Audio Video News

What should we call the new breed of universal disc player that handles Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, and more? The neo-universal player? Whatever nomenclature we settle upon, Oppo will market one of these do-it-all wonders. The news comes on the heels of a similar announcement by Denon.

Ship date for the Oppo BDP-83 isn't yet known, but in a letter to consumers, the company estimates the price at $499-599. That alone should get your attention, since the Denon will sell for $3800.

Alert SACD fanatics will note that the player will not only pass the format's DSD signal via HDMI, but will also offer "DSD-to-analog without any PCM conversion, a very unique feature," says the email.

The feature roster is in flux, so while the existing prototype is Blu-ray Profile 1.1, an upgrade to Profile 2.0 is probable. Likewise, while the current plan is for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio to be output as bitstreams, the final product may also support onboard decoding of the two lossless surround formats. The email says nothing about Dolby Digital Plus or DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. SACD is in the current version; the final one may add DVD-Audio.

For those with a pioneering spirit, Oppo's BDP-83 Early Adoption Program will make available a limited number of players this month or next month. Downloadable firmware will later upgrade these first-out-of-the-gate machines. Presumably late adopters get the full monty out of the box.

For more information, email BDP-83@oppodigital.com.