Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[DJR662]

Indeed, the HDR Optimizer is what makes the 820 a must have for me.

Don't care about its streaming capabilities/shortcomings one bit.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by rustyk

Out of interest what streaming services support 120Hz? I've seen this mentioned before but I've never seen 120hz streaming on any of my other devices either.

I thought the decoding/bitstreaming thing was actually a purposeful limitation because technically there's no *legal* way to obtain/playback those types of video files? If so, seems a bit harsh.

I just bought a UB420 to play through my 4k projector and I cannot wait to play around with the tonemapping and output options. I don't know if that was just a firmware update from the 900 or not, but I don't really care because the feature will be useful for me and the players are very reasonably priced.

*edit* wanted to say thanks to the others on the thread who helped me with my dolby vision questions. Have a happy new year!

Tone mapping is not a firmware only. It is a processor intensive capability. It can only be done with the new HCX processor.

If anybody claim that tone mapping WITH customization capability is a small feat, then they don’t know what they’re talking about. Don’t listen to them.

[rustyk]

Originally Posted by cjake

The poster was referring to the inability to stream Netflix and Amazon titles at their native frame rate; 24 Hz.
.

Oh right, sorry, completely misunderstood that. Agree that if it's possible then the players should support it. Personally I think 24hz is generally rubbish, particularly on a modern action film on a big screen, so not a concern for me.

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by TheEqualizer

DMP-UB70X, DMP-UB90X, DMP-UB3XX, DMP-UB4XX, DP-UB3XX, DP-UB4XX, DP-UB8XX, DP-UB900X

- No Source direct output selection
- Streaming network services output at 60 Hz only
- No decoding and no bitstreaming of lossless audio for file and network playback
- Optical drive just a cheap plastic construction with error correction capability being the worst in the industry
- and and and

There's hasn't been any technical evolution in these devices since the release of Panasonic's first UHD player (DMP-UB900) except a slightly improved firmware to "overcome" problems of the HDR specification with regard to handling luminance requirements that exceed display device capabilities.

LOL. I love this part. You act like they just waved pixie dust and did it, considering Oppo hasn't yet (and never will) properly figured out HDR to SDR mapping, and then Panasonic stepped it up again with HDR optimizer.

But sure, non-eventful. Shame on them...

So if they suck so bad, why are you trolls still here? Maybe time to use the report button...

[MEB]

Just paid the invoice for my UB9000 from Value Electronics. Robert says it will ship about January 10 but at least I made it into the first allocation!

Mark

[LordoftheRings]

https://www.avforums.com/review/pana...0-review.15619
by Steve Withers Dec 30, 2018

[GeoPoz]

Value Electronics, Thank you Robert for my recent order and all your help. My order was shipped on Friday and received on Saturday, how can you beat that. I am recovering from spinal surgery so have not been able to hook up the Panny 820 yet, but I have no dought that if I need assistance setting it up Robert will be there to help. I must agree with others though that the remote is made a little on the cheap side. Thank you to the Zohn family. And Happy New Years to all.

[AOD]

Robert ...I was wondering if there was any news on the Amazon Echo support for the 820? We've now hit 2019 and a documented feature appears to not be implemented yet. ... also... i'd also like to pick up a UB9000 remote to compare with the 900 one I picked up recently. A few pages back you said you will more than likely be stocking these at reasonable prices. Any news on that either?

[Mobe1969]

Although it may be a little more cost wise, and a reasonable amount of work setting it up and then learning button assignments you want, I'd definitely recommend a Harmony Elite for a remote. Just note that with the Panasonics (including the old model) the subtitle function is either missing (9000) or incorrect (900) so you have to train the remote.

[vjo81]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

I have not experienced this issue on our store demo UB820 or our UB9000. I'll pass this on to engineering so they know.

Robert, in regard to dropped audio, I have had similar issues with my 820. Every now and then, when I take the player out of more than a very brief pause, the audio is completely lost. Only power cycling brings it back. I've also had some problems with a black screen when trying to back out of Network Services. Pressing the Home button doesn't bring it back. Again, a power cycle is necessary. Can you pass this on as well. The 820 is a great disc spinner but it does have growing pains.

