Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu-ray Disc Player

[MrBoylan]

I have this unit connected to a new Pioneer Elite 23txh. I'm not getting a TrueHD light on my receiver. I've verified the soundtrack on the TrueHD bluray disc I'm using. I've confirmed I have a new HDMI cable (1.3b cat2). I've emailed Pioneer support and confirmed the light will be on if the signal is sent. I've confirmed my settings on the player (bitstream, no secondary audio). I get a Dolby Digital light on my receiver. The on screen display showing audio information shows a TrueHD soundtrack. However the HDMI line (bottom line) shows the Dolby Digital. What am I doing wrong? I've tried 3 different discs. Same thing happens for DTS.

Sounds like you're doing everything right, actually. You are plugging directly from player to receiver, right? Not through a TV or switch of any kind?

Check to make sure you haven't turned on any of the virtual surround type of effects in the Display... Audio menus. Then try a hard reset (warning - may lose menu settings) by holding in the power button for about 3-5 seconds. You can also try reset to factory defaults in the set-up menu. and see if this changes anything.

Some Blu-ray titles (mainly Warner) default to Dolby Digital even though there is a Dolby TrueHD track (you have to select the Dolby TrueHD track from the disc menu or with the Audio button on the remote). But if your Playback Information Window on the BD80 says that the Dolby TrueHD track is selected, Dolby and DTS are both set to BITSTREAM and Secondary Audio is OFF, then I'm not coming up with any suggestions other than the virtual surround thing. But try the reset and let me know if it changes anything.

-CB

[adamhodge]

Sounds like you're doing everything right, actually. You are plugging directly from player to receiver, right? Not through a TV or switch of any kind?

Check to make sure you haven't turned on any of the virtual surround type of effects in the Display... Audio menus. Then try a hard reset (warning - may lose menu settings) by holding in the power button for about 3-5 seconds. You can also try reset to factory defaults in the set-up menu. and see if this changes anything.

Some Blu-ray titles (mainly Warner) default to Dolby Digital even though there is a Dolby TrueHD track (you have to select the Dolby TrueHD track from the disc menu or with the Audio button on the remote). But if your Playback Information Window on the BD80 says that the Dolby TrueHD track is selected, Dolby and DTS are both set to BITSTREAM and Secondary Audio is OFF, then I'm not coming up with any suggestions other than the virtual surround thing. But try the reset and let me know if it changes anything.

-CB

DUDE. I love you. I think reseting the settings fixed it. I did that and lit' up the TrueHD light.

I thought I was going to pack this up and make a trip back to Best Buy...beer is on me.

[MrBoylan]

DUDE. I love you. I think reseting the settings fixed it. I did that and lit' up the TrueHD light.

I thought I was going to pack this up and make a trip back to Best Buy...beer is on me.

Happy to help. I'm partial to Sam Adams, oh and that Frambozenbier (raspberry beer) from Belgium.

Enjoy.

-CB

[roberth]

Hello,

I just registered after seeing how many folks you have helped that own Panasonic Blu-ray players. I'm looking to buy the 80 model soon with the prices dropping as much as they have. I'm still using a CRT RPTV that only has 1080i component connections. It is a Pioneer Elite model and still has an awesome picture. It seems from my research that many BDP companies are not putting that much attention into the component (analog) circuits as compared to HDMI. For example, the Sony PS3 and OPPO 83 don't have a nearly as good picture quality from the component output as they do with their HDMI output. Many only use the main processor when HDMI is used which is the reason for the loss in PQ when component connections are used. Do you know if the Panasonic 80 (sorry I can't remember the full m/n) performs just as well via the component connections as it does on the HDMI??? This would be a huge help if you're able to help me here since it seems most have no idea. My hopes is the Panasonic models are designed differently with 1080i component (analog) PQ equal to 1080i HDMI (digital).

Thanks,
Roberth

[roberth]

I read some place that some of the Panasonic BDPs have problems playing Blu-rays from Netflix for some reason. Is this true??? I am about to buy the Panasonic 80 and use it with Blu-rays I order through Netflix so this would directly affect me if true. Maybe some firmware version has fixed this or only a problem with an isolated individual.

