Oppo DV-981HD
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"Outstanding so far...." on by redczarr
Pros: Picture quality - Autoscaling - Mulitple formats - Aesthetics
Cons: Tray feels REALLY fragile - Remote is very busy -
Summary: I am a very discerning electronics purchaser and research all my purchases to the nth degree. Having never heard anything worthwhile that was negative about the Oppo, I decided to try it out. WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Have had this unit about three weeks now paired with a Samsung 4095(1080p) LCD in the master bedroom. The picture quality is nothing short of amazing and I can actually see a visible difference between the Oppo and the Samsung HT-TQ85 DVD changer(used more for it's audio and HDMI passthrough to satellite than DVD watching). The remote leaves a little to be desired and the tray feels so thin that you are reluctant to touch it with any force(I use the remote to close it). These minor annoyances were overshadowed by the obvious care which went into the packaging of the product and a picture quality which left me thinking, "Who cares about the format wars...this thing is amazing!". The packaging said a LOT and made me feel good about the purchase even before setting it up. It comes with almost all required cables and has a HDMI cable which has a good heft to it(No optical audio cable).
For once, I am COMPLETELY happy with a purchase!
On HDMI Cables:
Unlike other video cables, HDMI does not transfer a "signal" but 0's and 1's thus the cable issue is not one of "high-end" vs "low-end" as you will get the exact same signal no matter which you use. Save your money and buy the cheapest cables you can find and/or are comfortable with as the only difference is how they feel to you and the length of the connectors. -
"It's supposed to be great..." on by audiophilesubs
Pros: Fantastic manual, HDMI cable included, stylish, ability to upconvert to 1080p, plays a bevy of formats
Cons: MACROBLOCKING!
Summary: Sorry to yell about the macroblocking, but I had no idea what to call it until I read the CNET review in detail. I had such high hopes for this player, and so far, I've been way disappointed. I don't want to rate the player yet because if I had to right now, I'd give it a 6 because you can find a player that handles DivX for <$50. This player is supposed to be a significant improvement over the standard DVD player, but it isn't.
It's an understatement to say that the upconversion falls way short of HD. For reference, I was watching The Tonight Show via an OTA on my Sony KDS55A2000 TV which boasts 1080p. I'd entertain the notion that it could just be a problem with my TV if it weren't for the fact that HD content looks fabulous. The only other culprits could be the disc or the cable.
Getting an included HDMI cable is sort of bittersweet because it's a great value to get an HDMI cable bundled with the player, but you also have to wonder how good the cable really is. I have another Phoenix Gold high-end HDMI cable that I haven't switched out yet because it was late, and I was pretty irritated with my new purchase, but I'll try that tonight and update, pending positive results.
The discs I played with it were <i>Office Space</i> and <i>V for Vendetta</i>. I must admit that I didn't watch either on my XBOX right before the Oppo to give myself a good frame of reference, but I had high hopes for improvement. Office Space looked alright -- the colors are intentionally washed out in office scenes -- but it didn't look amazing. I put in V for Vendetta with its deep blacks and rich reds that I figured would give the Oppo a good test. The night scenes created the worst cases of macroblocking as the gradation between dark, midnight blue and black seemed to give the Oppo fits. Detail seemed alright but not a noticeable improvement over even my XBOX with composite video out. The macroblocking was too much of a distraction to really focus on anything else though.
I didn't mess with the factor settings much if any; so, if anybody knows of a way to "fix" this issue, I'd appreciate it. Other than the macroblocking, I like the player, but obviously this is a major issue for me. Picture quality is everything. That's why we all bought this player.Updated
Hindsight is 20/20...or at least can be. Fortunately, I continued to search for calibration suggestions, tips, etc. I ultimately settled on a combination that minimized macroblocking and allowed the player to truly shine.
If I were to re-review this unit, I'd give it an 8.5 with it easily capable of earning a 9 had it not been prone to such egregious macroblocking sans prodigious fine-tuning. Maybe this isn't a problem for some, many, or even most, but it appears like it is a problem for more than just me; so, that takes points away in my book.
Still, once calibrated, the DV-981HD delivers an excellent image and does a reasonably good job of decoding DivX material. I've run into some problems with certain material where the Oppo only processes the audio, but by-and-large this is an excellent buy for those who either don't want to invest in a blu-ray or hd-dvd player yet or use their PS3 or XBOX 360 to play HD movies.Updated
I commented here a while back about horrific macroblocking issues that made watching movies intolerable. I have since fixed most of the problems, but I still wouldn't recommend this player for projection LCD or DLP displays. Supposedly the 980 is a better option for projection displays. It has something to do with the inherently inferior, IMO, technology of projection LCD. But hey, it's the most bang for the buck!
