Oppo 203 vs Panasonic UB900

[wooferocau]

As some may have seen in the Oppo thread i purchased the 203 to use with my JVC X7000 projector. 

Previously i was using the Pioneer BDP LX88 the last of Pioneers high end upscaling BlyRay players.

 

I had great   enthusiasm for the Oppo, it would enable me to finally use the 4K UHD dic,s i have been collecting ...around 40 titles now.

The Oppo turned out to be a great disappointment in several area,s. 

The first was the failed implementation of the "Strip MetaData" feature that many projector owners were waiting for. The Oppo also has a few "Quirks" when it comes to playback, but is still usable once you are a where of them. 

The biggest failing for me was when i did comaprisons against the LX88 and its upscaled blurays, much to my amazement the images form the Oppo ARE lacking in clarity and sharpness. This just shouldnt be the case...Native 4k should wipe the flloor with upscaled Bluray! I also was not happy with the colour reproduction on the Oppo.

 

I decide to purchase the Panasonic UB900 UHD player.

I have had the UB900  for 3 days now and put quite a few hours comparisons to the Oppo.

 

The Panasonic is a "Dainty" little thing when compared to the Oppo in size, BUT the performance of the UB900 is huge!

When compared to the Oppo with the X7000 , the UB900 is far far superior to the Oppo!!

 

The first thing apparent is the absolute "crispness" and "detail" in the UHD HDR image...it destroys the Oppo image ! This is without any further enhancement of the picture using the brilliant processing options available on the UB900.

The second thing is COLOUR.... the UB900 has gorgeous rich colours , but they look a hell of alot more natural than the Oppo. The UB900 colours have more depth, and give the image a more 3D look.

 

The images i NOW get from UHD HDR  are very impressive.... far far better than the Oppo and certainly better than the images from the LX88 and upscaled blurays....

 

Now i really do see the benefit in 4K and HDR....

 

If you are contemplating either the UB900 or the Oppo 203.......i strongly recommend the UB900 over the Oppo..... 

 

 

 

[gemini07]

Hi, thanks for your comparison. Just wondering about a few things:

 

What were you playing back on - was it only your projector and screen, or did you use it with a tv as well?

How does the sound of the two machines compare, especially in stereo?

Have you been able to compare the picture quality of the Oppo with that of the Samsung? If so, how do they rate?

 

Cheers.

[betty boop]

Woofer this is confusing that there are such VAST differences to be honest .. especially if not employing additional processing 

 

are both players with some basic setup /calibration especially for HDR. This can have a HUGE impact in my opinion.

 

ps the pana does not HDR strip either but then you have the fury.

 

am surprised getting such distinct differences to be honest. I've not seen that to be honest with digital source unless some setup or processing related thing 

[wooferocau]

30 minutes ago, al said:

Woofer this is confusing that there are such VAST differences to be honest .. especially if not employing additional processing 

 

are both players with some basic setup /calibration especially for HDR. This can have a HUGE impact in my opinion.

 

ps the pana does not HDR strip either but then you have the fury.

 

am surprised getting such distinct differences to be honest. I've not seen that to be honest with digital source unless some setup or processing related thing 

al,

Both are using the same calibration for HDR... with a little tweaking settings between the 2.  

 

I havnt hooked up the fury as yet, but i imagine the results will be excellent...for me and my screen size id say it will be improved on straight out HDR as i am at max for brightness.

 

If you were closer i'd drop by with the UB900 and give you a first hand demo between the 2, trust  me there is a difference.  The Oppo cost me $850 the Panasonic $650.... if i had of been able to demo both i could of saved myself $850!!

 

 

 

 

[betty boop]

12 minutes ago, wooferocau said:

al,

Both are using the same calibration for HDR... with a little tweaking settings between the 2.  

 

I havnt hooked up the fury as yet, but i imagine the results will be excellent...for me and my screen size id say it will be improved on straight out HDR as i am at max for brightness.

 

If you were closer i'd drop by with the UB900 and give you a first hand demo between the 2, trust  me there is a difference.  The Oppo cost me $850 the Panasonic $650.... if i had of been able to demo both i could of saved myself $850!!

 

 

 

 

 

am finding this hard to fathom sorry. what are you clipping at for HDR with your setup ?

 

at end of it with these players sending just the native signal all the magic happens in the projector I would have thought ?