Thanks in advance!
Roberth

[MrBoylan]

I'm still using a CRT RPTV that only has 1080i component connections. It is a Pioneer Elite model and still has an awesome picture. It seems from my research that many BDP companies are not putting that much attention into the component (analog) circuits as compared to HDMI. For example, the Sony PS3 and OPPO 83 don't have a nearly as good picture quality from the component output as they do with their HDMI output. Many only use the main processor when HDMI is used which is the reason for the loss in PQ when component connections are used. Do you know if the Panasonic 80 (sorry I can't remember the full m/n) performs just as well via the component connections as it does on the HDMI??? This would be a huge help if you're able to help me here since it seems most have no idea. My hopes is the Panasonic models are designed differently with 1080i component (analog) PQ equal to 1080i HDMI (digital).

Thanks,
Roberth

Hi, Robert,

As with most (if not all) of the consumer Blu-ray players on the market today, the performance on the DMP-BD80 is limited on the component outputs compared to the HDMI output. For standard DVD, the best you can get over component outputs is 480p resolution. In this case, all the player is doing is deinterlacing the signal on the DVD from 480i to 480p (no scaling is performed, hence minimal benefits of the UniPhier video processor). The TV is responsible for scaling that 480p signal to its native resolution. For Blu-ray Discs, 1080p/24 titles are interlaced to 1080i/60 and 1080i/60 titles are output in their native resolution over component.

The picture quality can still be stunning on the right television, but there can be some loss of picture quality when using analog outputs compared to HDMI. It's important to note, though, that the signal has to be converted to analog output for your TV anyway, because that's all your TV can accept. And the "native resolution" of your TV is actually lower than 1080i or 1080p so some degradation of the signal is going to occur so matter how high quality the input.

Unless you can find a really high quality player that upconverts DVD to 1080i over component (and I don't know of any player that does this), then I'd say you'd be happy with the BD80.

Regards,

-Chris

[MrBoylan]

I read some place that some of the Panasonic BDPs have problems playing Blu-rays from Netflix for some reason. Is this true??? I am about to buy the Panasonic 80 and use it with Blu-rays I order through Netflix so this would directly affect me if true. Maybe some firmware version has fixed this or only a problem with an isolated individual.

Thanks in advance!
Roberth

Not exactly true. It has nothing to do with whether the discs come from Netflix or not. Some owners of the current generation Panasonic players (BD60, BD70V, BD80) have reported a random playback freeze occuring on Blu-ray Discs. It might happen once when playing 50 discs, or it might happen more often. It's a difficult thing to reproduce or predict. It only affects Blu-ray (not DVD) and the player always recovers playback within about 5 to 10 seconds with no additional problems.

Panasonic is aware of the issue, and while I can't guarantee they will be able to fix it with a firmware upgrade (since I don't work for Panasonic), I would be *really* surprised if a firmware fix for this issue were not available before the end of the year.

-CB

[roberth]

Hi, Robert,

As with most (if not all) of the consumer Blu-ray players on the market today, the performance on the DMP-BD80 is limited on the component outputs compared to the HDMI output. For standard DVD, the best you can get over component outputs is 480p resolution. In this case, all the player is doing is deinterlacing the signal on the DVD from 480i to 480p (no scaling is performed, hence minimal benefits of the UniPhier video processor). The TV is responsible for scaling that 480p signal to its native resolution. For Blu-ray Discs, 1080p/24 titles are interlaced to 1080i/60 and 1080i/60 titles are output in their native resolution over component.

The picture quality can still be stunning on the right television, but there can be some loss of picture quality when using analog outputs compared to HDMI. It's important to note, though, that the signal has to be converted to analog output for your TV anyway, because that's all your TV can accept. And the "native resolution" of your TV is actually lower than 1080i or 1080p so some degradation of the signal is going to occur so matter how high quality the input.

Unless you can find a really high quality player that upconverts DVD to 1080i over component (and I don't know of any player that does this), then I'd say you'd be happy with the BD80.

Regards,

-Chris

Thanks Chris for the quick feedback. I'm not really concerned with SD DVDs. My Pioneer Elite actually does a pretty darn good job at displaying 480p. Sure it isn't HD at 1080i but still pretty good that it doesn't make me want to dump my tv quite yet.

