Although they've teased details earlier in the year, OPPO has now released full specs and is accepting pre-orders of its upcoming 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player, the UDP-203. In addition to the high-end audio and video performance we've come to expect from OPPO, the UDP-203 should also be among the first players to support Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range). An even higher performance upgraded model, the UDP-205, is also in development for release some time in 2017.
The UDP-203 will ship with support for HDR10 high dynamic range (the current standard for Ultra HD content) and wide color gamut, but the company says that the hardware is fully compatible with Dolby Vision HDR. Support for Dolby Vision will be delivered via a free firmware upgrade some time next year.
As a true "universal" disc player, the UDP-203 supports CD, DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray 3D Disc and Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, as well as playback of various digital audio/video format files via its two USB ports. It can also playback audio/video files and digital photos stored on the owner's home network via a Gigabit hard-wired ethernet connection or the player's built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
According to OPPO, the player's customized quad-core video decoder/processor integrates the company's advanced video decoding, processing and optimization expertise. And their use of a high-precision, well-balanced laser optical disc loader ensures smooth and reliable playback of all types of disc media. The player includes dual HDMI outputs: an HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2-compatible port for connecting to the latest UHD TVs, projectors and A/V receivers, and an HDMI 1.4 audio port for connecting to legacy A/V receivers.
The UDP-203 (and upcoming UDP-205) will also offer comprehensive support for lossless high resolution audio. Supported file formats include AIFF, WAV, ALAC, APE and FLAC. The players can also play back Direct-Stream Digital audio files in stereo DSD64/128 or multi-channel DSD64. With internal decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and bitstream output for immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos, AURO-3D and DTS:X, the UDP-203 should prove to be an excellent source for both music and movies. And if you're a fan of OPPO's high-end digital-to-analog capabilities (and who isn't?), then you'll appreciate the player's 7.1-channel analog outputs. These outputs benefit from the "Velvet Sound" 32-bit premium digital-to-analog converters from AKM of Japan. The UDP-205 will feature additional audio enhancements and upgrades which the company has not yet divulged.
The company is accepting pre-orders for the UDP-203 now at a pre-order price of $549 and expects to begin shipping the units shortly. The upgraded UDP-205 model is expected early in 2017.
More information on the OPPO web site:
