Expert Review:
Oppo’s BDP-93 is the ideal choice for audio- and videophiles seeking a Blu-ray player that offers top-notch audio/video performance and universal playback without costing a fortune. This player offers a ton of new features and improvements over its predecessor, the BDP-83, such as 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, support for streaming content from Netflix and Blockbuster Video on Demand, and dual HDMI 1.4 outputs with full 3D support. The BDP-93 is a universal disc player, offering support for Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio Discs. While many audiophiles find that other less-expensive Blu-ray and DVD players cannot match the audio performance of higher-end CD players, the BDP-93 sounds excellent, which may convince some buyers to finally set that older CD player aside. Video performance is also superb thanks to its Marvell Kyoto-G2 video processor; this is evident not only with Blu-ray discs, but with DVD upconversion and streaming content as well.
Another feature that sets this 3D Blu-ray player apart from less-expensive competitors is the inclusion of dual HDMI outputs; this allows buyers that have a newer 3D TV but an older AV receiver to still enjoy 3D by connecting one HDMI cable to the TV and another to the AV receiver. And even if you don’t have a 3D TV, you can take advantage of the dual outputs by connecting the Blu-ray player to two different HDTVs simultaneously, allowing you to playback a Blu-ray disc or stream content in two different rooms. The BDP-93 also offers excellent audio connectivity, providing 7.1 multichannel analog outputs as well as digital coax, optical, and stereo analog outputs. There’s onboard decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, which can be outputted via HDMI or the 7.1 analog outputs. Additionally, this player offers 2 USB ports and an eSATA port for additional audio/video playback options, and the player handles a large variety of file formats including AVCHD, MP4, WAV, DivX, MKV, and FLAC. Overall, the Oppo BDP-93 is a fantastic Blu-ray player that combines excellent video and audio performance with a strong feature set, terrific connectivity, fast operational speed, and great build quality. While you can spend less for a networked Blu-ray player, the BDP-93 is still an excellent value considering the performance, features, and versatility it packs.
