Oppo UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player

[AVSCraig]

just installed the beta...and tried strip meta....and WOW the picture is out of this world...using craig peers guide for 2020 SDR....i didnt find a need to raise contrast or brightness as oppo suggests

deadpool is still a bit on the dark side....but Angry birds, pacific rim and the martian are all incredible (only ones ive tried so far)

That's great news.

[richlife69]

Good to see that folks are actually doing the upgrade to the beta 1229b.  In the OPPO Owners on the other forum, lots of people are expressing hesitation to upgrade -- especially those who have not seen  a lot of the reported issues.  The thought being, "If it ain't broke (for them), don't fix it."  The thing is, even if they (or you) don't see it, it's very definitely broken.  The fix is a good thing BEFORE you encounter the problem. 

But I've always tended to be proactive and never bought into that "ain't broke, don't fix it" mind set.  Gotta have a sense of adventure...   

[NBPk402]

Good to see that folks are actually doing the upgrade to the beta 1229b.  In the OPPO Owners on the other forum, lots of people are expressing hesitation to upgrade -- especially those who have not seen  a lot of the reported issues.  The thought being, "If it ain't broke (for them), don't fix it."  The thing is, even if they (or you) don't see it, it's very definitely broken.  The fix is a good thing BEFORE you encounter the problem. 

But I've always tended to be proactive and never bought into that "ain't broke, don't fix it" mind set.  Gotta have a sense of adventure...   

I cringe at doing firmwares...ever since a Play Station I had bricked from a Firmware update (luckily I had decided to buy an extended replacement warranty).

[AVSCraig]

I cringe at doing firmwares...ever since a Play Station I had bricked from a Firmware update (luckily I had decided to buy an extended replacement warranty).

I nearly bricked my Sim Lumis Host trying to do a firmware update. If I had, I would have had to ship it to Florida. Check out shipping costs on a $30K / 30 lb. projector some time.

[NBPk402]

I nearly bricked my Sim Lumis Host trying to do a firmware update. If I had, I would have had to ship it to Florida. Check out shipping costs on a $30K / 30 lb. projector some time.

The bad thing is that some products force you to do the Firmware, and if it bricks it and you are out of warranty. Lucky for you that you didn't brick it! I think that if the firmware bricks a unit the Manufacturer should have to replace it free.

[AVSMike]

Get my Oppo 203 on Tuesday.

[bmoney]

so I can honestly say my picture from the rs400 has NEVER looked better...thats dfor both BD and UHD BD (sdr 2020 using strip)

the colors are outstanding ...the clarity is top notch...and of course i still swear ATMOS is better,....firmware went without a hitch..I am completely pleased with the 203 (even moreso than when I had the 103) and I am confident they will nail down the rest of the tweaking of the strip feature.

another great product from oppo.....too many people expected 1000% perfection from the launch...and normally I would have been one of them...but have come to realize nothing can be 100% perfect until its in thousands of hands...this being no exception

Mike your gonna love it.....so much nicer than the samsung k8500  in all regards

[gadgtfreek]

I did not see any HDR Strip banding last night on Mag 7, like I did on Bourne, but I did have audio blips ad lip sync problems (required me to rewind a few seconds to resync). I reported to Oppo this morning via email.

[NBPk402]

I got mine today! Now I need to get a new HDMI cable for the AVR to the FP as it will not work for me with the Oppo. I did have some little problems with the unit, but they all settled themselves out with a reboot. I have verified that the Oppo player plays fine when hooked up directly to the AVR..hence why I just need a new 15' HDMI cable. Is there any inexpensive cable that is known to work?

[AVSCraig]

I got mine today! Now I need to get a new HDMI cable for the AVR to the FP as it will not work for me with the Oppo. I did have some little problems with the unit, but they all settled themselves out with a reboot. I have verified that the Oppo player plays fine when hooked up directly to the AVR..hence why I just need a new 15' HDMI cable. Is there any inexpensive cable that is known to work?

Define " inexpensive " ? See the HDMI cable thread - although I'm using a 16' Monster Black Platinum cable myself.

[richlife69]

Ok, I'll 'fess up -- received my 203 a few days ago but have been waiting for ellisr63 to get his.  I've been testing all I can and trying to get it setup for routine use.  This post is basically a copy of what I'm posting to the Owners thread on the other forum.  Add me to the list of those who love this amazing device. 

The OPPO worked fine from the start, but I played it safe at first and only played BRs and music.  (And now, for the first time, I understand the fantastic experience of SACD!) 

Then I tried a UHD.  Hit Play, the screen went blank, the remote was unresponsive and I said s---!  But the Power button on the box did turn it off.  When I powered back up, I immediately went into Settings > Video, changed the Auto to 4.2.0 and turned HDR Off.  Then the UHD disc played just fine.  Began playing around with the Video settings and didn't see any other issues including use of 4.2.2 and 4.4.4 at 12 bits -- even with HDR on (washed out image because my TV is not HDR).  At some point I realized I had again set the Video back to Auto and yet all was working fine.  I quit and went to bed at that point.

