Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[chrisandy007]

Originally Posted by J Nada

Just checking - are you using the regionfreedom firmware? I don't think it works otherwise.

No I don't think I am.. is there a way to check or implement that?

[whedon]

Originally Posted by George.P

Was interested in the region free firmware. From what you wrote, you received the firmware but couldn’t get it to work? And they were unable to resolve the issue for you (whatever the issue might have been)?

Never got to that point, they were a nightmare to deal with and seemed uninterested in communicating or providing info on what the issue they had was.

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by Scorxpion

I guess your tray is stuck somewhere inside. Trying to open then close and the disc is read again. The only solution is to disamble the case and troubleshoot the tray mechanism. Your problem can be solved with a simple fix. If you are not brave in diagnosing it just try to find someone who can help. Your problem can be fixed easily unless the tray is malfunctioning and need to be changed

I should still be under warranty. I purchased it directly from Panasonic.ca back in July of 2021; the player itself was manufactured in June of 2021, so it's not even a year old. Only had the player since August, so six months and already this. I guess my next move is to take it into a local authorized dealer to get it fixed.

I've been a loyal Panasonic consumer for 25+ years now. My aunt and uncle used to own and operate an electronics store in a small town that was an authorized Panasonic store and repair facility, but of course since Panasonic has pretty much been evaporated in A/V department in North America, it's nearly impossible to find authorized retailers and repair facilities anymore. I'm still using my Panasonic Laserdisc player from the mid-1990's, and never had a problem. It's just so disheartening to have something this new have problems so quickly, especially for the price this machine retails for.

[sapiendut]

You can’t really take pricing into consideration. A $500 purchase in the mid ‘90s is closer to $1500 today. And that’s based on real inflation only. Nearly everything you buy today that you can buy in the mid ‘90s have gone up 3-4 fold. Heck, a big head of lettuce was 50c back then and just last week I had to pay $2 for a much smaller head of lettuce (I know it’s a weird comparison but I really know my lettuce)

[wxman2003]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

You can’t really take pricing into consideration. A $500 purchase in the mid ‘90s is closer to $1500 today. And that’s based on real inflation only. Nearly everything you buy today that you can buy in the mid ‘90s have gone up 3-4 fold. Heck, a big head of lettuce was 50c back then and just last week I had to pay $2 for a much smaller head of lettuce (I know it’s a weird comparison but I really know my lettuce)

Except for electronics. Based on the tech, it is a lot cheaper than if it was built 10 years. A $500 DVD player back in the 90s would cost $10 to produce today. A $500 UHD player today would have cost close to $10,000 to make 10 to 15 years ago, because it would have been the most advanced tech out there.

I remember when LCD HDTV first came out around 2000. A 60 inch tv was close to $10,000. Today that edge lit tv would be $300 at most. Electronics are deflationary.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

You can’t really take pricing into consideration. A $500 purchase in the mid ‘90s is closer to $1500 today. And that’s based on real inflation only. Nearly everything you buy today that you can buy in the mid ‘90s have gone up 3-4 fold. Heck, a big head of lettuce was 50c back then and just last week I had to pay $2 for a much smaller head of lettuce (I know it’s a weird comparison but I really know my lettuce)

It is very easy to use an inflation calculator like this one...:

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

...instead of guessing. An item purchased for $500 U.S. in 1995 is equivalent to spending $914.70 U.S. in 2021. Not quite double, yet alone three or four fold. You have to go back to 1990 to double that $500; $500 paid in 1990 is equivalent to $1066.57 in 2021.

[sapiendut]

Actually no. The cost of metal and shipping alone have more than quintuple during this period of time. Plus the cost of licensing is extremely expensive nowadays. DVD playback? licensing fee! Bluray playback? Licensing fee! MP3? licensing fee! Audio CD? Licensing fee! Netflix? Licensing Fee (and app development cost) YouTube? Licensing Fee and app development cost. USB? Additional chip and licensing fee. HDMI? Of course another licensing fee. Being able to pass through Dolby and DTS? More licensing fee! Dolby Vision? Add more fee! And the list goes on.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It is very easy to use an inflation calculator like this one...:

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

...instead of guessing. An item purchased for $500 U.S. in 1995 is equivalent to spending $914.70 U.S. in 2021. Not quite double, yet alone three or four fold.

That’s why I said true inflation. Using the calculator, my 50c big head of lettuce should be $1.00 big head of lettuce. Reality remains that it turns to be $2 small head of lettuce.

Price of gas should be from 40c/litre to be 80c/litre, whereas in reality it’s now $1.44 (more than triple)

And I can give you literally thousands of examples that real life inflation is much MUCH higher than the official numbers alone.

Heck, even shipping by boat have tripled in cost in the past 2 years alone.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

That’s why I said true inflation. Using the calculator, my 50c big head of lettuce should be $1.00 big head of lettuce. Reality remains that it turns to be $2 small head of lettuce.

