OPPO UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player

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I ordered my UDP-203 as a pre-order directly from Oppo and received it several days later. This is my third Oppo player and I remain very pleased with their customer service and response time during email communications. My connection is through a Marantz 8802 processor to an LG65EF9500. As with the 103 that I was using earlier, I set up the 203 so that one HDMI cable goes directly to the TV, bypassing any processing entirely, with another going to the processor for audio processing and distribution to a Martin-Logan setup. Oppo has made some changes with the 203. The obvious one, of course, is the additional availability of UHD disc capabilities as well as the inclusion of upscaling to UHD from lower resolution sources. What this means for those with 4K monitor access is an immediate improvement in apparent image quality for all DVD and Blu-ray playback. That alone is worth the price of purchase. Remember that Oppos generally appear to hold their value quite well, so rather than thinking of this as a $550 purchase, I looked at it as a $150 upgrade to my existing 103. The next big change to the 203 is an improvement in high-resolution audio. I suspect fewer individuals will take advantage of this, but if youve had a chance to listen to an identical piece of music on both standard CD and from high-resolution sources, youd quickly realize this is like the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray. Dont skip over this if you purchase the 203. Another big change with the 203 has been the removal of streaming services such as Netflix. Of course, most purchases of the 203 will be made by individuals with a 4K TV from Samsung, LG, or others, all of which I know of have streaming services built in to their own firmware. So theres really no need to have it here as well. I dont miss it, but recognize that if you are used to using the streaming on your older 103, youll have to change your habits with the transition. Dont forget, Oppo nearly always releases a second model immediately after a unit like this comes out. The second model, in this case the UDP-205, will provide superior analog audio output IF thats the way you choose to make your connection to your hifi. If youre going to use the HDMI, save your pennies and just get the 203. The overall connectivity is easy. The UDP-203 simply plugged into my system and within a few minutes I was up and running. The default settings are nearly all correct for the majority of folks out there, but those who like to fiddle can do so to their hearts content. The remote is roughly identical to the prior iterations. The Netflix button has been removed, and the light now comes on for a few moments whenever the remote is moved. The remote seems to be seen more easily by the 203 than it was by prior units from Oppo, and the Oppo disc loading process is faster than any other DVD or Blu-Ray player Ive used. Playback of DVDs, Blu-Rays, CDs, and a variety of alternative sources and USB flash drives all works smoothly and easily. As with prior Oppo units, upgrades to firmware automatically are received through wifi, through an Ethernet connection, or can be downloaded to flash drives. Upgrades to the instructions are made available regularly. And unlike similar firmware updates for other audio components, these actually install easily and without any difficulty on the part of the end-user.

