Matt.train

Now i had a Oppo DVD player and I loved it, the upconversion was great. But when i bought my most recent Blu ray player I debated between players everything I read stated that for Blu ray image quality there would be no difference between the 100$ samsung and the 500/1000 high end players. Now are some of you saying that tyhis is not true?

BuckNaked2k

There is not much difference in Blu-ray playback performance, everything else being equal. The real attraction to Oppo is that it's a universal player, supporting SACD and DVD-Audio. If you don't know what those are, then don't concern yourself with them, you've already missed the boat.

In addition, the Oppo is a great platform for streaming Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, etc., if that's your thing. There's also inputs for eSata and USB, if you have movie or music files on your PC.

I grabbed two of the last 93's because it's the last gen Oppo not to be crippled by Cinavia, which the next gen must support. That said, I really didn't need two of them so I've got one NiB if anyone is interested.

Mr. Salty

That's debatable, but most casual viewers watching on a 32-inch TV won't notice a difference. There is, however, a difference in reliability and support for troublesome discs. The only discs my Oppo has ever had difficulty playing, the problematic discs in Fox's Alien box set, were fixed with a very timely firmware update.

Alan Smithee

I got mine mainly because it was the easiest Blu-Ray player to make region-free, and it has two HDMI outputs so I can get 3D and full lossless audio even though my receiver won't pass the 3D signal. I just have one going to the receiver and the other to the TV. I don't believe in the "throwaway" mentality of most current electronics, I want my stuff to last even if it gets obsolete later- this thing is very well-built and Oppo is supposed to have good support if anything does go wrong with it later.

zyzzle

With Cinavia mandatory in the 103, why for the sake of all that's great, would *anyone* upgrade to that model? It beggars belief! I still think the BDP-83 was and always will be their best BD player.

If the upconversion is *significantly* better on the 103 than the 83 or 93, that is the *only* reason I can see to upgrade. Of course, then you've got a $500 DVD upconverting player with inferior (= crippled) BD support. Can anyone chime in with some objective reports on the 103's decoding chipsets and similar technical issues?

Alan Smithee

The 103 has no analog video outputs at all, which you need in order to access TV-decoded closed captions. If analog outputs are going to be phased out, they should include internal caption decoders in the players. Most computer DVD player programs have these, so it shouldn't be too hard to do.

BSTNFAN

As someone who doesn't rip discs and actually places the round shiny things into the machine, I don't give a rats a$$ about Cinavia. The people who really can't upgrade are the ones who still need component outs.

Matt.train

Now are you saying that on a 60 inch TV you are going to notice a difference in picture quality between my sony 570 and the Oppo 93? I understand the build quality, Universal and other features, but for PQ there seems to be no difference.

davidlynchfan

^ I think I'm daring enough to say the Panasonic BD Player will produce a better PQ than the Oppo (if just slightly). I say Pannys produce the best BD PQ.

Josh Z

I've used a lot of Blu-ray players. With "Native" output mode, there has been no substantive difference in 1080p Blu-ray playback across any brand or model I've ever used, aside from crummy first-gen models like the original Samsung BDP-1000 (which had non-defeatable DNR applied at all times). These days, it's a level playing field in that regard, unless you like to turn on image tweaking features like DNR or sharpening, in which case some might do a less awful job of it than others.

Picture quality differences are more likely to be apparent with DVD upconversion, or deinterlacing 1080i discs to 1080p.

BuckNaked2k

Panny makes very good BD players. If you are playing off-the-shelf Region A Blu-rays, I think you (Panny owner), or I (Oppo owner), would have a tough time picking a winner in a double-blind PQ test.

bunkaroo

Sorry if I missed this part, but who still needs component? Is there another reason one would want it besides just having an older display?

Josh Z

No, that's the only reason.

bunkaroo

That strikes me odd then. I would think most people who are into HT enough to seek out the latest and greatest Oppo would have a display or projector with HDMI by now.

