Oppo DV-983H Flagship Universal DVD Player Review

[admin]

This is the first DVD player review we've done since the HD disc format war ended with Blu-ray on top. If this player had been released two years ago we'd say that Oppo has broken the price barrier for an affordable high-end universal DVD player and stolen the market. Unfortunately, many consumers are now comparing the features and quality of new DVD players with what they can expect to get from HD products like the Playstation 3. In a case of poor timing, Oppo has released an excellent player, but faces stiff competition for consumer dollars in what may be the last great affordable universal standard definition DVD player to hit the market.


Discuss "Oppo DV-983H Flagship Universal DVD Player Review" here. Read the article.

[opuntia]

The pics comparing SD to BR are great. I wish you could have included pics that compared oppo vs PS3 upconverting capabilities.

[Pyrrho]

There are some other issues not mentioned in your article. Can the Sony be made region free? How good is it for dealing with PAL sources, and converting between PAL and NTSC?

[bigbangtheory]

Love Oppo, but this is too little too late...

[Dezoris]

They have taken standard DVD playback to the max in their previous models.
With this one they just improved on it. But it begs the question how much can you stretch DVD picture quality.

I have a PS3 and Oppo now and can't tell the difference in picture quality between them. So why would I want to spent another 300.

Most people won't at this point.

[krabapple]

In the Fifth Element Oppo vs BluRay comparison, it looks to me like there's more going on there than just resolution difference....I suspect that video mastering is significantly different (the BluRay version looks 'brighter' for example). This si the sort of thing that makes direct comparison of formats difficult.

Also, note that the Oppo decodes HDCD -- a rare thing these days.

I'd have no hesitation grabbing the Oppo 983 if/when my current Oppo 970 gives up the ghost.

[Clint DeBoer]

We talk about this player review in today's AVRant podcast. Look for it to post tomorrow.

[abefroeman]

When will we see oppo make an HD player?

[ned]

Originally Posted by abefroeman

When will we see oppo make an HD player?

That would be inevitable.

[abefroeman]

I know, I'd like to see an inexpensive BD player that decodes lossless audio and has 7.1 outs. I could see oppo making something like that.