melasnus

Last chance, Guys...

Sonic

20 players left

I get the feeling that once stock is really over that prices on ebay will zoom, and sadly people will still buy them.

melasnus

No doubt prices will "zoom" on the used player market, but I don't know why that would be "sad."

Sonic

I know it's business but some selling them at near twice the price is sad for those who have no choice.

bunkaroo

I thought about maybe selling mine off since it wasn't open, but it felt wrong not to enjoy this player so I opened it this week. Quite an upgrade over my BDP-83! Much faster loading.

I'm torn on whether I should region mod this or not. My 83 has the internal kit so I could just keep that player around for my import Blu-ray's. But having both in my setup means they'll both turn on when I use the remote which is kind of a pain in the neck.

I don't have a 4K display or disc yet but I'm really feeling that itch now. I'm going to buy Black Panter next week and I'm thinking I might as well just buy the 4K since it has a Blu-ray anyway - I think there's a $7 difference. Last count I think I'd have about 8 movies I'd want to replace on 4K.

JackBurton

And now 900+ players left...

I do believe that they are ending production, but after jumping on a player as stock appeared to be dwindling (2 restockings ago) I'm not sure the "cart trick" gives an accurate count.

melasnus

You could just keep the 83 unplugged, until you actually need it for imports.

You should do so pronto, sir.
In addition to UHD disks, you'll be able to stream a lot of 4K stuff from NF, Amazon, etc.

Paul_SD

I believe it does. Though as always, I could easily be wrong.

According to Bob P over on AVS, Oppo is getting several smaller shipments in before one last final one in June (which I gotta think is going to be several orders of magnitude beyond these 600-900 bumps we've been seeing the last month).

Unless they somehow change their stated plans, June should see the final run of 203's followed by a final run of 205's a month or so later.

Kind of odd how the 203 has seen smaller shipments fairly regularly, while the 205 hasn't seen any at all.

The 203s still seem to be selling at a steady pace. If they get , let's say, 5000-10000 or more in for their last shipment, I wonder if that will cause people to hold off feeling there isn't any great urgency, or if they will keep moving at the same pace?

PhantomStranger

I thought stock on the 203 was dwindling down, so I bit the bullet this weekend and bought one. I am contemplating moving up to the 205, but Oppo leaving the market makes me much more cautious about that purchase.

I bet Oppo is selling more units now than they ever did in 2017. Given the timing, I'm guessing Christmas sales weren't great. I know I was waiting on the UHD market to shake out a little more.

melasnus

A wise move.
Anyone who wishes to get into UHD disks should jump on one of these.
State-of-the-art and built like a tank.
Oppos never die...think Energizer Bunny.

The difference between the 2 models is the analog audio stage.
IF you have a great, and NEW, receiver or pre-pro with 32 bit DACs, you probably won't need the 205.

I would love to try a 205 out and pair it with my Marantz AV7702 mk II to see which gives the better performance.
However, that's a pretty expensive test.

The format is set, there isn't anything really to add (at least in terms of video and audio specs).
Of course, someday we will have 8-9K (the limits of human eyesight).
In the meantime, the Oppos will take us thru the 4k World just fine.

Sonic

hdr+?

melasnus

Good question...
IIRC, HDR+ is compatible with all HDR10 equipment, which would be a great thing.
Dolby Vision (12 bit) is not compatible with HDR10 (10 bit) only hardware.
DV requires a special hardware decoder to work correctly.

Anyway, your question inspired me to go to Wikipedia for some double-checking of my memory:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-d...e_video#HDR10+
Also, I found this:
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.ph...&id=1503914052
And this:
http://4k.com/news/one-more-ally-joi...k-video-22951/

At this point, I haven't determined exactly what the deal is with HDR10+.
Gotta get to reading...

melasnus

HDR10+ vs Dolby Vision: what’s the difference?

Dolby Vision was one of the first dynamic metadata-driven HDR formats on the market. Instead of having one set dynamic range for an entire film like standard HDR10, Dolby Vision promised a scene-by-scene approach that would allow tones to shift to better match content.

