Help for a newbie

[CptGreedle]

Welcome to the forums!
Honestly I would recommend a PS3 or any BD player that has internet ability. This is so it can be updated to the latest firmware.
I am not familiar with those models but I am surprised so many would not work properly for you.
Assuming nothing else in the set-up has changed except the player, the image should look the same unless the new drive has old firmware or has the wrong settings.
There might be a way to check to see if there is a setting for the BD player that is not set right.
If not, try Panasonic again, I doubt you will keep running into problems with them.