Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Player

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

HDR, WCG, 10-bit panels and PQ is what's important in the new TV System. 4K is the smallest advantage. And everyone can very easily and quickly see the advantages of HDR vs. SDR.

It's funny though, the UHD BD reviews have 75% or more of there PQ description on the resolution aspect, searching for tiny improvements in detail, while practically ignoring the effect of HDR. That mindset needs to change. Bill Hunt of The Bits gets it though, his reviews are highly focused on the HDR aspect. I just wish they did the same at the other sites, because visually the 10 bit HDR and WCG is 90% of the upgrade at least.

[Kris Deering]

Honestly, I think the best way a reviewer could do a truly fair comparison is to run them side by side. I realize this would be very difficult (not to mention costly), but it would be the best way to truly compare. Our eyes are really good at that sort of comparison rather than watching one then the other and trying to remember how the other one looked. This would make any "benefit" far more obvious while also cueing you in on the other aspects you may not even be looking for. I've done the quick back and forth and that works okay, but side by side images would be best. I have some friends that are going to do this with me soon. We will have two projectors (same model) setup in my room. One will be calibrated for standard Blu-ray the other for UHD. We will cue up the movies in both formats and split screen them, so one side of the image will be UHD while the other is HD. Should make for a fun comparison of the titles we have.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Honestly, I think the best way a reviewer could do a truly fair comparison is to run them side by side. I realize this would be very difficult (not to mention costly), but it would be the best way to truly compare. Our eyes are really good at that sort of comparison rather than watching one then the other and trying to remember how the other one looked. This would make any "benefit" far more obvious while also cueing you in on the other aspects you may not even be looking for. I've done the quick back and forth and that works okay, but side by side images would be best. I have some friends that are going to do this with me soon. We will have two projectors (same model) setup in my room. One will be calibrated for standard Blu-ray the other for UHD. We will cue up the movies in both formats and split screen them, so one side of the image will be UHD while the other is HD. Should make for a fun comparison of the titles we have.

Probably wouldn't be practical. You've have to almost a professional reviewer to have a side-by-side permanent setup in a room.

Next best thing is to simply have each disc in two different players. Have both player calibrated to where the regular Blu-ray looks the same through both players. Then you can just play back a minute or so of a scene (say, on the BD first) and quickly switch inputs to do the same on the UHD, except play the UHD a minute longer so that way you always have to catch up one minute every time you switch. At least that's how I roughly do it (although I often vary the sample sizes).

[nugget2016]

Originally Posted by Crimsoncleaver

On the topic of blind tests.

At the weekend I messed up and put in Kingsman blu-ray.

Even my non-tech girlfriend said theres no difference. But as soon as the Und was in the colour was apparent.

Whats odd, is I was looking forward to native res movies, but the colour has made a big difference. I reckon HDR would increase that gap (my TV is nonHDR)

A big concern though, is 3D at 4K would have been great. Obviously that wont happen het

i might do the same, i've not tried the 1080p version much yet. any scenes you would recommend to watch to see the difference?

[JGB7]

On the proper equipment, I think most people can tell the difference even if they don't exactly know what it is they are looking for or why it looks better. I had some guests over this weekend for BBQ and one of them said she couldn't tell the difference between SD and HD channels on her TV, and she can't tell when her husband watches DVD or Blu Ray on their 55 inch Samsung HD LCD. It was all the same to her.

I told her to check out my 4K setup to see what she thinks. She told me not to be too disappointed when she couldn't really tell the difference. I have an LG 65EF9500 4K OLED with the Samsung 8500 UHD player. I popped in Sicario UHD and played the scene where they are driving back to the border through the streets of Juarez with their prisoner. The colors, the blacks, the detail level..... she was amazed by it all!

I showed her because she and her husband were going to move their 55" Samsung into their bedroom and buy a new TV for their living room. She kept telling her husband to get an LG 4K OLED and the Samsung UHD player. I popped in a 3D Blu Ray also and they were blown away by the quality. These people have 3D at home on their Samsung and were like "it's ok, we never really use it".

