Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Mobe1969]

I've heard here and avs forum Panasonic's are well known for 4k to HD 709 conversion.

[spider-neil]

Going to be a choice of UB820 or the X800M2

Will wait for reviews of the X800M2 before taking the plunge.
To be honest, most of the 4K stuff I get on iTunes but for my absolute favorite ever movies: Matrix, Blade Runner (80s), Into the Spider-Verse, I want in the highest quality possible.

[Robert Zohn]

Originally Posted by jsil

Hi, Robert Zohn

Do you think Panasonic will add more apps like Vudu etc?

Yes I do expect we'll see VUDU and a few other apps added by this fall if not sooner. No guaranty as each app requires negotiating for the license to add the app to the Smart menu.

[nachoju95]

Originally Posted by mogwai_macabre

Would you guys recommend this player for a 1080p (Epson 5030) projector owner? I'm in need of a new Blu-ray player, and figure I may as well spring for a 4K player. Also interested in playing 4K discs just for updated transfers (I already own a number of discs). Other features like the quality upscaling and subtitle shifting appeal to me as well.

I just want to make sure I'm not going to run into problems playing HDR content on a non-HDR projector. Seems like the HDR optimizer should take care of that? I'm aware the player is overkill at the moment, but I'll be updating to a 4k projector someday (maybe next hardware refresh round?).

What do you mean by subtitle shifting? To lower the lighting of the subtitles? Or put other subtitles that are not included in the disk?

[mogwai_macabre]

Originally Posted by nachoju95

What do you mean by subtitle shifting? To lower the lighting of the subtitles? Or put other subtitles that are not included in the disk?

Moving the subtitle position up (or down). I mask my screen when watching widescreen movies, and want to move the subtitles up into the picture (usually that's the default position, but not always). I've read this player can do that?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by mogwai_macabre

Moving the subtitle position up (or down). I mask my screen when watching widescreen movies, and want to move the subtitles up into the picture (usually that's the default position, but not always). I've read this player can do that?

Yes it can.

[WutDaFunk]

Originally Posted by mogwai_macabre

Moving the subtitle position up (or down). I mask my screen when watching widescreen movies, and want to move the subtitles up into the picture (usually that's the default position, but not always). I've read this player can do that?

It does, but you have to keep in mind that if there's a part in the movie where the subs are moved to the top, that will be raised, too. That's how it was for me, anyway.

[Geoff D]

Yes, if you're moving the subs upwards relative to where they're positioned at the bottom of the screen then if the subs are encoded towards the top of the screen at whatever point (so as not to obscure an important part of the image or burnt-in location titles etc) they will also be shifted up accordingly. You can't get around that when using this function on the Panny or the OPPO.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by mogwai_macabre

Would you guys recommend this player for a 1080p (Epson 5030) projector owner? I'm in need of a new Blu-ray player, and figure I may as well spring for a 4K player. Also interested in playing 4K discs just for updated transfers (I already own a number of discs). Other features like the quality upscaling and subtitle shifting appeal to me as well.

I just want to make sure I'm not going to run into problems playing HDR content on a non-HDR projector. Seems like the HDR optimizer should take care of that? I'm aware the player is overkill at the moment, but I'll be updating to a 4k projector someday (maybe next hardware refresh round?).

I've not tested the 4K to 1080p conversion on my 820, but I would be surprised if any other player will do it better. Just be sure to set the player for REC 709/SDR/1080p and I believe you can/should use the HDR Optimizer with these settings. Adjust the luminance slider accordingly; remember, the higher you turn it up, the brighter the image but it can reach a point to where it starts clipping too much, so it will be about compromise for enough light and highlight info. I would also suggest using high lamp with the iris wide open on your Epson if at all possible - the more lumens the better for tone mapping.

Now, I don't know enough about the 5030, but on the older 1080p JVCs there were color setting modes to where one could get 88-90% DCI coverage so something to think about if you're able to calibrate which would allow you to use 2020 depending on how it comes out. My older JVC RS4910 made this worthwhile. If not or too much of a hassle, just stick with 709.

[Member-425016]

Please, please tell me that the 9000 has Dynamic Range Conversion like the 900 has!!

[docrog]

New to this thread, so I hope the question hasn't been previously asked. Have any UB820 owners been able to successfully receive Dolby Atmos from Netflix with the UB820's app? If so, what specific AVR is in your AV system? The Yamaha RX-A3050/3070 only receives DD 5.1 (for known Netflix Atmos titles), so I'm looking to upgrade to an AVR which will take advantage of the UB820's Netflix app with Atmos. Thanks for any assistance!!

[jwort93]

Originally Posted by docrog

New to this thread, so I hope the question hasn't been previously asked. Have any UB820 owners been able to successfully receive Dolby Atmos from Netflix with the UB820's app? If so, what specific AVR is in your AV system? The Yamaha RX-A3050/3070 only receives DD 5.1 (for known Netflix Atmos titles), so I'm looking to upgrade to an AVR which will take advantage of the UB820's Netflix app with Atmos. Thanks for any assistance!!

