Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Thanks for ^ sharing, nice video showing the 360 degree view and under the cover.

Now for some good/bad news, 1st two USA allotments of UB9000s are sold out and we are now accepting reservations for the February allocation.

Looking inside the unit , I don't see the power supply , The other top players seem to have that big round black looking transistor , This looks like it has a lot of little ones . Could that be bad ? Other then that this is pretty awesome . This might mean nothing but ... "Assembled in the Czech Republic" was a very nice surprise

[GiuseppeM]

Just put Sully on the 9000 and Sony A1. Today I separated the two HDMI related to video and audio. Dolby Atmos of Sully is amazing because the movie is perfect to make the sound outstanding. I didn’t use analogue cables as my technician said that it’s better to let my Yamaha 3070 do all the work. The split HDMI (I use Belkin 48 gbps) are working in an excellent way. No delay with separate HDMI as instead described on AV Forum UK. Images fantastic, maybe better than any Dolby Vision.

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Thanks for ^ sharing, nice video showing the 360 degree view and under the cover.

Now for some good/bad news, 1st two USA allotments of UB9000s are sold out and we are now accepting reservations for the February allocation.

I'm glad Panasonic pulled their head out their backsides and decided to release it. Maybe they get the message now with two allocations already sold out

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Thanks for ^ sharing, nice video showing the 360 degree view and under the cover.

Now for some good/bad news, 1st two USA allotments of UB9000s are sold out and we are now accepting reservations for the February allocation.

Is Value Electronics the only seller offering the UB9000 in December? I was thinking of ordering one but now I'll probably pass if I have to wait till February to get one.

[LordoftheRings]

Lilliput size for the power supply (0:50), it's true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqSB...ature=youtu.be

In a premium $1,000 player I'd like to see a premium toroidal transformer, nothing less.

[ray0414]

My Ub820 arrived today in Prestine condition. I got it from a member over at AVS that said it didn't fit his system... though he got it from some place called Value Electronics, there's a big sticker at the bottom of the box, wherever that place is

[Robert Zohn]

@LordoftheRings, I'll follow-up further, but from what I was told the dedicated and separate power supplies for the audio and video circuits were very carefully designed to match the entire player's design and were spec'd for the UB9000's exact needs for the best performance and reliability.

I can tell you I run my UB9000 12 to 14 hrs per day 6 days a week and it's quiet, runs cool and delivers a stunning picture and audio 100% of the time. We've been using it as our main feed to 12 TVs and one projector across our entire showroom.

[LordoftheRings]

No problemo Robert; I was simply making a visual observation of its internals.
I can see the two small (very) transformers (yellow tape).
And that was my very first thought; one dedicated to the video and the other for the audio. Beats only one small one in 95% of all players. The Oppo 203 ($549) doesn't have a much bigger power supply either. Only when you go to the 205 ($1,299) do you get a donut.

[LordoftheRings]

The Panasonic 9000 has actually a more robust looking power supply than the Oppo 203.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

Lilliput size for the power supply (0:50), it's true.

In a premium $1,000 player I'd like to see a premium toroidal transformer, nothing less.

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

@LordoftheRings, I'll follow-up further, but from what I was told the dedicated and separate power supplies for the audio and video circuits were very carefully designed to match the entire player's design and were spec'd for the UB9000's exact needs for the best performance and reliability.

I can tell you I run my UB9000 12 to 14 hrs per day 6 days a week and it's quiet, runs cool and delivers a stunning picture and audio 100% of the time. We've been using it as our main feed to 12 TVs and one projector across our entire showroom.

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

The Panasonic 9000 has actually a more robust looking power supply than the Oppo 203.

So it looks small, but they told me it’s great design, then but it looks bigger then what was in the $549 player, but this an $999 player. Sounds like a sales pitch with the usual “yeah that sounds nice” comment.

[Bigbro]

Have been watching a lot of Netflix using this player. The picture is really better than using the app in my LG Oled or the app in my ATV 4k. The only thing that is a bit odd is that a lot of times when starting Netflix it refuses to load. I have to totally switch off the 9004 and switch it on again than log out from Netflix and log in again. This is the only thing that bothers me about this player.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Bigbro

Have been watching a lot of Netflix using this player. The picture is really better than using the app in my LG Oled or the app in my ATV 4k. The only thing that is a bit odd is that a lot of times when starting Netflix it refuses to load. I have to totally switch off the 9004 and switch it on again than log out from Netflix and log in again. This is the only thing that bothers me about this player.

