Panasonic DP-UB154 review: a cheap 4K Blu-ray player with great performance

[StarFuryG7]

Yes, they're still manufacturing and selling new 4k Blu-ray Players, for those of you out there that had any doubt . . .

Panasonic DP-UB154 review: a cheap 4K Blu-ray player with great performance

[ronand]

Thats not new - the UB150/154 has been out for a few years. Its the baby brother of the UB450 and its a pile of plastic junk.

[ElectricMania]

For $120 on sale at Walmart (UB150) this is a no brainer if you need a cheap 4K player that just works. Turn your nose up at it if you must, but for the average consumer that happens to be looking into 4K physical media this or the x700 would be top choices if they aren't a gamer.

This niche is starting to grow more, so I'm glad they're still making a good entry level machine.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by ronand

Thats not new - the UB150/154 has been out for a few years. Its the baby brother of the UB450 and its a pile of plastic junk.

What are you basing the "pile of plastic junk" comment on ? The price ?

I ask because I have a UB9000 and a UB150 and have used both quite a lot.

I repaired my UB9000 yesterday. It was not opening the disc tray for some reason. I took apart the drive unit and didn't see anything wrong and put it back together and it works for now. So my UB150 goes into storage as a back up player.

In the time I was using the UB150 I was happy with it. One thing I liked about it is it doesn't have any abilities beyond playing discs and it only uses HDMI to output the digital data directly. In other words it's pretty simple but as a result pretty straightforward. I use an ATV4K for anything streaming so having the whole streaming capability cut from my disc player is kind of refreshing as it's never used by me.

I prefer to use the HDMI output from my disc player so I don't use the amazing analog output stage of my UB9000 even though it goes to a Marantz Processor that would accept the balanced audio for the Right and Left channels. I also don't use the HDR Optimizer because my projector (JVC RS 3100) has HDR processing that I find to be better. In other words, having a player like the UB150 that lacks extra features that I don't use is not a problem.

If you have no experience with the UB150 and think it's junk based on the price then you likely don't have a lot of life experience yet. Some things are a remarkable value just the same way some things are a complete rip off. Just paying more doesn't always result in something better. That's the whole reason people write and read reviews. If "you get what you pay for" then the price would be the only indication of quality.

-Brian

[Yogi6807]

Originally Posted by bhampton

What are you basing the "pile of plastic junk" comment on ? The price ?

I ask because I have a UB9000 and a UB150 and have used both quite a lot.

I repaired my UB9000 yesterday. It was not opening the disc tray for some reason. I took apart the drive unit and didn't see anything wrong and put it back together and it works for now. So my UB150 goes into storage as a back up player.

In the time I was using the UB150 I was happy with it. One thing I liked about it is it doesn't have any abilities beyond playing discs and it only uses HDMI to output the digital data directly. In other words it's pretty simple but as a result pretty straightforward. I use an ATV4K for anything streaming so having the whole streaming capability cut from my disc player is kind of refreshing as it's never used by me.

I prefer to use the HDMI output from my disc player so I don't use the amazing analog output stage of my UB9000 even though it goes to a Marantz Processor that would accept the balanced audio for the Right and Left channels. I also don't use the HDR Optimizer because my projector (JVC RS 3100) has HDR processing that I find to be better. In other words, having a player like the UB150 that lacks extra features that I don't use is not a problem.

If you have no experience with the UB150 and think it's junk based on the price then you likely don't have a lot of life experience yet. Some things are a remarkable value just the same way some things are a complete rip off. Just paying more doesn't always result in something better. That's the whole reason people write and read reviews. If "you get what you pay for" then the price would be the only indication of quality.

-Brian

Vincent teoh made a video trashing it. It can’t display the video properly unlike every other player. It is literally the worst player to buy.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Yogi6807

Vincent teoh made a video trashing it. It can’t display the video properly unlike every other player. It is literally the worst player to buy.

This is the SECOND time someone said this (I believe it was you who said this exact thing in the UB9000 thread) but last time I could not find that video. Do you have a link ?

I just now searched the HDTVTEST youtube site that Vincent maintains for BD150 and results were not found.

I have owned the Sony X700 twice and the fact they continue to lock up often has me convinced there are worse players than the BD150.

[Yogi6807]

I’ve explained enough on here. I’m not doing it again. It’s not like I keep links to everything I read and see.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Yogi6807

I’ve explained enough on here. I’m not doing it again. It’s not like I keep links to everything I read and see.

If you resort to making stuff up, yeah I agree it's been enough already.

What do you have against this player ? Does it threaten your player's resale somehow...?

[rubystone356]

I have the Panasonic 150 player. it has worked great since I have used it. I had some oppo players as well.. I familiar with the great ones. I had a LG uhd player. it had many problems playing discs.. not so much with the 150.

Jacob

[Yogi6807]

Originally Posted by bhampton

If you resort to making stuff up, yeah I agree it's been enough already.

What do you have against this player ? Does it threaten your player's resale somehow...?

(I'm just mad because you caused me to watch part of a Linus Tech Tips video.)

