OPPO Blu-ray Player Debuts

[Nick]

Phancy, But Pricey Consumer electronics maker OPPO last week took the wraps off the new BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc player, designed to help bridge the high-def divide by offering high-end playback performance from both Blu-ray and standard DVD discs.

Based on the company's DV-983H upconverting DVD player, the BDP-83 features Anchor Bay video processing, HDMI scaling and 1080p/24Hz output for both Blu-ray and DVD. The unit also supports BD Profile 1.1, SACD and DVD-Video and, on the audio side, direct DSD over HDMI and DSD-to-analog as well as DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD.

Although the BDP-83 is still going through beta testing, it is expected to hit the market early next year at an MSRP of $499 to $599.Source: www.mediabiz.com/news/retailbridge/index.cfm?edit_id=10544

[harsh]

Awfully expensive for a moderately featured machine.

[sorahl]

if the quality of this player follows their previous offerings it is worth it, if you want a good bluray player.
i bought an upconverting player from them 2 years ago that is head and shoulders above any other non HD drive i own.
good quality...

[Steve]

if the quality of this player follows their previous offerings it is worth it [...]+1. I couldn't be happier with my 3 year old Oppo 971-H, which still ranks as one of the top 5 DVD players, based on Home Theatre Hi Fi's rigorous test suite: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=&manufacturer=0&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0

/steve

[spartanstew]

There's a big difference between playing Blu Rays and upconverting SD DVD's. The Oppos are known for their upscaling capabilities and while I'm sure this player will be very good, as I mentioned in another thread, unless you really need DVD-A, DVD-V, or SACD, it's probably not worth the premium price.

PS. Early adopters (have to send an Email to Oppo) can start purchasing these units December 20th.

[Ron Barry]

BD Profile 1.1??? That would be a show stopper for me. I am a little suprised given the numerous 2.0 profile boxes on the market.

[B Newt]

At that price forget it.

[Stuart Sweet]

I am similarly confused about the lack of BD-Live. While I've yet to see a good use for BD-Live, and while I wonder if there ever will be one, I wouldn't have bought a player without it.

[BattleZone]

For playing Blu-Rays, this player doesn't really add anything.

For playing DVDs, it offers a better-than average upscaler/processor, so DVDs will look a bit better than on some other Blu-Ray players (which all upscale, but don't all have the better scaler chipsets).

The question is: is it worth the money to make DVDs look a little better? It might be for some folks with huge DVD libraries (and a high-end HDTV/theater) who will be slow to move to Blu-Ray. For most folks, it isn't really necessary.

[spartanstew]

BD Profile 1.1??? That would be a show stopper for me. I am a little suprised given the numerous 2.0 profile boxes on the market.

It will be Profile 2.0 when it's finally released. The beta testers and early adopters will only have profile 1.1 though.

[Ron Barry]

That is good to hear... Still out of my price range, but if it was a 1.1 profile I don't think it would have a chance of success.

[hdtvfan0001]

At the end of the day....people will ask "what do I get for paying hundreds more than other Blu Ray players?".

So far....the answer seems to be very little.

Yes, SACD and DVD Video is nice to be able to use on the same player....but....

Many of us already have players that do that, and most folks could care less about those 2 formats (I happen to like them).

[sorahl]

don't get me wrong
i won't pay that much for blu-ray but that's just a matter of principle.
i won't pay more for a blu-ray player than i did for my HD-DVD players nor for the media. so when that happens I will buy blu-ray.
I am not one of those who believe that downloading movies will replace owning physical copies, not atleast under the current structures. there is value in having the disc...

[dmspen]

Received this from OPPO yesterday...
OPPO BDP-83 Blu-Ray Disc Player EAP


Dear ,

We would like to thank you for the tremendous feedback that we have received from the community in response to our first BDP-83 Blu-ray player notification update. There were many great comments, suggestions and concerns which we will try to address in the release of the BDP-83. In particular, we would like to address the Early Adoption Program.

We have decided to take a democratic, by-the-people approach to the implementation of the Early Adoption Program. For the initial batch we will randomly choose 50 customers to participate in the Early Adoption Program. These 50 customers will have the opportunity to purchase the BDP-83 for $499 before the official release. After using the player for about a week, they will be required to vote on whether the program should be expanded or suspended based on end-user experiences. If a supermajority (at least 70%) votes in favor of expanding the program, we will expand the Early Adoption Program by another 100 randomly chosen customers. The player will be shipped with a pre-production firmware version. Firmware updates will be available from time to time.

The initial 50 Early Adoption Customers will be chosen no later than February 25th using the random number generator at random.org. After being contacted by us, the customer must place the order no later than 3pm February 27th Pacific Time; otherwise the opportunity to participate will be passed on to another customer. A simple "Yes" or "No" vote on whether to expand the program needs to be cast no later than March 15th.

Terms and conditions for the Early Adoption Program, as well as the current program status, can be found at our web site:
http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/EAP.aspx

We would also like to take this time to update you on the status of BDP-83 developments. The last two months have been very fruitful, as the player now supports BD-Live (Profile 2.0) and can internally decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats. DVD-Audio has yet to be implemented through firmware, but we are working diligently on this feature. A preliminary features and specifications list will be available on our web site on Tuesday March 3rd.

So I guess the question is - would I pop for $499 to try one? Based on thier EAP, after the test period, you can send it back for a full refund - except for shipping costs. Those don't matter to me as I drive by Oppo on the way home from work!

