Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[evan201]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Props to Big John for raising a few issues with the methodology of the test itself. 3 out of 4 TVs are OLEDs as well as the reference monitors, so it's not a surprise that...OLED wins! (Though it could be one in a field of twenty and still win) With LG you've got the punchier HDR but the worst processing, with Sony you've got the best processing & motion handling but the dimmest HDR, with Panasonic you've got top-notch processing and Vincent's preferred static tone mapping solution...but no Dobly! I did like Vincent's review of the recent Panny OLEDs though, and being able to control the gamma at those extremely tricky near-black levels to suppress posterisation and blocking is something that greatly pleases a geek like me.

I personally care the most about punchy HDR as my OLED (when I buy one) will be dedicated to HDR films. I use my epson 5040 projector for all viewing currently and that will stay as the main tv for a while. I'm eager to see what 2019 has coming for us with OLEDs and the possibility of better brightness with better processors like X1 Ultimate. If that really takes things up a notch I'll probably start to consider packing the projector away until I move into my first house and can create a dedicated theater room. My eye is starting to become trained to the nuances and I feel like I'm missing a ton without a flat panel to view the new 4k HDR content on. Projectors just can't do it.

[BrownianMotion]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Warner Bros, pulled out of the HDR10+ consortium and dropped support for HDR10+, leaving Fox as the lone Hollywood studio supporting HDR10+.

This would have been funny if true, but unfortunately, it's not: https://twitter.com/BigJohnnyArcher/...14400486887424

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by BrownianMotion

This would have been funny if true, but unfortunately, it's not: https://twitter.com/BigJohnnyArcher/...14400486887424

That tweet by John is 3 weeks old. Curious if it still holds true.

[BrownianMotion]

Originally Posted by ray0414

That tweet by John is 3 weeks old. Curious if it still holds true.

Probably does. I believe Robert was basing his claim on the fact that WB wasn't mentioned in the press release on the HDR10+ website over a month ago.

[Robert Zohn]

My contacts tell me Warner Bros is no longer planning on supporting HDR10+. I'l try to reconfirm and get back here.

[BrownianMotion]

The plot thickens.

Maybe John Archer's contacts aren't very trustworthy.

[Robert Zohn]

Can't say yet, but I'll find out and report back.

[MEB]

I am very interested in the UB820 but can't remotely consider one until I know whether it supports the low latency Dolby Vision protocol. It will be connected to a Sony XBR75X940E.

It seems unfathomable that Panasonic hasn't already confirmed compatibility. Or, did I miss something in this very long thread?

Apple added low latency Dolby Vision to the Apple TV 4K in a week (or two) after Sony released the Dolby Vision firmware update for its top of the line displays. And Apple normally isn't exactly fast to respond to customer requests. It boggles the mind that Panasonic hasn't confirmed Dolby Vision, let alone low latency. It's freakin' July of 2018, how much time do they need?

Mark

[Robert Zohn]

Panasonic has 100% confirmed Dolby Vision HDR and of course, HDR10 and HDR10+ on the UB820 and UB9000 BD players.

Dolby Vision will come via a firmware update by October or sooner.

In every weekly engineering report I stressed the importance of supporting DV profile 5, Low Latency standard. After many weekly reports they replied that I did not have to remind them to include DV low latency. So I'm optimistic we'll see DV Low Latency support for all Sony 2017-18 TVs equipped with the X1 Extreme processor.

[E6AtmosVuduDV]

Err? We need to buy or have a Samsung higher end TV for HDR10+ playback right? From the UB820 or UB9000. @ USA residents.

Thats if new quality HDR10+ disc movies comes out. That peoples want to buy.

How many Samsung(USA) peoples with the HDR10 disc version of a movie already will Dip for the same HDR10+ version? Enough to make movie studios happy?

How many OLED peoples will buy lots HDR10+ discs? I would think many UB9000 buyers already have an OLED TV. Being AV Enthusiast as they are.

I would think new HDR10+ movie disc will include the HDR10 version of the movie. And their prices will be comparable to DV disc prices.

It seems to me UB820 sales will make or break the HDR10+ Disc media market.
So heavy UB820 sales is critical. Being UB9000 peoples will be heavy into OLEDs and or DV Discs.

[Life in Inlines]

Originally Posted by E6AtmosVuduDV

Err? We need to buy or have a Samsung higher end TV for HDR10+ playback right? From the UB820 or UB9000. @ USA residents.

Thats if new quality HDR10+ disc movies comes out. That peoples want to buy.

How many Samsung(USA) peoples with the HDR10 disc version of a movie already will Dip for the same HDR10+ version? Enough to make movie studios happy?

How many OLED peoples will buy lots HDR10+ discs? I would think many UB9000 buyers already have an OLED TV. Being AV Enthusiast as they are.

I would think new HDR10+ movie disc will include the HDR10 version of the movie. And their prices will be comparable to DV disc prices.

Honestly what does/doesn’t happen with HDR10+ doesn’t concern me. I know they mainly touted this player for having both 10+ and DV, but it has much better things going for it.

I’ve had the Panasonic BDT500 Blu-ray player since 2013 and it has blown away any other player I had before that in both picture and sound quality, and it seems those qualities have only gotten better with Panasonic players. I really wanted to stay with Panasonic for a 4K player, but they didn’t support DV... until now. So this was an easy choice, just took some patience...

