Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Don't see many posts at all by Oppo BDP-93 owners. And no, I don't wanna post on those other "A/V Forums". Are there any BDP-93 owners who post on DVD Talk? Comments about your BDP-93? Concerns?

I've been using the BDP-93 for about 10 months now, and the major issues I have are streaming Netflix software, which is getting more annoying by the day. This isn't Oppo's issue per se as Netflix more than likely gives them the plugin, but the delay is getting ridiculous. Seems like with every firmware update, the Netflix plugin gets worse.

Another major chip on my shoulder is the removal of ISO playback earlier this year.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

I have one. I love it.

I use Xbox for Netflix, and don't mess with ISOs.

I love the fact I can move subtitles for my CIH screen!

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Yes, but they do so in the DVD & Home Theater Gear area.

I have the BDP-83 myself. What was the reason given for removing support for ISO playback?

If you haven't already, you owe it to yourself to install a mod kit to make your BDP-93 multiregion/zone.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

I'm waiting for the BDP-103 to replace my nearly 6 year old PS3 as my primary blu-ray player.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

That's what I had done with mine. Have been quite happy with it.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

The studios are forcing the chip manufacturers to remove ISO support functionality. In this case it was the Qdeo chip from Marvel.

Studios pressure chip manufacturers, manufactures force their customers to disable functionality, Oppo has to comply to keep their contract with Marvel, new firmware is released.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

I have it with the region-free plug-in and love it. Got it mainly because it was the easiest to hook up in 3D without having to buy a new receiver- my receiver won't pass the 3D signal, but with the player's dual HDMI outputs I have one connected to the receiver and the other straight to the TV. Just a couple nit-picky complaints, mainly how it stretched 4x3 material to 16x9 whenever you bring up the controls to change audio or subtitles. It also squeezes Philips VideoCDs that were made for the CDI systems, but I guess I should be grateful that it supports VideoCDs at all as many Blu-Ray players don't.

Don't really care about the streaming stuff on it- my TV's Netflix interface has Dolby 5.1 so I use that, I use the Oppo player for Vudu instead of the TV though since it passes 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus on titles that have that.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

I have had the 93 for about two years. Love it! I only stream Pandora. I don't bother using the other streaming services, as I prefer physical media over that. If it offered amazon on demand I might use that as I have a prime membership. I will get the 103 cause OPPO is amazing at what they do.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

My BDP-83 is still going strong. Absolutely worth the price I paid at the time ($500). Plus I have a mod cable in it for region free goodness. Probably one of the highest quality players out there that can be made region free.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Just got an e-mail to pre-order the early release version. Worth it or should I wait?

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Jesus Christ people, I have to ask - what is the appeal of this one over other region frees? I have a Curtis Mathes and Insignia that both do the job quite well. What am I missing out on with the Oppos? Curious minds wish to know....especially when you all are paying in the $500 range.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

My educated guess is "not much." But, I do indeed agree that we Insignia region-free owners are indeed missing out on better upconversion DVD quality, and perhaps 0.5% better picture quality on BDs. Oh, and lots and lots of "bells and whistles." Things that 99% of Blu-Ray-owning people don't need, or like myself, even want.

Build quality is certainly better with Oppos, but 1080p hardware is becoming commodity at this point, with good-quality brand-name player in the under $100-range.

Not bashing Oppo, a company which I respect for offering high-end products, and doing well by them. Although that removal of .ISO playback *is* a deal-breaker for me, as that is one *very* useful feature which has been removed.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

I got the email today also, and placed my order.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

The build quality of these is that of REAL electronics- I know mine is going to last a lot longer than an Insignia. Oppo is supposed to have really good support too, so if something should ever go wrong with the machine while they're still in business, they'll work out some way to get it fixed. I'd rather pay $500 for a player that's going to last for decades than end up buying 5 $100 players just because each one dies prematurely.

It appears all Blu-Ray players in the future are omitting analog video outputs as a silly anti-piracy measure. Standard TV-decoded closed-captions, which are on hundreds of regular DVDs, can only be decoded with a 480i analog signal, so players are going to have to include a built-in decoder if they're going to get rid of the analog outputs.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Other than getting it early, is there any benefit to pulling the trigger now? Will it be more expensive later?

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

One man's "not much" is another man's "a lot."

Although your point that the average person doesn't care much about picture quality or other "bells and whistles" is valid (they also aren't likely to care about region-free capability), this is a forum for enthusiasts, and the Oppo is a player for enthusiasts.

Lets tick off a few of the virtues of Oppo Blu-ray players:

• Nearly unparalleled build quality that will last for years. They're built like tanks.
• Excellent support, with firmware updates even for discontinued players to adapt to changing copy-protection schemes.
• Plays virtually every type of disc (except HD-DVD), including SACD and DVD-Audio.
• Plays virtually all video file types, either burned to disc or from flash drives.
• If you have a problem or a question about your player you'll get a prompt response and help from an actual engineer who knows what he's talking about.
• The best video processors in the industry for unsurpassed picture quality and fantastic DVD upscaling.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

So... Anyone? I wanna know if I should pull the trigger now or wai for the general release.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Nice synopsis. I've been using Oppo players since well before Blu-ray.

After spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on titles for my library, it just makes sense to buy one of the best players out there to watch them for a fraction of what those discs cost me.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

If my PS3 wasn't skipping on rental discs, I probably would have held off a month to avoid any early glitches, but I have an immediate need. My 103 shipped today, so I should have it by the weekend to play around with it.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Funny enough, it's because of my PS3 that I wanna make the switch. It's not giving me issues but I wanna retire it as a BD player.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

The price of Oppo players do not change (unless you can get a refurb). The only reason to buy now is to get it earlier.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Cool. Given shipping to PR is only $58, I may just bite early.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

PR?
If you're not in the US, Oppo will cancel your early order. I know because I tried.

I'm absolutely going to buy the 103 when it gets its general release, and I've never owned an Oppo. My main reason is for proper 24p playback. My HTPC jitters when running 24p. Not always... but it goes off and on every few minutes and is incredibly distracting. That, and people have raved about the DVD to 1080p/24fps upconversion.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

Yeah, I'm in Puerto Rico. All I know is that in the order form it stated shipping to me would be $58. if they cancel the early order, no big deal. I can wait for the general release.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

My 103 arrived today. I plugged it using my HD-DVD connections to get it running quickly, and ran an ethernet connection to it to get it on the network. Powered it on and works like a charm. I just checked Netflix streaming, Pandora, then watched the first 15 minutes of Avatar. I have a ton of DVD Audio and SACD that I look forward to playing on this unit too.

I'll update the firmware later when I have more time, but I don't see any need for now. The only unusual thing I noticed was the manufacture date is July, but I was on a waiting list for a couple weeks to get an early release unit?

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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?

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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?

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

^ 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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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?

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

No, that's the only reason.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.

Re: Oppo BDP-93 Owners Thread
 

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.