[bruceames]

That's why I believe UHD BD will do better than the skeptics think. The average person will be impressed, as opposed to regular Blu-ray that looked all the same to them.

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by JGB7

On the proper equipment, I think most people can tell the difference even if they don't exactly know what it is they are looking for or why it looks better. I had some guests over this weekend for BBQ and one of them said she couldn't tell the difference between SD and HD channels on her TV, and she can't tell when her husband watches DVD or Blu Ray on their 55 inch Samsung HD LCD. It was all the same to her.

I told her to check out my 4K setup to see what she thinks. She told me not to be too disappointed when she couldn't really tell the difference. I have an LG 65EF9500 4K OLED with the Samsung 8500 UHD player. I popped in Sicario UHD and played the scene where they are driving back to the border through the streets of Juarez with their prisoner. The colors, the blacks, the detail level..... she was amazed by it all!

I showed her because she and her husband were going to move their 55" Samsung into their bedroom and buy a new TV for their living room. She kept telling her husband to get an LG 4K OLED and the Samsung UHD player. I popped in a 3D Blu Ray also and they were blown away by the quality. These people have 3D at home on their Samsung and were like "it's ok, we never really use it".

Not surprising for those of us that have this. 4k hdr is much more impactful than regular ole 1080p. The good stuff, such as Sicario hdr is just jaw dropping with its detail and sharpness and anybody who sees it will know it's different than anything they've ever seen.

[nugget2016]

Originally Posted by ray0414

Not surprising for those of us that have this. 4k hdr is much more impactful than regular ole 1080p. The good stuff, such as Sicario hdr is just jaw dropping with its detail and sharpness and anybody who sees it will know it's different than anything they've ever seen.

so excited to get this film this week hopefully. was torture to wait when the 1080p disc came out, glad i did!

was there many bright highlights to the film?

[danchesca]

So my wife just asked me what i want for fathers day and i can get either one, i am need of blu ray player (stand alone) i have a ps4 to get me through for now..

my question is, will it be worth it to get the UB900 even though i do not have a 4K tv, i got over 700 blu rays, so I am in no rush to just replace those blu rays just yet, the player will be used for pretty much 90% movie watching (disc and files)

I am just reluctant on the Oppo because 4K is coming around, and I know Oppo will be releasing a 4K this year, but i think it will be out of my price range.

inputs please

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by nugget2016

so excited to get this film this week hopefully. was torture to wait when the 1080p disc came out, glad i did!

was there many bright highlights to the film?

When u say bright highlights do u literally means bright highlights or do you mean great demo scenes that look awesome? Overall it's the most consistent looking movie. Everything looks great.

[Crimsoncleaver]

Originally Posted by nugget2016

i might do the same, i've not tried the 1080p version much yet. any scenes you would recommend to watch to see the difference?

The real big difference for me was Life of Pi with the chef scene.

The skin colour, on both looked good, but in 4K felt more real.

I imagine the improvement is just a combination of factors:

1. Resolution
2. Wider Colour Gamut
3. More range in the image - the HDR to SDR conversion I think is playing a big role. My TV Has never been great for blacks. Always had to teally lower the brightness to get a richer image. With brightness and contrast at max and HDR-SDR at -5, on the UHD player I am still getting good blacks, but more detail. If I did the same on my normal blu-ray player, it would end up not looking good at all.
   
   All this is making me think real HDR would top it off very nicely

[nugget2016]

Originally Posted by ray0414

When u say bright highlights do u literally means bright highlights or do you mean great demo scenes that look awesome? Overall it's the most consistent looking movie. Everything looks great.

bright highlights, such as 600 nits. i've yet to see anything exceptionally bright on my tv from 4k disc's yet, so am curious to see how it looks!

[pawel86ck]

Originally Posted by nugget2016

bright highlights, such as 600 nits. i've yet to see anything exceptionally bright on my tv from 4k disc's yet, so am curious to see how it looks!

