Panasonic DMP-UB900 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Review & Comments

If you don't need the analog outs and the shiny feet the UB700 is a good alternative for the £65 saving. But that is a good price for the UB900. Those who have both the OPPO and the UB900 note little difference between them for PQ.

Depends though if the 12 bit output from the Panasonics will play nice with your TV. You may be best to check on the OLED forums as while the Panasonics are OK with 2016 models I'm not sure if that also applies to the 2015 LGs

Thanks, I thought it was 10 bit output but I'll ask the question on the TV thread.
 
Thanks, I thought it was 10 bit output but I'll ask the question on the TV thread.

If you can get a UB900 for £365 - grab it that's a real bargain ! Or if you not that bothered about the audio analogue outputs/remote etc, go for a UB700

AFAIK both are only 8 or 12bit video out, and as mentioned check the suitability with the 2015 LG's.

VSR
 
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If you can get a UB900 for £365 - grab it that's a real bargain ! Or if you not that bothered about the audio analogue outputs/remote etc, go for a UB700

AKAIK both are only 8 or 12bit video out, and as mentioned check the suitability with the 2015 LG's.

VSR

Just asked on the LG owners thread and had a couple of replies saying no probs at all so reckon I'll go for it.
 
Depends though if the 12 bit output from the Panasonics will play nice with your TV.
The colour depth part of the video output signal isn't the issue, it's the colour space or Chroma sampling to be specific.
Both Panasonic UHD BD decks can output YCbCr 4:2:2 with a 12 bit colour depth and there are no reported issues with that as I understand it.
You're not gaining anything if your TV can accept YCbCr 4:4:4 and play nice, as any information added by the player to output YCbCr 4:4:4 or YCbCr 4:2:2 wasn't on the disc to begin with. :smashin:

Paul
 
One file!
Scarcely a large sample especially as these files can be made by a large variety of software which may not adhere to standards. Having to transcode files to get playback is a necessity for many media players.
One file as yet, out of only 5 different ones tried! Not a great ratio.
I have four 124gb sticks full of files that play on the Sony blu ray players I have. I daren't try them on the UB900 now! Like I said. It is a bit of a niggle on a machine with an original rrp of £600. I am normally a Sony bimbo but I went for a change, instead of waiting this year for a Sony 4K player, based on what I thought would be more consistent file support. Sony are notoriously dodgy for it, but, it seems I aren't going to have much fun with the panny either. I'm just flummoxed as to why it plays in high speed and no audio. I would expect an on screen display saying not compatible.
 
Both Panasonic UHD BD decks can output YCbCr 4:2:2 with a 12 bit colour depth and there are no reported issues with that as I understand it.
There are reported issues with 2015 Samsungs, specifically banding, which is why I suggested he check for 2015 LG compatability. I think dazm41 changed a UB700 for a Samsung 8500 because of banding (and he had been advised to use 4:2:2). It's not 12 bit 4:4:4 playing nice that is in question it's 12 bit 4:2:2 for some tvs. Doesn't hurt to advise to check something especially for a purchase of this price.
 
Thanks for your reply.

Panasonic website has MKV format listed against CD / DVD / BD / USB on their spec sheet online, hence my surprise that the UB900 will not play the audio also.

I see you have both a NVidia shield and Med8er in your kit list, I know the Med8er has a good reputation for playback but how do you find the Shield? Do you use it to playback movies stored on file/disc? I might preorder the updated Shield and give it a try…

I appreciate I’m going off topic so thought I’d mention I’m happy the UB900 and UB700 remain on Panasonic’s product line for 2017.
Hopefully it means they will continue to provide firmware updates as and when required. It’s a nice change to see the model being continued rather than simply replaced with a newer unit which seems to happen so often now from a lot of manufacturers.
I switched from UB900 to the oppo and that plays mkv's with no issues. I think there may be copyright issues with atmos from mkv but mine play fine with trueHD and dtsMA.
 
There are reported issues with 2015 Samsungs, specifically banding, which is why I suggested he check for 2015 LG compatability. I think dazm41 changed a UB700 for a Samsung 8500 because of banding (and he had been advised to use 4:2:2). It's not 12 bit 4:4:4 playing nice that is in question it's 12 bit 4:2:2 for some tvs. Doesn't hurt to advise to check something especially for a purchase of this price.
that's correct it's a shame really i did like the panny but it would not play ball with my hisense xt910 but the sammy plays everything flawlessly watched lone survivor last night thats a reference disk as well once they get in the mountains superb picture
 
I tell you what, given how well the unit already converts to SDR (I'm using the SDR 2020 output so I still get the wider colour gamut) I'm very excited to see how it could be improved from here!
 
