OPPO DV-981HD question...

shawn474

I know that this has been discusssed at length but can't recall or seem to find the answer to my question. I am in the market for a new DVD player and have some questions you guys may be able to help me with. I realize this player does not play HD-DVD's. I have heard the Blu-Ray and Toshiba most talked about here, but refuse to spend that kind of cash right now. So what is the difference between players actually playing HD-DVD's and Oppo's "High Definition Up-Converting Universal DVD Player". I think for 229 dollars and from the reviews this is what I am leaning toward (I also looked at the Samsung DVD HD-960), but what are the advantages and disadvantages of this machine? Thanks for all your replies.

disneyjoe7

You're asking about a HD DVD disk that has all the picture info for play back, along with a HD DVD player to do the same. Vs. an up-converting player which will need to make up for what is thinks the picture is from a non HD copy to be HD displayed.

shawn474

OK, so basically the true HD players actually perform this and the "Up converters" try to mimic this even though they will not be able to? Am I understanding that right?

disneyjoe7

Well it least this is my feeling.

shawn474

So, the question next would be what would it benefit for a modest system like mine to get an up converting player vs. a hd player?

disneyjoe7

For the coin I say why not get the oppo player, and wait a little for the HD / Blu-ray war to lower price some. It's what I think I'll be doing.

shawn474

Thanks, man. i really appreciate the advice. Frankly, I don't think I will ever have the coin for the true HD palyer - at least not in the reasonable future. So I guess right now it's between the Samsung dvd-hd960 or the oppo. Think I;ll try to test the sammie at a retailer and make decision according to my eyes vs. the sterling opinions of the Oppo. Thanks again.

Shawn

disneyjoe7

Not a problem, lets us know what you end up with and how you like it.

Ron Temple

From what little I've read, the Oppo aces the Sammie over HDMI for PQ and SQ. I own the 971 myself and on a new 1080P DLP it's nearly HD quality for a good to great transfer upconverted to 1080i. I'm thinking of selling mine and picking up the 981 for 1080P and SACD, but not until after Xmas. If you're interested in waiting PM me.

disneyjoe7

Ok I'm now confused (ok it doesn't take much some days) what the difference of the models in oppo?

960
970
971
981

Ron Temple

The 960 is the Sammie model...good reviews, but I don't know that much about it.

The 970 is Oppo's inexpensive (cheap) universal, that does a great job with PQ, has a lesser de-interlacer, but works better on some displays than it's big brother.

The 971 was their first release utilizing the Faroudja chipset, DVI out, DVD A, excellent reviews for PQ (and SQ) rivalling $1500 DVD players, but with some folks have macro-blocking issues...most of which were worked out with firmware upgrades. I've never had any issues.

The 981 is the new improved player, that's universal, has the Faroudja chipset, HDMI out and upconverts to 1080p. It's got to be at least as good as the 971 and for me getting 1080p and SACD is a winner for $30 more.

disneyjoe7

So if I know this right,

The 970 has HDMI
The 971 has DVI
The 981 has HDMI

?

PolkWannabie

I replaced my 971 with a 981 which I just got yesterday ...

I don't have enough experience with it to do a full review but my initial impressions are that the upgrade was worthwhile both from the perspective of upscaling to 1080p and the ability to play SACD's.

It still has the familiar flimsy tray that doesn't fully expose the media and spaghetti like power cord, but the PQ & SQ that come out of it are surprising good, ESPECIALLY at its price point.

Either as an upgrade to other upscaling DVD players or as an initial purchase one can hardly go wrong even if the longer range intention is to wait for a full blown HD DVD player with upscaling and universal player capabilities.

Here's a link to a comparison chart of the Oppo players ...

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_comp.html

Ron Temple

PolkWannabie wrote:

I replaced my 971 with a 981 which I just got yesterday ...

but the PQ & SQ that come out of it are surprising good, ESPECIALLY at its price point.

Very cool...have you done a side by side on the PQ. For the 971 Oppo recommended 720p though I prefer 1080i unconversion. Is there much of a difference between 1080i to 1080p?

szhleppy

Got my 981 yesterday as well...it will replace an older Newcastle.

I haven't had a chance to spend much time it with either, but had a surprising observation. The OPPO provides a better picture, but the real improvement was the audio output for movies...I had no idea how horrible my old source was for movies. What confused me was that when I played an audio CD through the OPPO, the sound was remarkably worse than compared to the Newcastle source.

This is just an initial observation...I'll play around with it over the next week and let you know if I find anything different.

Midnite Mick

Would like to hear (read) other thoughts on this player as well. Does anyone use it as a SACD player? I noticed it doesn't give the dynamic range as one of the specs.

Thanks,
Mike

PolkWannabie

Ron,

I can see SOME differences in some scenes, especially those with fast action ... I wouldn't call it a vast improvement ... there are of course limits on what can be done w/480 regardless of how intelligent the firmware is.

