Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

I had the same issue watching the 4K Game of Thrones set. All issues went away after I set it to 4K instead of Auto.

Yeah, it's a really weird issue. The older Panasonic Blu-ray Players used to detect the resolution of the display during the startup of the player. Now it seems it does this when you pop in a disc. I'm not sure why they changed that process.

[bokes]

I assume it's been addressed earlier but,
other than the extra HDMI out
What justifies the extra $500 for the UB9000?

[Cruel Angel]

Originally Posted by bokes

I assume it's been addressed earlier but,
other than the extra HDMI out
What justifies the extra $500 for the UB9000?

From what I understood, it's all the audio options/ features that the 820 lacks.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by bokes

I assume it's been addressed earlier but,
other than the extra HDMI out
What justifies the extra $500 for the UB9000?

Slightly quieter unit and less-prone to disc error on the 9000. Not much of a difference for movie viewing.

PS: I have both 820 and 9000

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by Cruel Angel

From what I understood, it's all the audio options/ features that the 820 lacks.

That, plus the uptick in build quality. The 9000 is a more solid premium build.

[Auditor55]

Originally Posted by pbz06

That, plus the uptick in build quality. The 9000 is a more solid premium build.

Yep, the 820 for $500 is kind of plastic. I would rather get the 9000 for that reason alone.

[Cruel Angel]

Originally Posted by pbz06

That, plus the uptick in build quality. The 9000 is a more solid premium build.

Oops, forgot about that

[karadur]

I recently bought a Panasonic UB9000. When I attached it to the Sony A9G there was a thin broken vertical blinking line on the far-left edge of the screen. I tried multiple HDMI inputs on TV and every HDMI exhibited this. So, I thought the other HDMI ports must have an issue. Then I decided to change the cable, four HDMI cables tested, one boutique and the other three stock cables, only one stock HDMI cable removed this issue. I then test these cables with my Oppo BDP-93 and ROKU 4K and there was no issue with any of the cables. Any ideas?

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Yeah, it's a really weird issue. The older Panasonic Blu-ray Players used to detect the resolution of the display during the startup of the player. Now it seems it does this when you pop in a disc. I'm not sure why they changed that process.

I guess it works that way as the menu is 1080p. Then when you start a disc it switches to whatever the content is.

I have a Lumagen so when I watch a Blu Ray, I get the Lumagen to send a 1080p edid so the player doesn't scale. I start the Lumagen in standard 4k mode, and if I'm going to watch a Blu Ray, I'll switch the Lumagen on the 1080p EDID and load the disc. I have the player set to Auto.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by Mobe1969

I guess it works that way as the menu is 1080p. Then when you start a disc it switches to whatever the content is.

I have a Lumagen so when I watch a Blu Ray, I get the Lumagen to send a 1080p edid so the player doesn't scale. I start the Lumagen in standard 4k mode, and if I'm going to watch a Blu Ray, I'll switch the Lumagen on the 1080p EDID and load the disc. I have the player set to Auto.

Yeah, the Panasonic 820 Upscales no matter if I set it to Auto or to strictly to 4K. Personally, I like how the Panasonic Upscales blu-rays and DVDs to 4K. Even DVDs look amazing!

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by wxman2003

I use the internal apps on my E6 whenever I can. With my ATV4K, DV blacks are elevated, not on the apps. Second, the ATV4k can not do 24.000 fps correctly, while the internal apps can. Some devices only do DV at 60 fps not native 23.976, and the E6 can not handle that format. So I use the internal apps to watch 4K DV @23.976fps. So unless the app is not available on my E6, I always use the apps on my tv first.

Good points. Yeah, I need to give the internal apps a try. However, that means contorting my arse behind my cabinet and switching the HDMI cable to the arc inout on both tv and processor. It's not a pretty sight. Lol. I currently use the ATV4K. It's just so easy and no contorting.

Originally Posted by pbz06

Yup, on some shows DV Dark is definitely too dark for my tastes (even in dark room), and it's darker than when comparing to HDR10 (on Shield I can disable DV). But then also some content, Bright looks too washed out and not right. I know that Dnice swears that Bright is correct and equivalent to HDR10 but I don't completely agree.

