Has anyone seen this about the OPPOs??

At the request of the studios, new firmwares and newer OPPO players will no longer play iso files.
(line #3 of the release notes)

http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-93/bdp9x-firmware-64-0119B.aspx

"The Studios" want full control over how we playback what we already own.
Imagine that.

Yup. Got into it with an Oppo rep on Facebook over it. They just kept repeating the party line.

Ridiculous. There are many legitimate reasons to play ISO files. It's like the assumption is that we're all watching cam versions of "Hugo" or something. This will make me think twice, when the time comes, to buy another Oppo. It also means my player will remain frozen in its current firmware unless this is reversed.

I need to get the latest firmware that still lets you read them I'm on dial up and have not done any upgrades to mine.

so what will be next? removing playback of flac, mkv, avi? rejecting CD/DVD/BD recordable mediums playback?
reporting over network the owners who's use homemade or downloaded stuff? so much as for flagship.
would so call "studios" will supply original advanced musical releases for retailing in affordable cost thus compensating
the needs for consumers in such option as use of .iso format? my guess - not.

Otto, don't tip to the studios and media player manufacturers. They may end up taking it seriously :yikes

Well, guess I'd better pick one of these up soon, while this "added feature" is still only in the beta firmware.

Just stop with the december 2011 firmware upgrade to retain ISO playability. Don't blame Oppo, they are a small company being pressured by the big Hollywood conglomerates, what choice do they have?
Perhaps someone will write code to restore ISOs in the future.

jefe1 said:

Just stop with the december 2011 firmware upgrade to retain ISO playability. Don't blame Oppo, they are a small company being pressured by the big Hollywood conglomerates, what choice do they have?
Perhaps someone will write code to restore ISOs in the future.

Click to expand...

You always the choice to tell someone to shove it up their ass. The company has spent all their time making sure this is a "universal" player. Through their own choices, it no longer is one.

Our president once said of something or other that it was like using a hatchet when only a scalpel was needed. The industry is great at making sure we are using the world's biggest hatchet.

Per the request from the studios, the ISO file playback function has been removed in this firmware version. The previous firmware had the ability to play ISO files, but it was an undocumented function and was never officially announced or supported. Future firmware version will no longer support ISO playback.

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Rather stupid considering such firmware/hardware can be modified since the dawn of regular DVD all those years ago. Also one can play .ISO on one's computer.

I too am not about to watch some weird cam movie. I want to buy the real thing on BR or DVD. Also, the reason folks do not go to the movies like they used to is the amount of total CRAP that they expect folks to pay more than $12.50 to see. Folks have changed their viewing habits by Not going to the movies and waiting for them to show up on HBO or Showtime - not downloads. As much as Netflix or Amazon paid streaming is thought as the future model going forward. I suspect more often then not folks just watch movies on Cable or Satellite T.V. - as that's why we pay extra for such premium services.

Hollywood forgot how to make movies with emotional impact regardless of content. All we get is hatred, sexism and exploding cars as "entertainment" these days. These "paydays" for the major actors, studio executives, etc., involved keep the Hollywood machine of fakeness going and only adds more negativity into to the world. No wonder folks don't go to movies anymore.

We also never needed "megaplexes" either with 20 screens. What we should have kept was many different theaters with one or 2 screens conveniently around town within walking distance near everyone's homes, as what we used to have. That made it easy and fun to go to the movies.

The old business model for entertainment is completely broken and will never be fixed by attacking its potential costumers. If the studios do not reinvent a more decentralized business model with smaller budgets and more diverse content, going to a physical movie theater should go the way like the DVDs and other physical media they also seem to want to get rid of.

