Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

High-Def Digest has a review of the 820 here.

Wonder if Kris will have a review in Sound & Vision?

Yes, I reviewed it for Sound and Vision. Review is turned in, just not sure when it will publish. Everything is slower on the print side of the world!

[curlyjive]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Yes, I reviewed it for Sound and Vision. Review is turned in, just not sure when it will publish. Everything is slower on the print side of the world!

Did you get to test the Black and White Tone curve controls for your review? Now that some have tried using them to offset the washout you can sometimes see when raising the dynamic range adjustment. Maybe this is a way to compensate for the dark and bright end, but without test patterns I can't be sure what they are doing like clipping.

[Cap.T]

Sorry if this has been answered before. For the HDR Optimizer there are four settings under "HDR TV Type"

OLED
Super High Luminance LED
Middle or High Luminance LED
Basic Luminance LED and Projector

Could somebody tell me who many nits that translates to? I have a Samsung KS-9000 and no idea if the "Middle or High Luminance LED" or "Super High Lumiance LED" would be right for me. Thanks!

[Robert Zohn]

HDR TV Type to Tone map output target:

OLED 1,000nit

Super High Luminance LCD 1,500nit
�
Middle or High Luminance LCD * 1,000nit (*default)
�
Basic Luminance LCD and Projector 500nit

[elwaylite]

Shoot, and if you had a 2015 OLED like a EF9500, you could use Basic Luminance.

[evan201]

Netflix HDR is working better for me on the 820 than with my Nvidia shield in combo with my Epson 5040ub projector.

It setting the display to 1080p 60hz 12 Bit BT2020 4:2:2 and the HDR 4k content through Netflix combined with the optimizer settings looks amazing.

REALLY hoping for VUDU app support now.

[Robert Zohn]

One of my open questions to the engineers in Japan is when will we get the rest of the Smart apps. I'll get back here and post when I learn more.

[evan201]

As always, thank you for staying on top of things and keeping us informed Robert.

Oh and also 4k HDR BT2020 4:2:2 12 Bit running through the rear USB works great.

[idlebrain]

Originally Posted by evan201

Netflix HDR is working better for me on the 820 than with my Nvidia shield in combo with my Epson 5040ub projector.

It setting the display to 1080p 60hz 12 Bit BT2020 4:2:2 and the HDR 4k content through Netflix combined with the optimizer settings looks amazing.

REALLY hoping for VUDU app support now.

Thanks for keep posting your impressions on 820. I am following your posts on this player as I basically have the same projector and not planning to change it anytime soon. I am convinced 820/9000 is best for the projector, waiting for the 9000 to hit the market.

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by idlebrain

Thanks for keep posting your impressions on 820. I am following your posts on this player as I basically have the same projector and not planning to change it anytime soon. I am convinced 820/9000 is best for the projector, waiting for the 9000 to hit the market.

I'm more interested in the 9000 from the perspective of the hardened optical drive. I'd like to hear feedback on how it might handle problem discs. I am not entirely sure what the nature of the drive improvements are, in that is it purely just heavier and more cushioned, or is it higher quality/cost optics and tracking mechanism.

[IITravel01]

I posted this a couple weeks ago but don't think I got a response. Now that many of you have received the 820, can someone check this?

Originally Posted by IITravel01

Can anyone who's getting the 820 let me know if it has the same feature at the Panasonic BDT500 (but wasn't included on the 460, which mutes like most players in FF) in which you can hit FF and it will play at 2x speed with sound (adjusted to a lower pitch so the voices don't sound like chipmunks)? I love it when there's a Netflix DVD playing that I'm not really into but want to see the outcome.

[evan201]

Originally Posted by idlebrain

Thanks for keep posting your impressions on 820. I am following your posts on this player as I basically have the same projector and not planning to change it anytime soon. I am convinced 820/9000 is best for the projector, waiting for the 9000 to hit the market.

So far I'm liking these settings:

Epson Signal Menu Dynamic Range - Auto (not auto-bright)
Set black, white, color clipping using R. Masciola HDR10 patterns.

820:
Optimizer On
Dynamic Range Adjustment +8

[evan201]

Originally Posted by IITravel01

I posted this a couple weeks ago but don't think I got a response. Now that many of you have received the 820, can someone check this?

sound is normal pitch while in FF.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

Yeah, and it is still the same with the A8F. I prefer the sony method to be honest, but not the 820 offers me a way to get some highlights back in detail.

Like I said earlier, Predators was

Just a simple typo...should be "now".

[Spartan21]

Originally Posted by Dave___B

Those tweaking possibilities on that player are such a joy. But now, I'm DONE !
Played the Ferry scene in Spiderman after that, and the Thor/Hulk dual in Ragnarok: not touching any settings AGAIN !

You will touch them again. It is inevitable.

[KillDaWabbit]

Just wanted to throw a thank you out to Robert and the folks at Value Electronics. Received the 820 today after ordering on Sunday.

Very happy with the service and turnaround time. Would gladly purchase from them again, Especially from such a well run independent operation.

One question: is this player actually able to play Dolby vision at this time, or is an update still being waited on?

[tyee]

Still waiting looks like - http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/.../ub420_us.html

[lesmor]

New member here from the UK reaching out for information on using a
Epson 9300 (5040) with a
Panasonic 820
Checked #1 in the hope of finding a sticky that splits the recommended settings for the projector and another set for the 820 but none present

So first question
Is Digital Cinema the best option for 4K UHD?

[evan201]

Originally Posted by lesmor

New member here from the UK reaching out for information on using a
Epson 9300 (5040) with a
Panasonic 820
Checked #1 in the hope of finding a sticky that splits the recommended settings for the projector and another set for the 820 but none present

So first question
Is Digital Cinema the best option for 4K UHD?

I leave the dynamic range on the epson in Auto (not auto-bright) and crank up the dynamic range slider on the Panny to +4 or +8 depending on the movie.
Used R. Masciola hdr10 clipping test patterns for black, white, and color. Looks stunning.

[jbn008]

Does anyone know if the streaming apps (Netflix) do range and framerate matching?

In other words, when playing SDR content the player would output the correct colorspace (rec709). And with HDR, it would then automatically switch to the wider bt2020.

As for framerate matching, will Netflix play native content in 24fps or is it locked at 60fps?


I apologize if this has been answered already, but I've heard mixed reports.

thanks