Panasonic UB200

[gadgtfreek]

Grabbed one from Value Electronics since they are such a good price, wanted to compare to the X700.

• 700 will of course get Dolby Vision, you will have to get the Jul/Aug Panny new models for DV
• The 200 is actually even smaller than the 700; I like the look of the 200 better
• 700 has dual hdmi out, 200 has one
• Prefer 200 remote feel and size vs 700; the 700 remote is a step back from the X800 IMO
• Panny has 5ghz and 2ghz wifi, Sony only has 2ghz
• Menu is basically the same as UB900, missing a few audio selections
• Chroma Burst and Zone Plate are better on the 200. The X700 has darkening in the fine resolution areas no matter the setting, I left the 200 in auto everything and it looks as should. The 200 is the same result an Oppo 203 gives me, and is not surprising because folks like HDTV test say the Panny chroma output is the best in the business right now.
• Streaming is as expected. The Sonys are generally better here, work faster and output 24hz on Netflix and Amazon vs 60hz from the Panny, but to be honest, at this point I want an ATV4K for streaming and my disc spinner to spin discs.

Looking at the above, and with Dolby Vision being a little up in the air right now on the Sonys, I am probably going to use the 200 for disc playback for now, and wait and see what the next few months brings including the new Panny player in July. If you don't need Dolby at all, this can be had online for less than the X700.

Images are of the X700 and the 200, the FW update and version, and the SDR and HDR output to my display with everything on Auto.

 

[harshness]

I remain astonished at how noticeably different the outputs of various players are.

 

[gadgtfreek]

These spears and munsil patterns are arguably nitpicking for real content, but, if you are dropping a few hundred bucks on a player I want to know that is passes these tests. I mean they have been out awhile and some models pass, some dont, its why I always test.

The Oppo 203 fails set to 12 bit 444, but if you use 12 bit 422, it looks fine. Maybe it is a coincidence since Oppo and Sony use MediaTek, and Panny makes a custom chip. Odd thing is, the Sony failed with 422 and 444, but they use an off the shelf MediaTek, where Oppo's is a custom version.

Most of this is not detrimental to PQ, I mean you used to see players clipping white and overscanning, all kinds of crap. But once again, if I have two equal players and one fails chroma patterns and the other does not, I am gonna use the one that does not.

It is great Panny basically dumbed down the $500 UB900 into a $200 UB200, especially if you just want HDR10. I'll be watching the UB820 and lower models that come in July, which will have a new chip, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Especially if Sony takes forever to add Dolby Vision to the X700.


Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray player delivers Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Alexa voice control - Pocket-lint