Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Darmok1004]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

Yikes. I think I'd be too nervous to shake it like that, especially with a disc inside.

It worked. The disc was not effected or scratched and I haven’t experienced any playback issues with the player.

[Cherokee Jack]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I'm grabbing one of these after work to try it out and see if Dolby Vision matters much on my high-nit Mini-LED. What are people's experiences with the Panasonic tone-mapping for high-nit panels? Is it worth messing with that too?

My Sony 950H is high nit by my standards (my only other experience with HDR being the low-nit, poor tone mapping MU8000 and non-EVO OLEDs) and I swear by the UB820 for HDR10 discs. It can handle every disc I throw at it, all the way from Sony light cannon Cliffhanger to Heat. And it’s really only on extreme grades like those discs that I ever feel compelled to mess with the player’s HDR settings. The tone mapping is so good that I mostly value DV for fixing compression issues at this point.

It’d be a perfect player if it weren’t for its difficulty playing even lightly scratched discs.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by chip75

I'll check with mine, but the 420 might have a disc tray open notch underneath, I know the 820 and 9000 have one.

I couldn't see the latches, there's a hole underneath the drive, but I wouldn't start poking things in it.

I'll see what the one on the 820 looks like.

This was the process?

1. Turn the unit ON.
2. Press and hold the [ OK ] the [ Y ] and the [ B ] buttons on the remote control at the same time for more than 5 seconds. the POWER LED starts to flash, and “00 RET” is displayed on the unit’s display.
3. Press the arrow right ► button repeatedly until “06FTO” is displayed on the unit’s display.
4. Press the [ OK ] button.

[HorrorBlu]

Originally Posted by chip75

This was the process?

1. Turn the unit ON.
2. Press and hold the [ OK ] the [ Y ] and the [ B ] buttons on the remote control at the same time for more than 5 seconds. the POWER LED starts to flash, and “00 RET” is displayed on the unit’s display.
3. Press the arrow right ► button repeatedly until “06FTO” is displayed on the unit’s display.
4. Press the [ OK ] button.

I did try that. Someone above suggested I do the same thing, except arrow over to 08 instead of 06. Will try when I get home.

Thank you for checking!

[chip75]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I did try that. Someone above suggested I do the same thing, except arrow over to 08 instead of 06. Will try when I get home.

Thank you for checking!

Have you tried, with the power on, holding down POWER and STOP for 5 seconds?

[BXR 1138]

Originally Posted by chip75

I couldn't see the latches, there's a hole underneath the drive, but I wouldn't start poking things in it.

Isn't this where the manual eject slider would be?

See attachment, bottom of the 420 (original picture from eBay).

I don't have the unit but I've seen other players with a similar eject slot.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by BXR 1138

Isn't this where the manual eject slider would be?

See attachment, bottom of the 420 (original picture from eBay).

I don't have the unit but I've seen other players with a similar eject slot.

I couldn't see that on my player, will check again.

[HorrorBlu]

I haven't made it home yet to check, but how would you manually eject with that? Do you have to stick something in that?

[BXR 1138]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I haven't made it home yet to check, but how would you manually eject with that? Do you have to stick something in that?

If the player has a user accessible switch, then yes you would need an implement long and thin enough to insert into the slot to slide the switch.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=db6q93h2jX0

[HorrorBlu]

Thanks to everyone who helped and offered ideas!

I started with the non-invasive ideas first: 08fin and POWER + STOP. No go with either.

So then I unhooked it and looked underneath. It did have the two slots like in the picture, with a little white switch. Using a paperclip, I slid it across the first slot, then the other. It looked like the disc tray moved a millimeter or two, but did not eject. However, when I hooked the machine back up and pressed the eject button, the tray finally opened and I was able to retrieve my Piranha 4K disc!

Quickly inspected the surface and it looks fine, so hopefully no damage to the disc.

Opened and closed the tray a few times and it seemed fine. Now the question is: am I brave enough to put another disc in there. Eh. I think I'll let it rest a few days.

Thanks again!

[BXR 1138]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

[Show spoiler]Thanks to everyone who helped and offered ideas!

I started with the non-invasive ideas first: 08fin and POWER + STOP. No go with either.

So then I unhooked it and looked underneath. It did have the two slots like in the picture, with a little white switch. Using a paperclip, I slid it across the first slot, then the other. It looked like the disc tray moved a millimeter or two, but did not eject. However, when I hooked the machine back up and pressed the eject button, the tray finally opened and I was able to retrieve my Piranha 4K disc!

