Considering Oppo DVD player and checked with them regarding new release that would combine the video of the 971 with the audio (sacd, dvd audio etc) of the 970. They responded with the following....

We are looking into releasing a DVD player that will combine the strengths of both units, but we have no firm release date. All we can
say at this time is "Fall".

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119

There have been some comments off and on since even before the 970HD arrived earlier this year about this player. The info you got from them matches what I've seen batted around at AVS: the 971's replacement will retain the 971's Faroudja processing but move to an HDMI output and add support for SACD along with the DVD-Audio support already offered by the 971. I've been keeping an eye on it since it could potentially replace both my Yamaha universal and my 971 as a single solution for me. If the launch goes anything like the 970HD's did, we'll hear something official about it from Oppo when they have the first batch ready to ship and they add it to their online store.

Unless the price will be cheap, why care since everyone is looking at the Blue Ray or HD DVD Player.

Kwok

Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are still in their teething stages. People are still looking for a budget player that has great video capabilities and can play all of the current audio formats. Besides, it's not like there are soo many HD titles out there that most consumers are going to stop buying regular ole DVDs.

I understand that the Hi-Def players can upsample regular DVDs but I have yet to see one come out that does this, is a universal player, and costs less than $200. When that time comes, and it probably will someday, then we can debate the merits of a Hi-Def player vs. a regular budget player.

Since the player it's intended to replace costs $200, I doubt the new one will be more than about $250 or so - pretty tempting since the 971 scored a 98 on Secrets' shootout and none of the Blu-ray or HD-DVD players support DVD-A and SACD yet. And personally, I'm looking at the new formats from a healthy distance. Neither will be getting my money any time soon.

I agree w/Gonk. Why invest in either of these formats at this time unless you have money to burn to be able to buy both of them. I know I will want to re purchase some of the dvd's I already own (LOTR extended version, Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc). Chances of all these being in the same format is slim and that goes for those that I will want to buy going forward. I'll wait until the war is over or hope for a universal player that supports both formats. I don't mind investing 250 in the short term considering the reputation and customer support of Oppo.

One reason I will wait is for the potential (if it exists) of a "universal" HD player which also does SACD and DVD-A. My 971 doesn't do SACD. My megachanger (Sony) does, but I really plan to sell it, as it is a real pain to use, compared to a single-disc player. So meanwhile for $250 or so I, too, would pull trigger for the new Oppo if it also does SACD. My current one would go to different system in the house.

All above comments make sense and great. I respect all the comments.
In my personal opinion, if buy a new up-conversion dvd player because it plays SACD as well, I rather buy a stand alone SACD player whilst I already have a decent DVD player for DVD upconversion and DVD-A listening. After all, money counts.

Kwok

In other words, there is no single solution that works perfectly for everyone - a mighty fine point. I suspect that Oppo's next player will generate as much buzz as both the 971H and 970HD have, but that doesn't mean any of the Oppo players are the right choice for every user.

Yap, I cannot agree more, Gonk.

Kwok

Upconverting players work better with some displays than others. I always tell people to get one on a trial basis and check it out.
I have a 971 and it works great with the best program material (another variable).

On other forums I see a lot of bashing of UC players, mostly from those who never even tried one...but I am the first to agree they will not be the best solution for everyone.

Exactly right - it's simply a matter of knowing (or figuring out by trial and error) which device has the better scaling hardware and software: player or display.

To Gonk and all: Part 990/ part Oppo
Got the new TAS....a pretty big bling for Outlaw to get that recognition....again...
I guess Tas gives the 990 a 'c' in the soundstage department if you read the #150 issue review and the blurb in the latest mag..But I believe it is also a relative 'c'...because at the end of the #150 issue review..the writer comments that if one wants the big goods in soundstaging....buy a Plinius....Really???? I could have bought a Plinius????? I don't remember once when my wallet said I could buy a Plinius....
Anyways...I'll get to play with the new Oppo this weekend....would like to know what you Oppo 971 owners are using for you preferred output for film and video...noticed right off the aspect execution difference over component and over DVI....also noticed lots and lots of options too...I have DVE and just got the latest AVIA release(free!) for calibration using Sony XBR 40" DVI input...aaaaaah! nothing like a huge freaking old school CRT to keep you warm in winter! Cheers and thanks...

Does anybody here by chance use the Oppo 971 with an RCA Scenium HD61W140? I'm very interested in the 971, but have had a bad experience with a cheapo upsampling samsung (from Fry's for $75 or so). I didn't get any signal through the dvi interface on my rca. So I'm slightly hesitant to get the Oppo...

If you buy directly from Oppo, they offer the same 30-day return policy that Outlaw and other online companies use to allow you to try the player out in your system. They also have a strong customer service team (again, following the same sort of business model that Outlaw uses to such great effect).

I did a little googling of your TV's model number. It appears to be a CRT RPTV from around 2002, so it's possible that the DVI input is not HDCP compliant. That would explain why the Samsung wouldn't work - an HDCP-compliant DVI device or any HDMI device (since HDCP's required with HDMI) would fail to establish a handshake with the display and wouldn't send a video signal. The Oppo 971 is not an HDCP device, allowing it compatibility with older DVI displays - it also has been a great fit with my direct-view CRT HDTV (a 32" Zenith).

I found a review by AVGuide.com that went into some detail on this TV. The review indicates that the DVI input is HDCP-compliant, so I don't know why the Samsung didn't work - one possibility would be a default output setting of 480i (a resolution that DVI doesn't support). The review also indicated that the internal scaler is a pretty good one, at least on the upper end of what was offered in HDTV's at the time the review was written (late 2002, early 2003).

Thanks Gonk! You've been busy :-)
I think I'll just have to ty, as you said I can always return it. The fact that it does not have the HDCP might be a good thing for me. I sort-of want to wait for the 972, but that model will be hdcp compliant according to Oppo...

jan

Yeah the 972 will be HDMI and thus will have to be HDCP compliant.

Well, I ordered the 971. I'll post my findings...

I don't know if anyone is really interested in this but there is actually light at the end of the 'HD-player format war tunnel' as NEC just announced the release of a chip that does both HD-DVD and Blue-Ray decoding. They anticipate a monthly output of 300,000 chips. This should open the market for universal HD-players. This might still be unsatisfactory for DVD-A and SACD enthusiatst but who owns these anyway? I don't mean to tick anyone off, it's just that I can't get MY music in this format. Any comments?

Actually, I am interested in seeing HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo player design start to move forward. I don't like the position this format war has put consumers in, but I'd still be interested in a true universal player (DVD with good upscaling like Faroudja or even HQV, DVD-Audio, SACD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray) from somebody like Outlaw, Oppo, or Denon. I'm not optimistic about such a beast appearing anytime soon (it's probably a couple years off, maybe more at a price point I'd feel happy about), but I appreciate the companies like NEC and LG that are at least looking into ways to merge HD-DVD and Blu-ray in one chassis.

Apparently the new model will be called the DV-981HD . Wonder what the "HD" stands for. Scaling probably.

The 970's full model number is DV-970HD, with the HD referring to the upscaling. Interesting - certainly sounds like the 971's replacement.