Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[By_His_Strypes]

I'm impressed after watching my first movie on the 820. I went with The Road Warrior 4K.

[Chareth]

Originally Posted by Ben_R

Grab an 820, you know you want to. Don’t forget to go multi region for blus at the same time.

I did, and it just arrived. Also got a modded Blu-ray player for region-free coverage in the meantime. The two together ended up costing the same as a modded 820.

[deatheats]

Congrats on the 820 purchases. Been really happy with mine and recommend it to anyone looking for a great 4k player.

Not to derail the thread too much, but 16 layer optical discs are on the horizon. Whether they will ever be used as a media format, who knows, but the company in question are aiming for $3 per TB of disc storage.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article...-data-storage/

[Lozin]

I guess even these really great Panasonic players have their faults. I tried to play the movie Critical Condition which was recently released by Shout Factory and the movie doesn't play on any Panasonic player I own. I tried it on both my UB820's my UB900 and my BDT460 and nothing it just shows me all 0000 on the display, I can eject the disc but then I have to unplug the player in order for it to reset. I got a replacement disc from Amazon but it also does the same thing so I tried it on my other players and it plays fine on all other players Sony, Samsung ect just not the Panasonics. Strange

[pab1219]

Would you buy brand new Panasonic UB9000 or used Oppo UDP-203 around $1100?

[sapiendut]

Brand new UB9000

[pab1219]

I have the Panasonic UB820 NIB. Just sorry I didn't get the 203 before Oppo discontinued them.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by pab1219

Would you buy brand new Panasonic UB9000 or used Oppo UDP-203 around $1100?

You only need the OPPO if you plan on playing back SACD and DVD-Audio discs. Panasonic makes good Blu-ray players and some family members I know still have some year 2010 Panasonic Blu-ray players connected with component video output to a old 480i CRT TV (one CRT TV is 1080i over component video).

But if I did not need SACD and DVD-Audio playback I would strongly consider the Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player with HDR10/HDR10+/audio Dolby Vision and tone mapping. As brighter flat panels are made and brighter projectors are made, then tone mapping will no longer be needed since in the future the best displays will not use tone mapping and will be able to display the full spectrum of Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ has to offer with no tone mapping. However most consumers need tone mapping now and that is a excellent feature that Panasonic has to offer over other 4K Blu-ray players on the market. Only the latest high-end 2023+ flat panels are starting to get to the point where tone mapping is not needed for most scenes (the ideal flat panel has not been made yet that needs no tone mapping for all scenes in the movie). Hopefully Sony and JVC will also start making very bright LCOS projectors with deep black levels that offer the full spectrum of HDR without tone mapping. That has not occurred yet. The high-end very bright DLP projectors should also one day be able to do HDR with no tone mapping. Having a 100,000+ LUMIS projector with Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ in the future should in theory require no tone mapping.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by pab1219

I have the Panasonic UB820 NIB. Just sorry I didn't get the 203 before Oppo discontinued them.

I'm just sorry I sold my Oppo 203 so fast after it was discontinued (but I badly needed the Panasonic tone mapping at that time) looking at how much higher Oppos are now selling.

[Cortiz]

TV's tone mapping has gotten a lot better in the last few years as well. My Sony Master series from 2020 does a decent enough job. I have 2 Oppos 203 and i wouldn't sell them for anything in the world. The overall perfomance and ease of use of these machines are unmatched. The Pannys are fine players but personally i wouldn't trade any of my beloved Oppos for a Panny just to gain a slighty better PQ and that's debatable at best.

[sapiendut]

DV on the Oppo is slightly overcooked and the chroma upsampling is objectively visibly better on the Panasonic. Nothing debatable at all.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

DV on the Oppo is slightly overcooked and the chroma upsampling is objectively visibly better on the Panasonic. Nothing debatable at all.

I know you're a Panny fanboy so i'll keep short. I don't agree with you and that's totally fine.

[sapiendut]

Having the wrong level of DV is not subjective. It is both visible and measurable.
Having proper chroma upsampling is also both visible and can be proven by using test disc.

Both above are about right and wrong, not preference.

So who’s the fanboy now?

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Having the wrong level of DV is not subjective. It is both visible and measurable.
Having proper chroma upsampling is also both visible and can be proven by using test disc.

Both above are about right and wrong, not preference.

So who’s the fanboy now?

I am aware. It's been well documented. Unless you're on pixel peeping mode, most people won't noticed much of a difference watching real live content within a normal viewing distance. The Panny is a great player, no questions about that. I just prefer the Oppo and I don't care if the video output is not perfect, im watching movies, not a test disc.

[StingingVelvet]

Okay someone sell me on this over the X800m2.

Everything I read says get the Panny for two reasons, 1) not having to switch to DV when needed (meh), and 2) better video processing. Now... my issue is that my instinct is to not want no dang video processing. Am I wrong?

I currently have a high-nit LCD with good tone-mapping, even though it's ancient. If I buy a new TV soonish I'd probably go for the same type of thing again for reasons I don't want to get into. So I don't think I need the Panny's tone-mapping assistance like a 700nit OLED might. I just want the image on the disc sent to my TV without it being futz with.

The extra $200 isn't the end of the world for me so I could be persuaded, but at the moment I don't see it. Heeeeelp.

[Muyfa666]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Okay someone sell me on this over the X800m2.

Everything I read says get the Panny for two reasons, 1) not having to switch to DV when needed (meh), and 2) better video processing. Now... my issue is that my instinct is to not want no dang video processing. Am I wrong?

I currently have a high-nit LCD with good tone-mapping, even though it's ancient. If I buy a new TV soonish I'd probably go for the same type of thing again for reasons I don't want to get into. So I don't think I need the Panny's tone-mapping assistance like a 700nit OLED might. I just want the image on the disc sent to my TV without it being futz with.

The extra $200 isn't the end of the world for me so I could be persuaded, but at the moment I don't see it. Heeeeelp.

Switching DV on and off is a bit of a pain in arse, and Sony do seem to freeze a bit more than Pannys from what I can gather.

[By_His_Strypes]

I've been running the 820 through several tests/movies over the last couple days. No issues at all and the uptick in quality is quite evident over the Sony 700. Very Happy w/ this purchase. I only wish I bought the 820 over the Sony from the get go. Sometimes trying to save a few dollars, winds up costing you a few dollars in the long run.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Muyfa666

Switching DV on and off is a bit of a pain in arse, and Sony do seem to freeze a bit more than Pannys from what I can gather.

I've seen a lot of freezing complaints with the X700 (it's insane to me this is still an issue). Most of the X800m2 googling I do says they finally fixed it though. Yet... many people would tell me the X800 didn't freeze, and I had two machines that both did. Who knows why.

Maybe I'll just get the Panny so I don't stress about it.

[rroeder]

The X800M2 I had briefly froze and skipped more than my X700 did, that was the main reason for me to switch. I think the HDR optimizer helps w/discs that are authored at higher nits like some of the Sony's at 4000 nits, better detail in brighter scenes. I like to use the HDR presets too for some discs that are overall dim or darker, also the player gives more info like avg and max nits

[Muyfa666]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I've seen a lot of freezing complaints with the X700 (it's insane to me this is still an issue). Most of the X800m2 googling I do says they finally fixed it though. Yet... many people would tell me the X800 didn't freeze, and I had two machines that both did. Who knows why.

Maybe I'll just get the Panny so I don't stress about it.

There are settings that supposedly minimizes freezing with the Sony players.

I have a region modded "old" 800 upstairs on my non-Dolby extra TV, and I used those recommended settings. Can't really say I've had any freezes on it, but I don't use it very much.