Oppo's Facebook page announces UHD 4K player: UDP-203*

That is actually not correct re HDR--current implementations are not consistent and there are massive incompatibilities throughout the industry. Each manufacturer has their own ideas about what it means to be HDR compliant and how to do so. The resulting landscape is a complete mess and it is best to wait it out until true standards and consistency are adopted.

Read this thread for more on the issues with HDR:

HDR-Capable Displays - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews »

One of the thread participants sums up the situation nicely:

 

However, don't get me wrong, I would never dissuade anyone from getting the *Oppo* *UHD player* (he says with a laugh). It's the *displays* I am mostly worried about, with the few currently available UHD players (or, more likely, consumers confusing 4K upscaling players vs. UHD players) having their own, different issues with HDMI handshake and miscellaneous 4K support problems. I think the kinks will be ironed out with the next generation of displays and players. However, right now it seems that the earliest adopters are paying dearly in terms of hassle, at least.

 

Informed consumption is more critical than ever for those who want to benefit from what they are paying for. It isn't easy, but it could be. Big thanks to Best Buy! (sarcasm)

Anyhow, my home theater display is a front projector which can accept UHD/HDR, but will not display all of the 4K pixels. Irrespective of that fact, I'm not interested in UHD this year or maybe even next. The full-time hobbyists are welcome to have at it, but I'd rather watch 1080P thrown onto 9' x 4' (2.35:1) at reference quality. No HDMI fuss. No scaling. More amazing blu-ray content than I can get through.

As for panel displays, I do wonder how pricey that small image must become before consumers realize that size matters. I have a pro ISF calibrated 60" Panny VT60 which I used in my home theater until a few months back and I can say without hesitation that I wouldn't trade in what I have now for the best image quality of all-time in an 85" 16x9. Those looking to spend a decent chunk of change should at least think about that. I'm glad I second guessed myself after all these years.

 

I, too, am going to skip out on the 4K and UHD madness for the time being. Too much in flux right now. When the Oppo 4K player comes out, it will be a guaranteed purchase for me. If any company is meticulous about ironing out kinks before releasing products, it's Oppo.

 

I do expect virtually everyone on AVS Forum who owns a projector similar to mine, for example, to buy the new Oppo as soon as it is released. My approach to home theater is a bit different than the typical forum hobbyist and that extends to UHD. Besides, my ISF calibration guy just finally made it into town so I'm getting that "major upgrade" experience for 16x9, Scope, and 3D 1080P content. It could be 3 years or more before UHD becomes a no-brainer.

 

No need jump on the bandwagon, especially since Blu-ray looks pretty damn fantastic anyway.

As another participant in the AVS thread stated,

Caveat emptor.

 

Some clarity is coming to the 4K /HDR mess. Soon (hopefully), manufacturers will put to market TV's compliant with the Ultra HD Premium spec, which will bring some standardization to the market:

Xbox One S is the right console for 2016’s messy 4K-television market »

 

Hopefully Xbone S will eventually bitstream to allow Dolby Atmos and DTS;X to be rendered as well.

 

Xbox One S is a Cheap Entry Level 4K Blu-ray UHD Player but Not for Audiophiles | Entertainment Buddha »

 

Anyway, I plan the buy the Oppo UHD BD player.

 

I will keep my Oppo 105D and just by a stand alone 4k player if needed.

 

Understood. I would do the same if I were in your shoes. But for those of us who have never owned an Oppo universal player, but have been wanting one, this is the news we've been holding out for. I plan to wait just a few more months, and get one with the UHD 4K capability.

 

Just like uprezzing CDs, movies shot 2k won't produce much better results by releasing them at 4k. Also, based on some reviews I have read over at blu-ray.com there aren't that many movies (yet) that show a remarkable improvement. And sometimes the improvement makes some special effects look cartoonish. Content will be key and without physical media, bandwidth will come into play for streaming. Lastly, older people with disposable income to purchase this, well, their eye sight isn't getting any better. So could be some diminishing returns there too. Taken together, the decline in popularity of physical media (and the shrinking of outlets to purchase said media) coupled with lack of bandwidth to download, the declining eyesight of the middle aged folks that can afford this, the size of viewing area required to obtain a screen size necessary to see the benefit of the 4k, the process of setting standards being somewhat slow, all do not portend an immediate success for the format. But it's onward and forward, still a definite Oppo purchase for me as long as I can still play my sa-cds, 1080 blu rays, dvd-audios, etc. Geesh I re-read this and it sounds a little depressing. Sorry, but guess I will post it anyway. Go Oppo!

