Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Hello all..I have the Panny 820 player. Was getting ready to watch Escape from New York 4k tonight and at 1st the thing refused to read the disc, then I finally get it to load but I have no menu options. The background is there and music is playing but no options to select. I tried just hitting select or play but no luck. Any ideas?

I have that issue but it's only with one disc "The Rape of the Vampire" (1968) where there are no options to select. However, my copy of "Escape from New York" (1981) from Shout! Factory works just fine.

[jmpage2]

Follow-up comment to my earlier issue with the new 4K release of Aliens.

I started the disc from the beginning and got the issue again at the exact same point in playback it would be very helpful if someone else could validate it to determine if it is a layer-change/player problem or some kind of other bug.

1. 820 is connected directly to my LG C9 77 TV which then sends audio to my RZ50.
2. Configured for Dolby Vision.
3. Playing back the Extended Edition of Aliens with the Atmos audio track.
4. At about the 53:30+ second mark the audio is gone and FF/REW and chapter skip will not get it back.
5. RZ50 continues to show Atmos track which to me indicates a problem in the Panasonic 820.
6. If I shut everything down and turn it back on the audio is working again.
7. Haven't tested if the problem occurs if I just skip up to this point vs. playback from beginning.
8. Haven't tested with DV disabled.
IMG_3781.jpg

[sapiendut]

If it is repeatable at the same spot then it’s that particular disc. I have played the Aliens disc on both my 820 and 9000, no problem

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

If it is repeatable at the same spot then it’s that particular disc. I have played the Aliens disc on both my 820 and 9000, no problem

I have a very large collection of BDs and have never seen a disc problem where audio would go silent and then come back after rebooting the player.

So, I'm pretty skeptical.

I will try it with DV disabled and I will also try it on my PS5. If it's a "disc problem" then it should fail on the Sony as well.

[sapiendut]

Then don’t ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer. It seems like you already have the answer. So why ask the question? Besides, BD is VERY different from UHD BD. 4x more dense compression yields to mathematically 4x more prone to read errors.

[pjl69]

I went ahead and bought UB9000. It seemed to play the Scandinavian release of The Godfather 4K without problem (at least the spots I tested), altough it took some time to load or read the disc at the beginning. The same disc gave me trouble with Sony X800M2... so far looking good. Updated the firmware from 1.69 to 1.76.

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Then don’t ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer. It seems like you already have the answer. So why ask the question? Besides, BD is VERY different from UHD BD. 4x more dense compression yields to mathematically 4x more prone to read errors.

You didn't provide an answer though. You speculated the disc was defective even though I can't see a scenario where a problematic disc causes the audio track to completely drop and not come back. We've all experienced situations where players have trouble playing a disc but it is always accompanied by pixelation, temporary audio dropout, sync problems, etc. Not the audio track going silent and then staying silent.

I just re-tested the same disc with DV disabled and it made it through the problem transition unscathed so it seems likely to me that this is another DV layer change issue or something similar.

If I can get another copy of the disc it would 100% verify that the problem is either the 820 playing this disc back with the latest GA firmware version or that my particular player is having some unusual problem with this disc when DV is enabled.

I'll see what it would take to get AMZ to exchange my copy.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

You didn't provide an answer though.

I haven't watched my copy of Aliens yet.

The 50-ish minutes does sound like a layer change problem but that's still most likely a bad disc. I had a bad disc of Blue Beetle the other day and also Anatomy of a Murder. In both cases the new disc solved the issue.

I will go watch Aliens for you. It's the only one of the new AI horror show movies I haven't watched yet.

You should try without Dolby Vision as that is buggy. I don't have DV capability so I can't speak to that possibility.

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I haven't watched my copy of Aliens yet.

The 50-ish minutes does sound like a layer change problem but that's still most likely a bad disc. I had a bad disc of Blue Beetle the other day and also Anatomy of a Murder. In both cases the new disc solved the issue.

I will go watch Aliens for you. It's the only one of the new AI horror show movies I haven't watched yet.