Yes a new update coming for better "daylight viewing" of HDR etc

Panasonic has developed a new function for the three players that claim to allow them to "faithfully reproduce dark and bright areas regardless of viewing environment". If for example you're watching a dimly lit scene but are sitting in a bright room, Panasonic's new function can increase the brightness of what's on screen, but retain all the detail. The same function will be rolled out to the DMP-UB900 and DMP-UB700 via a firmware update at a later date.

VSR

I hope you can turn the feature off. I use a CX802 a TV that can not even hit 1000nits and find it to bright in a dark room in HDR mode. If i lower its backlight etc to much which it shoots up to max in HDR mode I'll clip detail.
On the other hand it doesn't go dark enough yet it does with 8bit content like normal Blu rays it is just HDR. Probably due to backlight shooting to 100%.

I need a HDR dark room option. I hope that i can turn that HDR bright room mode off easily.
 
One file as yet, out of only 5 different ones tried! Not a great ratio.
I have four 124gb sticks full of files that play on the Sony blu ray players I have. I daren't try them on the UB900 now! Like I said. It is a bit of a niggle on a machine with an original rrp of £600. I am normally a Sony bimbo but I went for a change, instead of waiting this year for a Sony 4K player, based on what I thought would be more consistent file support. Sony are notoriously dodgy for it, but, it seems I aren't going to have much fun with the panny either. I'm just flummoxed as to why it plays in high speed and no audio. I would expect an on screen display saying not compatible.
Why not? It's not as if it's going to delete or corrupt them.
They'll either work or they won't.
And until you try them how are you going to know how much fun you'll have with the Panny, your sample size is still too low to make any conclusions. Unless you have produced all these 5 files yourself and know they all meet standards, it's likely to not be dodgy file support but rather a dodgy file.
 
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One file as yet, out of only 5 different ones tried! Not a great ratio.
I have four 124gb sticks full of files that play on the Sony blu ray players I have. I daren't try them on the UB900 now! Like I said. It is a bit of a niggle on a machine with an original rrp of £600. I am normally a Sony bimbo but I went for a change, instead of waiting this year for a Sony 4K player, based on what I thought would be more consistent file support. Sony are notoriously dodgy for it, but, it seems I aren't going to have much fun with the panny either. I'm just flummoxed as to why it plays in high speed and no audio. I would expect an on screen display saying not compatible.

If it can't play them due to lack of support or license for that codec then it will simply tell you "unsupported file". It won't delete it or anything you can give it a go.
As for me I really have found it great as long as you don't use DTS.
Every .MKV that is AC3 audio encoded has played and upscaled to 4k and tends to look better than the Blu ray disc version does on most peoples TV's and players due to the clever upscaling of the UB900

Edit: Also you should have that amount of stuff backed up on a hard drive anyway. Data sticks are not famous for there reliability in the long run.
 
There are reported issues with 2015 Samsungs, specifically banding, which is why I suggested he check for 2015 LG compatability. I think dazm41 changed a UB700 for a Samsung 8500 because of banding (and he had been advised to use 4:2:2). It's not 12 bit 4:4:4 playing nice that is in question it's 12 bit 4:2:2 for some tvs. Doesn't hurt to advise to check something especially for a purchase of this price.
Really? That's pretty crap. And in that case, I agree, best to advise.

Paul
 
If i lower its backlight etc to much which it shoots up to max in HDR mode I'll clip detail.
I wouldn't expect (near white/ whiter than white) nor near black detail to be clipped if you reduce the backlight level. Those are functions of the Contrast and Brightness controls not being set correctly. I'd suggest reducing the backlight to a comfortable level then adjusting the Contrast and Brightness to set reference white and black.

Incidentally, I found setting Gamma to '2.3' helps the CX802 track EOTF 2084 more closely. That will give the TV a more punchy look when in HDR mode.

Paul
 
Why not? It's not as if it's going to delete or corrupt them.
They'll either work or they won't.
And until you try them how are you going to know how much fun you'll have with the Panny, your sample size is still too low to make any conclusions. Unless you have produced all these 5 files yourself and know they all meet standards, it's likely to not be dodgy file support but rather a dodgy file.
Not daring to play the USB sticks is just based on my bad temper and not wanting further disappointment with the new kit! :)
Thanks for your replies by the way. I think the file maybe a little obscure, as on trying to convert it caused problems for the winavi programme I use. The converter has never let me down before. What threw me though was the budget Sony's ability to play the file without any fuss? I mean, the Sony I am talking about, I would never have bought that for my main system. It was just for the little ones bedroom. I am really surprised by that.
 
