Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Greetings Blu-ray.com! New member who is planning to upgrade to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray by the end of the year here and I'm trying to figure out what is the best Ultra HD Blu-ray player to get. I was planing to get the Panasonic UB-820 due to it's Universal HDR support and HDR Optimizer, but then after looking up reviews I found out that Panasonic's Ultra HD Blu-ray players had issues with it's HDR output which would clip out detail in highlights on Dolby Vision content, when compared to the OPPO UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player it was able to retain the specular highlight detail on Dolby Vision content with no clipping. This was also an issue on other Dolby Vision UHD Blu-ray players like the Sony UBP-X1100ES and the Pioneer UDP-LX500. And unfortunately the HDR Optimizer on the Panasonic UHD Blu-ray players don't work on Dolby Vision, so it can't be used to retain detail in clipped highlights in the Dolby Vision output. This issue made me hesitate from getting a Panasonic UHD Blu-ray player since causing highlights to clip and blow out detail defeats the purpose of HDR, especially since Dolby Vision is suppose to deliver a more accurate depiction of the content creator's intent than HDR10.

So I have a question anyone here who owns a Panasonic UB-820 or UB-9000. Have any of you have had this same problem when watching Dolby Vision content? Or have these players recently got a firmware update that has fixed this issue? If not then would you think it's best to get the Panasonic UB-820 for HDR10 and HDR10+ content and look for an OPPO UDP-203 for Dolby Vision content?

[wxman2003]

Originally Posted by RoxanneTheThiccWolf

Greetings Blu-ray.com! New member who is planning to upgrade to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray by the end of the year here and I'm trying to figure out what is the best Ultra HD Blu-ray player to get. I was planing to get the Panasonic UB-820 due to it's Universal HDR support and HDR Optimizer, but then after looking up reviews I found out that Panasonic's Ultra HD Blu-ray players had issues with it's HDR output which would clip out detail in highlights on Dolby Vision content, when compared to the OPPO UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player it was able to retain the specular highlight detail on Dolby Vision content with no clipping. This was also an issue on other Dolby Vision UHD Blu-ray players like the Sony UBP-X1100ES and the Pioneer UDP-LX500. And unfortunately the HDR Optimizer on the Panasonic UHD Blu-ray players don't work on Dolby Vision, so it can't be used to retain detail in clipped highlights in the Dolby Vision output. This issue made me hesitate from getting a Panasonic UHD Blu-ray player since causing highlights to clip and blow out detail defeats the purpose of HDR, especially since Dolby Vision is suppose to deliver a more accurate depiction of the content creator's intent than HDR10.

So I have a question anyone here who owns a Panasonic UB-820 or UB-9000. Have any of you have had this same problem when watching Dolby Vision content? Or have these players recently got a firmware update that has fixed this issue? If not then would you think it's best to get the Panasonic UB-820 for HDR10 and HDR10+ content and look for an OPPO UDP-203 for Dolby Vision content?

You could always get an LG UBKM9 UHD player for less than $200 for DV. Haven't heard about any issues with DV on that player.

[trekky76]

I've not had any issues with the Panny regarding Dolby Vision. I don't know what this supposed issue with clipping is all about. Not seen any evidence for that and the reviews for this player have always been positive. The Oppo is still a good player but also one that is discontinued, for what it matters. And please ignore our resident troll..

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

By the end of the year? Without doubt Sony PlayStation PS5 or Microsoft Xbox SeX. Forget these Pannys.

lol

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by RoxanneTheThiccWolf

Greetings Blu-ray.com! New member who is planning to upgrade to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray by the end of the year here and I'm trying to figure out what is the best Ultra HD Blu-ray player to get. I was planing to get the Panasonic UB-820 due to it's Universal HDR support and HDR Optimizer, but then after looking up reviews I found out that Panasonic's Ultra HD Blu-ray players had issues with it's HDR output which would clip out detail in highlights on Dolby Vision content, when compared to the OPPO UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player it was able to retain the specular highlight detail on Dolby Vision content with no clipping. This was also an issue on other Dolby Vision UHD Blu-ray players like the Sony UBP-X1100ES and the Pioneer UDP-LX500. And unfortunately the HDR Optimizer on the Panasonic UHD Blu-ray players don't work on Dolby Vision, so it can't be used to retain detail in clipped highlights in the Dolby Vision output. This issue made me hesitate from getting a Panasonic UHD Blu-ray player since causing highlights to clip and blow out detail defeats the purpose of HDR, especially since Dolby Vision is suppose to deliver a more accurate depiction of the content creator's intent than HDR10.

So I have a question anyone here who owns a Panasonic UB-820 or UB-9000. Have any of you have had this same problem when watching Dolby Vision content? Or have these players recently got a firmware update that has fixed this issue? If not then would you think it's best to get the Panasonic UB-820 for HDR10 and HDR10+ content and look for an OPPO UDP-203 for Dolby Vision content?

I haven't noticed highlight clipping on any of my DV titles. On the contrary, the UB820 delivers a noticeably more refined image than any other 4K external device within my setup. It's the best player on the market and that's not likely to change anytime soon. PS5 won't have the optimizer or the level of customization this unit offers.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by trekky76

I've not had any issues with the Panny regarding Dolby Vision. I don't know what this supposed issue with clipping is all about.

It was discussed many times before, here's one of the examples:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=4101

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Originally Posted by trekky76

I've not had any issues with the Panny regarding Dolby Vision. I don't know what this supposed issue with clipping is all about. Not seen any evidence for that and the reviews for this player have always been positive. The Oppo is still a good player but also one that is discontinued, for what it matters. And please ignore our resident troll..