 

I presume you are just sending a native signal. or doing some upsampling/scaling in the player or something ?

 

I could understand with the samsung quite a bit of difference because in it we needed to plug in some settings so unless theyre there its not really going to be the business 

 

i can understand too if doing a HDR to SDR conversion what you use to do that is going to wary the result but we are talking HDR here. it certainly has my curiosity to the difference

 

the same goes with blu-ray unless employing post processing in my experience theres nothing between a $50 player or a $2k one. and I've owned a ton of blu-ray players.

 

and oh yeah wish you were closer as am sure as hell curious the difference ! 

[wooferocau]

HDR clipping at 1000

 

My max brightness is 35fL iris wide open.

 

If your happy with the Oppo , Great !  ...... I wasnt!.

[betty boop]

good your getting 100nits minimum, but wow that doesnt leave much only 5-6 fl up sleeve at wide open for HDR to be worth it and to allow for lamp ageing. i can understand why SDR bt2020 might be something chasing. I personally wouldnt be expecting it from oppo any time soon. it was always experimental. it is there with a fury and the pana though now so why not ! 

 

look its not whether you or me is happy about the oppo or not. I can understand if you are unhappy wiht the oppo. I havent particularly been either infact been quite vocal about it, am happy to tell it like it is. but its operationally that my concerns have been and not performance wise so hence my surprise really. quite frankly because I dont understand it. as mentioned I can understand if you were doing in player conversions to SDR and there were differences but dont get it if just sending natively. unless there is something else going on which is where my curiosity lies. 

 

. as you said if you were closer I sure would love to explore. but never mind will remain a mystery i guess  

[wooferocau]

I could fill this thread with comments from Users/Ex of both 203 and UB900...eg

 

Well, after seeing Oppo 203 i think Panny was better for PQ and sound too (THX certification means something), i'm returning Oppo as we speak and found a great deal on a Panny UB900 from another member and hopefully i will get it in next week sometimes.

 

Agree Sal; In a very similar situation. Sony X930d. Bought the Panny about 3 weeks, & PQ simply Fantastic! Following the 203 thread, thought a potential upgrade-wrong! Particularly with HDR, the 203 simply doesn't match the 900 in any form or fashion

 

I actually had Panny too and sold it because Oppo 203 was coming, now I have 203 and second guessing for myself ( Panny was better) for PQ and even Sound Q.
Oppo is very nice don't get me wrong but i'm not impressed or maybe we were expecting too much

 

No idea as to why the difference, but the difference is there..

 

I start a 2 week shutdown after xmas, but after that am taking some time off , a few days rest. If your interested i could make a trip down to Melb and catch you up for a comparo on your own setup??  Let me know if your interested.

 

[betty boop]

woofer, I dont tend to get too caught up too much in what people post around the place days. a bit like the guy that was posting endlessly about how he was going to return his and finding out if he could extend the return  period and what not .... then only to find out ... he hadnt even received his as yet ! 

 

and there are far too many people completely clueless out there too. and I'd put myself in that same category too when first got it. What on earth had me playing a uhd in the oppo without even setting it up with the projector checking some basic settings or even setting up for HDR ? and had me even to the point of comparing with my sammy. is it any wonder I was questioning if it had a bit of red push .. over saturated ... a bit dark ...not as much detail ? ...  gees it was 20 points out on contrast ! ... 22 points off in color... is it any wonder really ? look these things innocently happen as getting to know and understanding a bit of kit. similarly with the red push reports that were come in...well they were related to people using the experimental HDR strip feature and running it off the 2020 color space when the oppo was putting out 709R

 

and with what you have reported, not that I dont accept what you are saying or believe you or anything... just has me wondering why it is you are seeing what you are ? as doesnt make any sense ? why is it the case ? and you certainly should be reporting this to oppo and your retailer too am sure they would be pretty keen to know and work out why as well ! 

