Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Waboman

Does anyone actually watch non anamorphic DVDs anymore?

I watch some 1960's and 70's TV shows, but usually on my Oppo and plasma.

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Clearly, otherwise matey wouldn't have posted in this thread. Just me and him, keeping the non-anamorphic flame alive! I've still got several like Abyss, The Thing, The Terminator, Conan the Librarian theatrical cut, Star Trek VI.

I ain't going with Windows. I ain't going with him.

I can understand, to a certain degree, if a movie hasn't been released on BD, but The Thing is a classic. C'mon man, time to upgrade and use that non anamorphic DVD as a coaster for your Manchester Madrid pint glass.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Waboman

I ain't going with Windows. I ain't going with him.

I can understand, to a certain degree, if a movie hasn't been released on BD, but The Thing is a classic. C'mon man, time to upgrade and use that non anamorphic DVD as a coaster for your Manchester Madrid pint glass.

I've got the Arrow LE of Das Ding. I didn't say I kept them for the stunning visuals, did I?

Aside from the not-on-BD holdouts, some I keep for the extras (Thing for the uncensored audio commentary plus Morricone isolated score) and some for that particular version of the movie (Conan, ST VI) or audio track (Terminator mono mix).

BUT I'd still like to watch them on something not resembling a postage stamp and, me being me, I like to keep them around for reference to see how well a BD player handles such discs, or not at all in the case of the Panny UHD decks...

[dazbug]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Projector owners, DO NOT USE standard HDR out. Just use SDR2020. DO NOT USE any tone mapping you already had (Chad curve, Arve curve). You need to calibrate your projector for a 2.4 gamma and use 2020 color (or equivalent). Figure out what your peak white nit level is and use that as a starting point for setting the brightness with the slider. I would suggest a 5x multiplier to start. SO, if you have 100 nits, you want to start with 500 nits for the slider. The default level of the slider is 350 (mid point that it starts on). If you go lower, the number gets HIGHER, if you go higher the number is LOWER! All the way up is 100 nits, so you'll hav not figure out the math for what each step is. Start with that and then you can adjust up or down if you feel the need to with different films. It does not have to be perfect, just get yourself close. I've found that 5x is a good place to start and most of the time somewhere between 4 and 6x works for just about every film. If a film is on the darker side for your taste, go to 4K. If it is a really aggressive HDR movie like Mad Max or John Wick 2, 6x will give you more dynamic range for a bit more punch.

Now, with SDR2020 the HDR Optimizer DOES do something. The reason a lot of you aren't seeing any difference between on and off is because the majority of titles on the market are mastered to 1000 nits. With HDR Optimizer OFF, the player is defaulting to a 1000 nit based tone map. With it ON, the player is adjusting the tone map based on the MaxCLL or MaxDML (which is 1000 for A LOT of movies!!!). If MaxCLL is less than MaxDML, it uses CLL. If MaxCLL is higher than DML, it uses DML. If MaxCLL is 0 it uses DML. If all are zero, it uses 1000. So I would suggest that you turn is ON. The only title that I feel this could cause an issue with is Sicario, as it has a MaxCLL of 0 and MaxDML of 4000 but the MaxCLL is actually really close to 1000, so this is a title where HDR Optimizer OFF will actually look MUCH better. Otherwise, On would work with 99% of titles more effectively.

I DO NOT recommend using regular HDR out with the HDR Optimizer plus your Arve curves or what Chad did. That is applying overlaying tone maps that are already aggressive because of low light output. That is a recipe for issues galore. So SDR2020 for projectors!!!

Good luck!

Sorry to drag up an old post, but I’ve been reading here and avsforum and still a bit confused. I’ve just set up my jvc x7900 (RS540) which has been boxed for the last 6 months while built my cinema, now when it gets over 100 hrs I’ll get it professionally calibrated. In the meantime, I’ve set the projector to:

Picture Mode = HDR
Color Profile = BT2020
Color Temp = HDR (6500k)
Gamma = HDR (ST.2084)

Do I still set the Panasonic 820 Optimizer to SDR2020 then move the slider between -4 to -6. Will this be the same after I get it professionally calibrated at the end of the year? Or is the above only applicable if using javs and others custom curves.