[Stuart Sweet]

This is a great opportunity, great marketing for Oppo, and honestly not a bad price; I expected it to be higher actually.

[dave29]

So I guess the question is - would I pop for $499 to try one? Based on thier EAP, after the test period, you can send it back for a full refund - except for shipping costs. Those don't matter to me as I drive by Oppo on the way home from work!

If you can afford it, I would do it...

[Steve]

I'm a huge Oppo fan. My $200 971-H gives me great PQ from conventional DVD's. It's probably the best I've ever owned, and I've owned a few "four-figure" units (Sony ES's and Denon's, among others). I'm pleased to say it still ranks (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=DVD+Player&manufacturer=0&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0) 4th overall in the Home Theatre Hi-Fi "shootouts". /steve

[Grentz]

Awfully expensive for a moderately featured machine.

Yet I bet the PQ will be unbelievable compared to the other players if past history is anything to go by.

I'm a huge Oppo fan. My $200 971-H gives me great PQ from conventional DVD's. It's probably the best I've ever owned, and I've owned a few "four-figure" units (Sony ES's and Denon's, among others). I'm pleased to say it still ranks (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=DVD+Player&manufacturer=0&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0) 4th overall in the Home Theatre Hi-Fi "shootouts". /steve

I agree 100%. There is nothing that I have seen that compares to the Oppo upconverting quality and overall it is just an excellent machine. It beats players much much more expensive than itself.

I have wanted to move up to the VRS model, but I will probably just wait it out for the Bluray version and eventually get one (not any time soon, but in awhile ;) )

[steve053]

A preliminary features and specifications list will be available on our web site on Tuesday March 3rd.

Looking forward to March 3rd as I'm curious if it will support Divix like their other players. If so, then I'll be ordering my first BD player.

[Steve]

Looking forward to March 3rd as I'm curious if it will support Divix like their other players. If so, then I'll be ordering my first BD player.Ya. I've given up on streaming video to my HR2x, because of lack of trickplay support. When I want to watch AVI's on my 50" plasma, I copy them to DVD RW's and watch them via my Oppo.

Not sure if it's my Fujitsu plasma's or Oppo's circuitry, the DiVX codec or some combination of the three, but at normal viewing distance and even as low as 384 kbps, PQ appears as good as conventional DVD's. /steve

[spartanstew]

Looking forward to March 3rd as I'm curious if it will support Divix like their other players. If so, then I'll be ordering my first BD player.

If you mean Dvix, then yes. Here's the current specs:


The OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Player currently supports the following:
PS3 caliber load speeds for BD-Java enabled discs.
SACD DSD over HDMI and multi-channel analog. SACD DSD to PCM conversion available over HDMI.
Bit stream and internal decoding of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master to HDMI 1.3 or higher receivers. Optical and digital coaxial do not have the bandwidth required for these new high resolution audio formats, but they can still pass Dolby Digital and DTS CORE.
7.1 multi-channel and dedicated Stereo analog outputs. Two-channel Cirrus CS4398 DAC for Discrete Analog; Eight-channel CS4382A DAC for Multi-Channel Analog. More information is available at the following link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=15739982&postcount=3376)
1080p/24Hz for Blu-ray and DVD-Video
Discrete Output Resolution: You can force the player to always output a 480i/p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p 50/60Hz, and 1080p/24Hz (DVD-Video and Blu-ray) video signal.
Source Direct. This allows the player to intelligently and automatically change the resolution of the player based off of the content source. For example, SD DVD will playback at 480i, Blu-ray will play back at 1080p/24Hz, and DVD-Audio and SACD will playback at 1080i (to ensure maximum audio bandwidth is available).
BD-Live 2.0 with BONUSVIEW
ABT 2010 de-interlacing and upscaling up to 1080p/60Hz with HDMI. Component is 1080i only (Blu-ray) with no ABT processing.
Video Demo Mode: splits the screen vertically with one half showing the original source image, while the other half shows the results of adjustment to the Edge Enhancement, Detail Enhancement and Noise Reduction controls.
Resolution and other Picture adjustments can be performed on the fly.
30 and 36bit Deep Color support
DVD-Video playback
DVD+R/RW/DL and DVD-R/DL disc support
CD-R/RW disc support
CD-Audio and HDCD playback
AVCHD over DVD and USB
MP3 with ID3 Tag and Album Art
1920x1080 native MPEG-2 and DivX support.
PNG and JPEG Viewing at up to a native 1920x1080 pixels
Anamorphic lens compatible with constant height Zoom. Other Zoom modes identical to DV-983H.
DVD Region 1 locked
Blu-ray Region A locked


The OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Player currently lacks the following:
Decoding of DVD-Audio. DVD-Video is supported.

[CCarncross]

If they add DVD-Audio support to this player I might get one as well. I would really like a new truly "universal" player. BD, SACD, DVD-A, and Divx, I'd be set. My Denon 1940CI which is an upscaling universal player, is a great machine except for lacking BD support. LOL, I know, I didnt buy it thinking it was a BD player...

[spartanstew]

It's supposed to have DVD-A support once officially released (end or March or April)

[steve053]

If you mean Dvix, then yes. Here's the current specs:


Yup, I did mean Dvix and thanks for the info Spartanstew. Very cool.

I'll start saving now and maybe will have enough by my birthday in Oct. If not, definitely by Christmas.

[hdtvfan0001]

- DVD Region 1 locked
- Blu-ray Region A locked

These last 2 specs will be show-stoppers for a number of folks in the Blu Ray marketplace....

Then there's the price....