Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[danny24]

Originally Posted by hceuterpe

The one downside i have found with the Shield is that because it's an Android TV device, I'm pretty sure you know the answer as to whether or not it supports iTunes/Apple TV.

However, the Shield TV Pro has USB 3.0 ports, what is likely much better upscaling, and supports lossless audio codec support (TrueHD, LPCM 7.1, DTS-HD and Atmos/DTS:X in those formats as well). If you're like me and like to backup your BD/UHD collection to have it available without dealing with physical discs. The Shield is a no brainer.

I saw a review that it has an AI upscaler to make low quality streams look better. Figures it would have no support for iTunes Movies. Still might get one as a second streamer. I love it how Apple ties you into their ecosystem and won't let you view your digital movie collection on an Android based streamer when it's definitely possible (some Samsung TV's can add the app). Thanks for answering my question and now back on topic as this is a UB820/UB9000 thread.

[kedavis]

This is only slightly about the Panasonic 9000. I put a disc in mine & after some grinding noises it said "This disc is not playable." It was a region-free Blu-ray from the UK in the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection.
I tried the same disc in my 4K Samsung player. It worked, but got stuck in the middle. In play, rewind, & fast forward mode the picture freezes. With chapter advance or back it does nothing when I get to that point in the disc. From the disc chapter menu I can play the first & last parts of the movie but not the middle ones.
Then I tried all 14 discs in that set. All but 2 displayed the same behavior: unplayable in the middle.
For some reason, the only 2 movies that play all the way through are the two that I watched 9 years ago when I 1st got the set. Those 2 play in both my Samsung & Panasonic.
I bought the set from Amazon UK in 2012, watched 2 movies, then put it on my shelf, with the discs in their tight slots between rough cardboard pages & only a tiny edge peeking out.
There are no scratches or fingerprints that I can see. There are no scratches or fingerprints that I can see. I did see brown stains on all of the discs (see photo), including the ones that work.
Amazon won't help as the order is too old, but I emailed Universal UK. I hope they will respond, as it seems to be a manufacturing defect.

[bubaglobalj]

What are the Pros and Cons to installing the region free firmware? I am sorry if this has been discussed many times, I am new here and there are 388 pages and I don't know how to best find the discussion.

[ronboster]

Originally Posted by bubaglobalj

What are the Pros and Cons to installing the region free firmware? I am sorry if this has been discussed many times, I am new here and there are 388 pages and I don't know how to best find the discussion.

The best way to search within a thread in at the top page is a search link and limit search words to 1 or 2. In this case, region would be the best search word.

That being said, here's a thread in the blu ray player forum that talks about a hack for UHD panny players on page 3 starting with post 56:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...=192315&page=3

But, this post lists the hacks from the same thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...5&postcount=18

It's mod free, but appears not to work on all region B discs, but worth a shot.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by hceuterpe

The one downside i have found with the Shield is that because it's an Android TV device, I'm pretty sure you know the answer as to whether or not it supports iTunes/Apple TV.

However, the Shield TV Pro has USB 3.0 ports, what is likely much better upscaling, and supports lossless audio codec support (TrueHD, LPCM 7.1, DTS-HD and Atmos/DTS:X in those formats as well). If you're like me and like to backup your BD/UHD collection to have it available without dealing with physical discs. The Shield is a no brainer.

So if I ripped a DV movie from a disc, is it possible to play that on the shield and get DV or are there complications to that?

[hceuterpe]

Originally Posted by Poya

So if I ripped a DV movie from a disc, is it possible to play that on the shield and get DV or are there complications to that?

Interesting you ask this! I've been experimenting with a beta version of Kodi that added in mkv DV support, just this week. I've thrown just about every DV title in my UHD library and haven't found a title yet it won't play. Both DV Profile 7 MEL and Profile FEL titles play. In fact, I'm actually using this to handle the titles/discs in my library with TrueHD/Atmos glitching that's happening on my Panasonic 820

[Poya]

Originally Posted by hceuterpe

Interesting you ask this! I've been experimenting with a beta version of Kodi that added in mkv DV support, just this week. I've thrown just about every DV title in my UHD library and haven't found a title yet it won't play. Both DV Profile 7 MEL and Profile FEL titles play. In fact, I'm actually using this to handle the titles/discs in my library with TrueHD/Atmos glitching that's happening on my Panasonic 820

Hmm. Sounds fascinating. I'm planning on using .m2ts files, though. Is it wise to convert them to mkv for them to play on Kodi?

[cupboy]

Originally Posted by Rasimov

I grabbed one of the DP-UB820P-K's on Amazon before they sold out. Got it to replace my Sony X700 that I got tired of it freezing around 90 minutes in various 4K discs (none of the tips people mentioned to fix this problem solved anything, and I wasn't ready to drill holes into it).

