Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Player Thread

[blacklion]

I've never had any problems with Region B/2 discs on my Oppo players. I'm pretty sure the makers of the hardware mods will find ways to keep up with DRM. Its the studios who need to abandon this whole demented region coding, DRM, HDCP delusion. Go Oppo, go region free!!!

[gonk]

Your post seemed a little odd to me. Your explanation helps, but I have some thoughts.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

If OPPO digital wanted too they could issue a firmware update to the BDP-83 players that would allow them to play Region A,B,C BLU-RAY's and play region 1-6 DVD's. Also if they wanted too they could disable the copy protection on the analog outputs so one could connect a recording device to the player. OPPO Digital, Sony, Panasonic and other player manufactories in general do not offer such features.

The reason why OPPO Digital players only support region A BLU-RAY's, region 1 DVD's, and region all optical discs is because it would be unpopular with the Hollywood studios for OPPO digital to officially support other regions for a USA model player.

All of this is true. OPPO Digital elected to design the BDP-83 and BDP-80 without any "back doors" that allow user control of region code settings because of the BDA's more aggressive stance on region codes. They didn't want the BDA to decide to make an example of them and pull their license, as that would basically sink the company. They are too small to survive picking a fight with the BDA.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

Consumers purchase 3rd party hardware modifications so that they can play BLU-RAY and DVD discs from anywhere in the world. Sony, Panasonic, OPPO digital and others do not support 3rd party region modifications to their players.

BLU-RAY manufactories have a hard enough time keeping up with the firmware updates for the region A USA model players. It is very likely that a small percentage of region B and C BLU-RAY's will not play on the OPPO player or other brand of modified BLU-RAY players that have a region free or region selectable hardware modification.

You are assuming that OPPO will never make firmware updates due to disc compatibility for overseas releases, and then using that assumption to make a statement that is written as if based on hard facts. That seems a little misleading.

On the one hand, I agree that someone using a region-free hardware mod should expect less complete support for disc compability. Heck, I'd sort of hope that was common sense.

On the other hand, you don't know that OPPO has never included disc compatibility fixes for Region B/C releases and you don't have any official policy from them on the matter. I'll skirt the boundaries of my NDA with them and say that I have seen firmware release notes at least once on a test firmware release that mentioned compatibility fixes for a region B release before (I don't recall if it mentioned a specific title). I don't have an official policy from OPPO on this matter, either, but I have some experience with the way they operate and develop firmware that makes me suspect why this has happened. They work closely with the SoC manufacturer. That manufacturer (Mediatek) sells the same chipset in all three BD regions, so their decoder library has to include disc compatibility fixes for discs in all three regions - and most (maybe even all?) disc compatibility issues are going to relate to how the disc interacts with the SoC. Each player manufacturer is responsible for incorporating current SoC files into their player firmware, testing for their own compatibility and stability, and releasing firmware to their customers. If an update from Mediatek includes a fix for a new release in the company's region, the player manufacturer is going to prioritize getting the fix deployed. If an update includes a fix for a release in an unsupported region, they probably won't release new firmware just for that - but they will (hopefully) release new firmware for other reasons that includes that update.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

Now if a consumer electronics company would make a BLU-RAY player and officially make it region free and region selectable it would be their responsibility to make sure the player can play all titles from anywhere in the world. The player would not last long in retail stores do to legal issues.

Momitsu seems to have learned that, since the last reports I read indicated that current firmware for their player and the clones of it (Sherwood, etc.) no longer offers region-free capabilities. The player is still around, but they found it necessary to lock down the region code. Even there, though, I think the argument that they have to aggressively support disc compatibility for other regions just because they left in a cheat to allow playback of those regions is probably a bit unreasonable - unless they actually marketed the player with "Region A/B/C and 1-6" slapped on the box and the other promotional material.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

If OPPO digital wanted too...

Didn't realize it was all just your opinion. I thought it was some kind official statement you were quoting. The underlined part in particular made it seem that way. Since that's not the case, I gotta say your post (although well-meaning) comes across like fear mongering.

No offense meant, I just think maybe you ought to make it more clear that it's your opinion and not the official word.

[gonk]

Astrakan's reaction matches mine.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by Astrakan

Didn't realize it was all just your opinion. I thought it was some kind official statement you were quoting. The underlined part in particular made it seem that way. Since that's not the case, I gotta say your post (although well-meaning) comes across like fear mongering.

Originally Posted by Astrakan

No offense meant, I just think maybe you ought to make it more clear that it's your opinion and not the official word.

