Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Kirk Out]

No problems until , Rotj 4k freezes when R2 is taken to the back in jabbas it plays after 20 sec or so freeze . I’ll try another copy of disc

[barrett75]

in my experience every disc i had that froze/pixelate was NEVER a player problem but a disc problem. i replaced every botched disc and i NEVER had a problem with the replacement.

[Oniiz86]

Originally Posted by trespoochies

Hmm, didn’t throw in the Kino Hard Target. I’ll check that one out tomorrow and see if there is any flickering.

I was just wondering if you managed to check out Kino's Hard Target disc yet?

Over at the Hard Target 4K UHD thread an owner had picked up the latest Universal UK 4K UHD DV release & finds it very much to be superior, no audio issues (I know the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track was corrected but unfortunately the DTS-HD MA 2.0 track was never fixed) & NO Dolby Vision flickering issues

Originally Posted by DMRI2006

I ended up buying the Universal UK UHD which doesn't have a 2.0 track, but also doesn't have the Dolby Vision HDR "brightness pop" in my Panasonic player that the KL disc exhibits. The 5.1 sound is also superior.

[Zimrann]

Has anybody here who has the UB820 experienced the player shutting down immediately after turning it on via the remote (quick start mode is on)? This appears to happen randomly and not all of the time.

[Moviemaniac92]

Originally Posted by Nori

I have one from them and never had any issues.

Updates require waiting for them to become available to them (last time was like 5 or so days) and then calling to ask for the file to be emailed. If you manually update online will break the region free capabilities of the modded player requiring technical support.

I tried contacting them about the update, but they are not answering. I sent two emails.

[dcx4610]

Originally Posted by barrett75

in my experience every disc i had that froze/pixelate was NEVER a player problem but a disc problem. i replaced every botched disc and i NEVER had a problem with the replacement.

I echo this. Ive played over 100 discs on my 820 and 9000 and I've only had two glitches the entire run. Both were Star Wars discs and both had scratches on them from being double stacked on the spindle.

When all 9 movies were released on UHD, it was a nightmare getting clean copies thanks to Disney and their disc stacking crap. All Disney releases with multiple discs are a gamble because of that.

[B.inthe6]

Originally Posted by Zimrann

Has anybody here who has the UB820 experienced the player shutting down immediately after turning it on via the remote (quick start mode is on)? This appears to happen randomly and not all of the time.

I have 2 UB820s (1 newer / 1 older) & both have this issue (in quick start mode). Seems to be random but illogically could have something to do with which static screen is displayed at the time of turn on. The player just goes to "Goodbye" after turn on & requires (only one) restart. I can't confirm anything because it won't happen "on demand" no matter what I attempt.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by barrett75

in my experience every disc i had that froze/pixelate was NEVER a player problem but a disc problem. i replaced every botched disc and i NEVER had a problem with the replacement.

I had a more complicated experience with my first 820. I think it was both the player and the discs.

I had been using my 820 for about a year when discs started pixelating on it.

The Last Duel UHD was the first one. I replaced it twice before I got one that played properly.

Next the Casino Royale UHD started pixelating. I went through three copies of the Warner Craig boxset version of CR before I finally bought a copy of the old Fox standalone CR UHD and got it to play.

Up to that point, I thought it was just the discs alone.

However, the next problem was the West Side Story UHD. I went through three of them, and they all pixelated at roughly the same spots. I tried all three of those same discs on a friend's brand new 820 and they did not pixelate at all.

Finally, the Singin in the Rain UHD pixaleted like crazy on my 820 and I gave up.

I bought a brand new 820.

Suddenly, all my problems went away. Singin in the Rain played perfectly. West Side Story played perfectly. Everything has played perfectly ever since.

I think it's a combination. Some discs are more prone to causing pixelization problems.

But 820 players can also have their lasers get misaligned by the tiniest bit, causing certain discs to become unplayable.

In my experience, it seems like both the discs and the players are FAR more sensitive and fragile with UHD than BD and even DVD ever were.

[Nori]

Yeah wish Panasonic would update the players with maybe more solid disc drives. In terms of video quality they’re the best on the market but they don’t have the reliability of the Sony players. The 9000 was reportedly a better drive at first but when you read actual experiences seems to be very similar. Like it’s up to luck if you get a good one or not that will last.

[Nori]

Originally Posted by Moviemaniac92

I tried contacting them about the update, but they are not answering. I sent two emails.