You should try with Dolby Vision as that is buggy. I don't have DV capability so I can't speak to that possibility.

It doesn't seem to be a problem when DV is not being used and I haven't tested the theater cut of the movie either. So I don't think you will see the problem unless you enable DV and play the extended edition.

I don't normally view with DV but the reviews of the disc indicated the DV mastering was particularly good and I wanted to see it for myself vs. just using the LG C9s built in HDR.

I've got another copy of the disc on the way and that is going to prove if the issue is a single defective copy of the movie or a player issue.

[bhampton]

I do not have a DV capable system and I didn't have any problems around the 50 min mark.

Still have more of the movie to go but got up for snacks. Good Luck.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

Follow-up comment to my earlier issue with the new 4K release of Aliens.

I started the disc from the beginning and got the issue again at the exact same point in playback it would be very helpful if someone else could validate it to determine if it is a layer-change/player problem or some kind of other bug.

1. 820 is connected directly to my LG C9 77 TV which then sends audio to my RZ50.
2. Configured for Dolby Vision.
3. Playing back the Extended Edition of Aliens with the Atmos audio track.
4. At about the 53:30+ second mark the audio is gone and FF/REW and chapter skip will not get it back.
5. RZ50 continues to show Atmos track which to me indicates a problem in the Panasonic 820.
6. If I shut everything down and turn it back on the audio is working again.
7. Haven't tested if the problem occurs if I just skip up to this point vs. playback from beginning.
8. Haven't tested with DV disabled.
Attachment 301941

I have had issues with how the C9 will send audio out from time to time. Like Goblet of Fire's audio goes out at a certain moment when I am listening through my C9's speakers yet it's fine with my receiver.

I would suggest just using the 2nd HDMI Port that's for audio on your Panny 820 and plugging that directly into your RZ50 rather than going through the C9. That way, you take the C9 out as the "middle man" and you will get direct audio to your receiver.

I would try that and see what happens.

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I have had issues with how the C9 will send audio out from time to time. Like Goblet of Fire's audio goes out at a certain moment when I am listening through my C9's speakers yet it's fine with my receiver.

I would suggest just using the 2nd HDMI Port that's for audio on your Panny 820 and plugging that directly into your RZ50 rather than going through the C9. That way, you take the C9 out as the "middle man" and you will get direct audio to your receiver.

I would try that and see what happens.

That's a fair suggestion and eARC could be contributing to this problem, however, I've played over 100 4K BDs this way and never experienced this issue before.

Also keep in mind that when eARC is being used there is no audio coming through the C9 speakers at all, all of the audio including full bit-rate uncompressed tracks are sent through the connection down to the AVR.

The replacement disc from AMZ is in and playing now, to get up to the 53 minute mark then I can verify if the "disc is bad" or if this is some other problem.

[jmpage2]

Replacement disc has the exact same problem where audio drops out and won't come back at the ~53:30 minute mark on the extended cut with the dolby vision turned on in the player.

So much for "bad disc".

I can re-test with a secondary connection from the BD player to the AVR but it's going to be a hassle to run those cables and reconfigure the connection so that eARC is not being utilized for the audio.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

That's a fair suggestion and eARC could be contributing to this problem, however, I've played over 100 4K BDs this way and never experienced this issue before.

Also keep in mind that when eARC is being used there is no audio coming through the C9 speakers at all, all of the audio including full bit-rate uncompressed tracks are sent through the connection down to the AVR.

The replacement disc from AMZ is in and playing now, to get up to the 53 minute mark then I can verify if the "disc is bad" or if this is some other problem.

Yes, but LG TVs have been known to have issues with eArc. That's why I'm saying you need to connect the player's HDMI Audio Port to the receiver. This will then eliminate anything from the chain that could prevent the audio from coming through properly.

[BNex99]

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I wasn't sure what to search for.

My 820 has been failing to load some 4K discs lately. Others will load up after I open and close the tray two or three times, and still others will load and play without a hitch.

