Panasonic Streaming Blu Ray DVD Player, 4K Blu Ray Player with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ Ultra HD Premium Video Playback, Hi-Res Audio, Voice Assist - DP-UB820-K (Black)

Panasonic is a well-established, highly respected name in electronics, a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works in Fukushima, Osaka, by Kōnosuke Matsushita, and incorporated its principal subsidiary in the United States as Matsushita Electric Corporation of America in New York City in September 1959. It began producing television sets for the U.S. market under the "Panasonic" brand name in 1961 and changed its corporate name to conform with its global "Panasonic" brand name, which comes from the root words "Pan," meaning universal, and "Sonic," referring to sound. The "Panasonic Corporation of North America" division is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, since 2013, after being previously headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey, since the 1980s. I have a new Samsung Neo QLED Q95 TV, and, with the advent of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, I needed a new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player to take advantage of this television's advanced graphics and sound capabilities and its HDCP requirements. HDCP stands for High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. It is a form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent the unauthorized copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across HDMI connections for digital devices like Blu-ray players, cable boxes, and streaming devices. HDCP 2.2 is essential for 4K content delivery. I am a movie enthusiast. Old-fashioned, I prefer movie theaters over streaming video services. Streaming video is not equal to and is not a satisfactory substitute for the cinema theater-quality visual and sound experience. The next best visual and sound experience is found only in Blu-ray and 4K discs. I collect DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs. As streaming video platforms increase their dominance, Blu-ray Player manufacturing is being discontinued. In December 2024, LG announced that it ceased production of Blu-ray players, joining Samsung and Oppo. While PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles also play Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD discs, the feature adds complexities. This means that only Sony and Panasonic are the remaining major brands that are still manufacturing Blu-ray players. Get your Blu-ray player while they are still being manufactured. When comparing Sony and Panasonic Blu-ray players with Ultra HDR, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos capabilities, I found information advising that the Panasonic automatically detects and switches between Dolby Vision and HDR10, and that the Sony requires manual selection. For me, this eliminated Sony as an option. I chose an upper-end Panasonic, the DP-UB820, because it supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats and includes a proprietary HDR Optimizer function that adjusts to the TV’s brightness capabilities through its exclusive "HCX" technology for 4K high-precision chroma processing; it also supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. I do not appreciate streaming movies. Streaming subscriptions are expensive. You cannot have just one or a few. There are so many competitors with exclusive libraries and video streaming rights that you must have many streaming subscriptions to view the latest and greatest movie choices. As I said before, this is expensive. Too, streaming video presents other problems. Not all streaming video platforms are equal, particularly when it comes to 4K. Notably, Netflix streams 4K at a compressed 15–25 Mbps bitrate; Disney+ is at 16 Mbps; Apple TV+ is at 25 Mbps; and Amazon Prime Video is at 18 Mbps. Moreover, your experience depends on your internet speed, the number of actively connected internet devices, overall internet traffic, and interference in general, as well as the subscription tier level of your streaming video service and settings within the service's app, over and above the year, make, model, caliber, and calibration of your television. Even so, viewing requires the right equipment more than anything else. If you watched "The Rings of Power," you may have experienced scenes that were too dark to see what was happening. This result is from so-called "Dark Cinematography," a style of filmmaking that utilizes minimal light sources to create a visually ominous and stirring atmosphere, often associated with suspense genres; it prioritizes mood and tension over bright, clear visuals, aiming to immerse the viewer in a sense of mystery and darkness. Viewing can be extremely difficult and frustrating in streaming videos. In viewing the Denis Villeneuve 2021 ~ 2024 "Dune: Part One and Part Two," here too, there were a number of scenes that were too dark to see what was happening. "Dune" was partially filmed in 4.5K resolution, which is higher than Dune's more prevalent 4K resolution, with the 4.5K resolution being 4480 x 2520 pixels and the 4K digital resolution being 3840 x 2160 pixels. 4.5K offers more pixels and sharper detail than standard 4K. The "Dune" movie shown in the IMAX Digital Cinema Package (DCP) format has a 4K resolution with a high picture bitrate reaching up to 500 Mbps. Streaming video services cannot accommodate the large file size of movies, so they compress the file. In doing so, there is a loss in visual and acoustic fidelity. Bitrate compression is essential to streaming videos, for uncompressed content would require massive bandwidth and be cost prohibitive. Imagine the visual fidelity loss through the streaming video bitrate compression to 25 Mbps or less. Since 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs have a maximum video bitrate of 128 Mbps, albeit compressed but less so than streaming, such discs are able to present the sharpest visuals, richest colors, and a more cinematic viewing experience outside a theater above that presented in streaming video platforms. When it comes to dark cinematography, the Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player's Dolby Vision's dynamic metadata plays a crucial role by allowing for precise adjustments in the darkest areas of a scene, ensuring details are visible even in scenes with very low-light situations while still maintaining the intended contrast and color accuracy.

