Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by Loneliest rider

I prefer the upscaling of these Panasonic players. I've compared the upscaling of both Sony A80K and a UHP-H1 and there was no difference. The UHP-H1 is a 2016 model blu ray player that can upscale video to 4K, but that option has to be turned on manually. The 'auto' resolution setting only upscales up to 2K. The Panasonic UB9000's upscaling smooths out aliasing in the edges, if they exist, but the image is not blurred as a result. It's hard to explain, but it makes the video seem closer to native 4K than either of those Sony products. The colors also seem to have more range. Must be magic.

I'm glad that works for you. My display is the Sony 83" A90J and the upscaling is a bit better when compared to the Panasonic 820. The chip used on the A90J I think may be slightly different than the one on the A80K.

Still, I think it was worth while to at least take the time to find out what one is better.

Happy viewing!

[VanHiscers]

Today, I decided to rewatch Videodrome on 4K, which is recently released by the Criterion Collection. After no more than 15 minutes into the movie, the pictures started to glitch and pixelate. Again, there's no visible scratch on the disc. I didn't want to deal with it mentally, so I popped in another new 4K disc, Snow White and give it a try; Same thing happened again after no more than 5 minutes into the movie.

At that point, I finally decided to try to do some troubleshooting: I unplugged the player for more than 5 minutes or so, I switched around HDMI cables, and I plugged the player directly into the TV bypassing the soundbar... Nothing worked. Apart from Snow White seeming to have gotten better, all other previous problematic titles (including the infamous new 4K disc of the Nightmare before Christmas) seemed to have gotten increasingly worse every time they were put back into the player...

Therefore, there's no reason for me to believe that all these discs are defective; it must be my less-than-2-year-old player that is. Since the UB820 is still the best player on the market at that price point, I think I'll simply buy another one but this time with BestBuy's 4-year protection plan.

Amazingly, when I watched the new 4K release of Rosemary's Baby last night, the player did perfectly fine. My player seemed to only have problems with Disney and Warner discs mostly, it's almost like there's something about how those discs were manufactured that my player just can't deal...

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by B.inthe6

Received my UB9000 remote today that was ordered 16 days ago from Spain. Packaged well & shipped via postal as requested. I can't speak to the aftermarket versions of this remote but this original Panny is an example of high build quality not seen in other remotes I've experienced. It's functioning is smooth & positive so far for my UB820. The backlighting button is a treat as is the (10sec <) & (60 sec >). Other functions yet to be acquainted with but it was a worthwhile investment that was swapped & operable "right out of the box" . I may wrap the section of buttons on the remote that get constant use, with a single layer of saran wrap to protect the label on the buttons from wearing off. It's easy to apply & remove when fresh application is needed.

Glad you finally received it! I bought the same remote for my Panasonic 820 and I was going to tell you non of the labels have worn off but I wanted to make sure (since I mostly use it in the dark) and sure enough, the play button's label is gone and the pause button is starting to fade.

Oh well!

By the way the other really good thing about this remote is the home button or some other button that's too close to the play button on the remote that comes with the 820 is NOT too close to the play button and doesn't accidentally get hit. I can't tell you how frustrated I was with the other remote having some other function that takes you out of a movie and into a streaming digital menu of some sort. Never had that happen with this 9000 remote!

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by VanHiscers

it's almost like there's something about how those discs were encoded that my player just can't deal...

Maybe not the way it's encoded but maybe the way they were pressed or manufactured?

[B.inthe6]

Originally Posted by thebarnman

Glad you finally received it! I bought the same remote for my Panasonic 820 and I was going to tell you non of the labels have worn off but I wanted to make sure (since I mostly use it in the dark) and sure enough, the play button's label is gone and the pause button is starting to fade.

Oh well!

By the way the other really good thing about this remote is the home button or some other button that's too close to the play button on the remote that comes with the 820 is NOT too close to the play button and doesn't accidentally get hit. I can't tell you how frustrated I was with the other remote having some other function that takes you out of a movie and into a streaming digital menu of some sort. Never had that happen with this 9000 remote!

