OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player
Dear Gary:
I have read and reread Bill Cruce's excellent review of the OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc player. In addition, I have talked to the technical folks at OPPO on two occasions recently. There still remains some uncertainty about what results I might see in my environment with the BDP-83. To set the stage, I have the following gear:
1) Sony KP65XBR10W widescreen CRT-based rear projection (1080i component video only, no 1080p HDMI capability)
2) Denon 3803 7.1 AV receiver
3) 7.1 system with all Polk loudspeakers, whose primary front loudspeakers are the Polk Signature series SDA-SRS towers and the Polk CSP1000B center channel.
This is all good-quality gear, but a bit dated at this point.
I am more of a videophile than I am an audiophile, as movies are my primary source of entertainment. But, with the advent of the new lossless audio codecs, I am increasingly interested in what they can add to my environment as well.
My questions regarding the BDP-83 are as follows:
1) Given that my Sony monitor only provides component video input, what quality of video can I expect from the BDP-83 when I am using the component video output? Is the component video output of the BDP-83 downsampled to meet some industry-required copy-protection mandate? IF it is downsampled, what is the output restricted to? The Sony is 1080i component video only, not 1080p HDMI. My primary interest is in Blu-ray Discs™. I assume that the BDP-83 bypasses its excellent upconverting of DVDs if I am only using component video out. Is this assumption correct?
2) I was left with the impression from the technical folks at OPPO that the lossless audio from the Blu-ray Discs will be properly decoded and available when I am using the 7.1 analog audio output of the BDP-83. Am I under the correct impression?
As a somewhat early adopter of HD in 2001, I had been planning on upgrading my monitor, screen and A/V receiver to a Sony VPL-VW70 projector, 110-inch Stewart Microperf Screen, and a 4310CI Denon A/V receiver, but those plans have been put on indefinite hold, as I was laid off in May of this year. However, I would like to buy the OPPO BDP-83 and finally get into Blu-ray™. I do understand that OPPO will bring a new Blu-ray Disc player to market in the next week or so that will be in the $300 range, but at this point, with little information available about that player, my inclination is to move ahead with the purchase of the BDP-83. When I do upgrade my monitor to 1080p capability, I would then have already acquired the BDP-83.
Thomas B. Kemp
Contributing Editor Bill Cruce Comments:
Thank you for your very thoughtful letter. I am sorry to hear that you were laid off in May, but glad that you still have a passion for high-quality audio and video. I have answered your questions below. Additionally, I would suggest that you visit the OPPO Web site and download the PDF manual for the BDP-83. It is very thorough and allows you to search on things such as “component” or “HDMI.”
1) Using component video output of the OPPO BDP-83:
If you use the component signal, it will output at a maximum resolution of 1080i, which will match your Sony monitor. Unfortunately, since Blu-ray Discs have the video stored at 1080p, the OPPO will have to turn this into (interlaced) 1080i. So you will lose some of the advantage of Blu-ray Discs, but the image will still look far better than anything else you are likely to see. And, as you say, you will be prepared to move up to HDMI at a later date. As cautioned in the manual, you must set “Primary Output” in the setup menu to “Component” in order to get 1080i on the component outputs. You will also not be able to take advantage of the 24p (24 frames per second) option to get more film-like quality. Later, when shopping for a monitor, be sure that it not only supports 1080p60 but also 1080p24 (most do).
A further disadvantage of using component outputs is that you will lose video up-conversion for standard commercial DVD discs. This is because they are CSS-encrypted and will be limited to 480i/480p resolution. Unencrypted discs, such as home video or other discs you have made yourself, will still be up-converted. When you switch to HDMI this will not be a problem because HDMI has HDCP protection and allows full video up-conversion of all discs.
2) Audio codec conversion on the analog audio outputs of the OPPO BDP-83:
Yes, lossless audio on Blu-ray Discs will be properly decoded and output on all the analog audio connections. In fact, I am now auditioning the new OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition, which has improved digital-to-analog chips on all the analog audio outputs. In my previous review I didn’t pay much attention to the analog audio outputs, but I will be revisiting them in a follow-up review. I can definitely confirm that both models do internal decoding of all audio codecs and output them on the analog connections (7.1, 5.1, and stereo).
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