CNET Editor's rating: 8.3 out of 10
Reviewed by
Matthew Moskovciak
Review date: 08/29/07
Release date: 08/15/07
The good: Excellent image quality; upscaling to 1080p over HDMI; attractive, understated black design; multichannel SACD and DVD-Audio over HDMI; DivX/Xvid support; aspect-ratio control; can be made region-free with a simple hack.
The bad: Expensive compared to other DVD players; similarly priced HD DVD players deliver vastly superior image quality on HD DVDs.
The bottom line: If you're not ready to get a high-def player, the Oppo DV-980H DVD player delivers excellent performance and an unparalleled feature set for the price.
With its sterling reputation among home theater connoisseurs, every new Oppo product is greeted with higher expectations than the last. While many have hoped that Oppo would roll out a HD DVD or Blu-ray player, the latest model is another standard DVD player for those still sitting out the format war. The Oppo DV-980H is an update to the DV-970HD, adding refinements such as 1080p output, 7.1 analog outputs and a black finish. This is on top of all the other features we've already come to expect from Oppo, such as DVD-Audio/SACD playback, DivX/Xvid playback from CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives, and playback of PAL movies. As with other Oppo players, the performance of the DV-980H is excellent, proving to be comparable to players costing much more.
While the DV-980H pretty much does everything right, its $170 price tag may cause buyers to wonder if it doesn't make more sense to buy the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player instead, which can be had for about $240 at the time of this review and should get even cheaper when Toshiba rolls out its new lineup in October. That's a tough choice and probably comes down to how often you'll use the extra features of the DV-980H--the HD-A2 lacks enthusiast-friendly features such as DVD-Audio/SACD playback and DivX support. On the other hand, the audio and video quality on most HD DVD discs blows away anything DVD players can offer. The DV-980H is a top-notch DVD player with excellent enthusiast-friendly features and performance, but with the falling price of HD DVD units, we have a feeling it may be the last high-end DVD player we can recommend.
Design
In terms of functionality and performance, the DV-980H is really an update to the DV-970HD, but you wouldn't know it from the way it looks. While the DV-970HD has a reflective silver faceplate that looks a little cheap, the DV-980H sports an all-black look that we prefer. To the far left is the power button, followed by a resolution indicator, with a light that tells you whether you're in 1080p, 1080i, 720p, or 480p mode. We definitely like the idea of the light, but we would have also liked the option to turn it off--especially for home theater buffs that are irked by any additional light sources in the room. Further to the right is the LED display--which thankfully can be dimmed or turned off--along with some front panel control buttons, including chapter forward/backward buttons. Although it doesn't have anything to do with how the product looks, we do have to commend Oppo on their excellent product packaging--the soft protective sleeve and included HDMI cable make you feel like you got your money's worth.
Major retailers often try and upsell you on HDMI cables, but Oppo throws one in for free.
One of the small gripes often mentioned about Oppo players is that the disc tray feels a little flimsy. That's definitely still the case on the DV-980H, although it feels may a tad sturdier than previous models. Still, although we've mentioned the flimsiness before, we don't think it's a major issue--we've been using several Oppo players in CNET labs for a while and have never run into any problems.
The remote will look familiar to fans of Oppo gear, as it's essentially identical to the remote on the DV-970HD and DV-981HD. While we've become accustomed to Oppo's remote design, there's still some room for improvement. Most of the buttons are similarly shaped, which makes it difficult to navigate by feel. On the other hand, the buttons are all glow-in-the-dark, so it's pretty easy to navigate in a darkened home theater.
Features
The DV-980H's main function is to play back DVDs, but it is also capable of playing back the two niche high-resolution audio formats, SACD and DVD-Audio. Unlike most other SACD and DVD-Audio players, the DV-980H is capable of sending the multichannel audio over the HDMI connection to compatible receivers--it can even send the encoded DSD stream to receivers with onboard DSD decoding. It's also able to playback numerous file formats (MP3, WMA and DivX) burned onto DVDs and CDs, or from a thumbdrive connected to the Oppo's USB 2.0 port. We had no problem playing a few 175 MB DivX files off a thumbdrive.
The USB cover can be pulled away to use it, but it stays connected so you won't lose it.
Although the DV-980H touts its HD upscaling, that doesn't mean it can play either of the new high-definition disc formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray. Despite what you may have read elsewhere, upscaling generally only yields slight increases in picture quality, and the degree of those increases depends on your HDTV. Every HDTV already has upscaling processing built-in, so the increase in quality can only occur if the DVD player does a better job than your TV does--and we'll cover the DV-980's performance later. The DV-980 is capable of upscaling to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolution through its HDMI output; as with virtually every other DVD player, there is no upscaling available over the component video output.
