The best value UHD 4K Blu-Ray player with all the HDR standards, Panasonic DP-UB820 Review

[@stevejones8660]

I have a UB-820 and a UB-154. Using a quality 12VDC linear power supply instead of the cheap 12V SMPS wall watt that came stock with the UB-154 SIGIFICANTLY elevates the picture quality over the UB-820. No contest really. Plus the UB-154 has faster action on remote functions. Tossing my UB-820 after I salvage some parts.

[@knewideas3860]

Hi Steve, interesting, what does the power supply do in terms of elevating the PQ? Sounds a bit like the output circuit is noisy. Thanks

[@stevejones8660]

@@knewideas3860 common SMPS are pretty noisy with high frequency garbage. That pollutes the electrical ground.Takes some engineering overkill to minimise it. The UB-850 has 120VAC in, where it is rectified and separated into multiple DC voltage power supplies via internal DC-DC SMPS. The UB-154 has a single barrel plug input for 12VDC. Makes for powering off a linear power supply very simple. Whereas the UB-850 is quite complex to modify. Plus the UB-154 has no internal WiFi transceiver, so less internal RFI. One can gage the effects by turning off the WiFi connection like I did on my C2 LG OLED. that also subtly cleaned up the PQ.

[@bryweasley2504]

After reading & watching dozens of reviews, here's what I've found: (Correct me if I'm wrong.) If I want anything remotely decent under $500, the Sony UBP-X700 is my best option. Am I right? Every other player seems to have some flaw or another that makes this Sony model the clear winner. I hate my Sony Blu-ray player for the same reason people complain about the UBP-X700 4K player: It spontaneously freezes to the point where I have to unplug the power cord & wait a bit before it will run again. I had really hoped to avoid buying Sony this time, but if it's my best option, I guess I will. Keep in mind my budget is $300 & I'd really rather spend less.

[@adamsultana8380]

Well you know the saying: you get what you pay for? The less money you want to spend or end up spending, the lesser quality player you'll get.

[@bryweasley2504]

@@adamsultana8380 That's not always true, especially with electronics. I got my LG Blu-ray player for $38 new on sale (reg. $55) & it lasted me 5 years before it quit. No problems ever. It didn't have Wi-Fi, so I can't compare Sony's streaming issues. I don't need Wi-Fi on my player. The LG 4K players get bad reviews compared to the Sony. Nothing gets better reviews than the X700 till you reach the $500+ range. With technology changing fast, that's a ridiculous amount to spend on a player.

[@adamsultana8380]

@@bryweasley2504 Each his own I guess, I have a Panasonic UB-9000 now.

[@knewideas3860]

There’s not much around for that sort of money, have you thought about an Xbox one S?

[@BoricuaBoy88]

Normally I would agree that spending so much on a player would be excessive, but the fact is that 4K disk technology is nearing its peak. We're not getting 8K Blu-Ray's any time soon, and likely never, given the slow growth of the 4K variety. No better time than now to dive into the medium. The biggest compromise you're going to be making at any price point right now is dynamic HDR, given that we're still in the middle of yet another format war. From what I've gathered, Panasonic seems to be the only manufacturer that is codec agnostic, but naturally only at the $500 and up price tiers, so if you're not the kind of person to examine the packaging of a 4k disk before purchasing, I'd say that the value of this player speaks for itself. Otherwise, you're gonna have to discipline yourself into becoming your own personal curator, and only seek out either Dolby Vision or HDR10+ content. That's all without even mentioning that the same applies to any TV you may be invested in. For TV's, only Vizio supports both Vision/10+. Everyone else is in bed with either one or the other. Soundbars and av receivers are a bit more forgiving, due to there being near universal support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The sad truth of modern media tech is that handshaking has to occur between all your devices, or else you lose the benefit of the features you're wanting to enjoy. Consumer ignorance has never been more of a personal financial detriment than now.

[@wesrm1]

Why does Panasonic and Sony make the entire front drop to reveal the disc tray? I like when players have the tray the only piece that opens like the LGs, Pioneer, and Oppo. Players looked better (as physical machines) in the 90s and 2000s. And you’re right, why such ugly UIs?

[@RobertK1993]

Because Sony and Panasonic make highest quality electronics especially Blu ray disc/DVD players.

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@RobertK1993 Sony's 4K blu-ray disc players actually seem to have some issues with 100 GB blu-rays for quite a few people. Not that Panasonic doesn't have them, just for a lot less people. That being said, Sony generally does have high-quality electronics for most part. It's kinda dumb that the best affordable blu-ray players out there are already 4-5 years old. I think a lot more people would buy a 4K blu-ray player if the prices went down a notch. Basically $100 for a decent 4K blu-ray player that has no problems playing anything (including Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support) and maybe $10 or so for older movies. Even right now you'd be lucky to find a good older movie (4K release at least) for less than $20. There's like a handful in my country. Anything recent is like $30-$40 with the special editions being even a bit more. I do suppose at the very least the older collectible boxes are relatively cheap. Lord of the Rings trilogy (all 3 movies, both regular and extended editions included) and the Matrix collection (all 4 movies) can be gotten for $40 or so. But still, prices in general are still pretty high.

