Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Smack]

Originally Posted by curlyjive

Also there is a 3rd party firmware that says it unlocks additional features on the 820 thst are enabled in the 9000 including the system gamma slider.

https://www.regionfreedom.com/index....pc#advfeatures

Do you know by any chance if this 3rd party FW also unlocks DV for the 420?

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

Wow took a while to update the firmware. Was flashing, "update 5/5" for a bit and it got me a bit nervous. All finished now!

It's been that way for 10+ years now for Panasonic Blu-Ray ownership. There are so many great things about their players but fast firmware updates is not one of them.

My first Panny Blu-Ray player was the DMP-BD35 that I bought in like 2008 (it was my third Blu-Ray player). The ironic thing is the menus/GUI and remote really have not changed much either in the past 10 years.... Don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing.

But the player still works 10+ years later.

[gkolb]

Originally Posted by Smack

Do you know by any chance if this 3rd party FW also unlocks DV for the 420?

Not really possible. Dolby Labs has to certify the firmware for every model, a third party can’t just write their own DV firmware update.

[Sailor09]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Not really possible. Dolby Labs has to certify the firmware for every model, a third party can’t just write their own DV firmware update.

In this case it is not possible but not because the reason you state. This 3rd party firmware is a modification of the official firmware and enable/disable existing capabilities in the hardware. In the case of the UB9000/UB820, they have the hardware for DV, but not the UB420, BUT they actually share the same firmware. The modified firmware will enable settings on the UB820, and UB420, that were only previously available on the UB9000, like System Gamma control. And it will enable region selection for all three and disable cinavia detection. Dolby vision will not be enabled on the 420 because the capability never existed on it.

[Swoopp]

Can anyone tell me if the 820 can play all 4k movies from a usb storage drive.
Mine pc cant send movies lager then 50gieg to mine tv without a problem buth bigger files he cant play.
Is it correct that the fornt is usb 2.0 and the rear 3.0

[DLCPhoto]

It is my understanding that the UB820 now has Netflix, Amazon Video, and YouTube. A few questions:

1. Is HDR supported within each of these apps, for the content that is HDR? If not all, which ones do?

2. Can the same tone-mapping controls used for UHD discs also be used for streaming HDR content?

3. Does streaming HDR content provide the metadata that discs do, which is the basis of the HDR Optimizer (which makes it so useful for discs)?

Thanks!

[madfloyd]

1. Definitely HDR for Netflix, and I assume Amazon since this was supported in the UB900. YouTube did not have HDR support so I assume that hasn’t changed.

2. Yes, at least for Netflix. Ozark went from almost unwatchable on the UB900 to amazing on the UB820 due to the optimizer.

3. Not sure, sorry.

[DLCPhoto]

Originally Posted by madfloyd

1. Definitely HDR for Netflix, and I assume Amazon since this was supported in the UB900. YouTube did not have HDR support so I assume that hasn’t changed.

2. Yes, at least for Netflix. Ozark went from almost unwatchable on the UB900 to amazing on the UB820 due to the optimizer.

3. Not sure, sorry.

Appreciate the reply and info!

A similar post I made on a different forum gave this response from Zombie10K:

Netflix is pretty straight forward. it will not show HDR capable shows (Lost in Space) if you have the player set to SDR/BT2020. If it's set to HDR/BT2020 it plays fines in HDR and relies on the projector or TV's tone mapping. i'm using a well tuned 1200 nit arve curve and it looks really good. some of the TM tools are available but it's not recommended to use these as it would be layering over the projector's curve. I left everything at 0.

Youtube HDR appears to be a problem. I recall it being an issue on the UB900 and verified that as well tonight. By all accounts, the projector and vertex are reporting an HDR signal but the image is very de-saturated compared to how it should look. I have a method of downloading the HDR VP9 file from youtube and converting it to UHD HDR MKV for playback on the HTPC, Zidoo or Oppo media player. With this method, it looks substantially better vs. the UB820 process with Youtube HDR content. I recall going back and forth with the Roku Ultra and the UB900 and the Roku was clearly better. I think they need some work on the Youtube app.