One would think the makers of remotes could have addressed this button label wear-off by now. Perhaps like some other devices I've had where the label is recessed below the button surface, but with silicone rubber keys - NOT gonna happen. I had a service provider remote with keypad on the back. ALL the keys ended up blank. I considered acrylic nail polish on keys but only on a plastic key would that be effective.

RE mis-hitting buttons; that 820 remote was a disaster! Especially with discs that require complete reset when stopped. I ended up placing a small piece of 60 grit sandpaper on the stop button ( double sided carpet tape) which had a sharp feel, so I had a no-no reference in the dark. I even put bright gold tape on a couple of choice buttons which gave a good reflection off the display screen in the dark. This 9000 remote has white buttons as well , so that's a big help even with no backlight. This puppy is a quality tool my friend!!!

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Updated the firmware, still getting the flicker lol.

My firmware is up to date. It still flickers on Halloween 78. I changed it to 4:2:2, Deep Color off, etc. Still flickered. No flickering at all in HDR. Weird.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

DV flickering can also be attributed to the metadata stream in the secondary HEVC data layer being a few frames misaligned with the video stream. Some DV titles are mastered incorrectly.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by VanHiscers

Therefore, there's no reason for me to believe that all these discs are defective; it must be my less-than-2-year-old player that is. Since the UB820 is still the best player on the market at that price point, I think I'll simply buy another one but this time with BestBuy's 4-year protection plan.

This is the best bet. Even many oppo players which some consider bulletproof are now starting to have read issues due to regular use

I think the bottom line is that 4K UHD discs have EXTREMELY tiny margin of error due to how tightly the data is packed in, so a slight mechanical misalignment due to regular use that would have no issue with previous formats is now causing issues with all 4K players

[Loneliest rider]

Originally Posted by thebarnman

I'm glad that works for you. My display is the Sony 83" A90J and the upscaling is a bit better when compared to the Panasonic 820. The chip used on the A90J I think may be slightly different than the one on the A80K.

Still, I think it was worth while to at least take the time to find out what one is better.

Happy viewing!

Let's get some unfortunate offtopic out of the way first.

[Show spoiler]I did the testing to troubleshoot a problem the UHP-H1 is having with the TV's HDMI-2 input, a problem the Panny doesn't have (with HDMI-1). This never happened with the player and my older Samsung TV, with the same cable, so it's either the TV HDMI port or the player. The symptom is as follows: sometimes when there's a resolution change in video - such as when 1080i FBI warning is presented before the 1080p main menu - the TV apparently loses signal from the player momentarily and starts to poll the inputs. The TV displays the grey patterned screen and the 'no input detected' message, sometimes there is a flash of color noise before it and the player handshake again. Toggling the enhanced HDMI mode on and off makes no difference.

Both of these Sony OLEDs most likely have the same version of the XR Cognitive Processor chip. It was brand new in 2021, and present in the midrange A80J as well. The former premium model A90J has better image quality compared to its nearest siblings, but due to other factors such as better cooling which gives more headroom for panel brightness and other processing gimmicks. So these flagship models always perform better in tests, but if I was Sony I'd make it clear that these models also feature a better image processing chip, to increase their sales further. Yet to my knowledge they did no such thing.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Loneliest rider

Both of these Sony OLEDs most likely have the same version of the XR Cognitive Processor chip. It was brand new in 2021, and present in the midrange A80J as well. The former premium model A90J has better image quality compared to its nearest siblings, but due to other factors such as better cooling which gives more headroom for panel brightness and other processing gimmicks. So these flagship models always perform better in tests, but if I was Sony I'd make it clear that these models also feature a better image processing chip, to increase their sales further.

The below Sony models all use the same "brains" for their core processing power - Mediatek MT5895, debut in Sony TVs in 2020 models

A80J, A80CJ, A90J, X80J, X80CJ, X85J, X90J, X90CJ, X91J, X91CJ, X92, X95J, Z9J, A80K, A80CK, A90K, A95K, X80K, X80CK, X85K, X90K, X90CK, X95K, Z9K, X900H, X90CH

This chipset appears to have some processing limitations with Dolby Vision, for example not enough power to do 120hz + Dolby Vision, but can do 120hz + HDR10.

