Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Keep the Panny player! Even if you don't need the Optimiser the chroma upscaling tech in the player gives the best results I've yet seen with discs that have poorly compressed chroma.

Thanks Geoff, but that opens up another question.

I don't actually use the Panny for anything but UHD.

I still have an Oppo 103 for everything else. Would you recommend a change in usage?

[Geoff D]

I've got a 203 and the Panny 820, I share the load when it comes to disc playback.

[EddieLarkin]

I've always kept my 103 because it is multi region, and I have a huge amount of Region A locked Blu-rays and Region 1 DVDs.

I've used it for 100% of my BD and DVD viewing, so I've never actually compared the upscaling to the Panny. Or the 3D for that matter.

[rickardl]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

I don't actually use the Panny for anything but UHD.

I still have an Oppo 103 for everything else. Would you recommend a change in usage?

I use my Panasonic 820 for UHD and Region B/0 blu-rays and my
Oppo 103D for anything else such as Region A/3D blu-rays, mkv:ed DVDs on my NAS and streaming content to the chromecast plugged into it.

[PUsokrJosh305]

A week ago, I received my LG C9 from Robert and Value Electronics (The TV is amazing BTW) and I have been familiarizing myself with all of the controls, features, etc. I also own a Panny 820. From what I have gathered after reading many pages of this thread, and me playing around with a few options, is that I should have both the tone mapping on the C9 and the Optimizer turned On as well and the Optimizer on the 820 picks up the slack that the LG C9's tone mapping cannot do. For instance, I noticed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part: 2 where Hermione changes into Bellatrix Lestrange on the beach that the LG C9's tone mapping did an awesome job with the picture but the Optimizer on the 820 made just a small adjustment to the picture to make it perfect. It's a subtle change but it completes the picture. This can also be seen in the scene where Harry is in Limbo and talking to Dumbledore. The picture looks slightly duller withe just the C9's tone mapping on but with the Optimizer is on, it seems to bring that proper color and light of the scene back. Does this interpretation seem right or am I way off?

[tama]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

A week ago, I received my LG C9 from Robert and Value Electronics (The TV is amazing BTW) and I have been familiarizing myself with all of the controls, features, etc. I also own a Panny 820. From what I have gathered after reading many pages of this thread, and me playing around with a few options, is that I should have both the tone mapping on the C9 and the Optimizer turned On as well and the Optimizer on the 820 picks up the slack that the LG C9's tone mapping cannot do. For instance, I noticed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part: 2 where Hermione changes into Bellatrix Lestrange on the beach that the LG C9's tone mapping did an awesome job with the picture but the Optimizer on the 820 made just a small adjustment to the picture to make it perfect. It's a subtle change but it completes the picture. This can also be seen in the scene where Harry is in Limbo and talking to Dumbledore. The picture looks slightly duller withe just the C9's tone mapping on but with the Optimizer is on, it seems to bring that proper color and light of the scene back. Does this interpretation seem right or am I way off?

You'll want to turn your DTM on your LG off. After much experimenting it's clear it's main objective was for use in titles mastered in a 4000 nit container. These LGs map down the entire image making the overall image dimmer/darker. DTM helped to offset this. However with the Optimizer you can set it to OLED and the player maps it to 1000 nits. Which your TV can handle better.

At this point all the DTM will do is over brighten the image which is a bit overkill.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by tama

You'll want to turn your DTM on your LG off. After much experimenting it's clear it's main objective was for use in titles mastered in a 4000 nit container. These LGs map down the entire image making the overall image dimmer/darker. DTM helped to offset this. However with the Optimizer you can set it to OLED and the player maps it to 1000 nits. Which your TV can handle better.

At this point all the DTM will do is over brighten the image which is a bit overkill.

The problem I have been seeing though is that when I turn the DTM off, and the Optimizer On, it seems to clip some of the detail that is hidden in the picture that I can see when I turn DTM On within the TV. It's also to my understanding that HDR moments are supposed to give that "pop" in films. I didn't notice that till I turned DTM on.

