A case for an upconverting DVD player

Oppo Digital is a relative newcomer to audio and video arena, but this has not stopped the company from designing cutting-edge A/V products. Even though there are new next-generation optical disc formats available from the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc camps, there were still more than 20 million standard definition DVD players sold in 2006. So, clearly, standard definition DVD players aren't going away anytime soon. With the DVD format about 10-years old, one would think that there isn't room for any innovation. I would say that they are wrong. Current DVD players are adapting to high definition through players that upconvert standard definition signals to near HD quality via HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). The Oppo Digital DV-981HD makes a case that this upconverting DVD player is a viable alternative to next-generation optical disc players for now.

Introduction
Since its inception, Oppo Digital has always been an innovator in cutting-edge technology. So, it's no surprise that the company produces universal DVD players " namely, those models that playback both multi-channel DVD-Audio and SACD. Being the innovator that Oppo Digital is, it has now gone one-step beyond by offering a handful of HDMI-enabled DVD players, of which their model DV-981HD is the latest incarnation. HDMI is considered to be a clear step-up from component video offering a simple one cable solution. It keeps the video signal in the digital domain. The digital video signal is uncompressed making it as robust as possible producing some of the best images available today from any DVD player. As an added bonus, HDMI also passes digital audio signals as well. This model includes version 1.1 of HDMI that also passes both DVD-Audio and SACD via HDMI as well making for a very simple connection to an A/V Receiver.

Features
The Oppo Digital DV-981HD is a truly spectacular top-of-the-line progressive scan DVD-Audio/SACD player that offers cutting-edge technology at a terrific price. It's a bargain at $229 for what it includes. It's certainly a next-generation model that can definitely be called a 'Universal' DVD player. This model includes a DCDi video processing technology by Genesis/Faroudja with progressive scan, and film mode detection. It further includes Faroudja's TrueLife enhancement and motion-adaptive noise reduction. The added bonus is DVD upconversion (to the native resolution of your high-definition display) from 480p to 1080p. The 981HD also features factory display settings so that you can optimize the player to the display device. As well, there's a graphic user interface for easy set-up and navigation.

On the audio side, this player offers 192 kHz/24-bit DAC audio processing enabling it to reproduce next-generation multi-channel sound such as DVD-Audio and SACD. Even though both audio formats seem to be on the wane, both camps offer some terrific multi-channel recordings. Happily, Oppo Digital is in both audio camps offering a player with multi-channel playback capability of both formats. These signals can be passed thorough six analog outputs " all corresponding to surround cardinal points, for example. Or, simply use HDMI, which is the preferred method. If it's hard for you to choose between CD and DVDs with either SACD or DVD-A sound tracks (as there are exceptional recordings by numerous artists available in both formats); you'll need a 'universal' player that plays back all formats. The DV-981HD comes to the rescue in a big way. All Dolby Digital and DTS signals are passed via HDMI also. The DV-981HD plays back DVD-Audio, multi-channel/2-channel SACD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and VCD. Video images are passed by composite, S-Video, component video or HDMI with HDCP (for copy protection). Obviously, to obtain the best possible signals and upconversion, HDMI must be employed. It's clearly a player for all seasons.