OPPO BDP 83 Blu Ray Player Review

21 Responses to “OPPO BDP 83 Blu Ray Player Review”

1. r4 says:

   October 30, 2009 at 3:06 am

   Audio decoding; Profile 2.0-compliant; 1GB onboard memory; backlit remote; two USB ports; HDMI cable included.

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2. wordsaremylife says:

   September 21, 2009 at 11:43 am

   My first Blu Ray player but have seen others
   I upgraded from a very good Denon 1940CI DVD player so that I could begin to purchase and watch Blu Ray disks and continue to play SACD and DVD-A disks, which the Denon does very well. I also wanted to upgrade from 5.1 to 7.1. I looked at friends’ Panasonic, LG, and Samsung players, but after reading all the praise about this OPPO player, I decided to take the chance and spend the extra money money on the OPPO. I’m glad that I did. Blu Ray, SACD, and DVD-Audio disks look and sound great. In fact, as good as my Denon is (perhaps their far more expensive DVD players sound better), disks sound noticeably better on the OPPO. Not only don’t I have regrets about paying the $499 for the OPPO, I think it is a bargain.

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3. Anonymous says:

   September 21, 2009 at 1:20 am

   OPPO BDP-83-Bly-ray Disc Player
   The product was delivered in a timely manner without defects. Once I set it up, everything worked perfectly. Excellent resolution and audio capabilities. I am totally satisfied with the procuct.

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4. Anonymous says:

   September 20, 2009 at 4:42 pm

   The Gold Standard in Blu ray players!
   You might ask who is Oppo when there are many giant electronic companies producing Blu ray players. For price, there is the Sony PS3 slim, a game console with player capabilities. Then there are companies (LG, Samsung)adding internet content. Do some research online about the BDP-83 and you will find nothing but glowing reviews for this product. Oppo is a small company of videophiles whose goal is to produce the best video/audio qality for the price and with excellent customer support. You say $500 is high for a player? Add in that it comes with a high quality HDMI cable and two professional Blu ray calibration discs and the differences diminish. Build quality is first-rate; a substantial 11 pounds with mostly metal construction – not plastic! Even the AC cord is pro level. This is a UNIVERSAL player. Besides Blu ray, CD and DVD, this unit handled my DVD-AUDIO and SACD discs with aplomb. There are 7.1 analogue audio jacks if you don’t have HDMI audio capabilities and they support the player’s decoding DOLBY and DTS HD audio. The Anchor Bay VRS upconversion is superb, adding new life to a DVD collection. Some of my SUPERBIT DVD’s are now almost Blu ray quality on screen. Add a comprehensive setup menu and well written manual and you will get the most out of this unit. If your major criteria is PRISTINE video and audio quality, THIS IS THE PLAYER!

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5. Anonymous says:

   September 16, 2009 at 9:18 am

   Amazing picture and audio quality!!
   I have only had my player for just over a week now but I could not be happier. I have put it through the paces with every disc format I have available, just about every one it is capable of playing. As a home theater enthusiast and someone with a professional audio background, I was very interested in having a high quality player capable of playing every format under the sun for a reasonable price – this is it!!

   My first Blu-ray player was an LG BD-390 – I returned it because it was a defective piece of poorly built junk. I bought it because it has a pretty cool feature set; my kids still complain at no longer having NetFlix available via the Blu-ray player. It’s really no big deal, though, because we have the computer hooked up to the HDTV via DVI -> HDMI.

   The Oppo player, on the other hand, is well-built and a much better fit for our needs. We have a large DVD collection that has been given new life by the upscaling, we’re enjoying watching Blu-ray movies from NetFlix at their best, the HDCDs I’ve had in my collection are finally being played back at full resolution, and I can play my collection of DVD-Audio and SACD discs.

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6. bake3978 says:

   September 16, 2009 at 2:50 am

   My HANDS ON Expeience With The Oppo BDP-83
   I have owned this player since March. I was 1 of the 1st 50 that was chosen as a part of Oppo’s Early Adoption Program. I had the player for about a month and was ask to vote on whether or not to expand the Early Adoption Program. The vote required a 70% super majority, but received and overwhelming vote of 96% with 2 owners not voting. Because of this overwhelming vote the EAP was expanded to 300 additional people as opposed to 100 as Oppo had previously stated. The 350 EAP participants had to vote again after several weeks of use. The 2nd EAP vote yielded a 92.2% (only required 70%) acceptance with 69 participants not voting. This vote led to eventual release the player to the general public.

