OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio
by OPPO Digital
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Our Price: $175.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio
Customer Review: PS3 Vs Oppo? Here's Your Answer.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Oppo's quality and attention to detail have been exhaustively written about in these reviews, so I won't go into that here. This review is for anyone that is wondering about the Oppo's upscaling capabilities vs. the PS3.
First off, let me say that I absolutely LOVE my PS3; the Blu Ray performance is outstanding, the games are great, and it's a wonderfully designed and reliable piece of gear. But as much as I love it, I've always felt that the DVD playback has left a lot to be desired; the picture looks noisy, often washed out, and not well defined--and, yes, I have the latest firmware updates installed. To be frank, DVDs have looked awful on my PS3 (and this has been the case on two separate HDTVs.)
Well, I finally had enough of my DVDs looking worse than they did on my old CRT (with some of them looking no better than VHS) and decided to take a chance on the Oppo--a risk, being that I already owned a DVD upscaler in the PS3. Wow, what a difference! Seriously, I was worried that I'd laid out cash for something that I already owned--was I ever wrong. The Oppo's superiority was immediately clear the first moment of the first DVD I played. The overall detail was far sharper, the colours more defined, and the overall picture was far tighter, solid, and substantial. Honestly, I was hoping that, at the very least, the Oppo would give me the sort of DVD playback that I was used to on my old CRT, but, instead, I now have a picture that far surpasses that and, in some cases (with DVDs mastered at high bit rates), nearly fools me into thinking that I am watching HD. The picture is that good.
Will you have the same sort of experience with an Oppo as I have? I've had the same poor performance of DVD playback on the PS3 on two separate Tvs (a Sony Bravia and a Samsung), so my assumption is that the quality is plainly the PS3's output and not the effect of either of the TVs. I'm confident that the Oppo will provide stunning performance vs. the PS3 with your TV as well. (Oh, and I won't even mention the several audio and video formats that the Oppo will play with ease, or it's ability to play either NTSC or PAL formats!)
Short answer? Get one!
Customer Review: Another Convert to OPPO
Summary: 5 Stars
After weeks of reading customer reviews and checking the OPPO site, I finally decided to get the OPPO DV-980H DVD player and I couldn't be happier with my choice. I also recently got a new HD TV (SHARP LC-32D62U)and am in the process of replacing our Sony Compact AV System (about 6 years old) with a new Onkyo receiver that can manage both my old and new equipment. This OPPO is replacing the 5 disc CD/DVD player in the Sony TIB. I also hope, eventually, to get either an HD or Blu-ray player, but the OPPO seemed an excellent intermediate step (and maybe, if I wait, OPPO will build a "true HD" player!).
I am still learning what this machine can do, but for now I'll just mention a few things that I thought made this player a standout:
a) first thing you notice is the exceptional packaging, including a cloth case for the player...first class and really sets the stage for what's to come;
b) sylish black case with a clean, high-quality "look";
c) inclusion of an HDMI cord...how refreshing to have something "extra" included;
d) easy set up right out of the box;
e) great picture on our SHARP 1080p HD TV connected to the OPPO via HDMI;
f) all of the possible connections you could want or need on the back;
g) excellent response time and support via email from OPPO customer service when I had a question about sound settings;
h) FUN THING...you can "capture" a picture that is input from the OPPO to the TV to replace the OPPO background screen...and it's really easy to do!
i) picture resolution settings are visible on the outside of the player and can be easily controlled via an HDMI button on the remote...no having to go into menus.
I could go on and on, but would only be repeating much of what others have already said. Let me just add that I'm sure this player will allow me to get the best possible picture from our current and rented DVD's until the time when HD players (including both HD & Blu-ray) are more affordable and HD rental DVD's are available in our area. I'm definitely an OPPO convert! I can't believe more people haven't heard of this product!
Customer Review: Great product!!!! (Oppo DV-980)
Summary: 5 Stars
After researching many articles and reviews online, I decided to patiently wait a year or two before buying one of the now over-priced Blu-Ray players. Many videophiles recommended exercising patience since some of the up-converting DVD players will play regular DVD's in quality that is pretty close to HD quality. A large number of reviews on various sites recommended the OPPO as the one of the best of those up-converting DVD players.
I phoned the company for clarification on some of the features and, amazingly, were informed that due to our new LCD TV being a smaller model (40"), I did not need to buy the model that was priced at around $200.00. The DV-980, priced at about $30 less, would do just fine! They also gave me a number of tips regarding the set-up. Any questions I had about their customer service were answered with that kind, efficient and helpful call.
