QUICK PICK REVIEW: APRIL 3 ,2008
OPPO Digital DV-983H Scaling DVD Player
Has OPPO squeezed every possible ounce of performance out of the DVD format? Sure looks like it…
Figure 1. OPPO’s DV-983H looks even snazzier than its DV-981H sibling.
OPPO Digital continues to roll out new upscaling DVD players every few months, raising the bar each time. The first player I tested was the DV-970H, back in August of 2006. Since then, I’ve looked at the HDMI-only DV-981H (a great player), the component/HDMI DV-980H (no slouch itself), and now the DV-983H.
The big news in this model is the use of Anchor Bay VRS image processing. Anchor Bay, the parent company of DVDO, has put this chip to use in a few video scalers, and it also wound up in Toshiba’s late HD-A30 HD DVD blue laser player. While a strong performer at 1080p output resolution using 24-frame playback, there were some issues with 1080p/60 mode — specifically, interlaced scan line artifacts.
CONNECTORS, REMOTE, AND MENUS
If you’re familiar with the earlier models I just mentioned, the DV-983H will come as a bit of a surprise. It’s not the super-thin design of before, but rather a rugged, taller (2RU) chassis that smacks of high-end home theater. In fact, it has a very Sony-like (or Pioneer-like) feel and look to it.) Not surprisingly, this is the most expensive player in the line at $399, and that’s definitely Blu-ray country!
This player is loaded for bear, with support for Dolby Digital Surround EX 7.1 audio playback through eight discreet RCA jacks. It supports pretty much every optical disc format known to mankind, including CD, HDCD, SACD, Photo CD, and of course DVD Video. There’s even a USB 2.0 port on the rear panel for playback of compatible video and audio files from flash memory.
Figure 2. Here’s the rear panel connector set.
Video playback is possible through an HDMI 1.3 connector, or trough component RCA video jacks. If you really need them, OPPO has also provided a composite and an S-video connection, but who’d be using those with a $399 scaling DVD player? Both coaxial and optical connectors have been included for SPDIF hookups to your favorite AV receiver.
Remote control is possible with standard RS232 commands through a nine-pin D-sub jack or by using IR control with accessory 1/8” inputs and outputs. Even the 3-wire AC power connector is a major upgrade from the skinny two-wire cables used on previous players. This is a serious player!
The remote control, other than using a black background color, is essentially the same as those used on older OPPO players. Some of the functions have been moved around and may catch you off guard. For example, the forward, reverse, and skip buttons are now right above the play, stop, and pause buttons, a more logical place than they occupied before.
As usual, you can fiddle with adjustments to your heart’s content on the DV-983H. In the General menu, you’ll find four different aspect ratio settings (4:3 Pan/Scan, 4:3 Letterbox, 16:9 Wide, 16:9 Wide/Auto), adjustable gray levels for borders around 4:3 content, the front panel dimmer control, and the OSD operating mode (normal or silent).
This is also the place where you’ll select the audio layers to play back from SACD and DVD-Audio discs. There are three different subtitle font sizes to choose from, and you can also choose to have the player show your still photos at normal or high resolution.
In the Speaker menu, you’ll select the down-mix mode when stereo speakers are used, choose the size of your front speaker, turn a subwoofer on or off, and set or remove a high-pass filter for front, surround, and center speakers. There’s also a multi-step digital audio delay to compensate for video processing latency in 10 millisecond (mS) steps.
In the Audio setup menu, you can choose HDMI audio modes (Auto, linear PCM or off), toggle between raw or PCM digital audio output, set the LPCM rate (48k, 96k, or 192k), enable any of seven different pre-programmed sound fields (Concert, Living Room, Hall, Bathroom, Cave, Arena, Church, or Off,) and switch in any of seven EQ presets (Rock, Pop, Live, Dance, Techno, Classic, Soft). There’s a limiter/dynamic range expansion circuit if needed.
Finally, the Video Setup menu lets you designate the primary video output (HDMI or component), make the usual picture adjustments, choose any of three gamma presets or leave that off entirely, and switch in noise reduction as required. Additional tweaks can correct for Y/C phase errors and filter chroma upsampling errors (through the HDMI output only).
Figure 3. Anchor Bay’s VRS processor runs the show.
Anchor Bay’s VRS processor has a lot of programmable functions and you’ll find them in the menu, too. First up is the HDMI de-interlacing mode, which you’d normally set to Auto as the VRS processor should detect the correct cadence from the DVD video program. But you can force it to 2:2 (video), 3:2 (film), or either of two 2:2 modes that use odd or even field priority. The latter is used with filmed content mastered to 25Hz or 50 Hz rates.
You can also select the color space, although it’s best to let the HDMI connection make that call, as it will communicate the info automatically with your projector or HDTV. Should you need to “force” a color space, you can choose from YCbCr 4:4:4, RGB, and RGB PC modes.
VIDEO PERFORMANCE
This turned out to be a pretty quick set of tests. I used a Panasonic 50-inch 1080p plasma monitor and my Mitsubishi HC6000 1080p LCD projector to see what the DV-983H could do. The monitor has no high-end inboard video processing, but the HC6000 uses Silicon Optix’ Reon chip and provided a useful comparison of 480i-to-1080p upscaling, deinterlacing, and motion compensation.
I’ll cut to the chase. The DV-983H sailed through most of the Realta HQV tests, including 3:2 mode detection (super fast), noise reduction (good), digital noise reduction (acceptable), oddball cadence detection (outstanding), and mixed video titles over 3:2 film backgrounds (not even a hiccup).
The only place where I saw a problem was with the “jaggies” tests. While the rotating bar motion was smooth, I noticed interlaced scan line artifacts along the bar that were all but gone through the Reon processor, almost the same problem I discovered with Toshiba’s HD-A30 player in 1080p/60 mode. (No, the DV-983H doesn’t support 24p playback, doggone it!)
The smaller “bouncing” bar and waving flag sequences revealed the exact same problems with scan line artifacts. I couldn’t get rid of them in any VRS deinterlacing mode, but they smoothed out nicely through the Reon/HC6000 combo. Images were sharp and crisply detailed at 1080p resolution and had plenty of contrast. But the jaggies persisted.
My final test was with Mission Impossible III, chapter 8, which opens with a combination dolly/zoom shot of long, wide stairs at the Vatican. It’s almost impossible to avoid seeing any moiré during this pullback, and that’s because the number of stair edges approaches, equals, and then drops below the resolution of the DVD as the stairs recede into the background.
The DV-983H did a respectable job keeping moiré to a minimum, but I did see those pesky jagged edges again during the scene. Over on the HC6000, the moiré was also evident, but not as pronounced and with minimal jagged edges. (About the only way to get rid of the problem is to switch to a Blu-ray disc!)
Jaggies aside, you’ll be quite surprised just how well 480i video scales to 1080p when it’s done right – and I’ve tested plenty of 1080p HDTVs that don’t even come close to OPPO’s level of performance. With animation, it’s even harder to tell the difference between red laser and blue laser content.
CONCLUSION
The DV-983H represents another feather in OPPO’s cap, and leaves me wondering just how more can be done to improve the DVD format short of switching to blue laser optical discs (something we may see from OPPO in the future). The price is steep for a DVD player, though, and the difference won’t be as evident on smaller HDTV screens.
Still not ready to jump into Blu-ray yet? Hook up this player for your home theater projector or big plasma, LCD, or rear-projection screen, and you’ll be happy as a clam until you are ready to take the next step.