   The Early Adoption Program allowed Oppo to flush out most of the bugs and compatibility issues due to the diverse setups of the early adopters. This was a highly visible and bold move by Oppo to expose their product to the general public prior to release. This program worked to perfection allowing Oppo to flush out most of the issues prior to public release. What other manufacturers would expose their product to this kind of scrutiny? NONE!!!!!

   My basic premise for wanting this player is because of my previous association with Oppo DVD players (DV-980H, DV-981HD & DV-983H) and their outstanding customer service department which left an impression upon me. I know blu-ray playback for the most part is very similar, but DVD playback can be night and day from player to player and the Oppo has one of the best solutions in the VRS by Anchor Bay ABT-2010 under the hood. I own several SACDs and DVD-As; over 100 blu-ray discs and over 600 DVDs and I want the best (though subjective) 1 box solution that I can afford. I also own 2 Pioneer BDP-51FD and a JVC XV-BP1 blu-ray player all of which are fantastic players and serve different purposes throughout my house. I’ve also owned players from Samsung, Panasonic and Sony.

   First Impressions (Impressive)
   
   -Player protected by a black cloth bag (nice touch)
   
   -Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Calibration Disc (video)
   
   -AIX Records Audio Calibration Disc HD Music Sampler (Audio)
   
   -Back lit remote (Alkaline batteries)
   
   -HDMI Cable
   
   -Composite cables
   
   -Owners Manual (Best written manual that I’ve experience)

   My Setup:
   
   -Pioneer Elite PRO-950HD (sit 6′ – 8′ from the screen)
   
   -Denon AVR-3802
   
   -Speakers: BIC Venturi DV62s (fronts) /DV62CLR-S (center) /DV52si (surround & surround backs)
   
   -Velodyne Subwoofer
   
   -Atlona HDMI 1.3b cables
   
   -Analog cables from Monoprice
   
   -Media Players: BDP-51FD, Oppo BDP-83, JVC XV-BP1

   BLU-RAY PLAYBACK
   
   I used the blu-ray discs the Dark Knight and Hellboy. The playback was excellent. The colors looked natural and the picture was not unusually sharp or overly vibrant. Some players at their default settings seem a little too sharp or bright in my viewing. Some may refer to this as the picture having more pop. The Oppo has the most neutral or natural picture of the players that I own in my opinion. Others have also expressed the neutrality of the Oppo. Blu-ray playback should be similar amongst most players for the most part. I would be skeptical of anyone seeing a night and day difference in blu-ray playback.

   DVD PLAYBACK
   
   For DVD playback I 1st used the disks from Star Trek The Next Generation Season 1. I chose this disc because I know is doesn’t have the best rendering. I wanted to challenge the up-converting of the Oppo. The Oppo did a good job with this disc definitely improving the video. While it wasn’t night and day there was definitely a visible improvement to my eyes. The picture was smoother with less noise. I also looked at other DVDs and the Oppo did a fantastic job with those also. The BDP-83 will squeeze the very last ounce of picture quality out of your DVD collection. I was initially going to replace some of my favorite DVDs with their blu-ray counterparts, but that number has dropped significantly with the addition of the Oppo.

   AUDIO
   
   I’m using the analog connections of the Oppo since my AVR is pre-HDMI. The playback of SACD and DVD-A is outstanding in my opinion. Also, multi-channel analog surround sounds very good decoded by the Oppo. I have not used the Oppo or any of my players for 2 channel audio since I have a dedicated CD transport that I am quite happy with. There are those who don’t think very highly of the Oppo 2 channel audio or have another 2 channel analog solution, but the consensus seems to be that the Oppo 2 channel analog is very good. Also, listening to audio is too subjective given the various setups and room acoustics. Last, the Oppo uses the same DACs (Cirrus Logic CS4398) for their 2 channel audio that are found in the Marantz models SA8003 and SA-KI-PEARL SA-CD. Both are CD/SACD players. The DAC info is strictly for informational purposes only.

