Anyone having issues with the Panasonic UB820? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Husar]

I got the player in 2021 and honestly it is one of the best players ever, but recently all of a sudden, on certain discs, I have been having issues with tiling, where the picture becomes a series of windows, and a garbled mess. The discs have been cleaned, the player has been cleaned, also repaired. Now I have a Sony UBX-700 as a back up player, which always had it’s own issues, and those discs play fine. It happens on Criterion’s After Hours, and it starts when Paul goes into the loft, it happens on Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3, when they get on that ship and the clothes go out of the window, Rio Bravo, and one shot in East Of Eden, and during the car chase in Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning. Now, again I did clean the discs, and these discs don’t have the issue on the Sony. Also, I exchanged the discs for After Hours and Guardians and it still happens at the exact same spots. Firmware is updated. My friend told me the Panny 820 can be very sensitive. Is anyone having this issue recently, and are there work arounds? Thanks for any info you may have.

 

[David Norman]

I've read several reports similar over the last year or two related to the 420/820. Since it's multiple discs and those discs play on the sony, it's
obviously something with the Panasonic.

Some people have had success correcting the issue with a lens cleaner - suggested to use the air blower/vortex style disc rather than one with brushes.

 

[Brian Husar]

I've read several reports similar over the last year or two related to the 420/820. Since it's multiple discs and those discs play on the sony, it's
obviously something with the Panasonic.

Some people have had success correcting the issue with a lens cleaner - suggested to use the air blower/vortex style disc rather than one with brushes.

The cleaner I do have has brushes. So just spray the air blower obviously inside, what is a vortex style cleaner?

 

[Brian Husar]

I've read several reports similar over the last year or two related to the 420/820. Since it's multiple discs and those discs play on the sony, it's
obviously something with the Panasonic.

Some people have had success correcting the issue with a lens cleaner - suggested to use the air blower/vortex style disc rather than one with brushes.

This is the one I have been using.

 

[David Norman]

The cleaner I do have has brushes. So just spray the air blower obviously inside, what is a vortex style cleaner?

It's a long shot. The problem with the brushes is some people feel is can knock the lens out of alignment. Of course that assumes the brushes actually are close enough to the lens to clean. If you've already run that disc with I think combines a brush with a air turbulence method, then another type disc may not work any better.

Someone posted links to a airturbulence non contact disc in another thread somewhere on the forum so maybe they'll popup again.
Most of the one's I've seen on microperforations in the disc that set up a significant amount of airflow inside the unit to knock the dust loose. I doubt this would help if you have a film developing over the lens like glass often gets from oil, pollution (smoke), offgassing, just plain humidity/condensation over time depending on your house environment. A real lens cleaning would be better, but much harder to accomplish for general amateurs like me.

There are some online videos with a more complete direct lens cleaning solution using 90+% alcohol solutions I found this post specifically asking about pixelation/read errors on the Panasonic

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I remember doing this regularly with my LD players but never really worried about DVD/BD/4K players

 

[JohnRice]

FWIW, I've been using brush cleaning discs for at least 25 years and never had a problem. However, I don't use them habitually.

My UB820 developed a problem playing some discs, especially UHD, at least a year ago. I ran the cleaning disc 3-4 times, and it's been fine ever since. Like a lot of others, I clean every new UHD disc once with a microfiber cloth.

 

[Brian Husar]

FWIW, I've been using brush cleaning discs for at least 25 years and never had a problem. However, I don't use them habitually.

My UB820 developed a problem playing some discs, especially UHD, at least a year ago. I ran the cleaning disc 3-4 times, and it's been fine ever since. Like a lot of others, I clean every new UHD disc once with a microfiber cloth.

Do you use distilled water on the discs when you clean them?

 

[JohnRice]

Do you use distilled water on the discs when you clean them?

No. I just wipe them from center to edge.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm having issues with connectivity for my usb devices to my panasonic UB820 4k player. I was told by panasonic that they support up to 4tb external HD after accidently buying a 5tb hd and trying to connect it. Well I bought a 2tb WD Black external HD and the 4k player still wont recognize it! I get a connectivity error that there is nothing plugged in. I have had this same issue with another usb 3.0 flash drive. But my 2.0 16gb flash drive does show connectivity. Another 3.0 flash drive did connect but didn't show all the video files. Has anyone else had this issue and do you have a solution? I have movie files I want to be able to watch through external HDD with this player and I hope I'll be able to. Thanks.

All I know is you have to be certain it is formatted in a compatible format. For some absurd reason, it can be FAT32 or NTFS, but not EXFAT.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I'm having issues with connectivity for my usb devices to my panasonic UB820 4k player. I was told by panasonic that they support up to 4tb external HD after accidently buying a 5tb hd and trying to connect it. Well I bought a 2tb WD Black external HD and the 4k player still wont recognize it! I get a connectivity error that there is nothing plugged in. I have had this same issue with another usb 3.0 flash drive. But my 2.0 16gb flash drive does show connectivity. Another 3.0 flash drive did connect but didn't show all the video files. Has anyone else had this issue and do you have a solution? I have movie files I want to be able to watch through external HDD with this player and I hope I'll be able to. Thanks.

Curious... ever figure this out?

_Man_

 

[Brian Husar]

Curious... ever figure this out?

_Man_

Not at all so I have been playing that disc in my backup Sony