Oppo Releases New DV-970HD DVD Player for $149!

[zoran]

Thanks man!! I cant wait!! I am trying a samsung 960, that seems crapolla video performance imho!

 

[WndrBr3d]

Review is under way...

I hope you mean writing it You guys spent enough time with the unit to write a user guide but not enough time to get a good reviewable impression?!

Hah! I look forward to the review.

 

[dpnaugle]

ill be waiting

149 is a smoking price, but for another up upconverting unit? I think Ill wait untill there is a true HD/ BR DVD market dabble in.

 

[Geo]

...The 970HD is not a replacement for the 971H. If both are used as stand-alone players the 971H is a better player...

...If you have a scaler (using the newer chips like Gennum VXP, Realta HQV, NSC) then the 970HD is the player to get....The goal here was to provide a cheaper alternative to SDI modding of a player by providing a clean 480i over HDMI output for external scalers, or for the newer outboard de-interlacing and scaling solutions accepting 480i over HDMI....If you have better outboard de-interlacing and scaling, then the 970HD is for you. But if you want a stand-alone player with good internal de-interlacing and scaling, then you need the 971.

So I have a friend who has a new 50-inch, Pioneer Elite PureVision Pro-1130 plasma (WXGA 1280 x 768, 480i/1080i/720p) with two HDMI ports and (I think) two component video ports. Which Oppo (971H or 970HD) would be most appropriate and why? He does not yet have a DVD player.

 

[jriihi]

So I have a friend who has a new 50-inch, Pioneer Elite PureVision Pro-1130 plasma (WXGA 1280 x 768, 480i/1080i/720p) with two HDMI ports and (I think) two component video ports. Which Oppo (971H or 970HD) would be most appropriate and why? He does not yet have a DVD player.

From what i have read so far 970HD is better with that pioneer plasma due to good internal scaling/deinterlacing from 480i -> 1280x768p. So 970HD 480i HDMI output in this case makes it better choice.

 

[davelee98]

I received the OPPO 970HD. Quick summary: Plays everything I've thrown at it, including DivX on a DVD-R, SACD, etc.. Quality on pressed DVDs passed at 480i via HDMI to Samsung 50" 1080p DLP set looks excellent. When playing SACD or MP3/DivX discs, you get a windows explorer like file browser interface. There are some "gotchas" on playing SACD however.

Using the "release" firmware, SACD gets translated into multi-channel PCM (~ 88 khz per channel) to get sent over HDMI. However, my Denon 4806 receiver only recognizes the front left and front right channels in the signal. If you flash with the "beta" firmware, all 5.1 channels of PCM via HDMI gets recognized by the receiver. ***BUT*** the beta firmware has serious bugs playing DivX / DVD's including random "crackle flame log" sounds and occasional LOUD bursts of high-frequency tweeter killing square waves (which had me running to turn off the receiver.) For the time being, I am back to the release firmware until they get the bugs out, and listening to stereo SACD rather than analog 5.1 decoded by the OPPO.

Question for all: When the Denon 4806 receives multi-channel PCM over HDMI, does it still do DSP processing, including speaker delays? Or do you need to set that up in the DVD Player?

By the way, if OPPO gets the multi-channel PCM thing fixed, it will quite possibly be the cheapest digital SACD transport out there...

 

[Quadzilla]

"SACD via PCM"?

Hi All,
I'm a bit of a newby when it come to a lot of this stuff but still very interested. Can someone explain what is meant by "SACD via PCM" in the description of the Oppo? I know what SACD is but dont know whats meant by "SACD via PCM". I may be looking for something to replace my dying Pioneer DV-588 and would consider the Oppo as long as I knew the video & audio quality were at least as good as the Pioneer. Thanks!

 

[davelee98]

SACD via PCM

Hi All,
I'm a bit of a newby when it come to a lot of this stuff but still very interested. Can someone explain what is meant by "SACD via PCM" in the description of the Oppo? I know what SACD is but dont know whats meant by "SACD via PCM". I may be looking for something to replace my dying Pioneer DV-588 and would consider the Oppo as long as I knew the video & audio quality were at least as good as the Pioneer. Thanks!

Quadzilla, I meant that the OPPO converts the SACD's native DSD data stream to multi-channel 88kHz PCM. This signal is then sent over the HDMI connector to a receiver which decodes the PCM signal and uses its DACs to create the analog signal for the speakers. I suppose in theory the DSD to PCM conversion should be possible to do entirely in the digital domain...

So far the oppo is the only player to use this method to deal with SACD.

 

[Audioholics]

When the Denon 4806 receives multi-channel PCM over HDMI, does it still do DSP processing, including speaker delays?

Absolutely.

ALL: Be sure to see our update on the HDMI audio output.