4K/UHD Playback Issues (1 Viewer)

[Kaskade1309]

Okay. This is concerning me now, because it seems to be happening regularly with UHD/4K Blu-rays on my Panasonic DP-UB9000...and I hope it's not the player, because this thing cost us $1K before tax (we're actually still paying it off).

Has anyone else who bought the Poltergeist UHD Blu-ray experienced issues (beyond what is being mentioned here, unless I missed it) like sound dropouts or random "freeze jumps" in the picture? First, my Bad Boys for Life 4K Blu exhibited these weird color "pixelation patches" in the image (even after cleaning my player's lens with a Maxell brushless laser lens cleaner) before leading to audio dropouts, and now last night, Poltergeist exhibited these brief freezes in the picture, around the time the family is having breakfast and Steve goes off to work -- at one point the audio dropped out but then came back (my player had just had its laser cleaned via the aforementioned Maxell disc a few nights ago).

Also -- the player seems to be making groaning operational noises (mainly with UHD Blu-rays) when a disc is inserted and loading, sometimes going right through to when the feature starts. At first, it only seemed to happen with two titles in my collection, Joker (Warner Bros.) and Evil Dead 2 (Lionsgate), but since then, at least one 1080p Blu-ray (Evil Dead 2013, Sony) has made this nasty vibration/cogging in the unit upon loading (one copy of this disc was so bad we had to return it, as it was causing the whole player to vibrate and whine even during the film; the replacement disc STILL causes the player to make a noise, but it's only when it first loads), but now, last night, the Poltergeist 4K disc caused the unit to moan and vibrate as it loaded. It was particularly bad when the setup menu popped up, as you could clearly hear the noise from the player over the music accompanying the menu. It eventually calmed down and stopped a few seconds into the film.

Here's what's super-weird: I was told over at AVS that the last firmware update for the Panasonic UHD players caused some titles to now exhibit noise in the units, and Joker and Evil Dead 2 were on that list -- but what is now going on with titles like Poltergeist and Bad Boys for Life? Why are these causing the player to moan, vibrate and throw a fit?

Has anyone else who may have purchased Poltergeist experienced any issues with the disc yet...or is it what is being reported here (I only noticed some reports at the very end of this thread)?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Okay. This is concerning me now, because it seems to be happening regularly with UHD/4K Blu-rays on my Panasonic DP-UB9000...and I hope it's not the player, because this thing cost us $1K before tax (we're actually still paying it off).

Has anyone else who bought the Poltergeist UHD Blu-ray experienced issues (beyond what is being mentioned here, unless I missed it) like sound dropouts or random "freeze jumps" in the picture? First, my Bad Boys for Life 4K Blu exhibited these weird color "pixelation patches" in the image (even after cleaning my player's lens with a Maxell brushless laser lens cleaner) before leading to audio dropouts, and now last night, Poltergeist exhibited these brief freezes in the picture, around the time the family is having breakfast and Steve goes off to work -- at one point the audio dropped out but then came back (my player had just had its laser cleaned via the aforementioned Maxell disc a few nights ago).

Also -- the player seems to be making groaning operational noises (mainly with UHD Blu-rays) when a disc is inserted and loading, sometimes going right through to when the feature starts. At first, it only seemed to happen with two titles in my collection, Joker (Warner Bros.) and Evil Dead 2 (Lionsgate), but since then, at least one 1080p Blu-ray (Evil Dead 2013, Sony) has made this nasty vibration/cogging in the unit upon loading (one copy of this disc was so bad we had to return it, as it was causing the whole player to vibrate and whine even during the film; the replacement disc STILL causes the player to make a noise, but it's only when it first loads), but now, last night, the Poltergeist 4K disc caused the unit to moan and vibrate as it loaded. It was particularly bad when the setup menu popped up, as you could clearly hear the noise from the player over the music accompanying the menu. It eventually calmed down and stopped a few seconds into the film.

Here's what's super-weird: I was told over at AVS that the last firmware update for the Panasonic UHD players caused some titles to now exhibit noise in the units, and Joker and Evil Dead 2 were on that list -- but what is now going on with titles like Poltergeist and Bad Boys for Life? Why are these causing the player to moan, vibrate and throw a fit?

Has anyone else who may have purchased Poltergeist experienced any issues with the disc yet...or is it what is being reported here (I only noticed some reports at the very end of this thread)?

Not sure, but maybe most/much of this belongs more in one of the other Panny UB9000-specific threads (in which you had been involved on-and-off, perhaps especially the one you began a couple years ago yourself?)?

Maybe just post this to that thread and then only include a small blurb plus reference link for here (and the other Poltergeist review thread to which you also posted this exact same thing).

Afterall, not quite that many of us would be able say much about your issues w/ that specific player me thinks, which don't sound to be Poltergeist-specific... although RAH does have that player too IIRC...

