Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[agoofykindasuperman]

Originally Posted by Apari

I guess I'll have to buy the 820 then. Been looking for a UHD player from which I could watch netflix in DV and with Atmos sounds and I think this is the first to do that.

So too will the Apple TV 4K when it gets the new TVOS 12 update in September.

[Mr. Cinema]

can you turn off the front display?

[curlyjive]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema

can you turn off the front display?

Yes, its under high quality or pure audio, or something like that where you wouldn't think to look.

[tommyboy81]

so whats the difference between the 820 and the 900 I see at Best Buy? Besides the 900 being a little cheaper? No DV?

[Robert Zohn]

Correct, one advantage of the UB820 over the UB900 is the UB820 will be Dolby Vision capable with a firmware update that is expected by October or hopefully sooner.

The UB820 is also HDR10+ ready and has Alexa and Google Play voice control capable.

Best of all the UB820 has an new exclusive HDR10 Optimizer feature so you can select the best HDR tone mapping that matches your TV or projectors peak luminance ability.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Best of all the UB820 has an new exclusive HDR Optimizer feature so you can select the best HDR tone mapping that matches your TV or projectors peak luminance ability.

Would it not be more correct to say HDR10 Optimizer since the Optimizer will be disabled with DV?

[sapiendut]

They can call it “beeboo gaga” as ling as we know what’s that for and it works well, that’s the only thing that matter.

[Robert Zohn]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Would it not be more correct to say HDR10 Optimizer since the Optimizer will be disabled with DV?

I agree, and had not thought about this before you mentioned it. Panasonic calls it the HDR Optimizer, which as you pointed out is not the most accurate description. I edited my post to include the word HDR10.

[evan201]

May have been asked already, but does the optimizer only map highlights or does it map low-lights too?

[Dave___B]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

I agree, and had not thought about this before you mentioned it. Panasonic calls it the HDR Optimizer, which as you pointed out is not the most accurate description. I edited my post to include the word HDR10.

Hi Robert ! Thanks for all your comments/inputs/intel on the player, very helpful !
I managed to find one at a local store here in France, and have been enjoying my UB820 for the last week now. Two things I noticed:

The 7.1ch Audio Reformatting "off" button... doesn't work..
I turned it off and tested with different discs: every 5.1 tracks are converted in 7.1 (if PCM is selected of course). Granted, most of the tracks I tested are DTS-HD MA, so maybe the option works only with Dolby Digital ? (which would be weird...)

Also, when playing a 24p file on USB or a server, it automatically converts it to 60p, which off course does create some judder, and I couln't find a way to keep the 24p of the original file during playback...

Other than that, can't wait for the DV update, that player is OUTSTANDING

[curlyjive]

Originally Posted by madfloyd

Setup my 820 last night for use with my JVC RS4500. Turned on the HDR optimizer and adjusted the curves a bit and wound up with a spectacular image.

Basically I'm adjusting the HDR gamma curve (not converting to SDR) and outputting HDR to my HDR mode on the projector (bypassing my Lumagen's HDR-SDR conversion as well).

I was using Thor Ragnarok as my test disc and I think I got the best picture I've ever seen with this title. Details in shadows are fantastic as is very fine details throughout. I am seeing a very satisfying amount of light without washing out colors.

I'll have to feed it more discs (test some more) but very happy with the unit so far.

What did you end up with for your optimizer settings?

[xfileed916]

Hooked up my 820 last night (thanks for the super fast deliver, Robert!) and very briefly got to check it out. Works great thus far. One title I was interested in checking the HDR optimizer on was the 4K Blu of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When watching on my Oppo 203 fed to an LG 65E6, I noticed several scenes (the minister of magic announcing the start of the Quidditch World Cup as well as the appearance of the spirits during the final showdown at the end) where the highlights were completely blown out in a major way. I was hoping that the HDR Optimizer would correct for this problem and found that it did not. When tinkering with the optimizer settings, I was able to recover the highlight info, but by doing that, the regular highlights in the rest of the movie looked drab, dull, and wrong. Any ideas what the issue is on this title that I'm missing?

