Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[David M]

Originally Posted by Nibbler

Hello, I'm a new UB820 owner and have it connected to an LG G3 OLED television too. During installation I updated the pre-installed 1.70 firmware to 1.82 and selected DV mode 1 (TV-led) in the settings. With the very first UHD blu-ray disc I tried, "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1", I have black subtitles from the very start in the opening scene. So for now I switched to DV mode 2 (player-led)

Does anybody know if Panasonic is actually working on a fix?

I've just found the same problem - with the Panasonic 820 connected to a Sony A95L QD OLED. The same player and discs do not show the "blacked out subtitles and menus" problem on my older LG OLED (which was capable of about 600 nits luminance).

The fact that this has just began to rear its head with brighter luminance displays makes me wonder if the player is trying to do some brightness accommodation for graphical elements, based on the luminance level the TV reports to the player via HDMI EDID, combined with the tone mapping data for the scene recorded in the DoVi metadata, and there's a bug in that process.

The thinking is probably "Let's make sure the subtitles aren't too bright in dark scenes, and aren't too dim in bright ones". But that's just speculation on my part.

To test my theory that it's related to the luminance level the TV reports to the player, I'm going to see if I can get some equipment to intercept and rewrite said EDID.

[Nibbler]

Originally Posted by David M

I've just found the same problem - with the Panasonic 820 connected to a Sony A95L QD OLED. The same player and discs do not show the "blacked out subtitles and menus" problem on my older LG OLED (which was capable of about 600 nits luminance).

The fact that this has just began to rear its head with brighter luminance displays makes me wonder if the player is trying to do some brightness accommodation for graphical elements, based on the luminance level the TV reports to the player via HDMI EDID, combined with the tone mapping data for the scene recorded in the DoVi metadata, and there's a bug in that process.

The thinking is probably "Let's make sure the subtitles aren't too bright in dark scenes, and aren't too dim in bright ones". But that's just speculation on my part.

To test my theory that it's related to the luminance level the TV reports to the player, I'm going to see if I can get some equipment to intercept and rewrite said EDID.

Which discs do have the issue in your case? Your theory is what I had in mind too as an explanation. However, why would the bug only be triggered when the player is in STD DV (TV-led) mode and not in LLDV (player-led) mode? The fact that it is related to the luminance level the TV reports, has already been established by members of avsforum. Only TV's capable of displaying higher than 1200 nits are impacted. So I'm not sure what you want to proof by experimenting with manipulating values in the EDID.

[David M]

I wasn't aware that someone else had already established that. That will certainly save me some time.

As for why it doesn't happen in Player led, I'm not sure.

Interestingly, the IG and PG planes are not entirely black. They're just made very, very dark. You can still see some colored details in some menus.

[LateReg]

Hi all. I posted a lengthy synopsis of issues I was having in the Resident Evil 4k Steelbook thread, but I figured I'd be better off posting here since it's not just limited to those discs. I just did a Google search on 4k pixelation, and the Panasonic was the first Reddit result that came up, so I figured somebody here might have similar issues and fixes.

Long story short, I have a 9000 and roughly ten percent of the 4k discs I've played suffer from heavy pixelation and some freezing. I've owned the unit for close to a year now, purchased from Best Buy. The player is fully updated.

90% of these discs play fine in my Sony model I've owned since 2018. In the case of the Resident Evil discs, none played properly in the Panasonic. Two of them still didn't play perfectly in the Sony. I wiped them down to no avail.

The bottom line is that while I can't always be sure whether it's a disc or player issue, I have never had any problems like this up until buying this very expensive player. It will play a marathon of Lynch 4ks, Coppola 4ks, and others perfectly, then randomly pixelate on other discs that play fine in the Sony. I have to think it's largely an issue with the player despite some inconsistencies with the discs.

If anyone has any experience with the same, help would be greatly appreciated.

[panasonicst60]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by LateReg

Hi all. I posted a lengthy synopsis of issues I was having in the Resident Evil 4k Steelbook thread, but I figured I'd be better off posting here since it's not just limited to those discs. I just did a Google search on 4k pixelation, and the Panasonic was the first Reddit result that came up, so I figured somebody here might have similar issues and fixes.

Long story short, I have a 9000 and roughly ten percent of the 4k discs I've played suffer from heavy pixelation and some freezing. I've owned the unit for close to a year now, purchased from Best Buy. The player is fully updated.

90% of these discs play fine in my Sony model I've owned since 2018. In the case of the Resident Evil discs, none played properly in the Panasonic. Two of them still didn't play perfectly in the Sony. I wiped them down to no avail.

The bottom line is that while I can't always be sure whether it's a disc or player issue, I have never had any problems like this up until buying this very expensive player. It will play a marathon of Lynch 4ks, Coppola 4ks, and others perfectly, then randomly pixelate on other discs that play fine in the Sony. I have to think it's largely an issue with the player despite some inconsistencies with the discs.

If anyone has any experience with the same, help would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds like a defective player. If you're within the warranty period I would have it serviced. My ub9000 and ub820 literally plays everything without fuss.

