Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Sky_Captain]

Just bought a refurbished multiregion UB820 for a decent price.

Let the games begin!

[George.P]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Warning to anyone who wants to buy parts from Panasonic -

I ordered a replacement drive for my UB9000 previously but cancelled when they informed it it would be a 6 month wait.

I ordered again a few days ago and was charged and the item shows as "IN STOCK" right now but a day later they updated it for my order as backordered with a ETA of May at this time. No real ETA to be sure. The website is a total joke and scam and they must put it up there for laughs.

https://panasonic.encompass.com/item...nic/TXP0036-A/


I want the replacement drive so I'm keeping the order and if anything EVER shows up I will be not only thrilled but also pleasantly surprised !

Encompass is not a scam company. I have ordered a variety of parts from them over the past 20 years and they are quite reputable. But they rely on manufacturers regarding availability and their "in stock" references often refer to reporting from the manufacturer (which is often not accurate). They will, however, get you the part if it is available. And if the part turns out to be unavailable, they will update the website so it cannot be ordered in the future. Also, kudos to them for selling parts direct to the consumer that dealers and manufacturers would never sell direct.

[highwayinthesky]

Originally Posted by DominantSe7en

This was exactly it, both the tv and player were trying to process the DV. Thanks so much for the info and fix! From reading on avs it seems like as long as you don’t need Dolby Vision VRR it’s fine to use v1 and it’s easy enough to revert the change on that g3 input if needed.

Glad it's working for you! Just got my G3 recently, very glad someone figured out how to fix that.

[HanBrolo77]

Originally Posted by highwayinthesky

Glad it's working for you! Just got my G3 recently, very glad someone figured out how to fix that.

Got really excited hoping this would solve the flickering issues on Kino Lorber Dolby Vision discs, but no luck. I have read that the issue could be a mistimed DV layer, so I’m probably going to have to wait for a player update for these to display properly. In the meantime I’m curious if switching to V1 will improve the quality of other DV discs.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by George.P

Encompass is not a scam company. I have ordered a variety of parts from them over the past 20 years and they are quite reputable. But they rely on manufacturers regarding availability and their "in stock" references often refer to reporting from the manufacturer (which is often not accurate). They will, however, get you the part if it is available. And if the part turns out to be unavailable, they will update the website so it cannot be ordered in the future. Also, kudos to them for selling parts direct to the consumer that dealers and manufacturers would never sell direct.

They might be reputable but it seems like for many trying to get parts from them is a joke. Basically it’s a product of the CE industry outsourcing roles to third parties. I’m not necessarily blaming them if they have bad information but I’ve had it happen more than once trying to get parts from them only to be later told the part is unavailable.

[David M]

Originally Posted by bl4ck

Did you remember date production, white sticker?

UB820/824
I know about
TXP0032 - 2019y
TXP0125 - 2021y
TXP0034 ?

UB420/424
TXP0031 - 2019y
TXP0124 - 2021y
TXP0033?

UB9000/9004
TXP0035 - 2019y
TXP0126 - 2021y
TXP0036
TXP0036A

I assume that drives can be installed from a lower series or higher without any problem to higher or lower model.

I tried this today (I broke the drive on an 820 and tried to swap in the drive from a 420). The player can talk to the drive OK, but the size of the plastic mounts on the bottom of the 420 vs the 820 drives are different. The 820's are shorter because the drive in that model sits little plastic feet (for acoustic dampening?). You'd likely have to swap the plastic casing on the drives. Or just break the excess plastic off, or something...

[tama]

Just ordered another 820 from BB since it was on a small sale. 75 bucks I believe. It better last as I'm getting tired of replacing supposedly quality products that end up only lasting 2-3 years at most.

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

Has anyone managed to use AR glasses connected to the UB820 forwatch 3D blu rays?

Originally Posted by bhampton

I don't think so...

If I had my PS4 here I understand you can setup the original PSVR and then hot swap the HDMI cable to a blu ray player but my PS4 is at my daughters house so I can't do the experiment currently. That's not AR though but then again the 3DBDs would likely be better suited for VR.

I bought a PS4 with the VR headset only to use for watching Blu-ray 3D. As far as I know, it only works if you use the disc player inside the PS4 itself.

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

I've got the PS4 and PSVR V2 for this purpose. Apparently, you can't hotwire the PSVR V1 anymore after a firmware update.

I don't know what version of headset I have, but I did do a update on the PS4 the moment I had it all hooked up and after that the 3D stopped working. It turns out I had to go into the menu system (or somewhere) to allow the 3D to work again. But, I don't know if that's what you're referring to.

