OPPO OPDV971H Digital HD-Ready Up-Converting DVD Player

I have mixed feelings about this product. Even though I still rated it with 5 stars simply because you got much more than what you pay for it at $200 from Amazon. Let's start with the features which I have issues with 1. Resume-to-play function: Most of DVD player allows you to resume scene from last time you stop. For this product, it does also only when power still on. If you power down the product, then it will resume from the begining of the disc next time you power-on the product. One way to get around it will be to eject the disc before power down and allow the disc to load while power down. Then, you can press the "select" buttom to resume the last scene next time when you turn on the product. It works but very annoying. 2. Quality control: The DVI-HDMI cable comes with the product seems varies a lot in quality. My 1st units arrived with good cable and everything works fine. My 2nd unit arrived with questionable cable and I saw lots of flicker noises when played at 720P mode. I returned the unit and re-order another one, same problem. Gladly, the OPPO company locates close to my area and I am able to bring the product to their site. They tested the unit with no issue at all and I stood there embrassed since I was so sure it was the unit has problem. They swapped me with new cable. For the very same unit, it works flawlessly with the right cable. 3. Compatibility: If you have Toshiba rear projection large size TV, this product is not for you but rather the OPDV970 does. Accordingly to OPPO technical personnel, Nathon and Jin , OPDV971 has clocking incompatibility issue with Toshiba TV. You will see 3 finger wide of light green bars on 1/20th and 2/3 of the screen. I swapped my 971 with 970 and it works well with my Toshiba rear projection TV. Now, let me share what I really like about this product 1. It can read all format, all regions disc with superior video quality. My Toshiba DVD player, costs me more than 1KUSD 5 years ago , can't even compare video quality at 480P through component output. 2. Video coming out from DVI, Component, Sviode, composite all are available. Easy for anyone to compare video quality from 720P through DVI with the component output at 480P. 3. Compact and sleek 4. Service: OPPO is very hard to find. I went there twice and each time took me more than 20 minutes to locate them. Their technical personnel is very knowledgeable and helpful. As soon as you open up your issue statement, they seems to know the cause and promptly address your issue. Here is the number to reach them, 650-9611118. 5. Video quality: DVI output at 720P has this cool-feeling video quality while component output provide warm video quality. So, you can change from cool to warm video images on the fly based on audiance acceptance. 6. Cheap. I was very skeptical about what a $200 upconversion DVD player can do when I had my 42 inches LCD HD TV ordered. Now, I am deeply satisfied with this product. Most importantly, I have my perceptions changed about product-made-in-China since this product indeed comes from China and it is GOOD.

I was kind of reluctant to get this DVD player at first. I've never heard of this company and thought that it'd be a cheap piece of junk, despite the higher than normal price tag. Got it home and was actually surprised as how well it was packaged. They really took care in doing so. The build quality is very high in my opinion. Sure, you can complain about the flimsy tray, but don't all super slim DVD players have trays like that? It doesn't bother me much. The people who designed this are geniuses. I never could have imagined how useful an eject button with a BLUE LIGHT on it could be! Seriously, you'd be surprised how many times i've accidently pressed the wrong button to eject a disc late at night. The only negative is that the LED display is nearly unviewable from a distance if you have it down low in a stand. No big deal. It's only because of the slim design. The remote is not average, but GOOD. To me it doesn't feel cheap at all. My only complaint is that I don't like the placement of the fast forward/back buttons. If they gave you an alternative so that the back/forward arrow keys in the center of the remote could be used for this, it would be a PERFECT remote. I have this connected to a 1080p LCD and just set it at 1080i. The picture qualith is AMAZING. To show off what this could do, just check out the latest Star Wars movie. The sound quality is fine too, but I won't really comment on that since I live in an apartment and don't turn up the volume too loud. One minor thing is that once or twice during a movie with subtitles they will have a little glitch, where a line will stretch across the subtitles. Please note that this is extremely rare and if it does happen it only occurs on one or two lines of text the entire movie! Perhaps they fixed this. It's such a minor problem it's not worth mentioning. And BTW the screensaver is terrible. When the logo disappear it leaves green patterns all over the screen on my TV. At least it doesn't automatically power down like some other DVD players. That's the most annoying thing EVER! Also, worth pointing out is that this is connected up to my TV full time while my HD-DVD player is collecting dust. Instead of reviewing this within days of getting it, i've played around with it for weeks to be absolutely sure it's good. So far I can't come up with many bad things about it. This is coming from a person who probably buys 3 DVD players a year! Get this player, it's worth the money and I highly recommend it!

I hope this review helps your buying decision. I bought this DVD player only to return it 2 days later - a real bummer. I, like most of the reviewers, know that this player won a top seat the Benchmark DVD comparison. The clincher was the DVI interface that plugs directly into the back of my 2-yr old 51" Hitachi HDTV. As soon as I got it via UPS I set it up and configured the settings. The result? I just sat there scratching my head...I sat there for a long time. Was this all? Did I do something wrong? Why does it look exactly the same as my old DVD player? I went back and forth from old the Toshiba to the new Oppo. I even called on my brother in law Larry and his other brother Larry to come over and take a look - they saw the same difference...that being none. Here is my summation after tweaking it for a few hours and performing a thorough comparison. I noticed very little, if any, difference from my existing player Toshiba Progressive scan player (with Monster Cable composite inputs) that I bought 4 years ago. The quality of the Oppo is great, very fast to respond to inputs and quiet - looks cool - appears well built and tasteful. The negative was that it just didn't perform much better than what I already have. I expected more. I did notice that the sound via the optic out was much nicer - more of a full sound. The picture, however, was only marginally improved. Offers 480p - 720p - 1080i. The best on my TV was on 720p, maybe a 5% improvement in picture compared to the Toshiba. Less grainy with smoother edges, but barely noticable. I expected better from a digital DVI output. Instead I got the same. When my old Toshiba DVD player dies (I won't buy another Toshiba, a story for another time), I'll consider the Oppo again. For now, it's going back.