We were pleased with the way the DV-980H handled older nonanamorphic wide-screen discs. Some older HDTVs, such as the HP LC3760N and the Philips 42PF9831D, do not have aspect-ratio control when fed sources in a high-def resolution, so it's nice to have the upscaling DVD player handle it. This is not an issue for most high-quality DVDs, which are anamorphic, but nonanamorphic wide-screen discs will look distorted via on many player/TV combinations that lack proper aspect ratio control. To correct for this, engage the 16:9 Wide/Auto under TV Display on the Oppo's General Setup screen. The player will automatically detect nonanamorphic discs and squeeze them into the proper aspect ratio and zoom the appropriate amount to fill the screen. You're also able to zoom other material to fill the screen, eliminate black bars, or magnify a section of the image.
The DV0980H has you covered with analog audio with a 7.1 output.
Connectivity is another strong point on the DV-980H, which has as many outputs as you could want. For video, there is an HDMI output, a component video output, an S-Video output and a composite video output. The extra inputs are nice, but remember that to really take advantage of the DV-980H, you'll want to use the upscaling HDMI output. That output also carries audio, and other audio outputs include both optical and coaxial digital audio jacks and a 7.1 channel analog multichannel output. Rounding out the connectivity, as mentioned before, is the USB port on the front panel.
Performance
Like every other Oppo we've reviewed, the DV-980H delivers excellent image quality on standard definition DVDs. We started off by looking at some test material. The DV-980H did a superb job with the vast majority of tests on Silicon Optix's HQV test suite. The initial resolution test looked absolutely solid, displaying the full resolution of DVDs with no flicking on the image that we sometimes see. The player also passed the jaggies tests, showing very little jaggies on a rotating white line or three pivoting white lines. We did notice more jaggies than we'd like on a shot of a waving flag, but overall it was still better than most DVD players we test. The DV-980H also aced on the 2:3 pulldown test, locking into film mode very quickly with no moiré in the grandstands.
The Oppo fared well with additional test patterns as well. Using the Windows DVD Test Annex, we noted that the DV-980H did not suffer from the chroma upsampling error (also known as the chroma bug), which occasionally still pops up in new DVD players. Using Digital Video Essentials, we were able to confirm that the DV-980H does not crush whites or blacks, as it successfully passed both blacker-than-black and whiter-than-white signals. While the real-world benefits of passing these tests are slight, videophiles will be happy to know that the information is not lost.
We switched to actual program material and the DV-980H didn't disappoint. The introduction to Seabiscuit looked great--a sequence that even HQV-equipped players struggle with. For a DVD, Seabiscuit has exceptionally rich colors and the DV-980H made DVD look just about as good as it gets. The introduction to Star Trek: Insurrection is another good test of 2:3 pulldown, and the DV-980H had no trouble smoothly rendering the curved lines of the bridge railing and the hulls of the boats. We looked at several other discs, including Serenity and King Kong, and had difficulty nitpicking the image quality even when we were looking for flaws. When we matched it up with the DV-981HD, spotting repeatable differences was very difficult, although we'd give the nod to the DV-981HD if we had to choose. Overall, the DV-980H's performance is outstanding for its price range and should satisfy nearly everyone.
Intro:
The Oppo DV-980H DVD Player is a single-disc, mainstream DVD player.Compared to other mainstream DVD players on the market, it is midpriced at around $170.
Noteworthy Features:
This DVD player is equipped with a progressive scanning feature, capable of delivering higher-quality video images to compatible televisions.Capable of playing multiple types of recordable and rewritable discs, this unit can handle more types of media that most DVD players.
Weaker Features:
None noted, given available product data.
Suitability:
A mainstream DVD player, suited for watching movies and/ or listening to music.
Value:
In general, this DVD player's features are in line with its price.
Suggestions:
(1) For a comprehensive understanding of cable types, please see CNET's Connector Type Chart.(2) To enjoy the clearest picture, look for DVD players with either component video or HDMI cables.Check out this video on connector cables to learn more.
10 out of 10 - Perfect A great imporvement from 970
As long as you know this is not a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player (Oppo does not try to tell you ...
As long as you know this is not a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player (Oppo does not try to tell you this is such a player though) - this must be far the best bargain for DVD and CD playback - including SACD, Audio-DVD and other filetypes. It even fits with USB mass storage such as external harddrive, flash-memorystick or iPOD (the latter is interesting beacuse 970 did not recognize the iPOD when I connected).