I didn't get a chance to check prime, i'll try to look at that tomorrow.

Do you recall what you had the output from the UB820 set to when viewing Netflix, to confirm what Zombie10k reported on his system?

It would be great if someone could report this observation to Panasonic, to see if at least the Netflix issue could be addressed with a firmware update, so that the excellent SDR2020 Tone Mapping capabilities could also be applied to Netflix and the other HDR capable streaming channels.

[d514]

Originally Posted by Sailor09

Dolby vision will not be enabled on the 420 because the capability never existed on it.

Well, at least they tried to enable it on the 420. For a short while the enhanced firmware page said that they enabled DV on the 420. But when I checked a day later that was already gone.

[Swoopp]

What hdmi cable do you all use for uhd.
Highspeed cable or 2.0 2.0a or 2.0b

[GiuseppeM]

I use Belkin HDMI 2.1 for the devices that support Dolby Vision.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

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

Strange, I was able to program to volume of my Sony TV with the Panny remote.

[madfloyd]

Originally Posted by DLCPhoto

Appreciate the reply and info!

A similar post I made on a different forum gave this response from Zombie10K:



Do you recall what you had the output from the UB820 set to when viewing Netflix, to confirm what Zombie10k reported on his system?

It would be great if someone could report this observation to Panasonic, to see if at least the Netflix issue could be addressed with a firmware update, so that the excellent SDR2020 Tone Mapping capabilities could also be applied to Netflix and the other HDR capable streaming channels.

I had the output set to HDR2020. But... I had the HDR optimizer ON which makes a huge difference for me. I convert to SDR2020 with my Lumagen but without the UB820's HDR Optimizer on Netflix is too dark on many shows; Ozark is a good example.

[DLCPhoto]

Originally Posted by madfloyd

I had the output set to HDR2020. But... I had the HDR optimizer ON which makes a huge difference for me. I convert to SDR2020 with my Lumagen but without the UB820's HDR Optimizer on Netflix is too dark on many shows; Ozark is a good example.

Gotcha. With the Lumagen in the mix, that changes everything (obviously for the better, for you!).

For those of us without it, though, this limitation for Netflix HDR, with our not being able to utilize the same SDR/2020 functionality as we can with Discs, is pretty significant. I'm going to see if I can get Robert Zohn's attention, to see if his contacts at Panasonic think this is something that can or will be addressed in a firmware update.

[Apari]

Can anyone confirm that the netflix in ub820 now has/doesn't have both dolby vision and dolby atmos?

[DLCPhoto]

Attention Robert Zohn:

Zombie10k in the AVS Forum has identified the UB-820's behavior, with reference to its Netflix App, when the user is wanting to utilize the SDR/2020 mode which works so wonderfully for those of us with Projectors:

Netflix is pretty straight forward. it will not show HDR capable shows (Lost in Space) if you have the player set to SDR/BT2020. If it's set to HDR/BT2020 it plays fines in HDR and relies on the projector or TV's tone mapping.

It would be a huge plus in favor of the UB-820 if this player could allow the user to watch Netflix (and presumably Amazon Video, YouTube, etc.) HDR content utilizing the same SDR/2020 approach that works so well for Projector users. Would it be possible for you to check with your contacts at Panasonic, to see if this is something that could be added via Firmware update?

Thank you.

[madfloyd]

/\
||

This is very important. I totally agree with this. It seems like an oversight on Panasonic's part.

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by GiuseppeM

I use Belkin HDMI 2.1 for the devices that support Dolby Vision.

Bluejean HDMI cables. Never fails.

[zubinh]

Just picked up the UB820 (goodbye Oppo), haven't taken it out of the box yet. One question. I'd like to leave it off my home network and just do the firmware updates via USB. Don't need the streaming capability, thats what I have Apple TV for.

Is firmware by USB an option?

[kansashoops]

Originally Posted by zubinh

Just picked up the UB820 (goodbye Oppo), haven't taken it out of the box yet. One question. I'd like to leave it off my home network and just do the firmware updates via USB. Don't need the streaming capability, thats what I have Apple TV for.

Is firmware by USB an option?

Yes. Page 18 of the manual.