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How Much of An Upgrade, If Any, With Oppo BDP-103?

Posted by AnalogJ (A) on January 15, 2014 at 11:51:48

I have been using a Panasonic DMR-E85H. It's a DVD recorder with a hard drive. I don't use the hard drive all that much. As a DVD video playback device, it renders a great, film-like image on my 32" HD CRT (Dynamic range on this TV is terrific!).

Recently, the Panasonic stopped working. While I was contemplating what would be a worthy replacement, my wife, who is good with electronics, took it apart and discovered a few blown capacitors. We got the unit working.

In the interim, we replaced it with a Toshiba combo DVD/VHS player which we had with the bedroom TV. The Toshiba was not close to the video quality (nor the sound quality) of the Panasonic.
We had been leaning toward the Oppo bdp-103 as a replacement prior to fixing the Panasonic.

The Toshiba was such a comedown from the Panasonic. I'm really quite happy with the Panasonic. But I have no idea how much of an improvement with the Oppo, if there is one. The TV is only capable of 1080i/720P, and it is "only" a 32" 4:3 high-def tube. Clearly there is a good video (and a pretty good analog) processor in the Panasonic (Philips chip, I think), and we are using component video in/out. The Panasonic was rather pricey when we purchased it new (over $600).

My question is how much better would the Oppo be, if at all, over the performance of the Panasonic in terms of DVD video playback in my system? I would not be using the Oppo for audio playback (as I have a Rega Saturn CD player). BluRay wouldn't be taken fully advantage of given that my screen is on the smaller side and doesn't do 1080p. Clearly there's not as much resolution with DVDs, but color, dynamics and nuance are rendered really well with the Panasonic. On the other hand, I certainly like the option of adding a Roku, but it would be a large stretch financially to get the Oppo. Furthermore, since the 103 is an almost 2-year old model, I wonder when the next model will come along. The latest 103 model with the Darblet built-in is not to everyone's taste and I'm not sure if it would be to mine.

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