Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

Quick tip. If you boost the tone curve black a couple of clicks it can definitely improve shadow detail. Very useful for oled.

I also use to turn down tone white at around -3, depending on the movie, to enhance specular highlights. I think it works great.

[spider-neil]

My 820 arrives tomorrow.
I am also going to pick up Batman v Superman 4K because it is mastered at 4000 nits.
I'll be able to push the HDR optimizer to see how it holds up because my OLED 2016 (no dynamic tone mapping) the TV max is 800 nits.

[WKoA13]

Originally Posted by PissedOffPeoN

i got a lg c9 i did the same looks good i can see some extra deets . Watching batman returns on 4k.

It's forcing downconversion to SDR, but still getting the benefits of the tone curve adjustment??

That's extra strange.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by WKoA13

It's forcing downconversion to SDR, but still getting the benefits of the tone curve adjustment??

That's extra strange.

Just because it's converting to SDR doesn't mean you can't then adjust the picture. In case you're not aware, Panny's SDR conversion was doing a rather good job of such things a full two years before the actual HDR Optimiser came along, which is basically an extension of the same tech.

[rustyk]

I decided to watch 'The Planets' on BBC iplayer on my UB420 yesterday. My projector was recently upgraded with HLG firmware and I was surprised to see that I had the option to watch a HLG demo via iplayer on the panasonic.

I've not seen it mentioned on here before, but I wonder if that means that the panasonic bbc iplayer app supports UHD streaming as well. I think I need to wait until the BBC do another 4k trial but it sounds promising as none of my other devices are capable of 4k streaming via iplayer.

[Gold Ranger]

Where can I get the 820?

[sapiendut]

from Robert Zohn or BestBuy

[rech750452]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Where can I get the 820?

Got mine from Best Buy. Currently on sale for $449.98. Seems most stores have 1 available but not with other 4K players.

[spider-neil]

After some extensive testing with this player (on OLED) I have to say I am pretty underwhelmed by this player.

* In many instances, the HDR optimizer made no difference. Tone curve was more effective.

* The best 4K disks were native 4K (The Matrix, Blade Runner).

* When it came to the HDR source I preferred Dolby Vision on Apple TV 4K to HDR10 on a 4K disk.

* I couldn't tell the difference between 2K movies upscaled to 4K and normal 1080p Blu ray

* I preferred Marvel movies in 3D to Marvel movies in 4K. Far more immersive.

* With regards to picture quality (for me) there wasn't a night and day difference between 4K from Apple TV and 4K from a disk at a viewing distance of roughly 8 feet.

I won't go so far as saying upgrading my PS4 to a dedicated 4K player was a waste of money but I was expecting far more from 4K disk.
I am going to upgrade my top 10 movies of all time to 4K (because I'm sure all of them will be native 4K). Other than that I am going to get my movies digitally unless they are 3D (Marvel movies).

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

After some extensive testing with this player (on OLED) I have to say I am pretty underwhelmed by this player.

* In many instances, the HDR optimizer made no difference. Tone curve was more effective.

* The best 4K disks were native 4K (The Matrix, Blade Runner).

* When it came to the HDR source I preferred Dolby Vision on Apple TV 4K to HDR10 on a 4K disk.

* I couldn't tell the difference between 2K movies upscaled to 4K and normal 1080p Blu ray

* I preferred Marvel movies in 3D to Marvel movies in 4K. Far more immersive.

* With regards to picture quality (for me) there wasn't a night and day difference between 4K from Apple TV and 4K from a disk at a viewing distance of roughly 8 feet.

I won't go so far as saying upgrading my PS4 to a dedicated 4K player was a waste of money but I was expecting far more from 4K disk.
I am going to upgrade my top 10 movies of all time to 4K (because I'm sure all of them will be native 4K). Other than that I am going to get my movies digitally unless they are 3D (Marvel movies).

If you came to that conclusion, something is terribly amiss in your system. Poor choice of display, bad calibration settings (or no calibration at all), etc.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If you came to that conclusion, something is terribly amiss in your system. Poor choice of display, bad calibration settings (or no calibration at all), etc.

My TV isn't calibrated. Don't get me wrong, I think native 4k looks amazing but to me the biggest uptick in quality is Dolby Vision. HDR10 looks almost dull in comparison. When it comes to resolution, at 8-9 feet I just didn't see a night and day difference between 1080p and 4k.
In my experience of watching movies the biggest difference I've spotted was VHS to DVD (don't think you'll see a bigger jump in quality again) I also thought DVD to Blu ray was a noticeable difference. 1080p to 4k at large viewing distances isn't night and day for me.

My preference is;
Native 4K with Dolby Vision - The Matrix
Apple TV 4K - Most 4K movies
Strong 3D - Marvel movies

HDR10 has left little impression on me.
Upscaled 4K (with HDR10) has left little impression on me.
I 100% preferred Batman v Superman in Dolby Vision on Apple TV 4k to Batman v Superman HDR10 on a physical disk.

I preferred Infinity War in 3D 1080p to Infinity War 4k HDR10 on a physical disk.

Lastly, I'm just talking about picture quality. Obviously, streaming can't compare to physical disk for high definition sound.

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

My TV isn't calibrated. Don't get me wrong, I think native 4k looks amazing but to me the biggest uptick in quality is Dolby Vision. HDR10 looks almost dull in comparison. When it comes to resolution, at 8-9 feet I just didn't see a night and day difference between 1080p and 4k.
In my experience of watching movies the biggest difference I've spotted was VHS to DVD (don't think you'll see a bigger jump in quality again) I also thought DVD to Blu ray was a noticeable difference. 1080p to 4k at large viewing distances isn't night and day for me.

