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OPPO BDP-831 Blu-ray Player Review
| Author | Danny Phillips |
| Published | 16th Oct 2009 |
| Manufacturer | OPPO Digital |
| Supplier | Oppo Shop |
| Price | £390.43 (Exc VAT) |
| as reviewed | £449.00 (Inc VAT) |
| Latest Price | Click here |
| Design |  |
| Features |  |
| Performance | |
| Value | |
| Overall | |
14 comments
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TrustedReviews NewslettersOPPO has built up a cult following among home cinema fans with a succession of feature-packed yet affordable DVD players, and is now taking the next logical step by moving into the Blu-ray market.
We've been salivating over OPPO's debut Blu-ray player (not literally, it invalidates the warranty) ever since it appeared on the company's US website last year as the BDP-83. But at long last the company has launched a European version (adding an extra 1 to the model number for good measure), giving us a chance to find out how well OPPO's talents transfer to the world of hi-def.
Why are we so excited by this Profile 2.0 player? Well, not only does it boast one of the most extensive feature lists of any hi-def deck we've encountered, but the on-board electronics also have a distinct high-end flavour - plus the £450 price tag is a lot less than you'd normally expect to pay for such a well-endowed deck.
Click to enlarge
The look and feel of the BDP-831 befits a player with lofty aspirations. The casing is solid and reassuringly weighty, and the brushed aluminium fascia is bereft of any crowd-pleasing embellishments - it's understated, esoteric and seriously stylish. We love the cluster of silver buttons on the right, alongside a USB port designed to play digital media from flash drives - and as we'll discover, the OPPO supports a dizzying array of formats.
Equally pleasing is the rear panel which leaves no stone unturned. Naturally you get HDMI v1.3, component and composite video outputs, while the audio line-up includes a set of 7.1-channel analogue outputs, separate analogue stereo outputs, plus optical and coaxial digital audio ports.
This comprehensive set of sonic sockets, combined with the OPPO's on-board HD audio decoders, means the OPPO is ready to serve any sound system. It will output Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio bitstreams to cutting-edge receivers boasting HDMI v1.3 inputs and the relevant decoding, or output them as PCM from the HDMI or multichannel analogue outputs for less sophisticated amps.
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Timbo said on 19th October 2009
david brook said on 21st October 2009
this player was reviewed by andrew everard on the what hi-fi forum quite a while ago, it supposedly beats £3k players in certain key areas and is a no brainer IMHO, pity we c... more
Genaa said on 22nd October 2009
Hi Folks,
any chance of a review of the Sony 760? Now that What Hifi have rated that as a best-buy over the Oppo 831, it would be very useful to have a comparative r... more
Genaa said on 22nd October 2009
p.s. does the Oppo play either FLAC or OGG format files (either from disc or USB) and does it have the 5 disc memory function that the import BDP83 has? Cheers!
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So, why no DLNA? If your going to stick and Ethernet port on something, you may as well use it for something other than just BR 2.0!