Panasonic DP-UB9000P1K Reference Class 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision Playback

Got this because I have a huge video collection and as we have to come to realize there are limits to the offerings of any one streaming service, or even as an aggregate collective when it comes to the current trend in movie choices. No matter, all movies, film and TV are geared for that crucial 17-23 year old demographic ( and have always have been) and when you age past that, (as I have), its good to have a machine that will play the films that you liked well enough to buy.Of particular interest to me was the upscaling of 4k, where even DVD's will play and look better onscreen than the day they were pressed. And as any video collector will tell you, there are plenty of favorite films which will never be released/remastered in 4k, or even on Blu-ray, simply because they are not economically/commercially or commercially "responsible". In this manner the DP-UB9000 exceeded expectations, making DVD's look almost as good as Blu-ray and Blu-ray approach 4k films in clarity.4k is good and with a proper theatre setup is it easily possible to certainly have a better experience at home as you realize that you can get the 4k version of any (recent) film for the price of two adult admission tickets and not have to endure a single cell phone conversation of a stranger or a long line at the $nack bar for basic cinematic sustenance.Sound? I am running 5.1 surround on a dedicated Monster audio optical cables and the unit can accurately recreate the usual cacophonous cries of speeding cars, gunshots and the explosion's of any summer action thriller as well as the faint sleigh bells of any timeless mainstream Christmas classic as you and yours gather around the warmth of the flat screen for some more traditional film fare.Issues? Only one. Stay out of the tertiary menus if you don't know exactly what you are doing or why you have gone there in the first place. I ended up accidentally turning on the "menu assist for visually impaired" and the unit angrily shouted at me in a robotic female tirade reminiscent of the ship's voice on Star Trek as let me know what was on each screen (even as I could clearly read for myself). Adding annoyance to injury was the fact I was rapidly trying to cycle through the various menus to turn off this sour snotty, redundant, observational voice which only made it yell at me more. Infuriating, even if you have a bleak but silly sense of humor which I like to pride myself on. Perhaps it is a sign of aging to admit that One cannot can't program a VCR anymore (or this generations cinematic playing equivalent) but the remote on this player (depicted) has more buttons than most calculators (which isn't uncommon, admittedly). Yet the internal menus are vast, unforgiving and not always intuitive. If you must absolutely must play with every setting on your new "bleeding edge" media devices in order to fully appreciate them be forewarned, "there be dragons". Set it for automatic firmware upgrades and stay out of its menu abyss and it should serve you well.Also it's slightly expensive. Admittedly, at this price point you can get a lesser brand renditioned player from a secondary retailer that will play all regions. But these are small complaints. Its incredible, and I have had it for a year, even though I only use a fraction of its features.

Amazing! Quality is unbelievable, after several research, I wasn’t sure between this model and the more expensive Magnetar UDO 900, I’m glad I went with Panasonic! Video image is amazing! The interface looks out dated but isn’t a big deal! Strongly recommended this one for the true Home Theater enthusiasts!

I've been researching 4K Blu ray players for over a year and the Blu ray market seems to be downsizing and consolidating. As of 4/22, the top Blu ray players are made by Panasonic, Sony, McIntosh and possibly the French made models by Reavon that have very limited availability.4K Blu ray offers a huge audio/video signal boost over streaming at this time. Most streaming Dolby Atmos audio is really lame because it's so compressed and you need a DAC and a ton of bandwidth to make it sound remotely decent but it's still not as nearly good as a 4K Blu ray disk, especially the audio. It's all about the source.This Panasonic model arrived from World Wide Stereo via Amazon which was the best outcome because I have Amazon as the seller and World Wide Stereo for tech support. Perfect!Setup was incredibly simple. One caveat here is that the setup process can vary greatly based on your current audio gear. I have a McIntosh MX-122 home theater preamp and a brand-new Sony A80J 65 inch 4K TV. The McIntosh preamp and Sony TV "played well" with the Panasonic Blu ray and it just KNEW what to do and the default settings were all spot on.Here are my pro/con in a simple list:Pro:- Top rate build quality - this Panasonic is a tank tipping the scale at 17+ pounds plus great professional reviewer ratings- Simple setup, 1 HDMI cable and the power cord, WIFI was a breeze.- Great audio and video output - top rate.- I can READ the screen! I can't say that about the legacy Sony X100ES (which is no longer made) I replaced with the Panasonic.- Built in DAC improves audio output even more- Streaming capability - built in Netflix. If you don't have Apple TV, this is a bonus- Great adjustability - you can tailor the video output to most any setting and TV. The audio is a solid improvement over my legacy Sony 1100ES that is no longer available - it was only 2 years old and it's gone already!- the CD playback for music is top rate as well. It’s far cleaner and better defined than my 16 year old McIntosh MVP 861. Whether it’s Bluray, CD or DVD, this Panasonic can’t be beat in this price range.Con:- Price - it's a heavy lift at $1000 but the only other units close in quality to this Panasonic are the McIntosh MVP 901 at $6000 and the Reavon 100 and 200 at about $800 and $1700 each. The problem with Reavon is availability - one source, the US distributor right now and who knows about parts down the road.- The Panasonic 90 days labor warranty on this machine is sort of lame for a $1000 unit- The full user manual is a 50-page download and printout on your own - it's even hard to find the download link. I'd put it here but Amazon won't allow that in reviews.- It's REALLY hard to find an extra remote for the Panasonic. I like 2 remotes and scoured Amazon for a second Panasonic OEM remote and it was non-existent. I located one at Dan's Electronics. The Panasonic part number for this Panasonic remote is N2QAYA000175.- Some audiophiles whine that the UB9000 will not play SACD's or audio DVD's. I don't own either format, so it wasn't a deal breaker for me but it may be for others.The Blu ray market right now is in transition. With the loss of OPPO who made GREAT players along with the loss of other players like my Sony 1100ES are part of the market consolidation. Right now, the 4K Blu ray market is either $250 - $500 plastic consumer grade or the $1000+ models.McIntosh makes legendary audio gear and I own their MX-122 home theater preamp, MC-402 2 x 400 watt amp and the McIntosh MC 8207 7 x 200 watt home theater amp. The MC 402 amp is a beast and it's circa 2006 and it's still cranking.The McIntosh MVP-901 Blu ray player is an awesome device that is $5,000 more than this Panasonic and it's up to the consumer to decide if there is $5K in performance advantage for McIntosh over this Panasonic.That's a lot of data but I hope it helps!