Oppo Readies Universal Bluray Player

Denon recently released the world's first universal Bluray player, but at $3800, it will be well outside the reach of most buyers. Value champion Oppo Digital is aiming to steal some of Denon's thunder with their own universal Bluray player called the BDP-83, which will come in at a much more reasonable projected price range of $499 - 599. The BDP-83 is still in the final stages of development, and Oppo hopes to have beta units in the hands of testers by the end of the year.

The BDP-83 builds on the foundation of Oppo's current flagship DV-983H, using the same VRS by Anchor Bay video processor for 1080p scaling and 24Hz output capability. For audio, Oppo added discrete stereo outputs and improved the power supply. The BDP-83 also features direct DSD over HDMI and DSD-to-analog without any PCM conversion to satisfy SACD purists. No info yet on when retail units will be available.