Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[stargazeruk]

Originally Posted by bnmdjm

I've had mine for almost a year and have never had the first skip (haven't watched Knives Out). I've watched several blu-rays and many, many UHDs without the first glitch. Heck, I never had but one or two freezes even on my X700 before, although I did have a fair amount of lip sync issues from time to time. The only thing I can think of that I may do differently than some experiencing these issues -- unless they truly do have a faulty player -- is that some of these new discs are known to include an imperceptible film over them, and typically I clean my discs with running water and wipe them with a microfiber cloth before ever viewing them.

P.S. I do think the HDMI cables matter but you certainly don't need the expensive ones, just HDMI-certified high speed ones like the ones from Monoprice listed here.

Apart from Midway my UHD disks have played fine (not gotten Knives out just yet), DVD disks I got remaining never had an issue, blu-ray disks always I seem to have to wipe even new disks which is just a tad frustrating. Unless the blu-ray is region locked I can load up most of my disks into my USA player. I might just pick up a cheap blu-ray player to get round it.

I see Panasonic in China for the UB9000 is up to 1.66 in China now but the UB820 is still on 1.60 and I am starting to doubt we might get a firmware update for the Lionsgate disks at least.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by stargazeruk

Apart from Midway my UHD disks have played fine (not gotten Knives out just yet), DVD disks I got remaining never had an issue, blu-ray disks always I seem to have to wipe even new disks which is just a tad frustrating. Unless the blu-ray is region locked I can load up most of my disks into my USA player. I might just pick up a cheap blu-ray player to get round it.

I see Panasonic in China for the UB9000 is up to 1.66 in China now but the UB820 is still on 1.60 and I am starting to doubt we might get a firmware update for the Lionsgate disks at least.

The Chinese 1.66 update was released on the 4th of March, that's cutting it kinda close for it to be a fix for the DV issues on Midway (released in the US on Feb 18) and Knives Out (Feb 25th). Still, it'd be nice to find out for ourselves. After I got Panasonic's CSRs to finally pass my complaint on to the actual tech department I haven't heard anything back.

[pbz06]

I'm still juggling between Optimzer On vs Off, and Dolby Vision Off. I like the Optimizer for the really high nit content, which is rare ish, but at the same time my gut always tells me to use one or the other Dolby Vision is generally great, but darn it I see random scenes within movies where it trips up the TV. Rare as well, but black bars sometimes light up a little bit or the screen will for a split second flash (not the near black overshoot issue) almost like it's a FALD and the local dimming gets confused.

Right now I'm testing the waters with both Off and seeing how the A9G performs it's dynamic tonemapping with everything and HDR10 only.

p.s.- Midway and Knives Out are the only movies that have froze on me (out of like 200+ UHD's I own). I wouldn't classify it as an issue to be worried about.

[Geoff D]

My TV 'as is' can handle about 90% of all content without need for the Optimiser, either because it can handle the 1000-nit HDR10 image 'natively' or the software has Dolby Vision which takes care of the mapping (and no such weird flashes here on the ZD9). But when I get one of them Sony Light Cannon™ grades then the Optimiser is busted out, oh yes.

[Daz_85]

That 'flashing' issue I and others have experienced was remedied by setting my TV to Dolby Vision Game Mode. I've tried to recreate the movie mode settings across to Game mode as much as possible (backlight, contrast, upping the warm colours etc).

[Post Prod]

Oddly enough one of the few UHD discs not to have an issue at some point was Knives Out which played flawlessly. I was expecting issues the entire film, which sort of heightened the suspense heh
Likely because I played it with Dolby Vision turned off?

I'm an old av nerd and I always early adopt so I'm used to glitches and wonkyness, but we're far enough into this format and had nearly Zero issues with all of my other UHD players. I was all prepared for this to be THE player that was my main player for years. I'm a huge Panasonic fan.

Has anyone had much luck in working with Panasonic in getting players fixed or swapped out? It's weird because I'm right on that line of it happens often enough that it's clearly an issue with the player, but works just well enough that I can get lulled into a sense of "well maybe it will be ok now" after a few discs playing fine.

I really want to love this player and would even upgrade to the 9000 if I thought it resolved the issue, but I'm not to conifdent in that now.

[mrbones]

Hi all, I'm looking to get my first 4k player. I am one day looking to upgrade my TV to something with Dolby Vision, as I've been told this is the 'best' HDR format (currently have a Samsung UE43RU7020 which is HDR10+). As such I'm looking to buy a 4k player that would support HDR Dolby Vision. I was interested in this: DP-UB820EB-K. Would this achieve that? Also, are there any specific HDMI cables I would need for it?

Many thanks : )

[Integra1995]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yeah, the only freezing issue I've had with my 820 is with Knives Out.

Then I will not be getting this movie on 4K then. I also have the Panasonic UB820.

[Integra1995]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yeah, the only freezing issue I've had with my 820 is with Knives Out.

Originally Posted by gottaget

What reasons are there why my UB820 cannot play Mildred Pierce properly (about half way through the image distorts, video stops, etc.) but my Sony S6700 can?

I also noticed a more minor hiccup with Shawshank Redemption disc. It would stop for a brief moment then skip on the UB820 but the Sony plays it perfectly with no issues.

I initially thought it might be the HDMI cable, but I just bought a new one today and the issue is still present. Now I am beginning to suspect it is the machine.

Did you ever download the latest 'Firmware" on your machine yet?

[No Name]

Originally Posted by Integra1995

Then I will not be getting this movie on 4K then. I also have the Panasonic UB820.

Technically the minor freezing issue only happens when applying Dolby Vision because if you remove that option, the disc plays fine so it's more of a firmware issue.

[sschen]

I just received my copy of Midway 4K from Amazon US. What is the issue with this title?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Integra1995

Did you ever download the latest 'Firmware" on your machine yet?

I downloaded the latest firmware some time ago. There hasn't been an update for several months, aside from China for some reason.

[kevers7290]

Can someone explain to me exactly what the high clarity audio setting does? Should I just completely disable it if I am only using my 820 for UHD and BD viewing?

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

Can someone explain to me exactly what the high clarity audio setting does? Should I just completely disable it if I am only using my 820 for UHD and BD viewing?

You know what high clarity audio setting does? It does the HIGHEST clarity audio setting.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

Can someone explain to me exactly what the high clarity audio setting does? Should I just completely disable it if I am only using my 820 for UHD and BD viewing?

It has zero effect when watching a movie. When listening to a CD, it disables (or reduces) video quality and other internal things.

[kevers7290]

Originally Posted by pbz06

It has zero effect when watching a movie. When listening to a CD, it disables (or reduces) video quality and other internal things.

So it's for those that want to use the player for music playback I guess. I will disable it if it has no bearing on video playback. Thank you!

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by sschen

I just received my copy of Midway 4K from Amazon US. What is the issue with this title?

The disc will freeze up towards the end if you play it back with Dolby Vision enabled due to Panasonic not giving a crap.

[sschen]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

The disc will freeze up towards the end if you play it back with Dolby Vision enabled due to Panasonic not giving a crap.

Thanks, will watch the movie tonight or over the weekend, to see if it freezes at the same point as everyone else. My UB820 is the Australian version, on firmware 1.60. My 4K copy of Midway is the US version, since there isn't an Australian release yet.

[Mobe1969]

Has anyone with a new unit with the 1.66 firmware tried Midway with dv, see if they fixed it?

[sapiendut]

Fw 1.66 is for China region, no?