OPPO UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player (MSRP: $549)
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- Reference Quality Video
- Lossless, High-Resolution Audio
- UHD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, SACD, DVD, and CD
The New Standard in Home Theater - The OPPO UDP-203 provides an unmatched A/V experience to home theater enthusiasts. Drawing from over a decade’s worth of experience in advanced image processing technology and high fidelity audio performance, the UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player is the ideal source to complete the ultimate home theater and sound room.
Product Reviews
A highly worthwhile upgrade to the Oppo BDP-103
I ordered my UDP-203 as a pre-order directly from Oppo and received it several days later. This is my third Oppo player and I remain very pleased with their customer service and response time during email communications. My connection is through a Marantz 8802 processor to an LG65EF9500. As with the 103 that I was using earlier, I set up the 203 so that one HDMI cable goes directly to the TV, bypassing any processing entirely, with another going to the processor for audio processing and distribution to a Martin-Logan setup.Oppo has made some changes with the 203. The obvious one, of course, is the additional availability of UHD disc capabilities as well as the inclusion of upscaling to UHD from lower resolution sources. What this means for those with 4K monitor access is an immediate improvement in apparent image quality for all DVD and Blu-ray playback. That alone is worth the price of purchase. Remember that Oppos generally appear to hold their value quite well, so rather than thinking of this as a $550 purchase, I looked at it as a $150 upgrade to my existing 103. The next big change to the 203 is an improvement in high-resolution audio. I suspect fewer individuals will take advantage of this, but if you’ve had a chance to listen to an identical piece of music on both standard CD and from high-resolution sources, you’d quickly realize this is like the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray. Don’t skip over this if you purchase the 203.Another big change with the 203 has been the removal of streaming services such as Netflix. Of course, most purchases of the 203 will be made by individuals with a 4K TV from Samsung, LG, or others, all of which I know of have streaming services built in to their own firmware. So there’s really no need to have it here as well. I don’t miss it, but recognize that if you are used to using the streaming on your older 103, you’ll have to change your habits with the transition.Don’t forget, Oppo nearly always releases a second model immediately after a unit like this comes out. The second model, in this case the UDP-205, will provide superior analog audio output IF that’s the way you choose to make your connection to your hifi. If you’re going to use the HDMI, save your pennies and just get the 203.The overall connectivity is easy. The UDP-203 simply plugged into my system and within a few minutes I was up and running. The default settings are nearly all correct for the majority of folks out there, but those who like to fiddle can do so to their heart’s content. The remote is roughly identical to the prior iterations. The Netflix button has been removed, and the light now comes on for a few moments whenever the remote is moved. The remote seems to be seen more easily by the 203 than it was by prior units from Oppo, and the Oppo disc loading process is faster than any other DVD or Blu-Ray player I’ve used. Playback of DVD’s, Blu-Rays, CDs, and a variety of alternative sources and USB flash drives all works smoothly and easily.As with prior Oppo units, upgrades to firmware automatically are received through wifi, through an Ethernet connection, or can be downloaded to flash drives. Upgrades to the instructions are made available regularly. And unlike similar firmware updates for other audio components, these actually install easily and without any difficulty on the part of the end-user.
OPPO makes excellent players
I bought this player specifically to upgrade to an HDMI output DVD-A music to a receiver without analog multi-channel inputs. I’ve been extremely pleased with all my DVD-A, SACD and BluRay Audio playing experiences so far, and as a cinephile I certainly appreciate the bluray and DVD playback. I don’t have it on a 4K TV but I plan on making that upgrade within the next year. I’ve yet to have a bad experience with an OPPO, they are my go-to disc player for all formats.Also a minor plus but one I like, the remote lights up on movement rather than key touch, so as soon as you pick it up you can read the keys in low light viewing conditions.
Highly recommended…
I rarely say “Oh wow” about a product preferring instead to write a specific listing of pros and cons. Oh WOW! Ordered the unit two days ago. Hooked up today with help from OPPO tech assistance. The unit needed a firmware update and I am not tech savvy.Then played a few minutes of a rented Netflix Blu ray dvd and the OH WOW began.Rich color, high res, and big sound…….I’m a fan. Then tried a few minutes of an audio cd and the same reaction occurred…….:)The high end audio and a/v community gives OPPO high marks.At $549 plus $18 shipping I consider this a very good deal considering the overall quality of build and numerous features. The OPPO replacing a very old LG blu ray upscaling dvd player purchased for $88 from Frye’s about 10 years ago. Yup I was behind the curve for a long time.Many other reviewers here and elsewhere point out the many fine features and wax much more poetically than I. I’ll stick to “just buy it!”
Another great product from OPPO
Another great product from OPPO (I think this is my 4th or 5th of their players). I won’t bother discussing what this player can do compared to their non-4K models except to say it’s the best player I’ve owned and every bit as good as my old 103 player. As for 4K, the picture is much better on my LG 4K OLED TV than with my Philips 4K player (which still looked very good). The great thing about the OPPO is their remotes are awesome and they give you a ton of settings options; very versatile. My only qualm would be I wish the second “audio only” HDMI out was a full output with video. I’d really like to be able to have one output for SDR material and a separate for HDR so I can keep them on separate inputs on my TV with different color settings/calibration. I’m still going to keep my old OPPO 103 player to play non region A discs (internet can tell you how to go about that). The great thing about this 4K 203 player is the remote has 3 code settings so you can set this remote so it will only control this player and not other OPPO products near by. LOVE IT!
Outstanding Quality!
I returned to buying Oppo equipment for this 4K upgrade. I wish I had been buying their players for the last seven years too.I stream most of my movies, but will come back to discs and route streaming through the 203 because of it’s outstanding videoand especially sound processing. Paired with my Denon receiver, the 203 blows you away with its excellent play.I had a minor issue with my player and Oppo customer service resolved it very quickly; I can’t say enough how professionally theywere.So, if you need a 4K upgrade, look no further than Oppo’s 203. You’ll be impressed!
Best DVD player I’ve ever had
I had a friend recommend one to me. These are definitely not inexpensive, but the picture on my UHD tv is amazing playing UHD DVDs.
Three Stars
Not sure if I could ajust darkness in picture to black
It cost more than the regular 4K Blu-ray player but …
It cost more than the regular 4K Blu-ray player but it’s worth it.
Five Stars
Amazing
Five Stars
oppo 203 is awesome
The “U” in “UDP” - stands for “Ultimate”.
I wanted to get a 4K player, even though my TV does do a good job of up-conversion for itself. I have 2 other Oppo players that have served me flawlessly, so there wasn’t any…
and this was my only bad experience. Regardless
Bought on release day from Amazon, kept almost two months. In that time we only had one FW update, but experienced stutters and/or audio blips on every UHD disc, issues with two…
Very good Ultra HD Blu-Ray player.. but not quite perfect.
(Information for the review: I’m currently using the OPPO UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player with an LG OLED 65c6p 4K TV)The UDP-203 is the current top-of-the-line UHD…
The best Universal Disc Player ever!
comments powered by DisqusI had to come here and give OPPO 5 stars.I purchased it through Oppo Digital’s website. I’ve been using my OPPO since early January and I pretty much watch a movie per…
