laserdisc player

[jeex]

i was recently given a laserdisc (brand new, still in shrinkwrap) of my favorite movie.. the only problem is, i dont have a laserdisc player. so i'm going to purchase a laserdisc player & then capture the movie to DVD.. i strongly doubt the movie will ever come out on dvd.. the studio that released it is out of business how, i think.

i've never had any experience with laserdisc, except watching some educational films when i was in school..

what should i be looking for a in a laserdisc player?
i've looked on ebay, and the prices range quite significantly for what i considered a dead format..

the only technical detail i can see on the dvd is that is says;

"THIS LASERDISC IS EXTENDED PLAY. In this format, it can offer: chapter search, scan, pause, and dual-channel sound, depending on the recorded contents." when not in use, blah blah.. "This Laserdisc is encoded with stereo sound in addition to the high quality picture and analog stereo soundtracks of conventional Laserdiscs".

pre-thanks for any info anyone can provide.

[flaninacupboard]

the elite models are regarded as best quality, then the dvd/ld combis, then the normal players. difficult to give you a model number as im on the wrong continent.

as for the extended play, no problem. every player will play it.
do you know if it's pal or ntsc? i guess ntsc. what's the movie?

[Hardcoreruss]

I would look for one of the below

Pioneer 2950
Pioneer 925

or the combis that are being talked about above

Pioneer 909
Pioneer 919

Only buy pioneer

[Ripper2860]

I would look for one of the below

Pioneer 2950
Pioneer 925

or the combis that are being talked about above

Pioneer 909
Pioneer 919

Only buy pioneer

Ditto -- Pioneer is the way to go. Got a CLD-1070 that I've had for MANY Years and still works flawlwessly. !! Done a few conversions to DVD and it has been disappointing. Not becuase the conversion went bad -- but because DVD's are just so much better. It kinda ruins my fond memories of the day when LD's RULED !!!

[Hardcoreruss]

I used to have the 2950 modded with the ac3 board but SHE made me sell it because it was "big and ugly and did not go with anything"

[Craig Tucker]

I used to have the 2950 modded with the ac3 board but SHE made me sell it because it was "big and ugly and did not go with anything"

From some of the comments you have made in the past, could'nt you use the same argument to get rid of the missus.

[Hardcoreruss]

Excellent

[gshelley61]

The best non-Elite model ever made by Pioneer was the CLD-D704.

It has a decent Variable DNR (video noise reduction feature), RF AC3 output built-in, optical and RCA PCM digital audio out, etc.

They were over $1200 when new... I got one off of eBay for something like $200 about a year ago. Mine works great - I use it all the time to transfer laserdisc to DVD.

Here's a listing with some good pictures of one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=61329&item=5706508639&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Hardcoreruss]

Yeah that is exactly the same as the 2950, must be a different model number in the US. Only difference was our model does not have the ac3 rf out board as standard, you have to pay extra to have it modded.

[gshelley61]

Oh , yeah - once you have one of these laserdisc players, you may get bitten by the LD bug. That is, acquiring certain LD's for DVD transfer ( those that are not available on DVD --- i.e. Star Wars original releases, Song of the South, Blade Runner euro version, Bambi, Cinderella, etc.)

[Hardcoreruss]

My favourites that I used to have were the special ed Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the Japanese version of Star Wars Ep 1.

[gshelley61]

Some of the transfers I've done, like Disney's Cinderella, look almost as good as a commercial DVD, especially when played back on a direct view CRT. It depends on how good the laserdisc looks. They vary in PQ, but the full frame (4:3) NTSC versions have over 400 lines of horizontal resolution, so they can look very good. Aren't PAL laserdiscs even better? More lines and progressive scan, right?

[Hardcoreruss]

Yes the progressive really comes through, again the player we are talking about was one of the few that had the progressive circuit.

[gshelley61]

Sounds like that's the one to get!

[Hardcoreruss]

I would say that best budget one is the 925, not sure what the US equivalent model number would be.

[flaninacupboard]

yeah, the 2950 is great! i love it! after some hand calibration it was better then the DVL-909 i tried.
a great resource for players: http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/

[ofbarea]

I still have a low end Pioneer CLD-990. This deck only has RCA video and audio outputs, but when capturing with the help of an ADS PYRO A/V Link and monster cables, the resulting video is just fine.

[gshelley61]

When I capture to DVD from laserdisc, I use the standard composite video out even though I have S-Video out on my player. Laserdiscs are a composite analog video source, and I find the composite out on my player actually looks better and is a bit sharper than the S-Video (the opposite of what you'd expect).