Technical Issues and Questions

[Morbii]

Chaddoli or any other forum participant who might answer this:

I too have an Oppo, with HDMI connection to a Panasonic 50" plasma TV, and am quite happy with the upconverted image of my standard DVDs. As yet, I haven't gone to a Blu-ray but will before the year's end. My concern has to do with BD player's ability with standard DVDs. My understanding is that the image is rather lackluster, although I am hoping that there might be exception(s) to this. At the moment I am thinking of having two players - a BD and the Oppo for my standard DVDs. Any comments from participants will be appreciated.

That would depend on your BD player, most likely. However, I suspect that most oppos will probably outperform most BD players in the end to the philes. I use my oppo for DVD and my PS3 for blu-ray currently. They do look slightly different (and honestly, I'm still not certain that I prefer the oppo over the PS3 for DVD playback yet because the oppo makes things look a bit soft at times - it could just be the encode on the disc itself though, but I'm doubting it more and more).

[fiddlesticks]

Your Oppo is all-region, while your BR player is very likely to be region-locked (at least if you are in the USA). That is reason enough to keep them both hooked up. Furthermore, I doubt that any BR player you can find will outperform the Oppo, especially if the Oppo is a 980 or better. I always use my Oppo (980) for SD discs on my 40" Samsung LCD and am completely satisfied. (It should be noted, however, that my BR player is in my laptop, which I hook up to the Sammy via HDMI when I want to play a BRD, so the inconvenience alone would make me disinclined to use it as a SD player.)

[swo17]

I suspect that most oppos will probably outperform most BD players

This begs the question--when will Oppo come out with a BD player?

[chaddoli]

Yes, I keep both hooked up. SDs look good on my PS3 as well - to be honest I can't tell much of a difference. The main reason I keep both is that I use the Oppo to play multi-region discs.

[tubal]

I've got an Oppo 981 for upscaling SD-DVDs and it makes a very nice job. I also have a PS3 and have watched a lot a Blu-rays recently. I cannot see how the Oppo could possibly come close to some of the Blu-ray images I have seen. The highlight for me so far has been 2001 - incredible to see in HD. I have a 1080p Toshiba 37" LCD screen so I would reckon on a 50" Plasma it would look sensational.

It has been argued that the PS3 makes a better job of upscaling than the Oppo 981 (not sure how it compares to the new 983) but I have yet to test this myself. I live in the UK and watch a lot of R1 DVDs so I cannot use my region-locked PS3 to watch them so I'll be holding onto both for the time being. I love listening to SA-CDs on my Oppo but I cannot do this on my PS3 (older models could play SA-CDs). The possibilities for the PS3 however are huge. It's great as a media centre and games machine too.

My advice would be to keep your Oppo, buy a PS3 and, if you don't already have one, get an HDMI receiver like an Onkyo for superb HD sound. If you can afford to do it you won't regret it.

[Davidspector]

Thanks to you all for your suggestions and advice --

[swo17]

I suspect that most oppos will probably outperform most BD players

This begs the question--when will Oppo come out with a BD player?

Answered my own question (sort of).

For those interested, all I could find out about Oppo making a BD player was:

early in development phase (2/20/08)

"We have not yet aligned ourselves to the Blu-Ray high definition video format." (2/22/08)

believed to be about a year away (4/27/08)

[kinjitsu]

We are working on a Blu-Ray player, and we are hopeful for a Winter release. However, it is out policy to only release a product when it meets our strict quality control.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

[exte]

I've found that the image quality I get from my 16x9 LCD is FAR, FAR superior when I use my cumputer's DVD player, outputting to the PC input on the LCD TV and with the pixel ratio set to the exact number of pixels the TV offers. DVI, line-doublers, etc can't touch that!

Probably due to your modern video card and drivers... What are you running?

[whaleallright]

Two questions:

The first: I'm curious if any of you can recommend a reasonably cheap (under or around $250) but reliable all-region DVD player. My Philips model died, and a lot of the models I was familiar with (the Philips I have, CyberHome, some Malatas) have gone off the market. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

The second: my last few DVD players were all alleged to be able to play AVI files with DIVX and other encoding. However none of them would actually play the DVD-Rs I've burned on my Mac with AVI files on them. I'm curious how anyone here using a Mac has been able to get their DVD players to play such discs, in the event that I need different hardware and/or need to find a different method of burning the discs. (I have the suspicion the problem is on the computer end, not the DVD player end.)

