Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[RudyC]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

So, now that I have it, how do I make it Region-Free for Blu-rays?

the only thing you can do is press play then when it cant play it and boots you back to the home screen then you can press 1 then enter. this will bypass everything and directly play the movie.

however if the region locked disc has a special screen that says "this disc can not be played blah blah blah" then the trick wont work.

the disc has to boot you back to the home screen for it to work.

[RudyC]

so just got mine last week. i had to mess with the settings a bit but i got the PQ quite good. destroys the sony x-800.

i will say i also have a marantz blu-ray player from 2009 (UD9004). back then it cost 6000$ i think. but i got it a year ago for 2000$ used.

and i think the 2009 marantz looks just a tad sharper than the panasonic. it also upscales dvds just a tad better.
however it doesnt play 4k/or 3d and many newer blu-ray discs wont load. it wont play mkv files.

so the panasonic is nice in this regard.

[J Nada]

Originally Posted by RudyC

the only thing you can do is press play then when it cant play it and boots you back to the home screen then you can press 1 then enter. this will bypass everything and directly play the movie.

however if the region locked disc has a special screen that says "this disc can not be played blah blah blah" then the trick wont work.

the disc has to boot you back to the home screen for it to work.

The top menu trick (wait for the 'can't play disc screen, press stop, wait for the home screen, then press top menu two or three times) works a lot better - definitely works with discs that have special screens, such as Criterions.

I have purchased region free firmware for the player, but most of the time I just leave it set to my local region, and use the top menu trick. Only if I find a disc I can't bypass do I bother changing regions. Most discs work fine...

[Gold Ranger]

Where do you get the region free firmware?

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by RudyC

the only thing you can do is press play then when it cant play it and boots you back to the home screen then you can press 1 then enter. this will bypass everything and directly play the movie.

however if the region locked disc has a special screen that says "this disc can not be played blah blah blah" then the trick wont work.

the disc has to boot you back to the home screen for it to work.

Thanks!

[ronboster]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

So, now that I have it, how do I make it Region-Free for Blu-rays?

From previous post

Originally Posted by ronboster

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.

[Scarriere]

Originally Posted by RudyC

so just got mine last week. i had to mess with the settings a bit but i got the PQ quite good. destroys the sony x-800.

i will say i also have a marantz blu-ray player from 2009 (UD9004). back then it cost 6000$ i think. but i got it a year ago for 2000$ used.

and i think the 2009 marantz looks just a tad sharper than the panasonic. it also upscales dvds just a tad better.
however it doesnt play 4k/or 3d and many newer blu-ray discs wont load. it wont play mkv files.

so the panasonic is nice in this regard.

[SideEffect34]

Just got the Panasonic UB820 and having issues with No Signal with certain HDMI inputs to my TV. I have one HDMI going to my Sony 950G TV and another HDMI for audio only going to my Sony STR-DN1060 Receiver. Set it up and tested out Godzilla KOTM and worked fine, but when hitting HOME to go to the main menu, the TV displayed No Signal. Ended up turning off and on and the screen appeared again, but also later on the screen went all pixelated grey and had an awful low pitch frequency sound. After testing another movie out and going to the main menu, it showed No Signal again and can't get it to show a signal again. I use a 6 ft Monoprice HDMI going into my TV's HDMI2. Tested other devices like my PS4 into same HDMI2 which I had used for the X700 and was fine. So tried connecting to HDMI1 and it's displaying fine again. But won't work in HDMI4 either which I use for my PS4. Ordered another HDMI cable, and same thing, but will work with HDMI1. Does anyone know what the issue would be? Is it the player? Should I just leave it in HDMI1 where it appears to work with or could that end up with no signal too, or is it something that I should exchange for another for?

[kevers7290]

What are the best HDMI cables to pair with the 820? Monoprice? If so, can someone provide a link to the cables? Thanks!

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

They properly designed 2.1 cable should be backwards compatible. Try Ruipro hdmi cables. They are excellent. I can vouch for them, as all my HDMI cables are from them.

Ultra HD Blu-ray only requires HDMI 2.0 for full functionality.

[Jordanmander]

Originally Posted by farerb

I tried putting The Great Mouse Detective today and it seems like the player has issues playing that disc, it's mostly stuck on the intro logo. I tried putting the disc in my previous player and it worked fine. What's up with that and how can it be fixed?

I had something similar today with Monsters Unversity. The disc would freeze almost every other minute and then continue several second after. I got a replacment disc from Amazon and the disc froze in exactly the same places as the previous one. I just thought it was a faulty batch until i tried it in my ps5 and it played through without any issues. My UB820 plays everything else fine. Is it just a compatibility issue with this certain film?

[Farerb]

Originally Posted by Jordanmander

I had something similar today with Monsters Unversity. The disc would freeze almost every other minute and then continue several second after. I got a replacment disc from Amazon and the disc froze in exactly the same places as the previous one. I just thought it was a faulty batch until i tried it in my ps5 and it played through without any issues. My UB820 plays everything else fine. Is it just a compatibility issue with this certain film?

Yeah I thought perhaps about buying a new disc, but my player stopped working and now it is on its way back to Amazon. I haven't decided whether to buy a new player or just stick with my LG...

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Panasonic sure isn't what it used to be, but you can say the same thing for just about any company these days. It's just sad to see. And they still haven't released a new support firmware.

[Farerb]

Yeah I just wanted a player that doesn't make noises during playing 4K discs and doesn't freeze while a Warner 4K 100gb disc is playing, those are really my issues with LG...

[danny24]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Panasonic sure isn't what it used to be, but you can say the same thing for just about any company these days. It's just sad to see. And they still haven't released a new support firmware.

With Oppo gone they are one of the best makers of UHD players along with Sony, Pioneer.

Don't care for LG's UHD players. Had many chances to buy an LG UHD player but passed on one. I never liked their BD players so that is probably why. For some people they work good but it's not for me. They make quite a good OLED TV though.

[J Nada]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Where do you get the region free firmware?

Regionfreedom. It costs about 40EUR and will take you a bit of time to read and understand the purchase process (well, it did for me, at least). Make sure you have a good read before applying, as they don't like incorrect/incomplete purchase applications... If you read the FAQs on their site and have questions, feel free to shoot me a PM - if it is something I can answer, I will.

[Gold Ranger]

Why were some posts deleted?

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by J Nada

Regionfreedom. It costs about 40EUR and will take you a bit of time to read and understand the purchase process (well, it did for me, at least). Make sure you have a good read before applying, as they don't like incorrect/incomplete purchase applications... If you read the FAQs on their site and have questions, feel free to shoot me a PM - if it is something I can answer, I will.

I can't find where to get the firmware.

[PissedOffPeoN]

One thing the panasonic does over the oppo right now, at least is when i marathon game of thrones 4k my oppo froze and would go blank screen, after a few discs. and back after each episode and on my panasonic, it was seamless with no problems.

[J Nada]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

I can't find where to get the firmware.

https://www.regionfreedom.com/index....opment-project

As I said, have a thorough read of that page and the FAQ page before doing the application.