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The DV-981HD is the latest incarnation in Oppo's highly aclaimed line of upconverting DVD players. It offers an HDMI interface (HDMI Specification 1.1), with HD upconversion ouput resolutions of 720p, 1080i, and full 1080p. This is Oppo's most full-featured player yet, and as such, it's not a DVD player for people with regular analogue sets. While the DV-981HD doesn't offer component output, and doesn't output standard or native resolution, it does represent one of the best (if not the best) upconverting DVD players out there, and it's perfect for people with HDTVs up to full 1080p who aren't ready to jump on the HD DVD or Blu-ray bandwagen. In addition to excellent upconversion, the DV-981HD offers playback of a whole host of formats including DVD-Audio, Super Audio CS (SACD), Audio CDs, HDCD, WMA, Kodak Picture CDs, all version of DivX including DivX6, as well as Xvid, .SRT, .SMI, .IDX, and .SUB file formats. Audio Features
The DV-981HD outputs audio in stereo or in 5.1 channel surround, either via HDMI, or through the included 5.1 analogue outputs. Other connections include S-Video out, and digital coaxial and optical audio outs. It features 24-bit, 192 kHz high resolution audio D/A converters, supports virtual surround in six settings, and has built-in equalizer, channel trim, and channel delay functions. Farudgja DCDi Technology
Rather than trying to build their own upconversion technology for this machine, the Oppo DV-981HD the DCDi Faruja technology from Genesis Microchips. In addition to upscaling a DVD's native 720x480 interlaced video to 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, Farudja technology also detects content that has gone through 3:2 pull down to convert film content to NTSC for video, and recreates the original frames by blending the fields back together. It then processes for any edit mistakes and reconstrucs an accurate signal, producing an image free of motion artifacts. The unique DCDi algorithm can also identify moving edges within an image and adjust interpolation at a pixel level to create smooth edges for on-screen objects, eliminating the jaggy edges that commonly result from other upconversion techniques. Farudja processing also uses a proprietary "TruLife Enhancement" technology to identify transitions in the image considered to be details such as skin texture, freckles or hair, and enhance those to bring more detail in an image to life on the screen. This approach avoids image artefacts common with the peaking filter approach used by other systems for detail enhancement. The Farudja system uses temporal filtering for noise reduction, and can achieve 6 to 10 dB of Noise reduction without introducing artefacts or losing sharpness in the image. Connections:
- HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface: 1
- Analog Stereo Audio (Mixed 2-Channel Left/Right): 1 group (2 connectors)
- Analog 5.1 Channel Audio: 1 group (6 connectors)
- S/PDIF (IEC-958) Coaxial Digital Audio: 1
- S/PDIF (IEC-958) Optical Digital Audio: 1
- Composite Video: 1
- S-Video: 1
- No Component Video (YPbPr/YCbCr) on the DV-981HD model. This model is designed for use with a display device with HDMI or DVI digital video input.
Compared with Other Oppo DVD player models
At the time of this writing, Oppo also has the DV-970HD upconverting player, and their original OPD971H model. Of these three models, the DV-981HD is the only that upconverts to full 1080p, the other models offer upconversion to 720p or 1080i only. Both the DV-981HD and the DV-970HD offer Super Audio CD (SACD) playback, the OPDV971H does not. The other major difference to consider is that the DV-981HD and the OPDV971H both use Farudja processing for video upconversion. The DV-970HD uses a different upconversion system that may not be as full featured as the Farudja. For this reason Oppo recommends the DV-981HD, or the OPDV971H for use with larger screen HDTVs 50 inches or greater, while the DV-970HD is only recommended for HDTVs smaller than 50-inches. Oppo recommends the DV-970HD for use with external video processors or scalers, and suggests careful calibration of both the DV-981HD and the OPDV971H when used with DLP HDTVs. Both of these players are good for use with DLP HDTVs, but for the best picture, some setup time is required. For disply with a DVI input on your HDTV, an HDMI-DVI adapter is required with both the DV-981HD and the DV-970HD models. What's in the Box
Oppo DV-981HD upconveting DVD player, a High-quality certified HDMI cable with gold-plated HDMI connectors, Remote control with "glow in the dark" keypad (batteries included), Stereo audio cable, Composite video cable, and User manual and warranty information.
