Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Player

[kristoffer]

Always on NR is a pretty stupid mistake in this kind of product!

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Always on NR is a pretty stupid mistake in this kind of product!

Samsung has had undefeatable NR on their BR players for a couple of years as proven by HDTVTest.

[Wendell R. Breland]

There may be some changes made in Samsung UHD BD players compared to their standard BD players. Need some clarification. From page 33 of the Samsung UBD-K8500 manual.

Picture Mode

- User : Lets you adjust the sharpness and noise reduction function respectively.

| NOTE |

• When you use the BD wise function, this menu will not appear.

Does anyone know what exactly BD wise function means? It appears to me that the User settings are not available when playing a BD disc. Wonder if the same applies to UHD BD disc?

[aaronwt2065]

I do know the BD Wise function can only be used with Samungs TVs. With my Sony UHD TV the BD Wise option is grayed out.

[Mavrick]

I'm reading a few impressions from last month and it seems that this player was producing a better image than the sammy.

It did seem to us that there was a touch more noise in the K8500’s images of Mad Max than we saw with the same footage on the Panasonic UB900, though. The images also didn't look quite so expressive and rich with their colours, perhaps because of the extra chroma processing Panasonic is employing in its premium model.

It’s impossible to say with certainty how much Panasonic’s DX900 and Samsung’s KS9500 TVs were impacting what we saw from each brand’s Ultra HD Blu-ray player in their respective demos, of course.

Source

So either the Pani is a better player or the DX900 is just that much better a TV compared to the rest or a combination of both?


I'm almost dead set on getting the DX900 since at £3000 for 65" it's bound to be the cheapest option compared to a 2016 LG OLED, and so far hands on impressions are already giving it the edge over the JS9500 as well as the KS9500.


I might just hold off until April to see what the price difference is between this and the sammy player if there's a noticeable difference in PQ.

I hear that there is a European Panasonic convention running from Feb 29th-March 1st. Maybe we'll see more on a release date/price then?

[Geoff D]

Seeing both players on the same display would be a start, although the rumours of baked in noise reduction on the Samsung have made me very leery of that model now. (Although surely that would result in less noise, not more, if that quick comparison is to be believed?)

[Wendell R. Breland]

The following was posted here:

Yeah the BD-Wise function is only available between the Samsung player and a Samsung TV, one of those deals where is gives a better picture. I can't be more specific since my player is hooked up to a Sony TV. But that's what it says it's for in the menu.

Ok I just went into the menu for you and here are the user settings for picture mode during playback:

Sharpness 0 to +10
Noise Reduction 0 to +10
Contrast -10 to +10
Brightness -10 to +10
Color -10 to +10
Tint G10/R10 and gets higher for each one depending on which way you go with the slider adjustment.

So it appears you can adjust the picture parameters as long as you are not using a Samsung TV. But no discrete IR power codes and front panel display is still a Samsung deal breaker for me .

[ADWyatt]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

I agree that Panasonic's 4K BD player looks great and would be the a/v enthusiasts choice, but as of this moment Panasonic has not announced or agreed to bring them into the USA. So for now it confirmed for some EU and Asian countries.

Hopefully, Panasonic will go ahead and launch the UB900 in the states.

-Robert

Robert, I'm not technically savvy, but I think that in my case ignorance may truly be bliss.

For the present, I've decided to buy a mid-level 4k Home Theater system, and by Spring 2020 stepping up to a high-end OLED TV with the best peripherals available. I'm happy with the Sony 65" 850c, and my initial experience with the Samsung 8500 4k player has been beyond my expectations.

I've only played one 1080p Blu-ray so far, (Hunger Games: Catching Fire) as my first 4k movie (Scorch Trials) won't arrive for about two more days, but I've been amazed by what I've seen. I previously used a six-year-old Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player hooked through a receiver into the TV, and the picture on the 850c was decent, with an upscaled picture that appeared to be slightly sharper and more detailed than 1080p. The 8500, on the other hand, is hooked directly into the TV's hdmi 3 slot, and the 1080p picture quality really impressed me. It wasn't 4k, but you almost could have fooled me.

It wasn't difficult to hook up the Panny 3D player to the Sony to see if the picture quality was similar, and with that I could easily see that the Samsung ran circles around it. But how is that possible? It's the TV that upscales the picture, not the player, and so both units should have given a similar picture.

As I've said, I'm ignorant when it comes to understanding the specifics of Home Theater equipment, but if I'm the victim of a placebo experiment, I've fallen into it completely. And so for now I just can't see the sense of spending at least twice as much for the forthcoming Panasonic 4k player when I'm probably going to be as happy as a fresh Georgia peach with the Samsung. The secret, I think, is to stay away from the Home Theater department in stores for the next four years, and enjoying what I've got. I can do that.

[Geoff D]

I think the Sammy is adding its own special sauce re: 1080p output.

[Viking61]

Panasonic DMP-UB900 is now listed at Panasonic UK website.

http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer...p-ub900eb.html

[Wiidesire]

Panasonic DMP-UB900 will be released for 799€ in Germany. Sales start in beginning of April.
San Andreas and Mad Max: Fury Road will be included in the price.

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldu...h-3120440.html

[Mavrick]

I'd take that with two films included over the Sammy with the Martian.

Looks like all the uhd releases are £25 each in the uk. About the same price as Blu-ray when they first came out.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

I'd take that with two films included over the Sammy with the Martian.

Looks like all the uhd releases are £25 each in the uk. About the same price as Blu-ray when they first came out.

Looks like the martian is exclusive to Samsung tho as I can't see it for sale elsewhere

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Seeing both players on the same display would be a start, although the rumours of baked in noise reduction on the Samsung have made me very leery of that model now. (Although surely that would result in less noise, not more, if that quick comparison is to be believed?)

I'm finding that the display makes a huge difference, so that player comparison is useless. Also, were they comparing UHD BD or regular BD upscaled? I thought there's not supposed to be a difference on Blu-ray PQ across the different players (not upscaled). Would the same hold true for UHD?

[Mavrick]

Officially £599 plus mad max and San Andreas in the UK is much better than I expected after the early £700+ figure. Should drop to £500 or less before the end of the year or better still be bundled with DX900.

Oh and a backlit remote is a nice touch.

[Five Inches]

TBH I'll pass on this one as well, that mirror finish is a dealbreaker.

I'm hoping for a Pioneer or Sony announcement any time soon... or a less shiny Panasonic second model.

[Mavrick]

I don't think Sony have any plans until 2017.

[Mavrick]

Some pics from a Italian av site

[Viking61]

Update 03/01/2016

The bundle of the Panasonic player with "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "San Andreas" UHD films is only for a limited number of players. On the other hand all players will be delivered with a suitable high-speed HDMI cable.

https://translate.google.co.uk/trans...ml&prev=search

[Five Inches]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Some pics from a Italian av site

Yea, I really don't like that glossy finish. Give me matte or brushed any day over the piano-look.