Try phoning, might be easier.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I had a more complicated experience with my first 820. I think it was both the player and the discs.

I had been using my 820 for about a year when discs started pixelating on it.

The Last Duel UHD was the first one. I replaced it twice before I got one that played properly.

Next the Casino Royale UHD started pixelating. I went through three copies of the Warner Craig boxset version of CR before I finally bought a copy of the old Fox standalone CR UHD and got it to play.

Up to that point, I thought it was just the discs alone.

However, the next problem was the West Side Story UHD. I went through three of them, and they all pixelated at roughly the same spots. I tried all three of those same discs on a friend's brand new 820 and they did not pixelate at all.

Finally, the Singin in the Rain UHD pixaleted like crazy on my 820 and I gave up.

I bought a brand new 820.

Suddenly, all my problems went away. Singin in the Rain played perfectly. West Side Story played perfectly. Everything has played perfectly ever since.

I think it's a combination. Some discs are more prone to causing pixelization problems.

But 820 players can also have their lasers get misaligned by the tiniest bit, causing certain discs to become unplayable.

In my experience, it seems like both the discs and the players are FAR more sensitive and fragile with UHD than BD and even DVD ever were.

Exactly this. My own 820 (which wasn’t even bought new!) has been bulletproof with all manner of scratched and smudgy discs. It’s becoming a little more temperamental as it gets older mind you, but don’t we all?

The tolerances for error appear to be ridonkulously small with the format though, yes, that it only takes a fractional misalignment of the laser to make it - or any UHD player - ultra sensitive to all that crap on the discs, and with the lack of quality replication in North America I’m sure there are some duff discs out there too.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Exactly this. My own 820 (which wasn’t even bought new!) has been bulletproof with all manner of scratched and smudgy discs. It’s becoming a little more temperamental as it gets older mind you, but don’t we all?

The tolerances for error appear to be ridonkulously small with the format though, yes, that it only takes a fractional misalignment of the laser to make it - or any UHD player - ultra sensitive to all that crap on the discs, and with the lack of quality replication in North America I’m sure there are some duff discs out there too.

Yep, and the other thing I found is that, as I expected, it's virtually impossible to repair them. When a Panasonic player starts konking out, it becomes a very expensive piece of garbage. A new machine is the only real option.

I'm seriously considering buying another one to keep as a backup for the future, since I don't expect there will ever be a better UHD player, or that there will be a physical media format after UHD.

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Exactly this. My own 820 (which wasn’t even bought new!) has been bulletproof with all manner of scratched and smudgy discs. It’s becoming a little more temperamental as it gets older mind you, but don’t we all?

The tolerances for error appear to be ridonkulously small with the format though, yes, that it only takes a fractional misalignment of the laser to make it - or any UHD player - ultra sensitive to all that crap on the discs, and with the lack of quality replication in North America I’m sure there are some duff discs out there too.

My fear is with the quality of the discs. Now, with only a small handful of replicators in the world; I'm sure they are under even more pressure to get each title out quickly so they can move onto the next. That probably can't be good for quality control.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by RevolverOcelScott

I got it from Amazon, so the return period is far past, as the issues arose a couple months ago. As for warranty, I hear it's 90 days and after that you have to pay for shipping, repairs, and shipping. I have contacted them, but I also don't wanna be without my player for multiple weeks unfortunately.

Not sure what US consumer law is, but I'd imagine you're covered for at least a year. Paying for shipping and repairs isn't a warranty, that's doing it yourself!

Check with Amazon as well as your credit card to see how you're covered.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by thebarnman

My fear is with the quality of the discs. Now, with only a small handful of replicators in the world; I'm sure they are under even more pressure to get each title out quickly so they can move onto the next. That probably can't be good for quality control.

Not sure quickness really comes into it as these things were being bashed out in their thousands, hundreds of thousands maybe, every day during disc’s golden years. But as they seek to cut costs then they might be using poorer quality plastics or replication machines that aren’t so well maintained from day to day which is allowing all these errors in, as well as the desperately poor handling of the discs themselves leading to fingerprints, smudges and scratches, plus that oily gunk that infests some batches of discs and cases.

I think if the drives were aligned betterer out of the factory then we’d see a LOT less of the horror stories with machines that seize up as soon as you waft a disc past the front of it, but as it is it’s pot luck. James could well buy a new one as a backup - and why not, as these Pannys are quality disc spinners - but it might have a gammy drive and he’d never know about it until he cracked it open years later.