 

operational issues aside (which had me pretty close to wondering if I should be returning the thing to) but performance wise post setup and wiht the last movie I watched on the oppo am pretty happy really, will need to check out more. But be more than happy to catch up, if over my way, dont feel have to do a special trip or anything. you are a LONG LONG way away ! but  if this way let me know. I've got a little bit of a break around christmas and kids are home over the summer break so will be  bit occupied with them but we can possiblysort something out  

[Addicted to music]

Very interesting thread,

 

heres my 2 cents worth and it has nothing to do with the above products involved as I haven't adopted 4K yet.

when I purchased the 105 I specifically use it as a music server where I can rip CD on a USB HDD and be able to select tracks or albums at will to play on the rig.  I have a Sony s470 too in the living room for the 5.1.  When I tried the OPPO and compared PQ the instant you put the Sony on at an instant you realise the Sony had a better, sharper, nicer colors that was easier and pleasing on the eyes.  Be interesting to throw a test disc on these 2 players and also the 4K players on this thread! 

2ndly even though I have rarely used the disc in the 105, the other day I borrowed a CD and on one of the tracks on that CD it was unable to play.  But on another computer DVD rom drive it played flawlessly no issue and this DVD rom drive has been thrashed.

 

[betty boop]

4 hours ago, Addicted to music said:

Very interesting thread,

 

heres my 2 cents worth and it has nothing to do with the above products involved as I haven't adopted 4K yet.

when I purchased the 105 I specifically use it as a music server where I can rip CD on a USB HDD and be able to select tracks or albums at will to play on the rig.  I have a Sony s470 too in the living room for the 5.1.  When I tried the OPPO and compared PQ the instant you put the Sony on at an instant you realise the Sony had a better, sharper, nicer colors that was easier and pleasing on the eyes.  Be interesting to throw a test disc on these 2 players and also the 4K players on this thread! 

2ndly even though I have rarely used the disc in the 105, the other day I borrowed a CD and on one of the tracks on that CD it was unable to play.  But on another computer DVD rom drive it played flawlessly no issue and this DVD rom drive has been thrashed.

 

 

I've owned a couple of sony blu-ray players both costing well above the pana or oppo we're talking here. as it turns out the first sony player I had was infact a pioneer player rebranded and in a fancy kind of case. I realised this when the pioneer I bought next was basically the same same menu operation etc but a later model and much better improved in operation etc.

 

the 2nd sony I owned was their flagship costing some 3x what the oppo is here. beautifully built player great power supply analog stage etc. I think it did very well for picture.

 

however its something to note with sony... and this has always been the case wiht what they called super bit mapping to True Cinema and Precisions cinema HD upscale and more recently Reality creation. essentially all have done something similar in try and create something where it isnt there and can look impressive on first take. it had likes of zombie on avs. I kid you not ! quite taken at first as well in comment until  upon closer inspection he found what it actually was doing which was to detriment with noise reduction and its "creations". the fly in the ointment is it wasnt defeatable and something in the end he couldnt stand even on the lowest setting to the point he ended up selling his 25k+ sony projector as a result. we've had similar with a guy going on about how the sony is so great that it doesnt have any noise in the picture etc...only to be shown by people with a pc native screen cap from the blu-ray that the noise is supposed to be there

 

at end of it have to ask just how much processing and upscaling etc you want in a source device ? we have a multitude of options in displays wiht sharpening/upscaling processing of all manner. there'll probably be people at two extremes that will watch with all this stuff engaged in the player and be happy....and who is anyone else to argue...but there are also those that will just want to see whats on the disc ?

 

ps sony themselves seem to have fallen a long way in recent years too... where they would have had leading edge product on the shelf to kick off a format, they are no where to be seen at this point. there is a 1000es player for uhd they have shown at a recent fair. but its supposed to be well over $1000 USD  so can imagine what will cost if ever gets here considering it is supposed to be an installer only product. other than that all the players they seem to have on the market these days seem to be pretty basic type devices, but then for blu-ray as mentioned earlier am not sure much more is really needed.

 

i for one would love to see sony do something special here, however theres probably a better chance someone like pioneer will get there instead...which would be great to see as well.

[wooferocau]

Got my HD Fury set up with the UB900 ....Outputing SDR BT2020  to the JVC, OH!!!! i now know why people like this option!!!

The BT2020 colour space still provides gorgeous expanded colours BUT i now have the Dynamic Iris back in action!  Setting up a custom gamma is way better than the gamma D option used for HDR.

 

Having the Dynamic iris functioning again is very noticeable providing the rally deep blacks that are not possible with the iris locked out fro HDR. you really dont appreciate how good the dynamic iris is until you dont use it!  , I also now have enough brightness to close down the iris as well.

 

From the limited viewing this arvo , i cant see myself going back to the HDR option......might be good for Flat Panels with very high  brightness, but for projectors this appears to give much better results..

