Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Sky_Captain]

The region switching for BDs has stopped working on my UB820. DVDs are fine.

I usually have it set to Region A and watched some Region A discs recently.

I was testing the UK release of Azrael last night, to see if it was Region B locked. It started playing and I thought 'Okay, it's not region coded'.

Then I played something I knew was Region B locked and it also played.

So I tried some Region A discs and no dice.

Tried switching the region again and nope.

I've done the usual thing of powering it off completely for 15mins, including removing the HDMI lead, but it's had no effect.

It's from Multiregion Magic, so I assume they'll help me out, but what a pain in the dick.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

Curious to know if HDMI 2.1 cables help with some of these issues, even if the equipment at either end is not 2.1 compliant. The cable shouldn't make difference in those cases, but does it?

If the updated HDMI cable allows for more bandwidth to travel on it, then of course it makes a difference.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If the updated HDMI cable allows for more bandwidth to travel on it, then of course it makes a difference.

Ehhhhh. If it's just carrying a 4K movie then even old 1.4 cables have plenty o' bandwidth for 4K24, I'm using some cables I've had for 15 years (at least) with zero problems.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If the updated HDMI cable allows for more bandwidth to travel on it, then of course it makes a difference.

It should only be an improvement if the other one was faulty.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Ehhhhh. If it's just carrying a 4K movie then even old 1.4 cables have plenty o' bandwidth for 4K24, I'm using some cables I've had for 15 years (at least) with zero problems.

A lot depends on whether you are running to a projector or not. Longer distances with HDMI are a real bastard for 12 bit 4k HDR video, especially if it's 60 fps.



Even hybrid fiber HDMI cables can be finicky. Let's face it, HDMI is a junk interface and always has been.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

A lot depends on whether you are running to a projector or not. Longer distances with HDMI are a real bastard for 12 bit 4k HDR video, especially if it's 60 fps.



Even hybrid fiber HDMI cables can be finicky. Let's face it, HDMI is a junk interface and always has been.

Length is an issue, yes.

[deatheats]

A bit off topic, but it’s too bad most audio and video equipment doesn’t support DisplayPort. Dueling standards have their downsides, but seeing the two side by side in the AV world would have been cool to compare apples to apples.

I get licensing and fees make it a virtual impossibility, so we will likely not see TVs with DP support, but I’d be curious to know how DP performs in longer runs vs HDMI. Folks who use PC and Monitor setups to watch movies may be able to chime in here. Monitors may also be our best bet for wider aspect screens if they start making them in larger sizes.

On a side note, the HDMI 1.4 > 2.0 > 2.1 transition was botched and aren’t really standards, per se, with various optional features each device might support.

[hansolo]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Ehhhhh. If it's just carrying a 4K movie then even old 1.4 cables have plenty o' bandwidth for 4K24, I'm using some cables I've had for 15 years (at least) with zero problems.

I still have very old and fancy looking HDMI cable bundled with Popcorn Hour A110 mediaplayer. Must be from 1.3 era. It's connected between Apple TV 4K and LG Oled. No problemos up to 4K 60Hz Dolby Vision .

[TheHistorian]

I got tired of my Sony X700 complaining (loudly!) about every other disc. I decided to jump all the way up to a UB9000 (with a region free mod from 220-electronics) and received it today.

I did a lot of testing. Obviously it's better in basically every way measurable.

I noticed a couple slight oddities though:

1. The Sony has frame-by-frame reverse for blu-rays while the Panasonic doesn't (neither has it for 4K of course). Not a major loss, but very slightly annoying.

2. There were a few cases where frame-by-frame advance didn't work at all. It seemed to happen with blu-rays that have pop-up menus (Criterions, in my tests).


Does anyone know why this feature has limitations? Is there any player that can handle it both directions for any disc type? I wouldn't buy a player just for that; I'm still curious though.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by TheHistorian

I got tired of my Sony X700 complaining (loudly!) about every other disc. I decided to jump all the way up to a UB9000 (with a region free mod from 220-electronics) and received it today.

I did a lot of testing. Obviously it's better in basically every way measurable.

I noticed a couple slight oddities though:

1. The Sony has frame-by-frame reverse for blu-rays while the Panasonic doesn't (neither has it for 4K of course). Not a major loss, but very slightly annoying.

2. There were a few cases where frame-by-frame advance didn't work at all. It seemed to happen with blu-rays that have pop-up menus (Criterions, in my tests).


