Nice review - was looking at grabbing this player. Like the features and smaller size. Like that it offers a good picture with HDR10/HDR10+ . Tried a LG player and it was not great so took it back - was freezing in some discs and remote was worse than the one you mention in this review. What happened to the days when they gave you a quality remote with a player? This unit looks to provide more reliability and better picture at a decent price. Was thinking of getting the Panasonic unit above this but probably will not since it is about $160 more from what I seen so not sure it is worth the extra $ for me when it seems the biggest extra feature is Dolby Vision. Would be nice but not sure it is worth that much more.
I appreciate the feedback! It definitely has a good picture, and it's definitely a cheaper option than the two above it. It really just comes down to what you want out of the player, and if you don't care about DV, a digital readout screen, or component inputs, then you should be in good hands with the UB420.
@@BrandonPeccoralo I believe it depends on how the studio encoded the film. Believe if no Dolby Vision by the player then it will just provide HDR unless the disc also supports HDR10 &/or HDR10+. All this also depends on what your TV will output too - I have a Samsung QLED that does not support Dolby but offer HDR10 and a TCL that supports both. Find that less discs seem to offer Dolby Vision too - for example Disney does not seem to offer it on any 4K discs.
@@jodsterjamster8678 thank you. It sounds like we have very very similar setups. I am more of an audiophile and that's why I want the Blu-ray but also have the very good new Samsung 8k QLED that I want to maximize the value of. Sad that Samsung and Dolby have this dispute that consumers suffer from
Wow I have the an LG too and I'm lookig at this because my LG is constantly freezing up!! I would really like the DV version but not at twice the price. So Best Buy has this on sale for $219 so I think I'm gonna pull the trigger. I was just checking reviews to make sure this one doesn't freeze or skip like my LG. Thanks for a great review. I now subscribe :)
I’m having a hard time deciding whether I should purchase this or the UB154. Do you know which one does a better job upscaling to 4k when using 1080P blu rays?
All you need to do is buy the compatible remote, and it connects automatically. VCR is best used on a CRT TV, they don't look very well on HD screens. Depending on the player, you can connect those via RCA, component cables, or you can get adapters that convert to HDMI.
I got a Samsung OLED TV last week. I was looking for a 4K player because I’m tired of my Xbox X making that whirring sound every time I play a movie. I was going to buy the 820, but when I saw Samsung doesn’t support Dolby Vision, I decided to get this model. It arrives tomorrow. I think it’s gonna work great for all I want it to do and just play my 4K, Blu-ray and DVDs. I’m just hoping the DVDs will look better than they do in the Xbox.
I think this will definitely be a great choice for you then! It sucks that Samsungs don't support Dolby Vision because their OLEDs are definitely some of the best on the market. I wouldn't expect a dramatic increase in visuals for DVDs, but I think it will handle upscaling a bit better overall.
@@DW3010 Hopefully they'll add it to new models in the future! I'll also have a review on Sony's UBP-X800M2 4K Player, so stay tuned if you've had an eye on that one as well.
I have a concern and question for Panasonic ubp820... for instance if I want to reproduce regular bluray 1080P I can enable dolby vision feature on my sony bluray 4k player(s) and the they look amazing from my personal perspective I mean ..... I'm not totally sure if I can do the same thing on UBP820 and that stops me to buy one so far even if it's the better 4k player than sony(s) because 80% of my collection is bluray1080P
Yeah, you can't force Dolby Vision on to everything like you can with Sony's players. It personally makes the video quality poor and unnatural to me, but if that's your preference, then you may be better suited with your Sony!
I’ve always preferred a digital read out to keep track of how long the movie has been playing, but it is another light glaring at you from under the screen, so I can understand that.
@@b-icemedia Maybe in a year I will be able to buy a 4K tv. I just got the 420P 2 weeks ago and the picture quality is better than my aging 2012 Sony player. But I think the 420P is defective, I have had some artifacting, pixelation and freezing issues on some discs. Some of those discs were even brand new. I tried those discs in the old Sony player and they worked fine, which leads me to believe that it is the 420P that is faulty. The sad thing is that I'm from Colombia and Amazon does not give me the option of replacement, only refund, and I have to pay part of the return costs to the USA. And the item is now much more expensive than when I bought it, so I could not buy it again. The irony is that I chose the 420P over the X700M to avoid the playback problems.