[Robert Zohn]

Thank you, ^ I've just communicated those items to the engineering folks at HQ.

[DJR662]

The only thing I find annoying, is the automatic shutdown of the player after a certain period of inactivity has passed.

Last time I checked, this wasn't something that could be turned off?

[CYMBOL]

Hello all,

Quick question:

Looking at getting the 820 soon, however, I have a 2nd gen? Samsung player that works great. It's an older model compared to some out there, but I have had zero problems with it. I see people reporting all sorts of issues with big league Sony players, Oppo's etc. I've been pretty lucky.

I have a Sony 940E (so cannot do DV through my current player), however, I was watching The Clock in the Walls (or whatever it is called), and the street lamps and candle lights - the HDR is just amazing on my Samsung. I seriously have a hard time imagining it being that much better.

Would you proud 820 owners say that you definitely noticed a major upgrade when you got the Panasonic?

For those who had one of the Sony TV's that needed a special DV player - would you say the DV capability adds much?

I was going to purchase this player, but I have become hesitant wondering if it will be much of an upgrade over what I have.

Looking forward to your opinions/comments.

Thank you in advance!

[that1guystudios]

Originally Posted by AOD

Robert ...I was wondering if there was any news on the Amazon Echo support for the 820? We've now hit 2019 and a documented feature appears to not be implemented yet. ... also... i'd also like to pick up a UB9000 remote to compare with the 900 one I picked up recently. A few pages back you said you will more than likely be stocking these at reasonable prices. Any news on that either?

I'd like to second these questions! I'd love an update on the Alexa support and the remote price. Also, I am experiencing frequent issues with dropped audio on my player as well, requiring a reboot to fix it.

[sapiendut]

To answer your questions

1. I see dramatic upgrade in PQ due to the HDR remapping and 1080p upscaling
2. On my 820 which I connect to my Panasonic 65FZ1000 OLED (don’t have DV), I still remap it so the nits brightness is not too high. Mind you, however, I’m a tad sensitive to light so take that part with a grain of salt.

[vjo81]

Originally Posted by cjake

The poster was referring to the inability to stream Netflix and Amazon titles at their native frame rate; 24 Hz.

It is the HDR Optimizer that makes the UB820 and UB9000 the best UHD HDR players available today. It is why many of us bought this player. Nothing else matters to me. I have two Oppo 203 players that I now use only for playback of network stored media. I use my UB820 for all UHD disc and Netflix/Amazon because of its superior tone mapping ability.

I agree. I'll never up my Oppo-203 because I feel that it's the best device on the planet for non-disc video files. I've run into very few video/audio encoding combinations that it can't handle with ease. Like you I got the Panny 820 for its HDR Optimizer. With the exception of HDR10 releases from Sony which are almost always well done, I've found HDR image consistency to be all over the map. The Optimizer doesn't noticeably improve every HDR10 movie but in many cases it can, with or without additional settings tweaking, even out the image on my LG C7 OLED. Having both players meets all of my needs.

[MEB]

Originally Posted by DJR662

The only thing I find annoying, is the automatic shutdown of the player after a certain period of inactivity has passed.

Last time I checked, this wasn't something that could be turned off?

This happens with my Panasonic UB900 too (the older 4K player I’ve had for more than a year). It varies by disc. Some studios encode the disc so it can be paused indefinitely, others allow the player to go into sleep mode after about 10 minutes or so.

I, too, wish this was something that could be controlled by a setting on the player.

Mark

[bokes]

question to those that have owned both:
will I actually notice a significant improvement with the 820 and the HDR Optimizer over the Oppo 203?
My collection is currently 90% Blu-ray, 5% 4K, 5% dvd.
LG Oled

willing to sell Oppo and pay for best quality, but concerned the difference will be minor at best- not all that noticeable.

[sapiendut]

The difference will be noticeable but I don’t think you want to sell the 203 because as a media player the 203 is the most universal out there

[elwaylite]

I opted to sell my 205 for twice what I paid new, and got a 820 and a Dune Pro HD for $700