OPPO's 720p/1080i up-converting DVD player proved to be a high-performance, quality piece of hardware, despite having an affordable price tag.

Unless you're an audio visual junkie, you may not have heard of the OPPO Digital brand. Unlike some DVD player manufacturers, OPPO are not some fly-by-the-night outlet selling second-rate products. OPPO are based in Silicon Valley and target savvy enthusiasts much like ourselves, with much of their attention focused on core product performance - and it shows.



Before we get our review under way, let's take a look at some of the features the DV-970 offers for US$149:

Yes, you really do get all of that for $149. Granted, there may be similar players out there, but for the price you really get a lot of good value in this package. Everything you need to get up and running is included in the box - even the HDMI cable, which is something even the $600 PS3 doesn't come with.



The DV-970 will scale your old standard definition DVD collection up to full 720p res. Now, at this point we should point out that anything that goes through an up-conversion process will never look as good as a source that is originally shot in a higher resolution. For example if you compared a Blu-ray movie to a DVD movie running in the OPPO at 720p, there would be no doubt that the Blu-ray disc was far superior. But for $149, it's the next best thing. And anything that can slightly improve the quality of your entire DVD library has got to be worth considering at this point in the game.



You see, up-conversion is an attempt to remove pixelation commonly caused when watching low-res content on high-res screens. You cannot add new detail or information, you can only enhance what is already there. Fortunately for OPPO, their DV-970 is fairly successful on this front. Those wanting true HD will still need to spend big bucks on a Blu-ray or HD-DVD drive.