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Arguably the best disc player you can buy. Any “faults” are FORCED by the Government or the Hollywood Cartel. Some people view discs as dead technology. THEY ARE VERY WRONG. In 2018 a physical disk is still the number one method by which movies are distributed. Movie aficionados / collectors never stream movies. They BUY them. There are a variety of reasons for this. Many movies get censored over time for political correctness. When you own a physical copy, the PC police cannot change it later. Also, what is available for streaming constantly changes. If you want to see a particular movie, you may, or may not be allowed to do so. The original Star Wars and even Johnny Quest cartoons have been censored for political correctness. ONLY people, (like me) who kept physical copies have these movies as they were originally created. When you stream many movies you are watching PC censored versions, NOT the original movie. Despite public pressure for a release, the Disney movie “Song of the South” remains banned, (Some have a physical copy). As others have pointed out, the best picture and sound can be found on the UDP-203. I started purchasing Oppo units 10 years ago because of their fast loading and start times. This Multi-Region Oppo UDP-203 will play ANY Disc, from anywhere in the world, PAL or NTSC. I would NEVER buy any disc player that is not Multi-Region. There are many wonderful movies that are LOCKED regions outside of the USA. The whole ‘Region System’ is an invention of evil Hollywood in a useless attempt to prevent piracy. Instead, it ONLY makes things more difficult for honest consumers. This unit will automatically play DVD regions 0-8 without doing anything. When it comes to Blu-rays, it is sometimes necessary to press a few buttons on the remote control to change the region code to “B” or “C”. Fortunately, most (but not all) Blu-rays made today are multi region. I have about 3000 movies in my DVD / Blu-ray collection. I had to look hard, to find a couple of Blu-ray movies that were set to region “B” for testing. Apparently, this player is susceptible to any disc infected with the Cinavia virus. The Cinavia virus is occasionally used to prevent people from making legal backups of their purchased movies. I had no way to test this. Its a common problem on many players trying to play discs infected with the Cinavia virus. There are several websites that contain lists of the few movies that have the Cinavia virus on them, AVOID BUYING THESE MOVIES. Cinavia is an audio "watermarking" process used on a few film prints and Blu-ray discs. Cinavias backers “claim” that their alterations to the audio signal are inaudible. But altering, (damaging) the audio quality of an officially released Blu-ray product being received by paying customers is not nice. Sadly, the unit has no analog video outputs. This is FORCED on most manufacturers by the Hollywood Cartel. The UDP-93 was the last Oppo Player allowed to have analog video outputs. The unit does NOT have UOP (User Operation Prohibited) disabled. When a disc is authored, it can be programed to lock out functions on the remote control at various points in the playback. This is what prevents you from fast forwarding through “warnings”, commercials, previews etc. Some players have UOPs disabled. This means even if the disc TRIES to lock down the remote control, it cannot do so, and you always have a functioning remote that will let you skip anything and everything you want to. The Hollywood Cartel does not like players that have UOP disabled. The firmware is very easy to update on the Oppo UDP-203. You can do it directly from the Internet or you can make a CD or USB stick. A wonderful feature of Oppo units is that it is possible to DOWNGRADE firmware, IF you keep a copy. Occasionally, I have seen firmware "updates" on other players prevent movies from working. Ive seen this mostly on Sony players. Regarding burnable DVDs and Blu-rays, it will play the new 1000 year lifetime burnable M-Discs, as well as the old-fashioned 7-10 year lifetime purple dye discs. You can press the info button on the remote control to retrieve some interesting data about your disc. Unfortunately, it will not display the region code. The only way I have found to determine the region code of a disc is to use Apples “DVD Player” program and “Get Info” on the disc. The Oppo UDP-203 comes with batteries for the remote control. Throw them away, and install lithium batteries. In addition to lasting about four times longer than alkaline, I have never seen a lithium battery leak. Sadly, as most people know Oppo is going out of business. I knew this BEFORE buying my Oppo unit. (Actually, I purchased several Oppo units including two spares.) Oppo has said they will continue to provide updates as necessary, and honor warranties. It can be a little disconcerting to purchase a product from you from a company you know that is going away. The problem is, NOTHING ELSE COMES REMOTELY CLOSE TO OPPO QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE.

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Ordered Nov 14, 2017 from Amazon (shipped from manufacturer oppodigital in CA) to replace an LG UP970 UHD Blu-Ray player fulfilled by Amazon that was returned due to a loud grinding noise when playing discs (UP970 review submitted). Absolutely amazed at the Oppo quality of both video and audio, especially after having the LG player for comparison. The Oppo UDP-203 seemed overpriced at $550 (over twice the price - and height and weight - of the LG), but was purchased after seeing excellent reviews on Amazon and across the Internet. The elegant, solid quality, custom designed disc mechanism, and electronics produce an incredible picture on the LG 4K OLED 65E79 UHDTV. When spinning a disc, the sound is barely audible - similar to a fan on a computer. The Oppo UDP-203 supports both the HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR formats. The Oppo does not have apps (like Netflix or YouTube) which are not needed with newer smart UHDTVs that include many streaming apps. Upscaling by the Oppo provides incredibly sharp pictures from standard HD Blu-Ray discs and even older DVD discs. Just amazing! And the audio sound quality is also incredible. The Oppo has an HDMI input which I connected to my Apple TV 4 (not 4K) and the Oppo upscales streaming from the Apple TV to at least HD Blu-Ray quality. The Oppo remote is large, relatively heavy, and easy to operate especially with the real backlighting of the keys. Oppo includes an HDMI cable and a 91 page instruction manual printed in book-size on heavy-weight paper with clear, sharp text. The instruction manual not only discusses the many various settings, but provides advice on selecting the options. Truly a world-class product. I have absolutely no regrets buying quality which by far continues to exceed expectations.

