Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by Oscarilbo

My 2 Phatom Menace and Last Crusade discs have been perfect physically and absolutely clean. I just read someone had the exact same issue with Last Crusade with its 420 and even tried a second copy and same thing.

Maybe there’s actually a step down in playback quality from the 9000 and 820 to the 420?

Well yes, the optical assembly is better quality in the 9000, so in general terms will deal with problem discs better.

[thebigcheese3k]

Originally Posted by Filmfan73

I think I found my first perma-glitch with the 9000.

The player does not like 'The Hills Have Eyes' 4K BD. It forces Dnynamic Range Conversion on it every time I put the disc in, even though the player is locked, and loaded for HDR all day, every day. I can usually get it to accept the HDR signal after a handful of minutes fussing with it (unplugging the player reset) but what a hassle! Right up there with the "High Calrity Sound "on" (which it never is) for head scratching behavior of this great...but slightly flawed player!

I haven’t had any problems with this disc on my 820. This seems like a strange issue, have you tried factory resetting the player?

[Yogi6807]

Originally Posted by Oscarilbo

I’m considering getting the UB150 as an alternate player, specially for these type of cases. I’m using a projector so need for Dolby Vision, just HDR10 and of course atmos and dtsx sounds. I also dont use anymore the HDR Optimizer as I let only my projector’s tone mapping do the work. I need the subtitles brightness control so that’s why I’m considering yet another panasonic. Would I find the PQ on the 150 different to my 420 giving my use case? specially for the lack of the HCX processor

Don’t buy the 150. It doesn’t reproduce the image properly. Look at the differences between it and the Sony 700 by that Vincent guy.

[Oscarilbo]

Originally Posted by Yogi6807

Don’t buy the 150. It doesn’t reproduce the image properly. Look at the differences between it and the Sony 700 by that Vincent guy.

Will look for it. Thanks

[T26S]

Just recently purchased the Panasonic HZ1000 and UB820, have been lurking frequently on this thread and other forums so have general knowledge of both equipment. What's the recommend settings for the bluray player (both SDR and HDR content) and is HDR Optimizer feature needed for tv I have or should only use the it for high-nit discs ( I know HDR Optimizer can be used for HDR10 discs), though from what I've researched Panasonic tone-mapping is solid though need clarification. Thanks.

[martydmc12]

Panasonic Canada finally has the 9000 back in-stock. I pulled the trigger and ordered one! I was able to save $300 when I applied my work discount to the website, instead if it costing $1299.00, it cost me $999.99!

Looking forward to finally being able to watch my 4K collection on the player I've been waiting for.

[HG4486]

Has anyone heard of another model coming out in the near future? Im considering selling my 820 and buying a 9000 but I wouldnt want to doscover another model appearing soon after.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by HG4486

Has anyone heard of another model coming out in the near future? I'm considering selling my 820 and buying a 9000 but I wouldn't want to discover another model appearing soon after.

I doubt we will see any more new players.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Panasonic Canada finally has the 9000 back in-stock. I pulled the trigger and ordered one! I was able to save $300 when I applied my work discount to the website, instead if it costing $1299.00, it cost me $999.99!

Looking forward to finally being able to watch my 4K collection on the player I've been waiting for.

Originally Posted by HG4486

Has anyone heard of another model coming out in the near future? Im considering selling my 820 and buying a 9000 but I wouldnt want to doscover another model appearing soon after.

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

I doubt we will see any more new players.

▪︎https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.ph...&id=1623389388

Just a DAC replacement due to an accident that required the slight change ...
https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/busi...audio-industry

* There are few new players (France) coming up, but from my observatory nothing truly exciting, and with inflated prices (IMHO) ...
https://fr.reavon.com/

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by HG4486

Has anyone heard of another model coming out in the near future? Im considering selling my 820 and buying a 9000 but I wouldnt want to doscover another model appearing soon after.

They just releases the new edition of UB9000 a couple of weeks ago with updated DAC chip. I doubt they’ll release a new model anytime soon. I personally don’t see any need for it either.

[HG4486]

Wow so is this really the end of the road for players? The UB9000 is the last player in the long lineage that began with the discovision players? Are we all going to be using this player for the next 50 years?

[NeilZ]

Honestly all they need to do is update the darn firmware to fix the discs that have issues and then yes, there's probably no more need for future players. The 820 is already capable of everything any disc user would need. The 9000 is the icing on the cake for those who like better build quality (although personally had issues with it that I didn't have with the 820) and need the added audio features.

