Oppo 970 or 971 [Archive] - SoundAndVision Magazine Forums

danzeb

February 6th, 2007, 20:54

Well, my DVD player is dead and I like what I have read around here about Oppo.  I have a 52"DLP that is native 720.  I only have one DVI input that is currently used for my Cable box (Sports in HD is first priority.)  The current DVD is connected through component.  <o:p></o:p> So the question is should I get the 970 and hook it up through component, or the 971, and also get a DVI switcher (~$240), for the added benefit of the Faroudja processor?  It would only be used for movies, not music.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Any thoughts?  Thanks as always.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Dan<o:p></o:p>

MDRiggs

February 7th, 2007, 17:25

How does the cable look when hooked up via component video? If that were acceptable, you could go that way and run the 971 directly into the DVI input.

danzeb

February 14th, 2007, 11:27

Well, I am officially an Oppo convert.  I really did not expect to see such a difference with an upconverting DVD player.  First, I want to state that as a customer I really appreciated the ease of ordering form the Oppo website and the delivery of the player.  I have read over at AVS where some have ordered thru Amazon and after 30 days they still have not received. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I have a 52ï¿½ DLP, so I feared the macroblocking that has been reported so I went with the 970, needless to say no macroblocking issues.  I think that I was a lucky one like Matt B; I got the upconverting through the component cables.  I did not download any hack software.  I played Batman begins, Star Wars II and III, and King Kong from my collection and <st1:place>Sahara</st1:place> from blockbuster, all upconverted through component.  I was extremely impressed with the picture and I was not expecting such an improvement in sound, but I should have since I was previously using a player that was 6-7 years old.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Never satisfied with anything as is, I bought a HDMI/DVI adapter and tried what MDRiggs suggested and used the DVI input for the player and component for the Comcast HD box.  Well, the Oppo picture was much better through the DVI cable.  My wife loved the West Wing so we have a season of that on DVD.  The quality of that was the same as the previous player through component, even though it was upconverted to 720P (stopping playback and pushing HDMI button).  After I switched to the DVI cable there was a dramatic improvement of the show with a very clean picture.  I went back and forth with a variety of scenes with movies I had on my DVR for comparison.  The quality of the Oppo 970 through HDMI/DVI was equal to that of Comcast broadcast HD HBO movies (Star Wars II, King Kong) through the DVI.  I was not expecting that much of an improvement with a SD DVD.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> So now, since the cable broadcasts do not look as good through component I am purchasing a HDMI switcher so that both the DVD player and the HD broadcast will be through the DVI cable (with HDMI adapters).  This will hopefully make the tune up DVD make more sense to me now since both the DVD and Cable TV will have the same inputs, especially since the colors are off between DVI and component.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> So many thanks to those who raved about the Oppo, I am extremely satisfied and will now most likely continue to hold off on the HD DVD/BD until I get a new TV 2-3 years from now.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> My overall Oppo 970 experience:<o:p></o:p> Very good customer service<o:p></o:p> Upconverting player through component<o:p></o:p> Best picture quality through HDMI<o:p></o:p> Picture quality equal to Comcast HD (movies and broadcast TV, my only HD reference)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>

Jomari

February 14th, 2007, 21:33

<div>welcome to the forum.</div> <div> </div> <div>do you have HDMI capability? if so, you can always use that instead.</div> <div> </div> <div>its not a matter of connections IMO, but a matter of combinations. as matt would indicate you can have a very good display device and a crappy dvd player. or the other way around. </div> <div> </div> <div>both do well. in some instances, macroblocking is an issue, but this is not a problem due to your set being a 52'' telly.</div>