Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Paul.R.S]

Anyone playing West Side Story (2021) UHD BD successfully on the 820?

[James Luckard]

I've now gone through three copies of the US West Side Story UHD, and all of them have had the picture break up into rainbow-colored pixels within the first ten minutes.

Has anyone else encountered this?

I lean towards thinking it is the disc, because I've watched over 100 other UHD discs without a problem. Or perhaps it's a combination of the disc and my particular player or this model of player.

I've only had this happen with two other titles on my 820:

- Casino Royale UHD - Warners reissue from the 4-pack. I similarly went through three copies, the first twenty minutes of each would not even play, they broke up into colored pixels and then froze. I had to buy an old Fox standalone UHD of that title.

- The Last Duel UHD - another Disney title, only three months ago. My first copy broke up exactly like WSS, multiple times within the first half hour. I returned it to Amazon, and the second copy they sent played fine.

Anyone else having similar problems?

I have the most recent firmware - Ver 1.69

[Animatic33]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

[Show spoiler]I've now gone through three copies of the US West Side Story UHD, and all of them have had the picture break up into rainbow-colored pixels within the first ten minutes.

Has anyone else encountered this?

I lean towards thinking it is the disc, because I've watched over 100 other UHD discs without a problem. Or perhaps it's a combination of the disc and my particular player or this model of player.

I've only had this happen with two other titles on my 820:

- Casino Royale UHD - Warners reissue from the 4-pack. I similarly went through three copies, the first twenty minutes of each would not even play, they broke up into colored pixels and then froze. I had to buy an old Fox standalone UHD of thattitle.

[Show spoiler]- The Last Duel UHD - another Disney title, only three months ago. My first copy broke up exactly like WSS, multiple times within the first half hour. I returned it to Amazon, and the second copy they sent played fine.

Anyone else having similar problems?

I have the most recent firmware - Ver 1.69

Unfortunately I did have major issues with my Skyfall UHD from that Bond set, it did enough to my player’s lens that I had to clean it to get it to read UHDs again. I did clean the disc prior to playing it, but I guess I didn’t clean it enough. It’s enough to warrant me thinking about going the route of thoroughly cleaning each disc before playing it, as manufacturing flubs regarding scratches are one thing, but to throw my entire player’s UHD playback out of commission due to residue is an offence I don’t take lightly.

[James Luckard]

I have a friend who has a slightly newer Panasonic UB820 and another friend who has a player of a different brand.

I plan to test all three WSS discs on both of their machines this weekend to see if I can reproduce the image problems.

[NDcowboy]

Back to the DVD discussion,, it's a shame they never rolled out something like a "DVD+" prior to BD to put out a 480p/720p(h.264) on DVD media. Making use of the same cheap media with cheap players and same red laser tech.

[frkonalsh2003]

Originally Posted by NDcowboy

Back to the DVD discussion,, it's a shame they never rolled out something like a "DVD+" prior to BD to put out a 480p/720p(h.264) on DVD media. Making use of the same cheap media with cheap players and same red laser tech.

Sony had the Superbit DVDs which were much like their "Mastered in 4k" BD releases. Premium price for a small uptick in quality.

A bit off topic fellas but I bought a new Panasonic DP-UB420-K player and it works fine except for the Netflix app. My only other option is to use Netflix through Dish Network which doesn't support DD+. I keep getting a HDCP 2.2 issue which I understand it to be for 4k content. I might be my TV which is from 2014 (VIZIO E-SERIES) which I'm looking to upgrade in the near future. I'm hoping its just an old HDMI cable that needs replacing. It could be the ARC between the receiver and TV.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by NDcowboy

Back to the DVD discussion,, it's a shame they never rolled out something like a "DVD+" prior to BD to put out a 480[B]p/720p(h.264) on DVD media. Making use of the same cheap media with cheap players and same red laser tech.

