Technical Issues and Questions

Discuss North American DVDs and Blu-rays or other DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
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EddieLarkin
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1876 Post by EddieLarkin » Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:40 am

I would try a different HDMI cable. And perhaps different HDMI slots on the TV, it may be the case only some of them support the Full UHD Color mode.

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soundchaser
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1877 Post by soundchaser » Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:47 am

I tried a different cable, but I’ll try a third. They’re all in the first HDMI slot, which I know supports the mode. Either way, it looks as though HDR is coming through ok even when it’s turned off; worst case scenario I can just leave it that way.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1878 Post by EddieLarkin » Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:57 am

Perhaps, but I'd be concerned that you're not getting a correct picture. The Full UHD Color mode is to allow the 10 or 12 bit signals that UHD/HDR use, so if the TV is suddenly having trouble displaying these it may be that the player is only outputting 8 bit. This is why I asked what the HDMI Color setting was on as RGB I think will only go out as 8 bit. There doesn't seem to be any other settings on the player that you can adjust to affect this though, so I'm not sure why the player would be doing this.

Do you have another 4K player that you could use the same cable and same HDMI slot with, to see if the same thing happens? This could at least pinpoint the player as the culprit.

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soundchaser
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1879 Post by soundchaser » Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:16 am

I'm really not sure either - I was watching some 50hz content right before it started freaking out, but I've done that plenty of times before to no issue (and I've confirmed it's set to output 60hz normally). I can try my Roku in the same slot with that cable and sample some HDR content on VUDU when I get home later. I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

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soundchaser
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1880 Post by soundchaser » Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:16 pm

So, for whatever reason, flipping the HDMI cable around seemed to do the trick. Either that or the TV just needed to sleep for the evening. Baffled, but not necessarily complaining.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1881 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:53 pm

I just set up my Panasonic 420 UHD player, and am having trouble playing subtitles on films in my USB drive. There's no subtitle button on the remote (as there was on my previous Sony blu-ray player), but when I go into "option" a subtitle file doesn't show up under "subtitles" either. I tried switching the CC feature, in case they'd be recognized under there, but no luck under either analog or digital. Am I missing something or does this play just not support this feature?
EddieLarkin wrote:
Wed Nov 17, 2021 3:03 pm
Yes, there is an option in the Settings menu to set your "HDR Display Type", so the Optimiser knows what sort of light level to map down to. The options are High Luminance LCD (1500 nits), Medium Luminance LCD/OLED (1000 nits), and Basic Lumaninance LCD (500 nits). Obviously you'd go for the latter. Then for use during playback there is a dedicated Optimiser button on the remote, which you hold down to turn it on and off, which is a great feature as it allows you to see exactly what the Optimiser is doing to the image in real time.
I'm seeing "HDR TV Type" and switched from "High or Middle" to "Basic Luminance LCD and Projector" - which I assume is better? I don't see an "Optimiser" button on the remote, unless the "HDR Setting" button is just that?

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1882 Post by EddieLarkin » Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:58 pm

What sort of subtitle file is it? The player only supports one kind IIRC, I think it's .srt, so if it's .pgs you'll need to convert it.

The worst thing about Panasonic BD players is their poor file support. They don't support lossless audio codecs over USB either (so you'll need to switch the player to output PCM if you usually bitstream).

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1883 Post by EddieLarkin » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:01 pm

And yes, the HDR Setting is your Optimiser. Hold it down to switch from On and Off. Basic LCD/Projector Luminance is indeed best for your TV.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1884 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:13 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:58 pm
What sort of subtitle file is it? The player only supports one kind IIRC, I think it's .srt, so if it's .pgs you'll need to convert it.

The worst thing about Panasonic BD players is their poor file support. They don't support lossless audio codecs over USB either (so you'll need to switch the player to output PCM if you usually bitstream).
All the subtitle files are .srt and I've tried multiple files- no idea what to do about that. It seems like even subtitled films where the subs are imbedded in the file won't work.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1885 Post by EddieLarkin » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:20 pm

The manual says: "The video file and subtitles text file are inside the same folder, and the file names are the same except for the file extensions."

Wouldn't explain why they are not working for subs that are actually part of a video file though.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1886 Post by senseabove » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:32 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:53 pm
I just set up my Panasonic 420 UHD player, and am having trouble playing subtitles on films in my USB drive. There's no subtitle button on the remote (as there was on my previous Sony blu-ray player)...
Dammit. I'd assumed this was a stupid LG thing I wouldn't have to deal with after upgrading to the Panasonic. Have I just gotten lucky in selecting my past disc players, or has this become a new standard thing, to not have a subs button on the player remote?

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1887 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:45 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:20 pm
The manual says: "The video file and subtitles text file are inside the same folder, and the file names are the same except for the file extensions."