The LG OLED gets regular Netflix app updates and the ATV 4K also has seen lots of Netflix app updates. Since the interface varies a bit, what exactly about the PQ appeals to you about the Panasonic 9004 app? Curious.

[LordoftheRings]

He just said it; the picture is really better when watching Netflix using his Panasonic 9004 player.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

He just said it; the picture is really better when watching Netflix using his Panasonic 9004 player.

Aside from tone mapping differences, its very hard to best a native 4K video app in the display itself Bob. You have none of the additional artifacts from the HDMI chain and the source processing, unless this involves the gamma and sharpening filters of the player and you have a preference for that.

BTW I use both of these, so that is why the question?

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

So it looks small, but they told me it’s great design, then but it looks bigger then what was in the $549 player, but this an $999 player. Sounds like a sales pitch with the usual “yeah that sounds nice” comment.

Yeah, what makes the Panasonic 9000 $450 more expensive than the Oppo 203?
The 9000 is missing DVD-Audio and SACD playback capability and a HDMI input jack.
Could it be that the video processor chip inside the 9000 is few hundred dollars more expensive than the one in the 203/205?

* I would have put a donut transformer in the 9000.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Aside from tone mapping differences, its very hard to best a native 4K video app in the display itself Bob. You have none of the additional artifacts from the HDMI chain and the source processing, unless this involves the gamma and sharpening filters of the player and you have a preference for that.

BTW I use both of these, so that is why the question?

Ok, then ask LG to put a tone mapping feature of the same caliber as in the Panasonic 9000 player in their OLED TVs.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

Yeah, what makes the Panasonic 9000 $450 more expensive than the Oppo 203?
The 9000 is missing DVD-Audio and SACD playback capability and a HDMI input jack.
Could it be that the video processor chip inside the 9000 is few hundred dollars more expensive than the one in the 203/205?

* I would have put a donut transformer in the 9000.

Its mostly the markup versus the manufacturing cost of the player. Panasonic likely has a lot of wiggle room if they need to reduce price and move the product towards end of product cycle.

Toroidal transformers are usually used in situations of a lot of current or low nose designs. They also need to be positioned where the EMF is away from sensitive circuity. They had room but elongated the power supply design somewhat in the pictures. But they cost more to buy/use, also this player is not using premium DAC's compared to other analog audiophile products out there.

IMHO Panasonic had to meet a balance of cost/features with this UB9000 player and you have to draw a line somewhere as $999 MSRP is not much as far as anything Analog orientated.

[Clark Burk]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Its mostly the markup versus the manufacturing cost of the player. Panasonic likely has a lot of wiggle room if they need to reduce price and move the product towards end of product cycle.

Toroidal transformers are usually used in situations of a lot of current or low nose designs. They also need to be positioned where the EMF is away from sensitive circuity. They had room but elongated the power supply design somewhat in the pictures. But they cost more to buy/use, also this player is not using premium DAC's compared to other analog audiophile products out there.

IMHO Panasonic had to meet a balance of cost/features with this UB9000 player and you have to draw a line somewhere as $999 MSRP is not much as far as anything Analog orientated.

Very true. That’s a price for a middle of the road DAC in audiophile land. Nothing special.

[LordoftheRings]

Panasonic 9000 -> One Stereo DAC - AKM AK4493EQ
{Oppo 203 -> One 8-channel DAC - AKM AK4458VN} *AK4452VN is the same but the Stereo version.



I like the marketing: The VELVET SOUND

[Robert Zohn]

Originally Posted by Bigbro

Have been watching a lot of Netflix using this player. The picture is really better than using the app in my LG Oled or the app in my ATV 4k. The only thing that is a bit odd is that a lot of times when starting Netflix it refuses to load. I have to totally switch off the 9004 and switch it on again than log out from Netflix and log in again. This is the only thing that bothers me about this player.

LG's OLED TV has a more sensitive and selective Wi Fi receiver/built-in antenna than any BD player.

The best connection to your UB9004 would be an ethernet cable form the router to the BD player. If that's not possible or easy to run a good Wi Fi extender to get 5 bars of signal strength with a clean signal where the UB9004 is located would help the stability and overall image quality of 4K HDR streaming.

Regarding the image quality enhancement your seeing when streaming to the UB9004 vs. streaming to the TV's Smart apps would be Panasonic's video processing and the HDR Optimizer that can be set to match the peak luminance of LG's OLED capability.