Oppo Bdp-83 Firmware

[Domenec Reynolds]

Likemany people, I watched the HD-DVD/Blu-ray format war with interest. The idea of a 5" optical disc with HD content on it was hugely appealing, but the battle over which format to buy into was just as hugely frustrating. In the end, I was unable to get out of 2007 without owning hardware for both new formats: a Toshiba HD-A2 for HD-DVD and a Panasonic DMP-BD30 for Blu-ray. And yet, through all of it, the format that I found myself pulling off the shelf most often was DVD, and neither of those players could provide as satisfactory an experience with DVD as my dedicated DVD players (first an OPPO Digital DV-980H, then later a DV-983H). And because I'd come out of the previous format war with a modest library of both DVD-Audio and SACD titles, one of those dedicated DVD players was always tied to my surround processor's 7.1 analog input so that I could listen to those two formats. It was not exactly an ideal scenario.With this background in place, it will come as no surprise that I was as intrigued and excited as anyone to hear about the prototype Blu-ray player – the BDP-83 – that OPPO Digital sent to CEDIA in early September 2008. Here was a player whose then-still-evolving feature set would offer more complete Blu-ray support than my BD30 (Profile 2.0 instead of Profile 1.1 plus onboard decoding of all of the new audio codecs), the DVD playback performance of my much-loved 983H (thanks to the ABT2010 chipset that offered all of the same capabilities of the ABT102/ABT 1018 combo in my 983H plus a few new tricks), SACD support, and DVD-Audio support (although that one wasn't guaranteed yet at CEDIA). Sure, the HD-A2 would need to stick around if I decided to hang on to the small number of HD-DVD titles I owned, but otherwise I'd be in a position to consolidate into a single player while sacrificing nothing in format support or player performance. When OPPO Digital asked if I'd be available to help beta test the BDP-83, I waved my crutches around emphatically (since I was still recovering from a broken hip at the time) and assured them that it would be no problem at all. Beta testing something this complex is serious business, of course (try to list all of the different disc formats, audio formats, file types, and output options that are included and you'll start to see the challenges involved), but it's also an opportunity to have some fun along the way. It helps that past experience with OPPO Digital (specifically three previous player beta tests that I've been involved with) had shown me that they take their beta testing seriously. As part of that journey, I started compiling this user review during the beta test in hopes of offering some insight into the final product. There's a lot of ground to cover when trying to describe the BDP-83, but hopefully you'll find that I've offered a reasonable overview. This review was initially published in late February 2009, as the first round of the early adopter program (EAP) was being launched, but I've updated it in a number of places to represent the player's final production form. The final price is also now known, and it will remain at $499 as seen during the EAP. Any text you see in maroon has been added recently. As in my previous equipment reviews, you can find an equipment list at the end.return to top

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:The beta sample that I used during my testing arrived at work one Monday and I eagerly unboxed it. As with previous OPPO players, it is single-boxed for shipping. In spite of being taller and heavier than previous players, this approach still yielded a package with no visible damage after spending several days in FedEx's possession. Inside the box, I found that the BDP-83 was tucked safely inside a fabric pouch. Where previous OPPO players did something similar, the BDP-83 takes this one step further: the pouch is actually a roomy fabric bag with sturdy handles (early beta samples came in a green bag, replaced by a black bag when a hardware change was made and new samples shipped out mid-way through testing). OPPO invites users to keep the bag and use it as a shopping bag to help the environment. I was impressed by this, both from the perspective of a company thinking outside the box to be "green" and because I was still on crutches at the time and could carry the player home by leaving it in the bag and slipping it over my shoulder. The box also contained a small box of accessories: backlit remote control, batteries, heavy power cord, HDMI cable, stereo analog cables, and a composite video cable.

BDP-83 and inner packaging (before the bag changed to black)Once I got inside the green bag to the player itself, I found a player that was even more robust looking than their flagship DV-983H. The front faceplate is a fairly heavy piece of aluminum that turns back at the top to give the impression of being an inches-deep slab of metal. The controls on the front are minimal, but there's a USB port tucked in there conveniently. The front panel display is larger than on previous OPPO players, which was a welcome discovery as it made reading the display from a distance easier. On the rear panel, you've got a tremendous array of options spread out with comfortable port spacing. There's the 7.1 analog output, the stereo analog output, the optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, the composite and component video outputs, an Ethernet port, a second USB port, an HDMI port, 3.5mm IR input/outputs, and an IEC power connection. About the only things missing are s-video (hardly a loss on a player that should realistically only be connected to an HDTV) and RS-232 (which is available as an upgrade for $89 if you have a control system that can benefit from it). It's certainly not a gaudy design, and it presents a clean, understated, and very "weighty" outward appearance. At least for my own personal tastes, the BDP-83's industrial design seems to be a successful evolution of the design principles they've been refining ever since the DV-980H, and I am pleased with the direction they've taken.