   OTHER
   
   The multiple zoom settings for both SD DVD and Blu-ray are fantastic. The “Full” zoom mode removes the black bars from the top and bottom of the video while maintaining the correct aspect ratio. You do lose a minimal amount of the picture, but not enough to be concerned about in my opinion. I know the video purist don’t like this, but I do. Also, all the audio outputs are active all the time. This allows you to change the audio from your AVR or Pre/Pro without going into the setup menu. You can also make adjustments to the setup on the fly without stopping the player. There are a host of other features like being able to choose sub-titles or change the movie soundtrack on the fly. There is also a “Demo Mode” which splits the screen allowing you to make on-screen real time picture adjustments and see the results before accepting the adjustments. Last, there is the back lit remote which is laid out nicely and logical in my opinion. The player is very easy to setup right out of the box and you can have it up and running within 10 minutes if you are using an HDMI cable. For those looking to get everything out of the video you can tweak until your hearts content.

   FINAL THOUGHTS
   
   For those who have commented about whether or not this is truly a universal player; Oppo never marketed it as such. If you go to their website it clearly states that it is a “Blu-ray Disc Player W/SACD & DVD-Audio”. I guess the inclusion of SACD & DVD-Audio led to it being called a universal player on the various forums.

   When the term “Universal” was introduced several years ago it meant a 1 box solution that played all the different types of media discs (DVD, CD, SACD and DVD-A). Now “Universal” loosely means BLU-RAY, DVD, CD, SACD and DVD-A. For this player to be a “Universal” player in the true since of the word, then it would need to play HD-DVDs. There are other current and future releases by Denon (DVD-A1UDCI & DBP-4010UDCI) and Marantz (UD9004) that are being advertised as “Universal” players, but have this same shortcoming.

   If you’re just looking for a plain vanilla blu-ray player and If your only criteria is PQ for blu-ray and DVD, then there are several players from other manufacturers that will do a very good job with blu-ray and DVD playback. However, if you need the additional features and media support, faster load times, GREAT customer service, SACD and DVD-A support just to name a few; then the Oppo is a bargain at $499.00. The only other players with this feature set that I am aware of begin at $1,999.00.

   I’ve occasionally read where some think the Oppo is “over-hyped” which is phrase I don’t particularly care for. I would say that there is a lot of “enthusiasm” from the owners of this outstanding player. I also find that most of this “over-hyped” speak are from those who have never owned the player. We refer to these people on the various threads as “trolls”. These are individuals who have comments that are mostly negative about equipment that they have no hands on experience with.

   There have been over 20+ reviews of this player and the overwhelming consensus is that the player is worthy of all the “Hype” or “Enthusiasm” that has been bestowed upon it.

   Do you think the Oppo would be receiving all these glowing reviews and comments by owners if they were not impressed or satisfied? Remember people are forking out $499.00 when there are capable players for basic blu-ray and DVD playback available for less than $100.00 on sale. If the masses were unhappy with this player, then we would all know about it; especially in this economy. (lol) I know of several people who have bought this player for strictly blu-ray and DVD playback, because the feature set outside of blu-ray and DVD playback is that good.

   This player is not perfect, but it is the closet to perfection that I’ve had in my setup. If you’re skeptical take it for a test drive. If you are not happy then the most you’ll lose is $18.00 shipping (I live on the east coast) if purchased directly from Oppo.

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7. Anonymous says:

   September 15, 2009 at 9:27 am

   best bluray so far!!!!!!!!!! than the first gen PS3
   all I can say is Fast!!!! and Simple that will accept BLU, Upscaler/Upconverting DVD, SACD and DVD-A all in one and can be mod to a Region Free Blu Player. Highly Recomended!!!

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8. Anonymous says:

   September 14, 2009 at 11:21 pm

   Best Blu-ray player
   I’ve been waiting for this product for quite a while and was watching it go through the beta testing.
   
   All previous reviews and raves proved to be true: it’s the best blue-ray player for the money.
   
   It plays Blu-ray, DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, CD, DTS-CD and various video+audio formats from flash drives.
   
   I use its HDMI output with an Onkyo receiver and a projector. The bluray picture quality is fantastic, even sharper than from a PS3. DVD upscaling is also the best I’ve seen (I watch a lot of movies). Can play SACDs and output the signal in DSD (the Onkyo can decode DSD) for the best SACD sound. Multichannel SACDs sound impressive indeed. Also plays video (mpeg2) and audio files (mp3) from a flash drive, but no wave yet. For CD playback, it has a dedicated chip with stereo analog output. It’s the best CD player under $1000 that I’ve heard. Has a quite balanced tonality, great dynamics and soundstage, very transparent, a tad bit heavy on the high frequencies, but this might be due to the lack of break-in.
   
