Audio Video News

Just days after announcing what we thought was the world's first universal Blu-ray player, Oppo comes out with one - with a very affordable price tag.

The Oppo BDP-83 is an upconverting DVD player, Blu-ray and CD, plus it can play your stockpile of SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. Retail price? Once it hits the stores, it will retail between $499 and $599.  Not too shabby.

Keep reading for more details.

The BDP-83 will have high definition HDMI scaling, Edge and Detail Enhancement, and 1080p/24Hz output for Blu-ray and DVD-Video. Audio outputs will please SACD owners. It will have direct DSD over HDMI and DSD to analog without going through a PCM conversion. It supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

At the moment, it's a BD Profile 1.1 (BONUSVIEW) player, but word is that they're working furiously to get Profile 2.0 and onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio by the time the product reaches its full release.

This was the email update sent out to me today from Oppo:

One of the major design goals for the BDP-83 is to deliver first-class video quality for both Blu-ray and DVD. We based and expanded upon our top-of-the-line DV-983H up-converting DVD player and fully utilize the unparalleled performance of the VRS by Anchor Bay video processing solution.  You can expect all the high-end video features including Source Direct for DVD and Blu-ray, high definition HDMI scaling, Edge and Detail Enhancement options, and 1080p24Hz output for both Blu-ray and DVD.

We did not stop at just video performance. We further refined the audio stage, including the addition of discrete stereo outputs and increasing the power and efficiency of the power supply. For SACD playback, the BDP-83 supports direct DSD over HDMI and DSD-to-analog without any PCM conversion, a very unique feature.

With the BDP-83, we intend to release a full-featured universal Blu-ray Disc player that supports BD Profile 2.0 (BD-Live), DVD, SACD, DVD-Audio, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio. As of this writing, the BDP-83 supports BD Profile 2.0 (BD-Live), DVD-Video, SACD, and bitstreaming of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Progress is being made on a daily basis as our engineers work diligently around the clock to further enable DVD-Audio, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio onboard decoding.

The BDP-83 is currently undergoing an extensive and thorough Beta Test Program. We greatly appreciate all the feedback from our beta testers, as without their hard work and extraordinary attention to detail, the BDP-83 would not be the high quality product that our customers have come to expect from us.

As many of our customers eagerly anticipate the release of the BDP83, we are contemplating a “BDP-83 Early Adoption Program” in late December or early January.  This program will make available a limited number of units so you can purchase and experience the current implementation of the BDP-83’s feature set, with the ability to download firmware as new features become available.  The estimated price for the BDP-83 is around $499 to $599.

Looks like more universal options keep popping up. Which are you gonna get? —Leslie Shapiro

Oppo Digital