Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by Number_6

Lol, just my luck.

So I bought this player based on the glowing reviews to replace my Sony that glitches and locks up when playing 4K discs.

No sooner to I get the thing and hook it up now it seems everyone is reporting problems with this player, and with playing 4K discs to boot.

I haven’t had a chance to actually pop in a 4K disc and try this player out but if I’m going to have the same problems others now seem to be having I may have to just return it and get rid of all my 4K discs as there doesn’t to be a player on the market that can actually handle this format.

Got mine last week, no problems so far *Knock on wood*

[CompleteCount]

Originally Posted by carpanafilms

Your issues look anything like this?

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]



At first I thought it was a double layer disc issue but has happened with triples. Only with UHD though. Brand new or previously watched.

Exactly the same as the problems I had.

[dcx4610]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Having had this player over a month now, can I just say the remote layout sucks donkey balls. Years of Sony remotes have been good to me. My sausage fingers are not forming the correct muscle memory and that damn Netflix button is like a magnet. I also miss a subtitle button. Rant over, buying the alternate official remote

Alternate remote is pretty much a must for this player. Just don't overpay for it. Panasonic appears to have sold their overstock remotes to off brands as universal remotes. It's literally just a sticker over the Panasonic logo. I think I paid $10.

[dcx4610]

As for people reporting glitches, it's the most popular player on the market with enthusiasts so you are going to hear about issues more than others.

I've thrown 100s of discs at it and the only time I've ever had a problem, it was with video distortion. Turns out, ALL of those dics had minor scratches on them usually caused by double stacked tracks from Disney. You may have to hold it up to the light to see it but if you are experiencing video cut outs or other issues in general, check your disc.

Just because it's new doesn't mean anything. Discs are typically packaged by humans and they are going to make mistakes. If it's a Marvel/Disney movie, it's almost inevitable with the stacked discs.

If the disc looks perfect, it's probably the disc at that point. Perhaps some players are less sensitive to scratches but I've never had an issue with a clean disc on my Panny.

Keep in mind, we are talking about 100s of gigabytes of data that the laser is having to read on the fly. If there is a single scratch, it's going to cause a hiccup. There's way less room for error on a UHD disc than a Blu-ray and especially a DVD which could sometimes play without issues with tons of scratches.

[Number_6]

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah, I know I'm overreacting without even trying it yet. I guess I'm just still a little stunned that I had to pay $400 to replace a new Sony player I bought last year that hasn't had a whole lot of use.

[biggquis]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Alternate remote is pretty much a must for this player. Just don't overpay for it. Panasonic appears to have sold their overstock remotes to off brands as universal remotes. It's literally just a sticker over the Panasonic logo. I think I paid $10.

Do you happen to have a link?

[dcx4610]

Originally Posted by biggquis

Do you happen to have a link?

Yep. Got mine for $10.75 shipped.

Go on eBay and search for "N2QAYA000131". You'll want the one that looks like this:



Some literally just have a sticker over the Panasonic name, some have it completely scrubbed off and some have it rebranded. Just depends if that matters or not to you.

[Bond84]

Originally Posted by PissedOffPeoN

I opened up and cleaned with some iso alcohol... prob the wear and tear over years i prob marathon over 8000 hours.

Originally Posted by CompleteCount

I picked up a bottle of Isoprophyl for cleaning, too.

Would you guys care to share how you cleaned the unit? I've had my player since practically the very first batch sold, and its starting to glitch on me more and more frequently lately. I thought I was just getting bad discs but I'm not so sure anymore after seeing these recent complaints.

I also have a Sony x700 that's been giving me some issues so maybe it is the discs after all.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Yep. Got mine for $10.75 shipped.

Go on eBay and search for "N2QAYA000131". You'll want the one that looks like this:



Some literally just have a sticker over the Panasonic name, some have it completely scrubbed off and some have it rebranded. Just depends if that matters or not to you.

The UB820 remote is really bad it's worth getting one of these literally even if you feel like you don't need it. The UB900 remote was premium like that it's to bad Panasonic cheapened out with the UB820 remote but it's likely because of the UB9000 model.

[MovieReviews331]

I got this unit to replace my Sony X700 that had started to glitch. No regrets. I was really apprehensive about spending $400 on a 4K player, but decided to pull the trigger.

After seeing other reviews, I was thinking I may see a slight increase in picture quality with this player, which there may have been, but what blew me away was the upgrade in sound. Perhaps my X700 was configured wrong, but I had no idea how good my speakers could sound. I was blown away.

Also, no glitching yet on this player even on discs my X700 could never make it through.

[FilmPrick]

I have a very standard PNY USB 3.0 flash drive that my 820 is claiming is incompatible. Does that seem right? Happened while it was empty and while I had a single MKV file on it.

[deatheats]

Hate to say it, but file playback is not one of the Panasonic’s strong suits. Definitely suggest using a different device for that.

[FilmPrick]

Originally Posted by deatheats

Hate to say it, but file playback is not one of the Panasonic’s strong suits. Definitely suggest using a different device for that.

Lame. Was looking for an easy way to play the atmos demos. I did hear that m2ts format is needed to actually hear the audio, but started with an MKV since that's at least called out in the manual. Anyway, neither works..

[Naiera]

It'll play back everything at 60Hz, so it's not suitable for files based solely on that.

[J Nada]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Yep. Got mine for $10.75 shipped.

Go on eBay and search for "N2QAYA000131". You'll want the one that looks like this:



Some literally just have a sticker over the Panasonic name, some have it completely scrubbed off and some have it rebranded. Just depends if that matters or not to you.

Suggest you go for N2QAYA000172 - that version has the HDR Setting button which is missing from the 131.

[PissedOffPeoN]

Originally Posted by carpanafilms

Your issues look anything like this?





At first I thought it was a double layer disc issue but has happened with triples. Only with UHD though. Brand new or previously watched.

Mine still does that with all my 4ks at menu no doubt..

[ronand]

The N2QAYA000172 is the ub9000 remote and the best one to get. The other is for the UB900 and while it is OK to use it does lack some functions.

[CompleteCount]

Originally Posted by Bond84

Would you guys care to share how you cleaned the unit?

I cleaned it by buying a new one.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by J Nada

Suggest you go for N2QAYA000172 - that version has the HDR Setting button which is missing from the 131.

[Show spoiler]

Or at least one with those skip buttons.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by ronand

The N2QAYA000172 is the ub9000 remote and the best one to get. The other is for the UB900 and while it is OK to use it does lack some functions.

Mine doesn't have the HDR Settings button, but I don't mess with that ish anyway