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: Great upconversion for my dvd collection...
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my Oppo 981 today, so this is an early, first impression review. Right off the bat I can verify, just like all the reviews say, this is a great dvd player, and the upconversion looks fantastic.
The packaging was nice and secure. The unit is thin, clean, and attractive. The remote seems comfortable after getting used to it for a bit, and the HDMI cable included was great. From what I can tell though, the cable is only an HDMI 1.1 standard cable. I was hoping for 1.3 so I was a little bummed about that, but no big deal.
After taking a few minutes to scan the manual to be sure I had all the settings right, connected to my Panasonic 42" PZ700U 1080P, and made sure the player was outputting 1080P conversions... The upconversion looks amazing!
My first dvd was Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (original, rented disc), and it looked great! I was mostly impressed by the clarity and detail in the skin tones and faces of the actors. It looked clearly better than normal hi-def broadcast signals. Several times throughout the movie I commented outloud, "Man, that looks good!"
I also have a large collection of movies backed up on DVD-R discs. The Oppo does play DVD-R/+R discs. All my movies are backed up on single 4.7 GB discs, so some movies are uncompressed, and some are compressed. The couple I tested looked great! I don't recall whether they were compressed or not, but I will experiment with my compressed ones and post again if I find any problems. But as of now, everything has looked fantastic!
I'm glad I made the decision to buy this player while I decide what I will do for a high-def player. And even though a high-def player will upconvert, I wanted a player specifically designed for upconversion. I have seen regular dvd's in high-def players, and I think this Oppo does a better job.
I also burned some video files onto a dvd to test other formats. It played my .avi files just fine, and although they don't look as good as regular movie dvd's, I know that is because of the source. However, even with the lower quality of the files, they still looked better than a vhs tape, and as good as a regular dvd on a standard def tv. It will also play .wmv files, but I couldn't get it to play my .mpg files. I will convert them to something else and try again though. Obviously it will play most all audio media files with no problems.
The only negatives comments I have so far are two... One is that the disc drawer slides in and out, as opposed to just using a slot. The drawer is extremely thin, and delicate. It seems like it could be fragile, but then again just be careful not forcing pressure down on it and it will be just fine. But I think they could improve that. Second is that the menu's look funky, and ugly. They could have done a WAY better job on this one. But again... they're functional, and it's no big deal.
Overall, I bought the player to upconvert my regular dvd's, and they look great. Really great! Enough said. Money well spent, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Customer Review: Breathtaking
Summary: 5 Stars
I've owned a Samsung 40 inch LCD TV for a little over a week now. When I viewed my first DVD through a standard Sony DVD player, I was immediately disappointed with the picture. The image would sometimes pixilated around the edges, especially during fast movement. Well, my friend told me about "upconvering" DVD players which would upgrade them image from standard definition to near HDTV quality. Until about a week ago I did not even know that "upconvering" DVD players even existed, and I was immediately skeptical. Conventional wisdom tells us that the image can never be better than the original source material. Well, I'm happy to say that I was wrong.
After a little research I decided to forego the retail stores and order an Oppo DV-981HD online, because the buzz surrounding these machines is so overwhelmingly positive. The buzz is well deserved. The picture quality is simply breathtaking. First, I put in my highest quality DVD, Revenge of the Sith, and I was totally blown away. The explosions are more vibrant. I can see particles that were not visible before. Every little mole and bead of sweat is clearly visible on Ewan MacGregor's face. There is absolutely no pixilation on fast action scenes. Now, my HDTV service is not hooked up yet, so its impossible for me to make a fair comparison between this and real HDTV, but I can't imagine the picture quality being much better.
I also tested my lowest quality DVD, which is a film of an airshow which I shot with a digital camera at 640 x 480 and only 15 FPS. Even this low resolution picture looked great on the Oppo, while on a traditional DVD player the image is so pixilated that its virtually unwatchable.
If you have an HDTV, you're going to want one of these. I've invested literally thousands on my DVD collection over the last 10 years. Who wants to start all over and start replacing your favorite discs with HD versions of the same films? Not I. The Oppo DV-981HD solves this problem. Now I can watch all my favorite movies in the best picture quality possible without another sizeable investment.
If you go on the company's website, they'll show you how to make it region free. It even will convert PAL to NTSC, and vise versa. If the picture quality weren't already enough of a selling point, it will also play any disc made anywhere in the world.
Update: I had to try a DVD from another region to make sure it worked as Oppo states it would, so I bought a Rory Gallagher DVD on Amazon.uk that's not available in the U.S. (PAL, region 2). It played without a hitch. This is great. Now I can buy and watch DVDs that would not normally be available in the U.S. market. I've already ordered "Azumi 2" and "Conan the Destroyer Special Edition". And "Pans Labyrinth", which is only now hitting U.S. theatres, will be available on UK DVD next month. This alone makes this DVD player worth the price, in my opinion.
Customer Review: EXCELLENT - Beats others costing 2x as much!
Summary: 5 Stars
There are so many great reviews on this unit I'm not sure I can add a lot, but I am so impressed and pleased that I wanted to underscore how awesome this product is.
I have a Denon DVD player that upconverts to 1080p that cost over $400. I've had it a little over a year and it has been acting up (not good for such a young unit). I needed something to connect to my Samsung 46" LCD HDTV so I started researching various units and happened upon this unit on Amazon. I have never heard of Oppo, but after reading the reviews and mentioning it to a co-worker who emphatically said "Buy it! You won't regret it!" I decided to go for it.
If packaging is any indication of the quality and care a company puts into its products, this is no exception. Packaging, while having no effect on the product itself is impressive. The unit is even encased in its own fabric, soft-lined sleeve.
