Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[IlCorvo]

Originally Posted by Andrew Woo

Nonsense.

Well he is partially right. Players modified with the ICOS mod could be updated with official firmware IIRC. But rattlebyte uses a mix of softwaremodification and hardwaremodification. I do not believe that the other benefits besides codefree playback would be achievable with a pure hardwaremod.

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by HanBrolo77

Sadly no. I was so excited to see this update and was hopeful it would fix my Kino flickering issues, but the problem is still there.

My test disc was Monster Squad which has several quick sequences of flickering during the scene where the bullies attack Horace. Same trouble spots.

I tested that scene on my 9000 and didn't notice any flickering.

[Andrew Woo]

Originally Posted by IlCorvo

Well he is partially right. Players modified with the ICOS mod could be updated with official firmware IIRC. But rattlebyte uses a mix of softwaremodification and hardwaremodification. I do not believe that the other benefits besides codefree playback would be achievable with a pure hardwaremod.

I updated my Panasonic player to version 1.82 two days ago via Wi-Fi and its Rattlebyte modification was not affected. And he said "NO region free player" and that's not correct.

[ronand]

Originally Posted by Andrew Woo

I updated my Panasonic player to version 1.82 two days ago via Wi-Fi and its Rattlebyte modification was not affected. And he said "NO region free player" and that's not correct.

OMG. Rattlebyte firmware updates from its own servers not from Panasonics. Please check your facts.

Maybe the ICOS mod uses factory firmware but the rattlebyte mod definitely uses modified firmware.

[IlCorvo]

Originally Posted by ronand

OMG. Rattlebyte firmware updates from its own servers not from Panasonics. Please check your facts.

Maybe the ICOS mod uses factory firmware but the rattlebyte mod definitely uses modified firmware.

What ronand says. Rattlebyte re-routes to a different server for updating their own custom firmware.

[Telemachus]

Since this doesn't fix any of the Kino flickering issues I'll pass my player is problem free besides that

[gto35830]

Originally Posted by IlCorvo

Well he is partially right. Players modified with the ICOS mod could be updated with official firmware IIRC. But rattlebyte uses a mix of softwaremodification and hardwaremodification. I do not believe that the other benefits besides codefree playback would be achievable with a pure hardwaremod.

I have gotten a 9000 upgraded by 220 and opened it up and did not see any additional hardware within the unit, nor did I find Rattlybyte mentioned in any of the 13 pages of the system information. When I received the unit, they had updated firmware to 1.76, but am not able to update via network. Am waiting for a response from email sent to 220.

[HanBrolo77]

Originally Posted by Waboman

I tested that scene on my 9000 and didn't notice any flickering.

Are you using an LG OLED?

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by HanBrolo77

Are you using an LG OLED?

No. Sorry. Can't help you there.

[DougieJ]

Does the firmware update mess with the settings?

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by DougieJ

Does the firmware update mess with the settings?

It didn't on mine to the best of of my knowledge

[DRC72]

Originally Posted by lgans316

It didn't on mine to the best of of my knowledge

Same here as well.

[gto35830]

Just an FYI.... had email 220 yesterday as was unable to update my Panny 9000 via network. received an email back from them today with a download of the new firmware(1.82) and instructions on how to install by USB. Not sure if will need to do it this way in the future if Panasonic comes out with any new firmware update again, but just thought I would pass this along. I Now have f/w 1.82.

[rickardl]

Ok, I also got black subtitles as someone else reported on another forum. I was watching Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country and when the Klingons were attacked and David Warner shouts in Klingon, "Find Chang" at 29:28, the subtitles were black.
Switching to Swedish subtitles did not help or changing position or luminance.
What did help was to switch VSVDB back to V1 on my LG 77G3, then the subtitles were white as they should be and I still got display led DV.

[TravisTylerBlack]

So I’ve been popping in various discs since the update and have noticed some nice performance improvements. First and foremost, The Nightmare Before Christmas UHD finally plays without issue on my unit. Before now the image would stutter and break up into a pixelated mess around the 20 minute mark. Very glad that this was addressed by Panny, especially since Disney made it clear they wouldn’t be issuing replacements.

Beyond that, all of the low-nit HDR10 titles from Disney now appear to have improved brightness levels on my Sony FALD display. In the past HEAT, The Empire Strikes, and Aladdin (among others) had me bumping the HDR from standard mode over to “natural viewing environment” due to abnormally dark image. Now everything looks great as-is sans any settings adjustments- at least to my eyes. Black levels are thankfully preserved.

On-disc Dolby Vision performance has also improved dramatically on my TV since I first purchased it nearly 5 years ago. How much of that is due to Panasonic’s tinkering, Sony’s continued firmware updates, or simply the way in which the two devices communicate, I can’t say. Either way it consistently looks as bright or brighter now than the default HDR10 layer on basically every title I’ve thrown at it.

(For those unaware the X900F had issues with overly dim player-led Dolby Vision when it first launched via firmware update back in 2019. Now it looks normal.)

Cannot say the same for my Apple TV 4K library though, which looks fine but noticeably duller when compared to the equivalent 4K disc. Genuinely makes me appreciate both the UB820’s magic and my physical collection all the more.

[asacmurr]

Has anyone made a thread for the discs that won't work with the top menu disc, or could/should/is that localized here?

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by asacmurr

Has anyone made a thread for the discs that won't work with the top menu disc, or could/should/is that localized here?

Not that I’ve seen.

From personal experience I can say that Arrow UK, Indicator, and Eureka’s B-locked titles all play perfectly on my non-modded UB820.

Studio Canal, on the other hand, has (IMO excessive) guard rails in place to prevent the workaround. I’ve also had issues with certain BFI discs being able to play the main feature but not the supplements.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by asacmurr

Has anyone made a thread for the discs that won't work with the top menu disc, or could/should/is that localized here?

The only list I saw was on reddit from 4 months ago someone tested all their discs:



Just me personally all the Arrow bonus Blu rays from the Bruce Lee sets work, all my Eureka discs work (Lucky Stars trilogy, City Hunter, Wheels on Meals), Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure Studio Canal Blu works (has special features on it only), Strange Days from Koch Media.

The only disc I have that won't work is what most people know Dawn of the Dead bonus disc from Second Sight.

[asacmurr]

I think it's worth noting the ones that don't work especially, but I guess it's nice to note which ones do work and have been tested. I can contribute these from 88 - haven't tested all my discs though:
Knock Off
Replicant
10 to Midnight
The One

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by asacmurr

I think it's worth noting the ones that don't work especially, but I guess it's nice to note which ones do work and have been tested. I can contribute these from 88 - haven't tested all my discs though:
Knock Off
Replicant
10 to Midnight
The One

Those work or they don't? I was hoping to grab Knock Off