If the 990 is outside the view of the listener, the on screen display can be of some help, but not much. I find the really benifit in a secondary display is allowing you to due setup and maintenance sorts of things without usng the main display. this saves a lot of silly questions from "she who must be obeyed".

This on screen display (OSD) discussion highlights the need for what I requested in a previous post about features to include in the 978/998. I believe that both systems should incorporate an option to allow for a "ghost" OSD toggle option over the video source such that you can see the semi transparent OSD and/or setup menus and still see the video program material. This will make access to the OSD and setup menues more accessible and convenient, and it will likely eliminate many wife acceptance factor (WAF) and "she who must be obyed" issues. I currently cannot view the OSD because my 990 is in a cabinet, so I have to go and open the cabinet to view the OSD; and for the setup menus, I have my universal remote programed to turn on the setup menus and switch my video source, but it is all in black screen and quite disruptive, and thus I only do it rarely.

Ed

It is connected via the 990's DVD input. Is what you are saying is that I need to use a Y connector from the Oppo's composite out running two cables , one to DVD input and the other to 7.1 input

I wouldn't split the output, but the 990's DVD composite input won't be active when the 7.1 Direct input is selected. The composite connections are linked to their assigned inputs. How do you have the OPPO connected for video? Also, which OPPO do you have? If you can use component from the player, you can assign the same component input to both DVD and 7.1 Direct.

I have the Oppo DV-980H connected to the 990 via Component video DVD inputs .... and Composite video output from the Oppo to input on the 990.
When the 990 is switched to 7.1 in component input it shows only a black screen, no album or track info.
As you describe, Component Video works fine for both DVD and 7.1 minus the OSD over source being viewed.
Would using the 980H's s-video output to 990's s-video give me what i am seeking .
?

If you've got the 980H connected to the 990 with the component output (on Component-DVD), I'd assign "Comp-DVD" to both the DVD and 7.1 Direct inputs in the input settings menu. The composite connection isn't necessary unless you really want to see the 990's OSD "pop-up" messages.

I do have it connected that way ( Component ) but there are times when I want to access OSD over program material, this is the reason for connecting via coposite video.

The setup menus can be accessed with a component input, although it replaces the incoming video with a black background. If you want the status messages, you could use composite for one input (DVD) and s-video for the other (7.1 Direct). Stepping down from component to either of these connections is creating a compromise in video quality, though, so I'd only suggest doing it if you really need to get that status message.