Review: Oppo UDP-203 4K UHD Player
What Amazing Packaging!
The player arrived in a sturdy box, beautifully packed, just like an Apple product. Gently swaddled in an OPPO tote bag for protection and a later boast as you go shopping!
Oppo 203 front View
Oppo 203 rear view
Oppo 203 internal view
I tried to wait until summer before buying a 4K UHD player and 4K UHD projector to see if anything revolutionary arrived. With the potential demise of Oppo I was spurred into early action to buy both. The JVC DLA-RS640 projector review will be coming soon.
The 203 was simplicity itself to install and setup. Already owning a 103, and having read all the AVS Forum posting on both the 203 and 205, I was already intimately familiar with any 203/205 shortcomings and its setup.
So with trembling hands I re-arranged my entire rack and installed the 203, removing my virtually unused Samsung HD-A35 HD player and putting it, together with all my HD discs, up for sale on Amazon.
HDMI Connectivity
This 4K player could not be supported by my 10 year old Accell UltraRun HDMI active copper connection to a 4K projector. So in anticipation of the projectors arrival, I upgraded it to an 18Gb/s Monoprice SlimRun optical connection. Certified passive cables not being capable of supporting the required 40+ feet. I also added a second 10.2Gb/s C2G fiber optic HDMI cable so that I could switch the two projector inputs between the 4K video output of the Oppo 203 and 1080P video output of my Denon AVP A1HDCI. Unfortunately my Denon does not support 4K and HDCP 2.0. See here for a review of both the Monoprice and C2G HDMI fiber optic cables.
The players audio connections, to my Denon AVP, were made using its second dedicated HDMI audio output, and the unbalanced main left and right audio outputs. See rear view above.
Setup and Performance
Let me first say that the Oppo 203 manual is well written and set out, and is quite clear in its instructions and function of each setting. Unfortunately is has not been kept up to date. None of the functions that have been added through firmware updates are described in it. These updates can be found by referring to the firmware upgrade history, reading the 203 AVS Forum or by looking through the Oppos menus to see what was added above and beyond what is contained in the manual.
Video
Original 1080P BenQ W10000 Projector
The 203 setup menu is similar to my 103, so after configuring all the relevant menu parameters, I first slipped in an SDR HD Blu-Ray disc to see what it would look like ……. WOW! The image through the Darblet converter was nothing more than amazing on my old BenQ Projector and this was still just HD, not 4K UHD. I was surprised that the 203 image was better than any of my other players. Something that I found confusing as digital data, is digital data. So I had to assume it was doing a much better job of decoding the disc compressed data. I quickly threw in my Spears & Munsil Blu-ray calibration disc to confirm black level etc. and nothing had changed from my 103. However, the image was sharper, the colors were more vibrant, saturated and brighter, and while the contrast did not appear to have changed, the whole image had more ‘punch’ or depth.
Setting up 4K HDR playback to correctly display on my SDR BenQ W10000 projector was a much more challenging exercise. Down converting 4K to 1080p24, HDR to SDR and wide color gamut to REC709 took along time to optimize in order to get my projector to display a respectable picture. So far I cannot say that such a conversion provides a better picture than the equivalent SDR 1080P version of a 4K disc. The bigger issue being that 4K discs are not all mastered to the same peak NIT level, so I ended up having to adjust the playback for some 4K discs……a real PITA and not much fun! My advice; if you own the HD version and your display/projector only supports HD, don’t bother to use the UHD versions and map/scale it.
A nice feature of the 203 is its external HDMI input. This allows the 203 to use all its internal signal processing on other signals other than just Blu-ray discs. This input has some limitations, such as it cannot currently handle Dolby Vision, and you have to set it to the required input standard. However, I found that It worked well in my temporary setup using it to select the main HDMI output from my Denon AVP Pre-amp that has all my other HD 1080P players connected to it. Interestingly I never saw any lip-sync issues with any external source.