The price at OPPO was the same as through Amazon, and the free shipping and excellent ordering service I have always received here at Amazon encouraged me to buy here.
I am more than pleased with this great component! First of all, the packaging was excellent and it came with an included HDMI Cable, (Price THOSE little puppies separately!). An easy-to-understand manual was provided and access information to their customer support was given. Even this "Old Grandma" found it a snap to get the OPPO hooked up and running.
Our new LCD 1080 TV, even with no HD programming subscription, gives us much better TV viewing. But our BEST viewing now is when we play any old rental DVD or one of our own old DVD's on the OPPO. The picture is amazing! I am sure that with a Blu-Ray and an OPPO up-converting DVD player hooked up to two TV's side-by-side you could see a slightly better picture on the Blu-Ray, but trust me, it would be a small difference! (And one not at all worth the major difference in price!)
I'm so glad I listened to other reviewers who recommended this product! Please add my name to the growing list of endorsements for the OPPO DV-980H
Customer Review: Give your Standard-Def DVDs New Life
Summary: 5 Stars
Until the HD/Blu-Ray hi-def DVD format war is resolved and the prices of those hi-def players and discs become sane, the Oppo DV-980H is an excellent choice and the price $169 is most reasonable (good quality HDMI cable is included!) I purchased this player directly from Oppo in early August 2007 (Amazon wasn't offering it at the time, so I paid an additional $12 shipping charge.) The upconversion to 1080p is outstanding (HDMI connection required. Fortunately my Sony 40" HDTV has 2 HDMI inputs.) I would say that on a standard def 16:9 DVD the picture quality at 1080p is about 60-70% of what you would get in hi-def. It is NOT hi-def, but it is as close as you can get without paying outrageous prices. It also will play other Region coded DVDs (with an easy hack.) The only issue I have encountered is that some DVDs that are 16:9 letterbox are not upconverted to full screen (the letterbox is constrained to 4:3 pillar box.) Don't know why this is. This happens on older DVD versions of 2001 (menu is full screen, but not the film itself), Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and a 16:9 version of A&E's Nero Wolfe. Other older letterboxed DVDs display just fine. (Is there some coding on the DVD preventing upscaled display? One of Life's DVD Mysteries, I guess.) Completely unrelated to the player's performance is Oppo's impressive packaging of the player. Somebody really cared about quality from the packaging on up. This player performs as advertised (can't ask more than that.)
Addendum Jan 3, 2008:
I purchased new special edition of 2001 and it plays great. Don't know what the issue was with the older release.
Addendum Jan 5, 2008:
It appears the high-def DVD format war is drawing to a close with Warner announcing, conveniently timed to just after the holiday shopping season, exclusive support of Blu-ray. Of course, until Blu-ray hardware and software costs drop substantially, the Oppo is still a good buy.
Customer Review: LOVE THIS DVD PLAYER!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this DVD player because I'm sorry that Sony won the format war and now we're stuck with Blue Ray. Thanks to the recession Blue Ray player prices have started to come down, but I wasn't about to spend $300 for a player just for the privilege of spending another $25 each to replace all my existing DVDs. Enough ranting, now for the matter at hand ...
I LOVE this player! I purchased it after reviewing up-converting players online. It was highly rated and did not disappoint. Product was boxed well and arrived with a beautiful black slip cover as well if you decide to store/transport the unit.
This player has loads of features, but let's get to what matters ... the picture and sound. The picture quality is STUNNING! Let me say first of all that i've only seen Blue Ray disks demoed at stores and the picture looks great, but watching my old standard format DVDs on the OPPO player is like seeing them again for the first time. Watching them again on my Samsung 46" LCD TV via the HDMI cable is like a brand new experience. I watched the entire Star Wars series again in the first week after getting the player and I saw and heard things in the movies that I never noticed before.
Even though I'm listening through the TV speakers or via wireless headphones, I notice that the sound is much better ... more balanced and very clear. Yesterday I watched "The House of the Flying Daggers" again ... what a spectacular piece of cinematography. I think every one should use that movie as a standard for testing their home theater system. The colors and the sound is just spectacular!
By the way, I think it plays multi-region disks. I went to a seminar where the instructor recorded some video in PAL format to a mini-dvd. Came home, popped it in and it played beautifully.
My recommendation ... BUY IT!!