I was hoping more that the BD80 would produce a great Blu-ray picture through the component. I realize it will only be 1080i and not 1080p. As long as the PQ is close to what my Toshiba XA2 does with HD DVDs at 1080i on my display then I'll be happy. I was thinking by what I was reading that companies weren't even putting that much effort into the 1080i component output that even Blu-rays weren't that good. It seems from the couple reviews that I can find with folks trying the Panasonic BD60 and BD80 with component 1080i that it was producing a great picture so I was thinking Panasonic actually put in the extra effort here. This is what I was hoping you might be able to confirm. I'll be very happy indeed if my Blu-ray PQ through 1080i is a great picture without any softening. Not the softening as compared to 1080p or 1080p/24 but just softening in that it isn't as good as it should be via component 1080i.

Robert

[risingstar]

Some owners of the current generation Panasonic players (BD60, BD70V, BD80) have reported a random playback freeze occuring on Blu-ray Discs. It might happen once when playing 50 discs, or it might happen more often. It's a difficult thing to reproduce or predict. It only affects Blu-ray (not DVD) and the player always recovers playback within about 5 to 10 seconds with no additional problems.

Panasonic is aware of the issue, and while I can't guarantee they will be able to fix it with a firmware upgrade (since I don't work for Panasonic), I would be *really* surprised if a firmware fix for this issue were not available before the end of the year.
-CB

Darn. I have this freezing issue with my BDP80 too. Approximately, one out of three bluray discs freezes during a movie for about 5 seconds before continuing. The freezing appears random and cannot be reproduced. However, there appears to be only one freezing moment (so far) per movie. I keep an eye on all the firmware updates and none of them have made a difference... I'd love Panasonic to get on top of this because whenever I watch a film, I can't help but worry it's going to freeze at some point. It distracts my movie viewing pleasure. For the price I paid, I should feel more secure with my purchase.

It only appears to freeze with blurays discs not DVDs. Here's another thing. It won't always freeze on the same disc either. The first time I watched "Underworld - Rise of the Lycans", it didn't freeze. Yet on the second viewing, it did, for 5 seconds or so then moved on.

The player does great things. Sadly, because of the freezing issue, which apparently is shared by many people here already, I cannot recommend this piece as it appears to be a crapshoot player, meaning your piece may or may not freeze without any adequate information as to why, let alone having a solution available.

To all those looking to buy this piece, read through this thread. There are problems. Panasonic has been aware for a while and appear unable to deal with it. It's hard to support a company who knowingly produces a piece with a defect like this without having any solution in hand.

P.S. Perhaps I'm naive, but I'm surprised there aren't more people upset about this. I'm also left wondering how a firmware can even deal with this?? How does work, I wonder?

[MrBoylan]

Darn. I have this freezing issue with my BDP80 too. Approximately, one out of three bluray discs freezes during a movie for about 5 seconds before continuing. The freezing appears random and cannot be reproduced. However, there appears to be only one freezing moment (so far) per movie. I keep an eye on all the firmware updates and none of them have made a difference... I'd love Panasonic to get on top of this because whenever I watch a film, I can't help but worry it's going to freeze at some point. It distracts my movie viewing pleasure. For the price I paid, I should feel more secure with my purchase.

It only appears to freeze with blurays discs not DVDs. Here's another thing. It won't always freeze on the same disc either. The first time I watched "Underworld - Rise of the Lycans", it didn't freeze. Yet on the second viewing, it did, for 5 seconds or so then moved on.

The player does great things. Sadly, because of the freezing issue, which apparently is shared by many people here already, I cannot recommend this piece as it appears to be a crapshoot player, meaning your piece may or may not freeze without any adequate information as to why, let alone having a solution available.

To all those looking to buy this piece, read through this thread. There are problems. Panasonic has been aware for a while and appear unable to deal with it. It's hard to support a company who knowingly produces a piece with a defect like this without having any solution in hand.

P.S. Perhaps I'm naive, but I'm surprised there aren't more people upset about this.

Well I wouldn't say they "knowingly produced a piece with a defect." It's a flaky problem and difficult to consistently reproduce. I'm sure they didn't know about it when they were designing or manufacturing it.

They don't have a firmware fix yet but give it a little more time and hopefully they'll come through. Panasonic has a good track record of coming through with firmware fixes.

-CB