Internal apps, I've only noticed them being better with live content (i.e. sports). I've seen the crowd that's all like "omg so much better!" But most of that is confirmation or suggestion bias, and I don't put too much stock in anecdotal impressions that lean towards exaggerated.

To me, comparing apps from nvidia shield pro vs internal apps, both look equally good and if there are any differences it would be in the margins or negligible.

I watched a bit of that Okji movie on Netflix via the ATV last night in DV bright. It looked pretty good.

Originally Posted by JWgrayhawk

I assume you did this on purpose... Regardless, hilarious line!

Originally Posted by PUsokrJosh305

Yeah, I would use the internal apps from the TV as they are specifically formatted for your TV. You don't have to worry about any extra settings from your external device. I will say though, you will need to adjust your picture settings for some apps just to make sure they are the same settings that you would use to watch movies (like Dolby Vision on Disney +). My TV was calibrated so all I had to do is make sure the motion settings are off when this happens and I'm good.

The 820 is mainly used for 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Music/CD playback. Although you can use apps on the device, they seem to be finicky at best. The device always seems to lock up on me when I hit the Netflix button, so I avoid the apps.

Now, the reason why I just set mine to strictly 4K Resolution is that I was having a handshake issue when playing a blu-ray movie. The TV would lose signal for a split second before the signal would return. This happened when I set it to "Auto." When I set it to 4K, the problem was gone. I feel like the only reason why you would want it to be on Auto is that if you used it on multiple devices and that some of those devices were not full 4K. But since use my 820 on my 4K screen, it makes sense just to strictly leave it on 4K. That way I know I'm getting the full resolution out of it.

Also good points. I will get motivated and give the internal apps a shot.

[Kaonashi]

So the remote trick only works for certain distributors? I could bypass a IVL HK release just fine, but a Kino Lorber disc wouldn’t let me press ‘stop’.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Kaonashi

So the remote trick only works for certain distributors? I could bypass a IVL HK release just fine, but a Kino Lorber disc wouldn’t let me press ‘stop’.

Yes it only works on certain releases. Most stuff from the US indies doesn't work with this trick, apart from Arrow and Criterion.

[Kaonashi]

Spun a few discs after just setting this up and safe to say the aggressive flashes at cuts on DV discs through the x700 are nowhere to be seen. Of course, there is still the occasional ABL because the poor OLED can’t keep up with high luminance, but none of the jarring spikes in brightness any time a shot changed, which made The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey’s DV versions unwatchable. I feel confident enough to say it was the x700 going awry with the DV signal, since it never happened on any DV TV apps, and I haven’t seen it on any of the former ‘problem scenes’ on the 820.

So far this player is looking pretty promising, and I haven’t even got to HDR10 content yet. A few small concerns: is there any way to turn off the time showing on the front display? The options are either ‘bright’, ‘dim’ or ‘auto’ and they all still show during playback. Of course, I could physically cover it but that seems to interfere with the remote.

Is there any way to turn off the grey ‘reading’ box that appears after playing a disc from the menu? There was nothing like it on previous players, and it’s still there when I turn off other displays that appear when content is paused. It doesn’t pop up during content so not that big of a deal, but still.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yes it only works on certain releases. Most stuff from the US indies doesn't work with this trick, apart from Arrow and Criterion.

Shame. Ah well, hopefully one day I’ll watch the disc somehow, that’s if there isn’t a region B release by then.

[bizzle]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yes it only works on certain releases. Most stuff from the US indies doesn't work with this trick, apart from Arrow and Criterion.

Yep, I've yet to have a problem with any Region B Arrow disc. Zero luck with the new Dawn of the Dead extras disc though--was pretty bummed about that.

[mar3o]

I just ordered the Panasonic UB420 to replace my Sony x700. From what I understand it shares the same processor as the UB820 except without Dolby Vision.

I could use some advice as to what settings to use for this player (color mode, deep color setting, color gamut, auto modes, etc.). Especially I would appreciate some advice on the use of the HDR optimizer. From what I understand it works best for TVs that don't handle HDR the best to begin with. My 2016 LG UHD set falls under that category. It apparently only reaches about 550 nits max, give or take a bit, according to what I have gathered. Not great but it does look pretty nice regardless, and the 3D is important to me in that set and looks fantastic. So how would I set the optimizer to work it's best for my set? I tend to avoid most enhancement settings in general as they usually just do harm, but I'm intrigued by the idea of what this does for HDR for less-than-optimal TVs. Any advice?

