Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[AKORIS]

sooo Robert--- let me just ask you since you're the expert and you have the player.

Do you leave everything on one setting, or do you switch from 4k to 1080p? (set one, set two, etc)

and have you had any issues like mine or have you ever heard of any?

[grodd]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Even so, if it were truly worth the 'enhancement' that the Pannys provide then he'd use one as his reference deck regardless, no?

I didn't mention DV above as I'm not buying the 820 for that. As for the tone mapping, it cracks me up that the assumption is that everybody's been rocking piss-poor mapping since day 1. That may have been true of OLED & projektor owners, as well as plenty of low to mid tier LCDs, but some of us have been more fortunate.

Not if you are needing it for repeat playback as he explains.
And no its not a massive improvement than the OPPO. Just slightly sharper, smoother chroma detail, and better HDR management. Especially on projectors and older OLED's. No one is saying you have piss poor tone mapping. It just tends to make it better and its nice to have it adjustable.

[Gold Ranger]

For those that have the 820, and made the Blu-Ray portion region free, can you please message me telling me how to do it. Thanks in advance.

[grodd]

Two ways, press top menu when the disc wont play. (Plays most discs)

Or pay $50 for the region freedom mod. Which also gives you the functions of the 9000.

[IITravel01]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

For those that have the 820, and made the Blu-Ray portion region free, can you please message me telling me how to do it. Thanks in advance.

Two days of asking instead of 1 hour of reading this thread...

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

BTW Vincent Teoh still rocks an OPPO in his TV review videos...

He has to, he's a professional reviewer, and only the Oppo player allows him to do stuff like making adjustments, pause the player, fastforward, verify the front panel display information, etc., quickly and usefully like no other players can.There is one of his YouTube videos where he mentioned it. If I find it sometimes I'll post it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pElm...ature=youtu.be

Originally Posted by grodd
He's explained because of its repeat playback of certain sections unlike the Panasonic. It's something I wish the Panasonic would ad.

____

Bonus ('Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' 4K Blu-ray playing using the Panasonic UB9000 4K BR player):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puhl...ature=youtu.be

[chip75]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

He has to, he's a professional reviewer, and only the Oppo player allows him to do stuff like making adjustments, pause the player, fastforward, verify the front panel display information, etc., quickly and usefully like no other players can.

I think if all things were equal with AV presentation Vincent would still choose the OPPO because of those features. The Panasonic's are sorely lacking in some. My original Sony DVD player does all the things mentioned above and that was a budget model. Our equipment has regressed in some ways.

But as Vincent doesn't do A-B comparisons with every video he makes I would assume he's got one for other purposes.

[LordoftheRings]

The Panasonic UB9000 is playing on that second bonus YouTube video from Vincent I just posted above.

[GeoPoz]

When I use the 820, my tv gives me a message that it is changing settings for the best viewing experience. My tv is a samsung q7fn. I have not gone into settings yet to see what has changed, but I will in the future. I'm wondering if it's the tv doing this or the 820. Something tells me it's the tv, but still not sure. Most of my disc I'm viewing are Blueray or standard discs from Redbox. It does not happen when viewing Netflix. I have not used Netflix thru the 820 yet. Netflix app on the q7fn has worked exceptionally.

[CYMBOL]

So, just got the 820 the other day. Best Buy didn't have one on the floor. Not even an empty area for it. Asked if they had any, and the young lady said it showed they had one. She came out a few minutes later carrying it over with a big smike

First impressions:
The layout is pretty ugly. I don't like that I don't get get a picture of the disc that is sitting in the player. Seems like a standard we've had for a long time. Disappointing.

The main screen is very generic looking with generic names. I was wondering where the apps were, it was under "Network Services". I guess I think of wifi, etc., when I think of Network. I was a but disappointed again at the apps on the "market" . Was it just me, or are the missing some basics like Vudu?

This is about the most I've spent on a player, so maybe I was just expecting something more.

So far, I am pleased with the picture. It's hard to know on some discs how much of the improvement is due to the player and how much is due to any difference in DV capability. Either way, the increase in PQ is noticeable. Definitely need more time to play around and try more discs.