Still have a lot of Reading to catch up on, but pointing me in the right direction would be a help.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by dazbug

Sorry to drag up an old post, but I’ve been reading here and avsforum and still a bit confused. I’ve just set up my jvc x7900 (RS540) which has been boxed for the last 6 months while built my cinema, now when it gets over 100 hrs I’ll get it professionally calibrated. In the meantime, I’ve set the projector to:

Picture Mode = HDR
Color Profile = BT2020
Color Temp = HDR (6500k)
Gamma = HDR (ST.2084)

Do I still set the Panasonic 820 Optimizer to SDR2020 then move the slider between -4 to -6. Will this be the same after I get it professionally calibrated at the end of the year? Or is the above only applicable if using javs and others custom curves.

Still have a lot of Reading to catch up on, but pointing me in the right direction would be a help.

I made a custom picture mode called SDR2020 on my RS540 starting from the SDR mode. The color profile and temp are correct. If you are going to use SDR BT2020 I have my gamma set to correction value of 2.4.

[cjake]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Have a quick break while my wife is getting her workout done.

Projector owners, DO NOT USE standard HDR out. Just use SDR2020. DO NOT USE any tone mapping you already had (Chad curve, Arve curve). You need to calibrate your projector for a 2.4 gamma and use 2020 color (or equivalent). Figure out what your peak white nit level is and use that as a starting point for setting the brightness with the slider. I would suggest a 5x multiplier to start. SO, if you have 100 nits, you want to start with 500 nits for the slider. The default level of the slider is 350 (mid point that it starts on). If you go lower, the number gets HIGHER, if you go higher the number is LOWER! All the way up is 100 nits, so you'll hav not figure out the math for what each step is. Start with that and then you can adjust up or down if you feel the need to with different films. It does not have to be perfect, just get yourself close. I've found that 5x is a good place to start and most of the time somewhere between 4 and 6x works for just about every film. If a film is on the darker side for your taste, go to 4K. If it is a really aggressive HDR movie like Mad Max or John Wick 2, 6x will give you more dynamic range for a bit more punch.

Now, with SDR2020 the HDR Optimizer DOES do something. The reason a lot of you aren't seeing any difference between on and off is because the majority of titles on the market are mastered to 1000 nits. With HDR Optimizer OFF, the player is defaulting to a 1000 nit based tone map. With it ON, the player is adjusting the tone map based on the MaxCLL or MaxDML (which is 1000 for A LOT of movies!!!). If MaxCLL is less than MaxDML, it uses CLL. If MaxCLL is higher than DML, it uses DML. If MaxCLL is 0 it uses DML. If all are zero, it uses 1000. So I would suggest that you turn is ON. The only title that I feel this could cause an issue with is Sicario, as it has a MaxCLL of 0 and MaxDML of 4000 but the MaxCLL is actually really close to 1000, so this is a title where HDR Optimizer OFF will actually look MUCH better. Otherwise, On would work with 99% of titles more effectively.

I DO NOT recommend using regular HDR out with the HDR Optimizer plus your Arve curves or what Chad did. That is applying overlaying tone maps that are already aggressive because of low light output. That is a recipe for issues galore. So SDR2020 for projectors!!!

Good luck!

Originally Posted by dazbug

Sorry to drag up an old post, but I’ve been reading here and avsforum and still a bit confused. I’ve just set up my jvc x7900 (RS540) which has been boxed for the last 6 months while built my cinema, now when it gets over 100 hrs I’ll get it professionally calibrated. In the meantime, I’ve set the projector to:

Picture Mode = HDR
Color Profile = BT2020
Color Temp = HDR (6500k)
Gamma = HDR (ST.2084)

Do I still set the Panasonic 820 Optimizer to SDR2020 then move the slider between -4 to -6. Will this be the same after I get it professionally calibrated at the end of the year? Or is the above only applicable if using javs and others custom curves.

Still have a lot of Reading to catch up on, but pointing me in the right direction would be a help.

With the projector settings you posted, you can't run the UB820 in SDR/BT2020 mode. You would need to configure the UB820 to HDR output mode.

Kris is saying that projector owners would be better off using SDR/BT2020 mode in the UB820. To do so you need to set Gamma to 2.4 in the JVC.

[Robert Zohn]

I was contacted by a client late last night who directed me to a post on AVS Forum by member SoonerDoc. He is experiencing the out of audio sync issue when connected to his JVC projector. Panasonic's customer support rep suggested trying a full factory reset, which worked. I have confirmed success with this procedure.

Not sure if it's a permanent fix, but it has worked for me with a few titles that exhibited the worst lip sync. Here's the procedure that must be followed exactly. Here's a cut and paste from the AVS Forum post.