PLUS, it comes with an HDMI cable saving you at least $100 on a decent one. To tell you the truth, I have a $150 Monster HDMI, which I just moved to another TV and used the one Oppo included. Can I tell the difference? Nooooooooo. Save your money.
This unit has a sleek, low profile form factor. Well constructed and pleasant blue lighting. It will fit in the tightest of spots and being half the height with more functionality than the Denon, one gets the sense that Denon needs to welcome in the new millenium.
As for operation... it has been working flawlessly for over a month. I appreciate the ease of use, luminescent remote buttons and the picture quality is better than what the more expensive Denon put out. I can rarely tell the difference of such things even side-by-side, but this unit's quality is definitely noticeable. As an added bonus, the 32x fast forward and rewind is GREAT. I am tired of these high-end units (like the Denon) that give you a *whopping* 4x.
And, how about the customer service? Well, I didn't need it through any fault of Oppo. I being wiring challenged thought something was wrong with the unit at first. I called Oppo, *almost* had to wait, and had a very helpful person on the other end. Very patient and helped me figure out what was wrong. And, you know what, sent me another HDMI cable 'just in case.' Wow.
Listen, before you buy any other unit, do a side-by-side comparison of this unit and its features. You will find the Oppo has more features and is less than half the price. Some cases 1/4 the price. Ask yourself, "do I really need to pay another n dollars just for a name?" I decided the answer was no and haven't looked back. In fact, I would guess Oppo will become the standard by which all others are compared and they will be THE name.
Customer Review: Amazing Results for an upconverter!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently bought a Samsung HD-5679W here on Amazon. Well I hooked it up to my DVD player (a Playstation 2...), threw in a Superbit movie, expecting to be blown away... Not impressed. Not even close.
Yes, my Tv will upconvert a signal, but that doesn't mean it does a good job at it. Now on to the Oppo. After a lot of research and hours on various AV forums I went for the Oppo.
The DVD player was packaged beautifully. It's also light and thin and the HDMI cable they include seems to be a decent quality cable. After hooking it up to the TV, I threw in the same Superbit Fifth Element DVD- the results this time... Amazed.
Some major pros:
- No macroblocking yet: With DLP's and RPTV's some 1080p DVD unconverters can cause problems, especially on the bigger screens. No problems yet.
- Looks amazing on a 1080p TV. I have seen plenty of HD movies via BluRay and the difference really isn't that noticeable. I find myself re-watching a lot of my DVD's and box sets. When compared to the 1080i HD cable it's very close in my opinion.
- The sound: the difference here is what brought this product from a 4 star to a 5. Running an optical cable to my Onkyo 6.1 from this Oppo produces an amazing sound. My sounds system has never sounded so good thank to the Oppo. It really is impressive.
- Great customer service from Oppo: I sent them two e-mails asking a few quick questions and each time they got back to me within 3 hours or so. It seems they really support their products.
A few minor cons:
- Only HDMI: Not a big deal because I've got a 1080p TV with 2 HDMI ports, but the option of component would be nice, if for some reason I need to use the HDMI's for something else (say a PS3, etc).
- The disc tray: As noted in other reviews- it's flimsy. If I sneezed near it, I'd be worried about it snapping off... hasn't happened yet, but I'll keep an eye on it.
- Out of the box, it was set to 720p resolution, which was a little surprising since it's made for use with a 1080p TV. I had to remove the DVD then access the HDMI settings and flip through the different resolutions. Not a big deal, but just an FYI.
The bottom line- this little piece of equipment is going to make your DVD library worth watching again. Go out and buy it. Then in a year or two when the HD DVD shinanagins settle down go out a get a bluray or ps3 or whatever.
Either way, you'll be happy with the Oppo.
Customer Review: Worth the price
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd never heard of Oppo, but the reviews I read about it here and elsewhere were all good. It received a product of the year mention in a magazine, and that was enough to convince me to give it a try.
This DVD player is expensive, but worth the money. It has a high end video processor that is normally only found on players costing hundreds more. Unfortunately, I've had several upscaling DVD players. I tried Sony, Philips, Samsung, and Toshiba. This one is easily better than any of those. Whether it will last any longer than those did (average seems to be about a year) remains to be seen.
The only negative is that the unit locked up on me a few times, but powering off and on solved that problem in every case but one: it simply wouldn't play that particular disk. Otherwise, it has played every kind of disk I've thrown at it: commericial DVDs as well as DVD +R, DVD -R, DVD RW.
It will also play PAL (European) disks, which most US players will not handle. This gives me access to foreign movies not distributed in the US.
If you have an HDTV and need an upscaling player, this is the best I've found. Oppo's lower end model is similar to units from other makers that cost less, and their flagship model is very powerful and probably the best on the market, but much more expensive. This one hits the right balance of features and price.
End of 2008 update: I did the flash update (download it and install on a USB drive) and it seems to have solved all of the locking up issues. Nice. The unit is still going strong, and I'm still impressed with it. Ran into one other issue that the update didn't fix: with some disks and our Sony HD TV it seems the Oppo and Sony both wanted to process the picture so much that it really...slowed...down the frame rate, to the point that the image would freeze for seconds at a time. I turned off all of the image processing on the TV, then turned it back on and turned it off on the Oppo, then turned them both on the same time. It was only a problem with both turned on. My advice if you run into this problem: turn off the TV video processing and let the Oppo work its magic. The image processor in the Oppo is better than the one in Sony TV we have, and it shows. When the DVD player on our other TV died after a year (another Sony, geesh, what is with these DVD players?), I didn't have to research what to replace it with.