I'm assuming for starters I'd want to set the display type to "Basic Luminance LCD (500 nits)"?

[u2popmofo]

Purchased the UB820 earlier today. Have only had a chance to watch a handful of scenes from a handful of Blus (both standard and UHD) in my collection, already kicking myself for not buying one ages ago. Extremely happy with the PQ and performance so far. I was excited to finally be able to play Dolby Vision from discs, and was expecting visual improvements in HDR because of the HDR optimizer, but I wasn't expecting my SDR Blus to look and play better as well. Also seems to be sending a more balanced audio signal to my system as well, much easier to hear dialogue based on the Blus I've tried so far. Massive improvement over using consoles (Xbox and Playstations) like I've been doing for years.

Can't wait to watch some movies in full on it!

[motorheadache95]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I just ordered the Panasonic UB420 to replace my Sony x700. From what I understand it shares the same processor as the UB820 except without Dolby Vision.

I could use some advice as to what settings to use for this player (color mode, deep color setting, color gamut, auto modes, etc.). Especially I would appreciate some advice on the use of the HDR optimizer. From what I understand it works best for TVs that don't handle HDR the best to begin with. My 2016 LG UHD set falls under that category. It apparently only reaches about 550 nits max, give or take a bit, according to what I have gathered. Not great but it does look pretty nice regardless, and the 3D is important to me in that set and looks fantastic. So how would I set the optimizer to work it's best for my set? I tend to avoid most enhancement settings in general as they usually just do harm, but I'm intrigued by the idea of what this does for HDR for less-than-optimal TVs. Any advice?

I'm assuming for starters I'd want to set the display type to "Basic Luminance LCD (500 nits)"?

I'm guessing you have the C6 or E6 OLED? I have the C6 and the Panny 420 as well. My best results with HDR are definitely with the "Basic Luminance" setting on the optimizer. I came to that conclusion by comparing the ending of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with different settings, as the ghosts at the end are quite a stress-test for HDR tone-mapping.

[wxman2003]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I just ordered the Panasonic UB420 to replace my Sony x700. From what I understand it shares the same processor as the UB820 except without Dolby Vision.

I could use some advice as to what settings to use for this player (color mode, deep color setting, color gamut, auto modes, etc.). Especially I would appreciate some advice on the use of the HDR optimizer. From what I understand it works best for TVs that don't handle HDR the best to begin with. My 2016 LG UHD set falls under that category. It apparently only reaches about 550 nits max, give or take a bit, according to what I have gathered. Not great but it does look pretty nice regardless, and the 3D is important to me in that set and looks fantastic. So how would I set the optimizer to work it's best for my set? I tend to avoid most enhancement settings in general as they usually just do harm, but I'm intrigued by the idea of what this does for HDR for less-than-optimal TVs. Any advice?

I'm assuming for starters I'd want to set the display type to "Basic Luminance LCD (500 nits)"?

According to RTINGS, the peak brightness in HDR on the E6 is around 650 nits. I have noticed that setting it to Basic Luminance sometimes washes out the picture. Sometimes its good, sometimes it's not.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by wxman2003

According to RTINGS, the peak brightness in HDR on the E6 is around 650 nits. I have noticed that setting it to Basic Luminance sometimes washes out the picture. Sometimes its good, sometimes it's not.

Originally Posted by motorheadache95

I'm guessing you have the C6 or E6 OLED? I have the C6 and the Panny 420 as well. My best results with HDR are definitely with the "Basic Luminance" setting on the optimizer. I came to that conclusion by comparing the ending of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with different settings, as the ghosts at the end are quite a stress-test for HDR tone-mapping.

I own the 2016 LG UH8500 LCD, not an OLED. But it sounds like I should go with "Basic Luminance" since my set supposedly maxes around 500-550 nits, according to rtings. I question some of rtings' numbers as I have seen them post some inaccurate info in the past, so they are not foolproof. But I do think my set is probably somewhere in that vicinity. It did not include the HDR premium certification.