Dolby Vision is an extra layer of data on top of HDR10. As this is a non Dolby Vision player, it plays the HDR10 layer only. It has an HDR Optimiser which attempts to tone-map the image to give best results. The Optimiser for visuals is like an amplifier turning stereo into surround sound. You get similar, effective but lesser results than the real thing.
It’s definitely more of a low to mid tier player, so I can see how it wouldn’t be an upgrade for you. The Panasonic UB-820 or Sony’s X800 would probably be a better choice to move up.
Really? That's the first I've heard of that. I'd double-check the settings and see if it needs to be updated because it shouldn't force stereo for any format.
@@b-icemedia not sure, Sonos issues maybe not sure. It's too bad, I was looking forward to using it. I'm just returning it because I'll not be using it.
I couldn't care less about DV or HDR. It's hysterical, OLED is such a massive downgrade in motion compared to plasma, but if you buy an external black frame insertion device like Retrotink4k you can reduce motion blur up to 70%(A 4ms persistence, which rivals even the best plasmas). Yet with HDR & DV you're stuck with high motion blur. can't stomach it personally. What good is 4K, DV or HDR when the motion turns to complete mush? lol people eat DV up like it's the next best thing, but it's a double edge sword on OLED. At this point, plasma is still the best way to watch movies on a big HD Screen. Once retrotink4k releases later this year, I might just be singing a different tune.
Your Cons are Ridiculous 🤯 This Model is half the Price of the 820 and it only doesn't have Dolby Vision. Personally I don't have any Need for Dolby Vision. This 4K Player is an Amazing, an Extraordinary Value. It is Better than anything Sony, LG or Samsung makes. Because of Panasonic's exclusive Video Processor. Complaining about the Streaming interface, seriously give me a Break. Who does Not have a 4K Steaming device already?
I think they're fair points based on the amount of feedback I've received and read on Panasonic's units. The 820 is the most popular in the lineup with this being a close second or possible third behind the 9000. Thanks for your feedback!
@@b-icemedia If someone wants Dolby Vision then absolutely the 820 is the way to go. If money was No Option sure buy the 9000. Personally if you don't need Dolby Vision I don't think it is worth it to Buy the 820 or the 9000 because you will Not get a Better Picture Quality with them.
To each their own! It all comes down to display and content. I think Dolby Vision statistically can outperform HDR10+ long into the future as technology evolves.
Discs are superior in terms of picture and audio quality. Plus, it’s nice to be able to watch your movie whenever you like without worries of a streaming platform pulling the title one day, haha.
The audio mix for a BD is often very different from the cinema cut which is different from the streaming version. There are people out there who won't settle for anything less than the highest quality audio and video which in this case is 1080p BD or 4K Ultra Blu-ray Disk (UBD).
@@voiceofreason9238 I got a room dedicated to my denon a1h 15.4....refinanced to add a home theatre and I strictly believe in the highest listen experience possible. And yet I still don't used a blue ray unit. Hell I got a laser disc and minidisc unit just for show in my rackmounts. I just attach a server to it all and stream away in nearly a problem free setup, hell my video array has 24 mini units installed. I still don't think u need that blue ray/DVD player.
@@RetroPlayer4000 That still doesn't get you to Dolby TrueHD or uncompressed HDR10+ or Dolby Vision. Streaming is great, they are getting there, and eventually/theoretically push high quality streams over better compression. But until then, the Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos is noticeably compressed. For video, with the right tweaks, high speed internet, etc. you can get a good 4k stream. 4k 60fps RU-vid is actually pretty impressive.
@@BrandonPeccoralo , no, streaming is not getting there and they won't push high quality streams. You know why? Because at least 95% of the casual viewers who are using streaming don't care about high quality content. Many are watching their movies on laptops and even on their phones. Why would you raise the quality of the streams? It's not economically viable.
