Preamps, Oppo's, and Video Quality

[scubadiver]

Another set of "stupid questions" from me....

I'm not 100% I know how to ask these questions, so here goes nothing...

Recently, I bought an Oppo 103D.  I'm sure most (if not all) of the people here know all about it....  It is currently hooked up via both HDMI ports to provide a dedicated video feed direct to my projector (bypassing my receiver) and sound direct to my receiver.

All other video sources I use are ran through my receiver which has 4 HDMI in, 1 HDMI out.  (My projector has two HDMI inputs.)

I've had the Oppo about 3 weeks now, and am really impressed with the video quality...  I noticed my PQ watching bluray disks was significantly better than all my other video sources.  Kinda night and day better.  I just assumed this was because bluray disks typically have significantly better PQ than my cable provider.

The other day, I was playing around with my new Oppo - and for grins - decided to route my AT&T U-Verse box through the HDMI input on the back of the Oppo (instead of through my receiver) and see of the Darbee engine can improve the PQ at all.  I was amazed...  It was a vast improvement.  My TV Guides/Menus were easier to read, colors were better, blacks were blacker, etc.  It was like somebody went out and bought me a new projector.  And don't get me wrong, its not like the PQ before was awful, the Oppo just made it that much better!

I had the same result with my AppleTV.  No comparison...  Running it through the Oppo was a huge improvement.

So here are my questions...

Is the Oppo 'really' processing the video to produce a better image for me, or is my receiver killing it? 
If the Oppo is improving it, is there a preamp that will do the same? 
What, if anything, do the current lineup of Emotiva preamps do to improve PQ?

If I am not providing all the info you need to provide input, kindly let me know...

Thanks to all for your help with this post and all my other posts over the past few weeks....


Regards,

Bob

[Gary Cook]

The first thing I would try is connecting the sources direct to the projector. That will eliminate the "is my receiver killing it" question.

As for the question "What, if anything, do the current lineup of Emotiva preamps do to improve PQ?" the answer is nothing. They simply pass through the video while processing the audio.


Cheers
Gary

[stiehl11]

If the "D" part of the Oppo 103D (Darbee Darblet) is processing the signal from your U-Verse Box, then what you're likely noticing the Darbee versus straight signal.

[sct]

Yep, the Darbee processing is giving you the improved picture quality. Sit back and enjoy, that Oppo is one heckuva good unit!

SCT

[garbulky]

Of interest to me. I always assumed that the picture quality of blu rays would be universally the same with different players especially if they don't have some special enhancement features. Because it's 1080p digita signal and our tv's only do 1080 p. So pixel to pixel right? But for some reason this has not been the reality. I have a sony BDP 5100 which is superior to my ps3 and some other sources I've tried. It also has way better motion in videos. It feels smoother and simply more natural. Don't ask me why as I would assume there should be ONE picture decoding and it should be the exact same regardless.