Does anyone know why this feature has limitations? Is there any player that can handle it both directions for any disc type? I wouldn't buy a player just for that; I'm still curious though.

The Sony uses a MediaTek chip, similar to the OPPO, and they both offer frame-by-frame reverse on Blu-rays. Pannysonic's bespoke chip does not. Not aware of any player that does it for 4Ks.

[TheHistorian]

Interesting! I wonder why that is? My first thought was some sort of caching difference, but I don't know enough about how it really works to do more than make a wild guess.


I found another minor feature missing or that I can't figure out how to do. Is there a way to do a direct chapter jump (not just skip forward/back)? Sony had it in the Options menu. For the Panasonic, I don't see it without going back to the disc menu.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by TheHistorian

Interesting! I wonder why that is? My first thought was some sort of caching difference, but I don't know enough about how it really works to do more than make a wild guess.


I found another minor feature missing or that I can't figure out how to do. Is there a way to do a direct chapter jump (not just skip forward/back)? Sony had it in the Options menu. For the Panasonic, I don't see it without going back to the disc menu.

The |<< >>| buttons next to the ||PAUSE.

[DaylightsEnd]

I have and enjoy two Oppo udp-203s. I also have two region-free Samsung 8500s (a K and an M) that still function fine, but many uhd discs make that cheapo unit sound like it is literally trying to take flight, or disassemble itself from within, when the disc spins up. It's well past time to upgrade the old Sammys.

I'm thinking of grabbing a region-free Panny ub9000 or two as backups for my Oppos. I understand the 9000 is well made and more silent than the Panny 820. Cost is not a factor and I'd prefer best possible build quality with quietest operation, so I haven't really considered the 820.

What say the experienced forum collective about the newest available 9000? Good or bad move? Primary display is an LG 77" G4 oled.

[sapiendut]

I use two of the 9000. One for region A and one for region B

[pr0darek]

I have three, I use the third one for frying eggs and very rarely for region C

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by pr0darek

I have three, I use the third one for frying eggs and very rarely for region C

You should use the Sony X700 to fry an egg. The 820 and 9000 are too cold for that purpose.

[TheHistorian]

Originally Posted by chip75

The |<< >>| buttons next to the ||PAUSE.

Yeah, those are chapter skips.

I meant being able to input/select and go directly to chapter 14 or whatever.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by TheHistorian

Yeah, those are chapter skips.

I meant being able to input/select and go directly to chapter 14 or whatever.

Sorry, I don't think there's a Go To option for chapters, you can try entering a number when a movie's playing, but I don't think it achieves much.

[samuelkhan999]

Peeps, is there a way to make the 4k animated movies pop?

I’ve changed TVs to Hisense U8K. The tv is great for 3d animated and regular movies. However, I find 4k discs like Lion King & Prince of Egypt seem darker even though the colours are more defined and pure. Today I did a 4k SDR vs 4k HDR comparison of Lion king. SDR was brighter but lost colour purity. HDR colours were pure but darker. All this was being checked on filmmaker mode.

I’m bit torn apart Filmaker + ub820 hdr natural environment vs hdr standard. Which setting would be better? Any alternative setting ub820 would be valued.

[53Fatman]

I own my UB9004 in the third year now, i did have a faulty disc drive, but was lucky it happened 1 month before the warrenty went out. (disc drive was not opening anymore).

Despite this i did not have any problems beside one defective disc (1917, Universal), the picture went to complete modern art at the same time stamp for ~2min. But this was on the 824 from my dad too, even worse, the picture pixelated and the player freezes. The error correction/disc drive on the UB9004 seems to handle this a bit better. It was clear it was a disc issue, got a new one from Amazon and everything was fine.

Yesterday i watched the Great Escape (german Capelight disc) and this happened again, same pixelation at around 1hour 58min, after that point everything was like it, seems like the complete third layer was defective. I pressed Stop und fast forward to the same timestamp and again. But i did not shut off the player. Today i tested the disc in the 824 just to be sure before i email Capelight, et voila, nothing. Played perfectly fine. Back in the 9004, no problems at all. Did this three times in a row (with shutting it down in between), and the problem did not reoccur.

Anyone experienced something similar?

I would understand if the player freezes completly or it happened once at the layer change but why it was repeatable the first time?

Disc is super clean and has no scratches.