According to the OppoDigital website, the 981 does output to 1080i, so it sounds like that should be your choice, especially if you plan for the DVD player to do 1080p scaling/deinterlacing in the future. The main reason for going with the 970 is for the 480i HDMI output to an external video processor. Well, there are other reasons for the choosing the 970 (lower cost, component output, memory card reader), but the 480i output probably is the main distinguishing feature between the 970 and the 971/981.
