Home > Consumer Reviews > Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD

This is one unbelievable player. I also own the Toshiba Hd player. I love both. My main problem was to change region i wanted it to play region 2 DVD. I applied the hack but didn't work for me right away
Here is the hack
Firmware update may remove the region hack. Region free:
1) No disc
2) Press Set Up
3) Press 9210
4) Press 0
5) Press Set Up. Done! Supposedly

To access the zone changing option I had to press the setup key on the
Remote than go to the preference page. Under TV type choose auto first than enter the 9210 a menu will pop up. Choose zero. It will play all regions. Click again on setup. Reboot your player go back to the preference page and choose NTSC (if you have an NTSC TV). Leaving the player on auto gave me a black picture on my high def TV with region 2 DVD's.
When I changed it to NTSC under the DVD player's menu. It could play all regions and I could see the picture.
This thing is awesome. I give this product 15 stars
Played xvid with subs in a flash. Just perfect.
I used to own the Phillips dvp 642/37 and trust me this one will blow your mind away. The Phillips was a dud when it came to xvid
You might encounter or not this problem to change region. I did

I've owned a Samsung 40 inch LCD TV for a little over a week now. When I viewed my first DVD through a standard Sony DVD player, I was immediately disappointed with the picture. The image would sometimes pixilated around the edges, especially during fast movement. Well, my friend told me about "upconvering" DVD players which would upgrade them image from standard definition to near HDTV quality. Until about a week ago I did not even know that "upconvering" DVD players even existed, and I was immediately skeptical. Conventional wisdom tells us that the image can never be better than the original source material. Well, I'm happy to say that I was wrong.

After a little research I decided to forego the retail stores and order an Oppo DV-981HD online, because the buzz surrounding these machines is so overwhelmingly positive. The buzz is well deserved. The picture quality is simply breathtaking. First, I put in my highest quality DVD, Revenge of the Sith, and I was totally blown away. The explosions are more vibrant. I can see particles that were not visible before. Every little mole and bead of sweat is clearly visible on Ewan MacGregor's face. There is absolutely no pixilation on fast action scenes. Now, my HDTV service is not hooked up yet, so its impossible for me to make a fair comparison between this and real HDTV, but I can't imagine the picture quality being much better.

I also tested my lowest quality DVD, which is a film of an airshow which I shot with a digital camera at 640 x 480 and only 15 FPS. Even this low resolution picture looked great on the Oppo, while on a traditional DVD player the image is so pixilated that its virtually unwatchable.

If you have an HDTV, you're going to want one of these. I've invested literally thousands on my DVD collection over the last 10 years. Who wants to start all over and start replacing your favorite discs with HD versions of the same films? Not I. The Oppo DV-981HD solves this problem. Now I can watch all my favorite movies in the best picture quality possible without another sizeable investment.

If you go on the company's website, they'll show you how to make it region free. It even will convert PAL to NTSC, and vise versa. If the picture quality weren't already enough of a selling point, it will also play any disc made anywhere in the world.

Update: I had to try a DVD from another region to make sure it worked as Oppo states it would, so I bought a Rory Gallagher DVD on Amazon.uk that's not available in the U.S. (PAL, region 2). It played without a hitch. This is great. Now I can buy and watch DVDs that would not normally be available in the U.S. market. I've already ordered "Azumi 2" and "Conan the Destroyer Special Edition". And "Pans Labyrinth", which is only now hitting U.S. theatres, will be available on UK DVD next month. This alone makes this DVD player worth the price, in my opinion.

I recently bought a Samsung DLP 1080P TV which I struggled mightily over before taking the plunge. I thought the easier decision would be a DVD player to "upconvert" my library of DVD's purchsed through the years. I was wrong.
After seeing my TV and the DVD-HD960 together in the store I took the plunge and bought the Samsung player. I probably watched a dozen movies on it and frankly was fairly impressed with the difference between a regular Progressive Scan player and the DVD-HD960. However, a friend convinced me to at least try the Oppo and I recently completed a side by side test with it, the Samsung player and a Sony Progressive Scan system. I did a "blind" test with my wife and teenager. They both had a questionaire to fill out that I made up of items like picture and audio, clarity sharpness, color, and a rating system of 1 through 5 - 5 being the best. I played several movies for them and didn't always change the player. I sometimes played it on the same player twice and generally mixed up the order so that they would not gain a bias. This was hardly scientific, but the results were consistant. In each case I played the disc at the highest resolution the set could handle.
The lowest rated player for color and sharpness was, not surprisingly the Progressive Scan Sony that is about 3 years old or so. Both the the Samsung and Oppo boxes boast 1080p so I was a little surprised at what the family saw in terms of differences. In every case, for every movie, the Oppo box was far and away the winner. The average score was 4.7, whereas the Samsung was 3.9. Again, not scientific, but in a world where perception is reality, this is all I needed to see in order to return my Samsung box and keep the Oppo.

I've now watched maybe 20 movies on the Oppo and I have not found one instance where I was underwhelmed. The price tag of this unit is steep, but in my mind if you spent all that money on true 1080p set, why would you not consider the Oppo?

The Oppo 981 is a standard dvd player that also happens to play every type of audio format available. No where in the ads or on the box does it state blu-ray or HD-DVD player. So.....point one settled. Know what you are buying. What this unit does is "up-convert" a standard format dvd (480p) to 1080p. What does that mean.....clearest sharpest picture possible from your existing dvd collection. You must have the TV to support it! Near hd-dvd quality for discs you already own or rent.
Difference IS like night and day. To receive this benefit you must use the HDMI output. This unit is not recommended for rear projection tv's. Oppo will tell you to purchase the 980. The 981 uses the Farouda-dci chipset and will cause black blocking in the picture. (the black blocks you see in dark areas of the picture. Sorry....this is the newest technology already out pacing TV's produced just two years ago.
Blu-ray or HD-DVD? Don't do it......wait until the format war is over....I suspect a new format introduced within the next 2 years....wait and see which format takes the cake......kinda like VHS or BETA, SACD or HDCD, Cassette or 8-track.....remember that!? Until then.....you can enjoy up-converting your existing discs, listen to SACD or redbook cd's (standard format)or MP3's.
Stereophile class C recommendation......so, somebody has taken notice!
Recommended for ease of use, fantastic picture and sound quality, great customer service.....and the cheapest extended warranty plans from Oppo I have ever seen! A no brainer purchase.

I bought this product through amazon and at first was very pleased. Weeks after I started seeing blotching in the dark areas of the picture during playback. Called Oppo and they can't return or refund since the purchase was through amazon. They told me that with the ferudja upconversion technology there was a conflict when it came to dlp televisions. Hopefully amazon will take it as a return. Upon further investigation under page one of the general set up menu, scrolling down there is a color space option. It was set to ycbcr 4:4:4 from the factory. I changed it to auto and PERFECTION i wish i would have rated it a 5 star!