Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[PipesDonatello]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Your story sounds like a laser diode aging problem.

Is there anything notable you can think of that quickens that aging? I've only had this thing for almost 3 1/2 years and watch an average of maybe 1 movie per day on it over that span.

[sapiendut]

3-4 years are normal for a player. But you usually can prolong the life if from the beginning you put the player on itself (not above receiver/amp/etc) and the air around the player is cold.

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

3-4 years are normal for a player. But you usually can prolong the life if from the beginning you put the player on itself (not above receiver/amp/etc) and the air around the player is cold.

3-4 years?

I've been in this hobby for 29 years and never had a player that lasted less than 10 years.

(It's anecdotal evidence, but... I can't fathom the idea that a player lasts only 3 years.)

[grim_tales]

I got a reply back about what could be happening with my player

Hi.
If you have not changed Blu-Ray regions for a while you will need to do a region switch to kick the DVD multiregion back in.
The other possibility is if you have a RCE DVD disc. This player will play these titles with manual region selection.
Regards,

I hadn't considered the first option before... interesting.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

3-4 years?

I've been in this hobby for 29 years and never had a player that lasted less than 10 years.

(It's anecdotal evidence, but... I can't fathom the idea that a player lasts only 3 years.)

The Sony X800 I got with my ZD9 in March 2017 is still working fine 8 years later. I even dropped it on its side when I first got it, smashing some of the plastic!

[Telemachus]

The only disc players I've had die in the last 20 years were the old PS3 and the old 360s. Everything else I bought still runs, including all HD DVD players/Blu ray/UHD. It would be hellish to pay $500 for a UHD player that lasted 3 years.

[pr0darek]

And that's only half of its life, for most devices at least 10 years is nothing special when there is a Sony drive inside, i.e. most players except Panasonic
However, I personally cannot complain about Panasonic, always lucky.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

3-4 years?

I've been in this hobby for 29 years and never had a player that lasted less than 10 years.

(It's anecdotal evidence, but... I can't fathom the idea that a player lasts only 3 years.)

I personally never have a player that lasted more than 5 years either the exception of my first Panasonic DVD that still works fine since 1997 and my Pioneer CLD-D601. Literally all disc players and burners never lasted more than 3-4 years be it a Yamaha, Philips, Sony, Pioneer. But then again this is a “statistic” based on the sample of one.

[sojrner]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I personally never have a player that lasted more than 5 years either the exception of my first Panasonic DVD that still works fine since 1997 and my Pioneer CLD-D601. Literally all disc players and burners never lasted more than 3-4 years be it a Yamaha, Philips, Sony, Pioneer. But then again this is a “statistic” based on the sample of one.

Sample of one, yeah: it doesn't apply to all, but wow. I suppose if you have your players consistently in a harsh environment, like a bungalo in Death Valley, a vacation home at McMurdo, or a room in the lair of the Swamp Thing, that might be expected... outside of those settings, 29 years with 4 brands implied to each be inoperable inside 4 years is phenomenally bad results that you should not consider normal. Doing the math, that means you have replaced at least 7 players over those years, not for new features or something shiny, but because they quit working. (Dead, not just Sony-glitched with certain discs)

Dang, If I had that experience, I would be looking into what I was doing wrong and change my lifestyle or location. Paying for a move to the other side of the continent and buying a new house might be cheaper. (lol) Oof.

[Geoff D]

I've had my Panny 820 for at least five years and even then it was bought second hand, I hammer the shit out of it with my constant pausing and rewinding when doing my disc comparison reviews and it's still sailing along just fine. I would mention my OPPO but as it had its drive replaced it's not a true sample for this line of questioning. That said, it was six years ago when it got fixed and, again, I hammer it.