"While the unit is off, press and hold OK, blue and yellow buttons on remote at the same time for more than 5 seconds. 00 RET should be on the units display. Then press the forward arrow (directional button, >) on the remote until display reads 08 FIN. Press and hold OK on remote for at least 3 seconds."

After the player restarts and be very patient, you will need to go through the entire set-up again. I suggest Dolby Vision off and other than selecting the TV type in the HDMI "Advanced" settings menu you must enable (turn on) the HDR Optimizer. To do the final activation of the HDR Optimizer follow these instructions:

With an HDR disc playing press and hold down the "HDR Setting" grey button on the right side of the remote and select "on" for the HDR Optimizer.

I also recommend not touching any of the other default settings

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Great, Robert! Now, I hope both Panasonic and Dolby come up with a fix for the 820's Dolby Vision issues.

[Robert Zohn]

The fix for the lucky folks who own one of Panasonic's BD players with the HDR Optimizer is don't use Dolby Vision as the HDR10 with the HDR Optimizer enabled performs better than Dolby Vision's best presentation. OK maybe not to Sony Z9D owners, but for all other TV owners this is the right answer.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

I was contacted by a client late last night who directed me to a post on AVS Forum by member SoonerDoc. He is experiencing the out of audio sync issue when connected to his JVC projector. Panasonic's customer support rep suggested trying a full factory reset, which worked. I have confirmed success with this procedure.

Not sure if it's a permanent fix, but it has worked for me with a few titles that exhibited the worst lip sync. Here's the procedure that must be followed exactly. Here's a cut and paste from the AVS Forum post.

"While the unit is off, press and hold OK, blue and yellow buttons on remote at the same time for more than 5 seconds. 00 RET should be on the units display. Then press the forward arrow (directional button, >) on the remote until display reads 08 FIN. Press and hold OK on remote for at least 3 seconds."

After the player restarts and be very patient, you will need to go through the entire set-up again. I suggest Dolby Vision off and other than selecting the TV type in the HDMI "Advanced" settings menu you must enable (turn on) the HDR Optimizer. To do the final activation of the HDR Optimizer follow these instructions:

With an HDR disc playing press and hold down the "HDR Setting" grey button on the right side of the remote and select "on" for the HDR Optimizer.

I also recommend not touching any of the other default settings

The audio sync problem WILL come back. I have confirmed this problem with multiple clients, all projectors, some use Sony 665, some use JvC NX7 and NX9

[cjake]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

...After the player restarts and be very patient, you will need to go through the entire set-up again. I suggest Dolby Vision off and other than selecting the TV type in the HDMI "Advanced" settings menu you must enable (turn on) the HDR Optimizer. To do the final activation of the HDR Optimizer follow these instructions:

With an HDR disc playing press and hold down the "HDR Setting" grey button on the right side of the remote and select "on" for the HDR Optimizer.

I also recommend not touching any of the other default settings

Might want to change 4K60 option to 4:4:4 instead of 4:2:0 if you want Netflix in HDR.

[cfitzpatrick711]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

The fix for the lucky folks who own one of Panasonic's BD players with the HDR Optimizer is don't use Dolby Vision as the HDR10 with the HDR Optimizer enabled performs better than Dolby Vision's best presentation. OK maybe not to Sony Z9D owners, but for all other TV owners this is the right answer.

The problem is that certain content has better compression with the DV layer such as The Fog and the other euro John Carpenter releases. Watching those in HDR10 is not advised as the compression is truly awful. I get that is not the fault of the player, but it would be a bummer if panasonic and dolby can’t get this right because it’s such a great player otherwise.

[sapiendut]

Dolby doesn’t allow the HDR data to be altered. It doesn’t matter how great the DV is, no manufacturer is allowed to alter content. So unless your TV is the Z9D, you won’t be able to see the DV content properly mapped to the TV anyway.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

The fix for the lucky folks who own one of Panasonic's BD players with the HDR Optimizer is don't use Dolby Vision as the HDR10 with the HDR Optimizer enabled performs better than Dolby Vision's best presentation. OK maybe not to Sony Z9D owners, but for all other TV owners this is the right answer.

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Dolby doesn’t allow the HDR data to be altered. It doesn’t matter how great the DV is, no manufacturer is allowed to alter content. So unless your TV is the Z9D, you won’t be able to see the DV content properly mapped to the TV anyway.