Standard Blu-rays and DVD load up fine.

Is this happening to anyone else? I've had the player for about 4 1/2 years.

[Telemachus]

I would return that Aliens AI monstrosity and buy a better restored disc: problem solved. The universe is trying to save you from watching garbage.

But also pressed in Mexico discs are a huge hit or miss on quality, Panasonic is more sensitive to errors, so their awful QC down there is going to give you fits more often on a UHD (Blu ray will be less noticable). Solution: stop buying pressed in Mexico discs. I mostly have, it's not that hard. Buy an Aliens import and you should have no problems.

[mutateinsanely]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

I would ALWAYS have a back up means of watching movies if one thing or another fails. You may regret selling the player.

Also, I don't use Plex since it has a problem with Dolby Vision playback (an error with the color space being reproduced) and I need proper DV reproduction.

I have a 4k HDR projector, but with particular HDFury devices, you can still get Dolby Vision through an RGB "tunneling" trick and a false EDID sent to a Dolby Vision capable device. The display thinks it is receiving a perfectly viable 12 bit HDR (in other words, HDR12 rather than HDR10) signal and the DV playback device does all the dynamic HDR metadata tone mapping internally for the display as it thinks it is talking to a Low Latency DV display.

Streamed, disc, or MKV Dolby Vision visibly looks a lot better than HDR10 material. For the price of an HDFury, I now have a Dolby Vision projector.

I'm currently using a base Zidoo Pro with external hard drive storage for my MKV backups. There is also no need to transcode with the Zidoo or Dune boxes.

Nice. You're one suave fkr.

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

I would return that Aliens AI monstrosity and buy a better restored disc: problem solved. The universe is trying to save you from watching garbage.

But also pressed in Mexico discs are a huge hit or miss on quality, Panasonic is more sensitive to errors, so their awful QC down there is going to give you fits more often on a UHD (Blu ray will be less noticable). Solution: stop buying pressed in Mexico discs. I mostly have, it's not that hard. Buy an Aliens import and you should have no problems.

Yet another claim that these are "bad discs" and that a different copy will solve the problem... rather than the more likely situation in which the disc is mastered in a way which the 820 is having problems with.

As to the rest of your rant, the restoration of the film has its hits and its misses but overall it is an improvement over the earlier 1080P release which was already quite good.

Essentially it is JCs statement that if he had been able to make the movie with less film grain he would have done so.

[roar]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

I would return that Aliens AI monstrosity and buy a better restored disc: problem solved. The universe is trying to save you from watching garbage.

But also pressed in Mexico discs are a huge hit or miss on quality, Panasonic is more sensitive to errors, so their awful QC down there is going to give you fits more often on a UHD (Blu ray will be less noticable). Solution: stop buying pressed in Mexico discs. I mostly have, it's not that hard. Buy an Aliens import and you should have no problems.

That is a tough pill to swallow and really is letting Pansonic off the hook imo, but importing is one solution for sure. I guess the only other one is to use another player. If the problem can be managed through software it would be nice to see Pansonic address it, if it is a full on hardware issue, it is what it is, afaik from past comments the only option I've got for Criterion movies that won't read is to use another player.

[Tim n Tempe]

I'm buying a second UB9000 for my forever backup player--I hear this doesn't do well with DVD. I just turn off all the processing from the player, and let my TV do the work...they all look fine to me, no issues.

Why am I buying a second one?

This thing is a miracle of a player.
I have the 'Children of the Corn' Divimax edition from Anchor Bay.
I love the disc because it is the only one that has the correct, non-nerfed audio.
It died, it failed. I tried 6 other players and they would not read it at all.
I was ready to throw it out, and just for fun tried my UB9000.

It played it perfectly. I tried it multiple times in the player just to make sure it was not a fluke. Played it like it was a new disc every single time. I was beyond impressed when I tried a couple other "dead discs" and they played too.

Crazy! but the optical drive must be made of miracles, and magic.

I'm beyond impressed.