Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD
by OPPO Digital
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List Price: Our Price: $99.99 You Save: $199.01 (67%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD
Customer Review: Best Value to Bridge the DVD Platform War! + Great Audio too!
Summary: 5 Stars
Are you gun shy from having lost platform wars of the past?
Perhaps you bought into Betamax, MiniDisc, or maybe even a Rio right before the iPod launched? I'm certainly ready to let BluRay and HD-DVD battle it out until one's left standing! But this could take awhile... In the meantime, get yourself an Oppo Digital upconverting DVD player ASAP! These are The Best Value on the market today. But you already know that which is why you are reading this, isn't it? And you know there are other upconverting players out there...
But Oppo is the clear victor in today's marketplace. I recently acquired a Sony 46" XBR2 LCD and love the image I get with HD broadcast across my Verizon FiOS service. Just stunning. I sought similar results with DVDs and after much research I had about settled on the Oppo OPDV971H, which is their highly rated upconverting player (up to 1080i) - be sure to check with Audioholics and HomeTheaterHiFi sites for reviews and ratings buzz. Fortunately I was smart enough to visit the Oppo Digital site to find this newly released player that stretches the previous technology all the way up to 1080p!
We've had ours a couple weeks at this writing, and is it ever worth it! First of all, unboxing this feels high-end as it is both wrapped and protected quite well in the shipping box. Set up was a breeze, as this comes with HDMI connectivity, including a gold-plated cable. Even switching over to 1080p upconversion was simple. The remote is nice, much nicer than the older versions that have been panned so badly. Build quality, while not Fort Knox, is still decent for the price point, and the black finish is a nice change over past players. I like the blue lights, but for those that don't, they can be dimmed or turned off.
On to the important stuff. The image is quite simply stunning. Oppo has made great use of the available DCDi technology from Faroudja. As my wife and I tested various DVDs from our collection, we got so caught up in the viewing experience that we found ourselves watching whole movies when we intended to just view snippets. From our latest DVD additions, to Pixar animation, to the Three Stooges B/W, to collections of old B/W silents of Buster Keaton, the output is very impressive.
Other nice features include all of the various disc formats that are handled. Specifically, it will convert between NTSC/PAL, and also play most audio, video, and picture formats.
Finally, Oppo has a reputation for being a customer responsive company, and has made their players software upgradeable, and with this, have addressed previous concerns raised with their past players. Another example with this unit, is the new remote which is a direct response to customer feedback.
The Good/Great:
1. Image Output Quality is stunning
2. 480p/720p/1080i/1080p upconversion
3. HDMI cable is included
4. Price
5. Customer Service
6. Upgradeable
7. Excellent Audio capability (added 2/1/2007)
The "Okay":
1. Oppo logo sceensaver (it can be turned off)
2. No component video output (but it truly was not intended for this purpose. Oppo intends it for use with HDMI or DVI interface)
The "Bad"
1. None at this time
Stop searching and buy now, you've found the Holy Grail of today's DVD players!
***Updated 2/1/2007***
For starters, with another months' experience with this player, I want to emphasize that we are VERY, VERY pleased with this unit. The video continues to impress -- I don't want to mislead, it won't make a miracle of a rough transfer, but for sound standard def DVDs the upconversion is INCREDIBLE. What we've had further experience with that has been equally stunning is the audio performance. This unit handles it all (CD, SACD, DVD Audio, etc) very impressively, and as a result I must re-emphasize the value quotient. Short of Bluray and HD-DVD, this unit will handle virtually any disc in your collection. Thanks Oppo!
(Also available direct from Oppo)
Customer Review: Farudgja Upconversion is apparent on larger screens 36+
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is three years after purchase. I purchased this player to extend the life of our existing DVD collection when we upgraded to our first flat panel. At the time the choices were DVD, HDDVD and BLURAY. I was not ready to buy into a new format. The quality of DVD was sufficient for our 27" screen at the time. With my budget and existing collection- this was the player to have, the plan was to enjoy our collection on the next larger display purchased without replacing the collection. The results are mixed however the player is superior in subtle but important ways. Ignore the inexpensive feel of the tray. Enjoy the viewing experience of your favorite DVD's. This player has been worth the price and has held up quite well.
Having been raised with video entertainment on Beta, SVHS and LaserDisk, matters of CLV, CAV, S-Video and varying levels of video quality I had been quite aware of the distortions and enhancements introduced by various recording medium and digital compression.
Compression introduced distortions are far more unnerving and distracting than analog signal fuzziness and periodic interference. Broadcast digital video is the worst offender, cable or satellite, non-hd streams are often compressed to a level of loss that would not have been acceptable even on analog formats.
Often the sync of motion to audio is comical to the point where I feel as if I'm watching SAP broadcast with voice-over in English. This isn't really cool when it's live broadcast. Delay in output is not always the fault of the broadcaster. Some LCD monitors appear to have latency in processing which seems to enhance the already sloppy compression of the original stream.