New 4K JVC DLA-RS640 Projector
It took a whole day, and lots of stress to install my new 4K JVC DLA-RS640 projector. Well it was all REALLY worth while, its an amazing projector and image, see my review here.
Setting up the 203 video menu only took a few minutes so that it would drive the JVC at 4K/1080P, HDR, 12 bit, 4:4:4. Leaving the Oppo menu selections for video format and bit depth on Auto but forcing the player to 4:4:4. Setting up the projector took a little longer, and you will need to read my review for more information on that fairly time consuming process. Initially ended up setting the Oppo to HDR off BT2020, and setting the JVC to parameters I obtained from other users on the AVS Forum. I could get excellent pictures from some 4K discs but some were either too dull or the peak whites clipped badly. The player and projector adjustments provided to calibrate the JVC ST2084 OETF (4K gamma) curve for brightness and contrast being challenging to optimize without a 4K test disc. Once my new Diversified Video Solutions 4K test disc arrived things went much better.
Now calibrated for black, and peak white levels for both HD SDR and UHD HDR, I first popped in an HD Blu-ray disc and I actually couldn’t believe my eyes at the image quality. Sharp, bright, tremendous blacks, bright saturated colors and a huge dynamic range. Turning my screen into a virtual window on the movie world! I then rushed to insert its 4K cousin and again the image leapt of the screen. Having a significant increase in detail and image ‘pop’. The projector still needs an ISF calibration before making valid comparisons between these standards, which will be the subject of a future post. However, even without that calibration, the image performance of both HD SDR Blu ray and 4K HDR Blu ray was outstanding in virtually all respects. The 203 and JVC partnership providing an image quality that was quite remarkable. Now I have to play all my Blu rays again!
What was very reassuring was that no matter what video disc I put into the 203, HD or UHD it played them without hesitation or any hiccups, and there were absolutely no lip sync issues or sparkles.
Dolby Video and Zoom
One issue that I originally found disappointing was that when playing Dolby Vision encoded material the standard zoom feature is disabled by Dolby. This was originally a problem for me as I use a Panamorphic lens to stretch the image using constant height mode. Widescreen DV encoded discs could therefore, seemingly, only be stretched to fill my 2.35:1 (21:9) screen using my BenQ projector, that did not quite produce the same quality of scaling as the Oppo. If you have an HDR compliant display it is possible to force the 203 to play in only HDR mode and disregard DV encoding, allowing the zoom feature to work. This is achieved by setting HDR to forced, and power to energy efficient. Then turning the player off then on.
NOTE: In order to return your player to automatically detect DV set HDR to Auto, and power to energy efficient, and turn the player off then on again.
I then remembered that the 203 now supports several widescreen 21:9 options in the video setup menu under the widescreen option. These options allow for a quick selection, using the zoom button, to switch between standard 16:9 display and 21:9 image manipulation to support panamorphic lens and widescreens. This worked well, even with Dolby Vision encoded discs, a feature that no projector yet supports.
As the JVC projector vertical stretch processing was indistinguishable from that of the 203, I opted to set the Oppo’s video processing to Video Direct. This causes the player NOT to scale to 4K and only send the discs native resolution and frame rate – SD, HD or UHD. This now allowed me to create a simplified projector setup to handle pixel mapped 1080 or 4K images.
Audio
Being more of an audiophile rather than a videophile, I quickly turned my focus to the stereo audio performance of the player on both SACD and CD. Comparing its performance to my Denon A100 reference player over Denon Link 3 (DL3). DL3 provides a significant reduction in clock jitter which is definitely audible compared to using its HDMI connection. I have to say that the 203 over HDMI provided a slightly smoother and more refined rendition of the SACD’s and CD that I initially listened to. What was really surprising was that the stereo analog output from the 203 was preferable to both the digital DL3 and analog stereo output from my Denon A100, having a smoother mid-range with a more extended bass response, together with top end detail that was all but identical to the digital connection. I do not know which was more accurate. However, I preferred the analog sound of the 203.
