OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio
From OPPO Digital
The OPPO DV-980H up-converting DVD player is designed to make your DVD collection look & sound its very best on HDTV. With support for 1080p displays, 7.1ch audio, USB2.0 & HD-JPEG viewing the unit is engineered to impress. The unit will play DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, SACD, HDCD, CD, DivX, XviD and much more.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #8266 in Consumer Electronics
- Color: Blank
- Brand: OPPO Digital
- Model: DV-980H
- Dimensions: 4.00" h x 14.00" w x 20.00" l, 7.50 pounds
excellent dvd player
Just to add my vote, this is an excellent DVD player. I use it with an older Sony LCD tv (XBR1, only goes to 1080i), and compared the picture, using a standard widescreen DVD, with my older Panasonic progressive scan Panasonic dvd player (480p output). The picture with this one is clearly superior.
As others have said, the whole thing reeks quality and attention to detail. A good quality HDMI cable is included, as well as standard video/audio cables in case you need them for troubleshooting. The packaging is a class above the industry.
If you want something for watching standard DVDs with a good HDTV, consider this one or the 981HD model.
Give your Standard-Def DVDs New Life
Until the HD/Blu-Ray hi-def DVD format war is resolved and the prices of those hi-def players and discs become sane, the Oppo DV-980H is an excellent choice and the price $169 is most reasonable (good quality HDMI cable is included!) I purchased this player directly from Oppo in early August 2007 (Amazon wasn't offering it at the time, so I paid an additional $12 shipping charge.) The upconversion to 1080p is outstanding (HDMI connection required. Fortunately my Sony 40" HDTV has 2 HDMI inputs.) I would say that on a standard def 16:9 DVD the picture quality at 1080p is about 60-70% of what you would get in hi-def. It is NOT hi-def, but it is as close as you can get without paying outrageous prices. It also will play other Region coded DVDs (with an easy hack.) The only issue I have encountered is that some DVDs that are 16:9 letterbox are not upconverted to full screen (the letterbox is constrained to 4:3 pillar box.) Don't know why this is. This happens on older DVD versions of 2001 (menu is full screen, but not the film itself), Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and a 16:9 version of A&E's Nero Wolfe. Other older letterboxed DVDs display just fine. (Is there some coding on the DVD preventing upscaled display? One of Life's DVD Mysteries, I guess.) Completely unrelated to the player's performance is Oppo's impressive packaging of the player. Somebody really cared about quality from the packaging on up. This player performs as advertised (can't ask more than that.)
Addendum Jan 3, 2008:
I purchased new special edition of 2001 and it plays great. Don't know what the issue was with the older release.
Addendum Jan 5, 2008:
It appears the high-def DVD format war is drawing to a close with Warner announcing, conveniently timed to just after the holiday shopping season, exclusive support of Blu-ray. Of course, until Blu-ray hardware and software costs drop substantially, the Oppo is still a good buy.
Excellent Picture Quality
I have a friend who just picked up this player and we watched a movie on it and it looks fantastic!!! I have an HD DVD player which does a great job of up-converting non-HD DVD movies to 1080p but this seemed a bit more sharp. I've seen cheaper players that do up-conversions but this one struck me as being much better. For me, the slight increase in sharpness isn't worth spending $200 for, but if you don't have anything to up-convert a DVD then this would be an excellent option at a decent price until you do pick up a high definition player.