   The remote is also quite good. It comes with a free calibration Blu-ray disc. The packaging is fantastic, it’s very well cushioned and comes with a free reusable grocery shopping bag with the Oppo logo.
   
   I highly recommend it to any serious movie fan or audiophile.

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9. Anonymous says:

   September 14, 2009 at 1:45 am

   OPPO BluRay player
   Awesome Blu Ray player…really pops the video out. Faster than the previous one (Panasonic) coming on and going off, has great features the Panasonic did not have (the Panasonic started flashing big lights distorting the video) and can be upgraded as new items become available. Have a 52″ LCD HDTV and by far the OPPO compliments it far better than our previous player.

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10. mchaffee@mail.sunflower.com says:

    September 13, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    I Marvelled.
    The bottom line:
    
    A BDP-83 playing Blu-ray is to a PlayStation 3 (PS3) playing Blu-ray as a PS3 playing Blu-ray is to the well-upscaled playing of a DVD. It is truly that differentiating. And, the PS3 is no Blu-ray slouch! If you are looking for a Blu-ray player, buy the Oppo BDP-83. If you can’t afford it, then wait and save up for it. The BDP-83’s Blu-ray and SACD performance is incomparable. Additionally, it will perform to as high a level as your other components allow it!

    My system: Monster Power HTUPS 2700 power conditioner Monster Home Theater PowerCenter HTUPS 2700 w/ Clean Power Stage 2 v2.1, Battery Back-Up & Automatic Voltage Regulation 6 Outlets, Stage 2 v2.1, UPS, AVR (MP HTUPS 2700); [player] through Monster HDMI Monster MC 1000HD-2M Ultra-High Speed HDTV HDMI Cable (2 meters) to Onkyo TX-NR906 Onkyo TX-NR906 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) powering a 3.1 system with bridged left and right amps processing both video and audio. Video through Monster HDMI to Mitsubishi Diamond 73835 Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-73835 73-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV (Glossy Black). Audio through Tributaries to Definitive Technologies (DefTech) Mythos ST speakers Definitive Technology Mythos ST 120v Supertower Speaker (Single, Black) (subs in each) left and right and a DefTech Mythos 10 Definitive Technology Mythos 10 On-Wall Speaker (Single, Black) Center. This is a high-performance, high-value, high-end system.

    The first Blu-ray I played was WALL-E Wall-E (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]. This is truly a 10 out of 10 Blu-ray in video and audio. It begins with the excellent Disney intro with a train chugging in the distance down the rails at twilight then goes to a view of the castle in a fly around. The PS3 did a great job, even had a suggestion of dimensionality to it (as if in 3D). It had an immersive sensibility. The BDP-83 snapped it. Realize that the only thing changing here is the swapping of the players, with the BDP-83 only going through its initial setup. (I just wanted to see if the thing turned on and worked!) I watched the rest of the movie. I was not just fully immersed into the movie, I flowed with the movie’s reality. There were colors and depths that the PS3 missed completely. I did not even imagine this being present in the movie’s definition as represented in ones and zeros! And that’s all it really is – ones and zeros.

    So, why the stark difference?? Imagine a wire with electricity running through it. Then let’s say that if there is 5 volts on the wire then there is a one (1) – if there is 3 volts on the wire, then there is a zero (0). If I put a component on each end of the wire and want to send the number 11001 between them, then the volts would be 55335. Simple idea if it were not for the fact that it will take some time to go from 5 volts to 3 or 3 volts to 5. Depending on the quality of the components on each end, if the sending one is a little, shall we say, sloppy in the transition from 5 volts to 3, then the receiving end may think it received 55535, or 11101. If it was also sloppy in the transition from 3 volts to 5, then the number could be received as 11100. This is not the intended 11001! So, what am I saying? The BDP-83 is a remarkably more accurate digital instrument than the PS3. Does this mean that the PS3 is junk? Not at all. Coupled with other components of matching performance it would be very acceptable and rewarding. But, under the circumstances, I was significantly, shockingly unaware of just how good the other components in the system were! Note: Getting into the setup menus, I found that the BDP-83 would ship up to 36 bit color (x.y.deepcolor) – even would put Blu-ray non-deepcolor bits into a deepcolor 36 bit word! The Onkyo and Mitsubishi also handle deepcolor. When I chose this option on the player, the Mitsubishi’s screen went dark!! I started sweating at about the 7 second mark and started thinking about weeping at the 12 second mark. And then the Mitsubishi popped back on with the Oppo deepcolor set at 36 bits! Apparently it talked to the Onkyo about it then the Onkyo talked to the Mitsubishi about it and once they were all in agreement – 36 bits! It would have been nice if they would have let me in on the conversation…

    In other words, the BDP-83 is a superlative, high-end component for just $500! It will NOT be the weak link in your system.

