High-performance Blu-ray Disc manufacturer Oppo Digital followed through Monday on announcing the release of its long-promised Ultra HD Blu-ray player, which will be the first of its kind with pending support of Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) in addition to HDR10.
Like many Oppo Blu-ray players, the new UDP-203 will also bring high-quality music playback, with support for most of the leading Hi Rez Audio formats, and “universal disc” playback compatibility, including support for: Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, CDs, DVDs, DVD-Audio and SACD discs, among others.
Most importantly, the Oppo UDP-203, which will be available shortly through the Oppo web site for a $549 selling price, supports the playback of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs, outputting 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution, a wide color gamut of up to the Rec. 2020 standard and the HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR systems. The company said its player will have the necessary hardware to support Dolby Vision following a planned firmware update in early 2017.
Both HDR10 (which is standard on all Ultra HD Blu-ray players) and Dolby Vision (which is voluntarily supported by manufacturers) will produce refined contrast, greater brightness, and expanded color for new levels of clarity and detail. Dolby Vision will add such advances as up to 12-bit color support (the minimum standard is only up to 10-bit) and dynamic metadata for scene-by-scene color grading on supported content and displays.
Read more on the Oppo UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player release after the jump:
The Oppo UDP-203 incorporates a customized quad-core video decoder/processor that integrates the company’s advanced video decoding, processing and optimization technology, the company said. The player uses a high-precision, well-balanced laser optical disc loader for smooth, stable media playback.
Outputs include two HDMI ports including one HDMI 2.0 port supporting Ultra HD, 4:4:4 chroma sub-sampling, up to 12-bit color, 60Hz frame rates, and Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and HDR metadata, and one HDMI 1.4 port supporting audio output to legacy A/V receivers.
The UDP-203 is also equipped with two USB 3.0 ports on the back and another USB port on the front, enabling the playback of video, music and photo files from USB hard drives or thumb drives.
Also supported is a wide range of Hi Rez Audio music files, including lossless high resolution audio. Decoding is offered for such audio file formats as: AIFF, WAV, ALAC, APE and FLAC. It also directly plays Direct-Stream Digital audio files in stereo DSD64/128 or multi-channel DSD64. Internal decoding is also provided for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and bitstream output for object-based immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. In addition to the digital HDMI outputs, the UDP-203 also include 7.1-channel analog outputs, featuring “Velvet Sound” 32-bit premium digital-to-analog converters from AKM of Japan.
The player has built-in support for a Gigabit Ethernet LAN connection and 802.11ac Wi-Fi allowing the player to connect to an in-home wired or wireless network to access and stream files stored on other devices, however, it does not carry internet video and music streaming apps. Instead, an HDMI 2.0 input port that supports UHD resolution is available for users to connect an external streaming device. Oppo said it did this to enable users to add on their own media adapters in order to more easily upgrade as streaming technologies evolve, while still taking advantage of the UDP-203’s audio and video processing capabilities.
Amazon’s Holiday Deals On TVs, Video & Audio
Amazon’s Camera, Photo & Video Deals
Amazon Fire TV 4K Ultra HD Set-Top Media Adapter with Alexa
Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote
Amazon Echo Voice Controlled Wireless Speaker and Home System Interface
Amazon Echo Dot Voice Controlled Home System Interface
LG’s flat 65-inch4K Ultra HD OLED 65B6P
LG’s flat 55-inch 4K Ultra HD OLED 55B6P
Dozens of Blu-ray Disc Movie Specials, starting at less than $10
Philips BDP7501 Compact Ultra HD Blu-ray Player, $229.95
The Oppo UDP-203 also features a solid construction design with brushed aluminum front panel, steel chassis and gold plated connectors. Integration-friendly features such as RS-232 control, back panel IR sensor and third-party IP control are also added.
UDP-203 Main Features:
- Universal disc playback for 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and many other formats
- High Dynamic Range with HDR10 and firmware upgradable to Dolby Vision
- Two HDMI outputs – HDMI 2.0 for UHD and HDMI 1.4 for audio
- HDMI 2.0 input for external streaming devices or set-top boxes
- Two USB 3.0 ports for media file playback
- High resolution audio with lossless decoding for PCM and DSD
- 7.1ch analog audio outputs with premium 32-bit “Velvet Sound” DAC by AKM.
By Greg Tarr
Have a question for the HD Guru? HD GURU|Email
Copyright ©2016 HD Guru Inc. All rights reserved. HD GURU is a registered trademark.
Comments are closed.
Stay connected