[@knewideas3860]

I've certainly had issues with the original X800 over the years, picture freezes, skips and lockups that need a reboot to sort. It's also nothing to do with the discs, they are completely clean.

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@knewideas3860 I did some research and I really loved how the Sony one looked. Also had a good price. I really didn't want to shell out €450 for the Panasonic UB820, but Sony's players all had common issues like that. And even the slightlh cheaper Panasonic UB450 seemed to have 'some' issues and I also read up some things about build quality. Ultimately geting an UB820 was my only choice for getting a reliable experience. Seemed to have the least amount of issues. And I suppose the HDR improving thing and upscaler are nice bonusses as well. I do have regular blu-rays, so it's handy for that. Though since most movies already come with Dolby Vision, the HDR improvement feature actually hasn't been used yet since it only seems to work on regular HDR10. I had the money, but it still hurt shelling out €450 for a 5 year old electronic device.

[@knewideas3860]

Yes, it seems the days are gone when each manufacturer had multiple options at various price points and updated them every year, I just hope physical media doesn't die. Although films are being released thick and fast at the moment.

[@stckyjoey1]

I can tell the difference from this player and lg 4k player. so many more settings to play with.

[@stevemuzak8526]

He won't reply.

[@knewideas3860]

There is no question to reply to

[@andreassouth1523]

My Plasma tv does not support HDR.So i turn off the hdr mode?

[@knewideas3860]

Yes, if you leave it on you'll most likely get a darker picture.

[@thenonexistinghero]

I don't think there's any 4K plasma TV's, so I would not recommend getting a 4K blu-ray player in your case. Besides that, most regular 4K TV's even if they do have support for all HDR, still aren't exactly good enough to justify buying a 4K blu-ray player for. At least, not for the quality of the movies, since you wouldn't notice much difference between that and streaming (but it might still be worth it if you do have a great sound 5.1 or 7.1 setup with Atmos, which requires 2-4 ceiling speakers or a soundbar that has it). Where the difference for 4K blu-rays really comes from is for the high-end TV's combined with a good sound setup. So basically $1000+ TV category.

[@bitTorrenter]

2:45 onwards

[@bitTorrenter]

3:40 - Those sources being Dolby Vision, or not?

[@knewideas3860]

After looking into this further this setting doesn’t affect Dolby Vision, with Netflix anyway. It’s there as with some sources you may see banding in similar coloured areas like sky’s and this setting is there to reduce it. It also has to be supported in your TV or other display device.

[@MOOVYGROOVY]

You really missed the mark on this review and did your followers a serious injustice. Your hubris is now getting in the way.

[@SpeckledPants]

I was interested in this player until you mentioned at the end it doesn't support high res audio over usb, I have this problem connecting usb directly into my LG OLED tv. Can you recommend a player that will do this? Thanks

[@knewideas3860]

Sorry but most players won’t do this, manufacturers don’t want to be seen as supporting piracy

[@SpeckledPants]

@@knewideas3860 ok thanks for the quick response

[@xGaLoSx]

nvidia shield pro plays every codec there is! I use it for my 4k hdr rips

[@SpeckledPants]

@@xGaLoSx alright cheers I'll check it out

[@simonsim1759]

Can this player play PCB disc?

[@knewideas3860]

No idea sorry, what’s a PCB disc?

[@simonsim1759]

Video CD

[@knewideas3860]

Sorry I don’t have any Video CDs to be able to test it

[@BABYGODZILLA2009]

@@simonsim1759 Hi Simon, I have this player, and YES, it plays VCD's and SVCD's.

[@cutsaez7230]

thank you for your review. Small / large technical question: I have a samsung qe75q90r tv which is not dolby vision, only hdr10 +. If I buy a dolby vision 4k bluray player like ub820 that decodes these metadocos, would I have the dolby vision equivalent on my TV? In a way, it is the player that will dynamically send the contrasting image to the TV that does not display it. Thank you

[@knewideas3860]

In order for this to work you need to have a disk that also has HDR10+ meta data on it. That way you will get dynamic scene by scene adjustments like Dolby Vision. Here’s a link to a forum that details which discs are compatible. forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=300877

[@devasconcellos4225]

not srt......

[@dinuda1402]

DDDDDDD

[@DDDE44]

This product is shitty, I bought and returned it! 1. No movies played via USB, no sound can be heard! 2. Streaming only 2 CH and not 5.1 3. Constantly identify USB issues Watch out for this seller

[@RobertK1993]

Buy Sony UBP-X700 or X800M2

[@DDDE44]

@@RobertK1993 2 bad devices! Poor quality! It's better not to offer nonsense !!!

[@RobertK1993]

@@DDDE44 UBP-X700 and X800M2 play 4K HDR Dolby Vision MKV and MP4 files through USB although not with Dolby Atmos

[@RobertK1993]

@@DDDE44 Nothing poor about Sony UBP-X700 or X800M2 or 1100ES

[@DDDE44]

@@RobertK1993 You're so dumb! The device you offer can play everything just miserably! Bad! And not quality! I'm looking for quality and not answers like yours! Bad