Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[jess1581]

I thought DV didn't really need calibration???

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

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.

They did 20 pt white balance. My White Balance adjustment menu is greyed out, meaning it was adjusted. I would assume by Callman equipment and software. When they sent me the TV, they sent me the before calibration and after calibration results. I mean it’s D-Nice who did the calibration.

Not sure why you are doubting that.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by jess1581

I thought DV didn't really need calibration???

All modes and presets of a TV need a calibration. Nothing is 100% accurate out of the box. Calibration is still needed, even on DV.

[StarFuryG7]

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.

Yeah, updating the Firmware on a machine without Wi-Fi would be a pain in the butt. I'd have to use s a computer monitor and an Ethernet connection in order to update the machine, and would have to hope that it would be just one firmware update rather than a series of them because I'd want to unplug the thing as soon as possible and connect it to my TV. So it kind of irks me that the 450 doesn't have Wi-Fi connectivity. I forget offhand what the purpose of the Optimizer is, but I do believe the 420 has it. So there are a couple of tradeoffs between the two machines. I do like that the 420 has HDR10+ support despite being the older unit of the two, and while some people can't say enough about the Dolby Vision enhancement, I've seen a few people commenting in various places about thinking it isn't anything special.

I'm still contemplating what to do, but plan on making a decision very soon.

Thanks

[StarFuryG7]

Originally Posted by deatheats

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.

Right, that's the tradeoff with respect to the DV and the Optimizer. You just brought it back to mind.

Thanks

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by StarFuryG7

Right, that's the tradeoff with respect to the DV and the Optimizer. You just brought it back to mind.

Thanks

I loved the 450 but lack of DV playback from files kinda turned me off.

I have to remux all .mkv files into .mp4 because the media player on the LG OLED only reads DV from .mp4. I've dreamt about stopping that with the 450. Didn't happen.

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

All modes and presets of a TV need a calibration. Nothing is 100% accurate out of the box. Calibration is still needed, even on DV.

It also depends on the tv too though. When my unit was calibrated SDR was the most adjusted, HDR had 2 pt white balance adjusted, and neither DV or HDR10+ needed it.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by StarFuryG7

I found forget offhand what the purpose of the Optimizer is, but I do believe the 420 has it. So there are a couple of tradeoffs between the two machines. I do like that the 420 has HDR10+ support despite being the older unit of the two, and while some people can't say enough about the Dolby Vision enhancement, I've seen a few people commenting in various places about thinking it isn't anything special.

The 420 has the Optimizer.

If you have a DoVi display then I'd think about a player to match. The discs that need the Full Enhancement Layer often really need them. Rather comically something like Halloween II has a nude scene where it's a complete mess in HDR, but the FEL has all the missing bits (and bytes)!

[StarFuryG7]

Originally Posted by chip75

The 420 has the Optimizer.

If you have a DoVi display then I'd think about a player to match. The discs that need the Full Enhancement Layer often really need them. Rather comically something like Halloween II has a nude scene where it's a complete mess in HDR, but the FEL has all the missing bits (and bytes)!

My TV is an LG UQ9000, which is a two-year old model. It has HDR10 support, though perhaps not HDR10+ support for all I know, unless that was addressed by a Firmware update, of which there have been several, including the most recent one which wasn't all that long ago. This TV does support Dolby Digital Surround sound, but not Dolby Vision, apparently. So as far as a UHD Player goes, DV isn't relevant evidently.

This TV also works great with my Sony UBP-X800M2 UHD Player, of which I have no complaints at all. The TV would be considered Mid-range by many people here, no doubt, but I shop carefully and did some driving and footwork to multiple stores two years ago, and the LG UQ9000 was what I kept coming back to because I liked it picture so much. It was if it was calling out to me, and was meant to be my new TV at that time.

I have no regrets in having bought it.

[StarFuryG7]

Originally Posted by bl4ck

2019 year..

None can do that, not even Oppo (mkv profile 7).

Quick comparison UB420 vs 450

UB420
+subtitle brightness adjustment
+ hdr optimizer (a bit outdated and overrated)
+custom firmware

UB450
+Dolby Vision
+hellishly fast (mediatek soc oppo, pioneer, magnetar)
+ fast audio track switching
+zoom
+good files support
+no fan
- ugly light gui during playback
- practically zero possibilities for image adjustment

This is quite relevant to me right now because I'm looking to buy one of these two models TODAY perhaps, so I'm compelled to ask which of the two would you buy?

I don't like that the 450 doesn't have Wi-Fi, although it's totally understandable why many people consider it no longer really necessary.

[sojrner]

Originally Posted by StarFuryG7

Yeah, updating the Firmware on a machine without Wi-Fi would be a pain in the butt. I'd have to us a computer monitor and an Ethernet connection in order to update the machine, and would have to hope that it would be just one firmware update rather than a series of them because I'd want to unplug the thing as soon as possible and connecting to my TV. So it kind of irks me that the 450 doesn't have Wi-Fi connectivity.

