Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Manufacturers stopped releasing new BD player models years ago. The ones you see in the shelves today at Best Buy, Wal-mart, Target etc. were the last models they released i.e the Sony S6700/S3700 which were originally released around 2015/2016. IMO we're heading this way with 4K players. The latest models will probably be it for the foreseeable future. Nothing wrong with that IMO. The current players are still awesome.

The manufacturers seem to have stopped supporting them with fresh firmware, especially for egregious errors like the latest discs from Lionsgate. Yes, even Panasonic has dropped the ball.

[Paul.R.S]

Originally Posted by pbz06

What would a new player offer?

. . . better DV implementation . . . another choice for those of us interested in DVD-A support and who will perhaps always have more SA-CDs than UHD BDs . . .

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Better build quality and a more solid optical drive mechanism if some brave company decided to have a model to compete with the Panny 9000. Even that isn't exactly a tank. The definition of high quality is really getting lowered.

While this would be awesome, the reality is, we currently live on a streaming world and physical media and players are quickly becoming a niche market if it already is. There really is no incentive for a manufacturer to release a high end player with this kind of market conditions. Ask Oppo.

[Paul.R.S]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

While this would be awesome, the reality is, we currently live on a streaming world and physical media and players are quickly becoming a niche market if it already is. There really is no incentive for a manufacturer to release a high end player with this kind of market conditions. Ask Oppo.

The prevailing winds blow this direction but not everyone flies on those currents. I can't afford the airfare but ask McIntosh.

(And again, it's debatable whether OPPO and Samsung stopped spinners because of streaming hegemony per se "versus" it simply being more profitable to focus on phones and displays, respectively.)

[chip75]

There really isn't any need for them to make new 4K players, they can update everything through the OS and software support. The current players can do everything with regards to HDCP and HDMI versions.

Sony could have stopped making new LCDs with the ZD9, they arguably still haven't got better than that.

The odd thing is there is a market to be filled where OPPO departed, where they don't have to sells units in the hundreds of thousands, but can charge four figures for a stand-out machine.

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by pbz06

What would they announce though? There's already players across all budgets providing all the features we need. Then there's PS5 and Xbox Series X coming too.

What would a new player offer?

An HDMI 2.1 connection enabling RGB/4:4:4 upsampling and output from Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs encoded at 60fps. Because of the ongoing crisis, development of new players are not companies' top priority.

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by BijouMan

An HDMI 2.1 connection enabling RGB/4:4:4 upsampling and output from Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs encoded at 60fps. Because of the ongoing crisis, development of new players are not companies' top priority.

The UHD BD format is based on HDMI 2.0 specs. Upsampling is not going to make any difference. And 99,9% of the discs released have 24 fps content anyway

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Better build quality and a more solid optical drive mechanism if some brave company decided to have a model to compete with the Panny 9000. Even that isn't exactly a tank. The definition of high quality is really getting lowered.

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

. . . better DV implementation . . . another choice for those of us interested in DVD-A support and who will perhaps always have more SA-CDs than UHD BDs . . .

Originally Posted by Cortiz

While this would be awesome, the reality is, we currently live on a streaming world and physical media and players are quickly becoming a niche market if it already is. There really is no incentive for a manufacturer to release a high end player with this kind of market conditions. Ask Oppo.

In the Super Audio CD/DVD-Audio war, Panasonic was on team DVD-Audio and they have since stopped producing DVD-Audio machines. Although, ironically, Sony, the main developer behind Super Audio CD, started producing DVD-Audio machines in 2016, long after many considered these to be "dead" formats. This "brave company" would most likely be another company that starts with "P". Hopefully they will release a new model soon as the ongoing crisis nears its end. This "P" company specifically caters to those who want high-end equipment, has always been on both sides of the aforementioned war, and made the spiritual successor to the OPPO models (I'm told it used the same MediaTek chipset from the OPPO models, and it was even built to a significantly higher standard than those.) The company may seem to be out of business, but that's only because of the ongoing crisis (This company is rather small.) Besides, companies still kept releasing new players late in the Blu-ray era, even just before the Ultra HD Blu-ray era. The format can't be dead after just four years, in fact, there are tons of great new discs coming down the pipeline. At this point, the companies should realize there will always be a market for physical formats as a whole. They know their customers and would not want to upset them.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

The UHD BD format is based on HDMI 2.0 specs. Upsampling is not going to make any difference. And 99,9% of the discs released have 24 fps content anyway

Exactly. And the content is encoded at 4:2:0 anyway, there's literally zero need for a 4K60 10/12-bit 4:4:4 output on UHD Blu-ray. HDMI 2.1 is just about the most pointless thing ever for movie watching.

[BijouMan]

So, what is having HLG on a player good for when there is no such thing as an HLG disc?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by BijouMan

So, what is having HLG on a player good for when there is no such thing as an HLG disc?

It's about as much use as HDMI 2.1, yep

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by BijouMan

So, what is having HLG on a player good for when there is no such thing as an HLG disc?

If the player has a YouTube streaming app, some 4k HDR clips are encoded with HLG. You have to have the ability to decode said stream or at least read it, so the HLG embed reaches the TV.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

I better contact Panasonic about a warranty replacement Monday then. Mines busted. Won't read any discs. I did a factory reset, and still nothing.

Apparently I am not the only one. At least two other people on the AVS Forum thread are having this problem.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/off.../post-60181139

Mr. Zohn, have you heard anything about this? Or know if Panasonic has?

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

Apparently I am not the only one. At least two other people on the AVS Forum thread are having this problem.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/off.../post-60181139

Mr. Zohn, have you heard anything about this? Or know if Panasonic has?

Have you tried looking at your Power Supply?? I noticed I had disc reading issues (Wouldn't read anything I put in it) that only cleared up when I unplugged the player from the power. I waited about 10 minutes, and then plugged it back in and it seemed to work. A few months ago, I replaced my power supply with a new one and haven't had that issue since.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Have you tried looking at your Power Supply?? I noticed I had disc reading issues (Wouldn't read anything I put in it) that only cleared up when I unplugged the player from the power. I waited about 10 minutes, and then plugged it back in and it seemed to work. A few months ago, I replaced my power supply with a new one and haven't had that issue since.

I unplugged the power cord from the player while powered off, and no change. There are more replies that echo this issue on AVS Forum so I don't think it's the power supply.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

I unplugged the power cord from the player while powered off, and no change. There are more replies that echo this issue on AVS Forum so I don't think it's the power supply.

I would still check to see. Plug it directly into the wall and see if it still doesn't work. Doesn't hurt to try if you haven't yet.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

I would still check to see. Plug it directly into the wall and see if it still doesn't work. Doesn't hurt to try if you haven't yet.

True. If I need to swap I hope Best Buy is willing to do it.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

True. If I need to swap I hope Best Buy is willing to do it.

They should since it's beyond your control. You may have to contact Panasonic though. Either way, I hope you figure out the problem or are able to get a new player.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

They should since it's beyond your control. You may have to contact Panasonic though. Either way, I hope you figure out the problem or are able to get a new player.

Really the player's pq is great. I don't know of a player that rivals it except for the Oppo, and that's not an option anymore.

[bizzle]

As someone who has the UB-420 model, how much am I missing out by not having the option for Dolby Vision? Is this something I'm probably going to regret down the road?