 

Having been dissatisfied  with the Oppo has turned into a blessing,  FOR ME the UB900 and the HD Fury is providing  magnificent pictures on the JVC..

[betty boop]

glad found something happy with woofer, on your screen size I can imagine foregoing HDR and going for SDR option would be a better one and currently with the FURY the pana is really the only option. I myself having owned a fury cant be assed with the edit faffing about and with another device in the chain. HDR stripping not a major for me either given my screen size and pretty happy with HDR straight off disc.

 

ps I dont know if you went back to avs where you got your quotes from wiht the person returning his oppo. well turns out he hasnt had a pana for months ! and relying on memory on what he thinks the oppo looks like vs a pana ! 

 

and then he is asking people if they have the pana, sammy and oppo and what they thing PQ and SQ wise and that he is thoroughly confused even what settings he should be using with these players !  (would wonder how he can make comparative comment given he does know what settings to use with them ?, nd dont think he realises that if bit streaming there will be NO difference SQ wise)

 

anyways one guy owning all three(pana,oppo,sammy) responding has repeated him self saying...

 

"In terms of pq there is very very little between them, don't expect the pq of the oppo to be superior cos it's not there's sod all difference really."

 

and 

 

"trust me when I say in terms of PQ we're talking tiny differences that you probably wouldn't notice unless you had all players side by side so don't base your decision on an assumption the oppo has a better picture just because it costs more"

 

and another below responding is really what I'd expect to read between this players if been setup properly ! 

 

"I own both the Panasonic UB900 and the Samsung K8500 - can't tell any difference performance wise with either using UHD discs. (apart from lip sync problems on the UB900 with a couple) Have used the UB900 for some BD playback (not the Samsung yet) and it's pretty good although I prefer my Darbee enabled Oppo 103D."

 

so anyways while totally understand your choice and dont doubt what you are saying it still leaves me wondering what it is causing these vast difference you are experiencing  

 

[wooferocau]

Originally Posted by 2Turbofan 

As a current owner of the Samsung K8500, Panasonic U900 and now the Oppo 203 I thought I would share my experiences here. The K8500 has always worked flawlessly from day one for me but when I recently purchased the U900, I noticed a sharper, more detailed picture with more depth. The Samsung is noticeably quicker in all processes especially with the Apps and Netflix. The Panasonic has Netflix HDR which I have not been able to see with the Samsung. Having received the Oppo on December 19th, I have been doing some testing comparing it to the Panasonic and I can comfortably state that the Panasonic 4K quality is noticeably better than the Oppo. There is more detail and depth as well as a better gamma curve if I can use this term. The Oppo has also shown intermittant stutters on each disc played and the unit has actually frozen on two UHD discs during playback. In regards to Blu-Ray playback, none of these units upconvert 1080P better than my Samsung TV. I prefer the 1080P signal from the Oppo over the other two and I set the Oppo to "Source Direct" for the best picture quality. These results may be different on your own TV though. I anticipate future firmware updates for the Oppo that hopefully it will at least match the U900 or beat it. Furthermore, nothing beats the build quality and speed of the 203 and the ability to adjust all settings on the player on the fly makes it a trend setting device. As of today though and in my opinion, the Panasonic U900 is hard to beat.

I"ll make this the last quote i post, .... In the end its what ever you find works the best...

[sebna]

Hi,

 

Great news as I bought UB900 some time ago and was wondering what if Oppo turns out so much better. I mean it still will get DV support which UB900 will apparently never get but then I am not a HDR fan anyway.

 

What I wanted to ask do you do any advanced adjustments on your UB900 - like sharpness and so on?

 

Also I noticed that it outputs 1080p /24 content in 4k (that is fine) 12bit colour (that is what I am not sure of). Does conversion like this (8bit -> 12bit) will cause PQ degradation or is it beneficial over native 8bit (I have 12bit panel).

 

And sorry for a bit of OT.

 

Thanks

[avalon27]

i have the panasonic ub900 and cant fault it. hasnt missed a beat and plays everything i throw in it.

[todagt]

I must admit I have been very pleasantly surprised by how good the UB900 is myself. Only thing it hasn't played for me is SACD. Yet it will play dsd from my server over the network. But I never purchased it for SACD playback anyway. Although that said I still can't fault my pioneer BDP-LX55 either with plain old blu-ray.