Now, the Optimizer is set to OLED but is only set to Standard. I have messed with those settings too and as I have increased Dynamic Range setting, the picture seems to start to clip details as it gets brighter. But having them both on at the same time seems to have produced a picture that brings out HDR moments that people keep talking about.

[rickardl]

Originally Posted by NKB2017

... in my case (watching on an old Pioneer KURO plasma) incapable of displaying at 4k in HDR... there is no point to having HDR or The Optimiser in play?

For my 64F8500 Samsung plasma, I use:
HDR Optimiser On
DR Conversion Adjustment +6
Tone Curve (White) -5

It seems there are no bullet-proof set-and-forget settings for all UHD discs but the above settings gets me a good compromise.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

I've always kept my 103 because it is multi region, and I have a huge amount of Region A locked Blu-rays and Region 1 DVDs.

I've used it for 100% of my BD and DVD viewing, so I've never actually compared the upscaling to the Panny. Or the 3D for that matter.

My 203 is multiregion too, but I've got much more of a mix of US and UK titles so I use whichever deck is easiest for that. It helps that the Panny has the Top Menu trick though, it works on most Region A locked Criterions.

[PS3_Kiwi]

Just set up my new UB820 player. I can finally watch my 4K Discs in Dolby Vision and HDR10+. My receiver will only pass through HDR10, so I connected it directly to the TV, with the second HDMI (Audio) going into my receiver for Atmos and DTS:X.

Looking at maybe getting one of the new Denon 8K receivers to replace my Yamaha. The AVR-X2700H will probably be good enough for my 5.1.2 system.

[drobswim13]

Hey guys,
So I'm getting a new LG 65CX here soon and likely a Sonos Arc to pair it with for Dolby Atmos. However, I have a lot of Region A and B Blus and wanted to figure out if a region free UB820 would be the right choice for this setup? I'm a total noob at home theater stuff and really have been trying to find the best way to watch my Region A and B Blu rays with decent audio. Any suggestions?

[No Name]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

Hey guys,
So I'm getting a new LG 65CX here soon and likely a Sonos Arc to pair it with for Dolby Atmos. However, I have a lot of Region A and B Blus and wanted to figure out if a region free UB820 would be the right choice for this setup? I'm a total noob at home theater stuff and really have been trying to find the best way to watch my Region A and B Blu rays with decent audio. Any suggestions?

With regards to a region free player, Panasonic players in general, can play most region B discs through the stop/top menu trick as it's worked for me on most discs. But if you are looking for a region free 820 player, you can always get a region modification.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by No Name

With regards to a region free player, Panasonic players in geberal, can play most region B discs through the stop/top menu trick as it's worked for me on most discs. But if you are looking for a region free 820 player, you can always get a region modification.

oh interesting. Does this trick work depending on studio? I wouldn't assume so, but all of my Region B Blus are 88 Films and Eureka.

Also wondering if I should just throw down for the UB9000 in anticipation (probably 5 or so years from now) of enhancing my home theater audio system.

[tama]

Pans Labyrinth was an interesting one to play around with this morning. A WB title in a 4000 nit container. Peak Brightness at 761 nits with an average of 46 nits. Optimizer set at 1000 nits.

Does absolutely nothing. No change whatsoever between the Optimizer on or off.

For a while been curious how these LG OLEDs prioritize info for tone mapping.

[No Name]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

oh interesting. Does this trick work depending on studio? I wouldn't assume so, but all of my Region B Blus are 88 Films and Eureka.

Also wondering if I should just throw down for the UB9000 in anticipation (probably 5 or so years from now) of enhancing my home theater audio system.

I know from experience that it's worked on nearly 95% of Eureka titles with some exceptions, I don't own any titles from 88 Films, but from what I understand from other users is that it doesn't work on titles from that company as they really enforce the region locking on their discs. So you may be better off getting a region mod.

The 9000 is worth it if you plan to enhance your home theatre audio system, but the 820 is no slouch either.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by No Name

I know from experience that it's worked on nearly 95% of Eureka titles with some exceptions, I don't own any titles from 88 Films, but from what I understand from other users is that it doesn't work on titles from that company as they really enforce the region locking on their discs. So you may be better off getting a region mod.

