Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[trekky76]

With TruMotion I always go for User setting. Dejudder should be at 0 since it always introduces artefacts on these LG sets.
Anyway I'm keeping DV off for now. I might upgrade to E8 or similar end of the year and hopefully things will settle by then. I'm just happy the optimizer does a great job with HDR10. Compared it to DV and the bright highlights looked the same to me actually so no reason to rush with DV for now.

[BdoUK]

Looks like my local Best Buy now has this available for in store pickup. Will be heading out in the next hour to pick one up!

[Bond84]

I had some time last night to mess with player some more. I found setting both White and Black Tone to -3 really gives me a nice HDR pop, without blowing out or crushing details. Keep in mind, I only watch in a pitch dark room.

Additionally, I am REALLY impressed with the way this upscales 1080p blurays. I skimmed through the bluray of Ghost Protocol (which was still fresh in my mind) and I was taken aback by how much better it looked. Lots of clarity and pop. Blurays always kinda looked washed out on the Oppo and I just figured I had gotten used to 4K HDR.

Then I checked out Jurassic Park 3D...I don't know what kind of magic the UB820 conjures up, but wow. This disc in particular has always been a 3D standout, but damn if it didn't take on new life, especially when putting the Popout setting to the max 4. The picture had so much more depth but the deep far-away parts of the picture were still so clear. Its hard to explain, you've got to see it to understand.

So, in other words, I am EXTREMELY happy with this player...except for the Dolby Vision, which I'm hoping can still be fixed. Also, I'm not yet sold on the HDR Optimizer...will need more time with that.

[Cortiz]

I was thinking about getting this player but I'm not sure if it's worth the upgrade. I currently have an Oppo 203 connected to a 55' Sony HDR 4K TV. The TV is not DV capable. Based on my gear, will the Panasonic give me a better PQ for both BD and 4K BD's over the Oppo?

[Bond84]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I was thinking about getting this player but I'm not sure if it's worth the upgrade. I currently have an Oppo 203 connected to a 55' Sony HDR 4K TV. The TV is not DV capable. Based on my gear, will the Panasonic give me a better PQ for both BD and 4K BD's over the Oppo?

In my opinion and to my eyes, YES, the Panasonic does have better picture quality than the Oppo. Also, you can probably sell the Oppo for more than you paid, which will pay for the Panasonic and you'll probably still have some extra cash in your pocket.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Bond84

In my opinion and to my eyes, YES, the Panasonic does have better picture quality than the Oppo. Also, you can probably sell the Oppo for more than you paid, which will pay for the Panasonic and you'll probably still have some extra cash in your pocket.

Thanks. Can you program the volume button on the Panasonic remote to work with other TV brands? I know you could do this with their UB900 remote.

[Bond84]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Thanks. Can you program the volume button on the Panasonic remote to work with other TV brands? I know you could do this with their UB900 remote.

I don't know the answer to that. I use a Harmony remote.

[riptor3076]

I'm thinking of selling my oppo 203 to get the 820. My only concern is that I have the region mod for the 203. I think I read the 820 can play any region dvd and blu ray currently. Is that correct and how likely is panasonic to patch out this "feature" with new firmware?

[hotFstop]

"So, in other words, I am EXTREMELY happy with this player...except for the Dolby Vision, which I'm hoping can still be fixed."

What's wrong with the Dolby Vision?

[evoll]

Originally Posted by riptor3076

I'm thinking of selling my oppo 203 to get the 820. My only concern is that I have the region mod for the 203. I think I read the 820 can play any region dvd and blu ray currently. Is that correct and how likely is panasonic to patch out this "feature" with new firmware?

I am interested in this as well, the only reason I haven't bought the panny yet is my oppo 203 has the region free mod.

[Bladerunner5375]

Ok, just purchased today and here are some thoughts and a problem I hope someone can address:

PQ is visibly better than my LG UP970, at least as far as Dolby Vision goes. It's brighter with deeper blacks. And while there are still audio sync issues with Dolby Vision, it's not half as bad as on the LG UP970. Still annoying as hell, though.

Now, the problem: I have a Vizio 2018 P series. It tells me when the tv is displaying Dolby Vision, but it's not reading HDR10 at all with this player. In other words, the tv is showing me that it's playing in SDR, and it LOOKS like it. The Panasonic is only giving me DV, not HDR, even with HDR Conversion enabled.