But having 4k Netflix in the same player is just so convenient and looks stunning as well.

[wooferocau]

Yeah... The UB900 and the HD Fury are a brilliant match for the JVC.... Sending SDR BT2020 produces superb results..... much better than straight HDR.  

Over on the AVS forums at the moment , several users have come full circle....played with HDR and now ended back at SDR BT2020 after extensive testing.  

 

My opinion is as well ....SDR BT2020 looks much better than HDR with its flawed Gamma D option..... 

 

The UB900 has been faultless , not one issue and a superb picture..

[betty boop]

 

picked up one of these ...reluctant purchase ! but with 30 days with the oppo and current state of play, I thought it was time...

setup and got going pretty straight forward.

no 1 thing once firmware updated and up and going ... is the main menu is 1080p 50 (4:4:4 12bit)? gee what a smart idea calling OPPO calling OPPO is there anyone listening .... its not so hard ... see ! a 1080p main menu...wow

I also notice pana  to have a switch in the menus so you can select 4k50/60 as on /off... again very smart !!! this pana wont be causing hdmi cable issues for people I can imagine...

 

some  a very brief viewing across disc formats with the pana I can say UHD blu-ray looks better and this is without even messing about with calibration charts etc. just out of box clean clear vibrant and very natural looking pics !  this is with HDR and uhd the shallows. blu-ray cant say if looks better vs the oppo it seems to upscale by default to 4k24 4:4:4 8bit. dvd can most definitely say looks very ordinary via the pana... with all jaggies and such ! it seems to upscale dvd to 1080p50

anyways will spend more time mucking about tonight going through with basic setup and then lets see...

[Suopermanni]

I'm going to keep my eye on this comparison between  the Oppo and the Panasonic.

[lucmor444]

Looking forward to the shoot out too.  Not jumping into 4K UHD yet as waiting to see whether Oppo will address the issues with their unit.   All my spare cash is also going to parts for my fixer upper MX-5!

[JSmith]

On 12/23/2016 at 3:47 PM, wooferocau said:

When compared to the Oppo with the X7000 , the UB900 is far far superior to the Oppo!!

 

 

I assume you have had your projector calibrated to these 2 new sources?

 

JSmith 

[wooferocau]

22 minutes ago, JSmith said:

 

I assume you have had your projector calibrated to these 2 new sources?

 

JSmith 

I do my own setup/calibration..

 

@:) al 

has found the same results i did ......the UB900 is a far far better product than the flawed Oppo.  The UB900 just works...no stuffing around and annoying glitches all the time and UHD HDR picture is streets ahead of the Oppo.  Unless you have BOTH players and have run extensive comparison,s DO NOT claim the Oppo to be as good or better than the UB900!!

 

 

[betty boop]

Having spent some days with the pana, and a month with the Oppo 203 time for some comparative thoughts,

 

Construction, Remote what comes in the box and initial impressions

 

the oppo comes in quite elaborate box, vs the much more compact panasonic which is packaged in a much more utilitarian manner. Both come with decent sized remotes and with ~2m 18gbps hdmi cables. The oppo cable is premium certified with the sticker to identify as such. not that cables at 2m really matters whether premium certified or not in my experience. 

 

Some things blindingly obvious looking at the players... the Oppo is a very swish looking machine...full component width typical component depth. Nice solid case, stylish and polished looking piece of AV gear. Minimum of buttons. The styling overall I very much like vs the older 103. The pana... my god it is a tiny thing !  quite short in component depth but atleast component width, quite low profile. Very much a box mover style disc player but to be fair it is much better built than most of those. They are sure trying wiht a nice shiny top, metal case, with just one bit of useless form over function bling in the plastic crystal look front flap ..couldnt help them selves I guess !  anyways it does look better in the rack vs the sammy uhd player which was a bit more of a challenge with its curvy front and quite low profile case !  

 

The remote on the pana is very nice... nice its back lit and the buttons have a positive feel to them.... using it ....I do miss the motion sensitive remote of the oppo though .... the oppo remote does seem cheaper and more generic by comparison though. these things do matter... in a projector setup and a dark room you want to quickly press a button on the oppo can do that ...on the pana have to hit the light button bottom left hand corner ... having used an oppo for a month...funny the things you get used to...