If it can't play them due to lack of support or license for that codec then it will simply tell you "unsupported file". It won't delete it or anything you can give it a go.
As for me I really have found it great as long as you don't use DTS.
Every .MKV that is AC3 audio encoded has played and upscaled to 4k and tends to look better than the Blu ray disc version does on most peoples TV's and players due to the clever upscaling of the UB900

Edit: Also you should have that amount of stuff backed up on a hard drive anyway. Data sticks are not famous for there reliability in the long run.
Thanks for the reply, your confidence in the panny is a bit reassuring. :)
I have got my stick backed up. Music video files that I have collected for years.
My son's films are films that I own on original discs anyway. On the sticks they are just a convenience for his mum and himself, but he uses them daily.
You don't happen to know anyone that has used multi region mods on the panny do you? I once bought a special remote that came with a code in it to input in standby for my Sony. Only for dvd. I have loads of region 1dvd's.
 
You don't happen to know anyone that has used multi region mods on the panny do you? I once bought a special remote that came with a code in it to input in standby for my Sony. Only for dvd. I have loads of region 1dvd's.
Same with the Panasonic for DVD
 
Not daring to play the USB sticks is just based on my bad temper and not wanting further disappointment with the new kit! :)
Try them out and make your day. Anger into joy can you turn :)
 
Wow long thread. I have a sony 65xd9305. What settings should i have on my panny ub900 to get the best out of my set.
 
I tell you what, given how well the unit already converts to SDR (I'm using the SDR 2020 output so I still get the wider colour gamut) I'm very excited to see how it could be improved from here!
Which option is this on the player? I am sure my vw300es could benefit from it.
 
That's 100% correct, the "enhanced" setting is to enable the full feature set of HDMI 2.0 including HDR and 10/12-bit 4K60 video.

Hmm,

Tried this today. Set the TV to Enhanced HDMI mode on the relevant input. All was well until I went to the 900's menu and tried to set the 50/60p setting to 4:4:4, then it did the test and the screen went blank, eventually timing out and reverting to 4:2:0 8-bit.

What gives? Is the cable I'm using likely to be the problem? It's a recent one.

EDIT: Was the cable - switched to the one that came with the player and now it's fine.
 
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One thing I haven't quite fathomed with this player is the black levels.

I've noticed on my Sony that, when playing a 4K HDR disc, the bars at the top and bottom aren't totally black. With all normal 1080p material, the local dimming function of the set renders these bars totally black, to the point you can't actually see them at all in a dark room. The same is the case when playing a standard Bluray in the player.

At first I thought it was a function of the TV. That, when it switches to HDR mode and ramps the backlight up to the max, the local dimming can't quite render the bars totally black. The odd thing is that 4K HDR material via Amazon Prime (such as The Grand Tour) doesn't show this issue. The set also switches to HDR mode but the bars remain totally black. It's only 4K HDR blurays from the player which show this.

At first I thought the local dimming feature was deactivating or failing for some reason but I've noticed that, when the screen fades to total black, such as after the studio idents at the start of a film, the screen does go totally black, showing the local dimming is working.

I'm starting to wonder if it's the player itself. If, for some reason, the player is actually displaying these bars at slightly-above-black levels rather than black for some reason. Has anyone else experienced this or can test it with their set, Sony or otherwise? I've reported the issue to Sony FWIW.
 
One thing I haven't quite fathomed with this player is the black levels.

I've noticed on my Sony that, when playing a 4K HDR disc, the bars at the top and bottom aren't totally black. With all normal 1080p material, the local dimming function of the set renders these bars totally black, to the point you can't actually see them at all in a dark room. The same is the case when playing a standard Bluray in the player.

At first I thought it was a function of the TV. That, when it switches to HDR mode and ramps the backlight up to the max, the local dimming can't quite render the bars totally black. The odd thing is that 4K HDR material via Amazon Prime (such as The Grand Tour) doesn't show this issue. The set also switches to HDR mode but the bars remain totally black. It's only 4K HDR blurays from the player which show this.

At first I thought the local dimming feature was deactivating or failing for some reason but I've noticed that, when the screen fades to total black, such as after the studio idents at the start of a film, the screen does go totally black, showing the local dimming is working.

I'm starting to wonder if it's the player itself. If, for some reason, the player is actually displaying these bars at slightly-above-black levels rather than black for some reason. Has anyone else experienced this or can test it with their set, Sony or otherwise? I've reported the issue to Sony FWIW.
Check you don't have brightness turned up in the picture options menu. Black bars fine on my LG.
 

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