Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Player Thread

[gonk]

There is not a warranty seal as far as I know - I've opened almost every player they've built in the last three or four years, but most of the units I've opened were beta samples rather than production units.

That being said, Bill McClain's tremendous BDP-83 FAQ may be relevant yet again. In the Region Coding section, he has copied an excerpt from an OPPO email to a customer who asked about these DIY mods (none of which require any soldering - at most, they involve moving a wire or two and sticking a piece of double-stick tape to the bottom of the chassis):

according to OPPO customer support: "Technically hardware modifications void the warranty, but we have never denied a customer service due to modifications. We may remove the mod (if necessary for a repair) but that is it."

So, yes, technically one of these mods voids the warranty, and they will recognize the bit of sticky tape if you pull the mod out before sending it for service, but they aren't going to hang you out to dry for it.

[gonk]

Oh, by the way - new public beta firmware dropped today for the BDP-83.

This public beta version works for both the standard BDP-83 and the BDP-83 Special Edition. Comparing to the official release version BDP83-48-1224, the major changes included in this version are:

1. When there is no disc playing, the player shows the OPPO background screen instead of the "Home Menu". The "Home Menu" can be accessed by pressing the "Home" button on the remote control.
2. Improvement to MKV compatibility. Some MKV files do not play or play with severe video artifacts when using previous firmware. This version improves the playback of such files.
3. Some users have reported hearing pops or crackles between SACD tracks. This issue happens to certain discs that have data frames that are not aligned with track boundaries. This version removes such pops or crackles.
4. Other general disc compatibility improvement based on recent and upcoming Blu-ray releases as well as user-submitted disc samples.

All features and improvements of the previous firmware are also included in this version.

Please note that the experimental features are not officially supported and we cannot offer technical support via email or phone. The OPPO Wiki located at wiki.oppodigital.com will be gradually expanded to cover these experimental features.

Thought folks would like to know.

[eatbear]

Thanks for the responses regarding modifying the BDP-83 for multi-region compatibility. I think I will probably go ahead and pick this up along with the mod when I get my next paycheck.

However, I'd be interested to hear from someone with a similar setup as mine (Scope 2.35+ projector screen) regarding subtitle shift and text size/placement settings. I'm interested to find out what the entire feature set is regarding subtitles. For example, sometimes subtitles are a bit large on my screen, and I find myself having to move my eyes a lot to take in all the subtitles while still trying to get a glimpse of the picture. Ideally I would like to be able to shrink the subs as well as shift them up a few lines.

Also, is there a PDF of the owner's manual somewhere online? I'll poke around on the FAQ a bit and see if I can find more information there.

Thanks again, everyone.

[gonk]

Originally Posted by eatbear

Thanks for the responses regarding modifying the BDP-83 for multi-region compatibility. I think I will probably go ahead and pick this up along with the mod when I get my next paycheck.

However, I'd be interested to hear from someone with a similar setup as mine (Scope 2.35+ projector screen) regarding subtitle shift and text size/placement settings. I'm interested to find out what the entire feature set is regarding subtitles. For example, sometimes subtitles are a bit large on my screen, and I find myself having to move my eyes a lot to take in all the subtitles while still trying to get a glimpse of the picture. Ideally I would like to be able to shrink the subs as well as shift them up a few lines.

I don't have a CIH setup or even a front projector (just a 40" LCD), so I can't help much with first-hand experience. The player gives you a stretch zoom mode that is meant specifically for use with CIH projection. The subtitle shift allows you to move the subtitles up or down incrementally (-5 to +5) as needed, so you can push it up into the picture if you want (or if you need to for CIH setups). A similar shift function exists for the player's OSD information, which displays in two bands at the top and bottom edge of the screen and are almost the exact same size as the letterboxing on a 2.35:1 image in a 16:9 frame.

Originally Posted by eatbear

Also, is there a PDF of the owner's manual somewhere online? I'll poke around on the FAQ a bit and see if I can find more information there.

Thanks again, everyone.

The BDP-83 support page includes the user manual PDF, but the subtitle shift feature was added after the manual was last updated.

[Trogdor2010]

This doesn't have much in the way to do with the Oppo, but I took your advice for the subwoofer output, although I couldn't find a splitter near me, I turned my JBL speakers into subwoofers and used a amplification feature in my Luxman amp and use a single subwoofer channel to power my two JBLs turned subwoofers. I watched Ghost In the Shell a couple of nights ago and the extra LFE. channel really did help, the bass doesn't drown high frequency sounds as it did when they were used as speakers, and my large Acoustic monitors really helped with the mid range and high range sounds, my yamaha subwoofer seemed less necessary to use in my theater. I can't wait to hear it with lossless audio .

[micks_address]

i wonder does this firmware allow the playback of mpeg ts (transport stream) files? i had sent a samle file to Oppo a couple of months ago and they said they hoped to include it in a future update..