Other than the fact that it doesn’t display the video properly. For example some things are supposed to be bright are dull using that player. It is probably something nobody notices unless they have multiple players. Vincent did a side by side with the Sony x700 (a player I wouldn’t wish on anybody either). And picked apart what it was doing. I hope you find that video because it was very enlightening. I wonder if the same goes for the 450 since they share a chipset. Thank god hardly anybody asks about the 450.

[bhampton]

I'm sorry but Vincent makes those videos for his channel and it's just not there.

I just don't believe you. I have the BD150 and I have the UB9000 and have used them both as wall as the PS5.

I will look for his videos about the X700 in case there's some truth to this but for now I think you may have imagined this whole idea.

Perhaps you mean this video -

Panasonic UB700 4K Blu-ray Player Unboxing + Review - YouTube

Clearly not the same model as this UB700 has dual HDMI outputs. The issue in this video is the player forces 12 bit output and some TVs don't process it correctly (LG) while other TVs don't have any problem with it (Sony).

There has been a FW update also for the BD150. I can check if my BD150 forces 12 bit output but if it ever did it may have been corrected by the FW update. Then again you don't know if it's a video by Vincent or if it's a video about the BD150 or if you imagined the whole thing. So far, I'm simply not convinced.

I would rather deal with the truth so I will go check if the UB150 forces 12 bit output.

Edit- So what I discovered was with my setup the BD150 outputs 12 bit by default but in the advanced options you can specify output for 10 bit. So if this was the problem this is not a problem. My display reported correctly recieving both the 12 bit and 10 bit signals when each option was selected.

[Yogi6807]

What benefit do I have to lie to you over this? I think you are going a little extreme.

[bhampton]

You say it's the worst player based on something you can't remember and you imply Vincent said things that I have no evidence he ever said. I"m not suggesting you are lying but I"m looking for the truth if you don't mind.

[bhampton]

Here's the What HiFi review of this player...

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/panasonic-dp-ub150eb

[blue348]

Originally Posted by Yogi6807

What benefit do I have to lie to you over this? I think you are going a little extreme.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/off.../post-61787220

🧐

[bhampton]

That looks familiar. I bet if you Pasted from his clipboard right now this would be the result.

[cgpublic]

Perhaps there is some confusion regarding the source, however the UB150 features a low-end chipset from MediaTek, and as noted in this review from Trusted Reviews, did not fare very well in an A/B test with the Sony X700 specific to picture quality:

"While the DP-UB150 is capable of bold-looking images, with firm blacks and much deeper and intense colours than seen on the Sony UBP-X700 – the Panasonic does run warmer with complexions flushed and blues and reds pushed up – something that’s especially noticeable in the skin tones of Alita’s face."

"Head to the opening of Alita as Christoph Waltz’s Dyson Ido rummages through a scrapyard of forgotten parts, and the Panasonic lacks the emphasis Sony gives to the golden sun, presenting a dimmer and less dynamic picture."

"And the Sony betters it not only in terms of detail, but in terms of tone and colour. While the blacks are imperiously strong on the Panasonic, it’s less revealing when it comes to detail and shadow detail, with the saturated nature of the colours on the DP-UB150 more apparent. It’s a more textured image, but as a consequence it’s less natural, subtle and accurate."

In so many words, the Panasonic in question plays discs, just not very well.

Based on the screen comparison between the two players, the Panasonic images are obviously so piss poor that the only reasonable conclusion is the buyer is not only out the cost of the player, but the cost of the discs and the time allotted to watch them.

[bhampton]

Look at the amount of black crush in that first comparison! This is not indicative of the player but the display obviously has a different memory engaged and the reviewer doesn't know enough to do something about it.




Here's a pic from my 150 hooked up to my uncalibrated 4K computer monitor (LG - 27UL600-W) This is just with the monitor set to standard and defaults. Notice the lack of extreme black crush? That reviewer is garbage for not knowing what black crush even is and not considering there is an obvious problem with the setup he's using.

I do not standby in the presence of non sense. I am going to go revisit Alita now because I realize it's been a while.

[sapiendut]

Also, just because Vincent said it (if he said it), doesn’t automatically it means true.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

Perhaps there is some confusion regarding the source, however the UB150 features a low-end chipset from MediaTek, and as noted in this review from Trusted Reviews, did not fare very well in an A/B test with the Sony X700 specific to picture quality:

In so many words, the Panasonic in question plays discs, just not very well.

Based on the screen comparison between the two players, the Panasonic images are obviously so piss poor that the only reasonable conclusion is the buyer is not only out the cost of the player, but the cost of the discs and the time allotted to watch them.

Heh, this is why I always put "trusted" in brackets because that comparison is so wildly inaccurate I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The player they're using has been set up so poorly it beggars belief, the fact that it's crushing black and clipping white is a honking great sign that the HDMI levels are way off.

I've got the 450 which is just the doblified version of the 150 and apart from it being a plasticky piece of shit for build quality there's no outstanding issue with image quality, it's on my GF's TV rather than my own but I've gone through it with the Spears & Munsil UHD and everything is in order. Apart from things like leaving DNR on by default - which all Sony UHD players are guilty of, funnily enough - there's no big shift in image quality from one brand to another, and I've long been leery of any site that claims as such.

Still, it's yet another site that I can handily dismiss in future if anyone cites anything on it as proof/evidence of whatever point they're trying to make. Just...wow.