The smoke is still clearing from the format war. Those still seething at Sony or not ready to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon can spend a wad of hard-earned cash on Oppo’s new upconverting DVD player.

“We’ve leveraged our years of experience in up-converting technology, not to mention the latest innovations from leading video and audio partners, to release our most powerful, highest-performing player yet,” said Jason Liao, vice-president of product development at OPPO Digital. “Home theatre enthusiasts can enjoy their DVD and music collections at a whole new level with the DV-983H before investing in an entirely new Blu-Ray library.”

That does sound enticing, but some might still find the $399 price tag for the DV-983H hard to swallow, when Toshiba doorstops/HD DVD players are plentiful for cheap.

However, this unit has its share of merits. The DV-983H boasts Anchor Bay VRS (Video Reference Series) video processing, 7.1-channel audio and 1080p HDMI upconversion. Other highlights include aspect ratio conversion and multi-level zooming, which allows users to stretch to full screen or crop the unsightly black borders.

Supporting USB content as well as Kodak Picture CD, Windows Media Audio and other music/video/picture CD formats, the DV-983H is available today from Oppo and authorized resellers.

Check out more shots (including internal!) in the slideshow.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.