Confused, why blame oppo and get into it with them? What power do they have over multi-million dollar studios that are run by asswipes. The hollywood studios are no better than the music industry, I am convinced they are all purely evil with evil intent.
not a phrase, see John Todd on utube. Oppo is only protecting them selves against civil liability, and mitigation that could take years and millions. It's so much better to just give them what they want, you can't win against coruption and what amounts to a bunch of people who worship money and wealth. Look at how they live! Ever been to Bevery Hills? You will be arrested for driving on the st if you look out of place there. they live, in secluded gaurded mansions and have no clue what goes on in the world. What should we expect? Just what we got and no more! So, go out and buy movies and support it, while you allow them to regulate you. what can we do? any effort will be a waste.
[/U

I am gross and perverted,
I'm obsessed n' deranged
I've exsisted for years but very little has changed,
I'm the tool of the government,
and industry too,
for I am destined to rule and regulate you,
I may be vile and pernnicious
but you can't look away
I'll make you think I'm delicous
with the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozing out from your tv set!

You will obey me while I lead you
and eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day we don't need you
Don't go for help!.......No one will heed you!
your mind is totally controlled
it has been stuffed into my mold
and you will do as you are told
until the rights to you are sold,

Tha's right folks, don't touch that dial!!
art reflects life!!

Personally, I don't believe Hollywood is necessarily evil with evil intent, but the end result is the same. In pursuit of $$$ in a dwindling market as folks can watch home created content on YouTube for instance, bigger is not always better. From the movie studios the old well, "we're just reflecting life" while true on some level is also BS. If I want to see misery I can watch the news or walk around town. Hollywood used to be more of a dream factory of what could be instead it's just stupid now. Again, I'm cool with all sorts of content and idea's if there is a reason and intelligence to learn about something or just be entertained. I'm not being entertained by movies these days.

This is my first post here. I have been a fan of Oppo since my purchase. I was so impressed by the service, the constant firmware updates, and now to find out they are using their strongest asset to essentially remove something post purchase seems like an onerous use of the trojan horse a la Sony. Unfortunately I am not convinced it will stop here. Imagine the next driver update on your DAC suddenly won't output DSD over USB because the industry says no. Audiophile companies don't have deep pockets and we should ALL be seriously alarmed at this.

Bleedink said:

This is my first post here. I have been a fan of Oppo since my purchase. I was so impressed by the service, the constant firmware updates, and now to find out they are using their strongest asset to essentially remove something post purchase seems like an onerous use of the trojan horse a la Sony. Unfortunately I am not convinced it will stop here. Imagine the next driver update on your DAC suddenly won't output DSD over USB because the industry says no. Audiophile companies don't have deep pockets and we should ALL be seriously alarmed at this.

Click to expand...

hey I agree 100% but, we must not let this get into politics or allow it to lead there, that it most likly will try to go. Lets be careful what we discuss, we do have pm.

Sorry I guess I didn't realize I had said something that hadn't been said or alluded to above. I'm not being snarky, I just am not seeing much difference between what I said and what others have said except that I didn't add any expletives. It is my first post so maybe you guys are seeing something I am not.

Bleedink said:

Sorry I guess I didn't realize I had said something that hadn't been said or alluded to above. I'm not being snarky, I just am not seeing much difference between what I said and what others have said except that I didn't add any expletives. It is my first post so maybe you guys are seeing something I am not.

Click to expand...

I didn't think you said anything at all wrong. I think we're a talkative, passionate bunch here who can get a bit tangential, but we whip each other back into place when need be. We don't tolerate political discussion because we'd rather relate on a musical level, not on what we think of the president or whatnot. Again, though, not seeing anything political from you at all.

I agree that this is a potential bad omen, or at least a shark-jumping moment for Oppo. They no longer can be trusted to provide a "swiss army knife" type of universal device. My concern is exactly yours - what's next?

A lot of us do our homebrew stuff here as a hobby, whether it's the quad preservers or the upmix creators. Those who do it for their own use, from material they own, are not breaking any laws, and it's honestly none of Oppo's business whether others deal in more legally murky areas. They should not be able to go back and lessen the functionality of an item we already paid full price for.

