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Official Panasonic DMP-BDT 220/320/500 Owners Thread - Page 4

post #91 of 3709
2/24/12 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim McC View Post

Thanks michael. But isn't there a way to verify it's outputting 1080p, either by the Blu-ray player or the display?

No, there is no easy way. These players upscale everything into 1080p output (or whatever res you set the player to output) and don't display what resolution the netflix film is.
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post #92 of 3709
2/24/12 at 5:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaeltscott View Post

Yeah--that was something a number of people in these forums were explicitly searching for. Too bad you have to specify it every time, but I think that the other box which was found to have that feature (an LG BD player I think) also had to be set every time.

That is probably due to the VOD content all being sent as 60i so the player has no idea if it's sourced from video or film, reversing the telecine on something sourced from video would make things really bad. Strange though that Panasonic doesn't add a proper telecine detector since such technology has been around for ages.

Either that or they simply slapped on the functionality from how the precious player handled DVDs , hard to know since we don't have access to the inner technical details of the Netflix/Amazon streams. However it's not that hard to imagine that Netflix and Amazon has no idea what 24p even is
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post #93 of 3709
2/24/12 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by F.Ultra View Post

That is probably due to the VOD content all being sent as 60i so the player has no idea if it's sourced from video or film, reversing the telecine on something sourced from video would make things really bad. Strange though that Panasonic doesn't add a proper telecine detector since such technology has been around for ages.

Either that or they simply slapped on the functionality from how the precious player handled DVDs , hard to know since we don't have access to the inner technical details of the Netflix/Amazon streams. However it's not that hard to imagine that Netflix and Amazon has no idea what 24p even is

specially when they dont know what DD+ is for the ps3.

Jacob
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post #94 of 3709
2/24/12 at 6:08pm
Thanks Michael and Foxbat
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post #95 of 3709
2/24/12 at 7:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by F.Ultra View Post

However it's not that hard to imagine that Netflix and Amazon has no idea what 24p even is

AFAIK, most if not all of the commercial streaming sites encode most of their material as 24p, some television as 30p and some British content as 25p. For films 24p is what they most often get from their content suppliers to encode so that's the easiest thing to do and it's certainly easy for all of the players to convert into 60p or whatever the connected monitor needs. Surprisingly, they seem to encode most US HDTV episodes at 24 fps; I'd have thought that they'd be encoded at the 60i or 60p of their broadcast encodings. Go to Netflix's site and search for "example"--the first several matches will be various test clips whose titles contain their frame rate: 24p, 25p, 30p, 23.976p and 29.97p.

Something else you might try is to play a title in the PC player, click on the picture to give it keyboard focus and, without blowing it up to fill the screen, type CTRL-SHIFT-ALT-D. This will overlay some text on the picture, updated in realtime--there will be a line labelled "Video frames (rendered/dropped)" where you can read the title's frame rate.
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post #96 of 3709
2/24/12 at 7:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacob305 View Post

specially when they dont know what DD+ is for the ps3.

They know, but they refuse to bitstream it (I have no idea why), so they convert it for all into 640 Kbps basic DD 5.1. On my AVR it's pretty weak compared to the bitstreamed DD+.
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post #97 of 3709
2/24/12 at 8:08pm
Can someone please fire up the Flixster app on the DMP-BDT220 and see if it has the option yet to log into your Flixster account and stream your Ultraviolet library? If so do any of the movies stream in 1080p with 5.1 audio?
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post #98 of 3709
2/24/12 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

I seriously doubt the PQ on BD and DVD will be any different. The new players so far hasn't impressed me in any way.

This has also been my gut feeling all along, but I needed confirmation before making any move.

Quote:
Originally Posted by apw2607 View Post

I couldn't tell the difference. Bluray looked awesome as they did on the 210. DVDs looked very good ... i mean there's only so much that can be done ... but looked great. Certainly better than my old Denon DVD with up-scaling and PS3 (for DVD). But again, its all subjective .. what some eyes may see, other may not.

