Panasonic ub820 not streaming 4K from Prime app

Drooch

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When I watch ‘UHD’ content on Prime and I check the streaming data on my TV (LG CX OLED) it’s telling me that it’s HDR but only 1080p.

Anyone know how to stream from the ub820’s Prime app in 4K? Or is my TV lying?

Also, the Prime interface looks pretty low-res, like it’s 1080 at best, but the same interface on the TV looks higher res, probably 4K. Are there limitations to the streaming apps on the ub820?

Thanks.
 
Is your wi-fi/broadband speed stable and fast enough to stream in 4K/UHD on other devices without issues ? HDR content should obviously be UHD, but I'm not sure what happens if your speed isn't sufficient to start with or drops mid-stream - I would have thought it would either pause/buffer or possibly revert to 1080p SDR but I don't know for sure. Different streaming services may also handle a drop in / lack of bandwidth in different ways.

I would just use the TV's own Prime app personally as it's probably less likely to give you issues. I don't have a Panasonic Blu-ray player but I don't think the apps on their machines are particularly well-regarded.
 
I have noticed the same problem with my new ub820. Prime looks fine from my Roku Ultra just inches away from the Blu-ray player, so I'll continue to use the Roku for HDR content.
 
Hi, I was about to buy a UB820 but based on this thread now have some concerns.

I intended to use the UB820's twin HDMIs with a 4K projector and a non-4K AVR and was hoping to be able to stream Netflix and Prime Video in 4K HDR. Can anyone confirm whether or not the on-board Apps would support this?
 
I intended to use the UB820's twin HDMIs with a 4K projector and a non-4K AVR and was hoping to be able to stream Netflix and Prime Video in 4K HDR.
From what I gather, people with these machines use them mainly for 4K Blu-rays and (due to the relatively poor performance of the streaming apps) tend to stream from other devices. To be fair though, I would expect the majority have them connected up to a smart TV which would provide easy alternative app options, whereas it sounds like you don't have that with your projector.

What are your alternatives ? I would be wary about choosing a 4K Blu-ray player based on it's streaming app support/performance. These are primary disc players and I suspect apps are included purely as an afterthought.

I would say if you want a 4K player for playing discs then the UB820 is a great option but if the apps don't perform to your expectations, then you may need to be prepared to stump up a little more for a separate streaming device.
 
Yes, I appreciate all of that. You may be missing the point though which is my current AVR doesn't support 4K passthrough so I was hoping a UB820 would provide a workaround until I got a new one. I don't know of any dedicated streaming devices with twin HDMI outputs and don't want the expense of an HD Fury extractor type solution so was hoping a 4K BD player could be my 4K source hub as I only use discs, Netflix and Amazon.

Anyway, an amazing thing just happened. I posed this question to Panasonic directly over their Customer Service online chat feature and the guy went away to ask someone who knew more than he did. He came back and said yes the Apps do support 4K (he didn't mention HDR) and at the same said "Taking into consideration your interest in our Panasonic devices, I would like to offer you a 20% discount voucher offered to you as a gesture from our side available for a limited time on your next purchase". So I just bought a UB820 for £240!
 
Yes, I appreciate all of that. You may be missing the point though which is my current AVR doesn't support 4K passthrough so I was hoping a UB820 would provide a workaround until I got a new one. I don't know of any dedicated streaming devices with twin HDMI outputs and don't want the expense of an HD Fury extractor type solution so was hoping a 4K BD player could be my 4K source hub as I only use discs, Netflix and Amazon.
Ah, yes - I see your problem, now. Presumably the issue with connecting a streaming device directly to it is a lack of ARC/eARC for audio back to the AVR ?

Anyway, an amazing thing just happened. I posed this question to Panasonic directly over their Customer Service online chat feature and the guy went away to ask someone who knew more than he did. He came back and said yes the Apps do support 4K (he didn't mention HDR) and at the same said "Taking into consideration your interest in our Panasonic devices, I would like to offer you a 20% discount voucher offered to you as a gesture from our side available for a limited time on your next purchase". So I just bought a UB820 for £240!
You've done well there - I've had half an eye on that player for a while now and they rarely seem to dip below £299. Nice one !
 
Ah, yes - I see your problem, now. Presumably the issue with connecting a streaming device directly to it is a lack of ARC/eARC for audio ?
Yes, the projector (Epson TW9400) is a signal dead end with no audio output of any kind.

The better dedicated streaming devices (e.g. Apple TV, NVidia Shield) don't even seem to have an optical audio out although using that would cut the audio bitstream from DD+ to regular DD 5.1 as DD+ needs HDMI. The Roku Ultra box does have an optical out though so that could be an option if the UB820 doesn't cut it somehow.

You've done well there - I've had half an eye on that player for a while now and they rarely seem to dip below £299. Nice one !
Yes, I think so. I was about to buy one for £299 from John Lewis so am delighted. The saving more than covers the cost of a 12M Ruipro optical HDMI cable that I just bought on a BF deal which is nice.
 
Some good news. The UB820 arrived yesterday, got it hooked up today with twin HDMIs and I’m very pleased to report that the built in Amazon app does indeed support 4K HDR streams at 60Hz. The App interface is dated and clunky but there’s nothing wrong with the picture so this workaround is going to work perfectly on my pre-4K AVR.

Not sure about the Netflix app as I don’t have a subscription at the moment.

What’s great is the Amazon app‘s output can also pass through the UB820‘s HDR optimiser processing feature just as if it were a UHD disc.
 
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Some good news. The UB820 arrived yesterday, got it hooked up today with twin HDMIs and I’m very pleased to report that the built in Amazon app does indeed support 4K HDR streams at 60Hz. The App interface is dated and clunky but there’s nothing wrong with the picture so this workaround is going to work perfectly on my pre-4K AVR.

Not sure about the Netflix app as I don’t have a subscription at the moment.

What’s great is the Amazon app‘s output can also pass through the UB820‘s HDR optimiser processing feature just as if it were a UHD disc.
Funnily enough I was just wondering if the HDX chipset in these players was capable of handling the streaming apps at 4K via the HDR Optimizer as well, a quick google and you've confirmed this in the above :)

One ques though... is the DIsney+ app still missing?
 
Funnily enough I was just wondering if the HDX chipset in these players was capable of handling the streaming apps at 4K via the HDR Optimizer as well, a quick google and you've confirmed this in the above :)

One ques though... is the DIsney+ app still missing?
Sorry, no Disney+ app. :(
 
Some good news. The UB820 arrived yesterday, got it hooked up today with twin HDMIs and I’m very pleased to report that the built in Amazon app does indeed support 4K HDR streams at 60Hz. The App interface is dated and clunky but there’s nothing wrong with the picture so this workaround is going to work perfectly on my pre-4K AVR.

Not sure about the Netflix app as I don’t have a subscription at the moment.

What’s great is the Amazon app‘s output can also pass through the UB820‘s HDR optimiser processing feature just as if it were a UHD disc.
Thanks for the alert! Great to see the Prime app is now doing UHD.

I notice there’s no Apple TV app. Anyone know if it’s possibly en route..?
 
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