so will this unit Upconvert Backed Up DVD's? I back up my DVD's you know, so my originals won't get scratched but I heard they can only upconvert dvd's with Copy Protection, so will this Oppo player upconvert backed up dvd's? so will this unit Upconvert Backed Up DVD's? I back up my DVD's you know, so my originals won't get scratched but I heard they can only upconvert dvd's with Copy Protection, so will... » Read More so will this unit Upconvert Backed Up DVD's? I back up my DVD's you know, so my originals won't get scratched but I heard they can only upconvert dvd's with Copy Protection, so will this Oppo player upconvert backed up dvd's? « Show Less
1453228
I own the Panasonic blu-ray which upconverts my backed up dvd's to 1080p.You can push the status button on the remote and 1080p appears telling you it is upconverting.If I am not getting true 1080p upconversion,I must be seeing things.Has anyone else tried upconverting a backed up copy of a dvd on a blu ray or hd dvd and was unable to get an upconverting display of 1080p? Stephen
1453229
Backed up/ dvd copies cannot be upconverted because of the lower bit rate. The signal may be 1080p but it will still be the same 480p image. DVD copies may look even worse in 1080p on occasion, prone to video noise and such.
1453230
You may be correct, be that as it may, Criterion has high quality transfer and I did state that "with copy protection or ANY original ones". Maybe my back-up dvds are compressed in a different way, I'm not sure, but when I run it in the Oppo, it doesn't look any different, actually, sometimes, some back-up dvds looked worst(because of artifacts) than when I play them in a regular 480p player. One thing I noticed, on the Oppo, if the disc transfer is imperfect, then you will see the imperfections. Oh, I did read the specs, it does say that it will play +R, -R dvds, DIVX, (almost anything..)but doesn't necessarily say "Upconvert". You may be correct, be that as it may, Criterion has high quality transfer and I did state that "with copy protection or ANY original ones". Maybe my back-up dvds are compressed in a different way, I'm not sure, but when I run it in the Oppo, it doesn't look any different, actually, sometimes, some back-up dvds looked worst(because of artifacts) than when I play them in a regular 480p player. One thing I noticed, on the Oppo, if the disc transfer is imperfect, then you will see the imperfections. Oh, I did read the specs, it does say that it will play +R, -R dvds,... » Read More You may be correct, be that as it may, Criterion has high quality transfer and I did state that "with copy protection or ANY original ones". Maybe my back-up dvds are compressed in a different way, I'm not sure, but when I run it in the Oppo, it doesn't look any different, actually, sometimes, some back-up dvds looked worst(because of artifacts) than when I play them in a regular 480p player. One thing I noticed, on the Oppo, if the disc transfer is imperfect, then you will see the imperfections. Oh, I did read the specs, it does say that it will play +R, -R dvds, DIVX, (almost anything..)but doesn't necessarily say "Upconvert". « Show Less
1453231
Woopak, I'm afraid you are incorrect. Not all commercial DVD discs are copy protected (Criterion etc..), the Oppo will upconvert and play +R and other burned media as well, please see the compatibility in the specs.
1453232
ALL upconverting players will ONLY upconvert dvd discs with copy protection or any original ones. Dvds (re)mastered in high definition will SPECIALLY look amazing.
1453233
My understanding is you cannot upconvert copy protected discs using a component connection. If using a digital connection [HDMI/DVI] then both copy protected and non-protected discs will upconvert. Since the DV-981HD is HDMI only, then there shouldn't be an issue upconverting your backed up discs as you can only use this player with a HDMI/DVI compatible display.
1400408
Many "backups" are converted to a lower bitrate to fit a dual-layer disc on a single layer DVDR, which is why backups may not look great at 1080P. 1080P isn't as forgiving as a standard 480i set.
929712
xavier, I was looking for the same feature set: an upscaling DVD player, converting PAL to NTSC, region-unlocked. I opted for a Pioneer DV-49AV hardware modified by 220-electronics to be region free to take advantage of the high quality conversion engine; I don't think the Pioneers accept a software region unlock code. Another suggestion might be the Philips DVP5982 which appears to have an unlock code but not quite as high a quality upscaling chipset as the Pioneer; I've not tried the 5982, but I've had good experiences with the older non-upscaling DVP5140 reading region 2 PAL DVDs.
742185
Component does support 720p (and even 1080i) but when part of an upconverting DVD player, all players are limited to 480p on component outs when playing standard DVD. The reason for this is the movie studios don't want you to be able to upconvert DVDs in the analog component domain as one can easily make high quality copies (bootlegs) with this method. When upconverted video is sent out the HDMI cable, it has content protection, called HDCP, to keep people from making high quality copies.Now you are getting the most out of your player, good for you.
1040197
You probably don't need this top-of-the-line Oppo player for a 23" set unless you plan to watch a lot of PAL discs from overseas (the 981 has the best PAL-to-NTSC conversion of any of their players). I would guess that you probably don't need an upconverting player at all, but I don't have any actual experience to base that on. Just a guess. You might try asking over in some of the forums for TVs that you're considering to see if any owners have bought (or regretted buying) and upconverting player.
