Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by cybersoga

Ok so this player is great, it's very quiet, plays discs quickly and has solid picture quality. Superb chroma upsampling.

I'm having one small issue, when i play Arrow 4K titles the disc menu is displayed in SDR, when i start the film the player info says HDR, but my display isn't switching to HDR as it should. When the film starts I have to switch inputs to get my display to resync and then it displays in HDR. This doesn't happen with most discs which display HDR strait away. I realise this probably more of an issue with my display but i'm wondering if anyone else has has seen this or been able to do anything about it. I tried different HDMI cables connected directly to my display.

What is the display ?

Is the player still set to defaults?

(Either way,... that is strange behavior and I don't have a lot of ideas about why that is happening. Is there a readout of if it's HDR using a pop up menu? Maybe it doesn't display the HDR badge in this case for some reason but it's still getting and displaying the correct signal.)

[bhampton]

Hi,

Here's the short version of the post - I used a belt from a $5 used Blu Ray player to repair my UB9000 which would sometimes not open and close the disc tray.

Here's the long version ...

I purchased a UB9000 in March of 2022 (now out of warranty). I used it a lot everyday. Eventually, it would sometimes not open and close the disc tray and I learned about the way to manually open the tray using the tab on the bottom of the player.

However, It failed more and more until out of frustration I replaced it with a Panasonic UB150.

I tried twice to order a new drive from Panasonic parts supplier Encompass but it shows as in stock and then they tell me it's 6 months back ordered both times.

I watched a few youtube DIY repair vids that show replacing the drive belt for the tray. I picked up a Sony Blu Ray player (BDP S580) for $5 at a thrift store. This player uses a smaller belt but it's stretchy so I swapped the belts and now the tray opens smooth every time and I'm so dern happy !

The UB150 will remain as a back up on the shelf.

If your Panasonic player does not open and close reliably look into a new (or used) belt. Amazon sells some belts for disc players but I don't know which of those would be good if any.

-Brian

[bhampton]

Great.

It's good to see the part number and for myself it's great to know this was indeed the reason my player stopped opening and closing the tray.

I like the Sony belt better for now but I may get a OEM belt at some point. The original did fail and seems to have failed for a number of other users. I'm not advocating modification but the belt from the Sony player is working great for now and I'll report back if and when it ever fails. I watch a lot of discs so I'll be doing a lot of testing.

It's working so good I swapped a bunch of discs in and out just to bask in the smooth operation. Ha ha.

[Hedrox]

Had my first issue with my UB820 today. Was checking the discs of Dungeons & Dragons to make sure everything was fine and after ejecting the 4K and putting on the BD, it refused to play. It would go into the black loading screen then immediately return to the main menu, thankfully restarting the player fixed it.

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by mdhaus

Good luck! I've had two 9000s shipped to me by Best Buy. And both times, the unit box was simply sent as-is with a label stuck to it and no extra cardboard boxing around it. They got to me OK...but the product boxes were not in good shape.

Yup came destroyed . No cord , chewed up remote , no papers of any kind . All corners crushed and stickers and dirt everywhere . Outsourced chat is by far the worst on the internet period .
This is (Excellent open box) ? Ok best buy . Seriously I only see employees at these stores , 3 greeters at door all standing around playing on there phones , Blows my mind there still in business when they really have nothing to offer .


I will get one eventually , This was like a beast , 17 pounds . Its heavier then my Oppo 103D

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by sa5150

Yup came destroyed .

Crutchfield has the same price with much better service. They double box.

I ordered mine from BB but I have no idea WHY.

And, now that BB want's to be silly and stop selling physical media just because they think they are big enough to bully people's buying habits, I don't think I will ever shop at Best Buy again.

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by sa5150

Yup came destroyed .

Wonder what happened to this chuckle head?

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Crutchfield has the same price with much better service. They double box.

I ordered mine from BB but I have no idea WHY.

And, now that BB want's to be silly and stop selling physical media just because they think they are big enough to bully people's buying habits, I don't think I will ever shop at Best Buy again.

I agree but your way better off waiting for a sale at Value Electronics , double boxed and pay no tax .

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by cybersoga

Ok so this player is great, it's very quiet, plays discs quickly and has solid picture quality. Superb chroma upsampling.

I'm having one small issue, when i play Arrow 4K titles the disc menu is displayed in SDR, when i start the film the player info says HDR, but my display isn't switching to HDR as it should. When the film starts I have to switch inputs to get my display to resync and then it displays in HDR. This doesn't happen with most discs which display HDR strait away. I realise this probably more of an issue with my display but i'm wondering if anyone else has has seen this or been able to do anything about it. I tried different HDMI cables connected directly to my display.

Turn off the HDR Optimizer. I had this issue when switching between SDR and HDR content on a disc and turning the Optimizer off fixed it.

[Telemachus]

No one compares to Crutchfield, surely not Bestbuy I don't see how anyone can trust them. Amazon will also not double box players but their returns make it worth it for sale prices. My UB820 from Amazon came with the label on the factory box but zero problems. The Sony I ordered from Crutchfield before that was double boxed.