Are you sure? Because I've seen the review of the Panasonic UB-9000 by Vincent Teoh from HDTVTest and he clearly showed evidence that it's Dolby Vision output gave different results from the OPPO UDP-203. And while OPPO did decide to stop producing 4K Blu-ray players, I've still been able to find some OPPO 203 players from third-party sellers on Amazon and Ebay, some which are used and few were new and still sealed in the box.

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

By the end of the year? Without doubt Sony PlayStation PS5 or Microsoft Xbox SeX. Forget these Pannys.

And what make's those superior to the Panasonic UB-820/UB-9000 and OPPO-203? Do they have no issues with HDR output that clips detail in highlights and support both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision?

[AKORIS]

get the 820--- BEST 4k player out there for the price..... no question....

[wxman2003]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

get the 820--- BEST 4k player out there for the price..... no question....

Not for DV. Get the cheap LG player for better DV. But for HDR10, you are right about the 820. And if you don't want to double dip, turn DV off in the player and force it to play as HDR10 and use the optimizer.

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Originally Posted by TravisTylerBlack

I haven't noticed highlight clipping on any of my DV titles. On the contrary, the UB820 delivers a noticeably more refined image than any other 4K external device within my setup. It's the best player on the market and that's not likely to change anytime soon. PS5 won't have the optimizer or the level of customization this unit offers.

Panasonic UB9000 4K Blu-ray Player Review (vs OPPO 203) - YouTube

Skip to 12:18 mark which shows a comparison between the Dolby Vision output of the OPPO-203 and Panasonic UB-9000. You can clearly see the detail of the sun on the UB-9000 has been clipped and blown out like it would look in SDR while on the UDP-203 there is more retain specular highlight detail that you can clearly see the round shape of the sun like it would look in real life. Are sure you haven't seen this issue on any Dolby Vision 4K Blu-ray discs?

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

It was discussed many times before, here's one of the examples:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=4101

I just checked my Spider-Man: Homecoming UHD for the example you provided and the highlight detail is 100% intact with Dolby Vision on my display.
Not sure why there's clipping on your end

Originally Posted by RoxanneTheThiccWolf

Are you sure? Because I've seen the review of the Panasonic UB-9000 by Vincent Teoh from HDTVTest an he clearly showed evidence that it's Dolby Vision output gave different results from the OPPO UDP-203. And while OPPO did decide to stop producing 4K Blu-ray players, I've still been able to find some OPPO 203 players from third-party sellers on Amazon and Ebay, some which are used and few were new and still sealed in the box.

Yes, I'm sure. Especially after direct comparison on my display with the examples cited by Mierzwiak. It could be an issue specific to certain displays, but the highlight detail is retained on the X900F. There's really no reason to hunt down an Oppo unless you can somehow find one at a good price.

[pbz06]

I wouldn't worry about a random select scene that shows clipping. Does it do it on every TV? On every high nit scene? How do you know it's not just Oppo being dimmer and not as accurate to creator's intent? Can we find scenes where the Panasonic is superior to Oppo? Yes...even Vincent gave the edge to the UB9000 overall and also has videos praising how it's the best player and how good the Optimzer is.

[TravisTylerBlack]

By the way, my player was purchased only a few months ago and came with the newer 1.64 firmware.

It's possible the issue may have been fixed on the newer units but those running the older firmware would of course still be affected.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by TravisTylerBlack

I just checked my Spider-Man: Homecoming UHD for the example you provided and the highlight detail is 100% intact with Dolby Vision on my display.
Not sure why there's clipping on your end

I'm on 1.66 firmware now and I totally forgot to check if something has changed!

EDIT: Nope, both examples from Homecoming and IT look exactly the same as before.

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

I'm on 1.66 firmware now and I totally forgot to check if something has changed!

EDIT: Nope, both examples from Homecoming and IT look exactly the same as before.

It must be a display-specific issue then. Are you watching on an LED or OLED? Any other notable examples/movie scenes you can think of that I could check out?

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Since you guys are suggesting that the Panasonic UB-820/UB-9000's Dolby Vision output has something to do with displays, I watch Vincent Teoh's review again and he doesn't say what the two TVs he used for the comparison between the OPPO-203 and UB-9000. Although I can't see the logos on the TVs due to the video being filmed in a dark room, you can the stands of the TVs at the 4:56 mark which look like the stands of LG OLEDs. Since his review was made before the release of the LG C9 OLED, the two TVs could be both LG C8 or LG B8 OLEDs. How were the tone mapping of 2018 LG OLEDs compared to their 2019 ad 2020 OLEDs? Could it be that they don't have good enough tone mapping that it clips highlights on Dolby Vision output of the UB-820/UB-9000? I think it's best to test watching Dolby Vision content on the UB-820/UB-9000 on 2019 or 2020 Panasonic OLEDs since they have superior tone mapping than LG and Sony OLEDs.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by TravisTylerBlack

It must be a display-specific issue then. Are you watching on an LED or OLED? Any other notable examples/movie scenes you can think of that I could check out?

I have LG OLED B8.

I think The Meg could have been a great test with its over 3000 nits in many shots but I don't have it.

[tama]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

I have LG OLED B8.

I think The Meg could have been a great test with its over 3000 nits in many shots but I don't have it.

I'm seeing the same results on my B7 with Spider-Man homecoming. Going to replug my LG player and see if results differ.

Optimizer set at Basic 500 nits resolves the highlights in that hallway scene. Could be me but looked a tad bit better then the DTM doing it.

[NKB2017]

Hello... anyone know how to upload a j-peg or png picture / photo file to the Panasonic UB9000 for the Home Screen Wallpaper. Every time I try (via USB) it's not getting recognised for some reason?