I thought what I was posting was common knowledge and not an opinion.
Quote from page 4 of the OPPO BDP-83 manual

http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP83/BDP-83_English_Manual.pdf

" This player is designed and manufactured to respond to the region management information. If the region number of a BD-Video
or DVD disc does not correspond to the region number of this player, this player cannot play the disc."

" This player plays BD-Video with marks containing the region code A."

" This player plays DVD-Video with marks containing the region code 1 and ALL."

It is also common knowledge that installing a 3rd party region hardware device will void the players warranty and OPPO digital does not officially support 3rd party region hardware devices.

Perhaps the disagreement is with the following comment I made:

" ** Any playback problems with Blu-ray Region B or C titles or region 2-6 DVD titles that are reported to OPPO Digital might not be fixed in a firmware update since OPPO Digital only officially supports Region A and region 1 titles (and region all titles). **"

I just emailed OPPO Digital to ask them if one purchases a OPPO BDP-83 with a 3rd party hardware modification if they will support firmware updates for future Region B and C discs that have playback problems. OPPO Digital most likely will not reply to the email or they most likely will mention that their firmware updates will only support Region A Blu-ray discs.

If OPPO Digital is really testing Region B and C BLU-RAY discs and offering firmware updates for those consumers that have the third party hardware device then that would mean OPPO Digital is providing some amazing customer support. It was always my understanding that OPPO Digital was only supporting firmware for Region A Blu-ray discs since that is what the player was designed to play.

My entire point on posting this information was to caution people who are planning to collect region B and C Blu-ray titles with any brand and model of modified player. If Sony, Panasonic, OPPO and other brands of US players were only designed to play Region A discs then a hardware modification to play region B and C discs might only work for 95% of future discs. In general companies are not going to spend the money to write firmware updates for region B and C discs for a player that was designed for region A.

Another issue is companies like Sony or Panasonic and others could issue a firmware update to their BLU-RAY players that disables some of the 3rd party region free hardware modifications if they wanted too. Then the player would either only play region A or be completely disabled due to a unauthorized hardware modification to the player.
I know region free and region selectable Blu-ray players are very popular items with consumers but there are some issues that could occur in the future that would cause playback problems.

[HDTV1080P]

Email I just received from OPPO Digital about region B and C:

" Dear OPPO Digital,

I have seen many companies selling modified OPPO BDP-83 players that will play region A,B, and C Blu-ray discs. If I was to purchase an OPPO BDP-83 player with a third party region free hardware upgrade will your future firmware updates include compatibility for region B and C discs?

For example if I have playback problems with a few region B and C Blu-ray titles would future firmware updates support fixing playback problems with region B and C titles?

Thanks for your time."

" We will not be releasing firmware which will allow for alternative regional code support. This is against our licensing.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc"

[gonk]

(EDIT: I left this message half-typed for about an hour, it appears that there was at least one other post in the interim...)

I think the reason your post struck me oddly is that you wrote it as if quoting an official, explicitly-stated policy.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

I just emailed OPPO Digital to ask them if one purchases a OPPO BDP-83 with a 3rd party hardware modification if they will support firmware updates for future Region B and C discs that have playback problems. OPPO Digital most likely will not reply to the email or they most likely will mention that their firmware updates will only support Region A Blu-ray discs.

You may want to wait for OPPO's reply before assuming that you already know the answer. This thread and Bill McClain's excellent unofficial FAQ both make reference to similar email correspondence. In that correspondence, OPPO has told people that they have done warranty work on players even when they discovered firmware mods, although they reserve the right to remove it if necessary during the repair. As far as I know, they do not cover warranty repairs for players that have modifications which include changing out internal components (direct changes to board components), but the DIY region-free mod is nothing like those.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

If OPPO Digital is really testing Region B and C BLU-RAY discs and offering firmware updates for those consumers that have the third party hardware device then that would mean OPPO Digital is providing some amazing customer support. It was always my understanding that OPPO Digital was only supporting firmware for Region A Blu-ray discs since that is what the player was designed to play.

I never suggested that OPPO is testing those discs in-house. My point was that the SoC manufacturer's code does receive disc compatibility fixes for all three BD regions and all six DVD regions, and those fixes eventually find their way into OPPO's firmware.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

My entire point on posting this information was to caution people who are planning to collect region B and C Blu-ray titles with any brand and model of modified player. If Sony, Panasonic, OPPO and other brands of US players were only designed to play Region A discs then a hardware modification to play region B and C discs might only work for 95% of future discs. In general companies are not going to spend the money to write firmware updates for region B and C discs for a player that was designed for region A.

