If you're a recent or even not-so-recent buyer of an HDTV, you know how tricky it can be to get standard definition content like DVDs to look good on a large screen. Sure, you can buy a Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD player, and select from the few hundred films and concert videos available in glorious high definition. But what about the tens of thousands of titles available already on standard DVD? This is where upconverting DVD players, such as OPPO Digital's DV-981HD DVD Player come in.
Of course, you can plug any DVD player into an HDTV and you'll get a picture. All HDTVs include built-in scalers which upconvert standard definition 480i or 480p signals to the native resolution of the HDTV itself, be that 1280x720, 1366x768, 1920x1080 or any other resolution. But the quality of this upconversion varies a great deal, from fair to sublime, depending on the specific brand and model of television. It may seem ridiculous that a fairly inexpensive DVD player could do a better job than a $2000+ HDTV in converting standard definition content to HD, but in some cases, this is exactly what happens. Is this one such case? Read on to find out.
This Thing Plays (Almost) Everything
In addition to standard DVDs and CDs, the OPPO player supports playback of DivX and Xvid-encoded AVI files, WMA, MP3, and JPEG file (stored on a data CD or DVD), and Kodak PictureCDs, as well as native playback of DVD-Audio and SACD discs. Unlike many other SACD or DVD-Audio players, the OPPO supports digital output of the DVD-Audio or SACD audio track via HDMI, so you won't need to wire this puppy up to your receiver with 6 unwieldy analog RCA cables just to get your multi-channel music on. For DVD-Audio, the player simply expands the MLP (Meridian Lossless Packets) audio to its underlying PCM track and passes that over the wire to a compatible receiver or processor. For SACD, it converts the native DSD audio track to multi-channel PCM as well. Because the player uses PCM, you'll be able to decode these signals with any HDMI 1.1-compliant receiver with on-board multi-channel PCM decoding.
For the most part, this DVD-Audio/SACD support worked great, simplifying my connection considerably and allowing me to listen to my small but enjoyable collection of titles in both formats. However once, when I played a couple of different format discs back to back (Roxy Music "Avalon" SACD, Queen "Night at the Opera" DVD-Audio) I got terrible sound - distortion and mismatched level oddities. Powering the player on and off solved the problem and this glitch only reared its ugly head once, so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. The fact that it supports both formats so well sets it apart from most other DVD players in its price range.
In terms of Xvid and DivX support, I did try a few test clips on both CDs and data DVDs. The player displayed the disc's folder structure and title list properly, and played back these clips without any glitches, respecting the embedded widescreen flag and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital (AC3) audio soundtrack where present. If you've got a collection of content in AVI format, the OPPO will allow you to play these files back quite handily on your main home theater rig.
The DV-981HD's remote control is nothing special. It includes glow keys but no backlighting, nor is it that easy to tell the difference between buttons by feel. The layout is reasonably intuitive, so you'll be able to get used to it, to feel your way around the frequently used controls. But if you have a universal remote like a Logitech Harmony, Monster or Universal Electronics model, your best bet is to get the functions of the OPPO in there right away and stick this remote in a drawer somewhere. You won't miss it.
Video Torture Tests, Courtesy of Silicon Optix
We've seen upconverting DVD players in the past that have done a decent job converting standard def content to high resolutions, but usually when we hit them with the most demanding video and film-based material, they fall down on one or another test. One of the best test discs we've seen is Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark disc. It features all manner of de-interlacing, detail and 3:2 film cadence detection tests, some of which make the lesser DVD players cry uncle. But not so on the OPPO.
On the de-interlacing "jaggies" tests (waving flag and moving diagonal line test patterns), the OPPO performed just about as well as our $800 Toshiba HD-XA2 HD-DVD player - a player which includes Silcon Optix' own HQV video processor in it. That is to say it passed these tests with flying colors with virtually no stair-stepping distortion in any of the three tests.
On the difficult "film detail" test - an extract from "Super Speedway" with a race car zooming around a track - the player locked to the inherent 3:2 cadence in under half a second, producing clean solid lines in the grandstands. This is something I've seen more expensive components fail at pretty miserably.
In the noise reduction tests, the OPPO's performance was good but not outstanding. But really, this type of processing is more important for broadcast television (not for DVDs). Most DVDs, particularly recent releases and re-masters, don't have too much of a problem with video noise, except for fairly mild MPEG2 artifacts. So this isn't a major drawback. On the final test, which overlays scrolling video titles on top of film-based content, the player reproduced both types of content beautifully, with no judder or graininess in the titles or background material.
For actual DVD titles, we fired up "The Fifth Element" (Superbit version), "Gladiator" (extended edition) and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (extended edition). Having recently spent some time with the Blu-ray Disc version of "Fifth Element" (re-mastered version), I was expecting to find it painful to watch the standard DVD version, but on the OPPO, it was anything but that. The OPPO's 1080p output to a Toshiba 1080p LCD HDTV produced detailed, colorful images that approached the quality of true HD.
The professor's beard in chapter 2 (Fifth Element) was presented with excellent detail without being over-exaggerated or grainy. In the regeneration sequence, where Leeloo (Milla Jovavich) is reassembled in all her splendor from a DNA sample, skin tones, hair color ("shocking pink") and set details were naturally and believably presented. Compared to the Blu-ray Disc version, there was some loss of detail and less depth to the image, as well as slightly muted colors, but I didn't feel compelled to eject the standard DVD disc in favor of the Blu-ray version. In fact, I kind of forgot I was watching a DVD and got wrapped up in the movie for a while, and that's the whole point, isn't it?
On the "Gladiator" DVD, the Rome/Coliseum flyover sequence is a challenge for any scaler and de-interlacer. Poor de-interlacer behavior can create blurring and stair-stepping patterns on the roofs of buildings. The OPPO had no such problem, with solid lines and clean detail on the rooftops and streets.
In "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," complex CGI-heavy battle sequences looked remarkably real, and all of the wonderful lines in Gandalf's (Ian McKellen's) face came through in vivid detail. Also, the film's DTS-ES discrete 6.1-channel soundtrack was passed properly to our Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver via HDMI. This will do (at least for me) until the film is released in HD.
Overall, the player does an outstanding job in converting standard definition content to high resolution output, all the way up to 1080p/60 Hz. I would have liked to see a 1080p/24 (24 Hz) output option. Considering how good the player is at detecting the 3:2 cadence of film-based material, this is a bit of a missed OPPOrtunity. (-: But in light of the fact that several more expensive DVD and next generation format players also lack this feature, I can't be too harsh about its omission on a $230 DVD player.
Final Thoughts
All in all, when watching DVDs on the OPPO DV-981HD, it was easy to forget that I wasn't watching real high definition material. Instead of a select few titles available on HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc, I got to enjoy all of my DVDs on a large screen 1080p flat panel, without having to wince at the quality. It won't quite make standard DVDs look as good as their Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD counterparts, but while the viability of those formats is still in question, and the selection of films in either format remains woefully slim, the OPPO DV-981 will get you a good part of the way there, letting you sit by the sidelines while the format war plays itself out. Recommended for film-loving HDTV owners everywhere.
Where to Buy:
Features and Specifications:
Universal DVD Player Features:
Video Up-Conversion Features:
Optimized Audio Features:
Convenience Features:
Connectors:
Accessories Included:
General Specification:
Manufacturer's Contact Details:
OPPO Digital, Inc.
2629B Terminal Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
E-Mail: service@OPPOdigital.com
Phone: (650) 961-1118
Web site: www.OPPOdigital.com
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Value | |
| Performance | |
| Features/Ergonomics |