623941
Thanks for the info Kevin, just got back from a huge dvd store here and I noticed a lot of Blu Ray discs marked 'all regions' (1,2,3) on the back of them so Sony may be trying relax restrictions for now to corner the market here. I also just found out that's it's pointless getting a blu-ray and/or hd-dvd player as my 3 year old 43" Pioneer Plasma with external hig def set top box can only output 1024 X 768 pixels max, so I wouldn't visibly see blu-rays or hd-dvd's 1080p potential...think I'm better off just getting a good upscaling dvd player & a good hdmi cable. Except for PS2, dvd players/recorders sold here are region free out of the box anyway. Will look out for Oppo but don't think it's sold here. Thanks for the info Kevin, just got back from a huge dvd store here and I noticed a lot of Blu Ray discs marked 'all regions' (1,2,3) on the back of them so Sony may be trying relax restrictions for now to corner the market here. I also just found out that's it's pointless getting a blu-ray and/or hd-dvd player as my 3 year old 43" Pioneer Plasma with external hig def set top box can only output 1024 X 768 pixels max, so I wouldn't visibly see blu-rays or hd-dvd's 1080p potential...think I'm better off just getting a good upscaling dvd player & a good hdmi cable. Except for PS2, dvd... » Read More Thanks for the info Kevin, just got back from a huge dvd store here and I noticed a lot of Blu Ray discs marked 'all regions' (1,2,3) on the back of them so Sony may be trying relax restrictions for now to corner the market here. I also just found out that's it's pointless getting a blu-ray and/or hd-dvd player as my 3 year old 43" Pioneer Plasma with external hig def set top box can only output 1024 X 768 pixels max, so I wouldn't visibly see blu-rays or hd-dvd's 1080p potential...think I'm better off just getting a good upscaling dvd player & a good hdmi cable. Except for PS2, dvd players/recorders sold here are region free out of the box anyway. Will look out for Oppo but don't think it's sold here. « Show Less
847329
Thx Gibo, but could you be a little be more specific... I mean... What format do Rip dvds have? If this upscaling dvd player cant... which one can?
1780815
No. This unit down converts and records in standard definition and then up converts the playback in HD. Seems counterproductive but my guess is this approach was chosen to put less demand on the hardware. The up conversion is very good and the quality is about 90% of true HD. I would estimate most people would not notice the slight loss of quality.
253452
I just picked one up from BB today, and the included manual isn't much more helpful. According to the manual, it is going to be up to the individual production of discs as far as what you'll be able to get from components. IF the protection is enabled, without HDMI you will only be able to view 480i or 480p. 720p or 1080i, either through HD DVD or upconverted SD DVD would/could be blocked. Hope this helps. Like I said, I have the unit and I'm watching it now with SD DVDs until tomorrow, and the upconversion is MUCH better than my previous Toshiba DVD upconversion player. Star Wars III was absolutely fantastic (picture wise. Unfortunately this unit cannot yet "upconvert" poor scripts, but I digress). If anyone wants to ask anymore questions, I'll be picking up a couple HD DVDs tomorrow (Tuesday 4/18) as well as getting some from Netflix, so I'll have plenty of review material.
1506755
I have owned an Oppo upconverting DVD player for several years. It does a wonderful job improving the quality of my standard DVD movie disks. But a $500.00 Oppo Blu_Ray player? I have a big problem with that. Can we really SEE the difference in a Blu_Ray movie played on an Oppo machine versus a player costing half the price. I cannot say, but I personally doubt it. I'd really like someone to explain this (in non-tech terms) to me.
1075917
yes I have done it. I started dubbing my sons dvd's just in case they get scratch, broke, and etc...so i don't have to go and buy the same movies over and over again. I keep the original safe and when the dvd is non usesable I just make him another. But since he got older to put the dvd in himself and scratching it up I tried puting it on usb and the clarity is the same as if it was on a dvd. but the flash drive only go to 16gb and I had more movies i wanted to put so I got a 250 portable hard drive and it is working perfectly. I also invested in a portable and home dvd player that is usb capatible so instead of me haveing 50 dvds, cases and cases of dvds. I have 1 portable hard drive with over 50 movies on it that I watch on my computer or regular tv. Some of the plasma come with usb ports so you don't even need a dvd player.
1984820
@Robert Thomas it seems to me that $400+ is a bit much to spend on a player that just up-converts. You could've easily saved yourself a couple of hundred bucks and gone with an Oppo Digital up-conversion player. The DV-981 runs a whopping $230.
680737
Yes- We play very few Blu-ray and the unit has had no issues with either commercial DVD's or most I have burned in the past. It does not play DVD ROM's (which kind of stinks because I'd burned a lot of older TV series to this format) It also will not play most +R recorded media (sometime yes, usually no) so check what media you burned to.
1160684
My Unit never played DVDs from the beginning. Never played DVDs from the box. I thought it was a region code issue but it is not. Then I though it was an Firmware issue so I upgraded from V26 to V29. Still does not play DVDs. I bought it from Amazon LLC directly. If I would have found out this after I purchased the unit, I would have gave Amazon a piece of my mind. But it's too late now as a couple years has gone by. Please learn from my mistake. I bought a VERY EXPENSIVE CD Player (Philips HTS8100/37).
2126555
So my non-hd movies from other regions would be able to play on this player in the upconversions with no problem? Thanks for the info.
838707
It'll depend on the severity of the scratches. I have played DVDs with minor scratches without issue. Sever scratches will need to be remedied, no matter which player you use.
1825669
i really need to do this also how is it possible???? i need to add movies to usb so i can watch them on tablet but even though i have digital copies i cannot do it, how do you back up any other dvd that would be better still as i can watch all my movies thanks bill
2139909
Am I crazy, or is it more than a bit offputting that, after buying a machine, you then have to start getting upgrades for it just to be able to play newer discs? My machine's about two years old, and the last disc I bought wouldn't load. Seems like a rip-off to me. And it's not like blu-ray sales have been strong enough to justify this sort of customer fleecing.