Summary: Sorry to yell about the macroblocking, but I had no idea what to call it until I read the CNET review in detail. I had such high hopes for this player, and so far, I've been way disappointed. I don't want to rate the player yet because if I had to right now, I'd give it a 6 because you can find a player that handles DivX for <$50. This player is supposed to be a significant improvement over the standard DVD player, but it isn't.
It's an understatement to say that the upconversion falls way short of HD. For reference, I was watching The Tonight Show via an OTA on my Sony KDS55A2000 TV which boasts 1080p. I'd entertain the notion that it could just be a problem with my TV if it weren't for the fact that HD content looks fabulous. The only other culprits could be the disc or the cable.
Getting an included HDMI cable is sort of bittersweet because it's a great value to get an HDMI cable bundled with the player, but you also have to wonder how good the cable really is. I have another Phoenix Gold high-end HDMI cable that I haven't switched out yet because it was late, and I was pretty irritated with my new purchase, but I'll try that tonight and update, pending positive results.
The discs I played with it were <i>Office Space</i> and <i>V for Vendetta</i>. I must admit that I didn't watch either on my XBOX right before the Oppo to give myself a good frame of reference, but I had high hopes for improvement. Office Space looked alright -- the colors are intentionally washed out in office scenes -- but it didn't look amazing. I put in V for Vendetta with its deep blacks and rich reds that I figured would give the Oppo a good test. The night scenes created the worst cases of macroblocking as the gradation between dark, midnight blue and black seemed to give the Oppo fits. Detail seemed alright but not a noticeable improvement over even my XBOX with composite video out. The macroblocking was too much of a distraction to really focus on anything else though.
I didn't mess with the factor settings much if any; so, if anybody knows of a way to "fix" this issue, I'd appreciate it. Other than the macroblocking, I like the player, but obviously this is a major issue for me. Picture quality is everything. That's why we all bought this player.
Updated
Hindsight is 20/20...or at least can be. Fortunately, I continued to search for calibration suggestions, tips, etc. I ultimately settled on a combination that minimized macroblocking and allowed the player to truly shine.
If I were to re-review this unit, I'd give it an 8.5 with it easily capable of earning a 9 had it not been prone to such egregious macroblocking sans prodigious fine-tuning. Maybe this isn't a problem for some, many, or even most, but it appears like it is a problem for more than just me; so, that takes points away in my book.
Still, once calibrated, the DV-981HD delivers an excellent image and does a reasonably good job of decoding DivX material. I've run into some problems with certain material where the Oppo only processes the audio, but by-and-large this is an excellent buy for those who either don't want to invest in a blu-ray or hd-dvd player yet or use their PS3 or XBOX 360 to play HD movies.
Updated
I commented here a while back about horrific macroblocking issues that made watching movies intolerable. I have since fixed most of the problems, but I still wouldn't recommend this player for projection LCD or DLP displays. Supposedly the 980 is a better option for projection displays. It has something to do with the inherently inferior, IMO, technology of projection LCD. But hey, it's the most bang for the buck!
Anyhow, I still find that the player seems to almost posterize colors, especially flesh tones, in darker scenes. Again, it might be limited to strictly projection LCD displays, but I find that annoying. In bright scenes, though, DVDs look amazing and actually approach HD quality as advertised.
Just don't expect Blu-Ray or HD-DVD quality out of your DVD source material. I have no idea how exactly the Faroudja chip upconverts, but I imagine it's just "filling in the blanks" to make up for the missing resolution when converting from 720x480 to 1920x1080.
Anyhow, some users asked me for my settings, and I'll relist them here in case anybody else has this TV/Oppo combo:
Sorry I've been so derelict in getting this to you guys. I think about it when I don't have a chance to list the settings and forget to do it when I can. Mea culpa!
Without further ado, here are my settings for the TV:
Advanced Iris: Low (Min is better if you're in a darker room)
Picture: 56
Brightness: 62
Color: 42
Hue: R1
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness: 44
Noise Reduction: Off
Advanced Settings:
Black Corrector: Low (I'd suggest Off, but I am a sucker for a little contrast boost)
Gamma: Off
Clear White: O
Updated
I commented here a while back about horrific macroblocking issues that made watching movies intolerable. I have since fixed most of the problems, but I still wouldn't recommend this player for projection LCD or DLP displays. Supposedly the 980 is a better option for projection displays. It has something to do with the inherently inferior, IMO, technology of projection LCD. But hey, it's the most bang for the buck!
Anyhow, I still find that the player seems to almost posterize colors, especially flesh tones, in darker scenes. Again, it might be limited to strictly projection LCD displays, but I find that annoying. In bright scenes, though, DVDs look amazing and actually approach HD quality as advertised.
Just don't expect Blu-Ray or HD-DVD quality out of your DVD source material. I have no idea how exactly the Faroudja chip upconverts, but I imagine it's just "filling in the blanks" to make up for the missing resolution when converting from 720x480 to 1920x1080.
Anyhow, some users asked me for my settings, and I'll relist them here in case anybody else has this TV/Oppo combo:
Sorry I've been so derelict in getting this to you guys. I think about it when I don't have a chance to list the settings and forget to do it when I can. Mea culpa!
Without further ado, here are my settings for the TV:
Advanced Iris: Low (Min is better if you're in a darker room)
Picture: 56
Brightness: 62
Color: 42
Hue: R1
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness: 44
Noise Reduction: Off
Advanced Settings:
Black Corrector: Low (I'd suggest Off, but I am a sucker for a little contrast boost)
Gamma: Off
Clear White: Off
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