Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[saltburn]

9000 here. I will say turning off DV has been very beneficial. It just creates so many issues. The Flickering. Screen turning red. I got so tired of the inconsistent playback reliability, I just turned it off. Maybe it's my Sony tv, I'm not sure but those issues stopped when just using HDR10 instead.

It's annoying because DV does look slightly better when it actually works.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by rikraq

What are the best settings on the 820 for watching regular blu-rays?

I'm also looking to buy new HDMI cables. What are good ones that aren't too expensive? I read that they should be 48Gbps. Is that right? I'm using a Best Buy Essentials from 2022 right now that is 18Gps. Is that still a good one or should I upgrade?

There shouldn’t be anything you need to adjust on the SDR Blu-ray end, at least player wise. I can’t remember if the player has sharpness up 1 click by default so check on that. Otherwise, it should be good.

In terms of HDMI Cables, you don’t need one that does 48 Gbps aka HDMI 2.1 capabilities. That’s for gaming. You just need one that does 18 Gbps. That’s enough for anything dealing with 4K UHD Blu-ray (HDR, HDR10+, Dolby Vision). I buy my cables through Monoprice. Have been since the early 2010’s and only 1 cable has failed me. They are the cheapest yet most reliable place to buy cables and other things.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by saltburn

9000 here. I will say turning off DV has been very beneficial. It just creates so many issues. The Flickering. Screen turning red. I got so tired of the inconsistent playback reliability, I just turned it off. Maybe it's my Sony tv, I'm not sure but those issues stopped when just using HDR10 instead.

It's annoying because DV does look slightly better when it actually works.

Sounds to me like there is an HDMI handshake issue or something is wrong with the HDMI Cables. Have you replaced those yet?

[Alwayshappy]

We have a Panasonic UB700 atm, but it's been giving us a lot of problems lately. A lot of discs have issues with skipping and pixelation, mostly 4k discs. It's starting to affect our joy of watching discs, because it feels like a lottery wether or not a disc is going to skip or not. 99% of the discs that give us issues do play without issues on our Xbox series X. We do like having a separate movie player though, so we've decided to replace the UB700 (owned it for about 5 years) and the UB820 is mentioned as the best one out there on a lot of sites. Or do we risk the exact same problem with the 820? Not sure if anyone has had the same experience as us with the UB700, with a succesful jump to the 820?

[rikraq]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

There shouldn’t be anything you need to adjust on the SDR Blu-ray end, at least player wise. I can’t remember if the player has sharpness up 1 click by default so check on that. Otherwise, it should be good.

In terms of HDMI Cables, you don’t need one that does 48 Gbps aka HDMI 2.1 capabilities. That’s for gaming. You just need one that does 18 Gbps. That’s enough for anything dealing with 4K UHD Blu-ray (HDR, HDR10+, Dolby Vision). I buy my cables through Monoprice. Have been since the early 2010’s and only 1 cable has failed me. They are the cheapest yet most reliable place to buy cables and other things.

Thanks. I'm just going to keep what I have for now. My God, trying to look for stuff online gives me a headache. You think it wouldn't be that hard. Some places say something is the best and some reviews say it's crap. I had to buy a new toaster and it took me over an hour trying to find one that didn't have crap reviews. It's ridiculous.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by jess1581

I'm still struggling with the whole HDR10 and the dynamic tone mapping setting on my tv(not the 820 which does nothing). I've tried different presets which boiled down between HDR Theater and Filmmaker Mode. From my eyes, HDR10 at times doesn't look right. If I can recall it mostly revolves around older 4K titles when the format began, but also with older movies in general. There are shadow and color details like on faces that don't blend naturally and look strange. When I have DTM on, it improves the image. Or in the case of say Dial of Destiny or Heat, scenes look too dark and dim... DTM remedies that issue.

I know that in general you don't want it turned on, but I see what I see. Should I try different means to improve the image or....???

Use Filmmaker mode for HDR, don't turn on any of the image assist garbage, don't change any other brightness/black level settings. Done. Older HDR titles look the way they do because the studios were still searching for the rhythm for how to do things. It's why some Sony discs are bright as hell, it's why some discs are crushed as hell, a bunch of the early Fox discs are awful, Universal too, you can't fix that stuff it's supposed to look that way. Look how Sony even fixed certain discs with DV. So you can either go back to the Blu ray or just get used to it. If you want it displayed accurately don't change anything. Literally the only disc I can think of that is flatout botched is Heat they messed it up so it needs a touch up either teh optimizer or DTM. Beyond that if you want to waste $500 for some minimal gains go ahead and hire a calibrater, have fun doing it again if you ever need your panel replaced.

[saltburn]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Sounds to me like there is an HDMI handshake issue or something is wrong with the HDMI Cables. Have you replaced those yet?

yes. different cables have been tried. I tried like premium 8K hdmi cables too. Could be something with the combo of my tv/player/receiver. but i’ve also had the flickering issue in the same spots as other people with panasonic such as risky business, so it made me think it’s something about DV bc Turning of DV has resulted in zero issues.