Next day I ran through all 7 of my UHD titles with no issues and played with settings on the OPPO and my TV to get a satisfactory pic (not great, just satisfactory).  Today I tested the limits per Bob Pariseau with UHD Independence Day and again found no issues.  (Custom, UHD 60, both YCbCr 4:4:4 and RGB with 12 bit.  Didn't all do wonders with PQ, but the HDMI cables never failed.)  I haven't had any handshake issues at all since that first time.  I also found the Strip Metadata and with that was able to get to BT.2020 and coaxed really good PQ out of my TV -- probably the best I'm going to get with a TV that doesn't support HDR. 

Actually, I might be able to do more with special tweaks found in the Vizio M-Series thread, but frankly the PQ is good and those special settings would require using two different TV inputs for bluray and UHD.  I have pretty much have decided that I will get a 2017 LG LCD (bright room) since LG has announced they are going to support all HDR formats.  When I get that, I'll tweak the OPPO to the max, but for now I'm just going to enjoy my system(s). 

BTW, I used the same data chain that I had with the Samsung K8500 -- just set the OPPO cable aside as a spare.  I use Monoprice Certified Premium cables -- a 6 foot from OPPO to AVR and a 15 foot from AVR to my Vizio tv.

[bmoney]

I did not see any HDR Strip banding last night on Mag 7, like I did on Bourne, but I did have audio blips ad lip sync problems (required me to rewind a few seconds to resync). I reported to Oppo this morning via email.

I have yet to see any banding...and I have been on the lookout for it.

Watched The revenant again last night...jiminy frickin christmas!!  Pacific rim and lucy are nice and all...but NOTHING touches the revenant for PQ  holy cow!

[AVSMike]

You guys are killing me. Oppo is out for delivery. Check. 4K BD's sitting here waiting. Check. 4K projector. Nope, sold it. Will be watching 1080P BD's for a while on an RS45.

[claw]

Ok, I'll 'fess up -- received my 203 a few days ago but have been waiting for ellisr63 to get his.  I've been testing all I can and trying to get it setup for routine use.  This post is basically a copy of what I'm posting to the Owners thread on the other forum.  Add me to the list of those who love this amazing device. 

The OPPO worked fine from the start, but I played it safe at first and only played BRs and music.  (And now, for the first time, I understand the fantastic experience of SACD!) 

Then I tried a UHD.  Hit Play, the screen went blank, the remote was unresponsive and I said s---!  But the Power button on the box did turn it off.  When I powered back up, I immediately went into Settings > Video, changed the Auto to 4.2.0 and turned HDR Off.  Then the UHD disc played just fine.  Began playing around with the Video settings and didn't see any other issues including use of 4.2.2 and 4.4.4 at 12 bits -- even with HDR on (washed out image because my TV is not HDR).  At some point I realized I had again set the Video back to Auto and yet all was working fine.  I quit and went to bed at that point.

Next day I ran through all 7 of my UHD titles with no issues and played with settings on the OPPO and my TV to get a satisfactory pic (not great, just satisfactory).  Today I tested the limits per Bob Pariseau with UHD Independence Day and again found no issues.  (Custom, UHD 60, both YCbCr 4:4:4 and RGB with 12 bit.  Didn't all do wonders with PQ, but the HDMI cables never failed.)  I haven't had any handshake issues at all since that first time.  I also found the Strip Metadata and with that was able to get to BT.2020 and coaxed really good PQ out of my TV -- probably the best I'm going to get with a TV that doesn't support HDR. 

Actually, I might be able to do more with special tweaks found in the Vizio M-Series thread, but frankly the PQ is good and those special settings would require using two different TV inputs for bluray and UHD.  I have pretty much have decided that I will get a 2017 LG LCD (bright room) since LG has announced they are going to support all HDR formats.  When I get that, I'll tweak the OPPO to the max, but for now I'm just going to enjoy my system(s). 

BTW, I used the same data chain that I had with the Samsung K8500 -- just set the OPPO cable aside as a spare.  I use Monoprice Certified Premium cables -- a 6 foot from OPPO to AVR and a 15 foot from AVR to my Vizio tv.

If you have some way to check the input signal status in the Vizio, it should report 4K24 4:2:2 12 bit now when you play a UHD Blu Ray.    You don't have to force 4K60 like you did with the Samsung player.   UHD Blu Ray is 24Hz and should be displayed that way.

In the Oppo, press the remote's Info button for several seconds to get the long read out.   Scroll down to see the output format and resolution.

[claw]

You guys are killing me. Oppo is out for delivery. Check. 4K BD's sitting here waiting. Check. 4K projector. Nope, sold it. Will be watching 1080P BD's for a while on an RS45.

Mine is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.   (Hopefully not affected by the snow storm.)

Clear prime shelf space location for Oppo; Check.   
Move Samsung player from AVR Blu Ray HDMI input to Media Player input; Check.   
Remove Integral from device chain; Check.
Download and copy Beta firmware file to empty USB stick; Check.