Originally Posted by gonk

Oh, by the way - new public beta firmware dropped today for the BDP-83.



Thought folks would like to know.

[ShockWave]

Gonk, I am confused on this statement. Why would you use analog for movies over hdmi? I want to be able to decode HD formats. Then I want to use analog for two channel music. Please help.

Originally Posted by gonk

If you plan to run 5.1 analog from the BDP-83 or BDP-80 into your Yamaha receiver (which is the recommended approach, as it allows you to hear the lossless formats) then using the stereo output and going straight to an amp is not going to work. The problem is the lack of a common volume control - the subs that get a signal directly from the BDP-83 would not be at the same volume as the rest of the speakers because their signal wouldn't go through the Yamaha and thus wouldn't have the same volume control applied. For the same reason, splitting the left/right channels of the multichannel analog output won't work, as the split still occurs before the Yamaha's volume control.

The best way to drive the two JBL's as subwoofers is to split the subwoofer output from the Yamaha. I would use two splitters: the first would send one signal to the Sony sub and one signal to a second splitter, which would in turn feed into the two amplifier channels that will drive the JBL's. A separate signal amplifier between the Yamaha and the subs should not be required - the Yamaha would see a roughly 3dB drop in level, and the JBL's amps would see a roughly 6dB drop, but that isn't enough to compromise the signal and can be compensated for as part of the overall calibration process.

The BDP-83's dedicated stereo output wouldn't be useful in this, but the BDP-83 does have a higher quality analog output section (which would benefit you in this case) as well as the ABT2010 video processor.

I would recommend getting an SPL meter and using it to accurately calibrate the speaker levels in your system, even if you don't make any other changes. Any surround sound system deserves this effort. Your Yamaha manual should describe how to do this using its internal test tones, but if not there are other resources online that can help explain how to do it using either internal test tones or a calibration disc.

[gonk]

Originally Posted by ShockWave

Gonk, I am confused on this statement. Why would you use analog for movies over hdmi? I want to be able to decode HD formats. Then I want to use analog for two channel music. Please help.

If your receiver has an HDMI v1.1 or higher input that will accept at least multichannel PCM, then HDMI is most likely going to be your preferred method of audio delivery. The problem is that there are a lot of receivers and surround processors in people's homes that don't have such HDMI inputs. The previous poster's receiver didn't support audio over HDMI, making it impossible to get the formats that way. He needed to use the multichannel analog output because that was the only way to get the new lossless formats.

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by gonk

If your receiver has an HDMI v1.1 or higher input that will accept at least multichannel PCM, then HDMI is most likely going to be your preferred method of audio delivery. The problem is that there are a lot of receivers and surround processors in people's homes that don't have such HDMI inputs. The previous poster's receiver didn't support audio over HDMI, making it impossible to get the formats that way. He needed to use the multichannel analog output because that was the only way to get the new lossless formats.

ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Gonk is correct, Stella, show the man what he's won!

[ShockWave]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by gonk

If your receiver has an HDMI v1.1 or higher input that will accept at least multichannel PCM, then HDMI is most likely going to be your preferred method of audio delivery. The problem is that there are a lot of receivers and surround processors in people's homes that don't have such HDMI inputs. The previous poster's receiver didn't support audio over HDMI, making it impossible to get the formats that way. He needed to use the multichannel analog output because that was the only way to get the new lossless formats.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by eatbear

Is the OPPO BDP-83 REGION FREE?

If not, is there a way to make it Region free?

I know this question has kind of been answered already, but I just thought I'd touch on it some more.

There's basically two ways to make the BDP-83 region free for both Blu-ray and DVD playback:

1. Hardware mod
2. Firmware mod

Personally I'd recommend the hardware mod as it will allow you to stay up-to-date with Oppo's official firmware. It is solder free, and if you've ever worked under the hood of a PC you will have zero problems installing it. If you haven't there's still very nice instructions included with most mods that show you exactly how to do it.

The only advantage to the firmware mod is that it's free. The region free version that's out there was based on the official v430, and I'm not aware of anywhere on the net that continuously release new region free firmwares. Meaning, if you go the firmware route you're stuck at v430 forever and can't install official updates without losing the region free capabilities.

You can click here for more information on how to make the BDP-83 region free. There's links to installation instructions of two of the hardware mods there, so you can see exactly what you're getting yourself into.

[gonk]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Gonk is correct, Stella, show the man what he's won!

Ooh, a prize!? Nifty!

