Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Player

[Bladerunner5375]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

900, but the 700's video output is identical as far as I can tell, having owned both.

So I hear. However, they don't sell the 700 in the states, so I guess it's the 900 and sleeping on the couch! My wife puts up with my TV addiction, but perhaps not for too much longer lol.

[grodd]

Yep after careful consideration and comparison I found out the Panasonic beats the OPPO 203 in everything right now but DVD playback.

I just couldn't get past the slightly (but clearly apparent) softer image and buggy-ness. Although I have to say OPPO has been working out almost all of the bugs. And Dolby Vision is something I am looking forward to, so I'll keep watching OPPO's progress.

[d514]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

900, but the 700's video output is identical as far as I can tell, having owned both.

Since both of them get the same firmware the basic design must be identical. There are just additional (analog) features in the 900 model.

It was the same with the BDT 120/220/320/500 series. All got the same firmware, all had the same picture quality.

[Bladerunner5375]

Okay, lads! I took Geoff's advice and got the Panny! I have an SDR TV. Any tips you guys may have, settings wise? The young feller at Best Buy was talking about some "noise" setting. Confused me. Thx in advance!

[jesse_]

Is there a way to make this player region free for blu rays? Or at least an easy way to change regions if needed?

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

Okay, lads! I took Geoff's advice and got the Panny! I have an SDR TV. Any tips you guys may have, settings wise? The young feller at Best Buy was talking about some "noise" setting. Confused me. Thx in advance!

IMO: always take what store employees have to say with a grain of salt. Even the specialist AV dealer from which I bought my last TV was talking out of his ass about certain things.

As for SDR settings, I think Geoff is your go-to-guy in this matter.

[DJJez]

ive also been saying it since the day i got the oppo 203. i own both and have watched multiple sources on both. the UB900 picture is just so much better in every way but the oppo fanboys will tell you that your imagining it or making it up.

they will justify to the moon and back that the oppo is the best and nothing can beat it. majority of those people went and bought oppo 203 and nothing else so they have nothing to compare to.

As a universal player i would say YES oppo is best, for picture quality: Panasonic

[Caesu]

I so want to buy the Panasonic, but the lack of Dolby Vision support just scares me into thinking I'll have to get another player ...again..later on :\

Dont know why they wont say it can be updated via firmware officially like the Oppo 203. I would buy it based on that....

[danny24]

So far for me from the players I have used and dealt with:

Best disc image quality:
1. Panasonic DMP-UB900
2. Sony x800 (yes better than Oppo)
3. Oppo 203 (with settings changed sharpness boost better than the Sony x800, out of the box no needs to be tweaked)
4. Samsung K8500

Best sound quality:
1. Sony x800
2. Panasonic DMP-UB900
3. Oppo 203
4. Samsung K8500

Ease of use (USB, Menu, Remote):
1. Oppo 203 (by far the best for ease of use with everything, no surprise)
2. Sony x800 (fairly simple to access everything with remote)
3. Panasonic DMP-UB900 (pain in the butt to get subtitles on with remote, otherwise would be #2, easy to use overall)
4. Samsung K8500

[kristoffer]

A little surprised that you found the Sony the best for audio. Was this via HDMI or analog?

[danny24]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

A little surprised that you found the Sony the best for audio. Was this via HDMI or analog?

HDMI, it has great audio imo. There is a tiny difference between the 3 models though (x800, UB900, Oppo 203) all have great sound quality but the Sony x800 sounded the best to me.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

Okay, lads! I took Geoff's advice and got the Panny! I have an SDR TV. Any tips you guys may have, settings wise? The young feller at Best Buy was talking about some "noise" setting. Confused me. Thx in advance!

Don't mess with the settings, they're damn-near perfect out of the box. But when watching regular Blu-ray upscaled to 4K I suggest turning Edge Correction to +1 as this removes the slight ringing that's visible on upscaled content.

Originally Posted by d514

Since both of them get the same firmware the basic design must be identical. There are just additional (analog) features in the 900 model.

It was the same with the BDT 120/220/320/500 series. All got the same firmware, all had the same picture quality.

Indeed, even the 300 and the 400 should share the same picture quality, but it slays me when I read the What Hifi reviews and they say that the PQ is worse on the 700 and 400 vs the 900!!

Originally Posted by danny24

Ease of use (USB, Menu, Remote):
1. Oppo 203 (by far the best for ease of use with everything, no surprise)
2. Sony x800 (fairly simple to access everything with remote)
3. Panasonic DMP-UB900 (pain in the butt to get subtitles on with remote, otherwise would be #2, easy to use overall)
4. Samsung K8500

What's so difficult about the subs? You press 'subtitles' on the remote and it brings up the player's sub-menu where you can quickly turn them on or off, change the luminosity or play about with the subtitle shift. And there's always the pop-up menu on the actual discs, well, apart from Sony ones

[Bladerunner5375]

What settings do u use on ur TV, Geoff? If I ever make it over to England, I owe u a pint! Thx so much!

[Geoff D]

For SDR 2020 viewing I have backlight on 4, contrast on 75, brightness on 50, colour on 50, sharpness on 50, colour temp on Warm 2, reality creation is off (you can't turn on noise reduction or smooth gradation for 4K signals anyways), motionflow is set to TrueMotion. Under advanced settings everything is off apart from gamma at -1, Live colour on Low and dynamic backlight on Standard.

