a 3 updates back fixed but the other since then break it.. you can't avoid it.

Updates should not break anything but they do and that's also a way they learn is from us. I've yet to see a fix issued for that Samsung bluray player so still cannot watch Avatar on it but I have other options and I'm betting I won't see a fix from Oppo for this as well. Factory reset = no more update dl's. Tech. guy didn't seem like he really cared on the phone and didn't mention any testing or trying to resolve the issue.. just reset. Don't wanna risk it getting broke again with updating and how many beneficial updates will I now miss since the player came out. Love the player but this irks me to no end.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by lvicious /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/60#post_3950558
So they told me I have to pay to ship it to them and then what will probably happen is a reset back to original settings. Which doesn't solve the problem and so I guess I can't dl any updates again? Not all updates are to fix problems.. Reminds me of a samsung bluray player I had and after a update it made it impossible to play Avatar bluray and they told me I shouldn't be dl'ing updates unless it's to fix a specific issue I have and it was reset as well. I just shake my head at this logic for various reasons.

Have you tried going into the settings and resetting to factory default yourself. Setup -> Device Setup -> Reset Factory Default and run the Setup Wizard again.

I tend to use a USB thumbdrive to update the firmware, never had an issue yet and fingers crossed that i won't in the future. You could use the firmware just before this latest update as a stop gap to allow some time to troubleshoot the issue, perhaps try a thumb drive or optical disc for the next update procedure just in case the Ethernet is the issue.

Link here to old version. http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/bdp-83-firmware-58-1215.aspx

 

[lvicious]

unless I can do that visually on the front display of the player then no cause I can't see anything on my TV display after the initial loader update finished via Oppo player. It shows on the display of the Oppo that I am accessing menus and whatnot but shows nothing on the TV. I'll check that again. Tech didn't mention that. He just went through the pal, ntsc and resolution options which didn't resolve anything. Really weird how it trips up my Samsung plasma though and makes everything unplayable or viewable.

..also I had never used the player with this plasma before.

edit: ^ I'll give that a try and did not know I could access previous update versions. Wish the tech had told me that as well and I had researched their site more. My fault.

From now on I will check every one of my components sites for update details if offered before I dl. Not everyone does this though unfortunately. Learning experience to read, research and read again before complaining like a child.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by lvicious /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/60#post_3950567
unless I can do that visually on the front display of the player then no cause I can't see anything on my TV display after the initial loader update finished via Oppo player. It shows on the display of the Oppo that I am accessing menus and whatnot but shows nothing on the TV. I'll check that again. Tech didn't mention that. He just went through the pal, ntsc and resolution options which didn't resolve anything. Really weird how it trips up my Samsung plasma though and makes everything unplayable or viewable.

..also I had never used the player with this plasma before.

edit: ^ I'll give that a try and did not know I could access previous update versions. Wish the tech had told me that as well and I had researched their site more. My fault.

Is the television 1080p. ? Sometimes you can have a resolution set in the Oppo and if the display cannot handle it then it shows nothing, try clicking the resolution button on the bottom left of the remote to change that if its the television display that is causing the issue.

 

[lvicious]

Yes it is. Yeah the tech had me working on that as well but it didn't resolve the issue. Thank you for your help as well ^

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by lvicious /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/60#post_3950572
Yes it is. Yeah the tech had me working on that as well but it didn't resolve the issue.

You tried powering up and down i guess, if the Oppo display is working then it sounds more like the television is the problem, to rule that out try hooking the Oppo up to another display, you could also try inserting a movie disc, if it gets to the menu then i suspect the television.

:EDIT: Sorry just re-read your post, does seem to be television related rather than the Oppo, is there any firmware updates for your television available. ?

How do you have the Oppo hooked up to the television. ?

 

[lvicious]

No new updates for the TV. TV has had no issues whatsoever.. only the Oppo after the update. I just assume the update I dl'd does not jive with my plasma which Oppo would have to duplicate if they had my set to see it for themselves. I'll try it on one of my other sets later. Gotta head to work. Thank you again.

.. thinking of selling mine on Ebay and then purchasing the 93 once I get this sorted out.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by lvicious /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/90#post_3950583
No new updates for the TV. TV has had no issues whatsoever.. only the Oppo after the update. I just assume the update I dl'd does not jive with my plasma which Oppo would have to duplicate if they had my set to see it for themselves. I'll try it on one of my other sets later. Gotta head to work. Thank you again.

.. thinking of selling mine on Ebay and then purchasing the 93 once I get this sorted out.

Sorry i couldn't be of more help but don't give up just yet, someone else might come in and recognize the issues you are having and be able to give you a fix or a workaround for the issue.

 

[lvicious]

Well sorry not trying to hijack the thread but apparently I have.. I did try it on my older Sharp lcd set and it basically locks it up as well. I couldn't access the menus on my TV either until I lowered the resolution to 720p then I could but within a few seconds it tells me again the incompatible signal msg. More or less doing the exact same thing as it did on my new plasma and I see no point in trying it on my other lcd.

I am not able to access any setup functions via my Oppo either. All it shows me on the lcd panel is setup menu, home menu, resolutions, etc but can't get into the menus and honestly I don't remember if you were ever able to view that stuff on there or if it had to be viewed on a tv. Either way it's not working and it's not my TV's. Locks em all up as soon as I turn it on. Something in that update man. So idk.. oh well I guess I have to send it back in and then who knows about updating the player ever again.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by lvicious /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/90#post_3951020
Well sorry not trying to hijack the thread but apparently I have.. I did try it on my older Sharp lcd set and it basically locks it up as well. I couldn't access the menus on my TV either until I lowered the resolution to 720p then I could but within a few seconds it tells me again the incompatible signal msg. More or less doing the exact same thing as it did on my new plasma and I see no point in trying it on my other lcd.

I am not able to access any setup functions via my Oppo either. All it shows me on the lcd panel is setup menu, home menu, resolutions, etc but can't get into the menus and honestly I don't remember if you were ever able to view that stuff on there or if it had to be viewed on a tv. Either way it's not working and it's not my TV's. Locks em all up as soon as I turn it on. Something in that update man. So idk.. oh well I guess I have to send it back in and then who knows about updating the player ever again >.>

At least this way I can sell it and then get the 93 unit.

What is the exact wording displayed with the incompatible signal message. ?

 

[lvicious]

Found a way via a 83 user to reset and reinstall updates since I couldn't do it via hdmi and it should fix whatever bug it has. I guess just chalk it up to a bad update via ethernet. Weird but at least I hopefully won't have to mail it in now. We'll see. Thank you again.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by lvicious /t/310509/talk-me-out-of-buying-an-oppo-bdp-93/90#post_3951050
Found a way via a 83 user to reset and reinstall updates since I couldn't do it via hdmi and it should fix whatever bug it has. I guess just chalk it up to a bad update via ethernet. Weird but at least I hopefully won't have to mail it in now. We'll see. Thank you again.

That's great, can you PM me the details since i have this model and may need it if any future update goes wrong.

 

[HagenBlaz]

Does anyone know if the Oppo 93 is still a good thing to buy? A concern I have is that I buy it, then soon after Oppo will introduce a newer better model for less money.