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Nothing mis-leading about that at all.

173.58.90.68

In Reply to: RE: Unfortunately, OPPO's specs are a bit misleading (intentionally?)... posted by Audiophilander on June 29, 2009 at 14:01:59

It states quite clearly that it is subject the DVD region encoding restrictions.
The Oppo plays all the formats it claims to play. It says nothing about being region-free. Regional encoding is not a format, it's a feature created for the benefit of the greedy movie companies which is extremely difficult to implement on a Blu-ray player. Ask Oppo. They will explain why. They don't omit this feature to piss people off.
There are plenty of people with PAL-encoded, region-free discs. These are the discs Oppo are referring to. If you have a DVD burnt on a PAL DVD recorder, you are okay with the Oppo. DVD recorders don't typically regionally encode the discs they are recording onto. So your Uncle Floppynob in Denmark can send you footage of their family get-together.
Oppo don't fall short on their claims about the BDP-83 at all.
If you want to playback discs from other regions, stick with their older models.

Follow Ups:

Sorry, but your response was confusing, even to me! (grin) - Audiophilander 09:36:10 07/02/09 (0)
No offense, but I could not disagree more with your assertion; OPPO stating a caveat in parenthesis is like fine print in a weight loss ad (results not typical).

> > > "It states quite clearly that it is subject the DVD region encoding restrictions." < < <

But that caveat follows this: "PAL/NTSC Conversion - The BDP-83 supports NTSC and PAL systems for both disc playback and video output. It can also convert content of one system for output in another." FYI, all domestically produced players are theoretically restricted to region, but it is well known that OPPO's earlier players all have special menu applied codes that unlock other regions; so, it would be a logical assumption that this unit would have that access as well.

> > > "Regional encoding is not a format, it's a feature created for the benefit of the greedy movie companies which is extremely difficult to implement on a Blu-ray player. Ask Oppo. They will explain why. They don't omit this feature to piss people off." < < <

We can agree on this, and of course Oppo didn't omit this feature just to piss folks off; I never said they did. What I did say is that they made a deal with the devil (so to speak), to obtain U.S. licensing for a BD player that they could distribute from inside the U.S.

If they had gone down the same road as the Momitsu, distributing from overseas, they would've held onto their long time supporters (of which I consider myself one). I realize that Oppo produces high quality products (I own 3 of their players, and would have upgraded to their BD player too had it been truly universal!).

Instead, OPPO decided to play by the BD Cartel's rules which not only limited them by Zone, but forced them to give up their traditional region unlocking for DVD. As I said below, that was the deal breaker for me.

> > > "There are plenty of people with PAL-encoded, region-free discs. These are the discs Oppo are referring to. If you have a DVD burnt on a PAL DVD recorder, you are okay with the Oppo. DVD recorders don't typically regionally encode the discs they are recording onto. So your Uncle Floppynob in Denmark can send you footage of their family get-together." < < <

Sorry, I don't have an Uncle Floppynob in Denmark or anywhere else that I am aware (if that's his name I'm glad it wasn't passed down! -grin), but I do own a lot of PAL discs from Europe; in fact, 30-40% of my viewing is European fare. I don't burn discs, period. Also, I have a rack full of players, including a Samsung HD-DVD player and a Panasonic Blu-Ray and an OPPO DV-983H that handles my A/V requirements (Region free DVD; SACD/CD/DVD-A). What I needed from Oppo was a one box solution that would allow me to remove my Panasonic and OPPO DV-983H to a second system. The new player falls well short of the solution I require.

> > > "Oppo don't fall short on their claims about the BDP-83 at all." < < <

I'm not saying that they don't live up to claims, but as I pointed out earlier, their spec-sheet is a bit deceptive on the issue of PAL/NTSC compatibility and could easily misinform those familiar with their earlier DVD players, by use or reputation.

> > > "If you want to playback discs from other regions, stick with their older models." < < <

I've done that; it doesn't alleviate my rack-space problems.

The bottom line: I'm sure that this is a wonderful player and I hope folks are enjoying it, but OPPO has lost me as a customer, ...at least until they can offer a product which responds to my needs as a consumer.

AuPh

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