As with the 970 the picture quality is excellent - this is also described in th cNET test.
However, I find it proper to comment the audio quality as cNET seems to forget that this is a truly remarcable good aurdio-playback device.
The chip for audio on 980 is newer and better than on the 970, and it has also been modified by Oppo.
I can absolutely recognize that Oppo have done a good job with this DAC. Regular CD's sounds clearer, more open and fresher - however it is still up to you as user to decide whether you prefer to alter the EQ settings in the player - a very easy way via the on-screen menu. You can, as with the 970, choose between sound styles like rock, pop, jazz - and also give other charasteristics to the sound like 'livingroom', 'concert hall' etc.
My preference is "rock" and no other changes. This gives the sound more bass and more dynamic in the deliverance.
SACD sounds brilliant. I have to use mulit channel as I do not have HDMI in on my receiver. Still, it's a remarcable performane by the Oppo 980. Audio-DVD have the same, fine audio delivery.
USB: this is what we in Norway would call "the raisin in the sausage" (it meens: this is the The Bonus). An average family today have so many audio devices, iPOD, mp3's, harddisks etc - and it is so easy to just plug them into this DVD player, use the on-screen meny and fill the livingroom with music. But not only that: the 980 is far much better in picture quality for photos. The pictures are larger and with so much better quality that I almost want to say that it is "useless" on the 970
Thank you, Oppo - I give you 10 points for this player as it must be the very best bargain for a DVD/CD player in this price range!
ps! the bag, the cables and the remote are almost the same as in 970 - brilliant!
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by asvaberg (see profile) -
August 31, 2007
9 out of 10 - Spectacular The 980H is the perfect DVD player for medium size TV's (32' - 42')
Anyone looking to update their DVD player and isn't interested in waiting for the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD to mature, Oppo ...
Anyone looking to update their DVD player and isn't interested in waiting for the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD to mature, Oppo Digital is where you should start and end your research. It performs like a player costing 2 or 3 times as much. I found the picture impressive and the audio incredible (music CD's sound awesome). Out of the three Oppo units, I chose the 980H because it was the perfect fit for my new 40' TV. If I had a bigger room with a larger screen size, I'd without doubt run off with the DV-981HD (Oppo's top model). I will definitely purchase a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player after the dust settles on their war and there's a significant price drop, but I also plan on keeping my Oppo for my music collection, yes the sound quality is that remarkable.
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by ronhub (see profile) -
September 2, 2007
7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Screw Movies---this is your new CD Player!!!
1. Let me be clear that I HATE MOVIES!!! The only way you'll get me into a movie theatre ...
1. Let me be clear that I HATE MOVIES!!! The only way you'll get me into a movie theatre is if people's is buying or my date guarentees I'll get laid afterwards. I don't like movies because I don't like the idea of having some lowlife Hollywood "whatzit" forcing me to sit passively for two hours while he/she spurts their 'arte' on me. 2. If I hate going to movies, imagine my joy of staying home for two hours to watch re-runs DVDs) I already know the plot to... 3. So if ol' CPTG hates movies, why did he buy hisself a DVD players? Multiplicity. I can have sex in the backseat of my car on the Sabbath while driving it to Church on the Sunduth. One vehicle; two incompatable activities. Same with the Oppo DV-980H...it plays videos but it also plays music. 4. Don't buy the Oppo DV-980H or DV-981 if you're planning to buy or own a HiDef TV Set. Any HD or Blu-Ray set will blow it away, running standef 480i thru HMDI while upscaling it---you'd be wasting your money. 5. Buy the OPPO if you have a old, killer NonHIDEF TV and you want to occasionally play a STANDDEF 480i DVD movie on it via Component or SuperS outputs. Its DVD video is decent but not something to write home about. Then wait out the HD-Blu Ray war!!! 6. What IS worthy of writing home about is the audio CD section. You're getting a $3-5,000 CD player (think Krell,etc.) for the price of an illegal U-Turn ticket. I wasn't just pleased playing my standard CDs on the OPPO---I was FLOORED. On my 17 Pygmies Captured in Ice CD, I heard stuff buried in the tracks (guitar thumps, squeels, etc.) I never heard before and this is a mid 80's college staple record. 6. Bottom Line: The OPPO DV-980H is a so-so StandDef 480i HDMI (overachiever) but a kickass CD player for the clams spent!!!
