Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[FilmPrick]

Originally Posted by chip75

Just at a quick glance ... LGs no longer support DTS, so that's probably the issue. I'd send audio to your sound bar directly.

Thank your for the reply. That's unfortunate, I'm not sure how I overlooked that detail. So when connecting the player audio out to the soundbar, I shouldn't use the ARC port since there's no need for it to be two way, right?

I wonder if LG will bring back support for that at some point. I guess unlikely.

I have so many DTS blus.. lol

[chip75]

Originally Posted by FilmPrick

Thank your for the reply. That's unfortunate, I'm not sure how I overlooked that detail. So when connecting the player audio out to the soundbar, I shouldn't use the ARC port since there's no need for it to be two way, right?

I wonder if LG will bring back support for that at some point. I guess unlikely.

I have so many DTS blus.. lol

You can still use ARC or eARC to get audio from your TV to your sound bar (for Apps and TV audio), just plug your player into another sound bar input.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by cminer72

I guess the moral is clean your discs. It seems more temperamental to smudges than scratches.

All the 4K players are. If there's gunk on the disc, something usually goes wrong.

[FilmPrick]

Originally Posted by chip75

You can still use ARC or eARC to get audio from your TV to your sound bar (for Apps and TV audio), just plug your player into another sound bar input.

Yes, I'll definitely still be doing that for TV-based content, but I just meant for the player specifically, there's no need for it to go specifically to the eARC port, right? But I also thought I would have to unplug the soundbar from the TV while doing this.. since I'm passing the video from the other port on the player to the TV directly.

I tried doing video/audio both from the player to the soundbar and then soundbar passthrough video to the TV, but it wasn't happy about that either. The soundbar kept endlessly swapping inputs while I had that set up.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by FilmPrick

Yes, I'll definitely still be doing that for TV-based content, but I just meant for the player specifically, there's no need for it to go specifically to the eARC port, right? But I also thought I would have to unplug the soundbar from the TV while doing this.. since I'm passing the video from the other port on the player to the TV directly.

I tried doing video/audio both from the player to the soundbar and then soundbar passthrough video to the TV, but it wasn't happy about that either. The soundbar kept endlessly swapping inputs while I had that set up.

The swapping inputs thing can be a pain, the same things happen with some AVRs. You can disable HDMI control and see if that helps, but it won't switch back to TV audio when you finish with your player.

Either plug the player into a non ARC input on your sound bar, or plug it into the LG and route the audio into the sound bar. Leave the Samsung to LG ARC connected.

[cupboy]

The 9000 I have times out pretty quickly but the Oppo 205 will stay on forever which doesn't seem to hurt it any. It has a screen saver.

[FilmPrick]

Originally Posted by chip75

The swapping inputs thing can be a pain, the same things happen with some AVRs. You can disable HDMI control and see if that helps, but it won't switch back to TV audio when you finish with your player.

Either plug the player into a non ARC input on your sound bar, or plug it into the LG and route the audio into the sound bar. Leave the Samsung to LG ARC connected.

Hmm, alright thanks, maybe I'll try it again through the soundbar with that trick if that's a common thing that happens. Because the option of audio through the LG seems untenable given how many DTS discs I own.

What do you set for the Downmix setting on the 820? I assumed mine should be surround instead of stereo considering the capability of the soundbar system, but I'm not sure I grasp what that setting does anyway.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by FilmPrick

Hmm, alright thanks, maybe I'll try it again through the soundbar with that trick if that's a common thing that happens. Because the option of audio through the LG seems untenable given how many DTS discs I own.

What do you set for the Downmix setting on the 820? I assumed mine should be surround instead of stereo considering the capability of the soundbar system, but I'm not sure I grasp what that setting does anyway.

If you can manage to get your single HDMI devices into the sound bar along with your player's audio DTS won't be an issue, as Apps are Dolby. You'll be just sending video to the LG if you need to, with your 820's video already going straight.

Surround or Stereo, it's just personal preference, I don't think it affects HD audio, 2.0 should be still 2.0 unless you use DSP. But if you listen to stereo and would like it try the surround option (that's if it's the option I think it is).

[FilmPrick]

Originally Posted by chip75

If you can manage to get your single HDMI devices into the sound bar along with your player's audio DTS won't be an issue, as Apps are Dolby. You'll be just sending video to the LG if you need to, with your 820's video already going straight.

Surround or Stereo, it's just personal preference, I don't think it affects HD audio, 2.0 should be still 2.0 unless you use DSP. But if you listen to stereo and would like it try the surround option (that's if it's the option I think it is).

Hey, wanted to follow-up and say thanks again along with some good news. I really wanted to get video passthrough to work with my soundbar so that I could have only one route out from the player, so I came up with a sequence of resets and unplugs/replugs that eventually led to it working!

I think the essential part of it was to factory reset the TV, then before turning it back on, have the player and soundbar already hooked up and turned on as desired. Then once I went through the TV set up again, it was working perfectly without any input swaps. I am now getting DTS-HD from the player while using it and can switch to a streaming app on the TV seamlessly without the soundbar freaking out. Really happy to have all audio coming through as expected. So yeah, thanks for the original call out on LG not being able to pass through DTS.

In regard to your last comment, I'm not sure how I would know if I was using DSP or not, but since I don't know, I guess I'm probably not

[chip75]

Glad it's all sorted, mate.