I'll be back with more in-depth impressions in a week or so.

[King Crimson]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

I realize different TV's have different results but I'm mainly asking if owners of this player toggle back and forth with different settings for 4k and 1080p discs.
Do most people have a setting that they're satisfied with for playing everything?

** there's a reason I'm asking about this specifically. This is my second go around with this player. After having the player for only 2 days I started messing around with the "set one" and "set 2" options. Almost immediately after that my HDR setting button started not working. It would bypass the HDR settings and go straight to settings such as luminance adjustment, sharpness, etc. It was as if the player was confused and thought that everything I was playing was 1080p and therefore not eligible for HDR 4 k settings.

It was probably just a coincidence but I'm afraid with messing with separate settings now because I don't want problems again.

I got the player again last night and am very happy with what I'm seeing and hearing so far!

That luminance menu you see for SDR CONTENT is for UHD discs with NO HDR. As an example the first season of Stranger Things. It's not referencing HDR application of 1080p content. So you should only be pressing the HDR button when a UHD disc is in the tray.

[javi92]

Anyone know what the lead time is for ordering an 820 off the panasonic website?

[Robert Zohn]

For now and the mid term Magnolia and my company are firmly committed to all of Panasonic's UB820 production for the USA.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by bobbyg53

The HDR Optimizer appears on-screen and functions only when playing 4k HDR source material. It does not appear or function when playing back 1080p source material.

Originally Posted by King Crimson

That luminance menu you see for SDR CONTENT is for UHD discs with NO HDR. As an example the first season of Stranger Things. It's not referencing HDR application of 1080p content. So you should only be pressing the HDR button when a UHD disc is in the tray.

thanks guys, but that's not what I was asking. I'm well aware of that-- my prior player was not working when I entered the HDR button-- when I was playing 4k discs... and it all started when I was toggling back and forth between different settings for 1080p and 4k options...

I'm basically seeing if anyone else has experienced this with their 820 player...

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by grodd

Not if you are needing it for repeat playback as he explains.
And no its not a massive improvement than the OPPO. Just slightly sharper, smoother chroma detail, and better HDR management. Especially on projectors and older OLED's. No one is saying you have piss poor tone mapping. It just tends to make it better and its nice to have it adjustable.

It will be interesting to see Geoff's feedback, but if he's getting up to 2000 nits I think tone mapping becomes much less of an issue and I'm not sure how much the 820 will benefit him. However, it will still be an interesting experiment.

I think the lower the nits you go, the more important the 820 becomes. You really need some good tone mapping algorithms to compensate for less brightness. Having tried several HDR solutions for my projection set-up (such as Arve curves and the UB900 with the HD Fury to get SDR/2020) I have to say the 820 is the first time I feel really satisfied with that I am seeing. Mind you, I don't pretend to be getting the same highlight information as a good flat panel as I am getting something like SDR+ most likely, but I get notably more highlights than the BD companion and I get an excellent looking, natural image with all of the other UHD goodies while enjoying it on a large screen.

[Geoff D]

I'll be doing lots of comparing for sure, not just on HDR torture tests like BvS but also stuff that's well within the remit of what my TV should be able to manage. It might even turn up tomorrow.

[grodd]

I doubt its going to make a big difference on his ZD9. But it will apply a different Tone Mapping curve regardless of his nit max.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I'll be doing lots of comparing for sure, not just on HDR torture tests like BvS but also stuff that's well within the remit of what my TV should be able to manage. It might even turn up tomorrow.

Looking forward to it. From what I have seen myself, I couldn't see much need for the HDR optimizer with the Z9D. But then again, my name is not Geoff D, hence why I am looking forward in reading your feedback.

[Geoff D]

Yes, I wonder how the mapping atop of mapping will shake down.

[King Crimson]

Originally Posted by grodd

I doubt its going to make a big difference on his ZD9. But it will apply a different Tone Mapping curve regardless of his nit max.

I believe he will for the titles that are HDR10 only, especially the early 2016 titles. If he isn't impressed with what they do to the Lionsgate releases I don't know what to say. How it'll it compare to the DV titles? Probably little.