Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Keep your Oppo. That is still my main player, I had the Panny 820 for a while and PQ, at least on my Sony OLED, is identical.

Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll end up doing. At the end of the day it was just me wanting to buy new gear. Lol.

Devil me: you need this.
Angel me: you don’t need this

I can’t count how many times devil me has won.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Waboman

Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll end up doing. At the end of the day it was just me wanting to buy new gear. Lol.

Devil me: you need this.
Angel me: you don’t need this

I can’t count how many times devil me has won.

I've got an OPPO and also a Panny 420 (having previously owned the 900, 700, 390 and 820 UHD models) and think them both excellent players, but which is the devil and which is the angel?

[LordoftheRings]

The angels are the ones we have, the devils the ones that we don't.
Take life simple and explore the entire world all around ...

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Why is there is a TV mode selection in the HDR setup menu at all if the player just detects it from the EDID information it receives from the TV? I think we're getting into serious pie in the sky territory here, next we'll be told that the Optimiser can cure cancer and solve world hunger.

I think there are presets for different kind of displays with different contrast and luminance levels because they are just that, presets with different values guessing how a low nit LCD/Projector or an average performing OLED behaves, but I thought that the insinuation of a handshake between TV set and player to set a custom minumum and maximum level would be going too far. If this was the case it wouldn't be necessary to set on the set up menu of a Panasonic player the kind of display one is using, it would find out just with an HDMI handshake.
I don't think Panasonic's HDR Optimizer can cure cancer or is any kind of a miracle but I think it's a great feature that works great with low nit displays as mine.
I got Aquaman last Thurday (the uncut US edition) and comparing it played on the Sony X-800 and the Panasonic 420 they look very different on my inexpensive 49" Samsung set. I get blown out specular highs with the X-800 and less contrast than with the Panasonic 420 with the HDR Optimizer on that gets better contrast and no blown out highlits. The overall picture looks sharper, clearer, better, with the Panasonic 420 while the X-800 looks flat. But I think Aquaman is one of those high-nit titles like Pacific Rim or Passengers.

[sapiendut]

If Panasonic HDR Optimizer can cure cancer I’ll be healthy!!

[eddievanhalen]

What made me get a Panasonic player wasn't its HDR Optimizer, after a test I did a friend of mine who knows much more than me (that's easy...) about current video technologies suggested me to get a Panasonic player.
The test was this: I did a remux of the UHD BD of 2001 A Space Oddyssey (ejem, a friend of mine wanted it) and I tested it on the Sony X-800 and it looked great, just like the disc, but then I thought "that about if I play it straight from my Samsung set USB input and player? Surprisingly the 2001 UHD BD remux looked better played by my samsung TV set then by the Sony X-800.
I told my friend about this and he answered me that the only thing that he thought would do such a difference would be that my Samsung set performs a better chroma upsampling that the one done by the Sony X-800. He told me that he read good reviews about how well Panasonic UHD BD players perform so I got into Panasonic's website and I read some things that I found interesting, Chroma Upsampling and HDR Optimizer included.
The fact with my inexpensive 49" Samsung set, the Sony X-800 set to output 4:4:4 component and the Panasonic set to output the same kind of video signal with no enhancements and the HDR Optimizer off, the Panasonic looks better than the X-800 which looks flat and dull in comparison.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by eddievanhalen

I think there are presets for different kind of displays with different contrast and luminance levels because they are just that, presets with different values guessing how a low nit LCD/Projector or an average performing OLED behaves, but I thought that the insinuation of a handshake between TV set and player to set a custom minumum and maximum level would be going too far. If this was the case it wouldn't be necessary to set on the set up menu of a Panasonic player the kind of display one is using, it would find out just with an HDMI handshake.
I don't think Panasonic's HDR Optimizer can cure cancer or is any kind of a miracle but I think it's a great feature that works great with low nit displays as mine.
I got Aquaman last Thurday (the uncut US edition) and comparing it played on the Sony X-800 and the Panasonic 420 they look very different on my inexpensive 49" Samsung set. I get blown out specular highs with the X-800 and less contrast than with the Panasonic 420 with the HDR Optimizer on that gets better contrast and no blown out highlits. The overall picture looks sharper, clearer, better, with the Panasonic 420 while the X-800 looks flat. But I think Aquaman is one of those high-nit titles like Pacific Rim or Passengers.

That's all I ask for, an honest user assessment

[sapiendut]

I’ve been posting about the better chroma upsampling on the Panasonics but nooooo, everybody keeps spouting “all bluray players are the same” nonsense as if they’ve done long term tests and A/B comparisons. Especially the deluded Sony X800m2 crowd.

