Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[mcrowell415]

Got my 820 set up and started. Really happy so far. Worth every penny.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by mkozlows

So tried to play a legacy Blu-ray tonight, and -- despite the disc looking totally fine -- the Panasonic refused to play it. (It started giving artifacts on the "piracy is totally cool and fun lol" warning screen, and then froze entirely on the main menu)

I figured it must be a bad disc, but then the Xbox Series X played it with no hiccups.

Do I just straight-up have a defective player, or is it normal to have some titles that are just weirdly flaky like that? (The movie was Network, if it matters.)

Try disconnecting the power and then plug it back in. Sometimes the 820 has power issues and won't play discs right. I had this issue for awhile till I got a brand new surge protector. Now every disc I put into the player plays without a hitch (knock on wood).

If that doesn't work, then try cleaning the disc off and try again. It's a very sensitive disc drive.

[JohnV2016]

I just upgraded to the 820 from the Sony x700 last week. It works great, for the most part. I just tried to play the 4K disc for News of the World, and it would pixelate and freeze before the movie starts. I removed and inserted the disc again, restarted the player, and still happens to the point where the disc became “unplayable”. Would it be a player issue, or a faulty disc?

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by JohnV2016

I just upgraded to the 820 from the Sony x700 last week. It works great, for the most part. I just tried to play the 4K disc for News of the World, and it would pixelate and freeze before the movie starts. I removed and inserted the disc again, restarted the player, and still happens to the point where the disc became “unplayable”. Would it be a player issue, or a faulty disc?

Pretty much see the post above that I just replied to another member. Sometimes there are faulty discs, other times the player is having issues. Did you make sure you updated to the latest firmware as well?

[JohnV2016]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Pretty much see the post above that I just replied to another member. Sometimes there are faulty discs, other times the player is having issues. Did you make sure you updated to the latest firmware as well?

Thanks. Yeah it’s up to date.

I guess it’s also worth mentioning that Temple of Doom and Gattaca started pixelating and then the audio went out of sync (which I was able to fix), The Suicide Squad froze for the first 3 seconds, reinserted and didn’t freeze again.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by JohnV2016

Thanks. Yeah it’s up to date.

I guess it’s also worth mentioning that Temple of Doom and Gattaca started pixelating and then the audio went out of sync (which I was able to fix), The Suicide Squad froze for the first 3 seconds, reinserted and didn’t freeze again.

Yeah, I would unplug it for about a minute and see if it helps the situation.

[Nocheduro]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

No you won’t. I’m referring to the 2-ch audio using XLR analog out on my UB9000. So the 2ch CD playback is using the internal DAC. For the rest of audio I use HDMI so I get all the multichannel audio including X and Atmos that way.

If you watch an older film that only has a stereo or mono track do you run that through the XLR or the HDMI?

[Jack Priest]

I've seen a few comments on here discussing poor de-interlacing on the Panasonic players, just wanted to ask: is that just for DVDs? I have a lot of Doctor Who Blu-rays that are are 1080i/50 and I haven't noticed anything wrong with them on the UB820.

[Jack Priest]

Another thing, I've read about the Blade Runner 2049 4K disc only going up to like 200 nits, I'm wondering whether I should turn off the Panasonic's HDR Optimizer when I play it? I have an LG CX OLED, so that should be able to do like 700/800 nits, as far I'm aware. I have Dynamic Tone Mapping turned Off on the TV at all times.

Thanks for any help.

[sapiendut]

The way HDR Optimizer works is it is essentially flattens the dynamic range above the set nits level. So if you use OLED HDR Optimizer settings, it won’t affect anything below 1000 nits (or was it 800 nits, I can’t remember)

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by Jack Priest

I've seen a few comments on here discussing poor de-interlacing on the Panasonic players, just wanted to ask: is that just for DVDs? I have a lot of Doctor Who Blu-rays that are are 1080i/50 and I haven't noticed anything wrong with them on the UB820.