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 perfect region free player |
| Review Date: December 30, 2006 |
| Reviewer: SL, RI |
Unbelievalbe picture quality like all other reviewers are saying. Changing the player to Region 0 (all region) is easy: 1. Press Setup on remote control to access the setup page, 2.Enter 9210 on the remote 3.A service menu will pop up, 4. Select a region: 0- 6 in region code. 0 is all-region. Press Setup on remote again to exit. It should play all region and PAL discs. Hope that helps.
(added 12/18/07)
I've been using this player for a year now and I still LOVE it. My friend gave me a DVD with several movies in AVI and an XVid formats. Typically, I would have to watch these movies on my PC. I was pretty psyched to find that Oppo will play the files. When I popped in the disc, I see a blue menu with all the files. The player decodes each selected file and it had no problem playing 3 out of the 4 AVI files. For some reason, one of the AVI files won't play. The XVid file played fine. The quality of these compressed AVI files, as you can imagine, isn't great. But depending on the source of the AVI file, the output quality to a 46" HDTV is almost as good as a DVD and much better than VCD or VCR quality. |
Fantastic video, fantastic packaging, only minor flaws
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| Review Date: February 16, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Lisa Shea, |
We do movie reviews very frequently, so having a high quality DVD player is very important to us. As you probably know if you're into DVDs, the resolution on a DVD is higher than regular TV can show, but less sharp as a high definition TV. That's why Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs are coming on the market, to provide true high definition quality.
However, many of us with high definition TVs have a substantial library of regular DVDs that we still wish to watch and enjoy on our higher quality systems. In many cases these are DVDs that may never be released in a high def format, or personal videos that are simply not in high def format. That's where upconverting DVD players come into play. They help to convert the lower quality signal on a DVD into a high def level of quality, as best they can, by interpolating the existing signal and filling in the details.
We've tested several upconverting units as they get released, and to be honest in most cases the TV did a better job of this task working with a regular DVD player, vs having a DVD player that tried to do that task for the TV. So we approached the test of the Oppo DV-981HD with some trepidation. Would it really work well?
First off, the packaging. We were VERY impressed with how this came shipped! I've got to say it's one of the best packed electronic items we've ever seen, and being game reviewers and electronic gadget fans, we get quite a lot. Kudos to the shipping team for this. "Brilliant", says my boyfriend.
The unit itself is extremely nicely designed. We have several other slim items in our shelves and this really takes the cake. The lights and displays are still easy to read, but the height is extremely short. Perfect for people short on space. It stays nice and cool, too.
The remote has great, glowing buttons that make it very easy to use in the dark. The fast forward / reverse buttons have a great range of speeds. We've got probably 8 remotes on our table and this really stands out as being one of the easiest to use.
All of this wouldn't matter if the picture was awful. But we were really impressed with how *lovely* this made regular DVDs look on our high def TV. Blacks were lush and deep. Colors were vibrant. On a title screen with metallic letters, the regular DVD player had them looking lifeless and flat - but with the Oppo they really did look three dimensional and metallic. Facial textures in particular were extremely nice. Yes, it's still not *true* HD - but that's not the point here. You get a HD player to play HD discs. This is for handling the library you already have of DVDs.
You really do get spoiled - if you're going to watch your existing DVDs, why not watch them with the highest quality image that you can? This will make it harder to test out other upconverters in the future.
Now, this unit isn't 100% perfect in every day. Case in point - the menus. These have got to be some of the worst looking menus I've ever seen on a unit. The letters are kludgy and fuzzy looking. Some menus have options off the bottom of the screen - but there's no scroll bar or other indication that there are more items down there. You just have to page down and see if anything happens.
