Oppo UHD 4K Owners & Discussion Thread

[dsj88]

Oppo has a habit of releasing models with many bugs and then firmware updates to fix them. I have 2 oppos but don't think will buy again. Oppo users are very tolerant of this for some reason saying they are good with firmware updates. If they were released with not many bugs in the first place they wouldn't need so many updates. I'll be getting the Panasonic 4k player this time. Test shows they are better than the Oppo and less issues.

[Quark]

5 hours ago, PeteD said:

Who wants to guess the Australian retail price?  If it was simply about exchange rate then $1,755 would be about right if the $AUS was trading at US-74 cents. But my guess is $1,999 because the Internationals love to gouge the Australian market whenever possible.

 

You need to add 10% GST to the $1755. Then add the distributor's "Australia Tax" - I wouldn't be surprised if they have the cheek to ask $2200 RRP here.

[allfor4k]

Yes, Panasonic 4k blu ray player UB-900 so far getting a fair share of good review. I intend to get Oppo UDP-205 but not so soon, after all the bugs and many firmware updates on the 203. As Cash said "Never Ever Buy The 1st Batch"

 

Still using the Samsung K8500 for the past 6mths. So far so good.

[petetherock]

IMHO, whether you prefer to sit this one out or join the cutting edge depends on your personality.

If you are the typical Singaporean, who prefers to sit back, and do the practical thing, yes, it is wise to avoid being in the first wave and be on the cutting edge.

Eg, some folks have only just joined the Blu Ray revolution, and they have no intention of going 4k.

There are still folks stuck on VCDs and tapes for example.

 

 

Or be in the first wave, enjoy the products, BUT understand the risks. Just like the first few BR players, they were clunky and I recall the Samsung BD 1000, which was slow and quickly obsolete. So people will point to that and say it's a bad idea to be on the edge. True, and yet, some of us enjoy being the first, yes you know who you are ;)

 

 

So YMMV, and what you do, depends a lot on your risk appetite.

 

 

I sound the horn of caution for the 205, but I may jump in if I swop out the 203, but since I have no 4k TV, I have no real incentive right now, and the 203 was a fun machine which allowed me to enjoy some discs and the Atmos soundtracks for not too much outlay. (on certain movies, only the 4k disc has the Atmos soundtrack).

[petetherock]

Oppo has a habit of releasing models with many bugs and then firmware updates to fix them. I have 2 oppos but don't think will buy again. Oppo users are very tolerant of this for some reason saying they are good with firmware updates. If they were released with not many bugs in the first place they wouldn't need so many updates. I'll be getting the Panasonic 4k player this time. Test shows they are better than the Oppo and less issues.

Actually bro, not all their players are buggy. The 80 was good and so was the 101. In fact the 105/103 was quite stable. This is more to do with the stability of the format, than anything to do with Oppo. But at least they are responsive.

 

Think of some of the other brands of BR players. Apart from Sony, Panny, Sammy and Oppo, I don't think that the smaller companies release their FW updates so promptly.

 

But as I just posted, YMMV, and I won't rush into the 205 until the general issues are fixed with the 203 first.

[Addicted to music]

At around the $2200 rrp......pass.....no thanks... especially due to the support.

 

 

 

 

[petetherock]

You know that a player has been around for a while when you see larger online sites reviewing it:

http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/video-player/blu-ray/oppo-udp-203-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-disc-player-review/

[petetherock]

You know that a player has been around for a while when you see larger online sites reviewing it:

http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/video-player/blu-ray/oppo-udp-203-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-disc-player-review/

[betty boop]

gosh the 203 basically came out at the same rrp as the 103D it replaced so would hope the  205 does the same ? otherwise starting to get up a bit. that said the 205 in usd is priced up a bit anyways ....

[JSmith]

21 minutes ago, petetherock said:

You know that a player has been around for a while when you see larger online sites reviewing it:

http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/video-player/blu-ray/oppo-udp-203-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-disc-player-review/

Wow... so who is lying here, HDTVTest or HomeTheatreHiFi?

I have the Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Blu-ray disc player in house as well, and that player was used to draw some comparisons between the two formats. Every UHD Blu-ray disc comes with the HD Blu-ray, and in each case the HD Blu-ray at 1080p through the Panasonic set at 1080p or 2160p looked smeared by comparison, displayed reduced colours, and had flat contrast compared to the Ultra HD Blu-ray played through the Oppo.

I'm starting to think the HDTVTest YT video doesn't go into enough detail about how their comparison was made, settings etc... or this one.