_Man_

 

[Kaskade1309]

Not sure, but maybe most/much of this belongs more in one of the other Panny UB9000-specific threads (in which you had been involved on-and-off, perhaps especially the one you began a couple years ago yourself?)?

Maybe just post this to that thread and then only include a small blurb plus reference link for here (and the other Poltergeist review thread to which you also posted this exact same thing).

Afterall, not quite that many of us would be able say much about your issues w/ that specific player me thinks, which don't sound to be Poltergeist-specific... although RAH does have that player too IIRC...

_Man_

Well outside of the other titles/issues I mentioned, I am trying to discern what is going on with Poltergeist, being that I just purchased it and experienced the issue upon second viewing (the first time we watched it, these issues DIDN'T occur).

As for posting the above in several spots in the forum, I just figured this would give it exposure as I didn't really know which specific thread would be more appropriate for the questions; in retrospect and after reading several posts in THIS thread (after I posted my message), I see that others are having issues with the release, and I should have relegated the questions to just this title.

I am beginning to think that it's actually not the Panasonic player, being that there always seems to be, upon further investigation, other folks who experience similar issues with the specific titles I bring up (though I can't explain why the 1080p Blu-ray of Evil Dead 2013 caused the unit to go into a fit).

At any rate, it seems like I may have indeed gotten one of the faulty Poltergeist discs -- I will rewatch it tonight and see if it occurs again, and if it does, I will exchange it at our Best Buy (they still have the slipcase version in stock).

 

[compson]

smh

 

[Kaskade1309]

smh

Syh over what?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

In getting back to the Hooper/Spielberg classic, I also happened to read reports of certain owners experiencing the issues once they play the disc more than once -- which is PRECISELY what happened in my case. The disc didn't exhibit any freezing the first time we played it, but upon SECOND viewing last night, it began to act up.

Can anyone else here confirm that? Why would a disc behave in such a way, taking more than one play to begin making a player wig out?

That would/should be very concerning if it's not just isolated to your case... Did you touch/handle the disc between the 2 viewings? IF yes, maybe the disc got dirty (enough) or something from your handling in between? I'd doublecheck and make sure it's clean(ed) and try again a couple times, particularly at the same specific spots, especially the one others are reporting (as noted in earlier posts)...

Not sure if you realized, but 4K disc playback does seem extremely sensitive to dirt/flaws/etc on the disc's playing surface... often not easily visible to (relatively casual) cursory checking...

_Man_

 

[Kaskade1309]

Still have not checked my steelbook copy but I’ve read other postings that say it freezes intermittently at the trouble spot in question, or does so more on one machine than another. No idea why that kind of anomaly would be the case.

What's weird is that I am reading that the steelbook versions AREN'T affected -- just the slipcase variants (I bought a slip, so that's why I'm in the situation now). But this is really odd, considering both releases should boast the exact same Blu-rays and UHD Blu-rays in them, unless something was really off when they pressed the ones that were scheduled for the steelbooks...

I don't think I ever heard of such a scenario, but...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Still have not checked my steelbook copy but I’ve read other postings that say it freezes intermittently at the trouble spot in question, or does do more on one machine than another. No idea why that kind of anomaly would be the case.

No real idea, but maybe there's something unusual/new about how this disc was authored that more easily trips up some players (though it doesn't sound like it's specific to any particular player models). Interestingly, this title uses BD-66, not BD-100, and presumably doesn't use anything like seamless branching, so one wouldn't expect probability of such issues to be that high, but who knows?

_Man_

 

[Kaskade1309]

Not sure if you realized, but 4K disc playback does seem extremely sensitive to dirt/flaws/etc on the disc's playing surface... often not easily visible to (relatively casual) cursory checking...

Yes, I am aware; I have heard of instances where people found extremely tiny, almost-impossible-to-see-with-the-naked-eye imperfections on playing surfaces of 4K media that caused hiccups, but there would be nothing to account for this on my end (in terms of handling).

As I had mentioned in a previous post, when I tried cleaning another disc that gave me pixelation problems, Bad Boys for Life, it didn't help the situation, and even seemed to cause the issue to pop up in other spots on the disc.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

What's weird is that I am reading that the steelbook versions AREN'T affected -- just the slipcase variants (I bought a slip, so that's why I'm in the situation now). But this is really odd, considering both releases should boast the exact same Blu-rays and UHD Blu-rays in them, unless something was really off when they pressed the ones that were scheduled for the steelbooks...

I don't think I ever heard of such a scenario, but...

