first time caller long time listner! I finally upgraded to the outlaw family. I just started hooking everything up and its unbelievable. 100% satisfaction. But my concern today is I'm in the middle of upgrading my dvd player.What a task this is. Man you have to be a rocket scientist to figure things out. Plus I broke the bank on the reciever no need to kill my budget over the dvd, or is it?

I have read and read on the web about all dvd players. I think to the point that Im not sure if i evern want a new dvd player due to confusion and fustration. So my question to this forum is whats a good dvd player, and what makes one better then the other besides price?

I mean I found a website called Secret of home theater & High fidelity and they wrote a huge 6 part article about dvd and what makes one good and then test about 100 machines. The top DVD player according to them is

Oppo Digital - OPDV971H

Its only 199 bucks! is this true can you believe that a 200 dollar dvd player is as good as a 700 player ie Denon 2910 ( on a side note I saw one in best buy for 499 with an intstant 100 gift card rebate) I almost bought it but said wait a day or 2 and find out more.

In conclusion, what or more importantly who am I to believe and how can I prove they are right.

Just a thought,
Mike

Mike - In the last six months I've spent $700 on my Outlaw 970 Pre/Pro and $190 or so on an Oppo 971H DVD player, and I've been happy as a clam in the sand (I just made that up, by the way - I think). I chose the least expensive DVD player that would upconvert video to 720p and play DVD-A, and it turns out that I got a player that is pretty highly regarded, in terms of value (I hadn't heard of it before).

I'll probably updgrade to some format of HD DVD, once the format settles down, but until then, the Oppo seems fine.

The Oppo is an excellent player. The Denon 2910 offers a more robust analog audio section (for DVD-Audio and SACD), but the digital video really isn't likely to be any better than the 971H. The catch to the 971H is that you really need a TV with either an HDMI or a DVI input to benefit from it. If you've got that, I'd say go with an Oppo.

Gonk,

So let me see if I have this right, Oppo is better at video as long as you have a DVI out to your display. Also the 2910 has better analog sound but if you are going digital out to reciever its a tie bewteen 2910 and oppo?

I run everything through the 970, I have a sony dvp ns70h connect to the 970 via HDMI>DVI and Optical audio.

Lastly, Do you have any movie suggestions that will allow me to compare and contrast the 2 dvd's side by side?

Thanks
Mike

The Oppo is going to be as good as or better than (probably better than) the 2910 if you use the DVI output, although as with any upconverting player you're only going to benefit if the player's scaler is better than your TV's scaler. The 2910's extra cost is largely tied up in better DAC's, so if you listen to DVD-Audio or SACD you should see at least subtle improvements by using the 2910. For regular DVD's or CD's, the analog audio section is irrelevent since you'll use digital audio output.

We did some comparisons here recently between the Oppo 971H and a Yamaha S1500. On darker scenes (Batman Begins' tumbler chase, for example), the Oppo didn't show any real benefit, but on brighter scenes (the depth charges being dropped in U-571) the differences were much more noticeable. Go for a movie with a really good transfer and bright outdoor scenes, and you'll probably have the best luck comparing the two players.

awesome thanks for the help
mike

I realize that my comparison involves two models that are a notch or so below both of yours, but here is my opinion for all it's worth.

I had a Denon 1910 for about a year and a half until it just decided to quit working. It was all the excuse I needed to buy an Oppo 970HD.
The difference in picture is night and day. The Oppo 970HD beats the pants off the Denon 1910. You asked for reference DVDs, well I was always disapointed with the picture in The Fifth Element (superbit edition) when seen in my Denon, particularly the opening scene in the piramid filmed in low light. The Oppo did a much better job there. Also any of the Lord of the Rings movies offer a good challenge for most DVD players.
I use HDMI/DVI to connect the Oppo 970HD directly to a Samsung 42" plasma.