Oppo's new HDMI-equipped upscaling DVD player - DV-970HD
Oppo, maker of everyones favorite DVD upscaler, has just announced another model - the DV-970HD. This time around the player features HDMI output rather then the DVI. Oh man, it just doesn't end there ether. This player is loaded with goodies like 4-in-1 media card readers and USB input, PAL/NTSC support, 5.1 analog audio output, and optical/digital coax outputs. It supports DivX, DVD-Audio, SACD, and Xvid. This slim little player even has the ability to utilize the digital path of DIM but keep the resolution at a 480i in order to feed an external scaler. Man, there is just to much to talk about with this player.
Oh and did we mention it was only $149 and included a HDMI cable?
[thanks for the tip Kevin]
Filed under: Misc
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ian @ May 31st 2006 9:23AM
Sweet Georgia Brown!
Next time I'm in the US, I'm picking one of these babies up.
Done and done.
James Varghese @ May 31st 2006 9:48AM
Wow - this is fantastic news. The original one was great and the company was very responsive to customer needs/complaints (they released several firmware updates & even sent out an updated remote control). The player/upscaling tested great.
DVD Benchmark: http://tinyurl.com/m7s9c
Audioholics: http://tinyurl.com/no34o
I'm STILL in the market for an HDTV (though I almost pulled the trigger on the Westy 42" 1080p this past weekend) but I do need a DVD player and this one def. looks like the one to beat. Oh and Walmart now carries the 37" Westy 1080p for less than $1500...not too shabby, huh?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4956170
John @ May 31st 2006 10:01AM
OMG, Where can I buy b/c that sure does sound like a sweet deal to me! I have been currently using my Xbox 360 as my DVD player, but if this thing can upscale DVD's to look like HD then it may be time to replace the Xbox 360 as my DVD player. I don't know why M$ hasn't put a built in upscaler into the 360's DVD player b/c I'm pretty sure it has all the necessary harware power to do so. Maybe that is what is going to be released in the new upgrade coming either today or tomorrow via Xbox Live.
James Varghese @ May 31st 2006 10:11AM
John,
Joystiq had a bunch of posts on the 360's update and I don't think that they mentioned anything about an upscaler. Here's a video tour of the Xbox Live update though in case you're interested.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/30/a-video-tour-of-the-xbox-live-spring-update/
Mike S @ May 31st 2006 10:28AM
Wish it would upscale over component to 1080p like the neodigits player
Josh D @ May 31st 2006 11:03AM
So, anyone willing to compare this to the veteran OPDV971H, which lists for $50 more?
William Oberman @ May 31st 2006 11:37AM
Some differences I noticed:
1.) The analog outputs. I have the 971, and the component output is 480i only. The 970 adds progressive scan (480p). Actually, under the detailed specs the component out goes all the way up to 1080i, but is limited to 480p for CSS discs (basically, everything). But, if you're buying the Oppo players, it's not for the analog outputs ;-)
2.) The 970 uses HDCP. The 971 had no encryption on the DVI connection.
Dan @ May 31st 2006 2:28PM
First, the 970-HD does not utilize the Faroudja DCDi processing (hence the lower price tag, and quite possibly, the more degraded picture quality).
The 971 is still the superior player, but if you are in the market for a budget dvd upscaler with an hdmi output - then the 970 may be the way to go.
My only complaint with the 971 was that my samsung 26" hdtv lcd could not play audio input and hdmi input (from the 971's dvi-to-hdmi cable) at the same time. There was no audio information feeding from the dvi-to-hdmi cable because dvi has no audio feed. So make sure you have separate audio/video components to get the most out of the 971.
Further, I made the mistake of buying both Neodigits players (the slim one as well as the brushed black aluminum one) having been lured by the promise of 1080p. They are quite possibly the worst players ever built. The locked up, wouldn't play my burnt discs (and not a single burnt dvd+r dl), and had questionable video output compared to the oppo. Even though they claimed it was 1080p.
Do yourselves a favor... read the forums before buying a neodigits. Cuz I didn't.
And if Oppo is the course for you. It might be worth your while to stick with 971 model.
Frank @ May 31st 2006 3:09PM
I was hoping this player would scale to 1080p instead of just 1080i.
That way I could buy a cheap 1080p display (Westinghouse) without worring about the TV's internal scaler.
Guess I'll keeping waiting...
Aaron @ May 31st 2006 6:25PM
Now if they added firewire output for pure digital DVD-A/SACD I would get excited. I think my best bet is hunting down a Pioneer Elite DV-59avi on clerance to get this digital goodness.
Justin @ May 31st 2006 9:32PM
Sounds like a pretty good deal. What is the point of a PAL/NTSC support on a DVD player? Does it have an internal HD tuner?
Also, what is the USB used for? It says future expandability. Like what?
Thanks,
Justin
William Oberman @ Jun 1st 2006 3:13PM
I didn't notice this before, but a great side-by-side compare on the offical site:
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_compare.html
As Dan pointed out, the lack of a Genesis/Faroudja is a big deal. In fact, if you look at the link above, you'll see under "OPPO Recommendations" that the 970 is NOT recommended for > 50 inch displays!
Eddie Chang @ Jun 4th 2006 8:57PM
Great point made by William. The Oppo website recommends the 971H for sdisplays > than 50" but says the 970HD is OK for high end displays with upconversion processors. I have Sony SXRD ("60") with HDMI and plan to use an AV receiver only for the sound. I am still not sure which Oppo is the better fit. Any suggestions? Thanks