"the lego movie" UHD use 1200cd/m2 in that particilar scene on panasonic DX900. If you have panasonic 4K HDTV, you can download the lego movie demo from here (only panasonic HDTV can read that file extension)
http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=142

[Crimsoncleaver]

Originally Posted by pawel86ck

"the lego movie" UHD use 1200cd/m2 in that particilar scene on panasonic DX900. If you have panasonic 4K HDTV, you can download the lego movie demo from here (only panasonic HDTV can read that file extension)
http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=142

Be interesting to see how the Panasonic player handles that scene on a nonHDR Tv with its HDR to SDR conversion.

Is Lego Movie a worthy purchase? Feel like the 3D might win over, but open to opinions.

[Rocklandsboy]

Originally Posted by JGB7

On the proper equipment, I think most people can tell the difference even if they don't exactly know what it is they are looking for or why it looks better. I had some guests over this weekend for BBQ and one of them said she couldn't tell the difference between SD and HD channels on her TV, and she can't tell when her husband watches DVD or Blu Ray on their 55 inch Samsung HD LCD. It was all the same to her.

I told her to check out my 4K setup to see what she thinks. She told me not to be too disappointed when she couldn't really tell the difference. I have an LG 65EF9500 4K OLED with the Samsung 8500 UHD player. I popped in Sicario UHD and played the scene where they are driving back to the border through the streets of Juarez with their prisoner. The colors, the blacks, the detail level..... she was amazed by it all!

I showed her because she and her husband were going to move their 55" Samsung into their bedroom and buy a new TV for their living room. She kept telling her husband to get an LG 4K OLED and the Samsung UHD player. I popped in a 3D Blu Ray also and they were blown away by the quality. These people have 3D at home on their Samsung and were like "it's ok, we never really use it".

A lot of that will be to do with the TV technology. LCDs are generally rubbish while OLED is generally great. I guarantee that if she'd gone from watching the exact same BD on LCD then OLED she'd be equally wowed.

So much if these "improvements" are due to the latest TV technologies and general common-sense settings.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

A lot of that will be to do with the TV technology. LCDs are generally rubbish while OLED is generally great. I guarantee that if she'd gone from watching the exact same BD on LCD then OLED she'd be equally wowed.

So much if these "improvements" are due to the latest TV technologies and general common-sense settings.

[Taygan315]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

lol..

[RockyIII]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

No unfortunately your TV does not do HDR.

Not trying to go off topic here, but upon closer look, this is what I read about my Samsung 40-inch 6400 4K TV (you can click on the link and scroll down to read for yourself):

• Compatible with NextGen UHD Blu-ray HDR
• Meets CEA 4K UHD Connected and HDR Compatible definitions

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN40JU...ilpage_o01_s00

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

Probably wouldn't be practical. You've have to almost a professional reviewer to have a side-by-side permanent setup in a room.

Next best thing is to simply have each disc in two different players. Have both player calibrated to where the regular Blu-ray looks the same through both players. Then you can just play back a minute or so of a scene (say, on the BD first) and quickly switch inputs to do the same on the UHD, except play the UHD a minute longer so that way you always have to catch up one minute every time you switch. At least that's how I roughly do it (although I often vary the sample sizes).

That's what I'll be doing, I'll have both players running at the same time and will flick between the inputs to check them.

As for the player itself, I haven't received mine yet (might get it by the weekend, not sure) but there's a LOT of chatter on AVF about audio dropouts with Atmos. Why oh why did I have to waffle on about how much better Panasonic's chips were than the MediaTek ones? That's bitten me on the arse and no mistake.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That's what I'll be doing, I'll have both players running at the same time and will flick between the inputs to check them.

As for the player itself, I haven't received mine yet (might get it by the weekend, not sure) but there's a LOT of chatter on AVF about audio dropouts with Atmos. Why oh why did I have to waffle on about how much better Panasonic's chips were than the MediaTek ones? That's bitten me on the arse and no mistake.

Panafonics huh