Different, yet similar...HD DVD.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by sofaman

This sounds identical to me, although I watched Independence Day a few days ago and it only took 3 attempts

Last night I tried to watch Ghostbusters II, but after 30mins or so had to give up. Only took 10mins to get the Many Saints of Newark working tho, lol.
I just tried Bladerunner 2049 and it worked first time...twice!

I can categorically assure you this only started happening a few months ago, every disc worked fine before then without a sniff of a problem!

Originally Posted by Animatic33

Interesting how a few of us are having this no read/ trouble loading UHD issue, my 820 is in the shop to see what might be the issue. My model was manufactured in 2018, and has the latest firmware (1.69). Part of me is leaning towards the firmware being a suspect, maybe in some setups it causes issues? My first run-in was with the Ebola Syndrome UHD from VS, then it was fine, and then my Skyfall UHD threw the whole works into chaos.

One thing I did not try before sending it to the shop for repairs, was to disable Dolby Vision support and see if it was trying to load DV on non DV discs.

Did you guys happen to resolve the loading issue?

Mine still won't load UHD-BD66's, everything else works just fine.

I'm thinking of just buying a new 820 and get it over with.

[Animatic33]

Originally Posted by DJR662

Did you guys happen to resolve the loading issue?

Mine still won't load UHD-BD66's, everything else works just fine.

I'm thinking of just buying a new 820 and get it over with.

I cleaned my 820’s lens with a q tip, a small bit of 70% isopropyl alcohol, a spritz of canned air. That seemed to clear everything up.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by frkonalsh2003

A bit off topic fellas but I bought a new Panasonic DP-UB420-K player and it works fine except for the Netflix app. My only other option is to use Netflix through Dish Network which doesn't support DD+. I keep getting a HDCP 2.2 issue which I understand it to be for 4k content. I might be my TV which is from 2014 (VIZIO E-SERIES) which I'm looking to upgrade in the near future. I'm hoping its just an old HDMI cable that needs replacing. It could be the ARC between the receiver and TV.

You should consider just getting an Apple TV and do all your streaming there.

[tama]

Originally Posted by Jghartle

Hi. First time posting. I've already contacted Panasonic about this but just checking to see if anyone here has come across this. Got the new Godfather 4K box set yesterday and tried watching the Godfather. All kinds of noise in the black areas above and below the picture as well as noise/pixelization in some scenes with Dolby Vision on. I then remembered that the same thing had happened with the Indiana Jones box set but at the time I chalked it up to the discs and ordered a replacement. Life got in the way and I had never checked to see if the new discs were having the same problem. Checked today and sure enough same problem as Godfather. It was then that I realized both of these sets were Paramount. I only have 1 other Paramount 4K with DV (It's A Wonderful Life) but haven't gotten around to watching that until today. Same issue. I then checked two discs from other companies (Evil Dead from Lionsgate and They Live from Shout Factory) and no problems. If I turn the DV off, all of the Paramount discs play fine in HDR10. I have the latest firmware (1.69) and I watch DV shows on Netflix with my Firestick all the time with no problems. I've attached 2 images to show what's going on. Any thoughts on this problem? Thanks!

Just recently finished watching the GF Trilogy and had zero issues with my 820. Also had zero issues with My Indy set and IAWL. None of the issues you mentioned where visible with Mt setup.

[Droste]

Originally Posted by Jghartle

Hi. First time posting. I've already contacted Panasonic about this but just checking to see if anyone here has come across this. Got the new Godfather 4K box set yesterday and tried watching the Godfather. All kinds of noise in the black areas above and below the picture as well as noise/pixelization in some scenes with Dolby Vision on. I then remembered that the same thing had happened with the Indiana Jones box set but at the time I chalked it up to the discs and ordered a replacement. Life got in the way and I had never checked to see if the new discs were having the same problem. Checked today and sure enough same problem as Godfather. It was then that I realized both of these sets were Paramount. I only have 1 other Paramount 4K with DV (It's A Wonderful Life) but haven't gotten around to watching that until today. Same issue. I then checked two discs from other companies (Evil Dead from Lionsgate and They Live from Shout Factory) and no problems. If I turn the DV off, all of the Paramount discs play fine in HDR10. I have the latest firmware (1.69) and I watch DV shows on Netflix with my Firestick all the time with no problems. I've attached 2 images to show what's going on. Any thoughts on this problem? Thanks!

