Darbee - everything that you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask....

All right. What's the story with the Darbee video processing that is available on the Oppo BDP 103 and 105 that have the Darbee specification? I've posted the question twice now in two other threads and no one is answering. So I've decided to start my own thread to get to the bottom of this issue.

So, is Darbee a good thing? Or just smoke and mirrors?

 

From what I can tell it looks as if a little dab will do ya, and it's generally liked in small doses, shows too many artifacts when heavily applied.

 

i've done some reading about it on the AVS forum. apparently it benefits you the most when you have a large display (especially a projector) and... the better the source, the better the result. smaller display and or poor source will receive little to no benefit. if i was in the market for a $600 blu ray player, i would definitely get one.

 

I have the Oppo 103D and use the Darbee at 50%. It adds more texture to things, making them seem more rounded. I have not seen artifacts as it's not like other detail enhancers. A nice feature is you can split the screen and see the difference. The effect depends upon screen size and how far away you sit, because, as said, the effect is subtle.

To me it was worth the extra $100 when choosing which Oppo. There's an Oppo 103D and a Darbee thread on AVS.

 

If used properly does it make an image look more or less like film? If it looks more like film I'd be tempted to check it out. If it makes things look hyper detailed and more digital probably no.

 

Ooh, that's an interesting question. I don't think I can answer it. Film has grain. I saw both Hobbit films in HFR, which I thought un-film like, but can't describe that. Hope someone can help here. If not, ask at AVS.

I think whatever is watched, video or film, the effect works.

Sorry.

 

Consensus is that the Darbee effect does NOT make images look more digital or film-like.

I didn't mean to kill the thread! Must be more opinions out there, as there is the stand-alone Darblet and the two Oppo players.