Just found out that my friend (who is very happy with his picture) has a Oppo 981 connected via HDMI to his Dennon 2708 receiver and from there out the Sony 52XBR5 via HDMI. He is using the optical output on the Oppo to connect the audio. I also assume its possible that what I am seeing and don't like is the LCD side of the equation and has nothing to do with the DVD player.

My rational for considering the 983 is based upon the scarcity of Blu-ray DVD's available for rent relative to the number of DVD's that we own and are likely to rent in the future. My guess is that this is at least 3 years out. At that time, if I do upgrade, I can always relocate the 983 to another room. At this point I would not consider a PS3 unless it was almost equivalent with to the 983 for standard DVDS.