That being said I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they released newer models next year or the year after.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Honestly all they need to do is update the darn firmware to fix the discs that have issues and then yes, there's probably no more need for future players. The 820 is already capable of everything any disc user would need. The 9000 is the icing on the cake for those who like better build quality (although personally had issues with it that I didn't have with the 820) and need the added audio features.

That being said I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they released newer models next year or the year after.

If they did, they would be cheap, bargain basement quality units like they did with Blu-ray players. They don't normally improve quality wise with each subsequent model year.

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Honestly all they need to do is update the darn firmware to fix the discs that have issues and then yes, there's probably no more need for future players.

Are they not actively doing regular firmware updates?

[sapiendut]

Sadly no.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Are they not actively doing regular firmware updates?

They stopped supporting their 4k disc players many months before the pandemic, so COVID was not the issue with Panasonic.



They suck as a company. Samsung, Sony, and LG aren't much better.

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

They suck as a company. Samsung, Sony, and LG aren't much better.

I grew up in a small rural country town with approximately a population of 1,500. My aunt and uncle ran the local electronics store, which was an exclusive Panasonic dealer throughout the late 80's and 90's. Our televisions were Panasonic, VCR's, microwaves, telephone and fax machine. I bought my laserdisc player and VCR from them. The quality of Panasonic was top-notch, and so was the service from the manufacturer.

So it's safe to say I'm a loyal Panasonic customer. It's nice to see that players like the 9000 are pretty well built and get good reviews. What's happened to them in the last 10-15 years, I don't know, other than it seems all the big electronics manufacturers seem to suck in terms of customer support and in some cases even quality (Samsung, cough... cough). I also believe the quality of good electronics doesn't seem to be a big deal to the average consumer these days, as to why Panasonic pulled their televisions out of the North American market. Most people would have cheap and what seems like "good enough" quality, rather than paying more for something that might last longer, and overall is a better piece of hardware. Panasonic TV's just became too expensive for most people in the U.S. and Canada, at least that's the way I see it.

I miss how things were in the late 1990's and early 2000's, when building a quality home theater was important, and people were starting to learn and care about the quality of their picture and sound, but also the build quality of their equipment. Now most average consumers just don't seem to care. It's quite sad really.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Are they not actively doing regular firmware updates?

They're on an Olympic schedule ...

[Badas]

Originally Posted by chip75

they're on an olympic schedule ...

^^^
:d

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

I grew up in a small rural country town with approximately a population of 1,500. My aunt and uncle ran the local electronics store, which was an exclusive Panasonic dealer throughout the late 80's and 90's. Our televisions were Panasonic, VCR's, microwaves, telephone and fax machine. I bought my laserdisc player and VCR from them. The quality of Panasonic was top-notch, and so was the service from the manufacturer.

So it's safe to say I'm a loyal Panasonic customer. It's nice to see that players like the 9000 are pretty well built and get good reviews. What's happened to them in the last 10-15 years, I don't know, other than it seems all the big electronics manufacturers seem to suck in terms of customer support and in some cases even quality (Samsung, cough... cough). I also believe the quality of good electronics doesn't seem to be a big deal to the average consumer these days, as to why Panasonic pulled their televisions out of the North American market. Most people would have cheap and what seems like "good enough" quality, rather than paying more for something that might last longer, and overall is a better piece of hardware. Panasonic TV's just became too expensive for most people in the U.S. and Canada, at least that's the way I see it.

I miss how things were in the late 1990's and early 2000's, when building a quality home theater was important, and people were starting to learn and care about the quality of their picture and sound, but also the build quality of their equipment. Now most average consumers just don't seem to care. It's quite sad really.

Oh, I have been around the barn enough to know that consumer products used to be much more robust and the companies would usually stand behind their stuff. Currently, it's all commodity built where you would be lucky if it lasted five years. If it breaks, too bad, just buy another one. Cars are fast becoming the same way.

Case in point... Denon of the 80's vs Denon of today. Their mid 80's CD players were constructed like tanks with beefy parts and rugged spindle motors. When I got rid of mine about three years ago it still worked. People say the Panasonic 9000 has pretty good build quality, but I laugh at that because it wouldn't hold a candle to one of those top line Denon players. Sure, the Panny is more sophisticated and produces better sound, but the circuit boards and moving parts (the guts) are nowhere near the robustness of what gear was like in the past.