[LateReg]

Originally Posted by panasonicst60

[Show spoiler]

It sounds like a defective player. If you're within the warranty period I would have it serviced. My ub9000 and ub820 literally plays everything without fuss.

Thank you for the reply. I just checked my records and it looks like it was delivered to me on August 17. Which puts it just outside of the one year warranty, if I'm not mistaken.

I had also purchased an 820 previously in 2022, and the disc tray ceased working within 8 months. So I'm not very pleased with my Panasonic experience.

[Gojikranz]

Hello I just bought a ub820 thinking it supported external subtitles.

But on further research it seems only if I have the Chinese firmware?

I did make sure the srt file was called sub in a folder sub no caps etc but not seeing anything pop up.

Just wanting to know if I blew it with this Usa player I think I can return it if so not too interested in tinkering if it is beyond sticking a usb in.

Apologies if this is obvious having trouble finding a clear answer.

[IlCorvo]

Originally Posted by Gojikranz

Hello I just bought a ub820 thinking it supported external subtitles.

But on further research it seems only if I have the Chinese firmware?

I did make sure the srt file was called sub in a folder sub no caps etc but not seeing anything pop up.

Just wanting to know if I blew it with this Usa player I think I can return it if so not too interested in tinkering if it is beyond sticking a usb in.

Apologies if this is obvious having trouble finding a clear answer.

That feature can be obtained by either getting a rattlebyte mod or the custom firmware over at avforums.com.

[Vic Arpeggio]

I'm very tired of my glitchy all-region UB9000, which refuses to play about half of my blu-rays and every tenth 4K disc. I got it just after Christmas. With Panasonic's less-than-stellar warranty and the fact that I bought it modded from 220 Electronics to make it region free, I'm thinking about getting the lower-end Magnetar (I love my still-working old OPPO BDP-103) and using that while this gets fixed and used in the bedroom on the non-4K TV there. Anyone with compare-and-contrast experience with OPPO and Magnetar?

[cybersoga]

Originally Posted by Vic Arpeggio

I'm very tired of my glitchy all-region UB9000, which refuses to play about half of my blu-rays and every tenth 4K disc. I got it just after Christmas. With Panasonic's less-than-stellar warranty and the fact that I bought it modded from 220 Electronics to make it region free, I'm thinking about getting the lower-end Magnetar (I love my still-working old OPPO BDP-103) and using that while this gets fixed and used in the bedroom on the non-4K TV there. Anyone with compare-and-contrast experience with OPPO and Magnetar?

if i were you, i'd get the player repaired. it's a good player, cost a lot of money and shouldn't be like that.

[blue348]

I think the Dolby Vision flickering issue has been patched for some (most?) discs, but the Kino Hard Target disc still does it. Are there any others?

[deatheats]

Originally Posted by blue348

I think the Dolby Vision flickering issue has been patched for some (most?) discs, but the Kino Hard Target disc still does it. Are there any others?

I’m not sure if it’s been fixed as I haven’t updated my firmware, but Krampus was one of the shout titles with immediate and obvious DV flickering.

[tankryankr19]

Picked up a Hisense 43" 4K Roku SmartTV for my bedroom (has Dolby Vision too) might grab the Panasonic UB820 at some point if it goes on sale, if not oh well :P

[Rocklandsboy]

Originally Posted by deatheats

I’m not sure if it’s been fixed as I haven’t updated my firmware, but Krampus was one of the shout titles with immediate and obvious DV flickering.

It seems bizarre that the Oppo 203 which hasn't had an update for years (for obvious reasons) is more capable of playing today's discs than Panasonic players that have active support and "regular" updates...

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

It seems bizarre that the Oppo 203 which hasn't had an update for years (for obvious reasons) is more capable of playing today's discs than Panasonic players that have active support and "regular" updates...

Agreed! My 2016 203 has been rock solid. Minimal issues if at all.

[samuelkhan999]

Just swapped my LG BX with the Hisense U8K as wanted to stay away from OLED heartbreak.

My question is does the UB820 advanced DV settings get activated with the U8k that can do 2000 nits? Thanks

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

Just swapped my LG BX with the Hisense U8K as wanted to stay away from OLED heartbreak.

My question is does the UB820 advanced DV settings get activated with the U8k that can do 2000 nits? Thanks

And what on earth is that?

[samuelkhan999]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

And what on earth is that?

Love oleds but thr bx died in 3 years. Also I've got a 4 and 1 1/2 year old. No point having an oled if your playing cocomelon and Dora the explorer

[chip75]

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

My question is does the UB820 advanced DV settings get activated with the U8k that can do 2000 nits? Thanks

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

And what on earth is that?

The thing that was added with the update? I think if you turn DoVi off then on again you'll see the added option (if your TV is compatible).

[danny24]

I think with disc players it's all luck of the draw out of the box. Some will work for years and years without fuss and others will start to have issues within months. I can't explain why that is but it seems to be a common theme on these fourms. People have the same players some have no issues, others do.