[drush9999]

Having had this player over a month now, can I just say the remote layout sucks donkey balls. Years of Sony remotes have been good to me. My sausage fingers are not forming the correct muscle memory and that damn Netflix button is like a magnet. I also miss a subtitle button. Rant over, buying the alternate official remote

[PissedOffPeoN]

Originally Posted by CompleteCount

I have no idea, but after it wrecked the 5th disc I'd had enough, and ordered a new one. I've always kept my discs in excellent condition - I just can't fathom why the damn machine started doing it. The 66GB disc it ruined by merely pausing it was one which hadn't been played before, but was inspected for smearing/residue before loading.

Mine will not play 4k discs and it says disc not compatible and does not load up until i find a disc that does and then it will run it when the discs are new. I really need to buy a new one but i got an oppo 203 as backup. I just use as a dvd and blu ray for now. I opened up and cleaned with some iso alcohol... prob the wear and tear over years i prob marathon over 8000 hours.

[CompleteCount]

Originally Posted by PissedOffPeoN

Mine will not play 4k discs and it says disc not compatible and does not load up until i find a disc that does and then it will run it when the discs are new. I really need to buy a new one but i got an oppo 203 as backup. I just use as a dvd and blu ray for now. I opened up and cleaned with some iso alcohol... prob the wear and tear over years i prob marathon over 8000 hours.

I picked up a bottle of Isoprophyl for cleaning, too. It was used as part of a process of elimination as to if it was the machine or the discs which were at fault. I have a crap Pioneer multiregion player (biggest piece of shit I ever bought...) on which to play standard Blu-rays and DVDs, so as to take the strain off of the (working) 820.

[hallowdrew]

You and I are in the same boat. Only two weeks in and I've already cursed out the Netflix button placement on multiple occasions. My muscle memory is still attached to the little Sony X700 controller.

Originally Posted by drush9999

Having had this player over a month now, can I just say the remote layout sucks donkey balls. Years of Sony remotes have been good to me. My sausage fingers are not forming the correct muscle memory and that damn Netflix button is like a magnet. I also miss a subtitle button. Rant over, buying the alternate official remote

[Yogi6807]

Originally Posted by hallowdrew

You and I are in the same boat. Only two weeks in and I've already cursed out the Netflix button placement on multiple occasions. My muscle memory is still attached to the little Sony X700 controller.

If you go back a couple pages you can buy the original ub9000 remote or a copy for $15 on eBay.

[carpanafilms]

Originally Posted by Cherokee Jack

[Show spoiler]Following up on my 820's playback issues, I experienced them again tonight and now I'm definitely getting suspicious that my player might be faulty. The disc (Hunt for Red October UHD) had no scratches visible under close inspection and just a few tiny particles of dust. Yet it broke up into pixelation several times, something it did not do the last time I watched it on my old Sony X800.

The odd thing is that the pixelation only occurred immediately after resuming playback after pausing it; it did this after pausing a few times so I don't think it was a specific part of the film with an issue. This is not the first disc where pixelation has occurred after pausing but it's the most extreme example of it only occurring after pausing. Might this indicate a player issue rather than just oversensitivity to disc faults?

Your issues look anything like this?





At first I thought it was a double layer disc issue but has happened with triples. Only with UHD though. Brand new or previously watched.

[Cherokee Jack]

Originally Posted by carpanafilms

Your issues look anything like this?

[Show spoiler]

At first I thought it was a double layer disc issue but has happened with triples. Only with UHD though. Brand new or previously watched.

Yep, that’s it. Usually it appears only briefly at first but then gets progressively worse until the disc becomes essentially unwatchable. Has almost exclusively impacted UHD’s; one exception was the Shout theatrical cut BD of Dances With Wolves. That disc, like most of the UHD’s that have had issues, played fine on a backup Sony player.

[Number_6]

Lol, just my luck.

So I bought this player based on the glowing reviews to replace my Sony that glitches and locks up when playing 4K discs.

No sooner to I get the thing and hook it up now it seems everyone is reporting problems with this player, and with playing 4K discs to boot.

I haven’t had a chance to actually pop in a 4K disc and try this player out but if I’m going to have the same problems others now seem to be having I may have to just return it and get rid of all my 4K discs as there doesn’t to be a player on the market that can actually handle this format.

[Cherokee Jack]

Originally Posted by Number_6

Lol, just my luck.

So I bought this player based on the glowing reviews to replace my Sony that glitches and locks up when playing 4K discs.

No sooner to I get the thing and hook it up now it seems everyone is reporting problems with this player, and with playing 4K discs to boot.

I haven’t had a chance to actually pop in a 4K disc and try this player out but if I’m going to have the same problems others now seem to be having I may have to just return it and get rid of all my 4K discs as there doesn’t to be a player on the market that can actually handle this format.

I wouldn’t rush to judgment. The vast majority of Panasonic UHD player owners swear by them. The problems some of us are dealing with seem to be affecting relatively few units. And in my case, I’m still able to play something like 90% of my UHD’s without issue. It’s nowhere near as unreliable as the Sony UHD players I’ve used.

[ronand]

Originally Posted by Number_6

Lol, just my luck.

So I bought this player based on the glowing reviews to replace my Sony that glitches and locks up when playing 4K discs.

No sooner to I get the thing and hook it up now it seems everyone is reporting problems with this player, and with playing 4K discs to boot.

I haven’t had a chance to actually pop in a 4K disc and try this player out but if I’m going to have the same problems others now seem to be having I may have to just return it and get rid of all my 4K discs as there doesn’t to be a player on the market that can actually handle this format.

Don't condemn it without actually using it. There are 2 or 3 people having problems with discs and thousands of others with no issues. Yes faulty units will happen from time to time and these should be returned.