[Loneliest rider]

Originally Posted by Ruined

The below Sony models all use the same "brains" for their core processing power - Mediatek MT5895, debut in Sony TVs in 2020 models

A80J, A80CJ, A90J, X80J, X80CJ, X85J, X90J, X90CJ, X91J, X91CJ, X92, X95J, Z9J, A80K, A80CK, A90K, A95K, X80K, X80CK, X85K, X90K, X90CK, X95K, Z9K, X900H, X90CH

This chipset appears to have some processing limitations with Dolby Vision, for example not enough power to do 120hz + Dolby Vision, but can do 120hz + HDR10.

So you could say the Mediatech chip supplies the raw power required for all calculations, and the XR both the features and the processing power reserved for specific video related tasks such as upscaling? The XR image processor would then be similar to a computer GPU, a CPU dedicated to graphics processing.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Loneliest rider

So you could say the Mediatech chip supplies the raw power required for all calculations, and the XR both the features and the processing power reserved for specific video related tasks such as upscaling? The XR image processor would then be similar to a computer GPU, a CPU dedicated to graphics processing.

yeah it looks like the XR chip is for audio/visual post processing, like upscaling, etc

So different than a computer GPU, because the GPU does all of the graphics actual rendering, work, etc.

In this case, it would be like the MT5895 does most of the work (eg decoding/rendering the core audio/video), and then the XR processor puts some post-processing polish on that work in certain cases, like image upscaling or tweaking, additional spatial processing of sound, etc. So basically the XR processor can improve the end product a bit, but the work to create the core product itself is done by the MT5895.

[Clockwork Chris]

Originally Posted by Sango

My unit did not exhibit any issues. That was Matt89 but his issue disappeared.



------------------

Are you able to go into Service Mode and check the Self-Diagnosis Display to see if there were any errors? Also, how long were you running the unit for (Laser Used Time Display)?

My unit has no errors and here are my stats.
BD: 490
DP: 31
CD: 0

Two months later and the Panasonic saga is over. I sent my UB9000 in for repair to 220 Electronics after the disc tray would not eject, instead forcing playback of the disc when the eject button was pushed. 220 replaced the disc drive and the main board. Got the player back and the first disc I put in the tray it doesn't close. Had to lightly push the tray with my finger. Player worked for about a week or so and then began to exhibit the same problem with not closing and ultimately not opening and any attempt to eject the disc will then cause the disc to play despite not pressing play. This time I tried using the screwdriver method underneath the player to eject the disc and that worked. Once the disc was out and the unit unplugged I then plugged it back in and turned it on it was working fine...but for how long? I don't want the damn thing anymore! $1300 for 13 months of operation and no extended warranty...this is the first and last time I ever spend this much on any A/V equipment without an extended warranty. 220 offered to apply the repair cost to a new player so I went with the Sony UBP-X800M2 since I have a Sony OLED and I added on the 3 year warranty for $50. While the UB9000 picture was beautiful the Sony is near or at the same quality...in fact I think the Sony upscales better while the Panasonic handles the 4K discs better...but any differences I'm detecting are marginal and for $900 less it's a no brainer that pound for pound the Sony is the better value all around, especially since it will play DVD-A and SACD which I have a handful of and couldn't enjoy them on the Panasonic and the sound quality is on par with the Panasonic. The while DV toggle switch on the Sony while not ideal in functionality is not at all an issue that impacts my decision. I didn't want the UB820 for the same reason, no extended warranty and the supposed superior tone mapping is not worth the added cost...again at best marginal differences in what detail...shadows?! NO thank you. Plus the build quality on the Sony is impressive for the price, and mechanically the Sony responds faster to commands, loads faster, the tray opens and closes smoother, and it plays perfectly quiet. I'm happy I turned down a big discount on a new UB9000...it just wasn't worth it to me to potentially go through this again with no extended warranty after what I've already spent. I happily spent $3000 on my TV because I also got a 5 year extended warranty! 220 also offered me the option to purchase the new Magnetar at cost which I also declined for the same reason. And yes they have the Magnetars just not on website yet.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Clockwork Chris

