Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by Daniel Osakwe
The Panasonic DP-UB820EB falls between premium and midrange 4K Blu-ray players. In spite of its reasonable price, it offers capabilities and performance you might expect from a player that costs a lot more.
That makes it a top choice in our list of best Blu-ray players. Although it isn’t perfect, it is not the least bit disappointing. For instance, the CD playback is not exactly outstanding. The 4K Blu-ray player is a truly outstanding player owing to its superb image quality and fantastic sound reproduction.
Table of Contents
Panasonic DP-UB820EB: Picture quality
- High-quality 4K pictures
- HDR10+ & Dolby Vision
DP-UB820EB features Panasonic’s second-generation HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) processing to deliver stunning 4K images. With sharp edges and a well-defined dynamic range, pictures are crisp and detailed.
As a result of Panasonic’s 4:4:4 color sampling, the colors stand out beautifully without being too overpowering. Using the HDR optimizer, this can also be modified based on the environment in which you are watching. While watching dark movies, this can be especially useful since blacks can be differentiated more clearly.
There is a lot of detail here, from skin tones to lines in complex natural scenes. In addition to upscaled 1080p content, this also results in improved Blu-ray disc quality, both in terms of detail, as well as in color and contrast.
Panasonic DP-UB820EB: Audio quality
- The sound quality is excellent
- A soundbar or surround sound is ideal for this device
This deck will deliver a powerful sound with a sense of weight and depth. As a result, it’s the perfect companion for surround sound systems and big action movies.
In addition to working well with dialogue, the Panasonic DP-UB820EB also utilizes that power to help push the vocals clearly out, even if there are a lot of background sounds and noise.
In movies with classical scores, you get a well-defined range of instruments and an impactful performance.
Although it plays CDs and does so well, you can improve its performance by using the Digital Tube up-sampler to adjust the settings.
Panasonic DP-UB820EB: Design, build, and features
- Good build quality
- Streaming apps built-in
In terms of build quality, the Panasonic DP-UB820 is midrange and not premium. In this case, you’ll find more plastic than the metal type of high-end decks. However, it still feels solid and looks decent.
The 3D Glass Cut finish is attractive. However, the front is kept minimal so that it blends in rather than stands out. On the back, it has two HDMIs, an Ethernet port, a USB port, and an optical audio output. It comes with a selection of 7.1 channel audio out ports so you can connect it to a sound system.
WiFi is available as well as a number of streaming apps, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube. Netflix also comes with its own dedicated button on the remote control. It can be very useful to have HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support in this situation.
Additionally, it supports SACD, DVD-Audio, and 24-bit hi-res audio playback.
| Pros | Cons |
| Useful streaming apps | CD playback average |
| Fantastic image processed with HCX | |
| 4K, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision |
Final thoughts
With Panasonic’s Blu-ray player, you can play Dolby Vision and HDR10+ without having to pay a premium for a high-end product. Despite its lack of features, it still offers decent build quality and HD images and audio that are hard to match. While it may not be the cheapest mid-range device, it is definitely among the best in terms of quality results.