 

Getting going and basic settings

 

On first boot up of the panasonic...hey I could see a main menu ! and this straight through my marantz av8802a processor and through to either my jvc x7000 projector or pioneer kuro krp-500M. I noticed straight off the main menu on the  panasonic was in 1080p50 res which is such a much better idea than oppo with their menu using max hdmi bandwidth that most people are going to struggle with existing hdmi cables and those longer than 7m. As some might know currently no premium certified hdmi cables exist over 7m to guarantee most will see the main menu with the oppo, but with the pana no one will have any issue with the menu. So out of box even switching on people are going to find things working with the pana but many I suspect will get caught out with the oppo and find they have to work around this crazy need of oppo to push a menu through at max hdmi bandwidth. 

 

The first evening I spent with the Pana...I mainly just spent setting things up/basic calibration and a few test discs and such. I tend to like to do this with a new player to make sure things are right.

 

 in initial use... the pana comes across as a very polished and sophisticated player...it does make the oppo feel like a beta release product. however the oppo does seem to have a plethora of options etc a lot more the pana. On the pana do also have quite a bit of tweak a ability however tends to keep out of the way but I would suggest still a little less in options than the oppo.

 

One thing I picked up straight off for instance ... and this might mean something to people and might not. the oppo like just about every brand blu-ray player in the last few years ... since the conception of 3D has a screen size setting. Not that it is totally clear what that does..and given my projector also has it appears a facility which I will explore. But have always without thought bunged in the screen size in the player...so bit of a surprise to not find it any place on the pana. Something will report through to panasonic.

 

I noted the pana by default going through the settings on the audio side has dynamic range compression as OFF and also bitstream enabled. As distinct from the oppo that leaves dynamic range compression and bit streaming in "auto" settings. 

 

Initial viewing

 

In initial viewing and on out of box video settings I ran through just one DVD (morcheeba brixton to beijing live concert - PAL), blu-ray (mr and mrs smith) and UHD blu-ray(life of pi) through the pana just to test things. and hey they all just play...through my marantz to either the pio kuro or the jvc x7000  another good surprise ! why a suprise ? well with the oppo out of box ... I couldnt get DVD to play through to my jvc...without some mucking about with settings...vs the pana that just works. Some very initial impressions...not sure there is much difference PQ between the oppo and pana on Blu-ray. With DVD the pana looks sub standard with jaggies and such. With UHD blu-ray the pana looks quite a step up in PQ ...this is keeping in mind with the pana on out of box settings and the oppo having put in quite a bit of work to get decent looking via all three formats. This was a little suprise to me to be honest. that the pana was visibly with issues for DVD...something I need to explore. that blu-ray was not jumping out PQ wise in differnece between them and such a differnece between them for uhd blu-ray  particularly since that the pana out of box and not having been setup for looking better than the oppo ?. Which led me to do some further setup and calibration for the panasonic. 

 

Further setup and calibration and further exploration

 

for DVD looking a bit more carefully its things like guitar strings for instance showing jaggies on the pana... I think I will bring this to pana's attention. perhaps they have something to suggest to improve on this. nothing I could see to improve. On blu-ray I did some basic setup using the wow disney blu-ray. I didnt find greatly too much in difference between in picture settings needed. but what I did find is the color setting I could crank right back to zero for the pana whereas tend to have crank right back for the oppo ? similarly when I came to doing setup for HDR...on the oppo I found I had to raise brightness to +3 in the player otherwise I found I was clipping blacks and not able to adjust with just the projector settings. not something I found on the pana...meaning I could leave the pana settings at zero. Not really sure what is the go with the oppo the way it is and I do hope something oppo can fix with regards clipping black issue.

 

Anways post setup watching blu-rays back to back...I can definitely now see the image via the pana to my jvc is much sharper cleaner more defined ..vs the oppo image looks softer less defined. I did this using the Lucy blu-ray of which I have two so was easy to do comparing one  vs the other switching between the inputs on my marantz.