    The SACD stereo of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’, Bernard Haitink, London Synphony Orchestra, 2006 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’ [Hybrid SACD] (especially the 4th movement with voices) was very nice from the PS3. I had to use Neural THX on the Onkyo to get the sound right. Using the Direct option made it sound dead. With the BDP-83, the Neural THX processing was excellent. But the Direct function was just plain REAL – overflowing with life and presence. The Direct function has minimal processing, mainly taking the raw bitstream from the BDP-83, putting it through some outstanding Burr-Brown DACs (Digital to Analog Converters), and amplifying it. It was sublime.

    To finish up, the next Blu-ray I watched was Braveheart Braveheart [Blu-ray]. Magnificent. Audio and sound was a revelation. (FYI: outstanding soundtrack CD.) Longshank’s bout with consumption was truly sickening!

    Nonetheless, you will rejoice with your purchase of the Oppo BDP-83.
    

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11. michaeljc52 says:

    September 12, 2009 at 11:03 pm

    Best I’ve seen or heard
    BDP 83 is the best DVD Blu ray player I’ve seen and now own. The upconversion is visibly better than oppo’s earlier players. Movie sound is pristine. I can’t comment on Audio only formats as I only use it for Video.

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12. Anonymous says:

    September 12, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    Oppo 83
    Outstanding product. Easily the best stand alone Blu-Ray device available today. Competes with products costing 4 times as much

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13. Anonymous says:

    September 9, 2009 at 9:13 am

    Best disc player I’ve seen!
    This is my 4th HD disc player (all from Amazon, Thank You). While I always preferred the OS in my Toshiba HD-DVD (yes, I also bought Beta, way back when), as it loaded discs WAY faster than the 30 secs-2min that most BD players seem to take, I had to surrender when BD grew and HD-DVD didn’t. Also, because I was one of the seemingly 13 people who bought Hi-Res audio a few years back I had to keep a 3rd player in my system, a older Pioneer “Universal disc player”, to hear my beloved discs.
    
    When I saw the first reviews of the the Oppo, I was more than a little intrigued: besides the BD video features, 2-15 sec disc load and HI-Res audio via HDMI bitstream?? I could lose the Pioneer and the component video and 5.1 analog cables it required?? “We’re there. dude!”
    
    The Oppo has been a revelation! First off, packaging/accessories included: very nice; A single box, study enough not be double boxed, the player held, “floating” far enough from the bos sides not to need any peanut packing, by very solid, dense foam side inserts, the player in a PBS pledge-style cloth bag. A separate black box, for a nice, big, totally back lit remote with alkaline batteries, quality HDMI cable, and 2 very nice calibration discs, 1 video, 1 audio.
    
    How does it perform?? Even better! The quick, Auto-setup handles 90% of the setup, 100% for most people, Using the discs you can go deeper into the menues and really tweak it…or mess it up, if you don’t know what you’re doing. It does the best DVD upscaling I’ve seen, and there is detail and color, I swear I’ve not seen before. The AV processing (From Anchor Bay, I believe) is truly amazing.
    
    Lastly, Hi-Res audio: my discs sound like I never heard them before. They have a clarity in detail, and openness then is stunning. SO much so, I’ve begun scouring the net and buying any “new’ ones I can find, happy to find Amazon has a small selection; let me suggest the 2003 remastered Bob Dylan collection I found here. They are Hybrid CD-SACDs , so can be played anywhere, and his “electric” discs in 5.1 are a revelation.
    
    Player and discs are WELL recommended and worth the cost.

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14. Anonymous says:

    September 9, 2009 at 1:27 am

    Amazing Blu-ray player from Oppo!!
    This is truly an amazing Blu-ray player from Oppo, high-end features and performance! The build quality is very high and the weight of the unit is heavy when compared with other Blu-ray players, beautifully machined faceplate! The tray opens quietly and fast, everything about the Oppo’s navigation and Blu-ray load times is very fast! When you first turn on the Oppo BDP-83 the initial setup is soo easy a caveman can do it, and your average 4th grader wouldn’t have any trouble with the initial setup. As people have stated in their reviews it comes package nicely, something you see in ultra high-end professional equipment. The manual is printed only in clear english, not multiple languages.