[sojrner]

Heck, I have an original Xbox that I bought new in 2001 that is still operational, and I hammered the crap out of it back in the day. My kids reconnected it this weekend, which is funny timing, and it plays just fine. O.o (I have a 360 on a shelf too, but that one was flirting with RROD issues long ago, so I'm certain it's dead)

For Blu, I have an Xbox One from 2013 that my grown kid still uses as a main player, an Xbox One S from 2016 next to a Sony x700 from 2019, both of which still play 4Ks on a secondary display. (in Sony's case, complete with triple-layer lockups and resets) On my main, a Series X from 2020 and Panny 820 from 2022 both operate fine.

I also have a retired Panny 2K Blu player and one from Sony (2008 and 2010) that were shuffled off by the above, but they were working when I shelved them. That is a total of 8 optical players in my home right now going back to 2001 that work without any repairs. Yes, still anecdotal, to be sure, but that's a few players that still work.

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

3-4 years?

I've been in this hobby for 29 years and never had a player that lasted less than 10 years.

(It's anecdotal evidence, but... I can't fathom the idea that a player lasts only 3 years.)

My first Toshiba DVD player lasted for a solid 15 years. My Oppo 103 has been operational with absolutely no issues for the past 11 years and it has spun A LOT of discs.

[PipesDonatello]

What's the closest player to the UB820 that Sony produces, and is it durable?

[danny24]

Originally Posted by PipesDonatello

What's the closest player to the UB820 that Sony produces, and is it durable?

None for now. The X1100ES was because it had a front display. The UB820 is the better player. Not trying to dog on Sony 4K players they are great but Panasonic does a better job.

[sherlockjr]

Originally Posted by danny24

None for now. The X1100ES was because it had a front display. The UB820 is the better player. Not trying to dog on Sony 4K players they are great but Panasonic does a better job.

I had a Sony X1100ES which I replaced--gifted to my gf--with a Panasonic UB820. I prefer the UB820, including BluRay upscaling, overall image quality on my LG C2, auto-Dolby Vision switching, and the user interface.

Of course, the Panasonic can't play SACD disks, but I found I used that capability rarely, especially now that I can simply stream high res audio. And while I was hopeful about the Sony's 2 channel analog audio output for CDs, I found I actually preferred the sound of the DAC decoding via HDMI on my Denon A/V receiver vs the Sony's (similar) AKM DAC, so that's not a loss.

[Uncle Bud]

My Sony X800 M2 has served me well; I have no complaints, but am considering a purchase of the 820. Question: leaving aside the HDR optimizer, how do DVDs/BDs/4K look on the Panny? Is the chroma upsampling something that can only be seen on test patterns, or does it make a noticeable difference on actual content?

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bud

My Sony X800 M2 has served me well; I have no complaints, but am considering a purchase of the 820. Question: leaving aside the HDR optimizer, how do DVDs/BDs/4K look on the Panny? Is the chroma upsampling something that can only be seen on test patterns, or does it make a noticeable difference on actual content?

I play all BDs on the 820 at 1080p resolution, they look great, the TV does the upscale. I don't play DVDs on it at all, but some do. 4k looks like 4k to me.

[yourmomcalled]

My 820 was up to no good last night. I watched Blue Underground’s new 4k of Venom, and right off the bat, it defaulted to English subs for some reason. Not a big deal to turn those off, but then about halfway through the movie, the picture broke into pixelation. I ejected the disc to see if there was any dust, put it back in, and got hit with the “copyright violation” message.

Had to unplug it, but it worked fine after. Just wierd.

[RalphoR]

Has anyone had issues with the watch along 4k edition of Godzilla Minus One with the UB9000? I can't get that disc to play at all.

[deathshead1987]

Something strange happened while I was watching the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray disc of the movie Rest in Pieces on my Panasonic UB820. At the 29 or 30 minutes mark the picture broke into pixelation. I tried cleaning the disc, but to no avail. The same Blu-ray disc played perfectly on my old Pioneer BDP-140. What happened? This is the second time this event, the picture breaking into pixelation, has occurred. The first time it happened it was with the special features Blu-ray disc of the limited 4K edition of Thriller: A Cruel Picture, also from Vinegar Syndrome, back in 2022.