Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Jack Priest]

Originally Posted by hallowdrew

Do you guys manually pull down the front panel each time you use the ub820 player, or do you just let the player push it down when the tray opens? The little mini booklet that comes with it seems to suggest that the best practice if for you flip it down by hand.

I had to push mine back up the other day, I had finished watched something, then got up and went to the player and noticed the flap had stayed down the entire time...

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by Bunty2

Yeah, that's really cutting it since you can't find HDMI cable at my local Walmart for just $3.

It’s just trolling. You can get a high quality HDMI cable from monoprice in the $12-15 range, no need to buy anything more expensive.

[FuzzyPuffin]

Is it just me or does the 820 interface kind of suck? Unless I am missing something, to see time remaining, you have to press the Status button twice. On the remote, this button is a black square in the middle of three other black squares, so you can’t find it by touch, either.
The interface with the glossy bevels also looks stuck in the early 2000s.

Yes, very minor nitpicks and I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but my older Philips did not have these problems, and also did auto Dolby Vision switching. Only reason I upgraded was my dad needed a player with DV, and I figured I’d upgrade for the better upscaling and pass him the Philips.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPuffin

Is it just me or does the 820 interface kind of suck? Unless I am missing something, to see time remaining, you have to press the Status button twice. On the remote, this button is a black square in the middle of three other black squares, so you can’t find it by touch, either.
The interface with the glossy bevels also looks stuck in the early 2000s.

We're lucky to get a status button and the HDR info screen.

[Jack Priest]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPuffin

Is it just me or does the 820 interface kind of suck? Unless I am missing something, to see time remaining, you have to press the Status button twice. On the remote, this button is a black square in the middle of three other black squares, so you can’t find it by touch, either.
The interface with the glossy bevels also looks stuck in the early 2000s.

Yes, very minor nitpicks and I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but my older Philips did not have these problems, and also did auto Dolby Vision switching. Only reason I upgraded was my dad needed a player with DV, and I figured I’d upgrade for the better upscaling and pass him the Philips.

Also no button for subtitles, you have to go through options to find it.

[Geoff D]

Just pick up one of the betterer remotes on eBay. Problem solved.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPuffin

Is it just me or does the 820 interface kind of suck? Unless I am missing something, to see time remaining, you have to press the Status button twice. On the remote, this button is a black square in the middle of three other black squares, so you can’t find it by touch, either.
The interface with the glossy bevels also looks stuck in the early 2000s.

Yes, very minor nitpicks and I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but my older Philips did not have these problems, and also did auto Dolby Vision switching. Only reason I upgraded was my dad needed a player with DV, and I figured I’d upgrade for the better upscaling and pass him the Philips.

You’ll see real upgrade in video quality if you use my setup video you can find somewhere on the internet.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Jack Priest

Also no button for subtitles, you have to go through options to find it.

Even with the 9000 or 900 remote the subtitle button brings up the on-screen menu, it doesn't cycle, but you can go up and down through tracks.

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by chip75

Even with the 9000 or 900 remote the subtitle button brings up the on-screen menu, it doesn't cycle, but you can go up and down through tracks.

You hold down the sub button. Long press

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Mobe1969

You hold down the sub button. Long press

To cycle? cool beans.

[sapiendut]

To turn on and off

[arcky]

Just bought an 820 and a bunch of 4k UHD blu-rays during the recent Amazon sale, but was disappointed to find out that subtitles are extremely limited on these discs for some reason. My wife is Brazillian so adding Portuguese subs is typically a requirement. Then I went down the rabbit hole of external subs and found my way here.

If all I care about is unlocking the external sub option, and don't care about changing regions or fully unlocking the player, what's my easiest/cheapest method?

If it is becoming a contributing member to RegionFreedom - does anyone know how much I'm meant to enter in the $ field on the application?

Or is there a more straightforward process? Thanks all!

[sapiendut]

While never trying it, with firmware 1.66 you can use external .srt file.

[shinobipopcorn]

Quick question, I have a UB820 connected to a Sony A9S. I popped in a disc after I got it all set up and there's snow on the right side...

https://i.imgur.com/p1L3T1L.jpg

Is this the player or the cable? I don't think it did this before, so maybe the cable?

[arcky]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

While never trying it, with firmware 1.66 you can use external .srt file.

where would someone go to download v 1.66? Only finding 1.69

[arcky]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

While never trying it, with firmware 1.66 you can use external .srt file.

I am reading this about 1.66:

How to Use External Subtitles (with region free modified Firmware) (info from a user post)
This was reported to work from UB9000/UB820 owners with region-free modified 1.66 FW.
(So far no reports this worked from users of the standard firmware.)

So I was able to find the official 1.66 FW from Panasonic's website, but I assume this wont be the 'region-free modified' version. Is that what I need RegionFreedom.com for?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by shinobipopcorn

Quick question, I have a UB820 connected to a Sony A9S. I popped in a disc after I got it all set up and there's snow on the right side...

https://i.imgur.com/p1L3T1L.jpg

Is this the player or the cable? I don't think it did this before, so maybe the cable?

Looks like cable sparkle.

Originally Posted by arcky

where would someone go to download v 1.66? Only finding 1.69

Try the Asian sites, but I can't remember if they host older versions.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by arcky

So I was able to find the official 1.66 FW from Panasonic's website, but I assume this wont be the 'region-free modified' version. Is that what I need RegionFreedom.com for?

I think that's the only way, unfortunately, the standard firmware only works with Asian players.

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Just pick up one of the betterer remotes on eBay. Problem solved.

Any particular model?

[ronand]

I have a feeling that it may be an urban myth that you can get external subs with Chinese fimware - many have tried and failed. It does work with regionfreedom (if you can get it) or rattlebyte firmware (I've tested that).