If de-interlacing is bad, it's also going to affect Blu-rays that need de-interlacing. That's another reason to keep an Oppo around, but if you haven't noticed any issues, then don't look for them and enjoy your 50Hz discs

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Jack Priest

Another thing, I've read about the Blade Runner 2049 4K disc only going up to like 200 nits, I'm wondering whether I should turn off the Panasonic's HDR Optimizer when I play it? I have an LG CX OLED, so that should be able to do like 700/800 nits, as far I'm aware. I have Dynamic Tone Mapping turned Off on the TV at all times.

Thanks for any help.

Turn off the Optimiser if you don't need to use it.

[rickardl]

Originally Posted by JohnV2016

Thanks. Yeah it’s up to date.

I guess it’s also worth mentioning that Temple of Doom and Gattaca started pixelating and then the audio went out of sync (which I was able to fix), The Suicide Squad froze for the first 3 seconds, reinserted and didn’t freeze again.

try a hard factory reset, it might help.

Originally Posted by rickardl

This is weird... earlier I reported that I had no issues with Black Hawk Down 4K Extended cut/Atmos except one audio wobble during end titles with my 820.
Now when I sampled it again, I had freezes and audio drop outs for a few secs!
And repeatable as well, always the same places.
After a hard reset ("08 FIN") and setup again, the freezes/audio drop outs are gone...
Fingers crossed that they stay gone.

Originally Posted by rickardl

Mine only worked with having the unit initially OFF instead of ON as described on some sites. The below is the procedure from the manual.

1. Turn the unit OFF.
2. Press and hold [OK], the [Yellow] button and the [Blue] button on the remote control at the *same time* for more than 5 seconds.
“00 RET” is displayed on the unit’s display.
3. Press [►] right repeatedly on the remote control until “08 FIN” is displayed on the unit’s display.
4. Press and hold [OK] for more than 5 seconds

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Turn off the Optimiser if you don't need to use it.

Or Jack could just leave it on when playing it. It won't effect it by any means if the HDR Grade is 200 nits. Unless if the info in the metadata is higher than 500 or 1,000 nits.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Or Jack could just leave it on when playing it. It won't effect it by any means if the HDR Grade is 200 nits. Unless if the info in the metadata is higher than 500 or 1,000 nits.

The bit depth of the Optimised output is not, erm, optimal. It can induce banding on some content and soon as you turn it on the video signal is being re-routed through those processing circuits, it doesn’t matter if the metadata tells it there’s no mapping to be done. On = more banding, which is another reason why I use it sparingly and do NOT leave it turned on by default.

Example of the Optimiser’s banding (on BR2049, funnily enough): https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...5#post15996755

Example on test pattern from the Spears & Munsil Benchmark UHD: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...p#post17698514

[Jack Priest]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The bit depth of the Optimised output is not, erm, optimal. It can induce banding on some content and soon as you turn it on the video signal is being re-routed through those processing circuits, it doesn’t matter if the metadata tells it there’s no mapping to be done. On = more banding, which is another reason why I use it sparingly and do NOT leave it turned on by default.

Example of the Optimiser’s banding (on BR2049, funnily enough): https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...5#post15996755

Example on test pattern from the Spears & Munsil Benchmark UHD: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...p#post17698514

Hmm... The only reason I use it is because Vincent Teoh raves about it on YouTube (HDTVtest)

[sapiendut]

LOL. The amount click baits and half truths coming out of his channel is beyond painful.

[Jack Priest]

Well, I have no idea what I'm doing when it gets too technical so I have to just put my faith in someone who generally has a great reputation lol

[sapiendut]

He used to be very meticulous and objective before but in the past couple of years he becomes no more than another YouTube talking head.

[Jack Priest]

So, regarding tone mapping, what's the best I best I can do between the Panasonic UB820 & LG CX? I currently just have Dynamic Tone Mapping (not sure if that means there is a non "Dynamic' tone mapping setting somewhere) set to Off on the TV (again, down to Vincent Teoh's comments) and HDR Optimzer turned On on the player. Should I be changing the settings between discs?