[Show spoiler] I found forget offhand what the purpose of the Optimizer is, but I do believe the 420 has it. So there are a couple of tradeoffs between the two machines. I do like that the 420 has HDR10+ support despite being the older unit of the two, and while some people can't say enough about the Dolby Vision enhancement, I've seen a few people commenting in various places about thinking it isn't anything special.

I'm still contemplating what to do, but plan on making a decision very soon.

Thanks

You make no sense here. If you're swapping a connection from your TV to your player, why is there another monitor needed? Doesn't your TV still work? Additionally, if you have an Ethernet connection at the location of your TV, just use a simple switch to connect both. A 5-port gigabit switch is $20, and you can connect multiple devices with that. Not sure if I'm just misunderstanding what your setup is, but with what you describe, there is an easy option.

Wi-Fi is only necessary when you can't use hard lines. Its higher latency and potential for interference and range issues complicate things when a simple physical network connection is available.

[bl4ck]

Is it so hard to update the player via USB drive? once a year or never? ...Unbelievable

[StarFuryG7]

Originally Posted by bl4ck

For me the most important thing is support for SRT subtitles for discs so I would choose UB820 :P ...

Who needs wifi? if this player doesn't have network services anyway? And even if he had, it's not worth using them anyway. The best thing you can do is not connect device to the internet at all.

That sounds as though no internet connectivity is best for playing sketchy, questionable files. But my concern for Wi-Fi would be getting the firmware updates that were no doubt released. Is that laziness on my part? I guess so, but I'm also accustomed to having wireless access to the Internet on my Players for decades anyway, so to me it's not really a big deal.

I do not have ethernet connectivity as an option where my TV is located. It would be a pain in the butt to connect a player to my ethernet and hook up a computer monitor to it just to update the firmware.

[StarFuryG7]

Originally Posted by sojrner

You make no sense here. If you're swapping a connection from your TV to your player, why is there another monitor needed? Doesn't your TV still work? Additionally, if you have an Ethernet connection at the location of your TV, just use a simple switch to connect both. A 5-port gigabit switch is $20, and you can connect multiple devices with that. Not sure if I'm just misunderstanding what your setup is, but with what you describe, there is an easy option.

Wi-Fi is only necessary when you can't use hard lines. Its higher latency and potential for interference and range issues complicate things when a simple physical network connection is available.

I use Wi-Fi exclusively where my television is located. The router is actually two floors above it and it works just fine. I added an extender about a week ago, but haven't even bothered to access it with my television setup yet as it isn't necessary. It works just fine without it. I stream all the time without any issues. I watched two episodes of "The Rig" last night without any hiccups at all.

[StarFuryG7]

Originally Posted by bl4ck

Is it so hard to update the player via USB drive? once a year or never? ...Unbelievable

I saw that mentioned last night, and hadn't even given it a thought to be honest, but it was late and my brain was already in shutdown mode.

Yeah, I guess that's an option, but I suppose you need to seek it out in the company website that way rather than it just coming right to you.

As I said in my prior post here though, my BD Players have always had Wi-Fi anyway. To me it's simply routine and business as usual.

There are other aspects about the 450 that don't really thrill me besides.

[Conan The Barbarian]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

Just picked up a copy of Spiderman Across the Spiderverse 4K and played it on my 820. Just a few minutes in the picture pixelated and when it came back there was no audio.

Rewound and reproduced the problem multiple times.

Disabled Dolby Vision and the disc played fine.

Is this a known problem with this disc or do I potentially have a defective disc? I ran into a similar problem with Aliens 4K and it was a problem with the 820 with that disc with Dolby vision.

So I got myself an 820 last month, and my raiders disk from the box set was glitching 1.29 into the intro. I cleaned the disk and nothing, hdr works fine. I bought a single copy of raiders, and it works just fine.

If I knew this player would be a headache at this price point, I would have never bought this crap.

[HeavyHitter]

I bought the 820 the very first week it was released (at least at Best Buy) in 2018 and the drive was incredibly finicky. The tiniest speck of dust would cause it to freeze on a disc. But the 420 I got after that was great, and I recently returned to the 820 and it's been excellent as well.

[rikraq]

Maybe I need to rethink my purchase.

[Telemachus]

Flawless 820 for 2 years. If a disc has pressing errors it's gonna glitch, my Sony had the same problem with some things. Maybe one player will glitch and the other won't, but you can't blame the player cause stuff now is made poorly. This is why you need to own two players to have it good.

[sojrner]

Originally Posted by StarFuryG7

I use Wi-Fi exclusively where my television is located. The router is actually two floors above it and it works just fine. I added an extender about a week ago, but haven't even bothered to access it with my television setup yet as it isn't necessary. It works just fine without it. I stream all the time without any issues. I watched two episodes of "The Rig" last night without any hiccups at all.

I'm not sure if we're communicating well here, but that's not what I was on about. I am clearly not following what your complaint is when using an ethernet cable, so I'll step away. Cheers.