Originally posted by mdrconsult:
Hey Gonk,
I was wondering what your recommendation would be on whether it is worth upgrading from the 981HD to the 983H. I am currently using the 981HD as my main player for my audio play back (CD, SACD and DVD-A) as well as for SD DVD. I have a BD player but for SD DVD the Oppo seems to be much better then my Sony BDP-S300. I seem to be watching less and less of the SD DVD as there are more BD DVD titles becoming available everyday. So my primary function is Audio playback. Therefore, do you think there is a substantial improvement in the Audio playback that would justify the upgrade.
If your objective was just audio playback, I'd get a 980H - it is
very close to the 983H on analog audio performance. The 980H won't have as film-like a picture as the 981HD, though, although it may still be a better DVD upscaler than the S300.
Originally posted by mdrconsult:
On a side note, I notice that Oppo does not recommend the 981HD with DLP TVs. Yet I am using it with my Mitsubishi 65" Diamond DLP with absolutely no complaints. In fact I have been very impressed with its video performance. Will I really be able to notice a difference if I go to the 983H?
You are not alone in successfully pairing the 981HD with DLP. However, OPPO is cautious about pairing the 981HD with DLP's because of the Faroudja' chip's macroblock enhancing tendencies. That tendency is not global (some DLP's never exhibit it), and it is often very reduced by calibration even in those that do exhibit it. The 983H is immune to that. You would see a difference between the 981HD and the 983H on a 50" screen (I saw one on a 32" CRT). The question is whether that difference is worth the cost of upgrading, especially if you are starting to spend more time with Blu-rays.
You might hold on to the 981HD for another year or so and see what OPPO does with Blu-ray. I think the odds are pretty good that they'll include DVD-A and SACD support in such a player (although they haven't told me so yet, and even if they ever do tell me one way or another it'll be under an NDA). Then you could potentially replace the S300 and 981HD with a single player...