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I have owned the Samsung, Pioneer and Xbox S 4K players and none of them come close. I own a Oppo bdp-93 and it performes better then any other Blu-Ray player I have owned so I am not surprised how good this one is. The video and sound where awesome. This purchase is a no brainer.

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This is my second unit. I had issues with my first unit, but OPPO promptly replaced it. What was the issue with my first unit? I have some 4K disks that used to play, but were now detected as invalid disks. I think my first player was ultra sensitive to dust/film on a disk. Cleaning my disks with warm water and liquid hand soap didnt make a difference. Washing with scalding hot water from my kitchen (I really need to adjust the thermostat lol) and liquid dish detergent seemed to improve the issue, but my disks looked cleaned even before washing them. Unless there was an invisible film that was washed out by scalding hot water this shouldnt have made a difference. My replacement has been trouble free. Im using the Oppo mainly for 4K right now. Blu Ray is up converted and yes, it does look great too. If there is one draw back with 4K is some movies (looking at you Billy Lynn) are hyper realistic on my LG 65C7. Too many wrinkles, too many freckles, too much realism. Currently this is the only 4K player on the market that supports Dolby Vision. The only DV-enabled movie that I own is Fate of the Furious. The picture quality is awesome. Again, sometimes much too realistic lol. The units remote is built like something from the 80s and I love it. Its large and heavy with big buttons. Range is good (I bounce the signal off my ceiling since the Oppo sits away from the TV on an adjacent wall). The only con I see here is with 4K and not the player. I feel like Al Bundy getting glasses for the first time and recoiling in horror when looking at a picture of his wife. 4K is maybe too good looking. Maybe more than I bargained for.

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I replaced my Samsung UBD-K8500 4k UHD player with the Oppo UDP-203 and let me just say that the 4k UHD video the Oppo puts out is breathtaking. I paid $399 for the Samsung when it first released as Samsung was one of the first to support 4K UHD media. Comparing the 4k UHD picture between the two players is no comparison at all. The picture clarity and color output on the Oppo is very obvious and blows the Samsung away. The Oppo supports the most current audio formats as well and the sound quality is equally impressive. The sound stage and the dynamic range of the Oppo stood apart from the Samsung player. It’s as if I was listening to two completely different stereo systems when comparing the Oppo to the Samsung and the Samsung supports the identical audio formats as the Oppo. I don’t listen to a lot of music but I watch a ton of movies so in the Home Theater side of the house when watching DVD, Blu-Ray media or streaming movies via my Synology NAS using PLEX, the Oppo does a great job at doing so. To reliably play high bandwidth 4k UHD content, my Oppo connects via 1gig Ethernet interface and it plays all of my video files supporting MP4, MKV, M4V, MOV and I stream and play 1080 and 4K UHD content with no issues what so ever on the Oppo. I encountered issues when streaming high bandwidth 4k UHD content via WIFI using both 2.4 and 5.0 GHZ (On both the Oppo and Samsung). Even using the most current Orbi WIFI system with a satellite next door , the Oppo couldn’t reliably stream high bandwidth 4k UHD content in native formats, but hardwiring the network connection resolved this. Yep the Oppo doesn’t have any video streaming widgets or functionality like the Samsung, but I got over that quickly. Just for grins I plugged the Samsung into the HDMI input on the OPPO and I can run all of my video streaming apps on the Samsung thru the Oppo. It’s one way to leverage the ROI on my Samsung. Blu-Ray load times are quick, the menu system and setup are straight forward and the defaults work great, so out of the box you’re going to get a great picture and sound. So my Oppo UDP-203 is the heart and soul of my 4k UHD Home Theater system. It feeds audio to my NAD 757 - 7.1 receiver via the 2nd HDMI channel on the Oppo to NAD receiver ; which doesn’t support HDMI 2.0. The NAD receiver drives Bowers & Wilkens 683s in the Front, HTM61 center channel, backend channels are handled by 2EA 685-S2 and 2EA Martin Login Encore TF with a B&W ASW610XP sub. The picture from the Oppo is presented directly to my LG 65EF9500 OLED via HDMI and deep color is enabled on the LG HDMI port. I am running Audioquest Forest HDMI 2.0 cables for connectivity. In Summary: This is what 4k UHD is all about. The picture, color and clarity are the best I’ve ever seen and the 3D picture coming from the Oppo UDP-203 is outstanding as well. I find myself buying more 3D Media as a result. It’s a $500+ investment that you won’t regret. This is my 2nd Oppo Drive. I also own the BDP-93 and It’s been running strong for years.