As far as load times, I didn't really notice much difference either. Excellent as before.

The search continues for the "all-in-one" !

I can gather from your post and that of Foxbat that the 210/215 are still adequate for what I want at the moment, and there aren't much game changing features that the 220 can add to the package that will make the 2012 model more appealing.

Thanks, Foxbat and APW, for making my decision easier.
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post #99 of 3709
2/25/12 at 12:34am
There was no flixster app on the 220 with the firmware I had, and wasn't available on the app store.
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post #100 of 3709
2/25/12 at 4:39am
Seems most on here are familiar with the Panasonic line of players so maybe I can be helped out here. I just got the 220 and was astonished to see how little it plays through DLNA - I also have an LG player that plays almost anything but this thing can't play AVI, xvid etc.

I finally was able to get some MKV titles to play using the "network drive" function (what is the DLNA function for then?) and I have some MP4 titles that I successfully converted using mkvmerge and they play ok so I am set there.

My concern is I have a stack of DVDs that I want to put on my network drive to access with this player using Handbrake (I used DVDFab for a title and funny that one title plays ok through the DLNA function -but DVDFab is getting my titles out of lip sync) so is there any settings in Handbrake creating a MKV that I need to be aware of in using with this player?

Thanks!
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post #101 of 3709
2/25/12 at 6:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by apw2607 View Post

There was no flixster app on the 220 with the firmware I had, and wasn't available on the app store.

Thanks. I figured they would not have it ready for primetime. Here is a link to more info on it if anyone is interested.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/f...ns-more-movie/
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post #102 of 3709
2/25/12 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kpic View Post

Seems most on here are familiar with the Panasonic line of players so maybe I can be helped out here. I just got the 220 and was astonished to see how little it plays through DLNA - I also have an LG player that plays almost anything but this thing can't play AVI, xvid etc.

I finally was able to get some MKV titles to play using the "network drive" function (what is the DLNA function for then?) and I have some MP4 titles that I successfully converted using mkvmerge and they play ok so I am set there.

My concern is I have a stack of DVDs that I want to put on my network drive to access with this player using Handbrake (I used DVDFab for a title and funny that one title plays ok through the DLNA function -but DVDFab is getting my titles out of lip sync) so is there any settings in Handbrake creating a MKV that I need to be aware of in using with this player?

Thanks!

In the 2011 model, Panny player is very picky about video formats. Sounds like 2012 models didn't fair any better.

Divx/Xvid features are intentionally left out in US players (other regions do get those features).

The bottom line is if you buy this player for playing your media files, forgot it. Stick with some other brands like LG.
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post #103 of 3709
2/25/12 at 9:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Torqdog View Post

I just finished checking out my BDT220 against my Oppo BDP95.

Started off with some 2 channel stereo just for fun. I run my 95 through a Parasound Halo C2 AVR and a Parasound HCA 1205A amp that are hooked to PSB Stratus Silver mains. Needless to say the Oppo smoked the panny but that's what it's primarily made for....... audiophile audio so no surprise here. I will say that the panny did sound good but things like cymbals and ambience sounds such as waves crashing at the shore just didn't have much behind them. OK, enough of the ridiculous.....on to the video aspects.

I compared the two players using the same HDMI cable hooked to my callibrated Sony 60EX500 in a darkened room. I started with my Avatar disc for bluray comparison and must say that the panny looked great, albeit maybe a little oversaturated in the color dept. as was evidenced by the neon forest scenes in the "Neytiri" chapter. I wasn't expecting much of a difference and that's exactly what I got.

DVD was a slightly different story....... I used Pearl Harbor and concentrated on chapters 22 and 23, the battle/bombing scenes. Whereas the Oppo looked slightly better, it wasn't by much. Detail was a little crisper with the Oppo as evidenced by the people scurrying around on the deck of the Arizona just before the bomb hits the ship. Color seemed a bit deeper and more natural with the Oppo as well but not by much. Bomb blasts were more contrasty with the orange fire against the black smoke slightly more vivid.

