Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Telemachus]

My 820 was from Amazon and it's been perfect. My Sony X700 was from Crutchfield (best in the biz) and it was an unreliable POS for Ultra HD discs. Amazon's stock is fine unless they reseal something on you but easy to spot.

BTW I know one person from another forum with the 9000 and they said if had more problems than the 820, don't think you are going to find all the answers trading up, it seems to be the luck of the draw what unit you get with all the stars aligned

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by chip75

On paper it's the bees knees, but there a lot of stuff in the fine print that grinds my gears.

Hindsight and all that... but it would have been relatively simple to have multiple presets, and have advanced settings for those inclined.

Of course a lot of things could be tweaked with new players, and annoyingly the new consoles have decent options for games, but we seem to be out of luck for movies.

It's weird that other manufacturers haven't brought out something similar to the Optimizer.

The whole HGIG thing for gaming does my head in. They made it SO simple for people to be able to tell their system what HDR it was capable of and adjust it accordingly, whereas with TV manufacturers they're all off doing their own thing re: tone mapping for movies. And that's all HDR really needed to avoid this shit, some sort of standardised approach to mapping I mean. We still wouldn't have been able to get around Watches at Midday Man as HDR was simply not designed for bright room viewing, period. And things like aggressive ASBL would've also still been there. BUT there would've been much less of the wildly different consumer experiences I think.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by Ant1010

I always respect your opinions around here Geoff but the selling points were the Projector HDR Optimiser. The 9000 HDR Optimizer has an additional mode for projectors which the 820 doesn’t which makes a difference for me, and also the Noise. its literally dead silent, especially compared to the 820. It being THX certified is nice as well, I believe the 820 isn't.

Except the Projector HDR Optimiser is on the UB820 as well, but locked behind the software. The people working on the region free firmware over at the AVForums managed to enable it (along with the "higher quality" UB9000 menu).

[samuelkhan999]

Originally Posted by johnny-torrance

I don't know, but at this point I'm about ready to do away with the player all together. I'm gonna watch the new "Ghoulies 2" 4K tonight and see how it goes. To me there's nothing worse than starting a movie, getting into it and then boom it glitches up and you can't continue the film and you've gotta eject the disc and switch to another player.. it's incredibly annoying to me.

There was a recent firmware update and I was hoping that would've corrected these issues I've been having but no it hasn't.

I've got 2 UB820s (both regionfree). I bought one off Facebook marketplace and it was a steal for £250(originally bought for £399 from the TPS) in 2021. Its got the Rattlebyte mod and works well unless the discs are smudged.

My second UB820 I bought off TPS. Its regionfree but its not the Rattlebyte mod. The player was broken on arrival and had issues reading region A discs even when the right region was selected. I sent the disc in question ( Kick Ass ) to TPS and they fixed it.

Long story short, a UB820 bought off the second hand market can outperform a brand new UB820. I hope someone can verify but there were production issues with the UB820/UB9000 during covid. I think it was some parts and all. Again, I wish someone can elaborate on this.

Speak to your dealer and send it for repair. Whatever the issue is gets resolved or you may get a new player.

[samuelkhan999]

VSVDB V1 vs V2. Which one is TV led and player led. Ive got a 55 OLEDBX. Thanks

[George.P]

Originally Posted by johnny-torrance

Thanks I'll consider it. I like to use Amazon out of convenience, but his price on the 820 isn't too bad. If Amazon is getting shit for product I'll go with a safer bet. I was just so sick of the headaches that player was giving me on just about every disc. I'm glad I talked an associate into refunding me even though the return window closed back in January. If you get the right associate in the Amazon chat anything's possible.



So is the 9000 no more reliable than the 820?

If Amazon is willing to refund you, that is way better than paying shipping (and potentially labour) with Panasonic (or their authorized service centre), and if they can't recreate your issue there is a good chance they will just send it back to you. Also, if you get a replacement it will more likely than not be a refurb. Also buying fresh restarts your warranty period.

Regarding buying from Amazon or other retailer/etailers, customer service is very important given your experience (you clearly received a lemon). But I can't believe that there are differences in the quality of stock that retailers are provided, though how they treat the product and the care they exercise in shipping it to you might be very different.

I don't think there is any data one way or the other regarding reliability between the 820 vs the 9000. There are a ton more 820s out in the wild than 9000s, so we will obviously hear about problems with the 820 more frequently. That said, the 9000 is muuch quieter if that is important to you, and "may" have a more robust optical drive (at this point, it is really just conjecture, as no one knows for certain).

[George.P]

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

... I hope someone can verify but there were production issues with the UB820/UB9000 during covid. I think it was some parts and all. Again, I wish someone can elaborate on this.

...

The only issue I am aware of wrt the ub9000 during COViD was that the DAC chip in the analogue section that was originally used was no longer available and there was a significant delay in production until it could be redesigned with the current DAC chip (Denon and Marantz, and probably others, had the same issue with their high-end receivers). So only supply chain issues - not reliability issues.