Updated Why buy the OPPO and not a full blown HD player:
1. The OPPO is cheaper than my IPOD 2. The audio is STUNNING!!! I'm retiring my $2,000.00 CD player and $1,000 outboard DAC for my cheap-ass OPPO player. Its THAT good! 3. A customer service dept to die for!!! 4. Many bells and whistles for $169.00 including a good HDMI cable and tote bag!!! 5. THE HD/Blu-Ray battle is over but the war is not. Now DTS and Dolby are battling it out in the blu ray market. Wait them out! 6. My parents gave me an old 53" wide screen TV that doesn't have an HDMI output. The best soluton for me is the OPPO 980H 7. Negatives that I can live with. The tray is not just cheap and flimsy---it's Chevy Blazer-ish cheap and flimsy!!! Also, the enclosed zapper is an ergonomic nightmere. I **** you not, there are 50 buttons on it yet you will only use 4-5 at best!!!Oppo ought to let Apple design their remote next time---they have only six buttons!!!
3 out of 10 - Poor Problem with control freezing
While I concur with the CNET reviewers overall opinions, I have experienced a problem with this particular DVD player freezing ...
While I concur with the CNET reviewers overall opinions, I have experienced a problem with this particular DVD player freezing up when you press the stop button while playing a DVD. This occurred on the original unit I received and on the replacement unit, despite firmware being sent & installed for the former and already installed for the latter. Unfortunately, Oppo apparently does not have the capacity to update users (customers who've purchased and registered the product) should they be able to resolve this problem. The technician with whom I spoke termed it a problem difficult to replicate and stated that about 20 customers had reported a similar experience.
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by Bo Diddily (see profile) -
November 1, 2007
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Fantastic!
I picked up the OPPO DVD recently after reading some great reviews on CNET. I didn't want to bust ...
I picked up the OPPO DVD recently after reading some great reviews on CNET. I didn't want to bust the wallet and go for a high end HDDVD player because I have a decent collection of standard DVD's at home.
I have a Sharp Aquos LCD 37' HDTV and the OPPO integrated flawlessly. I just had to set the OPPO to 1080i before I popped the DVD in and i was set.
I ran Apollo 13 first and used it as the sound check. I have a very finicky surround system, an old Pioneer receiver with 5 speakers and a Sub that I just couldnt seem to get right before. The Oppo has a very extensive sound menu that allowed me to tweak my system even further and really enhanced a set up that was lacking direction. So that was huge plus to start.
The image quality is very good, and for the money i think its totally worth it. It comes in a nice package and even comes with an HDMI wire which is an added bonus, though i'm curious if a higher level wire would present even better results. Did not see any picture haziness or pixelation - nothing of that. Very smooth. I've watched more than 5 DVDs since ive gotten it and haven't noticed any negatives as far as image quality goes - and keep in mind that i'm LOOKING for them.
I would definitely recommend this player to anyone with a decent HDTV and a collection of standard DVD's.
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by Hockeybasednyc (see profile) -
October 22, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great Picture, great price, awesome versatility
I was impressed with this DVD player from the moment I opened the box. As if packaging has anything to ...
I was impressed with this DVD player from the moment I opened the box. As if packaging has anything to do with it, but OPPO makes this thing look classy from the get-go. It comes expertly packed in an OPPO adorned fabric bag. It also comes with a nice 6 foot HDMI cable, another little bit of savings with this player.
Once plugged in, the picture was stunning. It resolves 720p on my plasma with ease, doing so much better than the samsung player I replaced. All, yes all, of my DVD's now look so much better than they used to. As close to HD as I'm willing to pay for.
Zooming is far better than on other models. Where other upconverting players only offer one or two zoom modes, making coordination between TV and DVD complicated, this player allows for multiple zooms between 1x and 4x. This let's you take advantage of every pixel coming out of your DVD. Black lines are all but gone on even the most finicky DVD's, and I don't have to cut out any of the picture to get it.
The picture isn't even the best part for me, great as it is. The best part are the connectivity options. The front USB hub allows the connection of a thumb drive or an external hard drive for all of your movies or music stored there. I tested it out with a thumb drive and it instantly brought up an easy interface to find what I wanted. It scaled them to my 42" TV with impressive results given the resolution of the file. Music also came out beautifully. This is in addition to the player's ability to read DiVX files off of a CD-R
Next, there is the option of playing region-coded DVD's and PAL DVD's. This is especially nice for me since I have movies from overseas that are now being watched rather than collecting dust waiting to be converted for a hefty fee, yet another savings with this machine.