 

I wrote to Oppo asking if they will support Amazon Prime in the future and they said no. That might not be forever, but its the response I got in July.

michael

 

Amazon creates the app, I believe -- not Oppo. I suspect this is more a case of Amazon not wanting to support Oppo. They'd view the potential market (of Oppo owners) as being too small to bother. Plus, they have a vested interest in selling their own FireTV devices -- you can see this also in their refusal to support Chromecast/Googlecast.

 

And Amazon's reluctance to write an Amazon Prime app for AppleTV.

 

It might be an Apple prohibition, as for a time Amazon refused to sell Apple TV in retaliation. I haven't checked recently to see if this is still the case.

Either way you can run Amazons video to Apple TV via AirPlay.

 

I'm very happy with my 105 and after having it for a couple of years I'm still re-discovering cds I hadn't played on it yet.
No Oppo UHD for me unless the sound is a huge upgrade.

 

Amazon won't sell any streaming device that doesn't support Amazon's own streaming service (this is streaming devices only, IIRC, and doesn't apply to Blu-ray players). Which is quite "convenient" when you think about it, since it's generally Amazon who decides whether to supply an app for the device.

 

Apparently you're also missing color depth. Colors are depicted far more realistically on 4K UHD too, it's not all about resolution, although I have to say that 1080p is sometimes disappointing in high motion situations. Also, 1080 on cable or satellite is a joke, especially here in Canada - the bitrate is so low that when they tell you it's just like bluray? They're lying. 4K will probably REALLY need physical media, or good quality downloads to benefit fully. When sent by a cable or satellite provider, I'm expecting to be disappointed.

 

Buying another player for another £900 so I can get Darbee or DSD over analogue (which is what the Cambridge CXU offers me over my existing 752BD player), isn't worth it for me. Technology is moving on apace, and while the likes of Oppo are introducing a 4K player (Panasonic already has one incidentally), its offering of all the bells and whistles it possibly can is as much a hindrance for the company as it is a benefit for consumers (I see the gapless functionality has had its problems for Oppo this summer).

For consumers, its worse. While all these additional options might seem great, buying into 4K right now, not least if you watch conventional TV, isn't necessarily going to be what you hoped for visually. I'd bet less than 1% of regular TV has a 4K option. Netflix has some 4K content, but otherwise, there isn't much out there.

I went with a Sony KDL-W705C 40" last winter when I bought a new TV. Considered 4K and indeed an Android OS, but in the end, went with a regular LED. Picture's great and nicely tweaked to suit my tastes. With Blu-ray and regular DVD, it's stunning. HD channels look fantastic for regular TV.

And 4K? Maybe in five years time when its well embedded. Now, it's for early adopters.

 

The big benefit of 4K UHD is HDR - High Dynamic Range.

 

Agreed. All this hyper upgrade that going on gets old. I'll wait for things to settle down a bit. Next they'll be coming out with quantum dot matrix 50k TRUE 3D tv by 2025

 

Why is it a hindrance for Oppo to offer "all the bells and whistles" ? Oppo has been doing just that for years and has done quite well at it. All those "bells and whistles" are what many who buy Oppo players are looking for. Oppo and I assume Cambridge Audio players have had issues with gapless playback with certain audio format files. It is frustrating when playing some DSD files from hard drives. But the way I look at it Oppo players forte is not performing as a music server.

Bill

 

Disappointing about the Xbox! I was weighing between that and the ps4k, honestly leaning toward the Ps4k just waiting to see what it's really like. But it's a real shame if it simply can't bitstream a digital track to an AVR. Takes it out of the running for me. I presume this is something that can be updated in a firmware update? I don't doubt that Sony will get it right.