Oppo DV-980H Upscales DVDs to 1080p

If the high-def format war has got you down, Oppo's new DV-980H upscales standard DVDs to 1080p, handles 7.1 surround over HDMI, and supports scads of disc formats.

Considering that sales numbers indicate many videophiles are (for the moment) staying out of the high-def format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD, there have to be more than a few people with big-screen, high-def capable televisions wondering how they can get the most from their existing movies without potentially shooting themselves in the foot by buying the "wrong" format. Oppo Digital has one answer in the form of its new DV-980H DVD player, which offers 1080p up-conversion of standard DVD content, along with 7.1 audio support.

"Oppo is known for making quality DVD players that everyone can afford and enjoy, and we’ve done it again with the DV-980H," said Jason Liao, Oppo’s VP of product development, in a release. "Users can put their worry about the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle behind. Instead, they can appreciate their music and DVD collections at a whole new level with an Oppo player."

The DV-980H is like a less-expensive cousin to the DV-981HD player Oppo introduced last year, and a slightly bigger cousin to the company’s older (and still slightly less expensive) DV-970HD. The DV-980H supports up-converting standard DVD to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolution, and features PCM and DSD multi-channel audio over its HDMI 1.2a (with HDCP) output for both DVD-Audio and SACD sources, meaning home theater aficionados can expect the best audio quality their content has to offer. The DV-980H sports 7.1 audio output support (you do have eight spare audio inputs on your surround system, right?) with Dolby Digital Surround EX decoding—users can also opt to 5.1 and plain-old stereo support. In addition to HDMI, the unit also sports component, composite, and S-Video connectors, along with S/PDIF coax and optical audio connectors. A USB 2.0 port supports video, picture, and music playback from cameras, camcorders, computers, and other devices.

The DV-980H also supports a bevy of disc formats: DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, SACD, CD, HDCD, WMA, WMV9, Kodak Picture CD, DivX, CD-R/RW, DVD±R/RW, and DVD+R DL. Aside from Blu-ray and HD DVD, most users won’t have disc content this device can’t handle.

High-def fans looking to stay neutral in the format war can set their hands on the DV-980H directly from Oppo Digital for $169—HDMI cable included.