Two months later and the Panasonic saga is over. I sent my UB9000 in for repair to 220 Electronics after the disc tray would not eject, instead forcing playback of the disc when the eject button was pushed. 220 replaced the disc drive and the main board. Got the player back and the first disc I put in the tray it doesn't close. Had to lightly push the tray with my finger. Player worked for about a week or so and then began to exhibit the same problem with not closing and ultimately not opening and any attempt to eject the disc will then cause the disc to play despite not pressing play. This time I tried using the screwdriver method underneath the player to eject the disc and that worked. Once the disc was out and the unit unplugged I then plugged it back in and turned it on it was working fine...but for how long? I don't want the damn thing anymore! $1300 for 13 months of operation and no extended warranty...this is the first and last time I ever spend this much on any A/V equipment without an extended warranty. 220 offered to apply the repair cost to a new player so I went with the Sony UBP-X800M2 since I have a Sony OLED and I added on the 3 year warranty for $50. While the UB9000 picture was beautiful the Sony is near or at the same quality...in fact I think the Sony upscales better while the Panasonic handles the 4K discs better...but any differences I'm detecting are marginal and for $900 less it's a no brainer that pound for pound the Sony is the better value all around, especially since it will play DVD-A and SACD which I have a handful of and couldn't enjoy them on the Panasonic and the sound quality is on par with the Panasonic. The while DV toggle switch on the Sony while not ideal in functionality is not at all an issue that impacts my decision. I didn't want the UB820 for the same reason, no extended warranty and the supposed superior tone mapping is not worth the added cost...again at best marginal differences in what detail...shadows?! NO thank you. Plus the build quality on the Sony is impressive for the price, and mechanically the Sony responds faster to commands, loads faster, the tray opens and closes smoother, and it plays perfectly quiet. I'm happy I turned down a big discount on a new UB9000...it just wasn't worth it to me to potentially go through this again with no extended warranty after what I've already spent. I happily spent $3000 on my TV because I also got a 5 year extended warranty! 220 also offered me the option to purchase the new Magnetar at cost which I also declined for the same reason. And yes they have the Magnetars just not on website yet.

I think Magnetar offers a region free option for $99. So I would not bother buying one from 220 Electronics ever. That is likely why they offered it to you at cost.

There is no perfect player but some of the Panasonic units seem more prone to having issues same can be said for Sony players as well. I am glad the X800M2 is working well for you.

[rroeder]

Damn bummer to hear that, hopefully your Sony player gives you trouble free playback. I had an X700 that started having playback issues all the time so I tried the X800M2 as well but that player was even worse so I decided to spend the money on the 820. Mine has been solid and trouble free for the most part. There have been a few discs that had playback issues but I'm sure it was the discs and not the player.

Have had a weird audio drop issue when I paused or rewinded a few times but that seems to have resolved itself maybe the firmware update or me messing with the audio and HDMI settings may have fixed it.

knock knock

[deatheats]

The title I’ve seen the most obvious DV flickering (820 & A80J owner) is Krampus. Extremely noticeable right off the bat.

Still on 1.69 firmware, though. Wanted to get others impressions of the update before pulling the trigger.

[3eccaTron]

I want to buy a second UB 820 for another room in my house. I have one I bought a couple years ago and the regionfreedom mod is installed. I know this site no longer exists. Has there been a new way to software mod this unit since that site went dark?

[deatheats]

Originally Posted by 3eccaTron

I want to buy a second UB 820 for another room in my house. I have one I bought a couple years ago and the regionfreedom mod is installed. I know this site no longer exists. Has there been a new way to software mod this unit since that site went dark?

Yes, but it’s fairly new and requires some work in a Linux VM.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/let...eedom.2441584/

[VanHiscers]

I got the new player today, and guess what? The Nightmare before Christmas actually played with perfect pictures and sound. Kiss the Girls, which my previous player wouldn’t even want to read, also played…

I think the lesson here is that we all need to purchase some kind of repair plan for 4K UHD players, and ideally, we at least need a separate regular blu-ray player to avoid more wear-and-tear…

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

My firmware is up to date. It still flickers on Halloween 78. I changed it to 4:2:2, Deep Color off, etc. Still flickered. No flickering at all in HDR. Weird.

Sorry to learn that. No issues with that title with my Panasonic 820. I don't know what your display is but mine is the Sony 83A90J.

Again, no issue with that title.