But you may have your regular settings turned up a lot higher than this so don't take it as gospel (not throwing any shade, we's all got to set it up how we likes it). Your 79" also uses an IPS panel rather than the VA panel used in the 55" and 65" so not everything will be equal. Just try watching UHD discs using your 'regular' settings and take it from there. FYI when watching discs from Sony or Warners or Lionsgate I'd recommend putting the dynamic range conversion on -4, but leave it at 0 for other studios' discs.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

For SDR 2020 viewing I have backlight on 4, contrast on 75, brightness on 50, colour on 50, sharpness on 50, colour temp on Warm 2, reality creation is off (you can't turn on noise reduction or smooth gradation for 4K signals anyways), motionflow is set to TrueMotion. Under advanced settings everything is off apart from gamma at -1, Live colour on Low and dynamic backlight on Standard.

But you may have your regular settings turned up a lot higher than this so don't take it as gospel (not throwing any shade, we's all got to set it up how we likes it). Your 79" also uses an IPS panel rather than the VA panel used in the 55" and 65" so not everything will be equal. Just try watching UHD discs using your 'regular' settings and take it from there. FYI when watching discs from Sony or Warners or Lionsgate I'd recommend putting the dynamic range conversion on -4, but leave it at 0 for other studios' discs.

Live Colour on low? Isn't this an unnecessary feature and better left at the default "off" setting?

[Bladerunner5375]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

For SDR 2020 viewing I have backlight on 4, contrast on 75, brightness on 50, colour on 50, sharpness on 50, colour temp on Warm 2, reality creation is off (you can't turn on noise reduction or smooth gradation for 4K signals anyways), motionflow is set to TrueMotion. Under advanced settings everything is off apart from gamma at -1, Live colour on Low and dynamic backlight on Standard.

But you may have your regular settings turned up a lot higher than this so don't take it as gospel (not throwing any shade, we's all got to set it up how we likes it). Your 79" also uses an IPS panel rather than the VA panel used in the 55" and 65" so not everything will be equal. Just try watching UHD discs using your 'regular' settings and take it from there. FYI when watching discs from Sony or Warners or Lionsgate I'd recommend putting the dynamic range conversion on -4, but leave it at 0 for other studios' discs.

Thank you, friend. Will let u know how it goes. I owe u one. Take care!

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by DJR662

Live Colour on low? Isn't this an unnecessary feature and better left at the default "off" setting?

For SDR the Live Colour skews the colour into unnatural levels, but (like a lot of the processing features) it works in much smaller increments with a 4K signal. My gamut was shallowing just a lil' bit in the green and blue primaries and turning Live Colour to Low pulled them into line nicely. Having a proper HDR set with which to convey the colour volume will mean that it'll be unnecessary I'm sure, but for now I'm happy to use a very mild application of it.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

What's so difficult about the subs? You press 'subtitles' on the remote and it brings up the player's sub-menu where you can quickly turn them on or off, change the luminosity or play about with the subtitle shift. And there's always the pop-up menu on the actual discs, well, apart from Sony ones

That's exactly the problem for me the sub-menu, is it extremely difficult? no. is it a minor inconvenience? yes. With the Oppo 203 it's easy and the Sony x800 easy to put them on when needed. Don't get me wrong that is my only gripe with the DMP-UB900, it's an amazing disc player and I don't use subs that often when playing movies.

[Ant1010]

Originally Posted by danny24

So far for me from the players I have used and dealt with:

Best disc image quality:
1. Panasonic DMP-UB900
2. Sony x800 (yes better than Oppo)
3. Oppo 203 (with settings changed sharpness boost better than the Sony x800, out of the box no needs to be tweaked)
4. Samsung K8500

Best sound quality:
1. Sony x800
2. Panasonic DMP-UB900
3. Oppo 203
4. Samsung K8500

Ease of use (USB, Menu, Remote):
1. Oppo 203 (by far the best for ease of use with everything, no surprise)
2. Sony x800 (fairly simple to access everything with remote)
3. Panasonic DMP-UB900 (pain in the butt to get subtitles on with remote, otherwise would be #2, easy to use overall)
4. Samsung K8500

Damn OPPO #3 for best picture quality?? I've been hearing so much about it being the best on the market hands down

[DJJez]

Originally Posted by danny24

So far for me from the players I have used and dealt with:

Best disc image quality:
1. Panasonic DMP-UB900
2. Sony x800 (yes better than Oppo)
3. Oppo 203 (with settings changed sharpness boost better than the Sony x800, out of the box no needs to be tweaked)
4. Samsung K8500

Best sound quality:
1. Sony x800
2. Panasonic DMP-UB900
3. Oppo 203
4. Samsung K8500

Ease of use (USB, Menu, Remote):
1. Oppo 203 (by far the best for ease of use with everything, no surprise)
2. Sony x800 (fairly simple to access everything with remote)
3. Panasonic DMP-UB900 (pain in the butt to get subtitles on with remote, otherwise would be #2, easy to use overall)
4. Samsung K8500

which exact settings did u change on the oppo to increase picture quality? just sharpness?

i agree about panasonic looking best and also oppo easiest to use. the oppo is also WAY better at playing files with lossless audio