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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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD
Customer Review: Clarifications, a little instruction and admonishments
Summary: 5 Stars
The Oppo 981 is a standard dvd player that also happens to play every type of audio format available. No where in the ads or on the box does it state blu-ray or HD-DVD player. So.....point one settled. Know what you are buying. What this unit does is "up-convert" a standard format dvd (480p) to 1080p. What does that mean.....clearest sharpest picture possible from your existing dvd collection. You must have the TV to support it! Near hd-dvd quality for discs you already own or rent.
Difference IS like night and day. To receive this benefit you must use the HDMI output. This unit is not recommended for rear projection tv's. Oppo will tell you to purchase the 980. The 981 uses the Farouda-dci chipset and will cause black blocking in the picture. (the black blocks you see in dark areas of the picture. Sorry....this is the newest technology already out pacing TV's produced just two years ago.
Blu-ray or HD-DVD? Don't do it......wait until the format war is over....I suspect a new format introduced within the next 2 years....wait and see which format takes the cake......kinda like VHS or BETA, SACD or HDCD, Cassette or 8-track.....remember that!? Until then.....you can enjoy up-converting your existing discs, listen to SACD or redbook cd's (standard format)or MP3's.
Stereophile class C recommendation......so, somebody has taken notice!
Recommended for ease of use, fantastic picture and sound quality, great customer service.....and the cheapest extended warranty plans from Oppo I have ever seen! A no brainer purchase.
Customer Review: Great product and a good deal
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a few upscaling dvd players @ BB before I bought this one.They both costs about $200. I had the Sony which was not accpetable. Then I bought the Samsung because the BB guy said that was the one he had. I returned that one as well. The Samsung was the better of the two, but The quality of the upscaling was not there.I was not happy. Then I saw all the reviews for the Oppo and I noticed it came with the HDMI cable. BTW, BB wanted to charge $60+ for the cable alone.
Everyone on here is right about the cables.I researched and asked a electrical engineer about HDMI cables. Long story short, HDMI is digital. It does not matter as long as your cable is under 6'. If you go over 6' you do need to pay attention to the quality of the materials, but that still shouldn't break the bank. What is important for any size of cable is the connections. Good connectors that stay in the inputs are a must.The price that BB and some companies are charging is a joke.
The Oppo cable that is included is fine. The device itself is excellent. The quality of the images is really good. The upscaling is the best I have seen. Blows away the Samsung and Sony. I am very satisfied with this product. The only criticism is the remote. It seems like a after-thought. Like some cheap after-market remote you would buy at Radioshack. It works fine, but seems mis-matched with the player it's controlling. Big deal. You get a great player, a HDMI cable and a crappy remote. I can live with that. Afterall, it's all about the image and the Oppo really delivers on this one.
Customer Review: Worth every penny!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this DVD palyer to go with my Samsung 46" Slimfit DLP tv. Now my tv is only capable of going up to 1080i, however the inclusion of an HDMI connection and an HDMI cable convinced me to go with the 981.
Now that you have the background onto the results.
Simply.... AMAZING!
There was 2 things that really annoyed me about watching standard definiton DVDs on a large widescreen tv: first thing was the annoying black bars at the top and bottom of widescreen movies... I paid for 46 inches of tv and I want to use every bit of it. The other annoying aspect of going big was how dark some movies looked, that and how lacking standard definition. Going large just amplified the total lack of quality picture.
None of this a concern now.
The zoom function will focus in on the picture in small acceptable increments to get the best viewing. Some dvds are auto scaled to fit the screen.
The picture quality is outstanding.
While results very from DVD to DVD, overall it has been amazing. For live action I prefer the 720p setting, and 1080i for animated movies. I will agree that this is not true high definition, but I don't have to chose sides in the current format war (blueray or hd dvd) or spend alot of money. Instead I went with this affordable alternative and get to still enjoy the DVDs I already have.
In summary, to enjoy the DVDs you have now at their fullest potential without spending a fortune, buy this DVD player.
You won't be disappointed.
Customer Review: Some Stars are Brighter than Others
Summary: 5 Stars
HDTV has really opened our eyes to the importance of quality components. From the moment that the picture is captured with the video camera, it is converted to digital code. Likewise for the audio component. The complexity and accuracy of this code has a great bearing on what the final product is that you see and hear. Our old JVC DVD player was just fine when we had a standard def TV hooked up. With our new Samsung HDTV, the picture quality was not as good as broadcast or satellite delivered movies were.
The Oppo has changed all of that. The ability of the device to utilize the complexity of the digital code and enhance or process it into a superior picture is really amazing. The HDMI output is a slam dunk for simplicity! Just Plug and Play, but do be aware that some care is needed when plugging into HDMI switchboxes. Be sure that the switchbox is capable of receiving 1080p and 1080i as the output of the device (in this case the DVD player) must be matched to the input of the switchbox. We recently purchased a remote switchbox to alleviate the annoyance of plugging and unplugging our Satellite HDTV receiver whenever we wanted to watch a DVD movie. It caused some consternation when my television came up with an error message saying it was receiving no signal. Once I correctly set up the Oppo output, everything worked great!
The Oppo unit is a gem, highly recommended and a steal at its price compared to many units priced much higher. Go buy one now!
Customer Review: No problems paired with Sony rear projection HDTV
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Oppo DV-981HD due to its excellent reviews and previous purchase of
Oppo 3x1 HDMI 1.3 switch. I was slightly concerned because of the 'most helpful'
three star review warning rear project HDTVs may have a compatibilty problem; I
have an older rear projection Sony KDL-42WE611.
After installing the Oppo (HDMI to Oppo switch and digital coax to AV receiver) and
configuring the on-screen setup, I was rewarded with a very nice 720p upscale
rendering of the "The 5th Element" superbit DVD. I tried the 1080i upscale
setting, but could not see any appreciable difference from the 720p. Since both
renderings are at 60Hz, I settled on the 720p setting.
I have a PS3 blu-ray player, so this is my reference for comparison. Although the
Oppo upscaling is excellent, it cannot add-in video detail into standard DVDs that
blu-ray movies have from the start. Just as an example, Fantastic Four Rise of the
Silver Surfer in blu-ray has around 45GB of digital information; as many people
know, standard DVDs have around 7GB. No basis for comparison. This said, I still
feel that the HD upscaling done by the Oppo to standard DVDs is excellent.
Lastly, this amazing DVD player also plays SACD and DivX disks, so I tried both and
the player operated flawlessly.