So basically DV should be used on the Z9D if available and it is preferable over using HDR10 + Optimizer even if the 820's DV is not working correctly? Or am I reading this wrong here?

[LordoftheRings]

• https://hometheaterreview.com/panaso...ayer-reviewed/

[dazbug]

Originally Posted by cjake

With the projector settings you posted, you can't run the UB820 in SDR/BT2020 mode. You would need to configure the UB820 to HDR output mode.

Kris is saying that projector owners would be better off using SDR/BT2020 mode in the UB820. To do so you need to set Gamma to 2.4 in the JVC.

Thanks for the clarification. I'll try both on the weekend.

'Should' B820 in SDR/BT2020 mode with 2.4 gamma look better than HDR modes I am using, or am I better off with HDR modes I'm using now.

This HDR thing isn't plug and play like the good old BD/DVD's

[rickardl]

When downconverting UHD to 1080p, the 820 does not pass the blacker-than-black patterns from the S&M UHD disc. The 709 blacker-than-black pass through ok though.
If I raise the Brightness setting on the player, they will become visible (with raised brightness on the display).
It probably only affects my setup and it is no biggie, I can set black level correcly without those patterns.

But I assume it works for you guys with 4K screens?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by DJR662

So basically DV should be used on the Z9D if available and it is preferable over using HDR10 + Optimizer even if the 820's DV is not working correctly? Or am I reading this wrong here?

Hmmm. The player-led DV output on the Panasonic blows out highlights but is brighter while the OPPO will provide a fuller highlight extension in DV but is noticeably dimmer and slightly less saturated, so whichever way you turn DV has problems on the ZD9.

However, I still prefer DV (when available) over an Optimised version because I simply don't like what the Optimiser does to the EOTF curve and I don't appreciate the slight touch of banding that it introduces either. And the way that DV rebuilds the signal has alleviated some major compression issues for me on certain discs (even in S&M UHD Benchmark this effect can be seen) so I'm sticking with it just for that. For non-DV discs that have extreme >2000 highlights I'll stick with my reduced contrast TV mode, it's got less luminance globally but I'd still rather have that relative recreation of the PQ EOTF than the flatter gamma-esque Optimised output.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

I was contacted by a client late last night who directed me to a post on AVS Forum by member SoonerDoc. He is experiencing the out of audio sync issue when connected to his JVC projector. Panasonic's customer support rep suggested trying a full factory reset, which worked. I have confirmed success with this procedure.

Not sure if it's a permanent fix, but it has worked for me with a few titles that exhibited the worst lip sync. Here's the procedure that must be followed exactly. Here's a cut and paste from the AVS Forum post.

"While the unit is off, press and hold OK, blue and yellow buttons on remote at the same time for more than 5 seconds. 00 RET should be on the units display. Then press the forward arrow (directional button, >) on the remote until display reads 08 FIN. Press and hold OK on remote for at least 3 seconds."

After the player restarts and be very patient, you will need to go through the entire set-up again. I suggest Dolby Vision off and other than selecting the TV type in the HDMI "Advanced" settings menu you must enable (turn on) the HDR Optimizer. To do the final activation of the HDR Optimizer follow these instructions:

With an HDR disc playing press and hold down the "HDR Setting" grey button on the right side of the remote and select "on" for the HDR Optimizer.

I also recommend not touching any of the other default settings

When I first connected my 820 I had Lipsync issues when playing discs (both BD and UHD). I de-activated the lipsync option in my Pre/Pro which was set to "ON" by default and never had a problem since.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Hmmm. The player-led DV output on the Panasonic blows out highlights but is brighter while the OPPO will provide a fuller highlight extension in DV but is noticeably dimmer and slightly less saturated, so whichever way you turn DV has problems on the ZD9.

However, I still prefer DV (when available) over an Optimised version because I simply don't like what the Optimiser does to the EOTF curve and I don't appreciate the slight touch of banding that it introduces either. And the way that DV rebuilds the signal has alleviated some major compression issues for me on certain discs (even in S&M UHD Benchmark this effect can be seen) so I'm sticking with it just for that. For non-DV discs that have extreme >2000 highlights I'll stick with my reduced contrast TV mode, it's got less luminance globally but I'd still rather have that relative recreation of the PQ EOTF than the flatter gamma-esque Optimised output.

Yeah, you recently mentioned most of these things here in this thread and via PM.

Still deciding whether DV on the Z9D is really worth the trouble or not...