    The feature that blows me away is Demo Mode, this is designed for the demonstration of VRS video processing technology. It can also be used as an aid for setting picture control adjustments for Detail Enhancement, Edge Enhancement, Noise Reduction, Brightness, Contrast, Hue (analog only), Color Saturation, Y/C Delay and Border Level. When you turn on this Demo Mode feature it will split the screen in half. The left side demonstrates the result of the VRS video processing, and the right side shows video without the help VRS video technology. This allows for a side by side comparison, not something you’d expect from a $[...] dollar piece of equipment.

    I purchased the Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Edition separately not knowing it is included along with an Audio Calibration Disc and an HD Music Sampler disc. This beautiful Blu-ray player looks like it belongs next to my top of the line Denon AV receiver, the Oppo offers performance and features not normally found in this price range. This Blu-ray player is targeting those who would consider spending thousands of dollars on an ultra expensive player and those of us wanting a Blu-ray player for the long haul. The picture quality is second to none, you’ll have to see it to believe it!! Way to go Oppo!! If only Oppo would market it’s own AV receivers in the future…

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15. analgkid says:

    September 9, 2009 at 12:13 am

    Excellent
    Everything works, nothing stinks. You cannot find a better Blu-Ray/Combo player on the market with this build quality, features, and customer support at this price. Don’t hesitate. Buy now.

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16. wik says:

    September 4, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    Was great while it worked… .for 1 day.
    This worked great when I got it. Fantastic picture. Great features. I was looking forward to exploring it more today, but when I turned it on and inserted the disc I was watching last night, it said “No disc”. That was a regular DVD. I put in a Blu-Ray disc, the one I watched last night, and it said “Unknown Disc”. I called Oppo tech support and they said it was dead… send it back. Sigh.

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17. Anonymous says:

    September 4, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    An HONEST Review After Thorough Evaluation
    Before I purchased this Blu-ray Player (the Oppo BDP-83) I owned a PS3. I also have several friends who own various Blu-ray Players including Samsung and Panasonic. Before I start the review let me say that all of these were connected to the TV with Monster HDMI 1000 cables into Sony XBR series televisions. I am writing this review mainly to assist those comparing current models – primarily those who own or are thinking of buying a PS3.
    
    First and foremost, now that I have been operating this Oppo player almost daily for the past 3 weeks I can make the following blanket statement: This Blu-Ray player does indeed live up to its promise in terms of visual quality; however, it also has more than enough small quirks to annoy those who were hesitant towards the $500 price tag. Is it better than the PS3? Visually – Absolutely. Performance – Hit or Miss. Here’s where I will break this down into sections:

    Visuals: When I first purchased this player I changed the settings for 1080p, 16 x 9 ratio and made sure the settings were accurate as I went through the included manual. Then I put in a standard definition dvd. And…I was initially disappointed. The upscaling on newer films and older films including Ghostbusters, Batman Begins, Mad Max, and Harry Potter Order of Phoenix looked exactly the same as my PS3. My tv visual settings were left on Vivid for both players. After my initial shock, I came to the conclusion that at least it wasn’t any worse. Then I put on a few cartoons for my daughters including: the Ducktales series and Dumbo. The colors and contrast were ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. The colors were much richer and vibrant than those that had been displayed through the PS3. The outlines on characters were much bolder and the quality of the original tape was so well represented that I could actually see tape defects on older cartoons from the transition to dvd. After much more comparison I have found that upconversion for most standard dvds is very similar to the PS3 although anything with bright visuals (most noticeably cartoons) stands out amazingly when placed side-by-side.
    
    As for Blu-Ray playback I used Coraline, I am Legend and Band of Brothers. On all accounts the Oppo excelled, offering richer colors, greater depth and more accurate image representation. In some scenes, such as the lions in I Am Legend, the Oppo clearly showed a well defined computer generated animal whereas the PS3 was unable to generate the image to such a degree. The Panasonic and Samsung showed nowhere close to the same quality that this Oppo produces. Some images are so glass-like that it makes my tv look more fragile! Therefore, visually, if you want a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, go with the Oppo. However, if you will not be watching as many cartoons and still do not own a large Blu-Ray collection, the PS3 is not a bad choice.