[cybersoga]

Originally Posted by bl4ck

He probably set up "Color mode" as 4:4:4 forced if yes set "Auto".

I have it set to Auto, it's outputting 4:4:4 anyway, which is great because I love the chroma upsampling of this player as it makes digital artefacts less visible

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Turn off the HDR Optimizer. I had this issue when switching between SDR and HDR content on a disc and turning the Optimizer off fixed it.

I have HDR Optimizer turned off anyway as the picture looks better without it.

My display just isn't syncing properly sometimes, which i've had before, i have a workaround so not a big deal.


I'm absolutely loving this player, I should have got this one ages ago.

[sa5150]

The one I had to return said Aug 2023 on back . Are there any 2024 dates anyone got of a 9000p1k ? Do we know if they will still be made through 2024 ?


Says sold out on Panny sight and backordered on others . Is it done ?

[PUsokrJosh305]

So, I've finally got my player's settings to how I want it with my LG C9 and using LG's DTM along with the HDR Optimizer. HDR10 looks almost identical to Dolby Vision in terms of ABL.

The only difference I see now is color saturation. In almost every DV stream I have seen and comparing it with the HDR10 disc counterpart is that DV has a little more color saturation than my HDR10 disc.

What I want to know is that is this a normal thing? I know DV is 12 bit and HDR10 is 10 bit. Does that make a difference in color saturation or is my player set wrong to where the color saturation is not as good as it should be?

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

So, I've finally got my player's settings to how I want it with my LG C9 and using LG's DTM along with the HDR Optimizer. HDR10 looks almost identical to Dolby Vision in terms of ABL.

The only difference I see now is color saturation. In almost every DV stream I have seen and comparing it with the HDR10 disc counterpart is that DV has a little more color saturation than my HDR10 disc.

What I want to know is that is this a normal thing? I know DV is 12 bit and HDR10 is 10 bit. Does that make a difference in color saturation or is my player set wrong to where the color saturation is not as good as it should be?

Have you tried my guide in the signature?

[gto35830]

Originally Posted by sa5150

The one I had to return said Aug 2023 on back . Are there any 2024 dates anyone got of a 9000p1k ? Do we know if they will still be made through 2024 ?


Says sold out on Panny sight and backordered on others . Is it done ?

I just bought and recieved an upgraded 9000p1k from 220-Electronics and the manufacture date on the unit was Oct. 2023, so really only 5 months ago.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

So, I've finally got my player's settings to how I want it with my LG C9 and using LG's DTM along with the HDR Optimizer. HDR10 looks almost identical to Dolby Vision in terms of ABL.

The only difference I see now is color saturation. In almost every DV stream I have seen and comparing it with the HDR10 disc counterpart is that DV has a little more color saturation than my HDR10 disc.

What I want to know is that is this a normal thing? I know DV is 12 bit and HDR10 is 10 bit. Does that make a difference in color saturation or is my player set wrong to where the color saturation is not as good as it should be?

No, the 10bit vs 12bit doesn't affect saturation. That just allows for more color values and gradation in between. The saturation is based on the luminance of the colors and howo they are shown depends on the capabilities of the display and how it tonemaps the data (which HDR10 and DV handle differently). As you know, HDR10 is "static" (assuming you don't have engaged any DTM) and rolls off the high end a certain way. DV is "dynamic" and it tonemaps it differently. Think of the EOTF as a string that is too long to fit in a box. Think of HDR10 perhaps cutting the end of it and curving it a bit to fit it in the box. DV might instead stretch it a bit differently to fit it in. Since your TV is a WOLED, it relies on white pixel...which tends to wash out color with high luminance. DV likely tries to maintain that luminance/saturation by perhaps modifying the EOTF in other areas.

I simplified the explanation and likely didn't get it exact terms, but trying to explain why you may be seeing differences.

[sa5150]

Is there a chance they go back on sale like the last black Friday prices 9000 was $959 and 820 was $349 ? Other thing I was wondering why are they still so much higher then there original MSRP ? There is no shortage of parts anymore and inflation is somewhat down .

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by sa5150

Is there a chance they go back on sale like the last black Friday prices 9000 was $959 and 820 was $349 ? Other thing I was wondering why are they still so much higher then there original MSRP ? There is no shortage of parts anymore and inflation is somewhat down .

It's simply called greed.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by sa5150

Is there a chance they go back on sale like the last black Friday prices 9000 was $959 and 820 was $349 ? Other thing I was wondering why are they still so much higher then there original MSRP ? There is no shortage of parts anymore and inflation is somewhat down .

Possibly sometime in q4.

[Telemachus]

UHD players have gone on sale almost every year towards the holidays and stayed at full price after they're over, but the UB820 price last year was the lowest, not sure if it will hit that again, maybe they were clearing out stock. I might pick up the 420 as a backup to replace my X700 if it goes real low again.