Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by handoffbarry

Isn't the HDR optimizer only relevant when watching HDR content? I thought it did nothing when using DV.

Yes, you are correct. I totally forgot that it was a Dolby Vision problem and not a HDR10 problem.

[ksc2303]

Originally Posted by pbz06

Sony TVs only display full 4:4:4 in game/graphics picture modes. In their other modes, they roll it off.

Panasonic players, when outputting 4:2:2 require 12bit upsampling for some reason.

Personally I use 4:4:4 10bit output and keep my TV in Graphics mode

Originally Posted by teddyballgame

Graphics mode really does look nice ..once you get used to full chroma it's hard to go back I'm happy to give up most of the superfluous processing, but being able to toggle motionflow to 1 if I know there's going to be some panning scenes would be nice. That's probably the only thing

Thank you y'all, I think this solved a problem with my LG B8 oled that's been driving me nuts for almost 2 years now. There's something that happens just above pure black that makes dark areas pixelate and if close enough to letterbox bars can make them temporarily flash. LG sent techs out last year and they dismissed me by saying I was watching SD content upscaled to 4k (I wasn't). I've been playing with different settings in the meantime and with a really problematic disc it's sometimes better to turn down brightness or even contrast to have some mild black crush hide the pixelation and flickering. After seeing your posts I remembered that the b8 has it's PC mode with 4:4:4 subsampling. I activated that and the 820's 4:4:4 output and it essentially fixed the problem. There's still some noise in the picture if you get close enough but it's no longer distracting. Also curiously if I got the 4:4:4 subsampling activated, changing brightness controls no longer cause a black screen to distort by clicking up or down on the default of 50. Gonna try taking photos and document what's going on with my issue after dark tonight.

[Geoff D]

There must be something in the PC mode that deactivates whatever processing is causing the near-black overshoot. Interesting.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

There must be something in the PC mode that deactivates whatever processing is causing the near-black overshoot. Interesting.

I’m a little confused. I thought going to PC Mode and getting full 4:4:4 chroma was only useful for Console/PC gaming and wouldn’t make a difference for watching movies since they are 4:2:0 chroma. And I can’t remember correctly but does this near black overshoot happen when all LG OLEDs or just certain ones?

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I’m a little confused. I thought going to PC Mode and getting full 4:4:4 chroma was only useful for Console/PC gaming and wouldn’t make a difference for watching movies since they are 4:2:0 chroma. And I can’t remember correctly but does this near black overshoot happen when all LG OLEDs or just certain ones?

I don't think our eyes are able to tell a difference unless pausing and scrutinizing with test patterns. However, in this case I think it's more of because all the devices working together with those settings, and not any kind of choking happening.

The near black is an issue with all OLEDs. In particular, with SDR and lower bitrate content. Seems better with HDR and 10-bit content.

Depending on the year of your TV, and depending on what brand (each manufacturer handles it slightly different), you'll see varying results. Some of the issues can be masked by watching with some ambiant lighting.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by pbz06

I don't think our eyes are able to tell a difference unless pausing and scrutinizing with test patterns. However, in this case I think it's more of all the devices working together with those settings, and not any kind of choking happening.

The near black is an issue with all OLEDs. In particular, with SDR and lower bitrate content. Seems better with HDR and 10-bit content.

Depending on the year of your TV, and depending on what brand (each manufacturer handles it slightly different), you'll see varying results. Some of the issues can be masked by watching with some ambiant lighting.

Ah, this makes perfect sense. I feel like some of the older LG models, like the C6, C7, and C8 had a lot more issues with this. From what I can tell with my C9, it's not as bad. I'm sure it has gotten even better with the CX and C1.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I’m a little confused. I thought going to PC Mode and getting full 4:4:4 chroma was only useful for Console/PC gaming and wouldn’t make a difference for watching movies since they are 4:2:0 chroma. And I can’t remember correctly but does this near black overshoot happen when all LG OLEDs or just certain ones?

Using whatever output of upsampling the chroma should make only the tiniest difference, if any, to the ultimate state of the picture quality itself, presuming that both the player and TV have good quality upsampling.

It's more the PC mode being able to 'turn off' the processing that causes the near black junk on matey's OLED that's the intriguing part. Something that virtually all consumer TVs do in their regular viewing modes is roll off chroma resolution, that even though we're already dealing with quarter resolution chroma in the source material (as encoded in 4:2:0) they reduce the chroma sharpness yet further. I've never understood why, and I've never aksed knowledgable people about it, it's just always been there. But perhaps that chroma roll-off has something to do with near-black issues on OLED?

[ksc2303]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It's more the PC mode being able to 'turn off' the processing that causes the near black junk on matey's OLED that's the intriguing part. Something that virtually all consumer TVs do in their regular viewing modes is roll off chroma resolution, that even though we're already dealing with quarter resolution chroma in the source material (as encoded in 4:2:0) they reduce the chroma sharpness yet further. I've never understood why, and I've never aksed knowledgable people about it, it's just always been there. But perhaps that chroma roll-off has something to do with near-black issues on OLED?