Wouldn't explain why they are not working for subs that are actually part of a video file though.
Yeah I've always had to rename the subs file the same exact title of the video file in order for it to work, but nothing. Also, when I play a file with the subs included within it, the options menu does allow me to move from "none" to "1" for subtitles, recognizing that it exists. However, while I can select the 1, the subs don't appear at all...

The player also does not recognize .avi video files

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1888 Post by EddieLarkin » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:59 pm

Have you tried using the TV directly to play files via USB? I know my old LG handled far more file types than any Panny player does.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1889 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:01 pm

Yeah, it works playing mkv with subs but still doesn't show avi files. I'm just going to hold onto my Sony blu-ray player to play USBs, since that works fine. Hopefully it doesn't overheat/lasts longer without being used for discs, but I'm not holding my breath given the noises made as of late. Thanks for your help!

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1890 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:10 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:01 pm
And yes, the HDR Setting is your Optimiser.
Just turned this on- the button also gives the options of "Standard," "Natural," "Light," or "Bright"- is there generally a preferred mode to set it at?

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1891 Post by EddieLarkin » Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:44 pm

I think if you press the button you get those options, but holding it down will just give you the basic on/off, which is all you need, unless you're watching in a very bright room, which you really should try not to do with HDR.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1892 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:47 pm

Right, I think it gets defaulted to "standard" so I'll just assume that's the right mode

nitin
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:49 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1893 Post by nitin » Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:22 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:10 pm
EddieLarkin wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:01 pm
And yes, the HDR Setting is your Optimiser.
Just turned this on- the button also gives the options of "Standard," "Natural," "Light," or "Bright"- is there generally a preferred mode to set it at?
Natural, Light and Bright are presets to the Dynamic Range Adjustment option that you can see under the HDR Optimiser menu in options. Best to leave it at Standard, as after that the player is altering the picture beyond what is intended.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1894 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Dec 12, 2021 2:28 am

So I put on my Swedish DVD of The Girls, and had some pretty strange issues with my new Panasonic player condensing/overlapping letters, blocking out pieces of the subs, and putting in random generated punctuation marks in between words. Exhibit A:

Image

I haven't had any issues with English subs on the other discs, tested another one and the same problem persisted. Then I tried the discs on my old Sony player and they worked fine with subs. Clearly my Panasonic 420 UHD player is having trouble reading the DVD... is this a fixable issue from my settings, or is this highly recommended product really shaping up to be an awful piece of machinery for anything outside... playing UHDs?

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1895 Post by EddieLarkin » Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:16 am

There are few UHD players that have decent DVD playback I'm afraid. I believe some of them can't even play non-anamorphic 4x3 properly.

The 420/820 is the best player on the market for both HDR10 mapping and Blu-ray upscaling, but file playback and evidently DVD playback (and DVD upscaling for that matter), have been given short shrift.

A better option may have been the Oppo 203 but that would have cost you 4 figures and you'd lose out on the HDR10 mapping, which is critical for some discs on your TV.

Unfortunately there simply isn't a player out there that does everything, which is why I have 3 players all hooked up at once.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1896 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:34 am

That’s unfortunate but helpful to know- I’m just glad I didn’t toss my Sony. Thanks for the insight as always, EddieLarkin

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swo17
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1897 Post by swo17 » Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:13 am

If I have the Oppo and eventually get a top-of-the-line OLED, are some discs going to suffer without HDR10 mapping?

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andyli
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1898 Post by andyli » Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:16 am

swo17 wrote:If I have the Oppo and eventually get a top-of-the-line OLED, are some discs going to suffer without HDR10 mapping?
I think the idea is that the better your TV is (closer to the monitor the UHD was graded on), the less use tone-mapping will be of.

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EddieLarkin
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1899 Post by EddieLarkin » Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:48 am

Yes, andyli is right. And all TVs come with their own mapping you can engage anyway, it's just Panasonic's is class leading, hence why they are the only ones who make it available on their players rather than just their TVs. So I wouldn't worry about it, especially if you end up with a Sony or Panasonic OLED (LG's approach to mapping appears to be a slight step down from other manufacturers).

And, as good as the 420/820 HDR10 mapping is, the player has a Dolby Vision related bug that causes some sets to clip highlight detail anyway. So DV on your Oppo is likely going to be better in that regard.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1900 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Dec 29, 2021 3:20 pm

Does anybody know of any free programs that can change the audio on a digital movie file (i.e. from DTS to AAC) on Macs? I've tried a few but the free trials tend to only allow for ~five minutes of the file to be changed. I've historically used a Chromecast to play these files from VLC on my comp on the TV, but it's not as ideal a system since there can be lag and my computer can overheat, and I'd like to keep them on a flash drive that will support the audio format if possible.

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