Oppo joins the Blu-ray revolution with BDP S83 deck

[gadgtfreek]

Oppo joins the Blu-ray revolution with BDP S83 deck - Engadget HD

Oppo, best known for its upconverting DVD players and universal decks, has apparently decided to join the BD camp with little to no fuss. The BDP S83 was spotted over at the company's CEDIA booth, and while no real details were provided ("it's loaded" is all we have to go on), we can't see any harm in having yet another alternative. Unless it's $350+, in which case we'll roll our eyes and stomp away with our arms crossed.

http://gizmodo.com/5046217/oppo-bdp+s83-blu+ray-player-may-be-first-almost-universal-disc-reader

First, we can tell it's going to be a step up from the bottom rung due to the presence of Ethernet port—signifying BD-Live (Blu-ray Profile 2.0) capability—and analog 7.1 outputs. But what takes it beyond other players are the SACD and DVD-Audio logos on there. No current Blu-ray player can handle both of those formats as well as BD, DVD and CD.

OK, yes, we're thinking what you're thinking: The number of people who have collections of SACD and DVD-Audio is surely smaller than the number of people with HD DVD libraries—perhaps Oppo should have gone the full distance and put in HD DVD reading capability too. (We'll be sure to ask them when they start talking about this product.)

Given the visible feature set and Oppo's reputation in the upscaling world, we assume this will be one damn fine BD player. But I'll just say right now that it won't be cheap.

 

[navychop]

If it really does BD, SACD, DVD-A and all the old DVD & CD formats (DVD-RAM?), it'd be real hard for me NOT to buy it. But I $u$pect they'll give me many rea$on$ not to.

Actually, at $500 I'd preorder such a jewel today. Of course, it would also have to be controllable by my Harmony 880.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Yeah, Im curious as to the price

 

[navychop]

I wonder how many, if any, current BD players will be firmware upgradeable to BD-A?