Panasonic UB420: Small unit, big performance
Pros:
- Good picture quality out of the box
- Good sound quality in both movies and music
- Supports gapless music playback
- Small footprint
- Good level of manual control
Cons:
- Sparse output options
- Complications can arise with older receivers
- Not the fastest to load discs
- Does not support WMV format
The UB420 is a very capable 4K player. It gives me decent control over image parameters if needed, but with my TV set to "Movie" mode my 4K movies already look good on default settings. The only hiccup was that the UB420 refused to pass the 4K feed through my older Pioneer receiver, so I had to output 4K directly to my TV and use the UB420's optical out to send audio to the receiver.
My external hard drive worked fine when plugged into the USB port. MP4 and MKV files played fine, but the UB420 didn't recognize WMV files. Music files in MP3 and FLAC format played well and sounded fine. The ability for gapless playback is a really nice touch that makes me actually want to use the UB420 as a music player.
Spun a few music CDs and they played fine as well. But the interface for navigating CDs is crude - the UB420 doesn't apparently support CD Text so all you see is Track 1, Track 2, etc. That's as old school as it gets. The sound, however, is very modern and reveals good detail.
I think only hardcore audiophiles would complain about the UB420's musical ability. What they would most likely frown on are the curious digital filters like "remaster" and "tube" that can be used to tweak the sound. The filters weren't bad, but they weren't necessary to my listening enjoyment either. Music sounded clearest to my ears without any of the filters.
The UB420 is a very petite unit - probably the smallest video disc player I've yet owned. It's about half the size of the LG UBK90, which was my previous 4K player. So the UB420 can fit into tight spaces. The LG loaded discs a lot faster, but it was a bare bones machine. The Panasonic has more functions and gives me much more manual control over picture and sound.
Overall, I recommend the UB420 highly. It renders 4K movies beautifully, and it can also serve as a very good if slightly awkward music player.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned