All things being equal (ie... price, options, future ability ) is there any truth about matching a brand of DVD player to either its Receiver or TV counterpart? Ex... Sharp has the link thing that if you use the matching DVD player to its TV, only one remote is nesseccary. This to me is just a marketing ploy as a universal remote (Harmony) can operate ALL components. So.. if everything being equal do you match it to your TV or receiver? Do ANY DVD players play a clearer picture from one or the other or is HDMI equal across the board?

No there is nothing to that other than for those that are not aware of universal remotes and have only the need to turn on and off the 2 units. It really isn't even necessary as most HDMI components have the ability to turn on when a signal is sensed on the line ie. turn on the dvd player and the TV turns on and goes to that input. This is called Consumer Electronics Control.

From WIKI

"CEC
Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) is a one-wire bidirectional serial bus that uses the industry-standard AV.link protocol to perform remote control functions. CEC wiring is mandatory, although implementation of CEC in a product is optional.[68] It was defined in HDMI Specification 1.0 and updated in HDMI 1.2, HDMI 1.2a, and HDMI 1.3a (which added timer and audio commands to the bus).[80][81][82][83] The feature is designed to allow the user to command and control multiple CEC-enabled boxes with one remote control and for individual CEC-enabled devices to command and control each other without user intervention.[81]

Trade names for CEC are Anynet (Samsung); Aquos Link (Sharp); BRAVIA Sync (Sony); HDMI-CEC (Hitachi); Kuro Link (Pioneer); CE-Link and Regza Link (Toshiba); RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI) (Onkyo); SimpLink (LG); HDAVI Control, EZ-Sync, and VIERA Link (Panasonic); EasyLink (Philips); and NetCommand for HDMI (Mitsubishi).[84][85][86][87][88]"

Mustang, there's no benefit to buying a player that is from the same manufacturer as the TV, other than to utilize the syncing capabilities you alluded to. IMO, you're better to look elsewhere for a video player. I'm not saying that there aren't good players manufactured by Sharp, Samsung et.al, but it wouldn't come close to the video quality of an Oppo.

If I understand your last query correctly, HDMI has nothing to do with picture quality, it's just an "all in one" connection that passes audio and video. The image quality is dependent on the source (DVD player) and your display.

I never had a chance to watch a Blu ray on an Oppo. Is the picture quality really that much better compare to Panasonic, Sony, etc... I understand that the player should be better since they are probably using better A/D and D/A, higher sampling rates, etc... which would certainly be measurable with equipment but my question is is that really noticeable by the human eye or is it more of a placebo effect: more expensive player should mean better picture.

My understanding is the PQ is pretty much the same for BR, it is in the upscaling of SD sources that you want to pay for the OPPO, as well as the ability to play SACD's. Also the fact it seems to boot up faster than some of the other more common players. The defacto standard for BR players looks to be the PS3.

Bruno, I had a Samsung DVD-1080PX and an Oppo Dv-981 at the same time and the Oppo clearly superceded the Samsung in all categories. Now that I have a BDP-83, I'm more than happy, but it's recognized as the gold standard.

Have you had a chance to compare the PQ of the oppo with another BR player (playing BR not DVD)?

Until the BDP-93 comes out:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/oppo-bdp-93

No, I have not, but I based my purchase after reading many reviews, and if I recall, the very favorable reviews weren't only limited to it's upconversion capabilities, but also it's Blu-ray PQ.

Internet bookmark search, BRB.

Back- Here's the Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread. All the reviews are there; I don't want to accidentally mislead you .

There is no question it looks like a real gem. I have a BDP83 as well and what amazes me is despite the ongoing questions of whether or not they were ever going to introduce a new 3D compatible model, they kept their cards pretty close to their vest and nobody really knew until yesterday. Then all of sudden, there it was!

Anyways... I got the matching Sharp bdp24U for $150 plus tax. Suits me fine. Was going to go with the Pioneer to match my receiver but read too many disgruntled reviews on it. Plus I save $100 by not getting it. LOL

I'm sure you'll be more than happy with it. Have fun with your new player; congrats!