NOW FOR SOME INTERESTING NEWS!

Trying to figure out how to watch Blu-ray 3D without having to use a computer or game counsel by simply hooking up the headset directly to a regular Blu-ray player that's capable of 3D.

From my research, you can try the Sony HMZ-T3W. If you want to do it without wires, you would also use the DVDO Air3 for wireless 3D HDMI.

I also learned the headsets from Japan are better than the ones in the U.S. due to the use of quantum dots at least that's the way I understand it and I beleive it's capable of full HD (don't quote me on that!) So no more screen door effect like what I see with the PS4 headset.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

I've noticed gaining a stable of players and actually using them all makes them all last longer. If your 820 still plays Blu rays defintiely use it for Blu rays and find another UHD player. I learned that hard lesson when I burned my first PS3 out giving it all the gaming and movie duties. Now I watch DVDs on one player, HD DVDs on another, Blu ray and UHD on the Panny, only games on consoles. I actually hate selling off old players they can always be useful. I have a friend with like 11 different turntables.

I have several players hooked up as well and they all have their purposes. Why not, if you have the room and the inputs? As you say they get lighter use and it's like having a multidisc player, which is really nice when you watch a mix of TV shows, movies and formats.

[Geoff D]

Yep, I've got an OPPO 203, Panny 820 and Sony X800 on rotation, all verr handy for doing multi-disc comparisons like I did in my reviews. Plus an old multi region Panny 310 just in case, and a PS3 on the floor even though I haven't touched it in, oh, six years at least.

[rroeder]

I have the 820, an X700 and the original Samsung player, I never had playback issues with it I only replaced it to get DV. I don't use the other players only the 820 but keep them for backup, I did breakout the X700 last year tho to play the 4K77/80/83 files which played perfectly on it.

[Dx2tl]

Originally Posted by Ghisy

Has anyone experienced problems playing the "Top Gun" (OG) 4K UHD with the 820?

My copy has a bunch of glitches and artifacts right from the opening credits. I've checked, the disc is clean and scratch-free. Could this be a disc problem? (it freezes on my Sony X700 btw)

The same thing happened me but the back of my disc was COMPLETELY ****ed out of the box, smudges, scratches, residue. I ordered a new set and it played flawlessly.

[Dx2tl]

Originally Posted by rroeder

I have the 820, an X700 and the original Samsung player, I never had playback issues with it I only replaced it to get DV. I don't use the other players only the 820 but keep them for backup, I did breakout the X700 last year tho to play the 4K77/80/83 files which played perfectly on it.

Can the UB820 not play the those 4K77 files?

[Dx2tl]

I don’t see how anyone can buy the UB9000 over a Reavon X110. If you’re gonna buy a Panasonic, the $400 UB820 is 99% the same. If you’re going to spend the extra $500-$600, get the incredible Reavon X110 which is region free, and plays SCAD.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Dx2tl

I don’t see how anyone can buy the UB9000 over a Reavon X110. If you’re gonna buy a Panasonic, the $400 UB820 is 99% the same. If you’re going to spend the extra $500-$600, get the incredible Reavon X110 which is region free, and plays SCAD.

Look inside a 9000 vs a Reavon or Panasonic 420. I have a higher-end system. I didn’t want a cheap plastic player in my rack. I don’t think the Reavon is worth its asking price. I also was able to get both of my UB9000 for well under $1000. Now the Magnetar is definitely better quality player than the Reavon.

I also bought a Sony X800M2 for $250 that satisfies the high resolution audio.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by Dx2tl

Can the UB820 not play the those 4K77 files?

The 820 is awful for file playback, someone said it outputs everything at 60hz

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

The 820 is awful for file playback, someone said it outputs everything at 60hz

Couldn't that be fixed with a firmware update?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

Couldn't that be fixed with a firmware update?

Maybe, if Pannysonic gave a shit. Their Uniphier-based 4K models are absolute dogshit for file playback.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Maybe, if Pannysonic gave a shit. Their Uniphier-based 4K models are absolute dogshit for file playback.

you said the S word......

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Maybe, if Pannysonic gave a shit. Their Uniphier-based 4K models are absolute dogshit for file playback.

I don’t use mine for file playback but I believe that was done at the request of the studios at the time because pirated files were so prevalent. I’d like to know the percentage of users that actually used the feature. When I used one of my older players for accessing music on a home server I just found the player interfaces clunky.