    Hardware: The Oppo does have a few glitches in this category I am sure they will eventually work out. The company seems to have incredible support and customer service as I will later talk about. Several times I have tried to turn the player back on and no image is sent through HDMI. It seems that if you stop playback at certain locations (menus within menus i.e. special features) or at certain parts of the credits before the dvd loops, the player is unable to read back the disc. This has happened three times within three weeks and I have had to eject the disc, turn off resume, and reload the disc. The signal was sent properly thereafter. In addition, the audio between some menus and general playback is occasionally at very different sound levels even with DRC on (Dynamic Range Compression). I have tried having it on and off to no avail. It seems that they are encoded differently – I cannot figure it out. This is not a huge issue, but it is something that the PS3 did not do. The third point I would like to STRESS is that the “award winning upconversion technology” also pulls in a few extra frames from time to time in its upconversion process that leave one image stuck on the screen for a fraction of a second longer than other images in series. It looks like the dvd is sticking for a second and then resolves itself. I find this more often in cheaper produced dvds (never in blu-ray discs), but it is still something the PS3 did not do. At first I was annoyed, but then I realized that 1 small glitch in an opening title was still ok given the enhanced colors in the cartoons. It IS something you will notice from time to time on Standard dvds and almost always occurs during a transition from one shot to the next or a jump cut. Furthermore, as another reviewer stated, the fast-forward is somewhat slow on 1x, 2x and 3x. However, it goes to 5x, which seems to be about the same speed as a 2x or 3x on any other player. This is more than enough to fast forward within a scene because Blu-Ray has scene forward and back. Use the two in combination and you will not have any problem finding your location. In addition, keeping time on the outside of the unit makes things amazingly simpler. Load times are EXACTLY the same as PS3, almost always instantaneous although you will find a 5-10 sec load from time to time. This is MUCH better than the other aforementioned players. Despite these shortcomings, the picture quality is fantastic for a standalone player. If you wanted to play PS3 games, however, the only performance issue I had was an occasional game freeze (which never occurred on dvds).

    Presentation: The Oppo REALLY shines in its presentation. The entire unit is made from an etched black metal and feels very sturdy. The Led light on the front for time display also has a dimmer that with High, Low and Off for your preference. The remote is backlit and has several great features including zoom processed by the player itself for tvs that do not have that feature (or to use in combination with the one your tv has to enlarge a picture without cutting as much off). The zoom levels and automatic 16×9 are fantastic and do AT LEAST as good of a job as the PS3, although I believe it is somewhat better. The only problem I have found with the remote is that the LARGE buttons on it are somewhat difficult to press and must be depressed in the center for the player to read them. Pressing a button off to the side will turn on the backlight, but will not register with the Oppo even when directly in front of the unit. The unit also comes in a double thick cardboard box built specifically for the Oppo. The manual looks like what you would expect from a VERY HIGH CLASS startup company and features thick glossed paper and very explicit well versed instructions. The package also includes all necessary cables, standard AV and HDMI (although I already had Monster) and a tv/ bluray calibration disc for home theaters. I spent 9 hrs going through all settings with this disc, however, only to find that the standard settings on my tv seemed better. However, I admit that if you have a “professional” do this for you, then it may work correctly. I didn’t think that $300 for a professional was necessary after seeing the quality I already had.

    All in all, from the time you get the Oppo in the mail until you view your first Blu-Ray you will be presently surprised. The system does have great visual, although a few minor problems keep it at a 4, in my opinion. More specifically, I would give this unit an 8.5/10. A very good choice now that I decided I would no longer be playing PS3 games, but not the “PLAYER TO RULE ALL PLAYERS” as some reviews have made this out to be. Please Note that through firmware upgrades, some problems may be remedied in the future. I have called customer service twice – both times I went directly to a representative who spoke clear English, sounded very professional and knowledgeable, and helped me without question. Never put on hold and never transferred through an automated service. That in itself was enough to make me decide that this was the Player to keep.

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18. kuropatwa says:

    September 4, 2009 at 6:38 am

    Audio Output Fantastic
    I purchased this unit for two reasons. First, I wanted to buy a Blu-ray player. Second, I wanted a unit that could play SACD, DVD-A and the newer Blu-ray audio formats (my Rotel preamp doesn’t have HDMI, my analog inputs were maxed out coming from the Pioneer Elite 47-Ai, and I didn’t have a way for Blu-ray audio output to come through my system uncompressed while the 47-Ai was hooked up). If you understood that, I’m impressed.

