New Blu-ray player advice

[Razz]

Well I have been using my PS3 for a couple years now and i'm not happy using a "separate" remote.

I have wanted a stand alone for a while and have always been interested in the Oppo 83, but not interested in paying $500 for it nor it's replacement 93. I'm not ready to jump on the 3D band wagon yet either.

What player can hold it's own with the Oppo 83, but won't cost me so much?

 

[Zing]

The Sony S770 at half the price.

 

[Razz]

Costco has a Sony 57 blu ray player .... i wonder if it's the same thing?

http://www.live.sonyus.webcollage.net/s ... ormat=html

 

[Razz]

Sorry,
I found it... it's the same thing.

 

[Rope]

"plays 3D Blu-ray discs, Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs, and SACDs, as well as MP3, JPEG, and AVCHD files."

If you have and enjoy DVD-A audio, Sony isn't the best choice. When it comes to competiting media types, Sony is a lot like Steve Jobs, unless it their's they won't support it. On the other hand, if you don't own DVD-A discs, you're home free with the Sony.

Rope

*EDIT*
Consider waiting until Oppo breaks the new 93, look for a used 83 on A-gon or eBay.

 

[Razz]

My question is...
How much better is the Oppo 83 when talking performance?

 

[-B-]

Get the Logitech or PS31R adapter and call it a day.

 

[Rope]

My question is...
How much better is the Oppo 83 when talking performance?

As it relates to video processing, build quality,(tank comes to mind) and speed, in my opinion considering price, nothing competes, well unless it's the new 93 and that's yet to be seen.

Rope

 

[Huey]

My question is...
How much better is the Oppo 83 when talking performance?

As it relates to video processing, build quality,(tank comes to mind) and speed, in my opinion considering price, nothing competes, well unless it's the new 93 and that's yet to be seen.

Rope

But is it worth another $300? I have the Sony 570, and it is hands down the best bluray player I've had. Fast load times, great picture and sound, and a good looking gui. I've never seen the picture of the 83 or the 93, so take it with a grain of salt.
Rob

 

[DIYer]

Try Google search on oppo 83 vs sony s570.

 

[Rope]

My question is...
How much better is the Oppo 83 when talking performance?

As it relates to video processing, build quality,(tank comes to mind) and speed, in my opinion considering price, nothing competes, well unless it's the new 93 and that's yet to be seen.

Rope

But is it worth another $300? I have the Sony 570, and it is hands down the best bluray player I've had. Fast load times, great picture and sound, and a good looking gui. I've never seen the picture of the 83 or the 93, so take it with a grain of salt.
Rob

That depends, what period of time is the player going to be used in you HT? Will you be upgrading a year from now? Do you prefer plastic or metal front panels?

I don't doubt the Sony is a terrific player, although I'd be surprised of the video processing is top notch, or perhaps that's not a priority if you displays scaling is optimum. Many variables and preferences the user needs to answer before making that decision.

Rope

*EDIT*
Oh, and the Sony will kick the Oppo's ass when it comes to media streaming.

 

[Razz]

Well I'm planning to have it for as long as it will last (expecting a good 5 years from it) and I have a Pioneer 5080 plasma, it has very good scaling. (as you would already know Rope!)

 

[yromj]

Razz, why not the Sony S370 for $140? I have this player and I love it. It doesn't have WiFi, but it supports Neftlix, Hulu Plus, etc.

If you connect the player w/ HDMI, blu-ray should look the same no matter what. As DVD upscaling...I have zero complaints. You could always use the money you save to buy some of your favorite DVDs on blu-ray.

Then, if you want to upgrade later, you've got a good a bedroom player and you haven't dropped a wad of cash on it.

John

 

[Rope]

Razz, why not the Sony S370 for $140? I have this player and I love it. It doesn't have WiFi, but it supports Neftlix, Hulu Plus, etc.

If you connect the player w/ HDMI, blu-ray should look the same no matter what. As DVD upscaling...I have zero complaints. You could always use the money you save to buy some of your favorite DVDs on blu-ray.

Then, if you want to upgrade later, you've got a good a bedroom player and you haven't dropped a wad of cash on it.

John

That would depend entirely on where scaling is taking place and the resolution.

Rope

 

[Huey]

Razz, why not the Sony S370 for $140? I have this player and I love it. It doesn't have WiFi, but it supports Neftlix, Hulu Plus, etc.

If you connect the player w/ HDMI, blu-ray should look the same no matter what. As DVD upscaling...I have zero complaints. You could always use the money you save to buy some of your favorite DVDs on blu-ray.

Then, if you want to upgrade later, you've got a good a bedroom player and you haven't dropped a wad of cash on it.

John

That would depend entirely on where scaling is taking place and the resolution.