BDP-83 on the drafting boardBefore we move on to the process of getting this thing set up, I want to comment briefly on the remote control. The BDP-83 is the first player we've seen from OPPO since the 971H to do something new with the remote control (the 971H changed remotes mid-way through its production life to use the same basic remote control that all subsequent OPPO DVD players have used). It is backlit, which is a first for OPPO. It also offers a key layout that I found comfortable and easy to learn, and I kept the remote around a fair bit at first while re-programming my MX-900. Lastly, it offers three different sets of remote codes, with a switch under the battery cover that allows you to select which code set you want to use. The first code set is basically the same as that used by OPPO's other players, and it will work fine unless you happen to have another OPPO product in your equipment rack and want to be able to control them separately. By changing a setting in the player's menu and moving the switch under the battery cover, you can have as many as three BDP-83's together (or two BDP-83's and one OPPO DVD player) and be able to control each one independently. If you change the remote code on the remote without setting the player to that code, you can very easily resolve that by opening the disc tray and holding down the "SELECT" button on the remote for five seconds. The player will respond by setting itself to that code set. The "open disc tray" step is important, and OPPO included that because there was a small but real potential for users with multiple OPPO players in one system to accidently change the player's code while controlling some other player. This is a very handy feature that avoids the need to pop the battery cover off and toggle the switch if the player has to be reset for any reason. It is also particularly handy for those of us with universal remotes, as it allows us to select the player's remote code after a reset without tracking down the original remote. (It's this sort of attention to detail that tends to produce a great deal of brand loyalty from OPPO owners, and something that you will find time and again as you use the BDP-83.) I used code 2 while testing because I had my 983H still sitting in the equipment rack during most of the beta testing.return to top

SETUP:While testing, I connected the BDP-83 in almost every way possible: HDMI out, 7.1 analog out, coaxial digital out, component video out, composite video out, USB hard drive into the rear USB port, and network cable into the Ethernet port. Most users will just use the HDMI out, but one strength of the BDP-83 is the ability to work with an older surround receiver or processor and provide access to the new audio codecs available on Blu-ray. For those setups, you can expect to use either HDMI or component for video, 7.1 analog for Blu-ray and any other discs where internal decoding is desirable (SACD, DVD-Audio), and maybe even coaxial or optical for standard DVD's and CD's. The pair of USB ports are handy, but it's worth noting that you do not need to connect anything to them for the player to operate properly. Profile 1.1 support (BD-Java) requires 256MB and Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) requires 1GB, and the BDP-83 has 1GB of built-in memory for use with discs using those features.

BDP-83 rear panelThere are a lot of connections on the rear panel, but the BDP-83's manual does a very good job of explaining which of these connections are right for you. Here's the basic advise I've given to friends about what to do, although I strongly recommend downloading the BDP-83's manual from OPPO Digital's web site and flipping through it. If you have both a newer receiver that offers HDMI inputs with audio support (at least HDMI v1.1 to get multichannel PCM) and an HDTV with an HDMI input, then you just need to connect the BDP-83's HDMI cable to an input on your receiver. Even if you have to evict some other device from an HDMI input, you'll want to do so. If your receiver doesn't support HDMI audio, then I'd recommend using a combination of the multichannel analog output (either the full 7.1 or just 5.1 if your receiver only has a 5.1 analog input or you only have a 5.1 speaker setup) and a coaxial or optical digital audio cable. The multichannel analog will be the preferred connection for Blu-ray, SACD, and DVD-Audio, while the coaxial or optical will work fine for CD's, DVD's, and assorted media files. In this scenario, use HDMI for video if your HDTV supports it or component video if you don't have an HDMI or DVI-HDCP input on the TV. If you don't have a surround system and are connecting directly to an HDTV, then HDMI remains the preferred connection. If your TV doesn't have HDMI or DVI, you can use component video and the stereo analog audio output. For readers who are unfamiliar with HDMI's many faces, I have an HDMI FAQ on my site that may be a useful reference. The BDP-83 is an HDMI v1.3 product that supports all of v1.3's capabilities (bitstreaming the new audio formats, CEC for control of other devices, and deep color), but as with all HDMI devices it is also backward compatible with earlier versions of HDMI and even (for video only) DVI-HDCP.

