Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[ksc2303]

I've got a LG C2 and couldn't get the DV mode select on the ub820 to come up. Decided to try the instructions posted earlier about changing Dolby VSVDB between V2 and V1. No matter what I set my TV to if I brought up the HDMI signal info it always showed Dolby Vision and not DolbyLL when playing back a DV disc on the ub820. Just to make sure it's not labeled different on my model year, I can force Low Latency DV on my Chromecast and it shows up labeled as DolbyLL in the diagnostics. So for those of us who can't trigger the change on the ub820 it might be worth following these directions to see what version of DV you're getting:

HDMI Diagnostics Menu (Settings -> General -> click Channels -> Highlight but don't click Channel Tuning -> Press 1111111 -> Press down to get to the second More button under DVI/HDMI Status, and in the top left it'll say DolbyLL before, and DolbyVision after changing the VSVDB version

[jess1581]

Sounds to me like this FW update is more of an LG fix than a universal improvement.

[rickardl]

Ok, last post for today re this. Based on the below, I assume this threshold is 1191 niits.

Originally Posted by rickardl

I read that it could be either that your TV does not support Mode 1 or your TV's EDID advertises a DV peak luminance which is less than some threshold luminance figure but don't take my word for it...
https://www.avsforum.com/posts/63381806/

With regards to The Panasonic UB820/9000 players. Yes, there absolutely is a confirmed issue that with the introduction of the 1.76 FW update (which was August 2023, not early 2023), the Dolby VSVDB block contained in the EDID of both the LG OLEDG3 and the Sony A95L is causing issues with these players. Both the G3 and the A95L use a Dolby 12 Byte Version 2 VSVDB that contains a 12 bit Full max_pq target value of 3290, which translates to 1604 nits. The Dolby VSVDB has 32 values available to it in a 12 Byte Version data block. If you take as an example, the values available between 700 - 4000 nits, these would be

Code:

669,774,896,1037,1199,1387,1604,1856,2147,2484,287 5,3330,3857

Any value in the Dolby VSVDB of any EDID that is above 1199 nits causes the Panasonic players to switch to LLDV output mode. Something with the higher value is causing an issue with the Panasonic players and the latest FW, because FW 1.69 (and some that were launched with FW 1.70) do not have the issue. I have 2 x UB820 players, they were both on FW 1.69, I updated on of them to FW 1.76 and immediately the issue arose. Which is not an issue for me as my second UB820 is primarily connected to a non-DV capable display (Samsung S90C).

Either way, this "Panasonic bug" has been confirmed by numerous people and has apparently already been reported directly to Panasonic by Stacey Spears (of Spears and Munsil, among other things, fame).
There is no "easy fix" for Sony owners, unfortunately. For those that are able to manipulate an EDID with devices such as a HD Fury, replacing the max_pq target of a 12 Byte Version 2 Dolby VSVDB with a value of 1199 nits or lower will force the Panasonic to output Standard Dolby Vision (this does not affect anything as with STD DV, the display tone maps based on embedded metadata).
For LG OLED G3 owners, there is a very quick and easy fix using the HDMI Signalling Override Menu.

The Panny player bug apparently occurred when the Dolby VSVDB of a display's EDID contained values above 1199 nits.

I connected my updated UB820 to my Sony A80J (peak luminance ~650 nits at a 10% window) and the new menu wasn't there.

It's possible the new Dolby Vision options are only available when the player recognizes that it's connected to a display with an EDID that has the required DoVi VSVDB luminance value(s).

[rickardl]

And with all this Dolby Vision discussion and Donald Sutherland R.I.P, I will now watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) on my 820 & LG G377.

[Phoenix123]

So after the 1.82 patch my Sony TV has gone back to the good old days of showing subtitles in black and some of the menu icons/writing showing up as black too. I have to have the dolby vision set to mode 2 to stop this.

Anyone know a work around for this?

[rickardl]

I spoke too soon... the setting was back to LL/player-led again after restart. Verified with the 1111111 menu on the LG.

[backwater]

Oh God, I feel like an idiot.

