Panasonic DP-UB820EB, DP-UB420EB and DP-UB320EB Owners Thread

Hi i checked with my dealer and he is happy for me to pass on to those who might be interested that he can supply the Panasonic 820 for £369
themovierooms Edinburgh just ask for Dan
I got the last one in stock yesterday but he gets regular supplies
Dan takes some beating on his deals without the usual sales patter you can get from others.
 
My UB-424 has found my local Plex server...

It works well, but seems to play movies at 60p rather than the 24p that my Apple TV Plex app streams at. So the Apple TV4K remains superior for local streaming, as expected.
 
UB820 fan is always on compared to my UB700 which comes on at power up and then promptly shuts off. It thus appears the UB820 lacks the thermostatically controlled fan which was in the UB700/UB900. Close up it has a nasty whine. :(

It's also audible at 2m (just) with no audio on in an open stand. It fails my Lawrence of Arabia silent audio test (the well scene with first appearance of Omar Sharif) as rather than being completely silent there is a slight bit of fan noise audible, my UB700 passes this with flying colours.
 
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My UB-424 has found my local Plex server...

It works well, but seems to play movies at 60p rather than the 24p that my Apple TV Plex app streams at. So the Apple TV4K remains superior for local streaming, as expected.


Mine plays back at 24p. Have checked the settings for 24p playback?

IMG_20180530_172317.jpg
 
UB820 fan is always on compared to my UB700 which comes on at power up and then promptly shuts off. It thus appears the UB820 lacks the thermostatically controlled fan which was in the UB700/UB900. Close up it has a nasty whine. :(

It's also audible at 2m (just) with no audio on in an open stand. It fails my Lawrence of Arabia silent audio test (the well scene with first appearance of Amar Shariff) as rather than being completely silent there is a slight bit of fan noise audible, my UB700 passes this with flying colours.
I'm looking at 'silent' PC fans to replace the one in mine. I'll do the one in my Radiance Pro at the same time. That one sounds like an F35 coming in do a landing.

Paul
 
I'm looking at 'silent' PC fans to replace the one in mine. I'll do the one in my Radiance Pro at the same time. That one sounds like an F35 coming in do a landing.

Paul
You have a noisy UB820 fan too?

Unless things have changed there are no silent PC fans in that size. I tried and failed with my Toshba XE1. Solved it in the end by disconnecting the fan and taking the top case off :thumbsup:

Although this fan looks good at 12.1dB if it fits Deep Silence 60mm Ultra-Quiet PC Fan, 2000 RPM
But measuring the UB820 fan, it looks more like a 50mm which has a very restricted choice with the lowest at 23dB from that site.
 
Noisy fan on mine as well although i only hear it close up
I bought the 820 because of the reported fan noise on the 420
Could have saved £150 if i bought the 420
plus using a Dolby Atmos demo disc it seems far slower in playing back each demo clip compared to a UB700
Further feedback to follow
 
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My UB820 is completely silent. Would need to put the ear right next to it to hear the noise. The UB900 made more noise.
 
My UB820 is completely silent. Would need to put the ear right next to it to hear the noise. The UB900 made more noise.

"silent" and "noisy" are quite subjectively used to be honest. I'd put my 820 on the silent end whilst playing (you can hear that very short whir when it seeks a new position after a chapter change). It is certainly quieter than my projector now which is pretty quiet too, so I can't hear it playing a film.

I sit about 1.5m away and it's in a wooden cabinet with an open front but closed sides and back. It also has my BD35 on top of it ;-)

If I had something to measure noise accurately for you guys I would!

For what its worth I don't have an ear for music but I am extremely sensitive to "noise" (as in something which doesn't fit)/buzzing/fans so I am very easily bothered.
 
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You have a noisy UB820 fan too?
Yes but in all honesty, with the remotest amount of background noise, it disappears. I class myself as particularly 'sensitive' to noises, it drives the wife mad when I'm taking a new car apart to fix squeaks and rattles that she can't here! :D

Unless things have changed there are no silent PC fans in that size. I tried and failed with my Toshba XE1. Solved it in the end by disconnecting the fan and taking the top case off :thumbsup:

Although this fan looks good at 12.1dB if it fits Deep Silence 60mm Ultra-Quiet PC Fan, 2000 RPM
But measuring the UB820 fan, it looks more like a 50mm which has a very restricted choice with the lowest at 23dB from that site.
Looks like a 40mm fan to me and there are a few that can be classed as quiet these days. I found a few Noctua fans that are as quiet as 14.9dBA at 5k rpm.

If I was to do it, I'd figure a way of slowing it down, to make it even quieter.

If it's a 50mm, our luck isn't in I don't think.

Paul
 
Not good news regarding fan noise.
Don't get me wrong, it's not excessively loud. I've measured both the UB820 and UB700 at 29dB start of UHD disc and 28.2dB at a quiet section where the spin speed is lower. But I think that is possibly as low as my meter goes as I get almost the same reading with nothing running at all.
(Un)fortunately my ears are more sensitive than that or just I'm more sensitive to the frequency of the fan :(

However from moving player around to check fan operation I've found the audibility of the noise changes. So may be one of these frequency vs angle things where the ear hears more at one angle than another.
Noisy fan on mine as well although i only hear it close up
I was thinking mine may have been a one off, which I might have been able to get a better one by replacement instead. But if that's the common position it makes the choice now to return for refund or not.