Quickly inspected the surface and it looks fine, so hopefully no damage to the disc.

Opened and closed the tray a few times and it seemed fine. Now the question is: am I brave enough to put another disc in there. Eh. I think I'll let it rest a few days.

Thanks again!

That's great, I'm glad you were finally able to get the disc out. It's a good thing chip75 mentioned that the 820 and 9000 have the manual eject mechanism; I would not have considered whether the 420 also had it otherwise.

And thank you for actually confirming the presence of the switch!

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Darmok1004

This has happened to me twice with the 820, once even last night. The first time with the Magnificent Seven in it and the second time with no disc inside. It just wouldn’t open.
Both times I unplugged it, took the player, shook it back and forth and plugged it back in. The eject function began working again. I’m wondering if this is a defect in a certain batch of players. My 820 isn’t even a year old yet.

Funny you mentioned it, I had that happen to me with a Blu-ray that I had left inside the player overnight (I try not to do that), and when I ejected the tray to collect the disc it only came out half way with the disc still inside. I initially tried using tweezers to get the disc but that didn't work, so I firmly pulled the tray with my fingers and it was able to come out all the way along with the disc. I chucked the BD away because the tweezers scratched the crap out of it. I powered it up and it has worked perfectly since then. This happened this past Tuesday.

*knock on wood.


EDIT - I wish I had checked this thread. I did not know about the bottom manual ejecting trick.

[rickardl]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

Thanks to everyone who helped and offered ideas!

I started with the non-invasive ideas first: 08fin and POWER + STOP. No go with either.

So then I unhooked it and looked underneath. It did have the two slots like in the picture, with a little white switch. Using a paperclip, I slid it across the first slot, then the other. It looked like the disc tray moved a millimeter or two, but did not eject. However, when I hooked the machine back up and pressed the eject button, the tray finally opened and I was able to retrieve my Piranha 4K disc!

Quickly inspected the surface and it looks fine, so hopefully no damage to the disc.

Opened and closed the tray a few times and it seemed fine. Now the question is: am I brave enough to put another disc in there. Eh. I think I'll let it rest a few days.

Thanks again!

I posted this some time ago, did it work the same on your player?
Long shot: This is for anoher panasonic player, check underneath if there is something similar on you player.
Looking at some other models, it could also be small slider inside a tiny slot which should be pushed in one direction.

[Erik C. Johnson]

Thanks for posting this. I was unable to eject a disc out of the UB9000 for several weeks and was about to send it away for service because all the other procedures would not work. The paper clip/button worked and the player now seems to remember how to eject discs again.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by BXR 1138

Isn't this where the manual eject slider would be?

I don't have the unit but I've seen other players with a similar eject slot.

Originally Posted by chip75

I couldn't see that on my player, will check again.

Checked my player, it has the two slots underneath! not sure why I couldn't see the last might! on the right hand side there lever looks to have a little hole or dimple, which you slide to the left.

Still can't understand why I couldn't see them last night. Funny thing I checked my other player and couldn't see them, so I will have to check that!

Glad the OP got their disc out.

[ronand]

The UB450 also has the slots

[BXR 1138]

Originally Posted by chip75

Checked my player, it has the two slots underneath! not sure why I couldn't see the last might! on the right hand side there lever looks to have a little hole or dimple, which you slide to the left.

Still can't understand why I couldn't see them last night. Funny thing I checked my other player and couldn't see them, so I will have to check that!

Glad the OP got their disc out.

They are very easy to miss. Panasonic really should have included it in the manual. I imagine it's mentioned in an internal service manual, but they need to print it in the one that comes in the box.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by BXR 1138

They are very easy to miss. Panasonic really should have included it in the manual. I imagine it's mentioned in an internal service manual, but they need to print it in the one that comes in the box.

I still think the Blu-ray elves made the holes in the night. I even checked the underneath under a lamp. What's weird is I checked my other player and I couldn't see them either. I bet those naughty elves were busy again.

Anyway glad I brought it up, even if I couldn't find it!

[Jack Priest]

Is there a list anywhere that logs the peak nits for different 4K Blu-ray discs? It would be good to know when I should have the HDR Optimser On or Off. I have an LG CX, so I don't think I should have the HDR Optimser turned On for any movie that peaks at ~700 nits or less. I use the info button on the remote when playing, but often they have no info on there regarding the nits.

[sapiendut]

No need to do that. If you choose OLED, the optimizer doesn’t kick in until approx 1000 nits anyway. Anything below that will be untouched.