The number of manufacturers supporting Dolby Vision is getting bigger and bigger. Panasonic can be added to the list today as the Japanese manufacturer introduces its first Ultra HD Blu-ray players with Dolby Vision during CES 2018. In addition, Panasonic is committed to HDR10+, the open source standard that competes with Dolby Vision. In this review we will look at Panasonic 2018 Ultra HD Blu-ray players.
Panasonic 2018 Ultra HD Blu-ray players
Panasonic will arrive in 2018 with the DP-UB9004, DP-UB824, the DP-UB424 and the DP-UB324 Ultra HD Blu-ray players. These model names are not used in Belgium. This involves the DP-UB9000, DP-UB820, DP-UB420 and DP-UB320. The top models for this year are the DP-UB9004 and DP-UB824, equipped with support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Furthermore these players come with an analog 7.1-channel output and gold-plated connections. The DP-UB9004 is a player especially for the audiophile, including a weighted chassis, a special audio power supply, a powerful D / A converter and balanced XLR output. This model also comes with a THX certificate.
The UB9004, UB824 and UB424 have two HDMI outputs for transmitting audio and video separately. All four players come with support for high resolution audio, including support for WAV / FLAC / MP3 / AAC / WMA, DSD (11.2MHz / 5.6 MHz / 2.8 MHz) ALAC and AIFF. The UB824 and UB424 are also equipped with Digital Tube sound, with six different audio modes. The UB9004, UB824 and UB424 all support 4K streaming services, including YouTube, Netflix and Amazon, while all players can play 4K videos in the MP4 format. Apart from the UB9004, all players are provided with a compact ‘3D Glass Cut Design’.
All new players have received an Ultra HD Premium certificate and have the HCX processor that we saw back in the players last year. 4K Direct Chroma Up scaling is also available that allows HD content to be scaled up to 4K. New this year is support for voice control, thanks to integration of the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This allows you to give voice commands to a speaker with Alexa or the Google Assistant to control the players. The search for the remote control is then a thing of the past.
Panasonic adds three extra HDR functions to the Blu-ray players; HDR Optimiser ensures that the player performs the tone mapping process instead of the TV, so you always get stable HDR image quality, regardless of the TV being used. HDR to SDR conversion ensures that HDR images are optimized for TVs that can only handle SDR material. And, HDR Adjustment makes it possible to adapt the HDR image to the environment. This way you can make darker parts of the image that are difficult to see in a brightly lit environment more visible by increasing the brightness.
Features Panasonic DP-UB9004 (DP-UB9000)
- Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K / HDR)
- HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) Processor
- HDR10 + / Dolby Vision dynamic metadata
- THX certificate
- 4K High-Precision Chroma Processing
- 4K Direct Chroma Up scaling
- 4K 60p / 50p / 4: 4: 4 Output
- HDR Optimizer
- FULL HD 3D Blu-ray Disc Playback
- 7.1-channel analog output
- Two HDMI outputs
- High Clarity Sound Premium
- HDMI Low Clock Jitter Process
- High-resolution Audio Playback (DSD (11.2MHz / 2.8MHz / 5.6MHz), ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF)
- 192kHz / 96kHz Surround Re master
- Voice control
- 4K VOD (Netflix / YouTube / Amazon)
- 4K Networking (4K Video / 4K Jpeg Playback)
- Internet Apps
- DLNA (Client / Renderer)
- Network Drive Access
- External HDD Playback
- Mirroring with smartphone / tablet
- Web browser
- WiFi
- Custom design for optimal audio quality
- Vibration-reducing frame
- Balanced XLR output
- Special audio food
- Analog circuits
- Gold-plated connectors
Features Panasonic DP-UB824 (DP-UB820)
- Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K / HDR)
- HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) Processor
- HDR10 + / Dolby Vision dynamic metadata
- 4K High-Precision Chroma Processing
- 4K Direct Chroma Up scaling
- 4K 60p / 50p / 4: 4: 4 Output
- HDR Optimizer
- FULL HD 3D Blu-ray Disc Playback
- 7.1-channel analog output
- Two HDMI outputs
- High Clarity Sound Premium
- HDMI Low Clock Jitter Process
- Digital Tube Sound
- High-resolution Audio Playback (DSD (11.2MHz / 2.8MHz / 5.6MHz), ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF)
- 192kHz / 96kHz Surround Re master
- Voice control
- 4K VOD (Netflix / YouTube / Amazon)
- 4K Networking (4K Video / 4K Jpeg Playback)
- Internet Apps
- DLNA (Client / Renderer)
- Network Drive Access
- External HDD Playback
- Mirroring with smartphone / tablet
- Web browser
- WiFi
- Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K / HDR)
- HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) Processor
- HDR10 + dynamic metadata
- 4K High-Precision Chroma Processing
- 4K Direct Chroma Up scaling
- 4K 60p / 50p / 4: 4: 4 Output
- HDR Optimizer
- FULL HD 3D Blu-ray Disc Playback
- Two HDMI outputs
- High Clarity Sound Premium
- HDMI Low Clock Jitter Process
- Digital Tube Sound
- High-resolution Audio Playback (DSD (11.2MHz / 2.8MHz / 5.6MHz), ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF)
- 192kHz / 96kHz Surround Re master
- Voice control
- 4K VOD (Netflix / YouTube / Amazon)
- 4K Networking (4K Video / 4K Jpeg Playback)
- Internet Apps
- DLNA (Client / Renderer)
- Network Drive Access
- External HDD Playback
- Mirroring with smartphone / tablet
- Web browser
- WiFi
Features Panasonic DP-UB324 (DP-UB320)
- Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K / HDR)
- HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) Processor
- 4K High-Precision Chroma Processing
- 4K Direct Chroma Up scaling
- 4K 60p / 50p / 4: 4: 4 Output
- FULL HD 3D Blu-ray Disc Playback
- HDMI Low Clock Jitter Process
- High-resolution Audio Playback (DSD (2.8MHz / 5.6MHz), ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF)
- 4K VOD (Netflix / Amazon)
- 4K Networking (4K Video / 4K Jpeg Playback)
- Internet Apps
- DLNA (Client / Renderer)
- Network Drive Access
- External HDD Playback
- Web browser
- WiFi
Price and availability
The new Panasonic Ultra HD Blu-ray players have to appear on the market in the spring. The prizes have not yet been announced.
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