I have the panna 9000 and godfather and indie box sets. No problems at all playing the films on the panna.

[CreasyBear]

Reavon players are a joke. They're junk parts inside a shiny case. The Reavon wishes it were built like the UB9000.

[sephirothkefka]

Originally Posted by Jghartle

Hi. First time posting. I've already contacted Panasonic about this but just checking to see if anyone here has come across this. Got the new Godfather 4K box set yesterday and tried watching the Godfather. All kinds of noise in the black areas above and below the picture as well as noise/pixelization in some scenes with Dolby Vision on. I then remembered that the same thing had happened with the Indiana Jones box set but at the time I chalked it up to the discs and ordered a replacement. Life got in the way and I had never checked to see if the new discs were having the same problem. Checked today and sure enough same problem as Godfather. It was then that I realized both of these sets were Paramount. I only have 1 other Paramount 4K with DV (It's A Wonderful Life) but haven't gotten around to watching that until today. Same issue. I then checked two discs from other companies (Evil Dead from Lionsgate and They Live from Shout Factory) and no problems. If I turn the DV off, all of the Paramount discs play fine in HDR10. I have the latest firmware (1.69) and I watch DV shows on Netflix with my Firestick all the time with no problems. I've attached 2 images to show what's going on. Any thoughts on this problem? Thanks!

I too have Godfather 4K's as well as Indy and both seem fine with my setup (820 going through a X3700H to a CX). It could be something with the TV perhaps?

[juzzy3207]

Hey team. Tried scanning through the forums but can’t seem to find this. Australia based. I’m stuck on 1.60 firmware with a UB820 and have the Dolby Vision flickering we’ve all seen (Halloween, Some Like it Hot, etc.) - I’m unable to load the firmware update via USB as it would reset the region free - and the online update says there is no firmware update available. Any ideas on how to obtain the update without plugging in the USB? Thanks in advance.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by juzzy3207

Hey team. Tried scanning through the forums but can’t seem to find this. Australia based. I’m stuck on 1.60 firmware with a UB820 and have the Dolby Vision flickering we’ve all seen (Halloween, Some Like it Hot, etc.) - I’m unable to load the firmware update via USB as it would reset the region free - and the online update says there is no firmware update available. Any ideas on how to obtain the update without plugging in the USB? Thanks in advance.

If it's a modified player you'd need to contact the seller for an updated firmware, if it's software you'd have to pay for the updated firmware file.

If you're really stuck, I'd consider a cheap multi-region player and update your UHD. But the mod seller should provide a new update if they're still around, if they're not ask one of the current crop if they'd help you out.

[sapiendut]

Yeah. This is why I have two UB9000. One for region A and another for region B. Less headaches.

[Rooksx]

I have a UK UB820. The Dune (2021) 4k UHD won't play at all, it keeps saying there's a compatibility problem. Other 4K UHDs work just fine. Anyone else having an issue? I'm having the same problem with the standard Blu-Ray of The Sorcerer. I know there's nothing wrong with that disk as I was able to play it on my computer.

[NeilZ]

Originally Posted by juzzy3207

Hey team. Tried scanning through the forums but can’t seem to find this. Australia based. I’m stuck on 1.60 firmware with a UB820 and have the Dolby Vision flickering we’ve all seen (Halloween, Some Like it Hot, etc.) - I’m unable to load the firmware update via USB as it would reset the region free - and the online update says there is no firmware update available. Any ideas on how to obtain the update without plugging in the USB? Thanks in advance.

Which vendor did you buy it from? Should be as simple as phoning them and asking if they could send you the new modified firmware by email for 1.69.

[Paul.R.S]

Has anyone had any experience cleaning the 820's optical/laser assembly, either via a cleaning disc or sending it in to an authorized service center or an adventurous soul opening the chassis themselves?