The audio formats supported by the player include:
- Dolby TrueHD
- DTS-HD Master Audio
- Dolby Atmos -bit stream
- DTS:X – bit stream
- DVDA
- DSD – stereo or multi-channel
- PCM – 192Khz, 24bit
- Lossless audio decoding of:
- AIFF
- WAV
- ALAC
- APE
- FLAC
Audio Filters
Having selected the analog output from the 203 I decided to step through the various audio filter settings, not really knowing what to expect. There are five filter configurations:
- Sharp Roll-off
- Short-Delay Sharp (default)
- Slow Roll-off
- Short-Delay Slow
- Super Slow Roll-off
Let me say that the audible effects of the different filter types are subtle to say the least, well at least to my old ears! Affecting the extreme HF detail in fairly subtle ways. So I will leave it to you, the reader, to listen to each one, and decide upon the audible benefits of each for yourself.
I did stream several FLAC and DSF files using the network and a thumb drive. The on-screen network and music GUI’s were fairly easy to navigate but using the Oppo app on my iPad was definitely easier and it gives you access to all the players menu features, PLUS you do not need to have your display on in order to manage and play all your audio files. I had no problems with decoding any file type, including multi-channel DSF. All file types sounded excellent but I did not spend too much time reviewing the quality as this is not how I listen to my music, I use physical media for 99% of my listening. Using the same digital processing and DAC’s etc. streamed data should sound just as good as physical media, depending upon the original source encoding.
General Use and Other Features
This player loaded every disc very fast, and played everything I threw at it, without a single glitch, and while its down conversion from 4K HDR to 1080P SDR may not be stellar, its up conversion to 4K SDR from HD was excellent.
Being capable of playing virtually all disc audio formats, and many streamed audio formats, this could be considered to be an audiophiles player. Not withstanding its big brother, the 205, that can also play and decode MQA discs and files.
All of Oppo’s efforts went into playing discs and decoding streamed video and audio files to the highest of standards, so there is no support for internet applications as in earlier models except for Roon.
With two rear USB3 ports, a front USB2 port, wireless 802.11ac support and a wired and wireless GigE network, access to media files stored on thumb drives, PC’s and home servers is fully supported using SMB, NFS and DLNA.
Control via the Apple/Android App, serial RS 232, IR, IP and Control4 makes integrating the player into a central media control system a delight. Especially as these players all use the same remote control and serial control/IP codes and protocols.
With dual HDMI outputs the dedicated audio only HDMI output can be used in Pure Audio mode. This allows most video circuitry and the display to be turned off in order to minimize any digital interference.
For those using Oppo’s iPAD application it allows you access to all the menu functions without putting the menu on screen. This is excellent for those of you who want to adjust HDR to SDR conversion and various video and audio parameters in real time without the menu becoming a distraction.
I highly recommend the Oppo UDP 203 player, despite Oppo ceasing its manufacture. The good news being that Oppo have committed to support it for its two or three year warranty period. Providing firmware upgrades, as required, to keep it up to date and operational to at least support new Blu-ray discs. As to any new features, like HDR10+, who knows?
Purchase your Oppo UDP 203 4K UHD player here or stand in line for your 205 player here.
See my review of the Oppo 205 4K UHD player here.
See here for detailed technical measurements of the Oppo UDP 203’s audio performance.
Upgrades
For those of you who want to “wring” the last once of performance out of either the 203 or 205 there is the option of upgrades. The most obvious and simple one being replacing the switched mode power supply with analog versions. Before you launch into this, or any other upgrades, be warned that they will void any Oppo warranty, so user beware! For those who are willing to take the risk, the power supply upgrade is extremely easy to do, requiring no special tools or soldering. Many reviews of this particular upgrade are very positive in terms of improvements to both the video and audio performance.
See the following links for avilable upgrade options:
I do not endorse any of the above products or vendors.