My preference is;
Native 4K with Dolby Vision - The Matrix
Apple TV 4K - Most 4K movies
Strong 3D - Marvel movies

HDR10 has left little impression on me.
Upscaled 4K (with HDR10) has left little impression on me.
I 100% preferred Batman v Superman in Dolby Vision on Apple TV 4k to Batman v Superman HDR10 on a physical disk.

I preferred Infinity War in 3D 1080p to Infinity War 4k HDR10 on a physical disk.

Lastly, I'm just talking about picture quality. Obviously, streaming can't compare to physical disk for high definition sound.

The latest movie I watched on my Panasonic DP-UB420 (that shares the same video processing with the 820) was 13 Hours, The Secret Soldiers Of Bengazhi and it looks absolutely outstanding, so much that I took for granted it was a 4K native movie. It wasn't, this got a 2K DI and was upscaled to 4K for UHD BD release. This means that something MAY be wrong with your set up.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by eddievanhalen

The latest movie I watched on my Panasonic DP-UB420 (that shares the same video processing with the 820) was 13 Hours, The Secret Soldiers Of Bengazhi and it looks absolutely outstanding, so much that I took for granted it was a 4K native movie. It wasn't, this got a 2K DI and was upscaled to 4K for UHD BD release. This means that something MAY be wrong with your set up.

The best 4K movie I have seen for pure clarity is Blade Runner. So it's not as if I haven't seen amazing looking crystal clear 4K. I'm saying that of the Blu ray disks I tested, only The Matrix came close. The Matrix is the other movie that is native 4K.
Keep in mind that I am sat 8-9 foot away from my TV.

Dolby Vision to my eyes is what makes the biggest difference rather than resolution.
With this in mind, the only movies I am going to purchase on a physical disk are;
3D - It's about immersion rather than resolution
Dolby Vision 4k - It's about the brightness and colour rather than resolution
Native 4K - Best resolution currently available.

Other than that I am not going to bother because of the cost.
On my list of movies to purchase:
The Dark Knight - Native 4K
Season One Game of Thrones 4K - Dolby Vision
Avengers Endgame - Disney doesn't release 4K on iTunes

[Robert Zohn]

@spider-neil, something is not set right in your TV, receiver or more likely the UB820.

Please double check that you have the HDR Optimizer enabled. To use the HDR Optimizer it's a 2 step process. First you select your TV type in the HDMI Advanced Settings menu and the next step is to turn on the HDR Optimizer.

To activate the HDR Optimizer, you would hold down the HDR Settings button until you see the HDR Optimizer menu at the bottom of the screen. By default the HDR Optimizer is off and this is where you turn on the tone mapping HDR Optimizer.

I'm at CE Week running our 2019 TV Shootout evaluation event and will be back this Friday if you want help getting your UB820 properly configured with your a/v system.

[spider-neil]

Going back to the 820. The plus is the players is far quieter than the LG UBK90.
I am also going to purchase the remote of the Panny 9000 because the buttons are backlit.

I won't bother to change this player for the Sony x800M2. The 820 is fine for what I need.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

@spider-neil, something is not set right in your TV, receiver or more likely the UB820.

Please double check that you have the HDR Optimizer enabled. To use the HDR Optimizer it's a 2 step process. First you select your TV type in the HDMI Advanced Settings menu and the next step is to turn on the HDR Optimizer.

To activate the HDR Optimizer, you would hold down the HDR Settings button until you see the HDR Optimizer menu at the bottom of the screen. By default the HDR Optimizer is off and this is where you turn on the tone mapping HDR Optimizer.

I'm at CE Week running our 2019 TV Shootout evaluation event and will be back this Friday if you want help getting your UB820 properly configured with your a/v system.

The TV and player are set up correctly with HDR optimizer turned on.
The reason I know this is because I have looked at the 'Info' screen showing all the details of the disk. And I toggle between the optimizer on/off. I'm not saying the HDR optimizer doesn't work, I'm saying on 'some' disks it didn't make a difference, whereas tone curve always did.

I also thought it was interesting that the optimizer is disabled on Dolby Vision. The tone mapping on DV is fantastic.

[spider-neil]

Vincent from HDTVTest has pretty much come to the same conclusion as I have and he is using a high-end Oppo 203 on a calibrated TV

Apple TV 4K iTunes Movies (Dolby Vision HDR) vs 4K Blu-ray - YouTube

[Geoff D]

Yes, on a TV that's a good couple of years old at this point which has seen improved HDR10 tone mapping in its subsequent iterations.

[Robert Zohn]

Dolby Vision does not allow any changes on the content so for the HDR Optimizer to take care of the tone mapping Dolby Vision needs to be off.

One more detail is that I noticed you said your display's tone curve performs better without the HDR Optimizer on some content. May I suggest leaving your display's HDR tone mapping enabled so the UB820 does it's job to pass along a manageable tone mapped PQ so your display can take over and apply its tone mapping.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Dolby Vision does not allow any changes on the content so for the HDR Optimizer to take care of the tone mapping Dolby Vision needs to be off.

One more detail is that I noticed you said your display's tone curve performs better without the HDR Optimizer on some content. May I suggest leaving your display's HDR tone mapping enabled so the UB820 does it's job to pass along a manageable tone mapped PQ so your display can take over and apply its tone mapping.

My OLED is a 2016 model. Dynamic tone mapping was introduced in the 2017 models. I don't see any setting on the TV that turns off tone mapping (as it does it at all).