I just realized I was thinking of the Second Sight Texas Chain Saw Massacre disc, not Dawn of the Dead. No idea how I mixed up those titles. Forgive me. I can't get the DotD bonus disc to play on it either.

[George.P]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

I wish the top menu trick worked 100% but I've been pretty lucky with it working on everything I own, or have asked members here before I buy something and someone usually has a legit answer. My Dawn of the Dead Second Sight bonus Blu rays do not work, but lots of cool stuff does like the Arrow Bruce Lee discs, Strange Days, Studio Canal discs, some Eureka discs. Sad that all the 88 Films discs I want don't work

Studio Canal region B discs are hit 'n miss and none of the Second Sights I own work with the top menu trick. Pretty sure all region B Arrow works on north american versions with the top menu trick.


Edit: missed this latest "extreme" top menu trick. Will have to try it (even though I have a hardware region mod):

Originally Posted by Telemachus

I saw this on reddit in those links:

[MassiveMovieBuff]

I have a region free Panny 9000. I'm afraid of updating it because I don't want it to disable the region free setting. Will updating the player affect that? In the FAQ's for the player on Amazon it says it won't but I want to try and get some feedback from potential folks who've had experience with this.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by rickardl

And with all this Dolby Vision discussion and Donald Sutherland R.I.P, I will now watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) on my 820 & LG G377.

I hope it doesn’t flicker….

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by dickdarlington

Since I wanted to make my day difficult, I threw every Region B disc I had at my 820.

The Dawn of the Dead bonus disc and Martin are the only two I can’t crack.

Second Sight’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (both Blu-ray Discs) and Arrow’s Tenebrae (included Blu-ray from the LE) went right through despite stating they’re Region B.

Second Sight’s Drive, The Guest, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (both Blu-ray Discs) required just a single Top Menu button push. Same goes for Arrow’s Shock Treatment and Battle Royale II’s second disc.

Everything else required the Stop > 1 > OK > Top Menu remote trick.

However Dawn of the Dead and Martin? No way Jose. I really don’t give a shit about Martin since all the bonus material is on the UHD, but I’d like to watch the Dawn of the Dead bonus disc on my main set.

How many 88 Films region B discs do you happen to own? I've wanted to grab some of those but am under the impression most/all won't work

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I have a region free Panny 9000. I'm afraid of updating it because I don't want it to disable the region free setting. Will updating the player affect that? In the FAQ's for the player on Amazon it says it won't but I want to try and get some feedback from potential folks who've had experience with this.

If the region free was done via hardware mod, you should update it from the mod's website. If it was done via software patch it will definitely loose the region free modification.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

If the region free was done via hardware mod, you should update it from the mod's website. If it was done via software patch it will definitely loose the region free modification.

I'll probably leave it alone then. I wouldn't know how to find that info out.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I'll probably leave it alone then. I wouldn't know how to find that info out.

I imagine it's from 220-electronics, cause RattleByte don't sell players, only the mods.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

I imagine it's from 220-electronics, cause RattleByte don't sell players, only the mods.

I got it from Amazon.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I got it from Amazon.

Yes, from a third party seller, possibly 220 because Amazon themselves don't sell modded players. It should say in your order history.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

Yes, from a third party seller, possibly 220 because Amazon themselves don't sell modded players. It should say in your order history.

Yep just checked and it's 220.

So if I'm understanding the link you sent I should be safe to update it?

[ronand]

Check the software information in the system menu. If you see rattlebyte mentioned it is safe to update.

[IlCorvo]

I get the following message now, once I press the Green Button several times on my Magic remote:

https://www.avforums.com/threads/pan.../post-32347297

So, it is TV-LED, although I did not see the mode selection on my player's DV menu.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

Yep just checked and it's 220.

So if I'm understanding the link you sent I should be safe to update it?

220 claim the firmware can be updated via internet at any time without affecting regional coding, so go for it I guess. Just use the official Panasonic FW (best to do it via the player's built-in update feature).

If there's any issues afterwards you can just contact them and complain.