I agree with this. I agree that people need to recognize that modifying a player impacts the way the company can support it. I've spent a lot of time with OPPO's players, though, and exchanged a lot of emails with their personnel - none of which supports the assertions in your previous post. Even when I have first-hand information, I try to be very deliberate and cautious about speaking for a company (possibly more so than is strictly necessary). I am leery about going to far one way or another when I have no authority.

[4x12]

I got some jaggies on StarTrek last night... couldn't reproduce twice at the same spot.

Any ideas?

[4x12]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

It is also common knowledge that installing a 3rd party region hardware device will void the players warranty and OPPO digital does not officially support 3rd party region hardware devices.

I don't wanna get in the middle of this, but I contacted Oppo about the mod last week and asked if it voided the warranty, this is the response I got.

"All regional unlocks are done through hardware modifications. This requires that you install third party hardware to the player. We do not support such modifications, but we have never denied someone support when they have voided their warranties."

By reading that, I don't think it voids the warranty.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

My entire point on posting this information...

And my point was that it's not so much "information" you're posting as "what-if scenarios" - yet your post was worded and designed in a way that suggests they're official information coming directly from Oppo.

I get that that wasn't your intent and all you wanted was to issue a caveat emptor of sorts, which is great. I just don't see the need to overreact or blow the whistle on something which, in my estimation, is probably a non-issue.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by 4x12

I don't wanna get in the middle of this, but I contacted Oppo about the mod last week and asked if it voided the warranty, this is the response I got.

"All regional unlocks are done through hardware modifications. This requires that you install third party hardware to the player. We do not support such modifications, but we have never denied someone support when they have voided their warranties."

By reading that, I don't think it voids the warranty.

When I read that it sounds like OPPO Digital is saying if you open the player up during the warranty period it will void the warranty but OPPO digital still offers repair and technically support for consumers that void the warranty. I think OPPO Digital might charge a repair fee on a player that is out of warranty or has a voided warranty.

I have heard that some OPPO owners are waiting until the 1 year warranty is over and then they either will install the third party region hardware device themselves or they will have a third party company install it for them. I see that there are different versions of the board available on EBAY now. The cheapest version of the board is $24.99 that makes the OPPO BDP-80 region free and region selectable ($54.99 for the OPPO BDP-83 and BDP-83SE). The solder less third party OPPO kits can always easily be disconnected if they every caused some type of performance problem. Some of the other modifications to other brands of players require more in depth modifications to a player with soldering and are not as easy to remove if a problem occurs in the future.

These hardware modifications to make players region free and region selectable are compatible with most region B and C titles now but in the future a certain percentage of B and C titles most likely will not play even with a firmware update. There are some unique titles that are only released in region B and C areas of the world that never appear as region A releases. A company that makes a region A player will offer firmware updates that supports region A titles. If a customer has a problem with a region B and C titles playing on a region A player then they will not receive support for that region B and C title from the manufactory of the player.

[gonk]

I take no exception to the statement that Region A players which are modified to be region-free are more likely to encounter disc compatibility issues with Region B/C titles. It is the way you have presented it that I think comes across a bit stronger than is appropriate to the facts at hand.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

When I read that it sounds like OPPO Digital is saying if you open the player up during the warranty period it will void the warranty but OPPO digital still offers repair and technically support for consumers that void the warranty. I think OPPO Digital might charge a repair fee on a player that is out of warranty or has a voided warranty.

I've followed the BDP-83 and BDP-80 discussions in numerous forums since before the player even shipped to consumers - I've never heard anyone say that they had to pay a service charge while under warranty because they had opened the cover. On the contrary, OPPO Digital provided service for at least two overseas owners who bricked players by installing hacked firmware (a detail that they denied until the players were on the test bench). In those cases, OPPO fixed the players and shipped them back - covering shipping both ways - without charging the customer a dime, even though the customer was clearly at fault and even misled customer support when shipping the player back to the states for service. (They have since made a change to the firmware update process that makes it impossible to load hacked firmware, for the obvious reason that hacked firmware is a great way to brick a player and nobody - customer or company - enjoys a brick.) They have told people numerous times that they will still service a player with a region-free mod installed. I've seen at least three or four instances of this reported in different forums, and they've made no objection to Bill having one of those quoted in the unofficial FAQ. They have never said that they'll charge a service fee to work on such players. If we rely on the available facts and the company's history of service (going back to the OPDV971H that was released in late 2004 or early 2005), there's nothing to suggest that a player under warranty will not receive free warranty support if one of these basically non-invasive mods is installed. Suggesting otherwise (at least in the case of this company) is hard to support once you research the topic.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

