Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Originally Posted by tama

This is from my LG970 player in DV. It displays the same clipping as the Panasonic. Clearly not just a Panasonic player issue.

LG UHD players clip highlights on Dolby Vision content as well? That's strange, because another forum member who owns an LG player said they didn't notice any clipping in the Dolby Vision output, and they own a 2016 LG OLED while you own a 2017 LG OLED. Again, maybe this has to do with early LG OLEDs not having as good tone mapping as 2019 or 2020 LG OLEDs. And I think it's best to test the Dolby Vision output of Panasonic 4K Blu-ray players on Panasonic OLEDs, especially the Panasonic HZ2000 due to their superior tone mapping.

[tama]

Originally Posted by RoxanneTheThiccWolf

LG UHD players clip highlights on Dolby Vision content as well? That's strange, because another forum member who owns an LG player said they didn't notice any clipping in the Dolby Vision output, and they own a 2016 LG OLED while you own a 2017 LG OLED. Again, maybe this has to do with early LG OLEDs not having as good tone mapping as 2019 or 2020 LG OLEDs. And I think it's best to test the Dolby Vision output of Panasonic 4K Blu-ray players on Panasonic OLEDs, especially the Panasonic HZ2000 due to their superior tone mapping.

With Dynamic metadata I don't believe tone mapping comes into play here. I'm actually thinking something else. Dolby labs may have made a change. My LG player has gone through 3 firmware updates. The original was to add DV playback. Last firmware I believe was over a year ago. And my understanding is when Oppo threw in the towel they were also no longer issuing firmware updates for their devices. Correct me if I'm wrong.

When Vincent T. First brought up this issue for his viewers he was comparing two OLED sets. The one connected to the Oppo wasn't clipping like the Panasonic so we can at least see it's not entirely an OLED issue either.

Knowing OLEDS limitations is it possible the ceiling has been raised for DV and OLEDS can no longer handle it's specular highlights unlike the much higher nit capable LCDs?

Just my theory for the time being.

[wildphantom]

I’ve had a few issues of late with my Panny UB700. All of a sudden it might pixelate. I’ll then rewind it and play the same scene and it might pixelate somewhere else, or be totally fine?
It’s only happened a couple of times in recent weeks. The discs were brand new and blemish free. For example, tonight I watched Goodfellas. Great all the way through until the last 5 minutes and then all of a sudden I noticed a kind of tear. Rewound it and then got heavy pixelation somewhere else.

Stopping, taking the disc out, putting it back in and resuming where I left it - then totally fine.

I’m thinking potentially the laser is the problem. Any thoughts? Player is nearly 3.5 years old and I’ve been thinking of getting the 820 for a while. Just wondered if anyone might agree with my suspicion the laser’s on its way out?

[Braktastic]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

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

I've both now in my HT. Is there a general rule of thumb as to which player performs better with certain types of media? I play to keep my Oppo UDP-203 for multi-region playback and the fact it can play whatever file type I, ah hem, download.

But I bought the Panasonic UB820 because it was more likely to be supported longer than the Oppo. I had some issues playing the Bond 4K on that player. I thought I had heard the UB820 had superior picture quality too. Now I see all this DV clipping talk and it's gotten me sad.

[stargazeruk]

Oh Geoff. I emailed back Panasonic asking them about midway. This was the response I got.

I apologise for the delay in our response and for the patience.

I've had a look into this, and your case is, indeed, still under investigation with our Factory, and they have yet to come back to us with a resolution.

I do understand your frustration, and we are really sorry for the delay caused by this and for all the inconveniences caused.

Thank you for your patience.

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by stargazeruk

Oh Geoff. I emailed back Panasonic asking them about midway. This was the response I got.

I apologise for the delay in our response and for the patience.

I've had a look into this, and your case is, indeed, still under investigation with our Factory, and they have yet to come back to us with a resolution.

I do understand your frustration, and we are really sorry for the delay caused by this and for all the inconveniences caused.

Thank you for your patience.

"Yet to come back with a resolution, even though the firmware released to the public is three revisions behind what some people are getting with new players"

Does anyone know with the new firmware if the Lionsgate issues are still happening? If it is fixed, maybe reply back to them and let them know that the firmware on the new player existing customers can't access fixes it...

[J Nada]

If and when I find Knives Out at a decent price here, I will buy a copy and let you know how it plays on 1.66.

[trekky76]

Wasn't 1.66 only released on the Chinese market..or what is this new player that has a different firmware?

[J Nada]

I don't *think* it has had a general release, although I believe new machines are currently coming with 1.64 (no update appears to be offered to those currently on 1.60). I'm on 1.66 via Region Freedom, not the official version.

[TheWildWhelk]

Originally Posted by trekky76

Wasn't 1.66 only released on the Chinese market..or what is this new player that has a different firmware?

I was wondering that myself; no new firmware updates for this machine on my end since last July. Glad to have the option for the future of Dolby Vision, as my 2017 screen doesn't do it.

[rickardl]

Originally Posted by J Nada

I don't *think* it has had a general release, although I believe new machines are currently coming with 1.64 (no update appears to be offered to those currently on 1.60). I'm on 1.66 via Region Freedom, not the official version.

Maybe they (Region Freedom) downloaded the China version and modified that?
https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com...420_china.html
(the URL mentions ub420 but the firmware is for DP-UB9000)

[J Nada]

Yep I think that's exactly what they must have done.

[J Nada]

Just to let you guys know, I've ordered a copy of Knives Out - should be here in a week or so. Will update this thread once it arrives and I can test it on 1.66.

Does the issue happen on Dolby Vision? HDR10? Both?

[No Name]

Originally Posted by J Nada

Just to let you guys know, I've ordered a copy of Knives Out - should be here in a week or so. Will update this thread once it arrives and I can test it on 1.66.

Does the issue happen on Dolby Vision? HDR10? Both?

It happens when using DV around the 2 hour mark.

[TheWildWhelk]

So what does firmware 1.66 do that isn't a feature of 1.60?

[J Nada]

AFAIK the only new feature is the ability to play subtitles from USB.

[Braktastic]

I have a couple noob questions about this player.

1) Is there any way to disable the "Now reading..." notification that shows up from time to time? It's not a big deal. I'm just curious. I really like to completely minimize all notfications on my players if possible. I'm just weird that way I guess.

2) Which player is better for upscaling DVD and Blu-ray Discs, the Oppo UDP-203 or this Panasonic UB820?

Thanks a lot!

[wxman2003]

Originally Posted by Braktastic

I have a couple noob questions about this player.

1) Is there any way to disable the Now Readin... notification that shows up from time to time? It's not a big deal. I'm just curious. I really like to completely minimize all notfications on my players if possible. I'm just weird that way I guess.

2) Which player is better for upscaling DVD and Blu-ray Discs, the Oppo UDP-203 or this Panasonic UB820?

Thanks a lot!

The 203 is better for upscaling DVD. As far as blu ray, I can not tell any difference between the 9000 and 203. So it should be the same with the 820 vs the 203. I suppose if I stuck my face a foot away from the screen I could see a difference.

[captainsolo]

Is the 820 considered the best downscaling to SDR option for a player? I'm thinking I might go ahead and get one to use with my ST60 plasma for the time being to at least be able to watch UHDs in SDR.

[wxman2003]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Is the 820 considered the best downscaling to SDR option for a player? I'm thinking I might go ahead and get one to use with my ST60 plasma for the time being to at least be able to watch UHDs in SDR.

It does a good job converting HDR to SDR compared to the OPPO 203. The OPPO 203 crushes everything below 4% whereas the 820/9000 do not.