If there's anyone here beyond member "Paris" (who originally helped me with questions about this Panasonic disc player but is seemingly not active on here any longer) who may have some knowledge of these Panasonic 4K UHD disc players, I appeal to you for some assistance with something that I just can't figure out or get my head around -- and regardless of who I have turned to about it so far (a list that includes a Panasonic "help" contact via email, regular forum members on sites such as this and even professional reviewers who have covered the Panasonic models for various online A/V hobbyist sites who could offer nothing but "I don't know why that is happening, quite honestly..."), no one seems to have any answers.
I have this premium flagship Panasonic 4K disc player connected to a Samsung NU8000 display via HDMI, with just about all the player's settings adjusted to "automatic." Originally, I was told that what the player was sending the Samsung in terms of color space, color depth and resolution was correct based on what the NU8000 could accept -- so when I played 4K Blu-rays, the Panasonic would send out "4K/24P YCbCr 4:2:2 12-Bit" when I checked the output data via the remote, and I was told this was correct because the Samsung couldn't support full 12-Bit 4K video in 4:4:4 format. Likewise, when I viewed regular 1080p Blu-rays upscaled by the player to 2160/4K resolution, the Panasonic read that it was sending out "4K/24P YCbCr 4:4:4 10-Bit" and, again, I was told this was right because the player was using its "Chroma Upsampling" feature to take the 4:2:0 signal from the disc and output 4:4:4 (a feature these Panasonics are known for). DVDs, which I still watch a lot of, were put out at something like its original "4:2:0 8-Bit" signal, I believe...
Now, with regard to settings in the PLAYER, I was leaving the following key adjustments set like this:
Resolution: Auto (This always sends 2160 to my panel, so that's okay.)
4K60P Output: (This is where things get weird, and I'll explain this in a little while; originally, when I set the player up, I got a message that would say "IF YOU CAN SEE THIS SCREEN, SELECT YES, OTHERWISE DO NOTHING..." and the unit chose "4K/60P 4:2:0" here, even if I tried to override it. I was told, once again, that this was correct because my Samsung does not support 4K/60P video with full 4:4:4 chroma.)
Color Mode: YCbCr (Auto) (I assume this is right, as I'm always getting some kind of YCbCr signal to the screen.)
Deep Color Output: Auto (12-Bit Priority) (Again, I assume this is right, as 12-Bit is what's "best" to take care of color banding and such, but there's an issue with this, too, which I will get to.)
Okay, so like I said above, when I originally set up the player, 4K Blu-rays were being sent out as "YCbCr 4:2:2 12-Bit" (based on the settings above) and regular Blu-rays as "YCbCr 4:4:4 10-Bit." I was told by multiple people, some of whom came with great credentials in the industry, that this was absolutely correct for my Samsung television. However, the other night, I decided to go into the "Quick Setup" menu, which does a kind of mini-reset of the settings, and when I was finished, the player was suddenly showing different readings and output data...
First, that 4K60P OUTPUT setting in the setup menu was suddenly reading "4K/60P 4:4:4," not 4:2:2 like before, and when I watched a 4K Blu-ray, Bad Boys for Life, the player's output data was reporting that, suddenly, the unit was sending "4K/24P YCbCr 4:4:4 12-Bit" -- NOT 4:2:2 12-Bit. I don't understand how this happened simply by going into the Quick Settings menu and starting over again, but perhaps what's worse, I don't understand why the player is choosing this output information if my display CAN'T SUPPORT 12-Bit 4:4:4 with 4K signals.
Here's the kicker about it all: My previous 4K UHD disc player, a Cambridge Audio CXUHD (which was basically a rebadged Oppo UDP-203), ALWAYS reported that it was sending 4:4:4 12-Bit signals to my display with 4K Blu-rays, but I was told that this was actually WRONG, and that it SHOULD have been sending 4:2:2 12-Bit with these discs. Now, all of a sudden, my new Panasonic is showing 12-Bit 4:4:4 with 4K Blu-rays, which isn't supposed to be correct, when just a couple of days ago it was sending 4:2:2 12-Bit.
Even stranger is that regular 1080p Blu-rays, as upscaled by the Panasonic, used to be passed as 4:4:4 10-Bit (because the player would use an advanced Chroma Upsampling feature for lower resolutions such as 1080, which would bring the chroma from 4:2:0 to 4:4:4 -- so this made sense), but after I did the Quick Settings thing, these discs are now being sent out the same way as 4K Blu-rays -- that is, YCbCr 4:4:4 12-Bit...
This is the STRANGEST thing I've EVER experienced with a disc player; can ANYONE please assist me here, as I'm at my wits end? We paid $1K (U.S.) for this player, and it's utterly frustrating that it doesn't seem to be working right in terms of choosing what's right for my television. Is this an HDMI cable issue? I'm running a Monoprice Premium Certified 4K/HDR cable, one of the popular ones amongst enthusiasts, but I'm not sure if it's the culprit here; furthermore, my TV recently did an auto firmware update, so could this be playing into what's going on? Perhaps the TV is now telling the player that it CAN accept 12-Bit 4:4:4 with 4K signals? I didn't see anything about this when I Googled the firmware update number...
As I said, if anyone could help me with these matters, I would greatly appreciate it, as I can't seem to even get through to anyone at Panasonic who knows what they're talking about.
Thanks in advance.