Oppo DV971H DVD Player Review

[gene]

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/oppoDV971Hdvdplayer1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 94px" alt=[oppo] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/oppo_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>This player has been hyped almost to the point of being the holy grail of DVD players. The main attraction behind this new player is its DVI output and ability to upconvert DVD source material to both 720p and 1080i (in addition to the expected 480p).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"></SPAN>In all honesty, for the $199 MSRP it really is a great player. The differences come down to black level, build quality, audio capability, bass management, and the responsiveness and usability. For the price you really can’t pass up the video quality of this player – especially if you’re looking for a source component to match with a digital display.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">[Read the Review]</SPAN></P>

 

[WndrBr3d]

Gene! Thanks for the excellent review! I look forward to seeing more DVD players put through the Audioholics Torture Test and see where they all stack up (ala Top-Gear, if there are any Car-holics out there).

The only 'Con' on the list which I feel is a complete joke is 'Runs Hot', I mean, lets be serious for a second. -ANY- player based on the FLI-23xx chip or any other chip in this processing range is going to 'run hot'. Granted, better ventilation could have been used on the player, but by no means will it be a performance OR environmental issue.

But overall I'm very glad to see how well this player performed, ESPECIALLY with its $199 price tag.

Thanks again for the review!

 

[gene]

The only 'Con' on the list which I feel is a complete joke is 'Runs Hot', I mean, lets be serious for a second.

Actually I think its a valid concern considering many people tend to stack gear. By bringing attention to this, it lets people know placement limitations.

Thanks for discussing our Con's list. I just realized we forgot to mention two of the biggest Cons of the player that we discussed in the review. Thus we updated accordingly.

• Inaccurate black/white level setting for factory default

• Macroblocking enhancement bug present when properly calibrated

 

[Sheep]

see, good things can come from negativity I mean

The Sheep

 

[Takeereasy]

Nice review Clint. It still seems like a heck of a player for the price point, but it's nice to see the flaws of the player pointed out instead of just the virtues. I am wondering how it would stack up next to the Panasonic S77. I know that the s77 has a higher MSRP but retail prices are actually much closer together. Anyway, I'm not going to wander too far off topic. Again nice review, and congrats to oppo for putting out a good product at a very reasonable price point. Look forward to more DVD Player reviews in the future.

 

[jcPanny]

Upscalling comparision

Audioholics,
Great review, I am very interested in this player and appreciate your feedback.
It would be interesting to see you run the upscalling capabilities of the new Yamaha RX-V2600 through your DVD torture test with a 480i or 480p HDMI input from a reference player. This would allow potentional owners to determine the determine the "value" of this feature of the new yamaha.

Takeereasy,
Secreats of home theater ran the oppo through the same testing as the panasonic, Denon, and other entry level and flagship models. Based on their results, it scored second only to the Denon 5910.

 

[aarond]

Takeereasy,
Secreats of home theater ran the oppo through the same testing as the panasonic, Denon, and other entry level and flagship models. Based on their results, it scored second only to the Denon 5910.

The s77 and the oppo both scored 94 points. the s77 passed every test and the oppo didn't, but was faster

 

[gene]

Secreats of home theater ran the oppo through the same testing as the panasonic, Denon, and other entry level and flagship models. Based on their results, it scored second only to the Denon 5910.

Its kinda silly to rank the Oppo so closely to the Denon DVD-5910 especially since we found the two players are light years apart in our HQV scoring, our benchmark tests, and visual tests. There is no doubt the Oppo is a great DVD player, but it isn't in the same league as even a Denon DVD-3910 let alone a 5910. Its like trying to say a Ford Focus handles as good as a Corvette Z06 b/c they both can take corners at 15mph without slippage

 

[Sheep]

Its kinda silly to rank the Oppo so closely to the Denon DVD-5910 especially since we found the two players are light years apart in our HQV scoring, our benchmark tests, and visual tests. There is no doubt the Oppo is a great DVD player, but it isn't in the same league as even a Denon DVD-3910 let alone a 5910. Its like trying to say a Ford Focus handles as good as a Corvette Z06 b/c they both can take corners at 15mph without slippage

Yeah I also wouldn't put the 5910 in the same class. But, the ford focus actually handles pretty well

The Sheep

 

[Magoo]

Nice review. For $199, it appears to be a pretty darn good unit.
I am hoping to see the audio review soon, as it's abilities (or lack therof) for music playback will be the deciding factor for me on this unit vs something else.

 

[Takeereasy]

Aarond beat me to it, but the oppo and s77 both scored the same, and panasonic has been updating the hell out of their DVD players and the s77 is HDMI ready, supports progressive scan using its component outs, etc. The s77 is supposed to have a very solid audio section as well as an incredible video section. I read too that the s77 has bass management, and I'm curious as to whether or not it is full management or limited like the Oppo's. I'm in no way knocking the Oppo offering, it seems like a huge bargin buy especially, like Clint pointed out in his comprehinsive review, if you are looking for a video only component. I just would like to see how the two stack up. I think my next DVD player will be the s77, or whatever the new varient of that player will be by the time I get around to needing a new one.