The only downsides are these: a clunky remote, no SACD audio or DVD-audio over optical cables, and the resolution output can only be changed with an open tray, thus interrupting your movie and making comparisons somewhat difficult. If you can look past those, you'll only see what is probably the best value in home theater, dollar for dollar. Happy watching!
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by rickallen81 (see profile) -
September 20, 2007
10 out of 10 - Perfect Great for DIVX Content
I just hooked my DV-980H up to my spare 42" Sony Grand Vega KF-42WE610. I was looking for a player ...
I just hooked my DV-980H up to my spare 42" Sony Grand Vega KF-42WE610. I was looking for a player I could use with DIVX content. I just burned some video files to a DVD-RW disc dropped into the player and it came right on.
Also liked that they included the HDMI cable for same price.
Will be checking the USB port of the fron with a flash drive in a few minutes.
3 out of 10 - Poor Over-hyped, inflexible and disappointing
I am now three years into a long and twisting road toward assembling a "permanent" home entertainment system including decent ...
I am now three years into a long and twisting road toward assembling a "permanent" home entertainment system including decent H/T as well as 2-channel audio. And along that road I've had pleasant surprises and I've had unpleasant surprises -- but I've never been as shocked and stupefied by the disconnect between what other people are saying, and the experience I had, as with the Oppo DV980H. The player (and the company) for which nearly everyone has only praise and nary a whimper of complaint was, in my experience, just about the most single overrated piece of consumer tripe, this side of the New Coke.
To begin with, the Oppo doesn't work properly even by its own standards without a dizzying assembly-line of firmware upgrades. (Note to self: Never again buy a piece of electronics that touts how easy it is to upgrade with a front-end USB port. If it didn't work when it left the factory, don't buy it.) Break point insertions either do- or do not happen from disc to disc, with the same set of keystrokes, audio decoding either works or it doesn't with no apparent rhyme or reason, and most personal DVD backups of old VHS tapes either don't spin up at all, or return perhaps one frame in every twelve to the screen, making every old recording in your collection look like it was made with clay-mation.
Picture quality is lackluster at best, with lots and lots and lots of false contouring, and the audio is peppered with so much midrange breakup at even moderate output levels that for weeks I thought I'd somehow managed to blow up both of my front-channel speakers. It took me three solid days of experimentation to figure out how to make DTS content play to all six channels including the subwoofer, and then when I changed to a second DTS-encoded disc the same switch-settings no longer worked.
Along the way I also learned that the company apparently staffs a team of thinly disguised schills, trolling the discussion forums under the guise of helpful enthusiasts who immediately close down all discussions of their products that aren't favorable. As soon as it became apparent in a different forum that the helpful suggestions I was getting were self-contradictory and ignored my previous posts, my ostensible hobbyist friend posted one more time to say that next time I should read my manual, and then had the thread closed.
Finally I just threw up my hands and bought a Marantz DV7001 and -- WOW! -- it's so much better, from picture quality to audio reproduction to user interface to support, that I just can't see how anyone on earth should patronize Oppo and their second-rate products, whatsoever. Granted, the Marantz will cost a bit more money, but these days it's not really that much more, and besides: in the words of one famous movie character, you *WILL* know where that extra money went.
Send an e-mail to author "at" escapeclause "dot" net, if you'd like more details.
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by dog_or_man (see profile) -
June 26, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect Best Upconverting Player for the $$$
The OPPO DV-980H is one of the best investments I've ever made. Shipping package is one of the best ...
The OPPO DV-980H is one of the best investments I've ever made. Shipping package is one of the best I've ever seen for electronic equipment. You just know OPPO cares about their product when you open this little gem. The supplied HDMI cable makes the purchase even more of a deal. The hubby and I love the ease of installation, set-up and use of the 980H. By using HDMI there's only one cable to connect. (Ours is connected via the a/v receiver.) The playback of standard DVD looks awesome via the 980H on our HDTV. Anyone looking for an upconverting DVD player cannot go wrong by selecting the OPPO DV-980H. The USB port is just an added bonus and works wonderfully for displaying jpeg photos.
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by INXSfan (see profile) -
April 25, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Fantastic player
I purchased this player because of the cnet review and it lives up to all my expectations.
First movie I ...
I purchased this player because of the cnet review and it lives up to all my expectations.
First movie I watched was "The Matrix" and it was like I'd never seen it properly before, colors were rich and deep and there were details (even at 480dpi) that I'd quite simply never previously been able to see.
The only one (slight) drawback is an occasional fractional pause in reading the discs when it gets toward the end of a film. I've yet to find any DVD player which hasn't done this.
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