Thanks!

[fiddlesticks]

Two questions:

The first: I'm curious if any of you can recommend a reasonably cheap (under or around $250) but reliable all-region DVD player. My Philips model died, and a lot of the models I was familiar with (the Philips I have, CyberHome, some Malatas) have gone off the market. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I unreservedly recommend the Oppo players. The 980 can be had for about $170, and the 981 for about $230. They meet slightly different needs and can be compared here. I have a 970 (since gone off the market) and a 980 and am completely satisfied with both. They upconvert beautifully, hack to region-free easily, output native PAL if your TV can accept it, and are generally terrific machines. I also have or once had Malatas, Phillips, and Toshibas, and the Oppos are better across the board.

I also have a Philips PET1000 portable player which is fantastic. It has a component output which I've never tried, but if you are on a tight budget and have a need for a region-free portable, this could be a two-birds-with-one-stone solution for $2XX.

Can't help you with the second question, sorry.

[fdm]

I unreservedly recommend the Oppo players.

Is there a hack for the 983? [In case I need to someday replace my Malata...]

[fiddlesticks]

Is there a hack for the 983? [In case I need to someday replace my Malata...]

Yes, there is. I'm not sure how sensitive a subject this may be to the moderators, so I'll be evasiveand just say it's a simple procedure that seems to work on all three Oppo models.

I also have a Philips PET1000 portable player which is fantastic. It has a component output which I've never tried, but if you are on a tight budget and have a need for a region-free portable, this could be a two-birds-with-one-stone solution for $2XX.

(sorry for the breach of etiquette in replying to my own post!)
Deciding to stop being lazy, I just hooked up this little portable with the included component cables, and it looks great on my 40" Sammy. In fact, had I thought of this earlier, I might have just decided to use this as my primary SD player (as it is region-free) and save the $180 I spent on the Oppo. Definitely something to consider if you are in the market for a region-free SD player and have a use for a portable player.

I understand that Blu-ray players are hackable as SD DVD players. So there's always that option. I'm still holding off until the new gen players come out (and I haven't been following those developments so don't know when that'll be) but bought an upscaling standard dvd player when I bought a new plasma two weeks ago. Am in a bit of a purchasing limbo regards dvds as I'm trying to get a future strategy sorted.

My strategy involved a 42" plasma, an Oppo 983 and a PS3, which seemed the most cost-effective way of getting the best quality picture in as multiregion a way as possible, but it does unavoidably lock me into Region B when it comes to Blu-Ray.

The Oppo gets used 95% of the time (believe the hype: it's a phenomenal player), but I need to be Blu-Ray compatible by the autumn for professional reasons, so I didn't have much choice.

But hopefully someone will crack the region situation before too long - next year sometime, with any luck.

HKFlix is already selling a Sony BDP-S300 modified to play BD zone A/B (and SD region 1/2) discs, so there has been some progess. However, it's pricey as hell--the modification alone costs $420! Also, as reported above, Oppo is working on a BD player, and given their track record, I'd expect (or at least hope) that it will be all-zone, all-region, but I'd also expect it to cost a pretty penny.

[MichaelB]

Is there a hack for the 983?[In case I need to someday replace my Malata...]

Yes, there is. I'm not sure how sensitive a subject this may be to the moderators, so I'll be evasiveand just say it's a simple procedure that seems to work on all three Oppo models.

To my surprise, my 983 was multiregion straight out of the box - and even if it hadn't been, its UK supplier posts the relevant code on its website, so they don't seem bothered.

[fdm]

Is there a hack for the 983?[In case I need to someday replace my Malata...]

Yes, there is. I'm not sure how sensitive a subject this may be to the moderators, so I'll be evasiveand just say it's a simple procedure that seems to work on all three Oppo models.

To my surprise, my 983 was multiregion straight out of the box - and even if it hadn't been, its UK supplier posts the relevant code on its website, so they don't seem bothered.

Tempting... might be worth a try-out

The wife can kill me later...

