Panasonic DP-UB420 audio filters and tips

[PauliD]

Hey SNAers

 

I picked up a Panasonic UHD player that I have been looking at for a while. Would have loved to get something like an Oppo 203 or even the new top-o-the-line panasonic player (depending on reviews) but don't have the funds right now.

 

I like the dual HMDI so I can run a cable straight into the TV and the audio into the AVR. It does confuse the AVR as the CEC keeps switching back to the TV's ARC connection for every time I start an app or disc. Small complaint, means I need to have the AVR remote handy at all times tho = less drink/snack space on my side table  

 

The 4:4:4 upscaling is really good and even playing files from a NAS has benefited from the HCX image processing. I also notice smoother/more constant frames in movies panning shots compared to the LGs internal player and chromecast. Is this a better snycing, Hz stuff? I only have a SDR TV but it has deep-colour.

 

The other thing I noticed poking about in the menus is the audio post processing it has. There are a bunch of setting from 'remaster 1, remaster 2, remaster 3.... and a bunch of other names' about 16 in all with an associated bit depth and sample frequency. I have googled it but can't find anything that says what or how these post processing filters work. I played about with some a bit on Deadpool 2 and The Last Jedi and couldn't really tell. Possibly not even compatible with Atmos?

How about any other Panna UHD player owners? Any tips for the image settings?

[PauliD]

Maybe a pic will help explain better

[cwt]

10 hours ago, PauliD said:

The other thing I noticed poking about in the menus is the audio post processing it has. There are a bunch of setting from 'remaster 1, remaster 2, remaster 3.... and a bunch of other names' about 16 in all with an associated bit depth and sample frequency. I have googled it but can't find anything that says what or how these post processing filters work. I played about with some a bit on Deadpool 2 and The Last Jedi and couldn't really tell. Possibly not even compatible with Atmos? 

My ub900 has similar filters Pauli that resample the audio to make it sound like a tube amp . It can be very subtle when upsampling is used and its easy to program a dsp chip with some reverb or delay to change its sound. All this wont effect your atmos bitstream ; its for the analog outs and sp/dif outputs thankfully. I just use auto mostly so the pana will upscale to 4:4:4 as that uses its multi tap processor when hooked up to a 12 bit projector but you may want to let the 420 bit map your panel instead which is more involved than the 900 was..

ub900 offers a range of Sound Effects settings to upsample lower-res files to up to 192-kHz/32-bit resolution or apply processing modes that model the effects of vacuum tube amps on audio signals.

 

Quote

 

I like the dual HMDI so I can run a cable straight into the TV and the audio into the AVR. It does confuse the AVR as the CEC keeps switching back to the TV's ARC connection for every time I start an app or disc.

 

The 900 has a quirk where the audio is switched off from hdmi 1 out when audio is sent out hdmi 2 to keep the video pristine . Whether that has an effect on cec control [and ARC consequently trying to send audio back] you can experiment ..  

[PauliD]

Thanks cwt,

 

Good to know the dsp audio effects are for non-hdmi outputs (there are no analogue outputs on the 420). I may one day have a play with them and run a optical cable to my CXN and have a listen.

 

I'll double check the settings for the video HDMI cable sending audio. I'm pretty sure it's set to 'Automatic' as there is no 'off' option.

[T800]

Ive got the same player which ive been playing with (well was until my projector temp died).  Some people were complainign ti was noisy on the Uk avforums but i can't hear a thing.

 

Only complaint so far is the remote is tiny and very cheap.

 

Whay are you seperating the audio from video with the hdmi cables? Is there any benefit.  I was just going to run the 1 cable through my Yamaha 2070

[PauliD]

yeah I too haven't thought it to be loud at all. You can hear a faint noise of the disc spinning is all in a dead quiet room.

 

Oh yes the remote is annoying. I am forever pressing the Netflix button when I mean to press up on the D-Pad. That really kills the mood when you have to wait for it to quit what you are doing, then load Netflix just to close it all and navigate back to where you were. The remote looks pretty standard from a handful of panasonic players I have used.