Originally Posted by Astrakan

There's basically two ways to make the BDP-83 region free for both Blu-ray and DVD playback:

1. Hardware mod
2. Firmware mod

I agree that the hardware mod is the preferred solution. The firmware mod is less appealing than it was last summer, and not only because it is based on a very old version that is missing a number of new features and disc compatibility fixes. After OPPO had several players returned for warranty work (from overseas, on OPPO's dime for shipping) as a result of failed installation of hacked firmware, OPPO changed the firmware update process to include a "signature" file. This was done to prevent installation of firmware that could brick the player. Once firmware is installed that uses this signature file (which includes any player bought today from OPPO and any player updated with firmware over the last three months or so), it is impossible to roll back to a version that lacks the signature file - including the hacked region-free firmware.

Also, for the BDP-80, a hardware mod is the only option. I've thought about picking one up just in case I ever need it, since they're selling for $25 on eBay right now.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by gonk

OOPPO changed the firmware update process to include a "signature" file. This was done to prevent installation of firmware that could brick the player. Once firmware is installed that uses this signature file (which includes any player bought today from OPPO and any player updated with firmware over the last three months or so), it is impossible to roll back to a version that lacks the signature file - including the hacked region-free firmware.

Oh, I had no idea this was the case. Thanks for the update.

[sarge1976]

I'm having some problems with my BDP83. Last week when I was going to watch "Precious" the movie would not play, it kept saying Loading...Loading and then it said "No Disc". So I had to power the player off and on again and it finally played the movie. And then tonight we were going to watch "The Blinside" and the same thing happened but this time I could not get the BD to play at all. Both movie were brand new and have never been opened and I haven't even had my player for a year yet. I am going to contact Oppo with this problem and Yes my firmware is up to date. It's kind of embarrasing when you invite friends over to watch a BD and it won't play especially when you(myself) bragged about how good your BD player is and it won't play Has anyone else had any similar issues?

[ShockWave]

Sorry to hear that Sarge.

I have a question. Say I bought the SE for it's analog upgrade. What makes this an advantage over having my pro do the work? I am confused as to what advantage having th SE is? Actually now that I think about it I do use sorce direct when listening to music. I just need help understanding
the advantage over the 83. Thanks.

[gonk]

Originally Posted by ShockWave

I have a question. Say I bought the SE for it's analog upgrade. What makes this an advantage over having my pro do the work? I am confused as to what advantage having th SE is? Actually now that I think about it I do use sorce direct when listening to music. I just need help understanding
the advantage over the 83. Thanks.

The SE's biggest advantage is that some processors don't have an HDMI input, so for them the player's analog output is the analog output that determines sound quality.

If you have the option of HDMI or analog audio connections to your processor or receiver, you have a different scenario. The analog section of the player can sound better than the analog section of the processor - in which case the SE upgrade may have some value. On the other hand, the HDMI path offers some other advantages. First, a processor or receiver may have better bass management than the player. It also may offer equalization or room correction software. Both of these are only available if the HDMI input is used for audio. That's the main reason that OPPO recommends the stock BDP-83 for receivers and processors with HDMI audio support. The 83SE can sound better via analog than HDMI even still, but it requires taking into consideration the audio processing capabilities of the receiver or processor and the analog section of the receiver or processor. It's not a cut-and-dried comparison.

[Headphone Czar]

I love my 83SE.. Gets betters every day.. I was never overly impressed with blu ray until I got my oppo.. With the right tweaks I feel it's a good 25% better over the PS3 in SQ.. Just my opinion.. No flaming.. analog is incredible.. I use my dedicated GP V5 headphone amp with my DT48 headphones for 2 channel audio.. Micro/Macro detail, & noise floor is simply stunning.. I know understand the fuss about blu ray.. I must have bought 8-12 BR since getting my player 2 weeks ago..

[blacklion]

Gonk,

If you've not already seen this, I'd like to draw your attention to this conversation here - http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-r...nd-player.html

It appears a claim is being made that MCH output via analog is still lossy i.e. one does not really get the full lossless hi-res audio via MCH analog. I'd be most grateful for your comments. Cheers!

[gonk]

I hadn't seen that. I'll take a look at it.

For what it's worth (and without having looked at the link), it is possible for the analog output to be based on the lossy core - if you are using secondary audio, the BDP-83 and BDP-80 both decode the lossy core track because they need to retain some processing capability for mixing the two audio streams. If secondary audio is disabled, however, the lossless track is decoded.

[gonk]

Hmmm... I don't have an account there, so for now I'm not going to chime in. I also don't have any test equipment that could hope to provide "numerical proof" (for lack of a better term) of the output, but my experience (both from talking to manufacturers - particularly OPPO - and from listening to analog and digital outputs) tells me that it is possible to get lossless audio from a player's analog output if you configure the player properly. It does require setting the player up properly, something that not all manufacturers document well - most user manuals range from mediocre to almost violently inconvenient, especially for technical details like this. I'd want to know if the person quoted in the original post had coordinated with the manufacturers involved to be sure he had secondary audio disabled, for instance.