[darkonex]

Originally Posted by johnny-torrance

Trying to watch "JAWS" 4K right now on my UB820. Around 48min in it glitches up for a moment then keeps playing minus the audio. It's literally playing the rest of the movie without audio. This player is pure garbage. I've had so many issues with this player, I'm now forced to default to my LG UP870 4K player in order to have a viewing experience with no interruptions. I've turned the VIERA link bullshit off, did a firmware update. I don't know what else I can possibly do with this thing and it's not the discs, the discs play perfectly fine in my LG. I wouldn't recommend this player to anyone. I just got this thing back in late November, I still have the box it came in, if anyone is interested in it, contact me. Maybe someone else can have better luck with it, but I'm sick and tired of it and just gonna put whatever funds I can get for it towards a different player.

What's crazy is this weekend I wanted to watch Return of the Living Dead 4k and Jaws 4k and suddenly my UB820 can't play 4k's anymore I guess. In both cases I see the menu for the player fine, I hit play and I hear audio and just for a second I see video then it just goes black. I can continue hearing the menu audio playing but no video, and it doesn't say no signal or anything, just a black screen. I messed around with it more last night and came up with nothing, it plays blurays and DVDs fine and I watch 4ks on this thing allt he time, just watched Saw X 4k actually Wednesday night without issues. I haven't updated firmware or changed anything with the TV or player in between then, and I cannot really update the firmware on the player as I'll lose my region freedom custom firmware, but I am on the latest one they released before they went away. Last night I tried running the HDMI cable directly to the TV to a different port, instead of going through my HDMI switch and that didn't help. I also tried unplugging power to both the player and TV for 30 secs and plug back in and didn't help. I don't have any other HDMI cable to swap out currently with but I did order a couple Anker 8k certified cables from Amazon that are supposed to be here today so I'm hoping that will fix it. It's just really bizarre and I have no idea why this would happen out of the blue.

[Waboman]

Not a lot of choice out there for 4K UHD players. Panasonic and Sony are the last of the mainstreamers to still make 'em. There's Magnator and Reavon, although you'll have to dig a little deeper in the ol' fanny pack for those. If my 9000 crapped out I don't know what I'd replace it with at this time.

[johnny-torrance]

Originally Posted by Waboman

Not a lot of choice out there for 4K UHD players. Panasonic and Sony are the last of the mainstreamers to still make 'em. There's Magnator and Reavon, although you'll have to dig a little deeper in the ol' fanny pack for those. If my 9000 crapped out I don't know what I'd replace it with at this time.

You got that right. Just sent my UB820 off the Amazon for refund and I've been looking around and really the best option is to get another UB820 from a different retailer and hope for the best.

[lgans316]

HDR is not designed for bright room experience - sorry but I will let the sun shine through
my windows directly on to the TV and expect a 1 nit scene to sparkle and dazzle lol. Then complain HDR is dark, reflection handling is poor and OLEDs are dim.

HDR could be implemented for bright room provided the grader cranks everything up with barely any dark scenes but for maximum impact it is still best viewed in a light controlled room.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by lgans316

HDR could be implemented for bright room provided the grader cranks everything up with barely any dark scenes but for maximum impact it is still best viewed in a light controlled room.

I'm not sure, it would have to be in conjunction with some kind of ambient light detection (as the light pollution can change throughout the day or minute by minute if it's cloudy), and have a panel that exceeds the maximum light output of the content.

The Optimizer can handle some ambient light, but it's a format that needed a PSA telling folks to close their curtains and turn off the lights.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by chip75

I'm not sure, it would have to be in conjunction with some kind of ambient light detection (as the light pollution can change throughout the day or minute by minute if it's cloudy), and have a panel that exceeds the maximum light output of the content.

The Optimizer can handle some ambient light, but it's a format that needed a PSA telling folks to close their curtains and turn off the lights.

The vast majority thinks HDR means everything will pop and be super bright like those tailor made demo videos but the reality is different. I have met few who refuse to close the windows and curtains which can easily elevate the viewing experience.

[jess1581]

I don't even use that optimizer. The dynamic tone mapping for HDR10 on my tv does wonders for the darkly timed releases like Heat and Dial of Destiny while leaving the other releases with healthy brightness alone.

[samuelkhan999]

I can confirm that my Rattlebyte modded UB820 external subs work. This is to reassure peeps who are not updating to FW 1.82. Rest assured, it works.

[DAT_JB]

Originally Posted by chip75

I think it's around 28 for the C1 if you want 100 nits.

If that's true that would be crazy low. I have a B9 and I really don't like a bright picture unless it's intended (in HDR). But 28 just sounds way to low.
I will test this later. I think mine is currently at 47.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by DAT_JB

If that's true that would be crazy low. I have a B9 and I really don't like a bright picture unless it's intended (in HDR). But 28 just sounds way to low.
I will test this later. I think mine is currently at 47.

I've seen around 33 mentioned for the B9.

[DAT_JB]

Originally Posted by chip75

I've seen around 33 mentioned for the B9.

Also sounds very low. Will test this later.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

I can confirm that my Rattlebyte modded UB820 external subs work. This is to reassure peeps who are not updating to FW 1.82. Rest assured, it works.

Oof, they need to work on that background border and use a slightly darker one, because the font doesn't have a drop shadow, making it difficult to read during bright scenes.

[timfitz99]

Originally Posted by johnny-torrance

You got that right. Just sent my UB820 off the Amazon for refund and I've been looking around and really the best option is to get another UB820 from a different retailer and hope for the best.

I had problems with my 820 when I got it, and ended up sending it to Panasonic for in-warranty replacement. It's been a night and day difference, the current player I have is working well (knock on wood).