OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio

I upgraded from a somewhat generic progressive scan Toshiba DVD player which was running on my new 58" Samsung plasma and all I can say is: WOW! What a difference. Upscaling to 1080p works flawlessly and is gorgeous. I've seen a Samsung upscaling player and this Oppo blows it away in every way. I particularly like the USB port on the front of the player which lets me easily play my ripped, edited movies I have converted to divx (I edit for my kids so we can all watch).

I spent days and weeks agonizing over whether or not to purchase this player. I read probably 10 reviews across the web - all of which were good. If you wonder if this player is really worth the money, buy with confidence. You will not be disappointed!

Although it is billed as a universal disc player, I bought the OPPO DV-980H solely for its audio abilities based on rave reviews elsewhere (including the recent Stereophile recommended components list). I haven't even tried it as a DVD player yet.
I let the deck play a CD nonstop for three days to burn in the circuits before I listened to it, and on first melodic tones I was sure this was something special for such a modest price. I could sense depth to the soundstage that I didn't experience from my old Yamaha player. While it doesn't have staggering low-end sound, there is some muscle behind the drum work on the classic jazz and ochestral music I most enjoy.
The only disappointment I found is that the OPPO doesn't provide SACD output to my receiver, because it is not equipped with an HDMI connection.
Still, the analog sound from redbook CDs is highly satisfactory, especially for the staggeringly low price.
I am sure there are better sounding audio components out there, but the price/performance ratio cannot be beat.

The 980 produces a great picture and sound.
Oppo even replaced my remote FREE after I ruined
it by spilling coffe on it. THATS the way to run a company!!

...that's what your gonna say the first time you fire up this baby with your favorite standard-def DVD. This is not your average Big Box Mart or Big Buy DVD player. I did a fair amount of online research for upconverting DVD players and the OPPO DV-980H quickly rose to the top of the heap ...and I had never heard of this company 'til now. Here's some of my comments to add to all the other positive reviews.

This player is different from the moment you open the box, and even the box is a bit different: most consumer electronics are wrapped and taped in a white foam liner, this unit was encased in a custom fit, velcro fastened soft black envelope with "OPPO" printed across it. The unit is slim yet has a bit of heft to it. The DV-980H is a very sophisticated DVD player and has adjustments well beyond those of mere mortal players ...in short, READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL. If you're the type who "doesn't do instruction manuals" or is "technologically challenged", then maybe you should stick with the lesser fare DVD players. You can get a truely amazing picture by setting this unit up properly BEFORE you begin feeding it your DVD collection. The manual is quite thorough and the adjustments are really not hard to figure out.

Word of advice: if your TV/Monitor does not have an HDMI or DVI connection, don't waste your money on this DVD player. There are four ways to make video connections with this unit: HDMI,Component Video, S-Video and Composite Video. Upconverting of commercial DVD's occurs *ONLY* through the HDMI/DVI connection; in any other mode you are limited to standard definition (480i/480p) video. The only exception is home video/consumer-created DVD's which can be upconverted using the component video connections. DVI connections can be made using an HDMI to DVI adapter plug with no loss of visual or audio fidelity.

I have this unit feeding my hi-def Hitachi 51F59 50" wide screen RPTV; the difference in video quality from a standard DVD player is INCREDIBLE. The overall effect is that of a theater film ...three-gun RPTV's typically don't have the razor sharp picture most flat screens do but with this player I truely have a home cinema. With the DV-980 set for 1080i upconverting, my standard-def DVD's come across beautifully cinematic with zero artifacts from the upconversion that I've been able to see. Decoding surround sound (Dolby and DTS)can be done through the player with both 5.1 and 7.1 preamp channnel outputs or sent digitally "raw" (via optical or coaxial digital cables) to your reciever/amp for decoding.

If you have a large collection of standard-def DVD's and your TV/Monitor is able to accept the HDMI/DVI connections, then this is the player to get. It has a lot of adjustability and a wealth of video and audio connections and capabilities. What it won't do is play any type of hi-def DVD; but with as oustanding an image as you get from this player using standard definition DVD's, you really won't care.

A little history ... I used to have the OPPO DV-971H feeding my Optoma H31 480p projector over DVI. I was so happy with this setup that I stopped going to movie theaters ...for about 2 years! After upgrading to a Panasonic PT-AX200U 720p projector, I had to use a DVI/HDMI adapter and didn't like the way the assembly was "pulling" on the HDMI input of the projector, and also felt the picture wasn't was it used to be. So I went to a local store and bought the "highly reviewed and recommended" $ony DVPNS700H with HDMI out. The picture and sound quality were ok, by I didn't feel that my 720p upgrade was justified. During the past 4 months, I barely used the projector and started going to the theater more often! I bought a Blu-ray drive for my computer and must admit that the picture and sound were phenomenal, I just don't like to use a full size computer to watch movies ... and I'm not paying $400 for a standalone given today's movie selection.

Long story short ... enters the DV-980H. I got it 2 days ago, and I've already watched 6 full movies. If I didn't have to go to work during the day, I would have watched movies all night! Now I felt the 720p upgrade was justified! The picture is awesome (colors, dynamic, etc ...) and the sound is excellent! I had to turn down the volume on my receiver (and sub) and was still able to hear the dialogue (I had issues with the $ony were the dialogue would be muffled and I had to crank up the volume to hear anything!). Last night, I watched Apollo 13 and Transformers and realized that I won't be going back to movie theaters for a while!

How does it compare to Blu-ray? I watched the 1st Pirates of the Caribbean on BD and DVD back to back; there is definitely a difference. BD offers uncompressed audio and a 1080p/24 picture that is encoded more efficiently ... and DVD is just an older format! Nevertheless, the DV-980H gives me about 75% of the BD experience for less than 1/2 the admission price ... and I can still enjoy my full movie collection. Life is good again!

If it helps anyone, here's my setup: DV-980H (digital coax audio + HDMI video), D-link DSM-510 network media player (digital optical audio + HDMI video), Denon 787 receiver, Klipsch B3 / C2 / S2 / Sub-10, 92" gray Elite screen, PT-AX200U, audio and video computer calibrated ... and ALL wires from BlueJeans cable.