Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[chriscreep23]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Adjusting the setting in the "Settings Menu" isn't how the Optimizer is activated or at least turned "on". You will need to plug in an HDR10 movie and let it play. Once the movie part is actually playing, you will need to hold down the HDR setting button on your remote until the "Option" menu pops up. At the top of the sub menu, it should say HDR Optimizer "On" or "Off." If it's off, turn it "On" and if it's "On," you are good to go.

To add, make sure you play around with each of the HDR Optimizer TV settings in the "Settings" menu. Those options were made in 2018 and some of the labels are a bit dated. Like the OLED setting is for the player to tone map anything that is 1,000 nit HDR Content or more. After testing all the settings out on my LG C9 OLED, I figured out the TV does a great job tone mapping things higher than 1,000. This is why I have it set at the highest setting, Super High Luminance (1,500 nits). So, you need to play around with those settings till you find the perfect one for your TV.

I am a little bit confused. LG C9 OLED has medium luminance right? So the optimizer should be set at Medium/High right? But you say that it does better tone mapping if you set your Panasonic player at Super High Luminance. How could this be since your TV is below 1, 000 nits?!

[chip75]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Without doing any research for this, I’m betting the tone mapping differs for panel characteristics between OLED and LCD signal handling.

I'd imagine the roll-offs are slightly different as they reach the top end before they start clipping.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by chriscreep23

I am a little bit confused. LG C9 OLED has medium luminance right? So the optimizer should be set at Medium/High right? But you say that it does better tone mapping if you set your Panasonic player at Super High Luminance. How could this be since your TV is below 1, 000 nits?!

I feel like you are getting confused on Peak Brightness vs Tone Mapping. The LG C9’s Peak Brightness is between 700-750 nits. True that it isn’t as bright as an LCD/LED, but it’s honestly very bright, especially in a dark room.

Now, all TVs can tone map higher than their Peak Brightness. Some do it better than others. From what I have experienced looking over and over at a few movies, the C9 does a great job at tone mapping things higher than 1,000 nit HDR content. It starts to have issues right around content with 1,500 nits. This is why I have it set at Super High Luminance.

A good example of this is from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 4K. It’s at the scene when Dumbledore and Voldemort are battling each other. The time stamp is around 1:59:09 or so. When I set the Optimizer on Medium/High (1,000 nits) the spell that Voldemort was casting seemed to have too much exposure to where it looked horrible. Like the posterization or the color gradient seemed a bit off. But when I changed the Optimizer to Super High Luminance (1,500 nits) the exposure went away and the color gradient looked much better!

As I also mentioned in a previous post, these presets (OLED, Medium/High, etc) were made back in 2017, 2018. OLEDs were not great at tone mapping at the time. Now, they have become a lot better. Are they perfect? No, which is why I still believe the Optimizer should be used.

[chriscreep23]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I feel like you are getting confused on Peak Brightness vs Tone Mapping. The LG C9’s Peak Brightness is between 700-750 nits. True that it isn’t as bright as an LCD/LED, but it’s honestly very bright, especially in a dark room.

Now, all TVs can tone map higher than their Peak Brightness. Some do it better than others. From what I have experienced looking over and over at a few movies, the C9 does a great job at tone mapping things higher than 1,000 nit HDR content. It starts to have issues right around content with 1,500 nits. This is why I have it set at Super High Luminance.

A good example of this is from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 4K. It’s at the scene when Dumbledore and Voldemort are battling each other. The time stamp is around 1:59:09 or so. When I set the Optimizer on Medium/High (1,000 nits) the spell that Voldemort was casting seemed to have too much exposure to where it looked horrible. Like the posterization or the color gradient seemed a bit off. But when I changed the Optimizer to Super High Luminance (1,500 nits) the exposure went away and the color gradient looked much better!

As I also mentioned in a previous post, these presets (OLED, Medium/High, etc) were made back in 2017, 2018. OLEDs were not great at tone mapping at the time. Now, they have become a lot better. Are they perfect? No, which is why I still believe the Optimizer should be used.

I have the LCD Sony XF9005 and I have my Panasonic 820 optimizer at Medium/High Luminance. Do you recommend to change it to Super High Luminance?

[chip75]

I think the Optimizer is something is something you can play around and you have the slider to tweak things after you've set the HDR TV Type setting.

[panasonicst60]

Most people that own these players don't know this. You need to use the tone curve to dial in the peak brightness to optimize the player to your panel. This will give you granular adjustment. For example if you have an OLED, stick to OLED setting and use the tone curve to fine tune it instead of changing to other settings like, super High Luminance or others. Adjusting the tone curve will make your panasonic player go hand and glove with your panel.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by chriscreep23

I have the LCD Sony XF9005 and I have my Panasonic 820 optimizer at Medium/High Luminance. Do you recommend to change it to Super High Luminance?

Originally Posted by chip75

I think the Optimizer is something is something you can play around and you have the slider to tweak things after you've set the HDR TV Type setting.

Chip is absolutely right! You have to go through all the HDR Optimizer settings to see which one is the best and go with it.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

Most people that own these players don't know this. You need to use the tone curve to dial in the peak brightness to optimize the player to your panel. This will give you granular adjustment. For example if you have an OLED, stick to OLED setting and use the tone curve to fine tune it instead of changing to other settings like, super High Luminance or others. Adjusting the tone curve will make your panasonic player go hand and glove with your panel.

