Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by ronand

A new version of the region free patch for the UB420/820/9000 players is available on the avforums site. New features include a massive speed improvement in the menu system (some bugs that were hogging the CPU have been solved) and a UB9000 menu look for the lower spec players

Das badass

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

It's time for a new projector if it doesn't have 4k and HDR support. Yes, most projectors only have HDR10 compatibility. HOWEVER, with an HDFury device, you can trick Dolby Vision players and local streamers into sending "player led," pre-decoded and pre-digested dynamic metadata Dolby Vision to a 4k HDR10 display (even projectors and even in 12 bit quality).


I tried this trick out with my JVC projector, Oppo 203, Panny 820, and Zidoo streamer and the picture quality is visibly soooo much better than just straight HDR10. The upper HDFury's, like the Vertex2, can also allow you to set a custom Dolby Vision curve and send that to the display to fine tune the image quality.



The Zidoo has a Dolby VS10 engine that can also convert HDR10 and SDR content to send a remapped player led Dolby Vision signal. It's da bomb!

What projectors actually need to do HDR properly is to not have them do HDR at all; that requires a Lumagen Radiance Pro or a MadVR thing.

[pikwik]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

It's time for a new projector if it doesn't have 4k and HDR support. Yes, most projectors only have HDR10 compatibility. HOWEVER, with an HDFury device, you can trick Dolby Vision players and local streamers into sending "player led," pre-decoded and pre-digested dynamic metadata Dolby Vision to a 4k HDR10 display (even projectors and even in 12 bit quality).

Never hear of HDFUry before; it sounds intriguing. I have an Epson 5050UB which isn't native 4K, but uses "pixel shifting" to achieve a 4K like image. It also supports HDR and 3D.

I plan on upgrading to a native 4K projector with DV and hopefully 3D, but I can wait for prices to come down.

[maperez1987]

Originally Posted by HanBrolo77

Woah! I just searched and I’m still seeing 1.76 as the latest firmware for the 820. Let us know what version you’re seeing?

I looked at the firmware I already have on the player and it is 1.69. So is 1.76 a go to? Also what I noticed which I don't know if it's a normal thing but I signed into my Netflix account on my 820 and noticed that whenever I watch anything even HD content my tv plays the content in Dolby Vision. I don't know if it's the player or my tvs fault.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by maperez1987

I looked at the firmware I already have on the player and it is 1.69. So is 1.76 a go to? Also what I noticed which I don't know if it's a normal thing but I signed into my Netflix account on my 820 and noticed that whenever I watch anything even HD content my tv plays the content in Dolby Vision. I don't know if it's the player or my tvs fault.

IIRC there's a setting of the 820 that forces all streaming content into HDR

[supersoundwave]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Make sure you Samsung’s Anynet turned on and Panasonic player’s VieraLink also turned on.

I have both of those options enabled; the remote powers on the TV, but cannot control the volume.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by pikwik

Never hear of HDFUry before; it sounds intriguing. I have an Epson 5050UB which isn't native 4K, but uses "pixel shifting" to achieve a 4K like image. It also supports HDR and 3D.

I plan on upgrading to a native 4K projector with DV and hopefully 3D, but I can wait for prices to come down.

I don't see native 4k projectors coming down in price. If anything, they seem to be getting more expensive. Most of the good ones are at least $7,000 or more. Not many projectors have DV. Probably because Dolby needs to create a profile that can convert consumer DV grading to something more projector friendly for each projector model that is DV certified. That's why an HDFury is essential at the moment.


Most of the affordable 4k projectors are still going to use pixel shifting techniques to approximate a 2160p resolution. They are getting better, however. The main thing is that longer lasting LED and laser light engines are indeed moving into the lower pricing tiers.

[sapiendut]

While the pixel shifting gets better, the budget projectors use mediocre to poor lens quality, which reduce image quality quite dramatically

[crazy brit]

Finally picked up a 'UB9000' remote from the bay of E, I cannot believe Panasonic could not throw one of these in with the 820.

In the pic below is also the original UB820 remote, and for comparison on the right is the practically identical remote from my DMP-BD30 (still going strong) that I bought in January 2008!!
I know the adage "if it aint broke.....", but really.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by crazy brit

In the pic below is also the original UB820 remote, and for comparison on the right is the practically identical remote from my DMP-BD30 (still going strong) that I bought in January 2008!!
I know the adage "if it aint broke.....", but really.

The 420 is even smaller than the 820's. They went out of their way to make something much worse.

[critterdvd]

Does this player happen to offer 1.25 or 1.5x playback feedback with audio still engaged? I’ve been looking for a non-PlayStation player than can do this for commentaries for awhile now…

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by chip75

The 420 is even smaller than the 820's. They went out of their way to make something much worse.

It's a terrible remote but even so, that Netflix button being where it is makes it 100x times worse.

[Telemachus]

The default 820 remote is a design horrorshow, always felt like it was falling out of my hand with where the main gripping point is, and the Boreflix button location is just trolling

[biggquis]

When I turn down the luminance on subtitles, does that tone down the overall brightness of the screen? Watching High Tension 4k and the subs were burning my eyeballs. Turned luminance to -10, and the overall film seems darker now. Not sure if I'm just imagining that

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by biggquis

When I turn down the luminance on subtitles, does that tone down the overall brightness of the screen?

Not that I ever experienced.

[Telemachus]

I turn down all subs, never had any issues

[Morfevzi]

Originally Posted by critterdvd

Does this player happen to offer 1.25 or 1.5x playback feedback with audio still engaged? I’ve been looking for a non-PlayStation player than can do this for commentaries for awhile now…

It can do it for DVDs and Blu-rays but not UHDs.

[critterdvd]

Originally Posted by Morfevzi

It can do it for DVDs and Blu-rays but not UHDs.

Awesome! I typically only use it for tv shows and special features so no uHD is good enough!

[captainsolo]

For the second time I have a disc stuck in the 820. If I press the open button it will say open and the tray does not open. Then it tries to reload the same disc and starts playing it. This happened to me once before and after a lot of trial and error it randomly opened finally and has worked fine since until now where it has done it again.

[captainsolo]

Yep. It’s completely stuck and won’t open at all. I’ve done the resets and contacted Panasonic support who had me do a reset and then told me I had to pay for shipping and repairs. This is certainly one of the most frustrating players I’ve ever used on any format.

The repair place is some shop in Florida that seems to mostly do cameras. Their phone line is closed, and Panasonic‘s phone line is closed so it seemed a bit suspicious for me to just up and ship a player to them.