[saltburn]

Originally Posted by Alwayshappy

99% of the discs that give us issues do play without issues on our Xbox series X

I’ve had the same experience. My xbox has no issues. I tend to use my panasonic 9000 now only with imported disc since I got it region free and then 4K discs on the xbox. If the xbox had DV, it would be a perfect 4K player

A tech i talked to said the xbox doesn’t have issues because it has a large internal memory, while most other players have little to none and really struggle with the large sized discs of UHD. don’t know if it’s true but it sounds logical

[kevers7290]

I have had a similar experience, particularly with discs that have light scratches. My UB9000 rejects discs with even the faintest scratch while my Xbox One will power through just about anything I throw at it.

[StarFuryG7]

I'm contemplating the Panasonic 420. The 820 is too pricey, and in checking out customer reviews in various places, it's a model that just stops working for some people, which infuriates them because of the cost. I don't know whether the failure rate is 10%, but even that is too high of a chance IMO with a unit that costs that much.

What are the downsides of the 420 versus the 450?

Can't believe they haven't bothered putting any newer models on the market. It's sad and depressing in a way.

[Scorsese]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I will also leave this here. This is a discussion Mierzwiak and I had about my settings late last year.

What are your DV settings for C9?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by StarFuryG7

What are the downsides of the 420 versus the 450?

Can't believe they haven't bothered putting any newer models on the market. It's sad and depressing in a way.

The 450 is relatively new. Off the top of my head it has DoVi, a different chip set, but I think it omitts the Optimizer. (But that's worth double-checking)

The plus side of the 42o, would be the Optimizer, as well the chance of a firmware mod if you're techy enough.

[deatheats]

Originally Posted by chip75

The 450 is relatively new. Off the top of my head it has DoVi, a different chip set, but I think it omitts the Optimizer. (But that's worth double-checking)

The plus side of the 42o, would be the Optimizer, as well the chance of a firmware mod if you're techy enough.

The other positiive of the 450, due to that different chip set you mentioned, is better file playback. The 420 lacks Dolby Vision, but has better tone mapping (Optimizer), if that’s something that’s needed.

[jess1581]

Yeah I'm getting the 450 this coming week to be my back up.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Scorsese

What are your DV settings for C9?

Are you asking about my actual DV settings for the C9 or the settings I have been referring to for HDR10 content to be almost on par with DV using the Panasonic HDR Options Menu?

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by saltburn

yes. different cables have been tried. I tried like premium 8K hdmi cables too. Could be something with the combo of my tv/player/receiver. but i’ve also had the flickering issue in the same spots as other people with panasonic such as risky business, so it made me think it’s something about DV bc Turning of DV has resulted in zero issues.

I would look into seeing if it’s your connection flow from the player, to receiver, to TV. The best way to do that is plug the player directly into the TV using the HDMI Port for video and audio. If DV works flawlessly, then it’s an issue with the receiver.

I have my 820 plugged directly into the TV so I know I’m getting a direct signal to the TV. I use the other HDMI port for just audio that plugs into my receiver.

Got to love those duo HDMI ports!

[Scorsese]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Are you asking about my actual DV settings for the C9 or the settings I have been referring to for HDR10 content to be almost on par with DV using the Panasonic HDR Options Menu?

Your DV settings for the C9 lol

I've tried your optimiser settings with a few films and they look good!

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Scorsese

Your DV settings for the C9 lol

I've tried your optimiser settings with a few films and they look good!

Just making sure, lol!!

My DV settings were set during a professional calibration from Value Electronics. They are as follows:

Mode/Preset I use is DV Cinema (User)

AI Picture (Off)
OLED Light: 100
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 50
Sharpness: 10
Color: 50
Tint: 0

Advanced Settings
Dynamic Contrast (Off)
Super Resolution: Off
Color Gamut: Wide
Gamma: 2.2
Peak Brightness: High

I don’t have any of the motion processing on as well as other things. I’ve pretty much left it alone from calibration, minus turning off Real Cinema because I’m sensitive to OLED stutter.

[PUsokrJosh305]

I recently went into the Settings Menu of my Panny 820, went to system, then went to display and turned off Status Messages. Is it just me or does the player load up a bit faster with Status Messages turned off?

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Just making sure, lol!!

My DV settings were set during a professional calibration from Value Electronics. They are as follows:

Mode/Preset I use is DV Cinema (User)

AI Picture (Off)
OLED Light: 100
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 50
Sharpness: 10
Color: 50
Tint: 0

Advanced Settings
Dynamic Contrast (Off)
Super Resolution: Off
Color Gamut: Wide
Gamma: 2.2
Peak Brightness: High

I don’t have any of the motion processing on as well as other things. I’ve pretty much left it alone from calibration, minus turning off Real Cinema because I’m sensitive to OLED stutter.

Those are pretty much stock settings for DV. If no 2pt or 20pt white balance adjustments, then it's factory settings. Maybe they loaded RGB coordinates, but I don't think there's a way to find out.