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by xfileed916

Hooked up my 820 last night (thanks for the super fast deliver, Robert!) and very briefly got to check it out. Works great thus far. One title I was interested in checking the HDR optimizer on was the 4K Blu of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When watching on my Oppo 203 fed to an LG 65E6, I noticed several scenes (the minister of magic announcing the start of the Quidditch World Cup as well as the appearance of the spirits during the final showdown at the end) where the highlights were completely blown out in a major way. I was hoping that the HDR Optimizer would correct for this problem and found that it did not. When tinkering with the optimizer settings, I was able to recover the highlight info, but by doing that, the regular highlights in the rest of the movie looked drab, dull, and wrong. Any ideas what the issue is on this title that I'm missing?

What setting did you choose in the main menu settings? "OLED" I presume?

[ggp759]

Originally Posted by xfileed916

Hooked up my 820 last night (thanks for the super fast deliver, Robert!) and very briefly got to check it out. Works great thus far. One title I was interested in checking the HDR optimizer on was the 4K Blu of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When watching on my Oppo 203 fed to an LG 65E6, I noticed several scenes (the minister of magic announcing the start of the Quidditch World Cup as well as the appearance of the spirits during the final showdown at the end) where the highlights were completely blown out in a major way. I was hoping that the HDR Optimizer would correct for this problem and found that it did not. When tinkering with the optimizer settings, I was able to recover the highlight info, but by doing that, the regular highlights in the rest of the movie looked drab, dull, and wrong. Any ideas what the issue is on this title that I'm missing?

That title is a 4000 nit master if am not wrong. Isn't what you are experiencing what is supposed to happen? Lower the APL so those very bright highlights are not clipped anymore? Something similar to what LG is doing on their 2017 and 2018 OLED line with dynamic tone mapping. engaged?

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by ggp759

That title is a 4000 nit master if am not wrong. Isn't what you are experiencing what is supposed to happen? Lower the APL so those very bright highlights are not clipped anymore? Something similar to what LG is doing on their 2017 and 2018 OLED line with dynamic tone mapping. engaged?

The images posted here seemed to reflect that the high nit areas were brought back into detail without dimming the rest of the image.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

The images posted here seemed to reflect that the high nit areas were brought back into detail without dimming the rest of the image.

Correct, that is what's happening.

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by DJR662

Correct, that is what's happening.

OK. The other user seems to be having another issue.

My main thing with tone mapping choices of LG lately, is I'd almost rather the screen stay bright and clip some highlights, which was Sony's choice. It seemed the 820 could give a blend of both with the OLED setting, but I do not want the entire image dimmed just to better show a cloud or lightning strike detail.

My 820 is sitting on my porch

[ggp759]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

The images posted here seemed to reflect that the high nit areas were brought back into detail without dimming the rest of the image.

Oh ok did not know that. I was just wondering what is the point of this double tone mapping ( uhd player and tv) if you end up with a lowered APL anyway. Thanks for that.

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by ggp759

Oh ok did not know that. I was just wondering what is the point of this double tone mapping ( uhd player and tv) if you end up with a lowered APL anyway. Thanks for that.

Yeah, my take on the images was it was different than LG 2016, where it looked at the high nit areas and adjusted them while not affecting the overall image.

I do not prefer dimming the whole screen down to preserve +1000 nit highlights.

I assume with metadata there is some way for it to determine areas of the image that are above your set limit in the player menu and it applies HDR Optimizer to them only? Or I may be speaking from my arse...

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

OK. The other user seems to be having another issue.

My main thing with tone mapping choices of LG lately, is I'd almost rather the screen stay bright and clip some highlights, which was Sony's choice. It seemed the 820 could give a blend of both with the OLED setting, but I do not want the entire image dimmed just to better show a cloud or lightning strike detail.

My 820 is sitting on my porch

Go for it!

From what I have seen on my setup, the 820 brings back details without dimming the screen.