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It doesnt take long to understand and justify the ridiculously high price tag. Built like a tank with every sound and video connectivity an AV enthusiast requires, the unparalleled picture quality brings a level of satisfaction that leaves one grinning from ear to ear every time its powered on. My review is limited in scope, as I am only watching UHD Blu Rays via only one of OPPOs many connectivity options, but I have zero reason to think the experience will be any less amazing no matter what your configuration entails. I am using the OPPO UDP-203 in a streamlined manner, connecting one HDMI cable directly into a SONY HT-ST5000 soundbar, which connects to a 65 inch LG OLED B6P65 TV. I had it up and running within an hour, including connecting to my 5GHz wireless network and updating to the latest firmware. The only missing feature that may disappoint some buyers, especially at its high price point, is built in streaming to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and other favorite home streaming options. I have no shortage of streaming capabilities since every other device in my home theater setup has this capability; the LG TV, Sony soundbar and Apple TV are just some of the components that already satisfy my need for watching Stranger Things on Netflix, so I did not need yet another. Overall, the OPPO player is impressive. I also own the Sony UBP-X800 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player and the overall quality of the build and picture is not matched by the Sony player. I do admit the picture quality is very close in comparison, but it is no question the OPPO player is a luxury item and one or two levels above the Sony. The inclusion of Dolby Vision compatibility sealed the deal for me in terms of choosing a winner. Is it worth the double price tag? For most people, probably not. If having the most cutting edge technology and best picture possible today are important to you, the OPPO is a no brainer. The only negative I have experienced is the OPPO player freezes up a few times when watching the Passenger. I have watched about 10 UHD discs and this movie is the only one that has frozen up on me. When frozen, I had to power the device off and on to get it to start playing again. I believe it may be something in the disc itself; the problem does not seem to be systemic or caused by a defect in the player itself. I recommend purchasing this player if stunning picture and audio is something you cannot live without, even though it may break the bank.

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This UHD Blu-ray player lives up to every review it has had written about it. The thing is a tank in build quality. It has a user friendly GUI, and the picture and sound processing capabilities of this player are lightyears ahead of anything else on the market. I watched the same movie, on the same TV, on a Samsung 8500 UHD player, and then on this Oppo Player, and it was an out of this world experience. I feel like Ive been cheated watching movies on anything other than the Oppo Player. If you are in the market for a UHD Blu-ray Player, get the Oppo, you will not be disappointed!

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Best pure 4K Bluray player out on the market. Build quality is very good. Very impressed with audio and video quality. Its a must have if you can fimd one. You wont be disappointed. A side note: only down side to this player is there is no streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Youtube like on most 4K Bluray players on the market have these days. Not an issue with me because my smart 4K tv can stream but I mostly use my PS4 Pro if watching Netflix, Youtube amd other streaming services.

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Excellent player! 2 tips, turn off all processing by the TV and allow the Oppo to handle it. If you are concerned about not having streaming apps simply use a Firestick. The player HDMI input works perfectly. The audio quality from the Oppo is so good that I turned off all processing from my Yamaha Aventage receiver and allow the Oppo to do it. No regrets. Would definitely recommend.

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