I only played with these two machines for about 2 hours and am quite surprised at how well this little panny performs against the far more expensive Oppo. This is my first panny so I can't compare it to previous models but I will say that for $150.00, it seems well worth the price.


Thanks for the report. After two pages of messages I was wondering whether this was a conversation on Netflix!

How is response time in menus? This was one of the most frustrating points with previous players, that and delayed network connection.
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post #104 of 3709
2/25/12 at 9:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethawk View Post

How is response time in menus? This was one of the most frustrating points with previous players, that and delayed network connection.

The player's menus are pretty snappy. What "previous players" are you referring to.
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post #105 of 3709
2/25/12 at 9:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethawk View Post

Thanks for the report. After two pages of messages I was wondering whether this was a conversation on Netflix!

How is response time in menus? This was one of the most frustrating points with previous players, that and delayed network connection.

I just got connected for the first time last night. To me, response times seem good when compared to the typical time it takes for a blu-ray to load. When you hit the dedicated internet button, it's just a few seconds before all apps are presented. Opening up apps varies from just a couple seconds to 40 or more for netflix.

I'm streaming through the built in wi-fi adapter and signal strength is excellent with the router just 5 feet away in the adjacent room/office. Again, this is my first panny and really the first time I've connected to the network so am unsure what to expect. But considering that most all apps load in 5 seconds or less, to me that's perfectly acceptable. Of course, YMMV.
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post #106 of 3709
2/25/12 at 10:04am
Thanks. My current player is the DMP-BD85K. Extremely laggy and slow to initially connect to wireless network. It usually takes two or three tries to successfully get to the apps menu. I need an upgrade bad to last until the next generation Oppos are released.
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post #107 of 3709
2/25/12 at 4:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

...
Divx/Xvid features are intentionally left out in US players (other regions do get those features).
...

Just curious, what's the rationale behind leaving out Xvid v.1.0 or higher?
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post #108 of 3709
2/25/12 at 4:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SireTV View Post

Just curious, what's the rationale behind leaving out Xvid v.1.0 or higher?

It's probably some sort of US DivX licensing issue.
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post #109 of 3709
2/25/12 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaeltscott View Post

It's probably some sort of US DivX licensing issue.

Yeap. I had a Sony S570 briefly before and it too didn't have Divx for US version. Maybe Divx is simply too damn expensive for these buget players.
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post #110 of 3709
2/25/12 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaeltscott View Post

AFAIK, most if not all of the commercial streaming sites encode most of their material as 24p, some television as 30p and some British content as 25p. For films 24p is what they most often get from their content suppliers to encode so that's the easiest thing to do and it's certainly easy for all of the players to convert into 60p or whatever the connected monitor needs. Surprisingly, they seem to encode most US HDTV episodes at 24 fps; I'd have thought that they'd be encoded at the 60i or 60p of their broadcast encodings. Go to Netflix's site and search for "example"--the first several matches will be various test clips whose titles contain their frame rate: 24p, 25p, 30p, 23.976p and 29.97p.

Something else you might try is to play a title in the PC player, click on the picture to give it keyboard focus and, without blowing it up to fill the screen, type CTRL-SHIFT-ALT-D. This will overlay some text on the picture, updated in realtime--there will be a line labelled "Video frames (rendered/dropped)" where you can read the title's frame rate.

Ok, if so then it's indeed very strange that they use the DVD-way of setting the output to 24p with this player.

Unfortunately these services are not available over here so I cannot test it myself, one reason why I doubted that they got 24p from the studios is that one several occations, Region B distributors of BR has gotten a 60i master from the US studios instead of a 24p master. And that made me think that maybe that was what Netflix & co also got since their target is "normal" people with 60i television sets.

Those US HDTV medias encoded as 24p must look horrendous since the originals should be 60p which means that in order to convert to 24p they had to remove frames with actual content.
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post #111 of 3709
2/25/12 at 7:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by F.Ultra View Post

Those US HDTV medias encoded as 24p must look horrendous since the originals should be 60p which means that in order to convert to 24p they had to remove frames with actual content.