 

Yes I'm running a video HDMI straight into a Deep-colour compliant port on my TV, no fancy HDR for me yet. The Audio HDMI out into my AVR. I find that this has almost stopped any audio crackles I was getting in Atmos movies. Most noticeable in loud/audio intense scenes. That said I should get some better HDMI cables than the $4 officeworks 4k cables I'm using, they must not be able to do 18Gbps consistently. Using the audio only HDMI has greatly reduced it though, so thats a good reason for using the two. Subjectively I'd say that the image is better direct to TV than going through the AVR, but it's hard to measure and could be a placebo especially as the UHD 'should' be better than a HD bluray. The only other UHD player I have is an XB1S and think it looks a little washed out. The pana has a better picture than the Sony 6700 player that upscales to 4K. That could be the HCX chip is better at 4:4:4, more than the dedicated HDMI for video.

 

So if you don't have great cables then give it a go. I think removing a device in the chain has to be a good thing. Lets know how you go if you give it a try

[betty boop]

2 hours ago, T800 said:

Whay are you seperating the audio from video with the hdmi cables? Is there any benefit.  I was just going to run the 1 cable through my Yamaha 2070

don't if you can avoid... as then what happens is both are processed separately and there is a guaranteed chance of lip synch issues. with audio and video on the same hdmi stream its the audio that keeps things in synch

[betty boop]

18 minutes ago, PauliD said:

Oh yes the remote is annoying. I am forever pressing the Netflix button when I mean to press up on the D-Pad. That really kills the mood when you have to wait for it to quit what you are doing, then load Netflix just to close it all and navigate back to where you were. The remote looks pretty standard from a handful of panasonic players I have used.

harmony ? and then chuck the factory remote in a draw never to be seen again  

 

19 minutes ago, PauliD said:

Yes I'm running a video HDMI straight into a Deep-colour compliant port on my TV, no fancy HDR for me yet. The Audio HDMI out into my AVR. I find that this has almost stopped any audio crackles I was getting in Atmos movies. Most noticeable in loud/audio intense scenes. That said I should get some better HDMI cables than the $4 officeworks 4k cables I'm using, they must not be able to do 18Gbps consistently

if a short length say upto 2m they quite likely are  

 

my 10m officeworks cable has passed full bandwidth cable test across 4 devices  

[PauliD]

I'll chat to santa about a harmony remote

 

The only lip sync issues I have had is Netflix. Simply pause, wait a sec, then play fixes things.

[T800]

7 hours ago, betty boop said:

harmony ? and then chuck the factory remote in a draw never to be seen again  

 

if a short length say upto 2m they quite likely are  

 

my 10m officeworks cable has passed full bandwidth cable test across 4 devices  

 What’s the best harmony remote to get? The 650 looks good for the price, but I like the look of the model above it

[betty boop]

7 minutes ago, T800 said:

 What’s the best harmony remote to get? The 650 looks good for the price, but I like the look of the model above it

theres a few to pick from, grab one best suits what you want, screen, buttons and such. I use an old antique in a 1100i  

[PauliD]

I finally manage to get Google Assistant to work with it. Took a few tries at signing up and emails with tech support, but got there in the end.

 

I thought it would be more Google Home like, but the Assitant version is pretty limited. It’s enough if your hands are full or to get started as you find the remote.

 

Commands list is here http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/bd/faq/vc/GAeng.html

[tulls]

Just wondering if the 420 does tone mapping while keeping bt2020 colour gamut like the 820/9000 models

[T800]

20 hours ago, tulls said:

Just wondering if the 420 does tone mapping while keeping bt2020 colour gamut like the 820/9000 models

I believe it is the exact same player/features except DV software update and analogue inputs 

[IMDave]

On 20/01/2019 at 1:53 PM, T800 said:

I believe it is the exact same player/features except DV software update and analogue inputs 

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but can anyone confirm these are the only differences between the UB420 and the UB820 ( support for DV and 7.1 analogue) ???

 

Considering PJ's won't ever support DV, and I have no need for analogue out for hi end audio ( where I can't imagine the D/A converter is that great at the price point ), I am surprised more people haven't spoken about the TM optimizer for HDR using the UB420.