To put it in layman's terms, this really sucks...

I was pondering replacing my 83 with a 90 series just to get this ISO capability. Now it's pointless.

As for "freezing the firmware", well, you spend $500+ on a Blu-Ray player, freeze the firmware to insure that it plays ISO's, and now you may have an expensive player that may not be able to play future Blu-Ray commercial releases without "the latest firmware".

Good grief, this industry keeps shooting itself in the foot. Blame Oppo, well, maybe, but I'm sure they are not happy about it.

Well, I have done 2 things today.

1. I've purchased an Oppo, and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. And am also hoping no future firmware upgrades will become necessary for me once I get it up to the last one that allows .iso.

2. I've sent an email of disapproval to Oppo to let them know my feelings on their removal of .iso playback in future firmwares.


Even though some may have reported getting nowhere with Oppo, I recommend everyone that is a paying customer of Oppo let them know your feelings. It is important for a company to know how their customer feels, and so we owe it to them to allow them the opportunity to know our thoughts and feelings on their products.

I've sent the following email:

I have finally stepped into the world of Oppo. I've been saving and working towards buying a player for some time, and have placed the order today. And one of my reasons for the time of my purchase, is due to wanting to avoid the future firmwares.

And so I wanted to take a moment to say to you, shame on you!

Shame on you!

I repeat for effect, Shame on you!

We live in a time where technology is always advancing, and more than ever we need to embrace the possibilities that technology brings us. And I think that the ability to playback .iso images of discs is a marvelous idea that really opens possibilities on how one can store and use their music and movie collection.

I would think that as a company, you understand the wonderful things that can be done with technology. And how having full universal abilities really opens up the doors to the possibilities.

So I'm a bit confused at why you would back down to the short sighted views of the studios. First of all, how are you doing anything wrong by having .iso playback ability, that you would even need to consider it's removal? An .iso file is just a file, just like an .mp3 is a file, and a .flac is a file. You wouldn't consider withdrawing .mp3 playback ability, would you? Then why .iso?

Not to mention, you are taking away an ability from people that have already paid for it. While the .iso image playback might not have been documented, it is a feature that is known about. If someone buys a player that can do something, how is it fair to modify their player to remove that feature? How is it fair to take away value from a paying customer's product?

Also, what business is it of the studios what someone does with their personal property? If I buy your box, what I do with it once I get it in my door is my business, and mine alone. What business does anyone have of how I use my purchased discs and my purchased player? And yes, one has the choice not to apply the firmware, but it seems you can strong arm people into it, if a required fix for something else is in that firmware. And that is unfair, to force someone to devalue their player, take away a feature, a feature that they may have taken into consideration with their purchase, in order to provide a needed fix. Shame on you!


And so, I say shame on you! Shame on you for damaging your player! Shame on you for robbing the paying customer of a feature they bought with their player! Shame on you for backing down to the studio's unreasonable request! Shame on you!

When you back down to the studio, you are doing so on behalf of all your paying customers. And as customers, we deserve better.

I am disappointed in you. And I hope you will take some time to rethink your decisions, and come to your senses, and instead of cowering in fear and backing down from an industry that is out of control with their power grabs, will on behalf of all of your paying customers, take a reasonable stand, stand up to the studios, and tell them NO! We're not gonna take it!

Stand up for our rights to use our property as we please!

Stand up for the right to not censor your technology!

Stand up for technology, for advancement, for our rights!

Do the right thing.

I agree, AoQ, and I will be following your lead.

OQG: I like multiplexes and mindless comedies. Real life is too depressing to watch on screen.

I don't really get the picture. What's so illegal about ISO playback? Isn't the player just reading a rather common file format that even WinRar can handle on a computer? Or could it be that the studios said: "Take it away or no more hints on how to play our out-of-previous-spec Java menus."? I have my own personal opinion about who's the pirate in the context...