Well I was going to try taking pictures of PC mode on and off with a hdr10 pattern I had on usb... And I discover instead that PC mode heavily crushes blacks.. However changing picture settings with the tv made virtually no difference to the test pattern. Eventually I tried the 820's picture settings and was able to actually adjust the test pattern... The only way I got an accurate test pattern was only with the combination of using 2+ brightness and 1+ system gamma. Played one of my problematic discs at this point and got the noise and flashing again but maybe slightly better. Honestly confused at this point. I'm tempted to leave PC mode on but worry how much it's modifying things so I guess next step is to look at some more HDR test patterns. I did try both RGB modes to make sure the tv wasn't expecting PC black levels but that doesn't seem to be the issue either... It's definitely PC mode rather than the 4:4:4 setting on the 820 affecting things though

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by ksc2303

Well I was going to try taking pictures of PC mode on and off with a hdr10 pattern I had on usb... And I discover instead that PC mode heavily crushes blacks.. However changing picture settings with the tv made virtually no difference to the test pattern. Eventually I tried the 820's picture settings and was able to actually adjust the test pattern... The only way I got an accurate test pattern was only with the combination of using 2+ brightness and 1+ system gamma. Played one of my problematic discs at this point and got the noise and flashing again but maybe slightly better. Honestly confused at this point. I'm tempted to leave PC mode on but worry how much it's modifying things so I guess next step is to look at some more HDR test patterns. I did try both RGB modes to make sure the tv wasn't expecting PC black levels but that doesn't seem to be the issue either... It's definitely PC mode rather than the 4:4:4 setting on the 820 affecting things though

I’m not sure if it makes a difference but is your LG calibrated?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

I know this is the wrong thread but I've had a couple other questions here regarding my new OLED 77" and Panasonic 820.

Everything is working great but I'm having an issue that I don't understand.

I have my cable box and player running into my receiver and from there to the TV on HDMI ARC 2.

I get sound from my player and sound from cable.

I just hit the Netflix button on my LG remote and while I get a picture-- the volume I'm getting is from cable............... no volume at all from the Netflix app... any ideas?

There should be an input button on your AVR's remote like the other chap posted. On a Denon it's TV Audio. ARC or eARC will need to be enabled in the LG's Sound>Sound Out. There should also be an option with your AVR to enable some kind of auto switching, so when you use your TV's Apps it switches from your cable box or player.

[ksc2303]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I’m not sure if it makes a difference but is your LG calibrated?

No, not professionally anyway. HDR settings mostly on default except the obvious stuff like noise reduction and motion interpolation off.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by ksc2303

Well I was going to try taking pictures of PC mode on and off with a hdr10 pattern I had on usb... And I discover instead that PC mode heavily crushes blacks.. However changing picture settings with the tv made virtually no difference to the test pattern. Eventually I tried the 820's picture settings and was able to actually adjust the test pattern... The only way I got an accurate test pattern was only with the combination of using 2+ brightness and 1+ system gamma. Played one of my problematic discs at this point and got the noise and flashing again but maybe slightly better. Honestly confused at this point. I'm tempted to leave PC mode on but worry how much it's modifying things so I guess next step is to look at some more HDR test patterns. I did try both RGB modes to make sure the tv wasn't expecting PC black levels but that doesn't seem to be the issue either... It's definitely PC mode rather than the 4:4:4 setting on the 820 affecting things though

What do you mean adjusting the test pattern and what do you mean "got an accurate" test pattern?

What test pattern and are you certain it's "accurate" to begin with? Where are you plugging in the USB and do you know if your TV reacts to USB the same way it would with HDMI input? Same with the Panasonic 820, if you're connecting the USB to that.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by ksc2303

Well I was going to try taking pictures of PC mode on and off with a hdr10 pattern I had on usb... And I discover instead that PC mode heavily crushes blacks.. However changing picture settings with the tv made virtually no difference to the test pattern. Eventually I tried the 820's picture settings and was able to actually adjust the test pattern... The only way I got an accurate test pattern was only with the combination of using 2+ brightness and 1+ system gamma. Played one of my problematic discs at this point and got the noise and flashing again but maybe slightly better. Honestly confused at this point. I'm tempted to leave PC mode on but worry how much it's modifying things so I guess next step is to look at some more HDR test patterns. I did try both RGB modes to make sure the tv wasn't expecting PC black levels but that doesn't seem to be the issue either... It's definitely PC mode rather than the 4:4:4 setting on the 820 affecting things though

Ah. Yeah. That'd be why the near-black artefacting/flashing is being ameliorated, if it's crushing black. Though I believe that was LG's own answer to the problem with some firmware(s) that they issued for some of their OLED models.

[ksc2303]

Originally Posted by pbz06

What do you mean adjusting the test pattern and what do you mean "got an accurate" test pattern?

What test pattern and are you certain it's "accurate" to begin with? Where are you plugging in the USB and do you know if your TV reacts to USB the same way it would with HDMI input? Same with the Panasonic 820, if you're connecting the USB to that.

Yeah, I should of looked that up first. I'm using Mehanik HDR10 test patterns I got from AVS. Specifically the black level v3 pattern. This is what the pattern looks like with usb straight into tv:


This is the USB plugged into ub820 with tv in PC mode:


And after using the Panasonic picture adjustments:

[badcatsclaws]

Anyone recommend a better remote alternative for UB820?

[Cruel Angel]

Originally Posted by badcatsclaws

Anyone recommend a better remote alternative for UB820?

Better than the standard one that is included?

I use this one: N2QAYA000131

[WITCHCULT]

Originally Posted by Cruel Angel

Better than the standard one that is included?

I use this one: N2QAYA000131

I also use this one (for my 420). Much better.

[Riggins1]

I’m experiencing slight flickering on most discs. Especially 1080p blurays. The update didn’t help. Is it my tv (OLED CX) or some setting that’s the issue here?

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Riggins1

I’m experiencing slight flickering on most discs. Especially 1080p blurays. The update didn’t help. Is it my tv (OLED CX) or some setting that’s the issue here?

If it is most discs then it may simply be your cable.

[Riggins1]

I guess it’s worth a shot. I’ll buy a new cable and try that.