Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[cheez avenger]

Of course a headache I do not need right now - the 820's disc tray won't open. It powers up fine and there's no disc inside either. I unplugged it and let it rest, rebooted and did not eject.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Of course a headache I do not need right now - the 820's disc tray won't open. It powers up fine and there's no disc inside either. I unplugged it and let it rest, rebooted and did not eject.

My player is still basically brand new and the door sounds so anemic opening and closing, almost like the motor is too weak to push the door. My Toshiba XA-2 feels like a cement truck dropping compared. Hearing things like this makes me nervous anytime I use the 820.

[cheez avenger]

It works now. I left it unplugged for about 20 minutes then went back to it, plugged it in, powered it on, and then ejected the tray and it worked.

Want a pain in the ass.

[Telemachus]

I found another problem disc on the 820, Halloween 4 in DV has the flicker jumps, it's very rare compared to Hard Target (which happens almost every scene change) but happened enough in Halloween 4 it annoyed me so I ran it in HDR.

[bl4ck]

https://www.xlr8yourmac.com/audio/Pa...feedbackReport it fixed flickering with Halloween/Halloween 2/Halloween 3 & Ghost in the Shell (1995) 4k/UHD.

Originally Posted by Telemachus

I found another problem disc on the 820, Halloween 4

Don't worry In two years maybe will be next firmware with fix maybe.

[Batfink1978]

So I bought a 820 multi region from TPS in November. I've started to notice several things including freezing and skipping plus DV problems with Kino releases and a few other releases.

Tonight we watched 2 blurays the first was crimson rivers region A Kino release, the second was Arachnophobia. Now I upgraded from a 450 player which the only real problem I had was it freezing on criterion 4k discs. I never had these disc freezing problems at all.

So is my machine faulty or what. The player is up to date and so is the TV. Any idea? I've emailed TPS to see what they say but it's seriously annoying as it happens at random.

[pikwik]

Recently I've been ripping a lot of my Blu-rays to play on Plex - but would they look better playing from the disc and upscaled?

[Tok]

Originally Posted by gothicform

Yeah. Mine has failed. Not only does it not eject almost all the time, but if it does eject, once you have the tray out and hit the button so it goes back instead it gives a message about it being an incorrect operation and the unit shuts down.

My solution was to try and order a replacement as it would be easy to fix myself, but I couldn't get it shipped to me. End result - it's gone back to Richer Sounds and I have a refund.

I now have a Reavon X200 in its place, with only one tiny hitch... the Reavon got shipped WITHOUT a remote control. If anyone here got two remotes, I'd like mine back please

Unfortunately I think Panasonic is going the way of Toshiba and Pioneer and just becoming nothing more than a name on a product. They sold off their IC business according to a recent YT video. They just don’t have a strong market presence. They brought back the Technics brand to the Japanese and US Markets but I don’t think audiophile products are going to save them. Their stock price has remained stagnant so wrt value over time it’s lost a ton of value.

It’s just another example of a company that decided to rest on its laurels. Good products but no innovation or improvements in the last 5 years. Matsushita and Panasonic have a long history and for the most part they made really good products. I sold an early 80s Technics Dolby (B/C)/dbx cassette that my brother bought for our stereo when we were kids just a year or two ago. Unit looked practically new. Its speed was still spot on with the original factory belt. It was still running fine mechanically but I did re-grease a few mechanisms for the new owner. And most of all tapes still sounded great. It’s too bad electronics from the 90s on started to become throwaway junk.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

It’s always the Sony’s problem. To this day they are the only one who can not implement DV properly. After all, this is a company that sells “object based DTM” that doesn’t work and selling projectors in the 2023 that can’t do 4K/120 to support their own gaming machine.

Yeah it’s another example of right hand doesn’t know what left hand doing… seriously don’t these divisions talk to one another. Is there still bad blood between Sony CE and Sony PlayStation for including a BD drive with PS3.

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by Batfink1978

So I bought a 820 multi region from TPS in November.

I didn't know there was a multi-region version. Is it official or customized?

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

I didn't know there was a multi-region version. Is it official or customized?

No stock player is region free by default, it would be against the contract the manufacturer signed when they were authorized to make officially licensed 4K UHD players. They're modded.

The Magnetar is the exception, it's region free out of the box, but given it's price point it's not exactly a competitor for any of the other brands.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

No stock player is region free by default, it would be against the contract the manufacturer signed when they were authorized to make officially licensed 4K UHD players. They're modded.

The Magnetar is the exception, it's region free out of the box, but given it's price point it's not exactly a competitor for any of the other brands.

Even on the Magnetar you have to pay additional money in order to get the special firmware to make it region free capable. It’s a workaround of the contract.