[videozor]

Just purchased Sony portable DVD/CD player, DVP-FX820. Very useful for listening to commentaries, watching extras, etc. during my commutes to work and back home.

Could anyway provide a hack on how to set it for all-region?

Thank you!

[Antoine Doinel]

Google the model and "hack" and you should be able to find something.

[videozor]

Google the model and "hack" and you should be able to find something.

Thanks!
But looks like there is no known heck for this player, at least by now.
And there was not there a universally working one for the previous model, 810, either.
Bottom line: units sold in US are good for users involved with mostly R1 disks

[tojoed]

I have a handful of Region 1 DVDs which have Closed Captions, but, my wife, who is deaf, can't watch them because the captions are not accessible via the DVD menu.

Does anyone know if there is a CC decoder available in the UK, which can be linked from the DVD player to the TV?

Thanks and sorry if this has been asked before.

[kaujot]

I have a handful of Region 1 DVDs which have Closed Captions, but, my wife, who is deaf, can't watch them because the captions are not accessible via the DVD menu.

Does anyone know if there is a CC decoder available in the UK, which can be linked from the DVD player to the TV?

Thanks and sorry if this has been asked before.

Well, if it's closed captioning and not subtitles, you should be able to turn it on with your tv remote.

[tojoed]

Thanks, but I'm in the UK , the TV can't do it.

[skeets kelly]

i have a region-free jvc xv-s500 player that i've had for about 5 or 6 years. in order to watch some pal dvds i have to switch my progressive scan mode to 'film' or i get pulsing horizontal lines. but now in the film mode, i get excessive combing.

here's the thing...this seems like a new development. maybe i'm wrong, since i recently discovered that i could adjust the scan mode in order to get a better picture on pal discs (i know, it took me a couple years to figure this out...).

is this something i can fix?

i have an s-video hook up to a sony trinitron. the switch on the back of the player is set to 480p or remote. if i set it 480i, it goes all screwy but i would imagine this is for a digital setting? i don't even know.

hoping that someone can help me with this since i have a whole pile of MOC discs that i want to watch and they look terrible. so frustrated!

help!

*uhg, sorry, meant to post this in the all-region player advice thread...

[Gregory]

I'm far from the most technically knowledgeable person here, but I had a similar experience, either with the very same JVC player or one made right around the same time. However, in my case I only had this problem of a choice between two different playback flaws on one occasion. It was with an early MoC disc, Michael. They used different authoring after that release, which seemed to eliminate whatever problem the JVC was having with Michael. So I'm curious with how many discs you've had this happen, and how new or old were they?

[skeets kelly]

it actually started with the R2 disc of 'the search for the wrong-eyes jesus.' couldn't get the picture right on either video (pulsing lines) or film (combing).

for some reason i don't remember it on sunset (first one i bought a few months ago) but had some issues with tartuffe (minor) and most recently with asphalt (major). michael is coming my way, and i still have spione, fantastic planet and judex to check out.

i don't remember the combing issue on anything else. sometimes i can watch the PAL discs just on video with no problem (tv shows like my R2 red dwarf or futurama) but i also understand it's whether or not it's video sourced?

hm. if it is the early discs...now i want to bust out the newer ones and see what happens...

Edit: okay, i just checked some older R2 titles like brother and yakuza papers and they do the same thing. horizontal lines distortion in video and auto, and excessive combing in film. so...it seems like a problem with the player.

just threw in judex and...it's much better. the combing is very, very minor. but. still. i mean, does this mean i need to replace my player?

[nick]

Skeets: I have a similar player (XV-N412) but I use component cables to the television which is a Panasonic HDTV that can handle 480i, 480p, and 1080i. The back of the player is set on "remote." I have Progressive Scan turned on most of the time with a few exceptions (some DVD's with interlaced encoding display too much combing in Progressive Scan mode). Most DVD's with progressive encoding display fine using "auto" under the Picture Source, this includes most R2 MOC and BFI discs. A handful of R2 discs--especially those from Artificial Eye--require me to switch the Picture Source to "Film" which gets rid of a jittery edge on the top and bottom of the picture.

The key for me was using component cables as that allowed the player to output in progressive scan mode which alleviated 99.9% of combing. If your television has inputs for component cables, then I would suggest trying that before you toss the player.