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That's all I ask for, an honest user assessment

Thank you,but that's just me. One thing I dislike is when people fool himself regarding tangible goods that one's car, one's TV set or one UHD BD player is the best one just because that's what one owns, I personally find it silly.
Sometimes people gets surprised because I bad mouth (or is that saying the plain truth?) a piece of equipment I own. The fact that I own it doesn't make it good, it may make it good value as I always try to get the most out of my budget and not by the first thing I see by impulse, but as I said, MAY.
But pretencious and snob Spanish don't understand this. Many people here try to pass their 4K TV sets as state of the art, I won't tell them wrong but in my book a state of the art set is not sold for 1000 Euros on a mall.
Ignorance is bliss my friend, don't try to get them out of their ignorance.

[Bond84]

For what its worth, the 820 blows the Oppo out of the water on my display, BD, 3D, and UHD alike, but especially UHD. Fresh example, I watched Hacksaw Ridge yesterday. When I first bought the disc two years ago (and watched again last year, still with Oppo), the dark nighttime scenes on the ridge were really flat and gray, which unfortunately exposed some of the ugly vignetting I have on my tv. When I watched it last night, the scene was dark and rich with fantastic black levels and shadow detail, with no vignetting showing. I don't know what specifically the 820 is doing, but it is without a doubt far superior to the Oppo...at least in my experience.

[sapiendut]

That’s my experience too. I sold my Oppo 205 with the UB9000. I prefer the analog out for CD playback on the 9000 over my Pioneer Elite BDP-09 analog out, over Pioneer Elite PD-D9 CD/SACD player analog out too. (I ended up selling both those player). And for UHD and BD upscaling, on both my Pana FZ1000 OLED and JVC NX7 projector, it blows my Oppo 205 and Sony 700 and 800 out of the water. So now I’m using a UB9000 for my JVC and 820 for my OLED. I may get a Sony 800m2 for the bedroom as I find it to be such a waste in having Pioneer LX500 in the bedroom.

[PissedOffPeoN]

Now if Panasonic ever patches the overly bright and clipped highlights of there Dolby vision it would be the perfect player.. Glad i kept my Oppo 203 for that at least and sacd's .

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

If Panasonic HDR Optimizer can cure cancer I’ll be healthy!!

Theranos ... the Edison machine.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I’ve been posting about the better chroma upsampling on the Panasonics but nooooo, everybody keeps spouting “all bluray players are the same” nonsense as if they’ve done long term tests and A/B comparisons. Especially the deluded Sony X800m2 crowd.

Deluded? Yes.

But! It plays SACD, DVD-Audio, many hires audiophiles, and it's a good 4K streaming device.
So not totally deluded, plus it costs $200 less and it comes with two free 4K Blu-ray movies.
Pick your favorite poison and die happily ever after. ☔

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by PissedOffPeoN

Now if Panasonic ever patches the overly bright and clipped highlights of there Dolby vision it would be the perfect player.. Glad i kept my Oppo 203 for that at least and sacd's .

And the 4K mkv playback. I only watched 1-2 titles every couple of months (usually some horror junk) and I find the mkv playback on the Oppo is far better than the highly regarded Nvidia Shield (it has noticeable elevated blacks that I can’t change in its setting). Oh well, now I watch zero mkv file.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

That’s my experience too. I sold my Oppo 205 with the UB9000. I prefer the analog out for CD playback on the 9000 over my Pioneer Elite BDP-09 analog out, over Pioneer Elite PD-D9 CD/SACD player analog out too. (I ended up selling both those player). And for UHD and BD upscaling, on both my Pana FZ1000 OLED and JVC NX7 projector, it blows my Oppo 205 and Sony 700 and 800 out of the water. So now I’m using a UB9000 for my JVC and 820 for my OLED. I may get a Sony 800m2 for the bedroom as I find it to be such a waste in having Pioneer LX500 in the bedroom.

You prefer the analog out sound (stereo for CD) of the Panasonic 9000 player over the one from the Oppo 205? ...XLR Balanced Out?

[MEB]

Originally Posted by PissedOffPeoN

Now if Panasonic ever patches the overly bright and clipped highlights of there Dolby vision it would be the perfect player.. Glad i kept my Oppo 203 for that at least and sacd's .

See prior comments. TURN OFF Dolby Vision and use HDR Optimizer. Forget Dolby Vision exists.

Mark

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

You prefer the analog out sound (stereo for CD) of the Panasonic 9000 player over the one from the Oppo 205? ...XLR Balanced Out?

Yes. XLR out. I just prefer the Pana 9000 sound. When it comes to 2-channel, I do the tests using my own recording and while the Oppo 205 gives a “better” sound, the 9000 gives a more accurate reproduction of what I recorded. The Oppo made my recording sounds “sweeter”.

[PissedOffPeoN]

Originally Posted by MEB

See prior comments. TURN OFF Dolby Vision and use HDR Optimizer. Forget Dolby Vision exists.

Mark

lol i did that long time ago just hoping one day they will fix it with a patch .

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I've got an OPPO and also a Panny 420 (having previously owned the 900, 700, 390 and 820 UHD models) and think them both excellent players, but which is the devil and which is the angel?

That, my friend, is the million dollar question.