Rope

With an hdmi connection, the scaling is taking place at the tv, not the bluray player. I will say, although it may be mostly in my mind, but as I upgraded from different players, the picture did seem better. Not knocking the OPPO, but I just can't see how it can be that much better than the current generation players we have when playing back a bluray over an hdmi connection. Both players are outputting the same 1 and 0's.
Rob

 

[gonk]

With an hdmi connection, the scaling is taking place at the tv, not the bluray player. I will say, although it may be mostly in my mind, but as I upgraded from different players, the picture did seem better. Not knocking the OPPO, but I just can't see how it can be that much better than the current generation players we have when playing back a bluray over an hdmi connection. Both players are outputting the same 1 and 0's.
Rob

With any connection (HDMI or component), it's hard to avoid some processing by the TV. It can be done, of course, but it isn't necessarily obvious how to do so in every case. With my TV, I've got it set up such that a 1080p signal is fed directly to the panel and all of the 120Hz "motion smoothing" functions are disabled so both 60p and 24p are shown without manipulation. I also have my BDP-83 set to output 1080p (including 24p for film-based Blu-rays), so in my case the player does the processing.

That being said, I've always said that for Blu-rays, the differences between properly-designed players (meaning players that aren't doing something fundamentally wrong) should be very minimal. DVD is a different matter, as are the various other video sources we're pushing onto Blu-ray players (Netflix; video files from USB, disc, or network; etc.). For a native HD source that is not being deinterlaced, scaled, subject to 3:2 pulldown, or otherwise manipulated after initial decoding, the differences should be subtle. That was true a year and a half ago, when the BDP-83 was new, and it's still true now.

The bigger question is whether you just need a basic video transport for playing BD's (in which case a reasonably decent player from Sony or Panasonic should suffice) or whether you want something more (in which case the BDP-83's extra cost might suddenly start to look like a good value). A $500 BD player like the BDP-83 isn't for every person or every room, but there are cases where it's exactly what is needed. Want a player that can provide excellent DVD performance? Want onboard audio decoding and an analog audio section that isn't an afterthought? Want DVD-Audio and/or SACD support? Want good customer service? Any of these might alter the equation. The BDP-83 thrived on cases where such questions were answered "yes", and the BDP-93 looks likely to do the same (with the addition of some new features like Netflix and 3D).

 

[Rope]

Razz, why not the Sony S370 for $140? I have this player and I love it. It doesn't have WiFi, but it supports Neftlix, Hulu Plus, etc.

If you connect the player w/ HDMI, blu-ray should look the same no matter what. As DVD upscaling...I have zero complaints. You could always use the money you save to buy some of your favorite DVDs on blu-ray.

Then, if you want to upgrade later, you've got a good a bedroom player and you haven't dropped a wad of cash on it.

John

That would depend entirely on where scaling is taking place and the resolution.

Rope

With an hdmi connection, the scaling is taking place at the tv, not the bluray player. I will say, although it may be mostly in my mind, but as I upgraded from different players, the picture did seem better. Not knocking the OPPO, but I just can't see how it can be that much better than the current generation players we have when playing back a bluray over an hdmi connection. Both players are outputting the same 1 and 0's.
Rob

The user determines where scaling takes place, although if that's not the case, someone should inform DVDO, Oppo Digital, and all other source gear who utilize Anchor Bay Chip video processing, they're wasting money and charging their customers in excess. The final say in scaling is that of the display, however, if the display settings eliminate edge enhancement and the various other artifact adding gizmos, the display will see the incoming signal as it's native resolution and leave it as is.

In my case, I have the Oppo setup to scale the signal from (Blu-ray) 1080p to 720p, replay that signal (pass through) to the Onkyo SC885, then to KURO. The KURO enhancement settings are all set to off, as I believe they add artifacts to video and degrade the final product.

Also, if you own a 1080p display, you have the option of bypassing the Oppo video processing and send the raw (disc direct) signal direct to your display.

Rope

 

[DIYer]

With my TV, I've got it set up such that a 1080p signal is fed directly to the panel and all of the 120Hz "motion smoothing" functions are disabled

What happens if you enable the 120Hz "motion smoothing" function in this particular setup?

 

[Rope]

With my TV, I've got it set up such that a 1080p signal is fed directly to the panel and all of the 120Hz "motion smoothing" functions are disabled

What happens if you enable the 120Hz "motion smoothing" function in this particular setup?

The display would then have no choice but to scale the incoming signal in order to apply the motion smoothing function.

Rope

 

[Razz]

The user determines where scaling takes place, although if that's not the case, someone should inform DVDO, Oppo Digital, and all other source gear who utilize Anchor Bay Chip video processing, they're wasting money and charging their customers in excess. The final say in scaling is that of the display, however, if the display settings eliminate edge enhancement and the various other artifact adding gizmos, the display will see the incoming signal as it's native resolution and leave it as is.

In my case, I have the Oppo setup to scale the signal from (Blu-ray) 1080p to 720p, replay that signal (pass through) to the Onkyo SC885, then to KURO. The KURO enhancement settings are all set to off, as I believe they add artifacts to video and degrade the final product.

Also, if you own a 1080p display, you have the option of bypassing the Oppo video processing and send the raw (disc direct) signal direct to your display.

Rope

Rope,
So what is the advantage in the Oppo compared to the Sony if the signal is being sent to the Kuro?.... That is what I'll be doing and for now. I will have the blu-ray player output a 720p signal, pass-through my Onkyo SC886, then to my KURO (all done HDMI). I'm wondering if the scaling done by the blu-ray player from 1080p to 720p is of that much importance. HOW MUCH BETTER?

Also,
I agree with you about the enhancement settings.. I have all of mine set to off.