In my opinion one of the most unnerving aspects to compressed video is the sloppy rendering of moving high contrast objects and the details. Edges of high contrast objects in motion are approximated and often jagged. Faces, eyes, nose, mouth do not appear to be physically attached, but floating in space. The proportions drift as the actors speak and move. Eyes float in space. It's like there's an animated mannequin head with added layers of face objects rendered separate and slightly drifting...freckles nostrils, creases, eyes, mouth, ears- all drifting and slightly out of sync.
Add the sound-image sync issue to the proportional drift and approximation of faces and other moving objects and the viewing experience degrades quickly. Like a schwab commercial, but it's your DVD or broadcast. Even HD video has some of these problems.
This player's upconversion was far better than any other sub-$200 DVD with upconversion. All upconverting players did a fine job of converting images that were originally produced for interlaced frames however the Farudgja techniques and processing of edges in motion are apparent on fast 720p and 1020p displays.
Good upconversion itself cannot make a highly compressed video look better. The enhanced mode on the OPPO works nicely with DVDs that are not highly compressed, dual layer or multi-side movies look excellent with little distraction from compression added distortions. The results are good on larger screens and the purchase has filled it's purpose.
Since the advent of Blu-Ray the DVD releases have been produced with higher compression. The enhancement from upconversion becomes a liability when the compression has rendered the enhancement worthy detail out. Turning on the extra enhancement feature on the Oppo makes watching highly compressed video irritating at best even for those who don't mind the lossy quality of average compressed video.
That said, I'm going to keep this around for my existing DVD's. It's time to get the Blu-Ray on. Network video delivery is the future. HD quality is only as good as the distributors and broadcasters choose.
Customer Review: the Holy Grail for the video masses
Summary: 5 Stars
I got to know this player thanks to my geat frustration with our Samsung TX-R3079WH SlimFit TV, which is a real piece of work....don't get me started.
Up until today, the HD TV channels looked better than any of our 2 DVD players,a Samsung 850 and a Harman Kardon DV47, both pretty new on the market. Both players have been equaly mediocre and I kept wondering if there was a way to help this problem before I throw out the crappy Samsung TX-R3079W out the window (to be fair, the TV is not that horrible, it just has bizarre geometry problems and looks a little dark on factory settings). That's when I startet thinking Blu Ray, HD-DVD etc; but a little more research brought some great news: you dont have to break your bank account to have really amazing video quality. If you have not seen it yet, google " DVD Benchmarks" amd you will find a website that compares a zillion players and the Oppo 970 (the 981 predecessor) beat all of them, the second one on the list being a $3000 Denon!. now, I have never owned a DVD player worth more than $400 (actually the HK was $350 and it took forever to get it as I preordered it) so, it's possible a very expensive machine will beat the oppo in many other respects, but I am very happy right now with the 981. One thing is that, I have no idea how the oppo sounds, as I have the audio output connected via coax digital to a Meridian D/A converter. I am curious as to how it performs as a DSD/Super Audio player through its analogue outputs, since the HK pretty much sucks at that too. But I did not buy the oppo for it's audio.
The Oppo 981 has raised the bar. Just received this afternoon and hooked it up. Played some videos of the Lucerne Festival with abbado, Star Wars 3, Rush in Rio, and others. The difference is quite noticeable. The video image is Outstanding! it looks great om 720p, maybe even better than 1080i? Buying directly from Oppo was also a delight. Ordered it on December 29, got it Jan 2nd, via Fedex, with emails and tracking notifications directly from Oppo. I am very impressed with this company and will continue to watch their products. Who knows, maybe soon they will come out with a cheap Blu Ray or HD-DVD... hhmmm... well , the point is, if you have lots of DVD's , you don't need any of that new crap format. The Oppo shames pretty much everything under the sun. get it now!
UPDATE: it's been almost a year and I have enjoyed using the Oppo 981. On the plus side, I discovered that this player is no slouch playing red book CD's and it excels on SACD. I was not expecting this, being such an inexpensive unit. I never took the cover off for fear of dissapontment at first sight: something akin to removing the back cover of a quartz watch and seeing a battery incrusted in a bed of plastic (yuk)... I was afraid that, upon removing the cover, I would just see a cheap transport, a few op amps and a LSIC. I don't care, it does sound pretty good,regardless of what is in there!
On the disapointing side, the machine loads slow, lacks many menu related features but above all, the most annoying nagging thing is the display. You can't see it if you stand further than 10 inches away from it. And it provides no info on which format disk is playing at the time. I would pay more if Opppo introduced a sister model with a decent display that can be read from your chair and it at least told you if it's playing SACD or DVD-A, or just PCM. In the end, even with it's little idiosyncracies, the Oppo 981 makes movies look beautiful on-screen for much less that the competition and that's what counts.
Customer Review: Making up for other's mistakes
Summary: 5 Stars
In theory, you don't need this device.
You've bought an HDTV screen, it's got input for your existing DVD player, and you'd think your swank screen's electronics would do a good job with the DVD's signal to give you a pretty good picture, but they don't. In fact it looks worse than your old TV.