I had originally ordered the Sony UBP-X700, which worked pretty decently as long as I played regular Blu Ray discs or DVDs. However, when I tried to play 4K discs, the Sony would skip, freeze, and make the movie experience completely unwatchable. I returned the Sony and decided to take the plunge with this Panasonic, despite the expense. It has been so worth it thus far! It plays every disc flawlessly and gives an excellent picture. This thing is a beast and is definitely the best players currently on the market, in my opinion. The setup was pretty easy and the fact that is has wireless connection (Sony doesn't) was an added bonus. The remote is a little awkward but I don't care. The picture is what matters, and it's awesome.

I've always liked Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc Players. They are solid, high-quality performers. This is my fourth such player (DP-UB820) from them for the Blu-ray Disc format--and second player for 4K UHD discs! This player is a replacement for an aging standard-definition 5-disc DVD changer which I recently retired (although, obviously, the DP-UB820 is a single-disc player and nobody actually makes multi-disc changer/players anymore). Also, of additional note: Panasonic's players will take on almost any home-burned/recorded disc you throw at them (CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE, and dual-layer versions of the aforementioned video disc types--just no DVD-RAM playback). PC-burned disc playback may not mean much except to those who are all-in on PC disc burning or who still burn discs (I am--and I edit video which I then render and commit to disc complete with menus and all using my PC). Committing home-edited video to physical media is still the best method for the high-quality presentation of said video. I am a die-hard physical media enthusiast so this Panasonic 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc player is the way to go--regardless of whether you're using store-bought/commercial discs (movies/TV shows) or home-burned discs!! The picture quality is amazing for DVDs, HD Blu-ray Discs, and 4K UHD Blu-ray Discs. Colors are amazing! Ideally, you'll want to use this player on a TV with HDR and Dolby Vision; however, this thing will make your discs look great even on SDR TVs. And if you're still using an early 4K TV (non-HDR/SDR-only), you'll be future-proofed with the Panasonic DP-UB820 because of its HDR and Dolby Vision features for when you do decide to upgrade your TV to an HDR or Dolby Vision TV. You'll also be amazed at the quick boot-up time and the quick disc-loading times of the DP-UB820. I cannot speak to the streaming capabilities of the player because I am a "physical-media-first" type of person and so I use this player with DVD and Blu-ray Disc playback in mind; besides I have AppleTV 4K for streaming. My older three Panasonic Blu-ray Disc players (all still functioning well and going strong) are the DMP-BD30 (an early rugged "warrior" and "veteran" from 2008 of the Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war), a 2012 portable unit DMP-B200, and 2016's THX-certified 4K UHD winner DMP-UB900!!! So, yes, Panasonic--and, yes, the current DP-UB820; another winner and highly recommended by this home-theater enthusiast!!

This Panasonic largely does what it is supposed to, with just a few shocking unforced errors. The worst of these is Panasonic’s failure to program into the machine the good old-fashioned “resume play” operation for blu-ray disc playback. Yes, apparently it was (thought?) that resume play for ultra-HD discs would be adequate. As a viewer with a library of blu-ray discs who bought this machine to be future-proof, I must disagree. There are some who say that this fault is easily remedied by inserting a USB thumb drive, but these opinions are erroneous. I quote page 19 of the online Owner’s Manual: “On BD-Video discs including BD-J, the resume play function does not work.” I had read that some blu-ray discs have this feature programmed into the disc itself. This does in fact turn out to be the case, but very few discs have this feature (see end of review if interested). This is a stunning deficiency. Watching a movie and taking a break for lunch or dinner? Interrupted by a phone call? You may have to restart the disc from scratch. Next deficiency—no direct access to points on the blu-ray disc. Left off at 42 minutes? When you restart do the old chapter-skip until you are close, then fast forward to line up. Next, no owner’s manual included. Others have noted this as well. It’s not that simple a machine, or a cheap one. I have downloaded the manual, referred to it often, and printed some pages myself. The “Basic Owner’s Manual” provided is a joke, truly worthless. I could describe it here in a few short sentences, but it’s not worth the time for you or me. Let’s take a look at the remote control. Surprisingly, there is a huge “Netflix” button immediately above, aligned with, and larger than the frequently-used “up” cursor just above the “OK” (Enter) button. This has been called out by others, and I agree that even a careful user will of necessity hit this button on occasion. This results in delay and interruption while the Netflix app starts to load and the Netflix logo appears on the user’s screen. Secondly, while there is a “Closed Caption setup” button, this is unrelated to the subtitles for the hard of hearing. Some might be unsympathetic, but speaking as an aging “Boomer,” I assert that subtitles will only continue to increase in importance. The menu for that in the player is onerous, and the best solution is to use the pop-up menu that is usually on the disc itself—also not great while the opening dialogue is flying by. All such criticisms aside, the machine loads quickly, runs smoothly and silently, and produces the expected excellent blu-ray picture. Therefore despite all this the UB820 still gets 4 stars. Panasonic, I hope, hope you are listening. “Unforced errors.” As an epilogue for aspiring techies, a prominent You-tube post appears to demonstrate that simple insertion of a USB thumb drive into the USB port on the back of the machine endows this machine with memory needed to make the “resume play” feature operable. This is demonstrated using a disc from 20th Century Fox Studios, “The Revenant.” I was able to reproduce this result using “Walk the Line”, from the same studio, with or without a thumb drive inserted into the machine. “Sherlock” (produced by BBC, a Region A disc), and “Iron Man 2” (produced by Paramount), went to a complete restart with or without thumb drive. Simply pressing “Stop” once resulted immediately in going to --:-- on the “Status” bar. With “Walk the Line,” on the other hand, I could even power off the machine and on restart by pressing “Play,” (which will power up the machine) we went right back to where we left off. It’s the disc, not the thumb drive. I also checked for firmware updates; my machine had arrived with the latest firmware version.

