I'm
very close to ordering one, anyone else have this player have impressions on it?
Viper, how has it been since you last posted here?
This review really sold me:
DVDTimes: Oppo DV-980H
Quote:
Oppo vs Oppo
Based off this reputation, a lot of people are looking into Oppo DVD players already, so it's first of all worth comparing the DV-980H to their other current model, the DV-981HD, which is slightly more expensive but performs differently and has a different set of features. The most notable difference between these two Oppo players is related to how they handle video. The DV-980H performs all of its video-related operations on a single chip, which is used to decode the compressed MPEG-2 video from the disc, Deinterlace this video, and then Upscale it. The more expensive 981 model includes this same chip, but only uses its MPEG-2 decoding function, thereafter sending the decoded signal onto a more specialised separate chip for deinterlacing, scaling, and other optional trickery. You might think that the lack of a dedicated video processing chip will markedly hurt this player's performance - and that is normally the case - but Oppo's engineers have outdone themselves and as a result, the 980H is actually superior in some ways to the more silicon-heavy 981HD.
Sure, if you were to look at Benchmark ratings, the 980H would rank lower than the more expensive player (Oppo themselves mention this fact), because the 981HD can do a better job of dealing with trickier content, like Interlaced TV shows. That, however, isn't the whole story. The 980H excels in areas which statistics alone don't pay attention to, meaning that some may fail to notice that both players have their own strengths and weaknesses, despite the limitations imposed by the 980H's one-chip design. That alone speaks volumes for the ability of Oppo's technicians. Notably, it includes cleaner scaling than the 981HD, which results in a clearer picture with less ringing around edges.
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I also hear the 981 still exhibits the macroblocking and green color push of its DCDi processing. My Denon 2910 really, really exhibits this on my Sammy DLP, so I want to get away from DCDi...