Especially as HDR Optimiser ON or OFF seems to make no difference in the viewing so far.
Setting UB700 and UB820 to identical B+W Gamma/B+W tone curve, DRA and brightness settings the results are pretty much similar whether optimiser is on or off. Transformers The Last Knight on LG E6. Perhaps once it's dark I'll see something more. Or maybe the optimiser is another thing to be added by firmware update...;)
If you build it they will come :)
 
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I'm hoping the fan might bed in, or as already mentioned move it slightly
I must say the adhesive they used to stick that popup cardboard advertising onto the top of the case was a bit of overkill I had a bugger of a time removing it
Still early days only spun it for half an hour
 
I'm hoping the fan might bed in, or as already mentioned move it slightly
Still early days only spun it for half an hour
Might be wishfull thinking but it sounds quieter to me already. I'm putting hours onto it while I do other things in the hope the fan bearing might bed in a bit. The other thing I was thinking of is to add some closed cell foam etc behind the player as the fan is fireing at a hard wall for mine.

But how much more did the thermostatically controlled fan of the UB700 cost vs the UB820 one? Pennies, a pound or two? Don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar...:(
 
The other thing I was thinking of is to add some closed cell foam etc behind the player as the fan is fireing at a hard wall for mine.
Good call on that. I was thinking about adding some inside, when I open it up but, am a little concerned with reducing the air volume by doing so.
But how much more did the thermostatically controlled fan of the UB700 cost vs the UB820 one? Pennies, a pound or two? Don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar...:(
I suspect the UB820 is 'doing' more thus the fan needs to be on all the time. The speed also changes, to be much slower, when playing Blu-ray, which would back that up.

Paul
 
Another new feature is the player can now output SDR/BT.2020 with all the HDR controls/settings (except DRA changes to DRC). Player info shows 2020 output and TV is in a non HDR mode showing 2020 is input. Which is great if you want to play a UHD without HDR enhanced grain on a HDR TV. On a quick look at Bridge on the River Kwai UHD, grain is much less in your face.

Edit: And Starship Troopers school scenes. Although if you want the enhanced grain back and the over hot contrast just turn tone curve (white) to -12 :eek:

Edit 2: And the infamous crawling Black Ants grain in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is gone too :smashin:
 
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Good call on that. I was thinking about adding some inside, when I open it up but, am a little concerned with reducing the air volume by doing so.
I suspect the UB820 is 'doing' more thus the fan needs to be on all the time. The speed also changes, to be much slower, when playing Blu-ray, which would back that up.

Paul
Except fan is also on when playing CDs...
Are you sure you're not mistaking the air noise from the drive for the fan?
Drive speed also slower when playing blu-rays. And apart from HDR Optimiser what are the new players doing that might need more processing grunt/produce more heat than the old ones which managed fine with the fan off...
 
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Except fan is also on when playing CDs...
Are you sure you're not mistaking the air noise from the drive for the fan?
Could be. I just hear it being less loud. Will investigate further.
And apart from HDR Optimiser what are the new players doing that might need more processing grunt/produce more heat than the old ones which managed fine with the fan off...
Apart from the HDR Optimiser... You mean where the machine is performing the HDR tone mapping? :)
The latest HCX Processor may just run hotter too.
I'll take the lid off tomorrow and take some pictures. It looks like the fan is a 50mm jobby too so I'll have a look for a quiet one and fan speed controller.

After configuring my Radiance Pro correctly, I've further adjusted the Dynamic Range control to reduce it to +2. Post Radiance Pro re-configuration, the HDR image was just too bright and I noted some mild posterisation with a specific scene and cloud rendering. Will continue to play when I have the time.

Paul
 
May be a basic question but does the 820/420/320 play the content's native refresh rate?
 
Apart from the HDR Optimiser... You mean where the machine is performing the HDR tone mapping? :)
On my CDs it isn't...:(
The latest HCX Processor may just run hotter too.
Bit of poor design if it did. Everybody else is managing to produce SOCs which don't need active cooling. Later tech should mean cooler tech.
I'll take the lid off tomorrow and take some pictures. It looks like the fan is a 50mm jobby too so I'll have a look for a quiet one and fan speed controller.
60-->50mm isn't too large a jump. Just would mean some of the fan output would be hitting the case, a bit more turbulence etc but I'd take 2,000 rpm over 5,000 rpm as there should be less noise overall. For the ultimate go for an overhead 140mm fan. Just need a dremmel and the will to cut the hole in the top...
 
May be a basic question but does the 820/420/320 play the content's native refresh rate?
For discs yes. 24p is 24p
For online streaming unknown as there are no streaming apps available yet. But on previous Panasonics eveything was output in 60hz even if 24p Netflix etc.
Over DLNA/via USB: Don't know.
 
Bit of poor design if it did. Everybody else is managing to produce SOCs which don't need active cooling. Later tech should mean cooler tech.
Which other player(s) is doing onboard tone mapping? Bar the Oppo.

60-->50mm isn't too large a jump. Just would mean some of the fan output would be hitting the case, a bit more turbulence etc but I'd take 2,000 rpm over 5,000 rpm as there should be less noise overall. For the ultimate go for an overhead 140mm fan. Just need a dremmel and the will to cut the hole in the top...
Eff that! I can't be bothered with modifying, especially as the player's reliability is still unknown. It's OEM+ or nothing! :D

The fan is a 50mmx15mm with PWM control (3 core cable). It can be seen here:

IMG_20180530_231347.jpg IMG_20180530_231408.jpg IMG_20180530_231412.jpg IMG_20180530_231418.jpg

There's quite a lot of room in there and the size of the power supply board would suggest it's different, at the very least, to the UB420 >. Nice heatsink in the HCX Processor too.

I think you're right about the drive noise. I'm 99% certain it's that I hear and not the fan after all. :facepalm:

Paul
 

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