Price of gas should be from 40c/litre to be 80c/litre, whereas in reality it’s now $1.44 (more than triple)

And I can give you literally thousands of examples that real life inflation is much MUCH higher than the official numbers alone.

Heck, even shipping by boat have tripled in cost in the past 2 years alone.

An inflation calculator only tells you what spending X amount of dollars in a given year is equivalent to spending in another, later, year.

The $1200 I spent to own the entire Star Trek TV series on laserdisc in 1994 would be like spending $2257.51 today. I spent $1000 for my last laserdisc player in 1998, the Pioneer DVL-909, and today that would be like spending $1710.44. I still have that player and it is a working part of my home theater even now. It illustrates how expensive this movie/TV show collecting hobby of ours used to be; who would be willing to pay that much to own a TV series today?

[Misioon_Odisea]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Actually no. The cost of metal and shipping alone have more than quintuple during this period of time. Plus the cost of licensing is extremely expensive nowadays. DVD playback? licensing fee! Bluray playback? Licensing fee! MP3? licensing fee! Audio CD? Licensing fee! Netflix? Licensing Fee (and app development cost) YouTube? Licensing Fee and app development cost. USB? Additional chip and licensing fee. HDMI? Of course another licensing fee. Being able to pass through Dolby and DTS? More licensing fee! Dolby Vision? Add more fee! And the list goes on.

Actually, while the rest of your comment is spot-on, I would like to object that one particular fragment highlighted in bold at the quote, because patents for the MP3 format expired in 2017 (driven by the fact that it has been succeeded by superior formats already), and implementation of MP3 technology can now be freely utilized by developers without having to pay licensing fees anymore. Just that one observation, otherwise you are doing great. Carry on.

https://ccm.net/news/28136-mp3-forma...w-license-free

https://marco.org/2017/05/15/mp3-isnt-dead

https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoo...licences_mean/

[IlCorvo]

I came across something odd: before I upgraded to a different firmware, my 824 bought in October, had the firmware 1.68. But Pansonic does not mention this type on his website. What firmware is this?

[danny24]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Nope, that didn't work either.

I uploaded a quick video off my phone to YouTube showing what's going on. All it does is continue to read the disc over and over again, and refuses to open/close the tray whatsoever. The disc itself plays fine, it just won't come out of the player.

I uploaded a quick video off my phone to YouTube showing what's going on. All it does is continue to read the disc over and over again, and refuses to open/close the tray whatsoever. The disc itself plays fine, it just won't come out of the player.

Nothing seems to be working.

Only thing you could try is to unplug it from power cord in back of unit and let it reset. Plug it back in and see if tray opens up. It's an easy fix though if you can get someone to repair it or send it into Panasonic. Keep trying to eject disc because something may have gotten stuck. Either way looks like it will have to be sent in for repair if it won't eject disc. Also try and eject the disc using your remote control maybe the open button on the front of your player is broken or jammed.

[rickardl]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Nope, that didn't work either.

Long shot: This is for anoher panasonic player, check underneath if there is something similar on you player.
Looking at some other models, it could also be small slider inside a tiny slot which should be pushed in one direction.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by DJR662

I hear ya.

I just checked mine (820/824) and there is no option to disable the front display completely; something which I think should have been available even though I personally do want it on at all times.

[gto35830]

Originally Posted by rickardl

Long shot: This is for anoher panasonic player, check underneath if there is something similar on you player.
Looking at some other models, it could also be small slider inside a tiny slot which should be pushed in one direction.

yes this is the same way to open a disc drive on a desktop computer.There is a smal hole in the front of the drive that you can insert a paper clip and push foward that will open the draw of the drive. Should be the same idea.

[shane01]

I’ve had my 820 for about two years now. The player is dependable and capable, but some of the luster has started to wear off. I’ve been rewatching my old Curb Your Enthusiasm DVDs and I noticed the jaggies were especially bad, even for 20+ year old releases.

Browsing pages here confirmed that the player has its shortcomings in the upscaling department. The Optimiser, which I initially thought was worth the price of admission, apparently introduces banding or other issues when turned on for sub-1,000 nit HDR content. I actually prefer my $50 Sony BD player for watching 1080p or 480i content to the upscaling the 820 does. Am I nuts or is the X800M2 an overall better value?

[rroeder]

I've had a couple audio drops after pausing on my first few discs I've played, both times opening the tray and reloading the disc fixed it. I'm running one cable to the tv for video and an older high speed cable to receiver for audio, never had an issue w the cable on my Sony players tho. Is there a setting I should check?, think it could it be the cable??

[rroeder]

I've got the High clarity sound settings at Auto for both the video and audio output, correct?

[sapiendut]

I can’t hear the difference between high clarity on or off. I turned it on anyway “just in case”

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I can’t hear the difference between high clarity on or off. I turned it on anyway “just in case”

I can't either, and I'm convinced it's only for DAC or non-HDMI bitstreamed (movies) content anyway. However, it needs to be On in order to turn off the display...so I have it on for that reason and "just in case" too, haha.