OPPO BDP-83 Universal BLU-RAY player is the BEST (July 2009 Home Theater review link)

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OPPO BDP-83 Universal BLU-RAY player is the overall best BLU-RAY player available

(July 2009 Home Theater magazine review link)

The OPPO BDP-83 properly handles all BLU-RAY and DVD discs with excellent results according to the video tests performed by Kris Deering. The OPPO even does a much better job of up converting 480I DVD's to 1080p/24 when compared to any BLU-RAY player including Panasonic. This reverse DVD 3:2 pulldown feature is important for anyone that has a big selection of legacy 480I film based DVD titles that are not available on BLU-RAY yet. The OPPO will also play both Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio high quality music optical discs. The $4,500 Denon DVD-A1UDCI use to be the only BLU-RAY player that handles both Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. Now for under $500 one can own an Oppo BDP-83 BLU-RAY player that plays both Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio.

The OPPO BDP-83 also has 1GB of built in memory for BD-LIVE. A USB port is included to add external memory. The OPPO BDP-83 does not have a legacy 480I S-Video jack, many brands and models of BLU-RAY players are removing the S-Video as a cost cutting feature. The load times of the OPPO BDP-83 are comparable to the PS3 and some of the fastest BLU-RAY players. Overall the OPPO BDP-83 is the best quality BLU-RAY player available that out performs players that cost several thousands of dollars. At only $499 list price the OPPO BDP-83 is a bargain.


A few select quotes from the review:

"OPPO’s reputation for excellent performance at a lower price point and its outstanding customer support quickly gained a big following. So it’s been with bated breath that many of us have waited for OPPO to enter the Blu-ray market."

"The player features full Bonus View PiP capability and BD-Live connectivity, and it even includes the required minimum 1 gigabyte of memory on board."

"The player does not have an S-video connection."

"For Internet connection, OPPO offers a standard Ethernet connection. Unfortunately, the BDP-83 doesn’t have built-in Wi-Fi, which is a feature that Blu-ray players sorely lack. However, OPPO does offer a wireless system that you can purchase separately for $80. It’s preconfigured for the player and creates a wireless bridge with your home router if you’d rather forgo the hard-wired Ethernet route. While it isn’t the ideal solution, it’s nice to know that OPPO has a wireless option."

”Another interesting feature is the BDP-83’s power supply. The player uses a universal power supply that can accept any of the voltages used throughout the world so you don’t have to worry about transformers or voltage changes. This is a nice touch for international users who are looking to import."

"It also provides 1080p/24 playback of both Blu-ray and DVD. For the international film lover, the BDP-83 does 50-hertz playback of DVDs and Blu-ray and offers frame-rate conversion for displays that don’t support PAL refresh rates. This means you can either play back titles that are encoded as 1080i/50 at 1080p/50 (for displays that support it) or have the player deinterlace and frame-convert them to 1080p/60. The BDP-83 supports 1080p/24 output for both Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. Just make sure your display supports the resolutions you decide on, and let the OPPO do the rest."

"OPPO gives you the option to use a preset output resolution or set the player to Source Direct mode. Source Direct bypasses all of the player’s video processing. Since the player offers exceptional video processing, I don’t see any reason to use the Source Direct mode."

"I put the OPPO through our full complement of HD and SD video tests, and the player passed with flying colors. Its SD deinterlacing and scaling was as good as anything I’ve seen, and its HD video processing is nearly without equal."

"The BDP-83 supports HDMI’s Deep Color specification, but there’s currently no native Deep Color program material on the market to take full advantage of it."

"The BDP-83 offers full playback of both of these high-resolution music formats, including native DSD output via HDMI. The OPPO is one of a very few players that can output SACD as a native DSD data stream (DSD is the digital encoding format that SACD uses), and only a few surround processors and A/V receivers can accept it in that form."

"On the Blu-ray front, the BDP-83 features the full gamut of advanced audio processing and includes full 7.1-channel analog outputs. It provides internal decoding for all the Dolby and DTS offerings, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. You can pass these soundtracks in bitstream form to your receiver or processor and decode them there, or the player can decode them and provide a multichannel PCM output."

"If you’ve used other Blu-ray players, the first thing you’ll notice about the BDP-83 is its speed. This is one of the biggest gripes about standalone players. It seems like the more expensive a player is, the slower it is. Not so with the OPPO. The BDP-83 turns on immediately, and its tray response is excellent. Load times are on par with the PlayStation 3, which has been the speed king from the beginning. This is the level of performance we should see from players across the board. Gone is the frustration with initial loading and Java-intensive titles and features. What takes some players well over a minute typically takes seconds on the OPPO. Even the hardest disc takes less than half the time of some more expensive platforms I’ve reviewed."

"Operation is smooth across most formats. I’ve had the chance to use the player for quite some time, and I haven’t come across a hitch with a Blu-ray title at all. However, some SACDs and CDs had a brief dropout on occasion. At press time, OPPO had just recently offered the BDP-83 for sale to the general public after extensive beta testing and its “early adoption” market trial program. OPPO is committed to timely firmware updates to address any little bugs that might pop up. Thankfully, there hasn’t been any significant issues with my unit. In fact, I’d say this is the most trouble-free player I’ve used in my system considering the breadth of titles (and formats) I play regularly."

"Its video performance with Blu-ray and DVD playback is as good as anything I’ve used, and nothing beats its source-direct HD performance. When you couple this level of performance with its general operation, you have a machine that stands out among its peers."

"I was surprised by how good this player made DVDs look. I let the OPPO convert my DVDs to 1080p/24 for playback, and it didn’t have any issues with tearing or frame drops. A few other manufacturers offer 24p support for DVDs, but I sometimes noticed occasional frame drops with some material. The OPPO’s DVDO processing didn’t seem to have the same issue with the titles I tested. If you still watch a lot of DVDs, this alone makes the OPPO a worthwhile investment."

"Conclusion
Finally, here’s a standalone Blu-ray player that truly offers the complete experience. The BDP-83 is a reference video and audio transport regardless of the format you throw at it. But it’s also the most user-friendly standalone player I’ve had the pleasure of using. While some players provide outstanding performance in certain areas, the OPPO never hiccupped in any department. It’s truly the most complete package of a Blu-ray player I’ve yet reviewed. It’s now my standing reference as a source component and one that should be on your short list, regardless of your budget."


To read the entire July 2009 Home Theater magazine review on the Oppo BDP-83 universal BLU-RAY player click on the following link:

http://hometheatermag.com/discplayers/oppo_bdp-83_universal_blu-ray_player/index.html