[Zimrann]

Originally Posted by B.inthe6

I have 2 UB820s (1 newer / 1 older) & both have this issue (in quick start mode). Seems to be random but illogically could have something to do with which static screen is displayed at the time of turn on. The player just goes to "Goodbye" after turn on & requires (only one) restart. I can't confirm anything because it won't happen "on demand" no matter what I attempt.

Yes, it does indeed appear to be completely random. Although if my receiver is turned on before the UB820 then it does seem to happen more often than when the receiver is not and switched on after the Panasonic .

[barrett75]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I had a more complicated experience with my first 820. I think it was both the player and the discs.

I had been using my 820 for about a year when discs started pixelating on it.

The Last Duel UHD was the first one. I replaced it twice before I got one that played properly.

Next the Casino Royale UHD started pixelating. I went through three copies of the Warner Craig boxset version of CR before I finally bought a copy of the old Fox standalone CR UHD and got it to play.

Up to that point, I thought it was just the discs alone.

However, the next problem was the West Side Story UHD. I went through three of them, and they all pixelated at roughly the same spots. I tried all three of those same discs on a friend's brand new 820 and they did not pixelate at all.

Finally, the Singin in the Rain UHD pixaleted like crazy on my 820 and I gave up.

I bought a brand new 820.

Suddenly, all my problems went away. Singin in the Rain played perfectly. West Side Story played perfectly. Everything has played perfectly ever since.

I think it's a combination. Some discs are more prone to causing pixelization problems.

But 820 players can also have their lasers get misaligned by the tiniest bit, causing certain discs to become unplayable.

In my experience, it seems like both the discs and the players are FAR more sensitive and fragile with UHD than BD and even DVD ever were.

thanks for the feedback. i bought my UB9000 in 2018 and i had few UHD discs pixelating. as far back as i remember they were: Last Night In Soho (ITA), Inglorious Basterds (GER), Pulp Fiction (ITA), The Man Who Fell The Earth (UK), Star Trek II (SPA), Taxi Driver (ITA), Yesterday (SPA), La Piscine (FRA), Vertigo (ITA). La Piscine was fully readable with 1.69 firmware, Vertigo was a known issue and that was corrected with the second print. I surely forgot other releases. Curiously as you can see i had problems only with EU discs (all of them printed in Poland at Vantiva - ex Technicolor - except Taxi Driver at Sony). i own litteraly hundreds of US "mexican" discs and at the moment NONE of them ever caused me a problem, even when they're scratched to hell (like Devil in a blue dress, for example) unlike the EU ones that are always pristine when looking at them. weird is, like i said before, that i replace all the discs stated above and the replacement has always worked. all things considered it's really becoming a lottery, i'm a little bit tired i must confess.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

James could well buy a new one as a backup - and why not, as these Pannys are quality disc spinners - but it might have a gammy drive and he’d never know about it until he cracked it open years later.

Ah, at least I have that one figured out. If I buy a backup, I plan to open it and use it as my primary player for a month or so, to be sure it's good, then I'll box it up again and go back to my old machine.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by barrett75

thanks for the feedback. i bought my UB9000 in 2018 and i had few UHD discs pixelating. as far back as i remember they were: Last Night In Soho (ITA), Inglorious Basterds (GER), Pulp Fiction (ITA), The Man Who Fell The Earth (UK), Star Trek II (SPA), Taxi Driver (ITA), Yesterday (SPA), La Piscine (FRA), Vertigo (ITA). La Piscine was fully readable with 1.69 firmware, Vertigo was a known issue and that was corrected with the second print. I surely forgot other releases. Curiously as you can see i had problems only with EU discs (all of them printed in Poland at Vantiva - ex Technicolor - except Taxi Driver at Sony). i own litteraly hundreds of US "mexican" discs and at the moment NONE of them ever caused me a problem, even when they're scratched to hell (like Devil in a blue dress, for example) unlike the EU ones that are always pristine when looking at them. weird is, like i said before, that i replace all the discs stated above and the replacement has always worked. all things considered it's really becoming a lottery, i'm a little bit tired i must confess.

I really think it's an unknowable combination of certain discs with certain players. The technology itself just seems to be inherently fragile and delicate, unlike BD, where I never had a single problem with players or discs for playback, except for a few discs that rotted completely due to known manufacturing faults.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Ah, at least I have that one figured out. If I buy a backup, I plan to open it and use it as my primary player for a month or so, to be sure it's good, then I'll box it up again and go back to my old machine.

Makes sense