Also, while I'm reviewing DVDs I often want to get a screenshot of an image to use. When you hit "pause" on this unit, the pause icon stays on the screen. With pretty much every other DVD player I've seen, the pause icon vanishes after a few moments. Not here! I'm also not overly fond of the logo floating around on the screen - but heck, you just turn that off. The tray itself is super thin and fragile, to go with the thin design. However, our PS3 and Wii all have a simple insert slot which works perfectly. Why didn't they use that here?
Really, I can airbrush out the pause lines from my screenshots, so really the only thing I'd want them to switch for a new version is to make it trayless. For an enhancement, we really would love to see a unit with a hard drive recorder as well, so that we can both play DVDs as well as record shows. This combo would make this our primary entertainment unit. Still, until then, this is a fantastic buy for anyone who has DVDs they'd like to watch. Highly recommended. |
Best Value to Bridge the DVD Platform War! + Great Audio too!
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| Review Date: December 28, 2006 |
| Reviewer: UhOhBadDog, Scaggsville, MD, USA |
Are you gun shy from having lost platform wars of the past?
Perhaps you bought into Betamax, MiniDisc, or maybe even a Rio right before the iPod launched? I'm certainly ready to let BluRay and HD-DVD battle it out until one's left standing! But this could take awhile... In the meantime, get yourself an Oppo Digital upconverting DVD player ASAP! These are The Best Value on the market today. But you already know that which is why you are reading this, isn't it? And you know there are other upconverting players out there...
But Oppo is the clear victor in today's marketplace. I recently acquired a Sony 46" XBR2 LCD and love the image I get with HD broadcast across my Verizon FiOS service. Just stunning. I sought similar results with DVDs and after much research I had about settled on the Oppo OPDV971H, which is their highly rated upconverting player (up to 1080i) - be sure to check with Audioholics and HomeTheaterHiFi sites for reviews and ratings buzz. Fortunately I was smart enough to visit the Oppo Digital site to find this newly released player that stretches the previous technology all the way up to 1080p!
We've had ours a couple weeks at this writing, and is it ever worth it! First of all, unboxing this feels high-end as it is both wrapped and protected quite well in the shipping box. Set up was a breeze, as this comes with HDMI connectivity, including a gold-plated cable. Even switching over to 1080p upconversion was simple. The remote is nice, much nicer than the older versions that have been panned so badly. Build quality, while not Fort Knox, is still decent for the price point, and the black finish is a nice change over past players. I like the blue lights, but for those that don't, they can be dimmed or turned off.
On to the important stuff. The image is quite simply stunning. Oppo has made great use of the available DCDi technology from Faroudja. As my wife and I tested various DVDs from our collection, we got so caught up in the viewing experience that we found ourselves watching whole movies when we intended to just view snippets. From our latest DVD additions, to Pixar animation, to the Three Stooges B/W, to collections of old B/W silents of Buster Keaton, the output is very impressive.
Other nice features include all of the various disc formats that are handled. Specifically, it will convert between NTSC/PAL, and also play most audio, video, and picture formats.
Finally, Oppo has a reputation for being a customer responsive company, and has made their players software upgradeable, and with this, have addressed previous concerns raised with their past players. Another example with this unit, is the new remote which is a direct response to customer feedback.
The Good/Great:
1. Image Output Quality is stunning
2. 480p/720p/1080i/1080p upconversion
3. HDMI cable is included
4. Price
5. Customer Service
6. Upgradeable
7. Excellent Audio capability (added 2/1/2007)
The "Okay":
1. Oppo logo sceensaver (it can be turned off)
2. No component video output (but it truly was not intended for this purpose. Oppo intends it for use with HDMI or DVI interface)
The "Bad"
1. None at this time
Stop searching and buy now, you've found the Holy Grail of today's DVD players!
