Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by BYtehoven

Kris are the 1500, 1000, 800, 500 values you mention, targets for the 4 hdr button presets?

No, those are the values for the different display types in the main setup menu and only apply if you are using the standard HDR out with the HDR Optimizer set to ON. They do not apply to the SDR2020 output.

[curlyjive]

So I found an odd bug after the update...could have been there before as well. IF you are in the setup menus and using split HDMI (one to display and the other for audio to your AVR) if the AVR inout is not set to the inout for the 820, when you try to change settings it will constantly bump you back ups to the top level settings menu. I could repeat this by setting the AVR to the correct input and navigation the settings menu. Then is I change the AVR input it will kick you back to the top level menu.

I saw something similar with the ub900 but never really found the root cause.

Can anyone else repeat this? Just go into the settings menu and select the Dolby vision menu for example. Then change your AVR to a different input and see if it kicks you back.

Again this only happens if you are using split HDMI, one for audio and the other for video.

[MAUL xx]

Do you pull down the front panel before ejecting the tray? I've never owned this style before & the first time I pressed the eject button it freaked me out a bit when the tray pushed the panel down.

[curlyjive]

Originally Posted by MAUL xx

Do you pull down the front panel before ejecting the tray? I've never owned this style before & the first time I pressed the eject button if freaked me out a bit when the tray pushed the panel down.

No need to pull it down. It's designed to have the tray push it open and it will spring closed on its own.

[Bond84]

I finally got my UB820 in yesterday and had some time to play around with it. Right off the bat, the HDR picture quality looks better than the Oppo, without tweaking any of the controls. The infamous blooming shot of Emma Stone in La La Land was handled much better (but still not completely resolved), along with the previous shot of her walking down the Hollywood sidewalk. On the Oppo I was able to see nasty vignetting from my OLED along the mural wall. With the Panasonic, the scene is much punchier and thus hides the vignetting.

I'm still not really sure how to properly handle all the adjustment sliders, but I did lower the Black Tone Curve to -3, which I found adds a bit more depth in the shadows and darker areas of the picture, creating a bit more pop to my eyes.

I skimmed through The Equalizer because I wanted to see how the UB820 would handle the numerous dark shots compared to the Oppo. Things were a bit easier to make out, but I did notice one strange thing with the HDR Optimizer. Toggling it on would make the bright white parts of the screen (lights, skies, etc.) go dim, but not add any extra detail. It would just tone down the HDR effects without revealing any new information, which is sort of the opposite of what HDR is supposed to do. So for the time being, I'm thinking of leaving the Optimizer off.

Other than that, I am very pleased with the picture so far and I'm looking forward to tweaking it further.

I almost forgot! My thoughts on the Dolby Vision...its still not ready in my opinion. Terrible lip sync issues, floating blacks, and I noticed nasty macroblocking while skimming through Annihilation (which were not present when forcing HDR10). These issues bother me too much, so Dolby Vision is turned off for now.

[Neo4K]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

No, those are the values for the different display types in the main setup menu and only apply if you are using the standard HDR out with the HDR Optimizer set to ON. They do not apply to the SDR2020 output.

I could swear the image is darker with the projector setting vs the standard LCD setting with my RGB SDR/BT2020 setting on my Epson LS10000. It is just too obvious, so I think it must have an effect. With the projector setting I have to raise the dynamic range slider and with the standard one I decreased it two points. Also color desaturation seems to differ between these two settings with the standard LCD one having more "pop" to it.

[sjy1969]

Originally Posted by Bond84

I almost forgot! My thoughts on the Dolby Vision...its still not ready in my opinion. Terrible lip sync issues, floating blacks, and I noticed nasty macroblocking while skimming through Annihilation (which were not present when forcing HDR10). These issues bother me too much, so Dolby Vision is turned off for now.

Have never encountered any lip synch issues on any Dolby Vision discs so far on my A1E, either with the Sony or Panasonic players or streaming with Apple TV. Perhaps Sony's low latency implementation is the way to go!

[ryanmcv]

Originally Posted by Bond84

I almost forgot! My thoughts on the Dolby Vision...its still not ready in my opinion. Terrible lip sync issues, floating blacks, and I noticed nasty macroblocking while skimming through Annihilation (which were not present when forcing HDR10). These issues bother me too much, so Dolby Vision is turned off for now.

I was about to purchase this player but your post is giving me pause. I also have a C6 OLED and your experience with DV on the UB820 sounds unacceptable. Anyone else with a 2016 OLED (preferably C6 or E6) having similar issues?

[E6AtmosVuduDV]

Robert Zohn.

You have UB820. Maybe at Value Electronics have a C6, E6, or even a G6 LG OLED laying around.

Do you see any these occuring?...

Originally Posted by*Bond84*

I almost forgot! My thoughts on the Dolby Vision...its still not ready in my opinion. Terrible lip sync issues, floating blacks, and I noticed nasty macroblocking while skimming through Annihilation (which were not present when forcing HDR10). These issues bother me too much, so Dolby Vision is turned off for now

I also noticed raising blacks, floating blacks on my G6, E6 was fixed with last TV Firmware update. I don't have a UB820
to test the listed other problems.

Robert what have been your experience with the UB820?

[trekky76]

Originally Posted by Bond84

I almost forgot! My thoughts on the Dolby Vision...its still not ready in my opinion. Terrible lip sync issues, floating blacks, and I noticed nasty macroblocking while skimming through Annihilation (which were not present when forcing HDR10). These issues bother me too much, so Dolby Vision is turned off for now.