Anyone know what the hell is going on? Thx in advance!

[ack_bak]

Well Kris Deering was spot on with using SDR2020 vs HDR2020. Big difference in PQ as I switched back and forth on my JVC 770 (aka RS520). I used Dunkirk UHD as I have seen this movie twice on my Oppo 203 as well as my Xbox S. The 820 is just on another level. I did play around with HDR Optimizer as well. I found that SDR2020 with just a few minor tweaks to offer, by far, the best HDR experience.

If you have a projector DO NOT USE HDR2020! Pick SDR2020.

[Bladerunner5375]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

Ok, just purchased today and here are some thoughts and a problem I hope someone can address:

PQ is visibly better than my LG UP970, at least as far as Dolby Vision goes. It's brighter with deeper blacks. And while there are still audio sync issues with Dolby Vision, it's not half as bad as on the LG UP970. Still annoying as hell, though.

Now, the problem: I have a Vizio 2018 P series. It tells me when the tv is displaying Dolby Vision, but it's not reading HDR10 at all with this player. In other words, the tv is showing me that it's playing in SDR, and it LOOKS like it. The Panasonic is only giving me DV, not HDR, even with HDR Conversion enabled.

Anyone know what the hell is going on? Thx in advance!

Ok, I figured out the problem, at least as far as the no-hdr thing: I had to turn on "enhanced mode" on for the input on my Sony AVR. Now, I have HDR 10. Still no solution for DV audio sync issue, tho.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Thanks. Can you program the volume button on the Panasonic remote to work with other TV brands? I know you could do this with their UB900 remote.

No, you couldn't. The volume on the Panny player remotes has been set to Panny only for a few years now. Maybe the 9000 will change things but the 820 is the same as before AFAIK.

[Tamawig]

Hey everybody. I've got a slight issue with this player and I was hoping someone here might have some insight.
While watching Netflix streaming I noticed these large rectangles that only seem to be visible during bright scenes.
I watched the same scene on other devices (Roku, tv app) and the rectangles aren't there. I even tried plugging the Panasonic directly into my tv to ensure it wasn't the receiver causing the issue.
To complicate things further, since the Dolby vision update I noticed the rectangles only show up when watching hdr or standard 4k, if I watch with DV they are gone.
Any ideas? Thanks.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NK...D2LIW-m5sFGBq1

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

No, you couldn't. The volume on the Panny player remotes has been set to Panny only for a few years now. Maybe the 9000 will change things but the 820 is the same as before AFAIK.

I briefly owned the UB900 and the TV volume on remote was programmable which is why I was asking if the UB820 is programmable as well but I guess not.

[Bladerunner5375]

Some updates/observations on the 830:

Dolby Vision for some reason is now ultra-dark. I pumped up the brightness on my tv from 47 for HDR, to 60. I created separate settings on my tv, one for HDR, the other for Dolby Vision. Both look great and blow away my old LG UP970.

The optimizer, which can only be adjusted when viewing HDR, not DV, does not make a discernible difference, IMO, so I left it off.

I fixed the Dolby Vision audio issue by adjusting the audio sync
on the Panasonic player itself, to 120ms. Now the audio is perfectly synced to the video. The only issue is, I will have to readjust when watching HDR content, which has no audio sync issues.

Overall, after a little tweaking, I am very happy with this player and believe it's worth upgrading to if you have the LG UP970 like I did.

[vnguyen]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

I fixed the Dolby Vision audio issue by adjusting the audio sync
on the Panasonic player itself, to 120ms. Now the audio is perfectly synced to the video. The only issue is, I will have to readjust when watching HDR content, which has no audio sync issues.

You need to activate the “lip sync/audio sync” function on your tv and your receiver. That will automatically match video and audio for sources that support that feature. This way, the manual 120ms delay only activates for the DV.

[DJR662]

I only watched portions of Tomb Raider 2018 in DV, but no issues for me whatsoever.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I briefly owned the UB900 and the TV volume on remote was programmable which is why I was asking if the UB820 is programmable as well but I guess not.

I owned the 900 for a year. The TV volume was not programmable, never has been.