A lot TV shows are shot on film, not video. Only garbages (reality shows) shot on video.
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post #112 of 3709
2/26/12 at 9:24am
Can anyone confirm if the 2012 Panasonic Blu-ray players still offer the side-by-side (SBS) output option for 3D Blu-ray discs? (The 2011 models still had this option, which I need for 3D disc compatibility with my TV.) Also, is the printed user manual a combo-manual for all 2012 Panasonic 3D Blu-ray players, including the upcoming DMP-BBT01?
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post #113 of 3709
2/26/12 at 11:48am
Has anyone seen the new players at Best Buy yet?
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post #114 of 3709
2/26/12 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamel View Post

Can anyone confirm if the 2012 Panasonic Blu-ray players still offer the side-by-side (SBS) output option for 3D Blu-ray discs? (The 2011 models still had this option, which I need for 3D disc compatibility with my TV.) Also, is the printed user manual a combo-manual for all 2012 Panasonic 3D Blu-ray players, including the upcoming DMP-BBT01?

The SBS option is there. The printed manual is 220-specific. Combo manuals were feasible for the 2011 line because the units were nearly physically identical; the 2012 models are far from it.
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post #115 of 3709
2/26/12 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cortiz View Post

Has anyone seen the new players at Best Buy yet?

Went to the one here in Carson yesterday and didn't see them. The salespeople were clueless to the fact that the panny 2012 models were already out and being sold elsewhere.
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post #116 of 3709
2/26/12 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by F.Ultra View Post

Those US HDTV medias encoded as 24p must look horrendous since the originals should be 60p which means that in order to convert to 24p they had to remove frames with actual content.

Not at all--they look great, with no perceptible judder. As Foxbat121 has pointed out, I believe that much modern scripted US television is shot to film at 24p and converted to 24p digital masters. Shooting to 24p HDCAM has also become popular because it's cheaper and faster--directors can review scenes on the set and immediately shoot it over if there's something they don't like instead of waiting until the end of the day after the film has been developed (the reimagined Battlestar Galactica was produced that way, though the introductory mini-series was shot to film--I've read articles/interviews about the difficulties that introduced, particularly in getting the grainy hand-held camera documentary look they wanted for the interiors). I think that most of the new shows are shot that way--look up their "Technical Details" on IMDb. I don't know at what point it gets converted to 30i or 60p for TV broadcast, but I imagine that Netflix probably gets a 24p source for them. DVDs of HDTV series are usually 24p.

Maybe one of the resident television production experts will pop in to comment .
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post #117 of 3709
2/26/12 at 2:22pm
Can anyone tell me if Panasonic is using quieter blu-ray drives in this year players? Last years players (110, 210, and 310) and noisy drives.
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post #118 of 3709
2/26/12 at 3:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Torqdog View Post

Went to the one here in Carson yesterday and didn't see them. The salespeople were clueless to the fact that the panny 2012 models were already out and being sold elsewhere.

About a week ago, I noticed at Best Buy that 2011 Panasonic players were on sale and labeled as "clearance."
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post #119 of 3709
2/26/12 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kage View Post

Can anyone tell me if Panasonic is using quieter blu-ray drives in this year players? Last years players (110, 210, and 310) and noisy drives.

Inasmuch as I had bring my ear to within 6 inches of my 110 to hear its drive at all, I couldn't tell you. I can faintly hear it seeking for a couple of seconds when it starts playing but not at all as it plays.

You should ask, "Has anyone who had one of the BDTx10s who thought that it was noisy bought a 220? If so, do you think it's noisy too?"
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post #120 of 3709
2/26/12 at 6:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kage View Post

Can anyone tell me if Panasonic is using quieter blu-ray drives in this year players? Last years players (110, 210, and 310) and noisy drives.

Only times I heard anything was with the unbalanced discs. I played more than 200 discs and I can recall only a handful of occasions.
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