I just tried the method you described and still not liking that OLED Setting. My C9 does a better job tone mapping it than the player does. I'm not sure what tone curve you are talking about. I was adjusting the Dynamic Range slider if that is what you are meaning. I still like the Super Luminance Setting.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

Most people that own these players don't know this. You need to use the tone curve to dial in the peak brightness to optimize the player to your panel. This will give you granular adjustment. For example if you have an OLED, stick to OLED setting and use the tone curve to fine tune it instead of changing to other settings like, super High Luminance or others. Adjusting the tone curve will make your panasonic player go hand and glove with your panel.

But what measurements are you using to “dial in the peak brightness to optimise the player to your panel”? Or are you just eyeballing it?

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But what measurements are you using to “dial in the peak brightness to optimise the player to your panel”? Or are you just eyeballing it?

Exactly! I feel like the average home theater enthusiast (note I didn’t say Average Joe here) would not have measuring/calibration equipment on hand with them. I feel like the “dialing in” would only work if you had equipment or if Panasonic would create a newer player and have a more updated Optimizer that would allow you to go in increments of day 50 or 100 nits till you got to your TV’s “sweet” point. That’s the only ways I see that would work. Otherwise, just stick to the presets, choose the best one, and leave everything else alone.

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But what measurements are you using to “dial in the peak brightness to optimise the player to your panel”? Or are you just eyeballing it?

I use the test pattern on the Spears & Munsil UHD.

@ PUsokrJosh305 We have chatted a lot a few months ago and I know you prefer preference over reference. So there's really nothing to chat about.

[kevers7290]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

I use the test pattern on the Spears & Munsil UHD.

Should I just go ahead and buy that disc? I have been waiting and waiting after I heard there was a "new version" coming out but it's beginning to seem like vaporware at this point.

[deeppurpleman]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

I use the test pattern on the Spears & Munsil UHD.

@ PUsokrJosh305 We have chatted a lot a few months ago and I know you prefer preference over reference. So there's really nothing to chat about.

Which pattern and how do you use it?

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

Should I just go ahead and buy that disc? I have been waiting and waiting after I heard there was a "new version" coming out but it's beginning to seem like vaporware at this point.

I bought it when it first came out to support them. It's a really nice disc to have. As you know it's a coin flip at this point to buy or not to buy, as a newer version is "coming out soon".

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by deeppurpleman

Which pattern and how do you use it?

Spears & Munsil UHD disc has a basic HDR clipping pattern. Adjusting the tone curve white up(+) will lower your overall image brightness but you will prevent clipping of highlights. Going down(-) on it and it will do the reverse. On my old C8 I leave it on 0 for most movies and -1(Sony) on some others, depending on how the content is mastered.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

I use the test pattern on the Spears & Munsil UHD.

@ PUsokrJosh305 We have chatted a lot a few months ago and I know you prefer preference over reference. So there's really nothing to chat about.

That was more on the subject of DTM. This is a bit different. Those tone curve settings literally says 0 is the intended setting so it doesn’t change what the intended image. Which is why I leave all of them at 0. As I stated, the HDR Optimizer settings were set in 2017/2018. OLEDs and other TVs have improved on tone mapping since then. Which is why my C9 is set at a higher setting than your C8. A slider for the overall HDR settings would have been great.

[deatheats]

Hey all, I’ve got a Sony A80j arriving today, replacing an old LG 1080p OLED and I’m curious what settings I should be using for the optimizer on the 820? Sounds like tone mapping on the A80J is pretty decent and won’t need as much help, are there any adjustments I should be making to this and other 820 settings to create a better viewing experience?

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by deatheats

Hey all, I’ve got a Sony A80j arriving today, replacing an old LG 1080p OLED and I’m curious what settings I should be using for the optimizer on the 820? Sounds like tone mapping on the A80J is pretty decent and won’t need as much help, are there any adjustments I should be making to this and other 820 settings to create a better viewing experience?

The best thing you can do is start with default settings, use the OLED target, and toggle Optimzer On and Off while watching content with high APL scenes and specular highlights. The S&M UHD disc is perfect for this because you can use the demo reel as HDR10 and use 4000 nit version...you will need to disable Dolby Vision in your player settings though.

[teddyballgame]

Originally Posted by deatheats

Hey all, I’ve got a Sony A80j arriving today, replacing an old LG 1080p OLED and I’m curious what settings I should be using for the optimizer on the 820? Sounds like tone mapping on the A80J is pretty decent and won’t need as much help, are there any adjustments I should be making to this and other 820 settings to create a better viewing experience?

Just set the TV type to OLED and you should be good to go. If the player is new you might need to update firmware

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

I use the test pattern on the Spears & Munsil UHD.

@ PUsokrJosh305 We have chatted a lot a few months ago and I know you prefer preference over reference. So there's really nothing to chat about.

So you know exactly what your peak light output and/or tone mapping threshold is for your TV, and you tune it to that? Which pattern? I would like to know more (cue Starship Troopers gif). And what do you set the Optimiser to initially in the player's setup menu? OLED becuz that's what ye have?

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

Spears & Munsil UHD disc has a basic HDR clipping pattern. Adjusting the tone curve white up(+) will lower your overall image brightness but you will prevent clipping of highlights. Going down(-) on it and it will do the reverse. On my old C8 I leave it on 0 for most movies and -1(Sony) on some others, depending on how the content is mastered.

But as the pattern itself has several different nit levels (and accompanying metadata) then which do you use?

I HAS QUESTIONS