 

Comparing uhd blu-ray I used THE Shallows UHD...goodness the difference picture wise between pana and oppo has to be seen ! the pana is really quite a step up indeed. its rich its vibrant its detailed...and more natural looking... eg blake lively when she is being driven to the beach look at her face looks vibrant natural..vs via the pana looks a bit flat and pasty. not that to say the image from the oppo doesnt look great ... its just the image via the pana just looks so much more real and natural. I tell you looking at the images coming off the pana you just sit there saying wow...a simply stunning movie the shallows on uhd. one very glaring and very disappointing thing watching the shallows wiht the oppo...god ... drop outs constantly ...little mini split second ones. cannot believe it.. I have watched the shallows wiht the oppo before and only had one drop out wiht it that time...at end titles... so why is it there is constant audio drop outs this time around . this aspect of the oppo is very frustrating.. Certainly the shallows is un watchable this time around for me via the oppo...with the audio drop outs ... and just simply amazing looking on the pana wiht the gorgeous stunning picture and absolutely no issue audio wise. the pana has wiped the floor of the oppo in this round.

 

Some general in use comments on more extended viewings

 

Since that initial setup have had much more extended use watched some more films in length on the pana to compare back to my experiences with the oppo, We watched Samba on blu-ray a french movie (made by same makers of The intouchables) lovely movie. With the pana it just looks so clean clear, such natural colours. Also other movies that have gone through there is an old favourite of mine in "the american" eg in the forest scene I've never seen detail on george clooney's  face like this before. More extended viewings on uhd blu-ray with life of pi, good fellas, sicario, the martian and so on and so on. A gazzilion movies have gone through the pana... and there is one thing that has stood out to me out of all of it...

 

The pana at all times in use no matter the discs played has been faultless... no drop outs...no freezes... no reboots, no crashes no lock ups. With the oppo on the other hand...can be infuriating ... there are times with the oppo will get through a disc...and others like the shallows uhd with its continuous audio drop outs...at some times ...and then will just play through at others....the times when was trying to play the good fellas uhd where it kept freezing at the same point and then going back to the start of the disc... till eventually it would just play through and continue to play through at other times have checked it...this aspect of the oppo is very frustrating .. where can now sit there wondering when it would start mis behaving... and the pana by contrast is such a relief where can just watch a movie and enjoy...

 

Audio wise

With audio bit streaming off both players... I have not found ANY difference audio wise. and neither there should be. this is putting aside the audio drop outs of the oppo. and talking about sound quality here. Obviously the versatility of the oppo is there as a universal disc player and it does a wonderfull job with sacd and DVDA ...great to hear these discs again...however wiht a black mark of a audio drop out on the very lovely Steely dan gaucho DVDA that decided to have a drop out to interrupt enjoying it.

 

Some conclusions 

The oppo looks a lovely made player, solid in construction and with its conventional build it is perfect a player in sense for a system such as mine. With a player of its calibre and also in its capability with not only video and disc capability but also in multichannel audio. However it is badly let down in use. Frustrating infuriating when it interrupts the listening and viewing experience with its bugs and issues. I've been an early adopter of DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray owning first of players in all these formats and while have put up with some aspects of their first release as players its a first for me to own a player such as this in the oppo where its issues actually is so interfering in what should be enjoying music and movies. So while the pana was a very reluctant purchase for me... and perhaps while not a perfect fit in form or capabilites (lacking multichannel ability) - where the pana wins big time is on two fronts...that it works and works seamlessly  that it doesnt get in the way of the experience ...instead lets you enjoy it...and immensely with the picture qualtiy its capable off.

 

So on that note I said good bye to the oppo today. I returned it to a retailer I bought from and is the first item I returned to that retailer in the 30 years of dealing with them ! Thank goodness have retailer like that, that are supportive in taking it back. Its a relief for me moving on form the oppo. And will enjoy the pana for what it is. The oppo will re visit perhaps in 6 months time, its just not ready for prime time right now. perhaps they rushed it to market. Perhaps too many firsts for them. Perhaps oppo will get over the kind of issues they have with this player, not just the bugs but also improve the picture side of things to bring on par with the pana. I'd love them to get there ... as for sure I would love to have the oppo back in my system and have it do all the things I hope it will....

[JSmith]

11 hours ago, wooferocau said:

DO NOT claim the Oppo to be as good or better than the UB900!!

 

I didn't claim that mate... easy, I just asked a question.

 

IMO a professional calibration would be best to make a proper comparison. I'm not deriding your experience in any way, nor Al's.

 

11 hours ago, wooferocau said:

Unless you have BOTH players and have run extensive comparison

 

What are you on about? I'm thinking of buying one of the 2 players, as I'm sure many readers of this thread are... I wasn't aware this was an owners thread only. 

 

JSmith