Anyhow, I still find that the player seems to almost posterize colors, especially flesh tones, in darker scenes. Again, it might be limited to strictly projection LCD displays, but I find that annoying. In bright scenes, though, DVDs look amazing and actually approach HD quality as advertised.
Just don't expect Blu-Ray or HD-DVD quality out of your DVD source material. I have no idea how exactly the Faroudja chip upconverts, but I imagine it's just "filling in the blanks" to make up for the missing resolution when converting from 720x480 to 1920x1080.
Anyhow, some users asked me for my settings, and I'll relist them here in case anybody else has this TV/Oppo combo:
Sorry I've been so derelict in getting this to you guys. I think about it when I don't have a chance to list the settings and forget to do it when I can. Mea culpa!
Without further ado, here are my settings for the TV:
Advanced Iris: Low (Min is better if you're in a darker room)
Picture: 56
Brightness: 62
Color: 42
Hue: R1
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness: 44
Noise Reduction: Off
Advanced Settings:
Black Corrector: Low (I'd suggest Off, but I am a sucker for a little contrast boost)
Gamma: Off
Clear White: OUpdated
I commented here a while back about horrific macroblocking issues that made watching movies intolerable. I have since fixed most of the problems, but I still wouldn't recommend this player for projection LCD or DLP displays. Supposedly the 980 is a better option for projection displays. It has something to do with the inherently inferior, IMO, technology of projection LCD. But hey, it's the most bang for the buck!
Anyhow, I still find that the player seems to almost posterize colors, especially flesh tones, in darker scenes. Again, it might be limited to strictly projection LCD displays, but I find that annoying. In bright scenes, though, DVDs look amazing and actually approach HD quality as advertised.
Just don't expect Blu-Ray or HD-DVD quality out of your DVD source material. I have no idea how exactly the Faroudja chip upconverts, but I imagine it's just "filling in the blanks" to make up for the missing resolution when converting from 720x480 to 1920x1080.
Anyhow, some users asked me for my settings, and I'll relist them here in case anybody else has this TV/Oppo combo:
Sorry I've been so derelict in getting this to you guys. I think about it when I don't have a chance to list the settings and forget to do it when I can. Mea culpa!
Without further ado, here are my settings for the TV:
Advanced Iris: Low (Min is better if you're in a darker room)
Picture: 56
Brightness: 62
Color: 42
Hue: R1
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness: 44
Noise Reduction: Off
Advanced Settings:
Black Corrector: Low (I'd suggest Off, but I am a sucker for a little contrast boost)
Gamma: Off
Clear White: Off -
"It's OppO-mazing!" on by richie1978
Pros: Perfect upscaling capabilities!
Cons: Very minor, but the remote control is unlit.
Summary: In the last month, I have tried the Samsung DVD-HD860 and the Samsung DVD-HD960 and was not to impressed with either player. The picture quality on both seemed to be grainy and really suffered from ghosting and artifacts during playback (made me nauseas). After reading countless & raving online reviews on the Oppo DV-981HD, I decided to give it a try. I am just floored so far on the picture quality and the lack of ghosting. Playback is very smooth and crisp and overall quality of the player is topnotch! Another great feature that I love is the ability to dim or turn off the bright LED's on the front panel, the previous Samsungs players lacked that option. If you've done your research and read other reviews about Oppo, it does come nicely packaged which is nice! If you are in the market for a excellent upconverting DVD player and are waiting the format war to end with HD &Blu Ray, this is the player to get!
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"Really, really nice!" on by rsxk30
Pros: Great picture, sound and easy setup.
Cons: None noted, so far
Summary: Several weeks back, I purchased a 46" Sony 1080P LCD set (KDL-46V2500) along with a Sony upscaling DVD player (DVP-NS75H). I thought the Sony DVD player performed very well... until I plugged-in the Oppo. Oppo is certainly the way to go. My DVDs have never looked better.
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"Excellent choice, none better" on by JjSeVdT
Pros: Plays everything, Excellent video/audio
Cons: None I can think of
Summary: I wanted a PS3, but with everything I wanted to buy it was going to be too expensive. I found this DVD player and ordered. I have it hooked up to my new Samsung HL-S5087W 1080p TV. This DVD player is amazing. I have never scene a picture so clear.
I'm asumming others have rated this a 9 as a comparison to BD-DVD or HD-DVD, but I give it a 10, because In comparison to DVD players it has to be the best.
As another read said, the player comes nicely packaged and care was taken in the process. That said a lot about the product before I hooked it up.Updated
I have since this review got my PS3, and I have continued using this for DVD movies since the PS3 doesn't didn't do it. Well yesterday's 1.8 updates has enabled the PS3 to do it, but this DVD player handles it a whole lot better. I can only speak from a 1080p stand point, but this DVD player continues to impress.