I have heard that some OPPO owners are waiting until the 1 year warranty is over and then they either will install the third party region hardware device themselves or they will have a third party company install it for them. I see that there are different versions of the board available on EBAY now. The cheapest version of the board is $24.99 that makes the OPPO BDP-83 and BDP-80 region free and region selectable. The solder less third party OPPO kits can always easily be disconnected if they every caused some type of performance problem. Some of the other modifications to other brands of players require more in depth modifications to a player with soldering and are not as easy to remove if a problem occurs in the future.

Yes, some people are waiting a year, but I don't think very many are. In the past, people have also waited a year to have third parties perform analog section mods (changes that do void the warranty because they alter the boards, and which are often provided with separate warranties through the companies doing the mods as a result) installed in OPPO's DVD players. It's a personal choice, but I've been comfortable recommending these DIY mods to people who really want or need multi-region support without including any such caveat.

As for the solderless DIY mods (which are the only ones I've been talking about and the only ones I've seen for making OPPO's BD players region-free) there are at least three. The $24.99 board will only work on the BDP-80, as indicated in the ads. There are at least two boards available for the BDP-83, typically costing $60 to $80. All of these can be installed with nothing more than some double-stick tape to hold the board in place on the player's chassis and connecting a single ribbon cable.

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

Some of the other modifications to other brands of players require more in depth modifications to a player with soldering and are not as easy to remove if a problem occurs in the future.

This thread is about the BDP-83, not players made by other companies. When looking at region-free mods, each player presents different challenges and the techniques use can vary widely from one manufacturer to the next. For that reason, there can be no across-the-board statements about the logistics of making a player region-free. Similar region-free mods exist for the Cambridge Blu-ray player (which is a slightly modified clone of the BDP-80), for example, but I don't know of any such easy-to-install mods for my Panasonic BD30.

[silversnake]

So if I want a region free player, this is the way to go with the mod chips, correct?

If I go this way, can I still use my harmony one to control the blu-ray player?

Thanks

[4x12]

Originally Posted by silversnake

So if I want a region free player, this is the way to go with the mod chips, correct?

If I go this way, can I still use my harmony one to control the blu-ray player? Thanks

For sure dude... the mod won't affect the remote in any way.

[gonk]

Yes, to achieve region-free operation with either OPPO player, you need to use the hardware mod. This mod is invisible to the player's firmware, so it doesn't affect availability of other features or remote function.

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by 4x12

For sure dude... the mod won't affect the remote in any way.

I didn't think so but I just wanted to make sure it would work since I heard you had to hit certain buttons to get the specific region disc you were going to play.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by silversnake

I didn't think so but I just wanted to make sure it would work since I heard you had to hit certain buttons to get the specific region disc you were going to play.

Yeah, you have to hit the blue button and then a number corresponding to the region you want to play, but you can just program soft buttons for the ones that your remote doesn't have.

[Trogdor2010]

Hello. I was watching some Patton and I know that the 2.20:1 aspect ratio is the intended aspect ratio (and slightly crops the image on my 2.35:1 screen) but the big issue is the with german dialogue, the subtitles remain in the image, but the image doesn't scan in the bottom level of dialogue, which is most of it for those scenes, and makes it partially unwatchable. My main question is for movies in a 2.20:1 aspect ration, could you use a zoom feature to decrease the image size to be in the 2.35:1 safe zone with the oppo BDP 83 (or BDP 80)? I really would love that feature.

[gonk]

The BDP-83 does have a good array of zoom modes, but it also has a better solution that should help with your specific situation. The BDP-83 has a subtitle offset feature that is intended specifically for use with the "stretch" zoom mode provided for CIH projection. It allows subtitles that are down in the letterbox of 2.35:1 video to be shifted up so it remains in view when zoomed. It also allows the OSD to be shifted, so it stays in view when you zoom for CIH.

[Trogdor2010]

Thank you

I was also wondering about using the zoom mode also for specific movies. I have not watched my copy of Avatar yet, however, I read in a review that the shots are cropped in 2.35:1, which I find odd, but they are perfectly composed in 2.20:1, which I would love to use the zoom feature and also compose the image to my liking. I'll play it safe for my first viewing in 1.78:1, but I would love to try that feature out.