 

[htbuff]

Compared to HK DVD22

I have had this Oppo DVD player for about 3 weeks now. I bought the player mainly due to the hype, and the review in hometheatersecrets web site. Paid $199.00 direct from oppo. I use a Optoma H31 projector with the unit. Just a few months ago I bought a Harman/Kardon DVD22 player after reading reviews. The HK DVD 22 does not have a DVI/HDMI output. But uses the pixel-by-pixel de-interlacing, which produces excellent picture quality in progressive mode. I was so impressed with that unit. And the sound output from the HK DVD22 was really great. The sound really had the punch to it. And the HK DVD22 was a perfect built unit. In general I am happy with Oppo. The picture quality with my Optoma H31 is identical compared to HK DVD22, if not better. I tried playing the Cliffhanger Superbit edition, and did not notice any difference in picture quality compared to HK DVD22. I am using the DVI output with Oppo. However, the one major difference I noticed was playing poor quality DVDs, which are mastered in Interlaced mode, and Letterboxed, rather than enhanced widescreen. These DVDs look really brilliant in Oppo. Most of the DVDs I watch are south Indian movies, which are generally mastered for a small screen TV. All these DVDs look very clean and absolutely sharp. So, that is the only major difference I would say comapred to HK. I am using all monster cables. The one disapointing fact is the sound quality of Oppo. I am using the digital coax output to connect with a Sony AV receiver, and I notice a big difference in the sound quality compared to HK DVD22. Both Dolby and DTS sounds a bit dull with Oppo. Also, somewhere I read using 720p output with Oppo player with EDTV increases the picture quality compared to using 480p mode. However, I did not notice any difference in either mode. The picture looks the same. One other limitation, the remote is not so well designed, and is not backlit. The overall build quality is average. Well, I am going to keep this unit, I have wanted to see a player with Faroudja DCDi for a long time. And this unit has fulfilled that desire.

 

[larryd]

audio quality

can anyone comment on the audio quality of the oppo through digital output? i need to urgently decide between the oppo or denon 2910, and while the oppo's picture quality seems equal or better, i have not been able to audition it with music sources. this will be my only dvd/cd player so will need to have good audio for standard cds (not too worried about high-res audio formats for now). the price of the oppo is attractive, but not at the cost of audio performance. does the quality through coaxial digital output really differ from one player to another? someone help me out....

 

[jaxvon]

Nope, unless there is something horridly wrong with a player, all players will sound the same via digital connections. Keep in mind that SACD and DVD-A must be played over a player's analog outputs.

 

[1khpsupra]

I really enjoying mine so far for the 1 week I have had it. My sony had trouble with several of my import Japanese movies, skipping frames. The oppo plays them all with much better detail and resolutions. Just received my AVR4806 yesterday evening and connected to the HDMI input (1) via the supplied oppo cable. Then connected the HDMI out from the Denon to the HDMI input on the 62hm195. Unfortunately all video is overlaid with a large amount of green. I was only able to spend 2 hours yesterday evening with the Denon so many it’s a configuration error on my part? Only negative I have so far is the DVD tray, that has a very fragile feeling to it.

 

[Hawkeye]

Larryd wrote:
"does the quality through coaxial digital output really differ from one player to another? someone help me out...."

jaxvon wrote:
Nope, unless there is something horridly wrong with a player, all players will sound the same via digital connections.

When using the digital output from the player you are then relying on another source, usually a receiver, to do the digital to analog conversion. The resulting sound would really depend on the quality of the receiver's DACs would it not? If the player's DAC's are of better quality than the receiver's DAC's then analog connections may be the way to go. However doing this "may present a problem to those who enjoy listening listening to DSP modes or want to really reproduce excellent 5 channel DD/DTS." http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/buyingguides/AVreceiversbuyingguide.php

That's why its so important to listen before you buy audio equipment so you know exactly what you're getting.

 

[1khpsupra]

Upate on the oppo, I did dvi to dvi on my 4806 and still greenish tint. Anyone here with this combination that could chime in?

 

[Bodymechanic]

I've had my Oppo for a few months now and am totally happy. The picture quality is fantastic. THe only negative for me has been the macroblocking. I do notice it from time-to-time but my family sitting around me does not . Maybe I should just increase my meds

One of the main reasons I went to the Oppo was the DVI output. It's nearly impossible to find DVI out now. Everything has gone to HDMI but my Samsung DLP has only DVI in. When transitioning from HDMI to DVI it causes ( forgive my lack of technical expertise here) the TV to do something like RGB color mode as in a computer monitor. So the picture quality really takes a digger when watching a movie with a lot of blacks or dark shades of gray. I had a samsung HD950 (HDMI out) before the Oppo and read that you could disable something in it that would prevent this. I followed the proceedure, the DVD player responded as described but there was virtually no difference in the picture quality afterwards.

In a couple of years I'm sure I will have upgradeitis bad enough to purchase a new TV with HDMI in or firewire or whatever the latest-greatest is at that time. Something that will be able to produce 1080P and such. At that point I will be sure to budget for a new DVD player to accomodate the new scenario.

BUT, for now, the Oppo is a great DVD player and is a perfect fit for my situation. I only wish it could play SACD along with DVD-A. It seems like it's much harder to find good content in DVD-A than SACD.

Kind wishes and Happy Thanksgiving

 

[mikey d]

i read the review and i notice non progressive scan performance is bad.
what exactly does that mean...

if i have a 1080i tv will it perform poorly??

i like the fact that this player plays so many media types.
I download alot of foreign tv shows and movies for watching and sometimes converting to mpeg1 or 2 and burning to a dvd so i can watch is tediouse and time consuming and often looses video quality over their original xvid or divx avi file, file size problems get to be an issue to.

my old xbox currently handles this and it is more limited than some of the multi format stand alone players ive seen.

 

[mikey d]

the reason im asking is because i purchased a LG player that had hdmi upscaling and played a few mpeg-4 formats and it sucked.
its upscaling was trash. I had better results using regular 480i
the hdmi video quality wasnt really that great. componet looked much richer.

it was in the same price bracket as this.