BuckNaked2k

Some people have very high-end projectors or projection TVs which cost $10,000+ and came out prior to the advent of HDMI. Such people might not be in a great hurry to upgrade, thus making component-out a very desirable feature.

BSTNFAN

I have a professionally cal'd 65" rear projection that still looks amazing and goes just great with my Oppo. Why would I spend $$$$ to "upgrade"?

Alan Smithee

You still need analog video to get closed captions. Mine is hooked up both ways, with HDMI for regular viewing and component for when I want to see the captions. They really need to start including internal caption decoders in players since newer ones are eliminating analog video outputs entirely.

bunkaroo

I guess I would then ask, why spend money to upgrade your player?

Speaking from past experience, I also had a very nice pro-cal'd 57" CRT RPTV. Eliab did my cal and re-cals back in the day. It even had a DVI in. Still, I got tired of warming it up (usually needed about 45 minutes to get optimal), and I found myself obsessing over the convergence.

I went with a Samsung DLP Eliab suggested in 2007 and have loved it. No muss, no fuss. I was intimately aware of my pro-cal'd CRT looked like, and my DLP delivers the same quality to my eyes, but without the need for routine re-calibration like my CRT needed.

As I've mentioned previously, after spending literally 10's of thousands of dollars on content over the years, I don't see a big deal in spending a couple grand on a new display every 4-5 years.

bunkaroo

I admit I know little about CC and how it works. I know discs have subtitles (usually), so are we talking about not being able to get subtitles or captions from streaming services? I guess I'm confused as to what content is delivering CC over analog only.

Josh Z

If such people have not already bought a Blu-ray player by this late in the game, I doubt it much matters to them what features and specs any new player has or ever will have, because they are quite simply not interested in Blu-ray.

BSTNFAN

I am not upgrading from the 93 to the 103 (no component outs), but I got the 93 for a variety of reasons to include DVD-A/SACD play and region free BD play. I don't use the streaming services much (or 3D capability) so an 83 may have been fine, as well.

I don't have any convergence or warm up concerns, but I do find the overscan a little annoying occassionally (~3.5%). I have had the cal touched up once after a move, but haven't seen the need to do it constantly. The price to do the cleaning/re-cal (Craig Rounds who did the original job) was certainly reasonable in my opinion.

It would cost a buttload more than "a couple grand" to get a flat panel of 65" or greater (no way would I go down in size) that is of even "reasonable" quality.

I'm not saying that I never get upgrade pangs or that everyone should check craigslist for RP TVs, but my room isn't suitable for FP and the OLEDs and 84" 4K TVs that are coming soon haven't quite dropped into my price range yet ;-) .

Mr. Salty

Read Buck's post again in context with the post he was responding to. He means people with high-end projectors aren't in a hury to upgrade their projectors, therefor a Blu-ray player with component connections is desirable. Not that they don't want to upgrade from DVD to BD.

bunkaroo

Well some of the Sharp 70" Aquos panels are already mid-2k range. They'll be 2k shortly. I've seen those in person, and I would take them over how my RPTV looked with a pro-cal.

Ultimately I don't think Oppo is going to alienate many HT enthusiasts for dropping component. Sure it would be nice to have, but I wouldn't want to see it raise the price of the 103 even $50 for the fraction of folks who might still use analog.

bunkaroo

IIRC from the early days of Blu-ray, wasn't the analog "hole" supposed to be plugged by 2010? I know that didn't happen and probably never will, but if they had indeed limited the ability on some titles to be viewed in 1080p via analog connections, folks with older displays would have been screwed anyway.

I'm also curious to know how many common brand players (Panny, Sony, etc) still have component outs? I doubt Oppo is the only one dropping them this late into Blu-ray's life.

bunkaroo

Here's an interesting article from 2009. I don't know if it's still accurate, but note this part specifically:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/0...ood-drives-us-

So maybe Oppo is just getting out ahead of this.

And to be clear, I'm not saying I want analog to go away. But I'm not going to bang my head against the wall trying to stick with analog forever. I'm happy with HDMI.