It appears some publications are trying to deride Oppo and others are praising it. This makes things very confusing for the consumer... on purpose? Maybe the Oppo is better at upscaling but not as good with a native UHD BD and vice versa?

JSmith 

[jutta]

1 hour ago, JSmith said:

Wow... so who is lying here, HDTVTest or HomeTheatreHiFi?

I'm starting to think the HDTVTest YT video doesn't go into enough detail about how their comparison was made, settings etc... or this one.

It appears some publications are trying to deride Oppo and others are praising it. This makes things very confusing for the consumer... on purpose? Maybe the Oppo is better at upscaling but not as good with a native UHD BD and vice versa?

JSmith 

Even though they tipped in favour of the Pana they did say marginal and probably not able to pick in normal viewing so I don't think they were shitting on the Oppo.

I'm an Oppo fan but glad I got the Pana at this stage just because it works. And it looks great to me. Plus I view it on a sub par LED series 8 Samsung display which is somewhere behind the quality of my F8500 plasma which wont turn on but still has a better picture according to those in the know.

[JSmith]

1 hour ago, petetherock said:

reviewing

Hey Pete, wondering, how was your experience in the end with the modded player you were checking out?

JSmith 

[JSmith]

7 minutes ago, jutta said:

marginal and probably not able to pick in normal viewing

True... but some of the tests showed detail simply missing from the Oppo side that was evident on the Pana side, even on a laptop monitor with compressed YT video. That worries me... I would keep thinking "I'm not seeing everything I could be", so probably won't get the new Oppo now. Maybe the next one will be better...

JSmith 

[JSmith]

https://newssummedup.com/summary/Oppos-Latest-UDP-203-4K-Blu-ray-Player-Update-Is-A-Big-Disappointment-97tgkh

JSmith 

[miata]

On ‎19‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 1:46 PM, JSmith said:

Looks like Oppo has lost the PQ processing king crown... seems odd.

JSmith 

Odd? Not really, didn't Panasonic discover a few errors in what everyone else was doing? Reviews on the Panasonic OLED TVs, seem to indicate that they have a better understanding of the format, Are they not heavily involved in the "Standards" for 4K? I would choose a Panasonic 400 4K Player (if they bring it Oz) over an Oppo but I'm something of a Panasonic tragic, still clinging to my 50ST50 Plasma. Somehow, I'll find a way to acquire a Panasonic OLED, eventually, if I don't run out of time on this stage.

[JSmith]

6 minutes ago, miata said:

Not really, didn't Panasonic discover a few errors in what everyone else was doing?

Sure... but what I mean is Oppo designed this player from the ground up with a custom SoC. I would have expected better performance from it... meh, Pana it is I guess. Maybe I'll buy both, do my own comparisons and sell the surplus.

JSmith 

[cwt]

3 hours ago, JSmith said:

Wow... so who is lying here, HDTVTest or HomeTheatreHiFi?

I'm starting to think the HDTVTest YT video doesn't go into enough detail about how their comparison was made, settings etc... or this one.

JSmith 

Ide be a bit disappointed with the latter j ; starting with using a JVC projector with no mention of an oled or led at all .To compound this no mention of the oppo's HDR strip metadata feature or turning the HDR off ..

Speaks volumes he mentioned upscaling only between the two and not native reproduction ; like a lot of reviewers never touch .. I feel good justifying my pana if you cant tell

[Sir Triode]

15 hours ago, Addicted to music said:

At around the $2200 rrp......pass.....no thanks... especially due to the support.

 

 

 

 

 

Yup - you could get the UD900 and have $1500 to spare for a decent SACD/CD player. 

[betty boop]

i've kicking myself that I ever sold my cambridge 752 !  since really what am missing with the pana is universal disc play and the better dvd quality and region free capability the cambridge brought. not sure am real keen on adding multiple players to my system either. and that was really my only attraction for the oppo for a do it all.

 

its a bummer oppo doesnt come with streaming capabilities and apps like the cheapo sammy and the like as would have been handy.

[PeteD]

Question sent to Oppo Digital (USA):
Thanks for the prompt reply but that is a show-stopper for me. Do you know of any other way (apart from AirPlay) of "casting" Spotify etc. to the UDP-205? I could use my Samsung Galaxy S7 instead of the iPad if need be. I would prefer to not have to purchase another device if at all possible.

 

Answer:
Unfortunately, there is no way to get Spotify or any other streaming service to the player through the network. You would need to use a physical connection such as Asynchronous USB with a computer or as a digital coaxial, optical, or HDMI signal from your smartphone.