Upgraded from an old Sony Blu-ray player and this has everything I need. Audio and video quality is top notch.

I own two of these PANASONIC UB820-K units to the total tune of $800 plus tax and such for the pair. Bought the first one November 2023 and due to the issue described below is the reason for my last unit purchased March of 2025. Which now is suffering from the same issues. Pixelation is the first sign of trouble which can first occur anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes into the movie. Pixelation is normally followed by a couple of screen pauses before loss of sound and then often freezing of the partially pixelated picture. Sometimes the movie will pick up and drag through these unwanted events giving a sense of possibility that the show will go on. But alas, only to eventually have the movie totally freeze up, lock out and completely shut down. This pixelation, freezing and locking issues seems to be most problematic when viewing HDR 4K discs as opposed to DVD and Blu-Ray discs. Which, without saying is the main reason for having the theater system in the first place. I have since updating my player from Blu-Ray to HDR 4K. Upgrading most of my movie collection to the HDR 4K format came at a large expense has did the two UB820 units. My theater setup is pretty straight forward. The Panasonic Streaming Blu Ray DVD Player, 4K Blu Ray Player with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ Ultra HD Premium Video Playback, Hi-Res Audio, Voice Assist - DP-UB820-K (Black) connects the audio and video signals to the Denon - AVR-X3700H (105W X 9) 9.2-Ch. with HEOS and Dolby Atmos 8K Ultra HD HDR. Video signal is sent to my LG C3 Series 83-Inch Class OLED evo 4K Processor Smart Flat Screen. Connections are delivered through Cable Matters [Ultra High Speed HDMI Certified] 48Gbps 8K HDMI Cable 6.6 ft / 2m with 8K@60Hz, 4K@240Hz and HDR Support. Audio is delivered via high end Monster speaker cable to a series of Martin Logan speakers. I purchased and installed an air scrubber and exhaust fan to cut down on dust or smoke in my theater room. So I don't feel that's the issue? I have tried cleaning these 4K movie discs using a microfiber cloth. And have attempted to fast forward, pause, eject and restarting the movie in hopes that the movie will replay without the issue but it continues. It would be awesome if someone from Panasonic would contact me to perhaps discuss the problems with these two UB820-K units and hopefully give me cause to change my review.

Spending quite a bit of time with this player since installed, I find it performs far above the other popular 4K player it replaced. It plays every disk that the other one froze on with zero problems. Was easy to set up and connect to the internet. Remote is easy to understand and use. Just one oddity - if a disk is already in that I haven't seen completely, it will turn off after turning on. Makes no sense to me and only a very minor irritation. And is intermittent too. Plays all the disk types from DVD's to Blue Ray to 4K. Just need to see how the durability is but it has my 5 star rating for now!

Setup was plug and play easy. I connected the HDMI cable from my S95F Samsung Television to the Panasonic Blu Ray Player, turned on the player, popped in a DVD and it immediately started to playback the movie. Picture quality is outstanding, crystal clear with no picture noise. I am able to play my old DVDs as well as newer 4K HD DVDs with no problems. I have no picture freeze issues. The player is very well built with a metal chassis. The form factor is very compact compared to my older DVD player which is twice as large. It easily fits into the concealed shelf of my entertainment center. I paid more for the player, but I think it's worth every penny.