All-new Oppo 983 universal player available for pre-ordering

Yeah, I would have to agree. This looks like an error on Oppo's part.

Lasareath wrote: »

What is ABT?

Anchor Bay ,they are the company that developed the excellent video proccessor.

Diminishing returns. No matter how good the processor is, it's not going to transform 480 even close to high definition. If you're loaded with money and already have BD and HD-DVD players, why not, otherwise I don't see the point.

Masses are not going to spend $400 for a DVD player.

Masses are not spending that much money on HD players, why would they spend it on a player that only does SD? Because they have extensive DVD collection? Well, that $50 player does the same job for them.

I upgraded to BD recently and own an Oppo. There are some movies that I've seen on both where it's very hard to discern a difference if the SD is a great transfer or the way the movie is shot doesn't highlight BDs capabilities. Jesse's right, it maybe a 3-5 year window, but this Oppo will definitely fill a niche.

Sami wrote: »

Diminishing returns. No matter how good the processor is, it's not going to transform 480 even close to high definition. If you're loaded with money and already have BD and HD-DVD players, why not, otherwise I don't see the point.

.....

Masses are not going to spend $400 for a DVD player.

Oppo isn't marketing this for the masses. It's for the enthusiast who wants the very best upscaling. I beg to differ on the diminishing returns. Anyone who has seen one of the HQV Reon/Realta equipped DVD/HDDVD/Bluray players will tell you that it makes a noticable difference in the look of their 480i DVDs when watching on a 1080p TV. The larger the screen size, the more noticable. The ABT equipped Oppo is supposed to match or beat the Reon/Realta across the board, and at a lower price. Not including the discontinued Sammy BD1200 and Tosh XA2, the cheapest you can get into a Realta or Reon is with the $700 Geffen Hometheater Pro upscaler or the $850 Denon 2930Ci, so compared to those choices, the Oppo is is a bargain.

Funny, you'd buy this $400 player, but have no intentions of purchasing an HDTV? To take full advantage of the upscaling abilities of this Oppo player is having a display that is 1080P capable, the other reason people get into BR.

billbillw wrote: »

Oppo isn't marketing this for the masses.

You're taking it out of context. F1nut said: "DVD still rules and the masses aren't going to run out to replace their entire catalog any time soon." and that was my reply to it.

It's funny how people have no interest in BD but are willing to spend $400 for a marginal upgrade in picture. Upscaled 480, no matter how well done, is still horrible looking if you compare it to 1080.

Someone said niche product, yes it is. For those who are willing so spend a lot of money for little upgrade and are mainly watching older movies that are not available in HD, or those who already have all they need in their HT (including HD players) and don't mind adding another player to the mix to play SD-DVD. I'm sure there will be people who buy it but I just don't see enough market for it. Oppo must have had time to kill while they wait for BD license.

I bought my 981 about 2 years ago, for $199. Perfect player and perfect price, 2 years ago. It does everything I need it to do.

But unless they have made major improvements to the video side, I just cant see spending that amount of money, on an upscale player. My XA1 does an excellent job, so becides SACD/DVD-A, I cant see buying a $400 player, for just audio.

I know many people will think the same thing. "$400??, I might as well by BluRay"

Sami wrote: »

You're taking it out of context. F1nut said: "DVD still rules and the masses aren't going to run out to replace their entire catalog any time soon." and that was my reply to it.

It's funny how people have no interest in BD but are willing to spend $400 for a marginal upgrade in picture. Upscaled 480, no matter how well done, is still horrible looking if you compare it to 1080.

Someone said niche product, yes it is. For those who are willing so spend a lot of money for little upgrade and are mainly watching older movies that are not available in HD, or those who already have all they need in their HT (including HD players) and don't mind adding another player to the mix to play SD-DVD. I'm sure there will be people who buy it but I just don't see enough market for it. Oppo must have had time to kill while they wait for BD license.

I don't believe I was out of context because you said "Masses are not going to spend $400 for a DVD player" and I assumed you were specifically talking about the Oppo 983.

My numbers may be off, but the current DVD library is somewhere in excess of 100,000 titles, and the combined Bluray and HDDVD library is less than 1000. It will be many many years (and possibly never) before a significant amount of movies and or TV series will be available on an HD format (blu or otherwise).

Since the majority of current bluray players do not do a great job at deinterlacing and upscaling, I believe there is, and will continue to be a strong market for quality upscaling DVD players.

This will change if/when the companies start including better deinterlacing and upscaling into their more affordable bluray players. Maybe Oppo will be the first to do this, time will tell. If I did not have a Toshiba XA2 (reon upscaling), I would be strongly considering this Oppo.

bet a dollar they don't sell worth **** at this price point.

I regret all the money I spent on SD-DVD's.

The problem is, and I've said this a few times already, most of the BluRay players out there now (especially the lower priced ones) do not do a very good job of de-interlacing and upscaling DVD. Regardless of how exciting HD videos are to watch, most movies and TV series are still only available on DVD, and its going to be that way for years to come.

Many of the consumers who have bought into BluRay or HDDVD still want to be able to enjoy their DVD collections, but many (especially the ones with larger screens) are finding out that their previous upscaling DVD players did a better job at playback. They are looking for more! How else would you explain the $2000 BluRay player that Denon is offering?

Again, I totally disagree that there is a minimal difference between different upscaling solutions. If you compare the output of a Reon equipped player to some cheapie Sony or off brand, you will see a clear, noticeable improvement in pic quality, especially if you enable the various noise reductions and the edge enhancement on the Reon. Many people believe that this type of quality upscaling can breath new life into an old DVD collection, myself included.

You may be correct in the fact that the majority of people don't care, but then again, the majority of people don't even have HDTVs yet, and certainly not BluRay. This player is not marketed for them.

At $400 it will sell very well (in terms of what Oppo is expecting anyway). Compared to the $850+ that Denon wants for their Reon equipped DVD players, its a bargain.

billbillw wrote: »

If you compare the output of a Reon equipped player to some cheapie Sony or off brand, you will see a clear, noticeable improvement in pic quality, especially if you enable the various noise reductions and the edge enhancement on the Reon. Many people believe that this type of quality upscaling can breath new life into an old DVD collection, myself included.

Agreed with Bill on this one. Seeing is believing...