Others say...

"No problems paired with Sony rear projection HDTV"
I purchased the Oppo DV-981HD due to its excellent reviews and previous purchase of

Oppo 3x1 HDMI 1.3 switch. I was slightly concerned because of the 'most helpful'

three star review warning rear project HDTVs may have a compatibilty problem; I

have an older rear projection Sony KDL-42WE611.

After installing the Oppo (HDMI to Oppo switch and digital coax to AV receiver) and

configuring the on-screen setup, I was rewarded with a very nice 720p upscale

rendering of the "The 5th Element" superbit DVD. I tried the 1080i upscale

setting, but could not see any appreciable difference from the 720p. Since both

renderings are at 60Hz, I settled on the 720p setting.

I have a PS3 blu-ray player, so this is my reference for comparison. Although the

Oppo upscaling is excellent, it cannot add-in video detail into standard DVDs that

blu-ray movies have from the start. Just as an example, Fantastic Four Rise of the

Silver Surfer in blu-ray has around 45GB of digital information; as many people

know, standard DVDs have around 7GB. No basis for comparison. This said, I still

feel that the HD upscaling done by the Oppo to standard DVDs is excellent.

Lastly, this amazing DVD player also plays SACD and DivX disks, so I tried both and

the player operated flawlessly.

"Worth the price"
I'd never heard of Oppo, but the reviews I read about it here and elsewhere were all good. It received a product of the year mention in a magazine, and that was enough to convince me to give it a try.

This DVD player is expensive, but worth the money. It has a high end video processor that is normally only found on players costing hundreds more. I've had a number of upscaling DVD players from Sony, Philips, Samsung, and Toshiba, and this one is easily better than any of those. Whether it will last any longer than those (average seems to be about a year) remains to be seen.

The only negative is that the unit locked up on me a few times, but powering off and on solved that problem in every case but one: it simply wouldn't play that particular disk. Otherwise, it has played every kind of disk I've thrown at it: commericial DVDs as well as DVD +R, DVD -R, DVD RW.

If you have an HDTV and need an upscaling player, this is the best I've found. Oppo's lower end model is similar to units from other makers that cost less, and their flagship model is very powerful and probably the best on the market, but much more expensive. This one hits the right balance of features and price.

"Janice's Stamp of Approval"
Simply a class act product!!! From the well packaged arrival to the hook-up, it has so impressed me. Yes, it came in a fiber cloth envelope (can recycle this for other longterm purposes) instead of the usual plastic bag and well cushioned. The unit was simple to connect to the TV system and the remote is simple to use, no guessing what does what! The picture is better than my HD TV reception. Very impressed with it and no need to change CD to anyother sort of media anytime soon.

"rj tech did it better"
i useto have a rjtech up converting dvd player that put out an amazing pic on my 63in sony hdtv from 2005/also only costing sixty dollars was a steller buy. until a year passed and it shut down. i got this oppo a week ago and notice some extra shine on the pic better details but overall the picture is not that sharp/crisp/clean as the rj tech. i feel like my 260 went out the window with this buy. the sound is a marked improvment over the rjtec but you can get great sound from a chipped speaker set up. so is it better than the rj tec build wise? no it is obvious the maker used cheap plastics from china(they carry a certin raw scent) and it has the same guide/meanus as the rjtech which are also made in china. The biggest dis came with the crappy disk tray. Plain and smelly black plastic unlike the rj tech which had a high grade translucent disk tray. so to all those out there that want one of these players do yourself a favor and shop sround a bit more. now i can only hope that this player wont fizz out in a year like its sixty dollar counterpart.

"THE BEST DVD PLAYER... PERIOD!!!!!!!!!"
I just hooked my OPPO 981HD to my SONY 52v4100 TV using the HDMI cabe that came with the unit.The playback of a dvdon this unit is is unreal.I tried both types of dvds ,store bought and dvds that I have created using blank dvd-r. The picture is amazing on both types. This is a great way to watch your old movies that you have created from your recorder(I have a samsung r155). You can use the default settings on the OPPO or ajust the video settings to your likeing,all eyeballs are different. Bottom line, the picture is awesome, not HD, but very close.You can buy a bluray but the upconversion on it will be no better than, if not as good, as the OPPO 981hd.Besides you will same $200, and who in there right mind would spend $25 to $30 for hd dvds to replace what you have now and will be recording in the future.Good luck in even trying to find hd dvds of the movies that you have now.Buy the way, the OPPO comes better packed than than a transplanted heart!