So far HDR10+ is available in streaming titles, which aren’t going to be reference quality anyway, and it seems like the HDR optimizer will be able to pull off something like HDR10+ off the base HDR10 layer anyway. So like I said, the 10+ feature doesn’t really factor in, for me at least.

[MEB]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Panasonic has 100% confirmed Dolby Vision HDR and of course, HDR10 and HDR10+ on the UB820 and UB9000 BD players.

Dolby Vision will come via a firmware update by October or sooner.

In every weekly engineering report I stressed the importance of supporting DV profile 5, Low Latency standard. After many weekly reports they replied that I did not have to remind them to include DV low latency. So I'm optimistic we'll see DV Low Latency support for all Sony 2017-18 TVs equipped with the X1 Extreme processor.

Thanks, Robert. I'll keep my hopes up for the UB820 because I'm sure as heck not buying the Sony UBP-X700. NO MORE SONY PRODUCTS FOR ME! My XBR75X940E displays the best picture of any TV I've ever owned. In some ways, it is a dream display. But its processor ("extreme" is optimistic marketing BS) is clearly not up to the task. The UI is still buggy. It's ridiculous that a $7500 (original MSRP) TV can't support the full DV profile. And Sony's maneuver to hopefully force X1 set owners to buy Sony's player is a load of BS too.

I'll have this 940E for several years to come but Sony can stick its business practices where the sun don't shine. And, while I'm at it, DOBLY can do likewise!

Mark

[tabels]

I've been patiently waiting to buy the UB820 all year. Now Microsoft's announcement that the XBOX ONE will support Dolby Vision has me wondering whether to get an XBOX or the UB820. Anyone else in the same predicament? I'm curious what factors people use to make that choice.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

So I have a question and I wasn't sure where to ask it but since we have talked quite a bit about HDR to SDR conversion here I will try. Capsaholic puts caps up now of UHDs to compare. Even on my 6 year old 24 inch 1080P LED TV that I use just for a computer monitor I can see there is a difference in detail. However they are converting it over to SDR. So how exactly are they doing that for the purpose of the caps and is that at all how I can actually expect it to look when my Panasonic converts it? Because the Hunger Games caps I see that are up there look as if they are drained of color in many shots. I know they say bad SDR conversions can look like that but that what is going on? Can I expect better from this player? Just curious.

[tabels]

I've been patiently waiting to buy the UB820 all year. Now Microsoft's announcement that the XBOX ONE will support Dolby Vision has me wondering whether to get an XBOX or the UB820. Anyone else in the same predicament? I'm curious what factors people use to make that choice.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

I feel like you need to ask it again.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by tabels

I've been patiently waiting to buy the UB820 all year. Now Microsoft's announcement that the XBOX ONE will support Dolby Vision has me wondering whether to get an XBOX or the UB820. Anyone else in the same predicament? I'm curious what factors people use to make that choice.

I purchased an XB1S at launch simply because my son is a gamer and I wanted to play UHD discs and not drop $500+; later purchased an X800 for $100 thanks to a sale/rewards combo at BB.

The XB1S is rock solid and has played every UHD disc thrown at it, but it's not a dedicated player and it did take MS some time to add features (bitstream) and fix issues (RGB). I'm definitely going to wait out purchasing another player until the MS DV update because I'm not in any rush with HDMI 2.1 around the corner.

The X800 has had stability issues, less so for me than for my Dad who also owns an X800, but the PQ/AQ/build quality is great and has everything I need other than DV.

My hope is the DV updates for both the XB1S and the UB820 are out (and stable) by BF, and I can pick up the UB820 or the next gen Sony on sale.

Or not.

[evan201]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

I purchased an XB1S at launch simply because my son is a gamer and I wanted to play UHD discs and not drop $500+; later purchased an X800 for $100 thanks to a sale/rewards combo at BB.

The XB1S is rock solid and has played every UHD disc thrown at it, but it's not a dedicated player and it did take MS some time to add features (bitstream) and fix issues (RGB). I'm definitely going to wait out purchasing another player until the MS DV update because I'm not in any rush with HDMI 2.1 around the corner.

The X800 has had stability issues, less so for me than for my Dad who also owns an X800, but the PQ/AQ/build quality is great and has everything I need other than DV.

My hope is the DV updates for both the XB1S and the UB820 are out (and stable) by BF, and I can pick up the UB820 or the next gen Sony on sale.

Or not.

Flagship products are not on sale on BF. Super bowl is a better time to buy the good stuff.

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by tabels

I've been patiently waiting to buy the UB820 all year. Now Microsoft's announcement that the XBOX ONE will support Dolby Vision has me wondering whether to get an XBOX or the UB820. Anyone else in the same predicament? I'm curious what factors people use to make that choice.

Just so you know, Microsoft backtracked on Dolby Vision for disc's, appears to be only for streaming now.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by ray0414

Just so you know, Microsoft backtracked on Dolby Vision for disc's, appears to be only for streaming now.

Well, when MS states, "...they have nothing to share regarding disc compatibility at this time," while I agree that it doesn't mean it's going to happen, but it's happening, as it's done and ready for test.