OK, well, you've also got a stylish new blu-ray or HD-DVD player. Maybe the problem is the interconnect from your old DVD player. Your new stylish hi-def DVD uses HDMI -- surely either the screen itself or the swank new DVD player will make sure your DVD looks good on your new screen -- but it doesn't, in fact it still looks worse than your old TV.
In practice you really may not need this device. One of the scenarios painted above may be true for you. Your display or your hi-def player will do a good job of taking the DVD content and upsampling it for the hi-def screen. Perhaps there are screens or hi-def players on the market today that do this, but I don't own one of them. I can state with certainty that the base playstation 3 and the Sony KDL46XBR2 are not such products. Play a DVD straight to the XBR2, or through a playstation 3 to the XBR2 and you will want your old TV back. (Well, I did. Maybe anything looks better than your old TV.)
If, like me, you find your existing video library intolerable on your new hi-def rig, then you should consider this player. Like the other reviewers, I am very pleased with it. It makes the content watchable.
There are two provisos.
First, you have to read the instructions. The DV-981HD does not automatically detect and output in your screen's favorite format. Read the instructions, hit the right buttons, or you will not get any improvement because the DV-981HD will output in 480p and your screen will do it's usual lousy job of upconverting.
Second, no amount of processing is going to take an old 480p signal and make it look as good as a 1080p signal. You own Casino Royale on DVD, you see it on Blu-Ray at the store or a buddy's house, the DV-981HD is not going to make up the difference. Have reasonable expectations. This product will do a good job of making your existing DVDs look pretty good on your HD screen, but they are still going to look bad by comparison right after you've finished watching some 1080p flick. That's why you bought your swank new hi-def player in the first place.
Here's the net. If you have an existing DVD library you want to view, do not find that your current gear produces a good picture for your DVDs, and you have reasonable expectations for what your DVDs should look like -- then this player is for you.
Changes as of 5/24/07.....
Above I wrote: "In practice you really may not need this device. One of the scenarios painted above may be true for you. Your display or your hi-def player will do a good job of taking the DVD content and upsampling it for the hi-def screen. Perhaps there are screens or hi-def players on the market today that do this, but I don't own one of them. I can state with certainty that the base playstation 3 and the Sony KDL46XBR2 are not such products."
This is no longer true. The 1.8 SW release of the PS 3 does upscaling. It's good enough that I'm unhooking the Oppo to save space and clutter in the living room.
Customer Review: Great alternative until either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray wins!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an outstanding up-converting player for SD DVDs; I'm thrilled with what I've seen so far, and I'm very picky.
I previously owned the Sony DVP-NS75H up-converting player, which I ran via HDMI to my Panasonic PT-AE900U projector (which is native 720p), and the results were "fair". After doing a lot of research, I was going to dive into the new Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player, since I heard that the first-generation player (the A1) was one of the best standard-def up-converters on the market. I thought it would be fun to embrace the new technology while simultaneously stepping up to a better standard-def player. Well, too many question marks arose during my research, and too many GOOD reviews of OPPO DIGITAL made me turn my head to this player.
I couldn't have chosen better! The step-up in quality from my old Sony to this player is almost equal to the step-up in quality I experienced when I first moved from a regular 480i DVD player to the Sony. Fine details (such as the gravel under Luke Skywalker after he's been knocked out by the Sandpeople in "Star Wars", or the green grass and forest leaves of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as Indy is chased back to his plane) are now beautifully resolved, and the color palette (particularly in the skin tones) is MUCH more rich and true-to-life. I always had trouble dialing in the proper skin color with the Sony; it tended to be too green or too magenta, with very little room in between.
Also, from what I can tell, the contrast range is far better than the Sony. During the classroom scene in "Raiders", for example, I can now see buildings outside the windows, where it used to be a white-out of non-detail. (And this ISN'T at the expense of a rich, high-contrast image--I didn't "cheat" by lowering the contrast; there's just more detail present with the Oppo)
And the main reason I got the new machine? Well, the ol' Sony used to de-interlace in a manner which would occasionally manifest some nasty horizontal line artifacts. My disc of classic silent flicks from the turn of the century ("Landmarks of Early Film") was almost unwatchable. I guess the Sony couldn't deal with the way the disc was mastered; I'd give the old Sony viewing experience a 3 out of 10. Now, on the Oppo, the de-interlacing is almost flawless, and I'd give the new viewing experience a 7 out of 10! It's an older disc, and would never rate higher than that, but the point is: it looks like FILM again, instead of a distractingly bad video transfer!
The only two things I'd complain about with the OPPO so far (I've only had it for five days!) are nit-picky items, but they DO bug me:
1. When you've PAUSED an image, the PAUSE icon stays on the screen and does not go away after a few seconds. Thus, you never have a "clean" paused image with this player.
2. There's no way to get rid of the default "OPPO" logo screen when a DVD is not playing. The Sony players give you the option of selecting a black screen, which I greatly prefer.
Oh well... nothing's perfect. I'll take the benefits this player gives anyday!!
I'm very happy with the purchase, while I bide my time and watch who will win the HD format war!!