Someone suggested you drill holes in it? What would that be for?

[grodd]

Originally Posted by bubaglobalj

What are the Pros and Cons to installing the region free firmware? I am sorry if this has been discussed many times, I am new here and there are 388 pages and I don't know how to best find the discussion.

Pros, region free and helps remove some other protections.

Cons cost $40 bucks. (or $50 can't remember)
Upgrades Costs $30 although not guaranteed so may cost $40 again when the next upgrade happens.

[panasonicst60]

Originally Posted by cupboy

Someone suggested you drill holes in it? What would that be for?

[Rasimov]

Originally Posted by cupboy

Someone suggested you drill holes in it? What would that be for?

The x700 has freezing issues for some people when playing 4K movies that are longer than 90ish minutes. It seems to be a layer change issue, but some people think it's overheating and have resorted to adding spacers or other objects to raise it to increase airflow, and some have even reported drilling holes into it.

[hceuterpe]

Originally Posted by Rasimov

The x700 has freezing issues for some people when playing 4K movies that are longer than 90ish minutes. It seems to be a layer change issue, but some people think it's overheating and have resorted to adding spacers or other objects to raise it to increase airflow, and some have even reported drilling holes into it.

I'm certain the Panasonic 820 has a cooling fan because I'm pretty sure I often hear it whirring up when I first power it on. The obviously shaped circular grill cutout on the back along with red, black and yellow wires confirms it I've never heard it during a movie though. So most definitely variable speed with that third yellow wire. I wonder if the X700 lacks a fan, and if so due to that omission is causing overheating problems.

[Rasimov]

Originally Posted by hceuterpe

I'm certain the Panasonic 820 has a cooling fan because I'm pretty sure I often hear it whirring up when I first power it on. The obviously shaped circular grill cutout on the back along with red, black and yellow wires confirms it I've never heard it during a movie though. So most definitely variable speed with that third yellow wire. I wonder if the X700 lacks a fan, and if so due to that omission is causing overheating problems.

I never noticed any obvious exhaust holes on the x700. I'm also not 100% sure if it is an over heating issue, it would just regularly freeze up around 90 minutes, but stopping the player, then restarting the movie past the freeze point would work, but this is annoying and you would miss stuff.

I only have one movie that supposedly has issues on the 820 (Ghost in the Shell 1995). People reported DV flickering or something, but I only noticed a few scenes where the image seemed like it would briefly dim repeatedly for a brief second. I feel like I've seen this on other animated titles, so not sure if that is just a source issue from when they animated it, or the problem people mentioned.

[Badas]

I've spent a bit of time with the 820 now (I can't wait to get my paid for 9000 (may 5th)).
I have to say it is superb on UHD as we know but truly impressive on standard Blu as well. I think it out performs my two Oppo BDP103D's and that is saying a lot.

Well done Panny. I won't miss Oppo now.

[Paperinoil]

Does anyone happen to know if the paid firmware enables DV for the UB420? I thought I'd seen mention of this somewhere but cannot find it.

Installed it today and all went well, getting everything they list on the site, but no DV. Maybe since my TV is player led Dolby Vision it wont work?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Paperinoil

Does anyone happen to know if the paid firmware enables DV for the UB420? I thought I'd seen mention of this somewhere but cannot find it.

Installed it today and all went well, getting everything they list on the site, but no DV. Maybe since my TV is player led Dolby Vision it wont work?

I don't think it does. If it did you'd see options in the Player Settings>HDMI menu under Dolby Vision Setting.

[Paperinoil]

Originally Posted by chip75

I don't think it does. If it did you'd see options in the Player Settings>HDMI menu under Dolby Vision Setting.

Ahhh.... yeah, not seeing that option in the HDMI menu. Bummer. Maybe they pulled it or it was just one of those forum rumors. I know someone in a FB group that claims it worked for his.

[RJ MacReady]

The 820 is currently $100 off on Best Buy (and Target, maybe other places too). Just pulled the trigger on getting one!

[Robert Zohn]

Good choice, great BD player at a very nice promotional price.

Panasonic supports the promotion so it should be the same at all authorized dealers.

[TheZoof]

Good day everyone.

I have been trying to solve an issue with my 820 for a week or so without much luck.

I see a few similar issues reported here and on AVSforum however no one seems to have a solution.

If I use legacy Blurays with multichannel LPCM tracks it seems my 820 will take that signal and convert it to PCM 2.0. I can see the multichannel track output but the signal is modified ON the 820.

I am using Bitstream for DTS and Doly settings. I also tried setting secondary audio to NO or Auto with no difference.

If I use PS5 into my AVR the issue doesn't occur.

Is there any firmware or issue known about this? All other audio tracks work fine(Atmos, DTS HD, Dolby HD etc).

Help me Obi-wa... oh sorry... getting desperate.