One of the most anticipated hardware releases in Blu-ray history is finally going to materialize. After a protracted beta-testing and early-adopter sale program, Oppo Digital is releasing the
BDP-83 to the general public – or at least, those in the public that had emailed the company showing interest in the player. The first units will ship in May.
While nowhere as popular as more mainstream consumer-electronics brands, Oppo has long enjoyed a good reputation among home theater enthusiasts for their upscaling DVD players, which offered top-notch audio and video quality, and supported all kinds of formats such as SACD, DVD-Audio and HDCD. Since the advent of Blu-ray, many wanted Oppo to apply their know-how to the development of a Blu-ray player which hopefully would push the envelope of what current hardware did. However, for a long time Oppo declined such requests, arguing that the format was not sufficiently mature. Finally, in February 2008 a company executive disclosed that a Blu-ray player was in development.
The buildup towards the launch of this player has been quite unusual. A prototype was shown without fanfare during CEDIA in September 2008. The first product details were released in December. In February 2009, in a novel move for the field of consumer electronics, Oppo Digital started the "Early Adoption Program," by which initially 50 people would purchase the player (loaded with a pre-production firmware) and give their verdict on the product's readiness for mass launch. The program was later expanded to another 300 people, and finally in late April, a vote was taken as to whether to start a wider launch.
Now Oppo is sending out invitations to those who wanted to take part in the Early Adoption Program but were left out. According to a company representative, over 27,000 people had emailed their interest in the player. Only after all invitations have been fulfilled will the player be released to the general public.
The main features of this player are:
- BonusView
- BD-Live
- VRS deinterlacing and scaling
- DVD-Audio
- SACD
- Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstream and decoding
- 7.1-Channel analog output
- Dedicated stereo output
- Dual USB ports (one in the front, one in the back)
- PAL/NTSC conversion
- Backlit remote control
- External IR in and out ports
- RS232 option
- HDMI CEC
The list price of the player is $599, but it can be preordered now for $499. Unlike the Early Adopter Program, which was limited to US residents, this sale is open to people in Canada (and also in Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates).
Most common Blu-ray users will not need many of the above features and thus a less expensive player model will be more than enough for them. Oppo is specifically targeting the niche of audio and video enthusiasts who require that extra that they haven't found with more mainstream players yet.