Quick Setup WizardThe BDP-83's interface can be said to revolve around the "Home" menu, as we'll talk about further in later sections. This menu allows ready access to different audio and video formats stored on either disc or USB, and it also offers a way to enter the player's setup menu. Before you ever see the Home Menu for the first time, though, you will encounter the Quick Setup Wizard. The first time the player is turned on (and any time that the player is turned on after being reset to factory defaults), the Quick Setup Wizard comes up and presents you with a series of screens asking basic questions about your setup. The first screen gives you the option to use the wizard or skip it, followed by a screen that lets you set which video connection you are using as your primary output (component or HDMI, with some nice on-screen graphics to help remind you which is which). The third screen sets resolution, with the options of Auto, 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p/576p, 480i/576i, and Source Direct. These are the same options available in the player's setup menu or by using the "Resolution" button on the remote, and the manual includes a good discussion of how to determine which resolution is best. Auto will negotiate with the TV (using the EDID information provided by the TV) to select the best resolution and Source Direct causes the player to serve as a video transport. This last option is a great feature for people with separate video processors or surround sound processors with very high-end video processors built into them (such as the Anthem Statement D2 with its Gennum processing), as it outputs the native resolution of the disc being played with no processing beyond the basic decoding required to produce the signal. For SACD and DVD-Audio discs, the player uses 1080i to assure that the audio bandwidth allocated for the HDMI connection is sufficient for a multichannel PCM or DSD signal. Once a selection is made, the player asks you to verify that the selected resolution works. If you can see that dialog box, you can select "OK" and be on your way. After that, you select your aspect ratio from the same assortment of options that have been offered by OPPO's players since the old 971H: 4:3 Letterbox, 4:3 Pan & Scan, 16:9 Wide, and 16:9 Wide/Auto. In addition to the tips provided on the wizard screen, the manual offers a detaile explanation of these options. The fifth screen provides two options for audio support: Compatible and Advanced. Compatible engages on-board decoding of the new audio formats, and is the option to select if you are using a receiver that lacks HDMI audio support or one that only offers HDMI v1.1 or v1.2 support. Advanced enables bitstream output of the new formats and disables secondary audio, so it is only appropriate when pairing the BDP-83 with a receiver that is HDMI v1.3 and can decode those formats. The sixth and final screen of the wizard is just a completion screen – you just say "OK" to finish and the player closes out the wizard. It doesn't address every single setting available on the player (since to do so would be impossible without changing the wizard's name to "Extremely Long Setup Wizard"), but it does a very good job of touching on the most important ones and gives users a great jumping-off point.

Player Setup MenuThe basic layout of the player's setup menus will be familiar to anyone who has used an OPPO Digital DVD player. The main menu options are Playback Setup, Video Setup, Audio Format Setup, Audio Processing, Device Setup, and Network Setup (plus "Exit" at the bottom to close the menu). The manual (available for download here) covers these in great detail, so I'll spare us all a recap of the options available there. One item worth noting is the ability to set output resolution from the menu without stopping playback (an adjustment that required stopping playback and using a button on the remote to cycle through the available resolutions on OPPO's previous players). There is still a "Resolution" button on the remote, by the way. I'll also say that the menu itself is quite slick looking.I'll pause here to toss out a little beta testing anecdote. It was after a firmware update mid-way through the beta testing that I finally noticed something in the speaker setup menu that I felt summed up the overall "fit and finish" of the player's menus nicely: the image used for the speakers changes depending on whether they are set to "large" or "small". You can glance at the Speaker Configuration screen and tell immediately what the bass management settings are just from this visual cue.Before moving on, I'll reiterate that there is a lot of control built into the player's setup menu, far more than I have touched on here. OPPO's manual is quite well written, which is why I've skipped over those details. I recommend that anyone considering the BDP-83 download a copy of the manual and flip through it. Updated 6/24/2009: Owners of any Outlaw Audio surround processors or receivers may also want to peruse my setup guides for Outlaw Audio processors and the OPPO Digital BDP-83, which has separate entries for the Model 990 processor, Model 970 processor (which also works for the Model 1070 receiver), Model 950 processor, and Model 1050 receiver. I also have a remote control file from my MX-900 available for download here. It uses code set 2, which allowed me to keep the 983H in the system. Lastly, the beta testers (particularly AVS Forum member wmcclain) assembled a FAQ during the beta test that is a quite useful reference. That FAQ can be found here.return to top

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