IF there are indeed far fewer (or zero) cases of the issue w/ steelbook versions, that could possibly trace back to the type of packaging used (or rather how it might've been packaged and/or stored accordingly). There has been a fair amount of anecdotal(?) observations and speculation that the amaray case packaging for 4K discs may be prone to causing a certain layer of "film" (or whatever interfering substance) that's not casually noticeable and causes problems during playback, especially at layer changes. Usually, in such cases, just a good cleaning of the disc solves the problem.

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yes, I am aware; I have heard of instances where people found extremely tiny, almost-impossible-to-see-with-the-naked-eye imperfections on playing surfaces of 4K media that caused hiccups, but there would be nothing to account for this on my end (in terms of handling).

As I had mentioned in a previous post, when I tried cleaning another disc that gave me pixelation problems, Bad Boys for Life, it didn't help the situation, and even seemed to cause the issue to pop up in other spots on the disc.

Well, it's always possible that how you cleaned the disc could move whatever hard-to-see "dirt" elsewhere on the disc instead if your cleaning is not quite thorough/good enough... or it's also possible your cleaning might lead to some (new) damage to the disc.

Of course, in some cases, there could actually be a real, preexisting flaw (or damage) in the disc that simply needs replacement/exchange to solve... or probably in rarer cases, something inherent in the authoring or manufacturing processes themselves...

_Man_

 

[Kaskade1309]

IF there are indeed far fewer (or zero) cases of the issue w/ steelbook versions, that could possibly trace back to the type of packaging used (or rather how it might've been packaged and/or stored accordingly). There has been a fair amount of anecdotal(?) observations and speculation that the amaray case packaging for 4K discs may be prone to causing a certain layer of "film" (or whatever interfering substance) that's not casually noticeable and causes problems during playback, especially at layer changes. Usually, in such cases, just a good cleaning of the disc solves the problem.

_Man_

I'm just going by what I am reading elsewhere (in reference to your heavy emphasis on "IF"); I hadn't heard or read anything about that sentiment regarding packaging and what could affect playback, but it sure is interesting.

I just hope I don't have to end up buying the steelbook version for the sole purpose of making sure the disc plays correctly; seems ridiculous to me.

What is the best recommendation for cleaning the playing surface? Maybe I'll try changing up my routine...

 

[Kaskade1309]

Well, it's always possible that how you cleaned the disc could move whatever hard-to-see "dirt" elsewhere on the disc instead if your cleaning is not quite thorough/good enough... or it's also possible your cleaning might lead to some (new) damage to the disc.

Of course, in some cases, there could actually be a real flaw (or damage) in the disc that simply needs replacement/exchange to solve... or probably in rarer cases, something inherent in the authoring or manufacturing processes themselves...

_Man_

It seems like it's one of those

situations...

 

[Clinton McClure]

I’m still trying to figure out how a brushless lens cleaning disc actually cleans the lens… hopes and dreams?

 

[Lord Dalek]

My endust cleaning/demo bluray isn't brushless so *shrugs*.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I’m still trying to figure out how a brushless lens cleaning disc actually cleans the lens… hopes and dreams?

I actually have one, but sure beats me if it actually works (or how effective it really is). My understanding is it's supposed to try to generate and focus some vortex(?) airflow over the lens to blow off dust/dirt. But since I haven't had a player that obviously needed the cleaning and then clearly resolved the need, don't really know if it actually works. And don't recall quite where I got the cleaning disc from... although probably Amazon.

_Man_

 

[B-ROLL]

I’m still trying to figure out how a brushless lens cleaning disc actually cleans the lens… hopes and dreams?

It's

!

 

[Kaskade1309]

I actually have one, but sure beats me if it actually works (or how effective it really is). My understanding is it's supposed to try to generate and focus some vortex(?) airflow over the lens to blow off dust/dirt. But since I haven't had a player that obviously needed the cleaning and then clearly resolved the need, don't really know if it actually works. And don't recall quite where I got the cleaning disc from... although probably Amazon.

_Man_

We have the Maxell one, as seen below:

And, yes, my understanding, too, is that it's supposed to create a "funnel" of sorts that blows the dust away from the lens -- without brushes, as the brushes were believed to be damaging to laser heads.

 

[Kaskade1309]

We just tried to watch our copy of the Poltergeist UHD. It pixelated briefly at the beginning and started freezing and pixelating during kitchen / face peeling scene. We have a Panasonic DP-UB820-K that we bought last Christmas. We're wondering what we should do.

Yup. Played this again to see if we got a defective disc, as there seemed to be audio dropouts and picture freezing just after the 13-minute mark (where others are reporting issues with this release) and, lo and behold, the audio dropouts appeared and there was no sound after that point. Going to have to get a replacement after all...

 

[Kyle_D]

I don't think there's an issue specific to Poltergeist. UHDs are just finnicky. I have experienced similar issues to those reported here on about 10-15% of my UHD collection, and a drop of dish soap and a gentle scrub with warm water usually fixes the issue.