[ronand]

A new version of the region free patch for the UB420/820/9000 players is available on the avforums site. New features include a massive speed improvement in the menu system (some bugs that were hogging the CPU have been solved) and a UB9000 menu look for the lower spec players

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by Tok

Unfortunately I think Panasonic is going the way of Toshiba and Pioneer and just becoming nothing more than a name on a product. They sold off their IC business according to a recent YT video. They just don’t have a strong market presence. They brought back the Technics brand to the Japanese and US Markets but I don’t think audiophile products are going to save them. Their stock price has remained stagnant so wrt value over time it’s lost a ton of value.

It’s just another example of a company that decided to rest on its laurels. Good products but no innovation or improvements in the last 5 years. Matsushita and Panasonic have a long history and for the most part they made really good products. I sold an early 80s Technics Dolby (B/C)/dbx cassette that my brother bought for our stereo when we were kids just a year or two ago. Unit looked practically new. Its speed was still spot on with the original factory belt. It was still running fine mechanically but I did re-grease a few mechanisms for the new owner. And most of all tapes still sounded great. It’s too bad electronics from the 90s on started to become throwaway junk.

Panasonic is still HUGE in Japan and if you go there their name is everywhere.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by pikwik

Recently I've been ripping a lot of my Blu-rays to play on Plex - but would they look better playing from the disc and upscaled?

If you are converting them to mkv correctly and with the right software, you will keep the video and audio in a 1:1 lossless form, including Dolby Atmos, DTS: X, Auro3D, and Dolby Vision MEL and FEL.


It's no different from playing the 4k or 1080p disc sans FBI warnings, menus, etc.


The only issue is FEL Dolby Vision. That takes very specific local streaming hardware (since the chip used has dual HEVC decoders... Dune, Zidoo, and other local streamers do not have dual HEVC decoders that can be tasked with FEL Dolby Vision decoding) and various software and firmware patches.

[pikwik]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If you are converting them to mkv correctly and with the right software, you will keep the video and audio in a 1:1 lossless form, including Dolby Atmos, DTS: X, Auro3D, and Dolby Vision MEL and FEL.


It's no different from playing the 4k or 1080p disc sans FBI warnings, menus, etc.


The only issue is FEL Dolby Vision. That takes very specific local streaming hardware (since the chip used has dual HEVC decoders... Dune, Zidoo, and other local streamers do not have dual HEVC decoders that can be tasked with FEL Dolby Vision decoding) and various software and firmware patches.

Thanks. I'm using MakeMKV to rip 1:1 1080p blu-ray copies. I don't have the ability to rip 4K UHD yet (my projector doesn't support DV anyway). I attempted to do a comparison between the disc and the Plex rip, and I can't really notice a difference.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by pikwik

Thanks. I'm using MakeMKV to rip 1:1 1080p blu-ray copies. I don't have the ability to rip 4K UHD yet (my projector doesn't support DV anyway). I attempted to do a comparison between the disc and the Plex rip, and I can't really notice a difference.

It's time for a new projector if it doesn't have 4k and HDR support. Yes, most projectors only have HDR10 compatibility. HOWEVER, with an HDFury device, you can trick Dolby Vision players and local streamers into sending "player led," pre-decoded and pre-digested dynamic metadata Dolby Vision to a 4k HDR10 display (even projectors and even in 12 bit quality).


I tried this trick out with my JVC projector, Oppo 203, Panny 820, and Zidoo streamer and the picture quality is visibly soooo much better than just straight HDR10. The upper HDFury's, like the Vertex2, can also allow you to set a custom Dolby Vision curve and send that to the display to fine tune the image quality.



The Zidoo has a Dolby VS10 engine that can also convert HDR10 and SDR content to send a remapped player led Dolby Vision signal. It's da bomb!

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by pikwik

Recently I've been ripping a lot of my Blu-rays to play on Plex - but would they look better playing from the disc and upscaled?

On my TV (LG G2), yes, Panny has better 1080p upscaling than the TV running Plex. I did some trials over time, and the Panny looks superior giving upscaled 4k to the LG. I only use Plex for things I don't own anymore (or *coughSTARWARSOTcough*, so makes no difference when I do use it.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

On my TV (LG G2), yes, Panny has better 1080p upscaling than the TV running Plex. I did some trials over time, and the Panny looks superior giving upscaled 4k to the LG. I only use Plex for things I don't own anymore, so makes no difference when I do use it.

The Zidoo Pro models with the Dolby VS10 upscaler and Dolby Vision converter do not use Plex and the upscaling to 4k is superior to the Panny player or Plex. I run my mkv files through the Zidoo and it's a noticeable improvement. Yes, I keep all my purchased discs as backups for the mkv catalog. Star Wars, in my case anyway, is not a version you can find on any disc.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by BijouMan

Panasonic is still HUGE in Japan and if you go there their name is everywhere.

The real issue though is no innovation. Seems like they’ve put a lot of eggs into the automotive and battery sectors but it still is a much smaller company than they were 10-15 years ago.