I noticed the same. Nasty macroblocking on "It" and while watching Power Rangers lots of noise not visible in HDR10. And that's only two discs. I left DV off for now until it's sorted out.

[Robert Zohn]

For OLED TVs paired with the UB820, I've only tested one W7 briefly and lost of hours with C8s and E8s and no Dolby Vision issues whatsoever.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

For OLED TVs paired with the UB820, I've only tested one W7 briefly and lost of hours with C8s and E8s and no Dolby Vision issues whatsoever.

You likely need to utilize a 2016 LG model. The 2016 models didn't work correctly with the Player-led profile, only the TV-led on the Oppo. Being that 2016 models supported 3D its not likely some would ditch those.

[Bond84]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Being that 2016 models supported 3D its not likely some would ditch those.

Correct! I will not give up my 3D

[Bond84]

Originally Posted by ryanmcv

I was about to purchase this player but your post is giving me pause. I also have a C6 OLED and your experience with DV on the UB820 sounds unacceptable. Anyone else with a 2016 OLED (preferably C6 or E6) having similar issues?

To be clear, I don't have any regrets whatsoever about purchasing this player. I had the same issues with the Oppo that I sold. And, as stated in the first part of my post, the tone mapping is indeed better on the UB820. So, even with the Dolby Vision issues, I'm still loving the Panasonic.

[ryanmcv]

Originally Posted by trekky76

I noticed the same. Nasty macroblocking on "It" and while watching Power Rangers lots of noise not visible in HDR10. And that's only two discs. I left DV off for now until it's sorted out.

Originally Posted by Bond84

To be clear, I don't have any regrets whatsoever about purchasing this player. I had the same issues with the Oppo that I sold. And, as stated in the first part of my post, the tone mapping is indeed better on the UB820. So, even with the Dolby Vision issues, I'm still loving the Panasonic.

Well, two reports of "nasty" macroblocking during DV playback is enough to make me hold off on purchasing. Will wait for another firmware update or more user reports.

[Life in Inlines]

Originally Posted by Bond84

I almost forgot! My thoughts on the Dolby Vision...its still not ready in my opinion. Terrible lip sync issues, floating blacks, and I noticed nasty macroblocking while skimming through Annihilation (which were not present when forcing HDR10). These issues bother me too much, so Dolby Vision is turned off for now.

I came here to post about what might be the same thing, not sure. I have a C7, but also decided to turn DV off because I noticed with fast-moving scenes, objects are sometimes surrounded by a thick blur of pixels. I noticed it with Mission Impossible 4 at the beginning of the desert scene when the camera is following the Jeep driving along the road, the Jeep is clear but the pixels surrounding it are blurred. Then in Black Panther at the very beginning during the history lesson, after the CGI Black Panther eats the fruit, the camera rotates quickly around him, and again the “sand” along his outline is blurred/jumbled.

I’ve noticed something similar when the C7 upcoverts 1080p during fast scenes, the TV isn’t as good at upscaling when there’s a lot of action, and you see artifacts around fast-moving objects. I thought maybe it was because DV was forcing 60p, but the playback info says it’s still outputting 24p. So is it just too much “extra” information being processed by the TV with DV turned on? I dunno, but it bothered me too much to keep DV enabled.

I didn’t experience any of the other issues you mentioned, but I only tested out a few scenes.

[Caleb C.]

Originally Posted by Life in Inlines

I came here to post about what might be the same thing, not sure. I have a C7, but also decided to turn DV off because I noticed with fast-moving scenes, objects are sometimes surrounded by a thick blur of pixels. I noticed it with Mission Impossible 4 at the beginning of the desert scene when the camera is following the Jeep driving along the road, the Jeep is clear but the pixels surrounding it are blurred. Then in Black Panther at the very beginning during the history lesson, after the CGI Black Panther eats the fruit, the camera rotates quickly around him, and again the “sand” along his outline is blurred/jumbled.

I’ve noticed something similar when the C7 upcoverts 1080p during fast scenes, the TV isn’t as good at upscaling when there’s a lot of action, and you see artifacts around fast-moving objects. I thought maybe it was because DV was forcing 60p, but the playback info says it’s still outputting 24p. So is it just too much “extra” information being processed by the TV with DV turned on? I dunno, but it bothered me too much to keep DV enabled.

I didn’t experience any of the other issues you mentioned, but I only tested out a few scenes.

Do you have TruMotion enabled on the LG? If so, that's likely the cause.

[Life in Inlines]

Originally Posted by Caleb C.

Do you have TruMotion enabled on the LG? If so, that's likely the cause.

No, I turned that off a long time ago. And by just switching DV off, the issue goes away on the UHD discs I mentioned. I'm not changing any other settings, so I would think it has to be directly related to Dolby Vision.

[Life in Inlines]

Originally Posted by Caleb C.

Do you have TruMotion enabled on the LG? If so, that's likely the cause.

Well, never mind. You were right. Looks like turning on DV also turned TruMotion back on. I turned it off again, switched DV off/on again to make sure TruMotion stayed off (which it did), and now DV looks great, no noticeable issues anymore. Thank you for the helpful nudge in correcting the issue.

[Caleb C.]

Originally Posted by Life in Inlines

Well, never mind. You were right. Looks like turning on DV also turned TruMotion back on. I turned it off again, switched DV off/on again to make sure TruMotion stayed off (which it did), and now DV looks great, no noticeable issues anymore. Thank you for the helpful nudge in correcting the issue.

No problem . And just so you're aware, TruMotion is not a universal setting. In other words, turning it off in one picture mode does not affect the others. If you were having problems with 1080p content as well, TruMotion might be enabled in your chosen SDR picture mode.