 

I really don't want to have to use a computer to manage my music library - as a software developer, I spend enough time slaving over a hot keyboard already!   So what I need is an inexpensive wi-fi connected box that can do Spotify as well as ideally Pandora and TIDAL with an HDMI audio output and remote control via IOS and/or Android app. - I suppose something like the NAD MT2 ...  ?

 

Then again I'm thinking that Oppo has simply made it too hard for me - I really wanted to stay loyal because of my excellent BDP-105D experience (2 channel audio only) and who knows - maybe they will decide to support streaming down the track. I just cannot understand why they would support DLNA but not AirPlay.  Any ideas on that?

 

At the end of the day, I'm really happy with the Cambridge CXN which pretty much does everything I want and sounds great with my amp and speakers - will hang onto it and wait for the next big thing to happen in the sub $2,000 price range. For movies, I'll probably go for the Panasonic 900 which is getting great reviews on this and other forums. Oppo has a lot of work to do before I will consider going back their way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2017 by PeteD

[betty boop]

interesting thoughts there pete, not sure if inexpensive enough but there is the chrome cast series products. for my av duties my marantz av processor has some capability in this regard, is this something worth exploring too as to what ever it is av wise that you are using ?

 

I note some interesting responses from oppo and darbee re darbee processing, I wonder if this is reason why oppo were sort of left on their own to work out video wise and lost the hand of darbee that they had with the last release. as the posters says below perhaps it will be the next iteration of oppo that will have darbee.... but they have a lot of work to do in the interim !  

 

"I asked Darbee about the lack of 4K vide processing for the new Oppo players ...

Oppo's response to me earlier for the lack of Darbee processing in the new players was:

Darbee does not have a working solution that can do native UHD media, and even when they will have a solution, it will likely be too expensive for us to implement, so there are no plans to support Darbee processing with these current generations of players

Darbee's response to my query following Oppos response was:

4K/UHD is a multifaceted hurdle. Demo'ing 4K/UHD processing on non-HDCP video clips is already in hand. Our 4K DVP IP has been able to process 4K, 8K, 20K for almost two years now, but that is only part of the challenge.

Developing a full HDMI/HDCP/HDR pipeline is a big process. We are not ready yet and Darbee and OPPO will only consider releasing and integrating 4K DVP when it satisfies both technical and business requirements. They are right, the chips are very expensive, at this time. Optimizing for practical silicon is part of the set of hurdles. Fortunately, there is plenty of time ahead of us.

I will wait for a Darbee version hopefully within 2 years from now. I don't have a 4K anything in my setup and use the Darblet for my video processing, so buying a 4K player now w/o darbee processing wouldn't make sense. I'm addicted to its light processing modes...(for good or worse). 

Now all my questions about these players have been answered and waiting for technical reviews from the likes of Secrets, Audioholics, Stereophile etc..."

[DaMacFunkin]

Oppo has a habit of releasing models with many bugs and then firmware updates to fix them. I have 2 oppos but don't think will buy again. Oppo users are very tolerant of this for some reason saying they are good with firmware updates. If they were released with not many bugs in the first place they wouldn't need so many updates. I'll be getting the Panasonic 4k player this time. Test shows they are better than the Oppo and less issues.

That isn't actually a fair representation of the facts, The Panasonic UB900 has been available since March 2016 in the UK, it launched with many bugs including a Dolby Atmos bug from day one, these where fixed with firmware updates so that by the time it launched in the USA and other parts of the world a few months later these bugs had been largely fixed.

That is no different to the Oppo, by the time the Oppo has been on the Market 13 months it too will have had all it's bugs erased and many enhancements added.

[Quark]

On 20/04/2017 at 4:04 PM, Quark said:

 

You need to add 10% GST to the $1755. Then add the distributor's "Australia Tax" - I wouldn't be surprised if they have the cheek to ask $2200 RRP here.

 

Sadly, RRP has turned out to be $2199. With the various UHD bugs, absence of apps and no HDCD support, the analog stage would need to be a huge step up over the 105 to get many takers.

[wooferocau]

1 hour ago, Quark said:

 

Sadly, RRP has turned out to be $2199. With the various UHD bugs, absence of apps and no HDCD support, the analog stage would need to be a huge step up over the 105 to get many takers.

Yeah i truly wouldn't bother if its even remotely like the 203!!..

[PeteD]

1 hour ago, Quark said:

 

Sadly, RRP has turned out to be $2199. With the various UHD bugs, absence of apps and no HDCD support, the analog stage would need to be a huge step up over the 105 to get many takers.

 

 

I am confident that my dealer would let me have one for $1,999 but, as previously mentioned, it would have to be significantly (and I do mean Significantly) better sounding than my Cambridge CXN for me to be interested in changing over.