Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[ronand]

It all depends on your soldering ability. If you have a very fine tipped iron and good eyesight it's not too difficult but I wouldn't recommend a novice to try it. It's only 6 wires to connect but some of the pads are close together.

[Cinematt]

I've got the firmware upgrade from Region Freedom, you press 'option' 3 times and then 'dvd code number' and then 'bd code number' and the player does a reboot to switch. (i.e. 'option, option, option, 2, 1')

The DVD code is almost redundant, it should play most DVDs regardless but if they have enhanced region controls sometimes you need to set it to a specific one.

It does remove the UOP and PUO restrictions and allows sideloading of custom subtitles as well.

I'm really happy with it as a solution but the process was a bit of a faff of forms and confirmation emails, including having to take a photo of the back of the player and of the screen with the MAC code on it - I assume so they can verify you've given them the right info about your player and aren't going to complain that their firmware bricked it after you told them the wrong details. Wish I'd known that before I got it all wired in though, was a tad annoying to have to pull it out and then rewire everything, but I can't fault the firmware.

[George.P]

Originally Posted by Cinematt

I've got the firmware upgrade from Region Freedom, you press 'option' 3 times and then 'dvd code number' and then 'bd code number' and the player does a reboot to switch. (i.e. 'option, option, option, 2, 1')

The DVD code is almost redundant, it should play most DVDs regardless but if they have enhanced region controls sometimes you need to set it to a specific one.

It does remove the UOP and PUO restrictions and allows sideloading of custom subtitles as well.

I'm really happy with it as a solution but the process was a bit of a faff of forms and confirmation emails, including having to take a photo of the back of the player and of the screen with the MAC code on it - I assume so they can verify you've given them the right info about your player and aren't going to complain that their firmware bricked it after you told them the wrong details. Wish I'd known that before I got it all wired in though, was a tad annoying to have to pull it out and then rewire everything, but I can't fault the firmware.

What do they charge? Not sure why it isn’t just on their website.

And maybe they want the MAC Id for software purposes - just talking out my ass, but maybe they could limit which machines their firmware can be installed on to prevent firmware sharing.

Also, what wiring did you do? That was with Region Freedom?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by silvusvalentine

For someone looking into the UB9000, would you all recommend the Rattlebyte mod over purchasing one from 220-electronics?

Originally Posted by ronand

It all depends on your soldering ability. If you have a very fine tipped iron and good eyesight it's not too difficult but I wouldn't recommend a novice to try it. It's only 6 wires to connect but some of the pads are close together.

It's a lot of money to take a soldering iron to if you're a novice, but the 820/9000 points are quite large compared to some of the cheaper machines.

Might be worth seeing if there's a PC repair center local, they're generally excellent with fine work.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by ronand

It all depends on your soldering ability. If you have a very fine tipped iron and good eyesight it's not too difficult but I wouldn't recommend a novice to try it. It's only 6 wires to connect but some of the pads are close together.

Taking a risk of damaging a brand new $1,000.00 Blu-ray player and voiding the manufacturers warranty by trying to modifying it, is not a smart thing to do. If something goes wrong, that's going to be a thousand dollars down the toilet.

[ronand]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Taking a risk of damaging a brand new $1,000.00 Blu-ray player and voiding the manufacturers warranty by trying to modifying it, is not a smart thing to do. If something goes wrong, that's going to be a thousand dollars down the toilet.

That's why I said its not for a novice. I don't have problems doing such work.

[sapiendut]

Why not just buy two 820? One for region A and another for region B?

[panasonicst60]

I'm only ok at soldering but my hands and eyesight are great. If anyone knows the basic of soldering, has a fine tip, has good hands, and good eyesight, it's fairly easy to be honest. If you don't have the four I mentioned, don't risk it.

I mentioned that I was only ok at soldering, due to being pretty new at it. Bought a TS-80p iron only about a year ago with a handful of easy projects and two challenging ones(this included). I'm definitely getting better with each project . Easy peasy.

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Why not just buy two 820? One for region A and another for region B?

And another for region c?? I would assume the reason is $$$$.

[Naiera]

Who here actually has a region C Blu-ray? Of those of us not from region C areas, of course...

[idlebrain]

Originally Posted by George.P

What do they charge? Not sure why it isn’t just on their website.

And maybe they want the MAC Id for software purposes - just talking out my ass, but maybe they could limit which machines their firmware can be installed on to prevent firmware sharing.

Also, what wiring did you do? That was with Region Freedom?

No wiring involved with Regionfreedom. More clicks to change the region but I feel its more robust and less hassle to install compared to alternatives. For UB420 & 820 players, this FW opens up the features that locked for UB9000. If Player needs to be sent for any repairs, we can just update the official FW to meet the warranty requirements and send it to Panasonic or retailers like Best Buy to get it fixed.

[CreasyBear]

So considering the light fluctuations on titles like Halloween and Hard Target and Howling using DV only seem to be present on the Panasonic players, it has to be a player issue. They don't occur at all on my Sony X800M2. Is Panasonic aware of this and is there a way to make them aware?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

So considering the light fluctuations on titles like Halloween and Hard Target and Howling using DV only seem to be present on the Panasonic players, it has to be a player issue. They don't occur at all on my Sony X800M2. Is Panasonic aware of this and is there a way to make them aware?

If it can be fixed they will, but we've "just" had an update and the titles listed post-date that. Unfortunately Sonic ain't as quick as the hedgehog, they're more glacial movement-wise ...

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

So considering the light fluctuations on titles like Halloween and Hard Target and Howling using DV only seem to be present on the Panasonic players, it has to be a player issue. They don't occur at all on my Sony X800M2. Is Panasonic aware of this and is there a way to make them aware?

We've been trying to get Panasonic to fix the various issues with their DV implementation forever and no luck yet.

I am still mourning the loss of Oppo in the player market.

[kristoffer]

Is DV playback already an issue again?! What a mess.
I thought the recent Firmware was a fix, guess not.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Is DV playback already an issue again?! What a mess.
I thought the recent Firmware was a fix, guess not.

A different issue with mastering compatibility was addressed with the latest firmware, not the various issues Panny has always had with DV. That would take coordination with Dolby itself.

[deeppurpleman]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

A different issue with mastering compatibility was addressed with the latest firmware, not the various issues Panny has always had with DV. That would take coordination with Dolby itself.

What are the main issues? Are there certain movies that are worse than others? I don't have a lot of discs with DV on them so I haven't noticed anything myself.

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by deeppurpleman

What are the main issues? Are there certain movies that are worse than others? I don't have a lot of discs with DV on them so I haven't noticed anything myself.

I updated my UB820 to the latest 1.69 firmware late last year. With some DV discs, I still notice brightness changes (going brighter or darker) immediately following some scene/shot changes. I recall seeing this happen with the following releases:



I watched Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 4K two days ago and for probably a third of the film I was noticing the additional brightness changes. It's distracting when it occurs, it's hard to get used to a shot change and then an immediate brightness change. It's particularly distracting when there are multiple shot changes in quick succession where this occurs.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by deeppurpleman

What are the main issues? Are there certain movies that are worse than others? I don't have a lot of discs with DV on them so I haven't noticed anything myself.

It gets technical. These are things picked up by, among some video tech luminaries, Stacey Spears. One issue has to do with the DV decoder working in the wrong color space, etc. They are items that he feels could be addressed with some coordination by Dolby Labs.

[PissedOffPeoN]

Anyone know how to open the 820 and clean the dust out?