oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 19, 2018 19:00:42 GMT
Guys, i am considering replacing my sacd player (i barely use it) with a good quality UD player, for use with my desktop pc system. my aging monitor does not have hdmi. my pc inputs to the sole dvi socket. it does have a "display port" currently unused. i have seen adapters from hdmi to display port, can i assume this will not reduce pic quality? also i need to be able to use a coax spdif output from whatever player i choose, into my idsd coax input. can i assume all players will output sound through spdif , when hdmi is connected?
lastly, any recommendations for a player? there are quite a few on ebay. (must play sacd, btw)
would like to keep budget under £300
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 21, 2018 16:42:54 GMT
Be careful wit the kind of HDMI->DP adapter you get, there are passive and active types (sounds bad, I know) and you need to get the one that'll work with your PC+display system. I got a cheapish one (+/-12€) for connecting my PC's HDMI output to my monitor's DP and found it didn't work. I had, very incorrectly, thought it would be like DVI<>HDMI adapter which are all the same with the exception of audio handling but else it is pretty much just a connector type change but here it works differently. In case of doubt spend a little extra and get the active which will work. BTW, picture quality shouldn't be affected in any way.
As to players outputting constantly on their SPDIFs I'd think so with motst mainsteam brands but there may be rare exceptions where SPDIF is disconnected when outputting through HDMI.
Oppo makes fantastic UPs like the current 203 or 205, the former sells new for around £650 and the latter is even more expensive but second hand they can be found cheaper though it is a brand that tends to retain its value. Maybe a previous generation 103 can be found in eBay at a more sensible price? They are fantastically built and Oppo's service and support are second to none, I know 'cos I've used it. I have 3 of their players and love them.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 22, 2018 13:33:51 GMT
thanks Javier, i have just narrowly missed two 103's on ebay for just over £200. whats the betting, this will lead to me wanting a bigger monitor?
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 22, 2018 14:14:57 GMT
27-32" 4K LED would be nice though if I could get any monitor I wanted I think I'd get the Sony FW900 huge & heavy but fantastic video picture.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 22, 2018 14:40:16 GMT
am i correct in thinking the 103 does not offer true 4k?
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 22, 2018 16:28:35 GMT
You are 100% correct, for 4k you'll need to dig deeper in your pocket and think 203 but if you are not watching a huge TV at myopic mole range there is not that much benefit in 4K.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 23, 2018 9:55:06 GMT
even if i did change monitor it would only be for a 27/28" anyway, above that are still too expensive. even going up to this size , i would wonder whether my graphics card would cope! its a bit old now (like me)
so as you say, no point in 4k
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 23, 2018 11:50:39 GMT
Recently I got a 24" 4K high end monitor for a coworker who is seriously into photography, in order to be able to read the names of the icons on the Windows desktop we had to zoom them to 200%. Maybe at 27" it'll get better but for general use it is quite pointless, high quality pics look truly life like though. Latest gen Intel cpus can do 4K video at 60Hz no probs and I guess any modern low to mid range Nvidia or AMD cards can so it too. Now, playing action games at 4K is another story. For that a very powerful CPU, fast RAM and highest end graphics card are a must in order to achieve a decent frame rate but I don't think there are any hard core gamers in this forum...
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 26, 2018 12:50:35 GMT
You are 100% correct, for 4k you'll need to dig deeper in your pocket and think 203 but if you are not watching a huge TV at myopic mole range there is not that much benefit in 4K. one thing i am curious to know, Javier, and you may know the answer.. as the 103 upscales all discs to 4k (though not true 4k), what does it do when it plays a true 4k disc, or are these blu ray discs dual layered( like an sacd) with a lower res layer?
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 27, 2018 21:09:53 GMT
got me eye on another one now. 3rd time lucky?
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 31, 2018 18:47:58 GMT
managed to bag a BDP-103D on ebay, should be here in a few days!
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 31, 2018 19:20:39 GMT
Congrats!!! you've bought yourself a truly great universal player
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Feb 1, 2018 18:23:48 GMT
Be careful wit the kind of HDMI->DP adapter you get, there are passive and active types (sounds bad, I know) and you need to get the one that'll work with your PC+display system. I got a cheapish one (+/-12€) for connecting my PC's HDMI output to my monitor's DP and found it didn't work. I had, very incorrectly, thought it would be like DVI<>HDMI adapter which are all the same with the exception of audio handling but else it is pretty much just a connector type change but here it works differently. In case of doubt spend a little extra and get the active which will work. BTW, picture quality shouldn't be affected in any way. As to players outputting constantly on their SPDIFs I'd think so with motst mainsteam brands but there may be rare exceptions where SPDIF is disconnected when outputting through HDMI. Oppo makes fantastic UPs like the current 203 or 205, the former sells new for around £650 and the latter is even more expensive but second hand they can be found cheaper though it is a brand that tends to retain its value. Maybe a previous generation 103 can be found in eBay at a more sensible price? They are fantastically built and Oppo's service and support are second to none, I know 'cos I've used it. I have 3 of their players and love them. now looking at an "active" adapter as you have advised. even when disregarding all the "passive" adapters the price still varies immensely! was looking at some the other day , nearly £50 . or there are some cheapo's on ebay which still say they are active............... www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Active-DisplayPort-to-HDMI-4K-Adapter-Benfei-DP-Display-Port-to-HDMI-Ultra-HD-C/291997599581?epid=2123739707&hash=item43fc69c75d:g:CNMAAOSwnHZYdmTG#rwidany specific recommendations, Javier?
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Feb 1, 2018 20:02:32 GMT
Sadly not, I got the one that didn't work I stuck to analogue VGA so I haben't tested any other. At £13 if it doesn't work at least you won't lose much....
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Feb 2, 2018 19:56:40 GMT
picked up my player today , cant try it yet but looks like new. Darbee edition and multi region £315 , not bad from what ive seen. nearly bought an adapter today from maplin............ www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-displayport-to-hdmi-adapter-a32xbwhat stopped me is it says "display-port to hdmi" i need the opposite and was not sure these things work in either direction (they did not know in store either) also it does not mention it supports 4k resolution! so hopefully i did right thing to leave it? edit. i do have another option. my pc graphics card has dvi, display port, and hdmi. monitor has just dvi and display port. so i could use display port to display port for my pc, and hdmi to dvi for my udp. all i would then need is a hdmi to dvi adapter (i think) . Javier (or anyone who knows), do you know if these are available in active and passive forms. (all i see when i search is cheapo adapters, no mention of active)
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