 

JB have the 420 for $300, whereas the 820 is down at $600. Am I missing something here?

 

I'm still happy with Javs and my own Arve curves for HDR using the Oppo 203 and JVC X7000, but am eagerly awaiting more info on madshi's Envy for dynamic TM. The longer it goes on though, the more I'm inclined to think the Envy will exceed my budget.

 

If that's the case then experimenting with the UB420's Optimizer slider will be a much cheaper option.

 

@betty boop how do you regard the TM on your 9000 relative to JVC's dreaded Gamma D?

 

TIA.

 

[betty boop]

3 hours ago, IMDave said:

If that's the case then experimenting with the UB420's Optimizer slider will be a much cheaper option.

 

@betty boop how do you regard the TM on your 9000 relative to JVC's dreaded Gamma D?

its very good... but I dont feel explored enough... overall i think id prefer it in the projector itself though.... and I think its meant to work 2 part.... ie pana just does the prep the ivc supposed to finish...

 

there's a 420 in the classifieds going for $130... cheap point of entry if want to check out...

 

3 hours ago, IMDave said:

but am eagerly awaiting more info on madshi's Envy for dynamic TM. The longer it goes on though, the more I'm inclined to think the Envy will exceed my budget.

yes suspect will be too rich for my boots....

[IMDave]

3 hours ago, betty boop said:

yes suspect will be too rich for my boots....

This coming from a man with a small "mortgage" worth of HT gear.  

I hope we're both wrong about that.

[cwt]

7 hours ago, IMDave said:

Considering PJ's won't ever support DV, and I have no need for analogue out for hi end audio ( where I can't imagine the D/A converter is that great at the price point ), I am surprised more people haven't spoken about the TM optimizer for HDR using the UB420.

 

JB have the 420 for $300, whereas the 820 is down at $600. Am I missing something here?

Not missing anything Dave ;the 420 and 820 both have the HCX v2 processor with tone mapping and 12bit upscaling to match the 7000's 12bit circuitry  Al's classified is tempting 

[IMDave]

1 minute ago, cwt said:

Not missing anything Dave ;the 420 and 820 both have the HCX v2 processor with tone mapping and 12bit upscaling to match the 7000's 12bit circuitry  Al's classified is tempting 

Thanks Colin.....................and you're right.

 

Tempting.

[IMDave]

8 minutes ago, IMDave said:

Thanks Colin.....................and you're right.

 

Tempting.

Just went to have a look and "Sold".

That was quick.................Colin ????????

[betty boop]

15 minutes ago, IMDave said:

This coming from a man with a small "mortgage" worth of HT gear.  

I hope we're both wrong about that.

ha ... I know my limits  

[betty boop]

1 minute ago, IMDave said:

Just went to have a look and "Sold".

That was quick.................Colin ????????

that was quick ...but it had to go given how cheap was going :
) 

[cwt]

6 minutes ago, IMDave said:

Just went to have a look and "Sold".

That was quick.................Colin ????????

Not me  ; sorely tempted but looking at a future projector that does the tone mapping itself ; and I like THX certification 

[Chigurh]

On 26/11/2018 at 3:49 PM, PauliD said:

I like the dual HMDI so I can run a cable straight into the TV and the audio into the AVR.

I cant for the life of me get any audio out of the second HDMI running into my Denon AVR. I've messed with all of the settings I can find in the BDP, AVR and the TV. No luck.

[PauliD]

I had an issue using the HD quality HDMI port on my old ONKYO, but no issue on the 4K HDMI ports. On the HD port it would be confused between the TV ARC and the Audio only input, as soon as I selected the player source it would stay on it for a second then change back to tv. I thought it was a CEC issue, but moving the audio only HDMI to a 4K port fixed the issue. That sucked tho as that was why I wanted to split the video and audio to utilise the HD quality ports. Any brought a new AVR with all 4K ports and no issue.

 

Maybe double check that you have ‘audio’ on HDMI 2 in the player and I think you want ‘Auto’ for HDMI 1. Good luck.