***Updated 2/1/2007***
For starters, with another months' experience with this player, I want to emphasize that we are VERY, VERY pleased with this unit. The video continues to impress -- I don't want to mislead, it won't make a miracle of a rough transfer, but for sound standard def DVDs the upconversion is INCREDIBLE. What we've had further experience with that has been equally stunning is the audio performance. This unit handles it all (CD, SACD, DVD Audio, etc) very impressively, and as a result I must re-emphasize the value quotient. Short of Bluray and HD-DVD, this unit will handle virtually any disc in your collection. Thanks Oppo!
(Also available direct from Oppo) |
EXCELLENT - Beats others costing 2x as much!
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| Review Date: February 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Enigma, Palo Alto, CA USA |
There are so many great reviews on this unit I'm not sure I can add a lot, but I am so impressed and pleased that I wanted to underscore how awesome this product is.
I have a Denon DVD player that upconverts to 1080p that cost over $400. I've had it a little over a year and it has been acting up (not good for such a young unit). I needed something to connect to my Samsung 46" LCD HDTV so I started researching various units and happened upon this unit on Amazon. I have never heard of Oppo, but after reading the reviews and mentioning it to a co-worker who emphatically said "Buy it! You won't regret it!" I decided to go for it.
If packaging is any indication of the quality and care a company puts into its products, this is no exception. Packaging, while having no effect on the product itself is impressive. The unit is even encased in its own fabric, soft-lined sleeve.
PLUS, it comes with an HDMI cable saving you at least $100 on a decent one. To tell you the truth, I have a $150 Monster HDMI, which I just moved to another TV and used the one Oppo included. Can I tell the difference? Nooooooooo. Save your money.
This unit has a sleek, low profile form factor. Well constructed and pleasant blue lighting. It will fit in the tightest of spots and being half the height with more functionality than the Denon, one gets the sense that Denon needs to welcome in the new millenium.
As for operation... it has been working flawlessly for over a month. I appreciate the ease of use, luminescent remote buttons and the picture quality is better than what the more expensive Denon put out. I can rarely tell the difference of such things even side-by-side, but this unit's quality is definitely noticeable. As an added bonus, the 32x fast forward and rewind is GREAT. I am tired of these high-end units (like the Denon) that give you a *whopping* 4x.
And, how about the customer service? Well, I didn't need it through any fault of Oppo. I being wiring challenged thought something was wrong with the unit at first. I called Oppo, *almost* had to wait, and had a very helpful person on the other end. Very patient and helped me figure out what was wrong. And, you know what, sent me another HDMI cable 'just in case.' Wow.
Listen, before you buy any other unit, do a side-by-side comparison of this unit and its features. You will find the Oppo has more features and is less than half the price. Some cases 1/4 the price. Ask yourself, "do I really need to pay another n dollars just for a name?" I decided the answer was no and haven't looked back. In fact, I would guess Oppo will become the standard by which all others are compared and they will be THE name. |
Home Entertainment with the Oppo DV-981HD
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| Review Date: February 1, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. MOELLER, Half Moon Bay, California United States |
A lot has been written here about the wonderful video up-conversion of the Oppo DV-981HD.
And it's all true.
The Oppo DV-981HD does render a magnificent, color vibrant picture in 720P and 1080P for standard DVDs, but that's really just the beginning. For home entertainment enthusiasts this player brings a lot more to the table than just a pretty picture. This extremely versatile player excels in delivering exceptional hi-end audio playback in a variety of formats. HDCD and redbook CDs sound great, but this player really shines with the SACD and DVD Audio formats. It's a great feeling to finally be able to take any disk in your audio/video library and know the Oppo DV-981HD is going to deliver without breaking a sweat.
Leveraging your audio/video software investment is really what the Oppo DV-981HD is all about.
So five stars and two thumbs way up for Home Entertainment with the Oppo DV-981HD.
And that's the prettiest picture of all.
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