Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[tankryankr19]

I find that it does a decent job upscaling DVDs, usually spin SpongeBob or Jackass (The Box Set, The Lost Tapes, The Movie and Number Two) and it seems to do a decent job handling them being upscaled to 4K, I’ve had my UB820 for 8 months and it’s worth every penny honestly

[Sango]

Originally Posted by tankryankr19

I find that it does a decent job upscaling DVDs, usually spin SpongeBob or Jackass (The Box Set, The Lost Tapes, The Movie and Number Two) and it seems to do a decent job handling them being upscaled to 4K, I’ve had my UB820 for 8 months and it’s worth every penny honestly

It is decent but it should of been better. The issue which has been talked about is the poor de-interlacing of all Panasonic units which dates back to UB900 since 2016 as it fails the de-interlacing test.

I personally seen the poor image quality and the broken de-interlacing lines which show up on the the 9000/820 which should not be there. It is noticable when watching anime titles for instance. This is why I would pull out my Oppo BD-83 to watch DVD instead.

[Justin33]

I have had some issues lately with my Samsung 4K player not reading 4K discs. After not reading I take them out and wipe down the disc with a microfiber cloth, I then try the disc in my PS5, and still won’t play. It happened tonight with Inglorious Bastards. Recently with 3:10 to Yuma, Van Wilder, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes(this one played for some of the movie but just kept skipping despite the disc being cleaned and appearing to look just fine.) My questions are: 1 Why is this happening? What is a new recommended 4K player. Thank you for your help.

[Telemachus]

The DVD layer break/skip is there on my Toshiba XA2, don't blame the Panny standard fare. at least you don't have to flip the disc! The Panny 820 does add sharpening to sub-UHD resolution as GeoffD said, I tested some patterns myself, but I honestly prefer the image over my Sony for upscaling 1080p. DVD really should not be watched on the Panny, I still use good old 480i from my classic decks to the TV for DVD. If you want to see an awful DVD picture pull out a Playstation 3, I don't know what nonsense they use for DVD playback on that but it looks gross worse than the Panny even, though it doesn't have the jaggies the Panny creates.

[Sango]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

The DVD layer break/skip is there on my Toshiba XA2, don't blame the Panny standard fare. at least you don't have to flip the disc! The Panny 820 does add sharpening to sub-UHD resolution as GeoffD said, I tested some patterns myself, but I honestly prefer the image over my Sony for upscaling 1080p. DVD really should not be watched on the Panny, I still use good old 480i from my classic decks to the TV for DVD. If you want to see an awful DVD picture pull out a Playstation 3, I don't know what nonsense they use for DVD playback on that but it looks gross worse than the Panny even, though it doesn't have the jaggies the Panny creates.

I remember the XA2! I do not personally own it but back in the day, users on AVSForums for were asking at the time, which did the best, such as the Oppo 983H (which came out on top), XA2, or PS3 for instance.

[grahams76]

My region-free 820 has 2,799 hours of usage, brings back a F00 code for self-diagnosis display (whatever that means), and both loaded drive correction check and quick check of the BD drive come back OK.

Having said that, since day one in January 2022, the eject button on the machine has been dicey (easily solved with a gentle push of the tray) and recently the machine bricks it on occasion when I put a CD in (this is 'fixed' by unplugging and plugging back in).

[Sango]

Originally Posted by grahams76

My region-free 820 has 2,799 hours of usage, brings back a F00 code for self-diagnosis display (whatever that means), and both loaded drive correction check and quick check of the BD drive come back OK.

Having said that, since day one in January 2022, the eject button on the machine has been dicey (easily solved with a gentle push of the tray) and recently the machine bricks it on occasion when I put a CD in (this is 'fixed' by unplugging and plugging back in).

F00 means no errors.

[Daz_85]

Originally Posted by Sango

If you have something other than console for DVD playback that would be the better alternative.

Unfortunately not. I did have a Pioneer DVD player back in the day but that was thrown out a few years ago when the laser was failing, and I had upgraded to the new formats then anyway. I only have some concert DVDs I occasionally dip into.

[IlCorvo]

Originally Posted by grahams76

My region-free 820 has 2,799 hours of usage, brings back a F00 code for self-diagnosis display (whatever that means), and both loaded drive correction check and quick check of the BD drive come back OK.

Having said that, since day one in January 2022, the eject button on the machine has been dicey (easily solved with a gentle push of the tray) and recently the machine bricks it on occasion when I put a CD in (this is 'fixed' by unplugging and plugging back in).

Can you check on the back of the player where it was assembled?

[Sango]

Originally Posted by Daz_85

Unfortunately not. I did have a Pioneer DVD player back in the day but that was thrown out a few years ago when the laser was failing, and I had upgraded to the new formats then anyway. I only have some concert DVDs I occasionally dip into.

Ah fair enough! A few of the Pioneer DVD players were good back in the day too.

For me, some anime titles never came out on newer format or the newer format was just a poor upscale that I would stick with DVD for those.

[Hedrox]

Seems like you can only access the Service Mode with the player's original remote. Kept trying with my bootleg UB9000 one with no results.

[Sango]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

Seems like you can only access the Service Mode with the player's original remote. Kept trying with my bootleg UB9000 one with no results.

Interesting note. I don't have a clone so cannot test myself.

I assume you tested with both original and clone to check.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by Sango

I assume you tested with both original and clone to check.

Yes, immediately got it to work with the original ub820 remote.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

Seems like you can only access the Service Mode with the player's original remote. Kept trying with my bootleg UB9000 one with no results.

Ah, that'd be why I couldn't get it to work until I dug out another remote.

[b0b]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The properties of the HCX are waaaaaaay overrated. On the pre-UHD Blu-ray decks that used the Uniphier (now HCX) chip you could bump up the chroma sharpening manually to the level that's now the default on the HCX models, so on my 820 I knock it back down again.

What do you think about this post which says "reducing chroma sharpness causes chroma brightness to fall off considerably"?

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/63111191/

And are there any other settings you've changed from the defaults on your 820?

[Geoff D]

No, just that one.

[home888]

I love Panasonic and Sony. It's hard to choose. Maybe one for the living room and one for the bedroom is the best option.

[Braktastic]

Does anyone have the Panasonic DP-UB820 with a Logitech Harmony Elite universal remote?

I recently moved and have begun setting up my home theater again, and I'm encountering an issue where the 820 is turning on and displays SETTINGS when I am using Activities that don't involve the Panasonic at all. It's so bizarre.

[kristoffer]

How is the downmix to stereo of the Panny compared to an Oppo 203?

[Infallible Presence]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

How is the downmix to stereo of the Panny compared to an Oppo 203?

I'd say so far with the few that I've watched on my UB9000, better. Now I'm no audiophile, but it does seem have improved lower audio that I didn't hear when watching on my Oppo.