While I have the UB9000, not the UB820, I've gotten Atmos from the internal Netflix app on both a Denon X2400H, and a Denon X4500H.

[docrog]

Originally Posted by jwort93

While I have the UB9000, not the UB820, I've gotten Atmos from the internal Netflix app on both a Denon X2400H, and a Denon X4500H.

Thanks for that information. It seems to be in completely in keeping with the experiences of other Denon AVR users. I'm most inclined to remain with Yamaha and I'm trying to see if their latest AVR (RX-A3080) finally works similar to the Denons. And, yes, the 9000 should function identically to the 820 in this regard.

[Fasteddie516]

How about getting Atmos on the Amazon Prime App (Jack Ryan Series)?

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by mogwai_macabre

Would you guys recommend this player for a 1080p (Epson 5030) projector owner? I'm in need of a new Blu-ray player, and figure I may as well spring for a 4K player. Also interested in playing 4K discs just for updated transfers (I already own a number of discs). Other features like the quality upscaling and subtitle shifting appeal to me as well.

I just want to make sure I'm not going to run into problems playing HDR content on a non-HDR projector. Seems like the HDR optimizer should take care of that? I'm aware the player is overkill at the moment, but I'll be updating to a 4k projector someday (maybe next hardware refresh round?).

Yes this is exactly what I do. I have the 5030UB with the UB820 and it looks GREAT. The HDR Optimizer won't help with that. When you first put in a 4K disc you are going to get a fairly dark image as a result of the HDR to SDR conversion. You need to find the setting: Dynamic range conversion Adj. Move the slider up to reach the right amount of brightness. I suggest using a blu-ray of the same title in another blu-ray player also hooked to the projector as a reference and flick back and forth. You will need to set it from 4-8 depending on your projector setting. I had to put it all the way up to 8. Everything looks amazing. Specifically Starship Troopers, The Mummy, and the Karate Kid.

[adamjankowski]

I am in desperate need of help.

I just got the UB820 player upon recommendation that it would greatly help the picture quality of UHD/4k Blu-rays since I kept encountering drastically dark 4k Blu-rays compared to regular Blu-rays. This seems to have helped correct that issue, for the most part.

However, for the life of me, I CANNOT get the audio to work on my player in conjunction with my receiver. The receiver is an older Yamaha RX-V630 and worked great with my Sony X800 player. It connected to the player via a single coxial audio cable. However this UB820 model only accepts HDMI or optical cord. I picked up an optical cord, but I am not sure about the correct settings for this, as there are many audio settings in the menu of the player. I have played around with the menu options, but I have to be missing something as there has to be a way for this work. The instruction booklet doesn't even mention all the audio options shown in the actual player menu, either.

Can anyone please help me? I am happy with the picture quality, but am clueless how to to get the audio to work and come through my amplifier/speakers.

[Mobe1969]

I'm pretty sure if you use separate hdmi audio out it won't do HDR over video. I read at avsforum.

[sapiendut]

Also check the receiver making sure that the optical has been assigned properly

[Clark Burk]

Originally Posted by adamjankowski

I am in desperate need of help.

I just got the UB820 player upon recommendation that it would greatly help the picture quality of UHD/4k Blu-rays since I kept encountering drastically dark 4k Blu-rays compared to regular Blu-rays. This seems to have helped correct that issue, for the most part.

However, for the life of me, I CANNOT get the audio to work on my player in conjunction with my receiver. The receiver is an older Yamaha RX-V630 and worked great with my Sony X800 player. It connected to the player via a single coxial audio cable. However this UB820 model only accepts HDMI or optical cord. I picked up an optical cord, but I am not sure about the correct settings for this, as there are many audio settings in the menu of the player. I have played around with the menu options, but I have to be missing something as there has to be a way for this work. The instruction booklet doesn't even mention all the audio options shown in the actual player menu, either.

Can anyone please help me? I am happy with the picture quality, but am clueless how to to get the audio to work and come through my amplifier/speakers.

I have not seen a receiver with component and S-video inputs in some time. First recommendation would be to get a new 4k capable receiver with the newer audio codecs.
Your best bet is to spend a few hundred and get a new receiver. You should however be able to get the 820 to output to your current receiver using the separate analog outputs. R-C-L-SR-SL-SUB connected from the 820 to similar inputs on the receiver. You will need to change the audio setting in the menus to switch output to analog. This will require 6 audio interconnects. This will give far better sound than using the coax that you had been using.
I strongly recommend that you bite the bullet and get yourself a new receiver. Now is a great time to buy as you can get last years models at close out prices since new receivers are about to come out.

[Pgcmoore]

Originally Posted by adamjankowski

I am in desperate need of help.

I picked up an optical cord, but I am not sure about the correct settings for this, as there are many audio settings in the menu of the player. I have played around with the menu options, but I have to be missing something as there has to be a way for this work. The instruction booklet doesn't even mention all the audio options shown in the actual player menu, either.

Can anyone please help me?

you can try to set the optical audio output on the ub820 menu to either bit stream, pcm, lpcm or down mix 2 channel ? not familiar with the menu options, but one should be available, and will send an analog signal to the amp