    I A/B’d the audio performance from many different sources, comparing the 47-Ai to the Oppo. I must say the Oppo was the top performer here. CDs sounded much better (more depth, soundstage clearer), DVD-A sounded fuller and more like the higher-resolution experience I was hoping for, and SACD also sounded much richer, if perhaps a tad dark in the mids. Maybe this is how SACDs generally are supposed to sound and I’ve been used to what the 47-Ai has been sounding like.

    The only area the Oppo didn’t perform best was with playback of HDCD. I thought my Rotel did a much better job of decoding my HDCDs than the Oppo. Considering I’m keeping the Rotel I don’t have any dilemma to resolve regarding this.

    Blu-ray video looks wonderful, DVDs look wonderful, and now I want to re-listen to my entire collection of music. I’ll check back when I’m done in 2050…

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19. Anonymous says:

    September 3, 2009 at 11:15 pm

    Click add to cart now!!!!
    This is my 3rd blu-ray player. I started with the PS3. The PS3 was an awesome player. But it is a bit silly in my home theater set up. At the time my Harmony 890 would not work with the PS3.

    Next I bought Samsung BDP-2550. What a waste of money.

    Then the OPPO BDP(best damn player)-83. This thing rocks. From load times to PQ to Audio. WOW. That is all I can say about this player. I knew it was gonna be great from the second I started to un-box the player. You can stop your looking around for the right Blu-ray player, this is the one.

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20. ckeesing says:

    September 3, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    A “High End” piece of equipment at a moderate price
    Yes, you can get excellent Blu-Ray playback more cheaply and media streaming (e.g. netflix, pandora) as well elsewhere. It’s the range and quality of media play back (e.g. SACD) and the picture adjustability offered that isn’t offered at this price point elsewhere. A good example of such omission is the recent CNET review, which while generally laudatory, makes the comparision to cheaper players with more features and fails to make comparisions with the more expensive players such as Denon, Pioneer, and Sony’s top of the range offerings. With the Oppo you get those feature sets, and equal or superior performance at a substantial savings. If you’ve invested in a good Home Theater rig, you can’t go wrong with this player. Additionally, you’ll get Oppo’s excellent customer support, which based on my experience always goes the extra mile to address user issues.

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21. Anonymous says:

    September 3, 2009 at 7:31 am

    Very pleased!!
    I have been waiting to buy a blu-ray for a while, but I was really wanting one that played sacd and dvd audio discs too. I have to say this player has exceeded my expectations. I replaced my Pioneer Elite DV 45A DVD, DVDA, SACD player with the oppo and I am glad I did. I am using the analog outs to my pre amp, and all HD audio conversion is done by the Oppo. I am running HDMI to my Aquas and The picture quality is awesome,(Blu Ray, Upscaling DVD) and so is the audio. One thing that surprised me is I am finding my self listening to all my Cd’s through this unit vs my HK. It appears Oppo has used a higher quality set of dacs for the stereo/CD section and I am very pleased with the redbook playback. I did alot of researh on players and this one fit the bill for me.

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Complete Media Support: Blu-ray Disc; BD-Live; DVD Up-Conversion; DVD-Audio;   SACD; Additional Media Formats - Additional disc and file formats, such as audio CD, HDCD, Kodak Picture CD, AVCHD, MKV, and other audio/video/picture files on recorded discs or USB drives can be played back on the BDP-83. Unparalleled Video Quality: VRS by Anchor Bay; Full HD 1080p Output ; True 24 Video ; Source Direct Mode; Multiple Zoom Modes; HDMI; High Fidelity Audio: Dolby TrueHD; DTS-HD; 7.1-Channel Analog Output; Dedicated Stereo Output; Digital Optical and Coaxial Outputs; Ultimate Convenience: Dual USB Ports ; PAL/NTSC Conversion ; Back-lit Remote Control; Universal Power Supply ; External IR ; RS232 Control (optional) ; HDMI CEC

• Universal Blu-ray disc player providing playback for a myriad of video formats
• Supports Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-Audio, DVDs, and CDs
• Two USB ports allow for playback of media stored on a flash drive
• Uses award-winning video processing chip for a clear, true picture
• Device measures 17.0 x 3.0 x 13.25 inches (WxHxD)

Dimensions

• Height: 3''
• Length: 16.9''
• Width: 13.3''
• Weight: 11.2 lbs