HDR10+ more or less does the same thing - it too uses dynamic metadata to reflect frame to frame or scene to scene variations in brightness, color saturation, and contrast. The only difference is that with HDR10+ you don’t have to pay a licensing fee to Dolby to use it.

So is this format war all about money? The short answer is both yes and no.

While HDR10+ doesn’t charge a fee to license its technology, according to a source at LG, it does ask that you join the HDR10+ Alliance, a group of manufacturers that share data points and technology advancements with one another. As you can imagine, in an industry as competitive as television manufacturing is, there aren’t many companies too keen on sharing their insider information. So for that reason, Sony is out, or at least that’s our assumption.
(Correction: Samsung has reached out to inform us that there is no 'sharing of data points' between HDR10+ Alliance members, and the implementation in devices is deliberately unspecified so that it can be done as each device maker sees fit. The only requirement for a device to have HDR10+ on it is that it needs to support the format and pass the certification test based on quality.)

In better news, while it doesn’t appear that Sony will be joining the HDR10+ Alliance any time in the near future, Sony did reaffirm the company’s promise to bring the Dolby Vision software update to US Sony TVs by the end of January 2018.

https://www.techradar.com/news/heres...ivals-to-hdr10

bunkaroo

I definitely need to do some more reading on HDR10, Dolby Vision and that part of this format. I believe I now have a player capable of HDR10 and Dolby Vision, but I'm not too clear on what happens if I have a UHD disc with Dolby Vision but a display that doesn't support Dolby Vision.

PhantomStranger

I need to hear from people that have been using their 205 as a pre-amp in their high-end audio systems. That is how I would use it and I am very demanding when it comes to audio.

The big benefit of the 205 is that it's one of few (possibly only) multi-channel DAC machines with HDMI under $3000.

Oppo getting out of the business gives me pause in case issues arise down the road in the 205.

Sonic

Thank for posting good information. I should have been more elaborate in my response and say if Oppo players will support HDR+ but I think it requires a hardware change to do so according to some comments I read on AVS Forum.

Thanks again for your responses!

melasnus

The 2 Oppos support both.
In that case, a UHD disk will output HDR10.
To experience DV (rather than HDR10), it is requirement for a display to actually support it in hardware.

rw2516

Just block the sensor of the one you're not using a playing card or something. You have to load a disc, just turn the one you're using ON at the player.

bunkaroo

Well thanks for making me feel stupid! Seriously I should of thought of that.

Alan Smithee

I do that with my two Toshiba HD-DVD players, as some discs will play on one but not the other and vice-versa.

The Oppo players also have THREE different remote frequencies you can select though for that sort of situation, so you can have up to 3 of their players with 3 different remotes. I'm going to put my BDP-93 back in as I have a few home-made SACDs that the 203 won't play, and will probably just manually block the remote sensor instead though. The switch on the remote to change frequencies isn't easy to get to or adjust. I use the 93's remote with my 203 since it has the Angle button and the newer remote doesn't, making you bring up a silly on-screen adjustment to get to that.

Sonic

^You are very helpful.

Paul_SD

Sounds like there may not be that many 205s coming after all.
A small batch in June and then the final larger batch in August- but orders are all thru invitation only.

You need to register on the "interested list" they have, and then respond when you get the first email to have a chance at getting an invitation to order. The invitations will be going out in the order people registered, so some people may actually get frozen out.

Paul_SD

....and it looks like that's all she wrote for the 203's. No more from Oppo direct.

If you scored one (especially at retail price) congratulations!.

JVB Digital looks like they may still have some modded code free ones, but the price has gone up again to $850.

Also the amount of 205's they were able to produce in the last run is said to be severely limited. I thought they were going to max out, but it looks like just the opposite.
They'll be gone quick too.

PhantomStranger

They expected the 203s would sell out by the end of May or early June. I got mine a couple of weeks ago.

I still haven't decided if I should plunk down the cash for a 205.

melasnus

For those looking for the latest firmware for their 203 or 205, there is a new Beta release:
https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-...-60-0601B.aspx