Szhleppy,

How do you have your OPPO wired to your PreAmp / Receiver for sound ? ... HDMI / Coax / Optical / 6 Channel / Stereo ?

For a non HDMI connection I've noticed some pretty significant differences in SQ between the default and some of the other ( PCM ) settings ... You might want to play those some ...

Danny Tse

Midnite Mick wrote:

Would like to hear (read) other thoughts on this player as well. Does anyone use it as a SACD player? I noticed it doesn't give the dynamic range as one of the specs.

I remember reading somewhere that Oppo prefer the 970 over 981 as an audio-oriented player. I will try to find that source. In the meantime, here's a thread on the Oppo 970 vs. Pioneer Elite 45A in terms of being an audio-oriented player

Edit - OK, here it is....directly from Oppo customer care

The DV-981HD will not have the same audio characteristics as the DV-970HD as the board is designed slightly differently. The DV-970HD uses a single, 4 layer PCB for the decoding chipset, the DAC, and the analog outputs. The DV-981HD uses a three daughter board design, with each board being connected by cables. This use of seperate boards can cause audio interference errors, which can decrease audio performance.

From post #44 of this thread at avsforum.com.

BTW, have you guys see this review of the 981??

szhleppy

PolkWannabie wrote:

Szhleppy,

How do you have your OPPO wired to your PreAmp / Receiver for sound ? ... HDMI / Coax / Optical / 6 Channel / Stereo ?

For a non HDMI connection I've noticed some pretty significant differences in SQ between the default and some of the other ( PCM ) settings ... You might want to play those some ...

Yeah, it looks like I will have to spend some time messing with the settings and going through the reviews that are coming out with recommendations. I watched an entire movie yesterday (You, Me, and Dupree), and all I can say is that the picture was HORRIBLE with the default settings. It looks like the reviews have been pretty favorable, so I have hope that I'll be able to get a decent pic from this thing eventually.

I have it connected directly to my display via HDMI, and I'm using the "Mixed" connections for audio connected via Interconnects to my Pre.

Here's a question...I have a Newcastle P965, which doesn't have HDMI built in, but Newcastle has an external HDMI switcher available for it. Would this be a significant improvement over the audio connection I'm currently using?

Midnite Mick

Thanks for the info Danny.

Seems like a contradiction to me that they would include SACD in the newer one but have a better audio design in the older one.

Mike

PolkWannabie

szhleppy wrote:

I watched an entire movie yesterday (You, Me, and Dupree), and all I can say is that the picture was HORRIBLE with the default settings

I have it connected directly to my display via HDMI, and I'm using the "Mixed" connections for audio connected via Interconnects to my Pre.

For starters the default video output is 480i.

I have HDMI directly to the display for video but am using coax to the preamp for movie sound.

Midnite Mick wrote:

Seems like a contradiction to me that they would include SACD in the newer one but have a better audio design in the older one. Mike

From what I've read the design is only potentially better which is only likely to be noticed in an electronically noisy environment.

You'll have to get your own listen on ... Personally I have no complaints with CD's or SACD's and the video is miles beyond the standard non upscaling DVD player and compares favorably with other upscaling players.

Upscaled video coming out of any machine is of course NOT at the level of HD DVD's but then that shouldn't be a surprise.

shawn474

So, I'm watching a movie today and my receiver starts going in and out of Dolby Digital and I start freaking out thinking my receiver is on the fritz. Troubleshot with Sony and Panasonic - turned out the DVD player broke during troubleshooting!!!! Wouldn't read the disc and was "spindle mortar malfunction" or something like that whatever that is. Hooked up a seperate DVD player and no problems at all.

Point is - what great timing. Wife got home, I acted all bummed out that Ol' Reliable has just kicked the bucket (kinda like when Old Yeller died, but not really). She rolls her eyes and says, "Just order the Opera!" I knew what she meant! What a lady!!!! Ordered the Oppo DV-981HD.

Strange thing though. If you order through Oppo, they charge 15 dollars to ship (I'm in MD). Go to Amazon and shipping is free - but you have to wait 4-6 weeks for delivery. F That - I'll pay the 15 beans!!!!!!

szhleppy

PolkWannabie wrote:

For starters the default video output is 480i.

I have HDMI directly to the display for video but am using coax to the preamp for movie sound.

Thanks Wannabie. I got some time to play with this a little, and am much happier with the picture. With that said though, I think I'm going to buy a Tosh HD this weekend and send the Oppo back.

PolkWannabie

I assume you are referring to an A2 as the XA2 isn't due out for another couple of weeks ... You'll find loads of posts from new users of A2's at AVSForum. It'll be interesting to see the first impressions of the XA2 when it arrives. The 981 is hardly the be all and end all as it of course doesn't play HD DVD's but it is pretty good for what it is ...

PolkWannabie

PS ... If you get an A2 and you hold onto the 981 long enough to do a side by side comparison, I'd be interested in your findings for both video and audio ...