The 9000 is worth it if you plan to enhance your home theatre audio system, but the 820 is no slouch either.

Thanks for that. I think I will stick to the 820 region free, then. Appreciate the help!

[Daz_85]

Originally Posted by tama

You'll want to turn your DTM on your LG off. After much experimenting it's clear it's main objective was for use in titles mastered in a 4000 nit container. These LGs map down the entire image making the overall image dimmer/darker. DTM helped to offset this. However with the Optimizer you can set it to OLED and the player maps it to 1000 nits. Which your TV can handle better.

At this point all the DTM will do is over brighten the image which is a bit overkill.

On my LG LED TV, turning this off dims the picture quite dramatically in conjunction with the 820 player. Maybe I need to play about with the player settings?

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Daz_85

On my LG LED TV, turning this off dims the picture quite dramatically in conjunction with the 820 player. Maybe I need to play about with the player settings?

That's what happens on my LG C9 OLED. The picture dims (for the most part) when playing 4K UHD HDR content, even when my 820's optimizer is set to On. Now, it is my understanding that OLEDs are naturally darker/dimmer than most TVs for HDR content because they can only output about 700-800 nits. This explains why it is dim when the DLM is not turned on. But, I have also read that the DTM allows the TV to remap the HDR picture to compensate for that. The downside is that the algorithm that the C9 has can sometimes helps the picture and it can sometimes clip/ruin the picture. The DTM hasn't been perfected yet. This is probably why most have recommended that the DTM setting should be not activated. But without it, the picture remains relatively dim. It just seems like there are a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to HDR content and how it is played/outputted on a screen.

[Daz_85]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

That's what happens on my LG C9 OLED. The picture dims (for the most part) when playing 4K UHD HDR content, even when my 820's optimizer is set to On. Now, it is my understanding that OLEDs are naturally darker/dimmer than most TVs for HDR content because they can only output about 700-800 nits. This explains why it is dim when the DLM is not turned on. But, I have also read that the DTM allows the TV to remap the HDR picture to compensate for that. The downside is that the algorithm that the C9 has can sometimes helps the picture and it can sometimes clip/ruin the picture. The DTM hasn't been perfected yet. This is probably why most have recommended that the DTM setting should be not activated. But without it, the picture remains relatively dim. It just seems like there are a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to HDR content and how it is played/outputted on a screen.

I've been playing about with settings this evening, and if I turn DTM off on the TV I have to then set the 820's Dynamic Range Enhancer to about +6 for it to match what the TV was doing, however it doesn't look quite as good. Keep in mind my TV can only produce around 500 nits of brightness, so it's far from great in that regard.

I dunno, HDR can be great, but it's also giving me a headache to get consistently good results! I've noticed flesh tones can be a bit too red as well, despite leaving colour at 50%.

[thebigcheese3k]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

That's what happens on my LG C9 OLED. The picture dims (for the most part) when playing 4K UHD HDR content, even when my 820's optimizer is set to On. Now, it is my understanding that OLEDs are naturally darker/dimmer than most TVs for HDR content because they can only output about 700-800 nits. This explains why it is dim when the DLM is not turned on. But, I have also read that the DTM allows the TV to remap the HDR picture to compensate for that. The downside is that the algorithm that the C9 has can sometimes helps the picture and it can sometimes clip/ruin the picture. The DTM hasn't been perfected yet. This is probably why most have recommended that the DTM setting should be not activated. But without it, the picture remains relatively dim. It just seems like there are a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to HDR content and how it is played/outputted on a screen.

I think you are 100% right about the inconsistencies with HDR content. Today I was experimenting with these settings on my C9 with Suspiria (2018) released by Koch Media. The top menu of this disc uses HDR-10 so I had a good static image to play around with. I had the opposite experience here, turning off DTM made the image brighter. Here's a few crappy pictures from my phone but they illustrate the difference:

[Show spoiler]HDR Optimizer on and DTM on:

HDR Optimizer on and DTM off: