Oppo bop 103 vs d

[Sams]

Is the darbee version worth fiddling around with on a plasma tv? I would prefer to save $100, but if its worth experimenting with darbee I don't mind paying the premium.

 

[j_garcia]

I think we've had that discussion when the D came out and the answer was probably not a deal breaker to go without it.

 

[TheWarrior]

Is the darbee version worth fiddling around with on a plasma tv? I would prefer to save $100, but if its worth experimenting with darbee I don't mind paying the premium.

I just helped set up and tweak a 103D on an LED. The Darbee processing has varying levels of filtering, so you get to decide how much processing you want to use (it has a button the remote). Fifth Element (which I am 95% certain was shot on film) would develop a grainy texture in some scenes as a result of the up conversion (so we turned the processing down), whereas Mad Max: Fury Road just looked better and better!

From experience, I own the BDP-93 and a Panasonic plasma. When I purchased my Oppo, I compared it to an ordinary player, on multiple TVs and the difference was night and day. It seems the Darbee upgrade DOES improve over the standard Oppo processing. But until I can compare them side by side, I can only assume I will prefer the Darbee.

 

[fuzz092888]

I just helped set up and tweak a 103D on an LED. The Darbee processing has varying levels of filtering, so you get to decide how much processing you want to use (it has a button the remote). Fifth Element (which I am 95% certain was shot on film) would develop a grainy texture in some scenes as a result of the up conversion (so we turned the processing down), whereas Mad Max: Fury Road just looked better and better!

From experience, I own the BDP-93 and a Panasonic plasma. When I purchased my Oppo, I compared it to an ordinary player, on multiple TVs and the difference was night and day. It seems the Darbee upgrade DOES improve over the standard Oppo processing. But until I can compare them side by side, I can only assume I will prefer the Darbee.

While you can't compare to the normal processing chip, did you use the demo mode when using the 103D? Where it applies processing to half the screen and leaves it off on the other half? It's also easy to quickly turn it on and off.

 

[TheWarrior]

While you can't compare to the normal processing chip, did you use the demo mode when using the 103D? Where it applies processing to half the screen and leaves it off on the other half? It's also easy to quickly turn it on and off.

I dunno why I didn't see this earlier....

Yes, tried the side by side and the slow scan. Tried the awesome brightness of Mad Max, and then Star Trek for blacks, and Fifth Element for general color. That was my very scientific calibration method, and it worked well enough that Kurt had me upstairs modifying another system for his daughter. Glad to be of assistance!

 

[j_garcia]

I just helped set up and tweak a 103D on an LED. The Darbee processing has varying levels of filtering, so you get to decide how much processing you want to use (it has a button the remote). Fifth Element (which I am 95% certain was shot on film) would develop a grainy texture in some scenes as a result of the up conversion (so we turned the processing down), whereas Mad Max: Fury Road just looked better and better!

Fifth Element does have a lot of scenes shot on film and there is a lot of grain in the master prints. It is still very evident in the 4K rescan in some scenes. Mad Max looks great no matter how you look at it

 

[XEagleDriver]

Is the darbee version worth fiddling around with on a plasma tv? I would prefer to save $100, but if its worth experimenting with darbee I don't mind paying the premium.

Using with a Samsung 65" plasma and enjoying it.
As others have noted, the remote makes it easy to turn on/off/adjust on the fly.
XEagleDriver