zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) (01/17/86)
I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that plays
laser video disks AND compact disks (is it "discs"?).
Well, I played about 5 movies on it which were all "Extended Play" (CLV)
disks and all 5 of them looked terrible! There was actually static in
the picture. It also didn't seem to have the awesome resolution I've heard
about. So much for the "state of the art video" format!
I have the machine directly hooked up to a monitor using gold cable connections.
Is there something wrong with my machine or are all extended play disks
this terrible?
Anyone out there have any experience with this?
--
{hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!zarifes --Ken Zarifescaf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) (01/20/86)
In article <227@bnrmtv.UUCP> zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) writes: >I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that plays >laser video disks AND compact disks (is it "discs"?). > >Well, I played about 5 movies on it which were all "Extended Play" (CLV) >disks and all 5 of them looked terrible! There was actually static in >the picture. It also didn't seem to have the awesome resolution I've heard >about. So much for the "state of the art video" format! > >I have the machine directly hooked up to a monitor using gold cable connections. > >Is there something wrong with my machine or are all extended play disks >this terrible? > >Anyone out there have any experience with this? > > >-- > >{hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!zarifes --Ken Zarifes The video connection should be with a 75 ohm cable, not an audio cable. Also make sure the monitor is set to terminate the video signal, not to loop-thru. If you see squiggly renditions of sync bars wandering about on a 900 player you have a poorly adjusted player or defective discs. LaserDiscs do not have a great margin of signal to noise ratio. If you set the contrast and brightness controls properly, the noise should be minimal. It is important to det the monitor's detail control properly. Make sure it hasn't been cranked up to compensate for VCR's poor frequency response. Look acrefully at titles - there should be no fringes, and the top of the T's should not have overshoot. Get a copy of Star Trek the Motion Picture and read the small credits at the end. On laser, they are good quality and easy to read. They are very difficult to read on VHS or Beta, and a total mess on CED. The texture of Uhura's hair also shows up well on LV. The Star Trek TV episodes now coming out on LV are particularly interesting because the LaserDisc picture picks up many details and subtleties that didn't come through before. In many instances the quality is *too* good, and one can identify the materials used in the sets. Some examples of well recorded LaserDiscs: Empire Strikes Back, Dune, War of the Worlds. In War of the Worlds, the wires holding up the Martian ships are clearly visible in many scenes. The film transfer to LaserDiscs is an utterly analog process, with an incredible number of pitfalls at every step of the way. If the movie studio sends a mangey master to Pioneer, you lose. If some "engineer" at Pioneer decides there is too much rumble in the audio, you lose. But when it's done carefully, it's a moby win. -- Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf CIS:70715,131 Author of Professional-YAM communications Tools for PCDOS and Unix Omen Technology Inc 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231 Voice: 503-621-3406 TeleGodzilla: 621-3746 300/1200 L.sys entry for omen: omen Any ACU 1200 1-503-621-3746 se:--se: link ord: Giznoid in:--in: uucp
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (01/20/86)
In article <227@bnrmtv.UUCP> zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) writes: >I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that plays >laser video disks AND compact disks (is it "discs"?). >Well, I played about 5 movies on it which were all "Extended Play" (CLV) >disks and all 5 of them looked terrible! There was actually static in >the picture. It also didn't seem to have the awesome resolution I've heard >about. So much for the "state of the art video" format! I've got an older model that's not nearly that fancy and I've found that CLV discs play fine on it, ... BUT sometimes you get a bad disc. Have you considered taking the discs back to where you got them and asking for replacement copies? --Andy Rosen using Lee Gold's access
andrew@hammer.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (01/20/86)
[]
"I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that
plays laser video disks AND compact disks ... I played about 5
movies on it which were all "Extended Play" (CLV) disks and all
5 of them looked terrible! There was actually static in the
picture. It also didn't seem to have the awesome resolution
I've heard about. So much for the "state of the art video"
format!"
Sounds like you have a defective machine. Make your dealer exchange
it. I have several dozen CLV disks, and they all exhibit the "awesome
resolution" that you're looking for.
On the other hand, about one in five disks are defective and have to be
exchanged. This is a good reason to develop a relationship with a
local dealer and shun mail order. My dealer (High Tech Video, Tigard,
Oregon) let me return a defective disk more than a year after I bought
it, and she never asks to see receipts. (I bought a Christmas movie in
1984 and didn't watch it until Christmas 1985.)
I've had terrible experience with defective video equipment. Both my
VCRs and my monitor had major defects and had to be exchanged. In
fact, the only piece of video equipment that worked the first time was
my LD-1100 Laserdisk (tm) player.
-=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP]
(tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]speaker@ttidcb.UUCP (Kenneth Speaker) (01/20/86)
In article <227@bnrmtv.UUCP> zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) writes: >I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that plays >laser video disks AND compact disks (is it "discs"?). > >Well, I played about 5 movies on it which were all "Extended Play" (CLV) >disks and all 5 of them looked terrible! There was actually static in >the picture. It also didn't seem to have the awesome resolution I've heard >about. So much for the "state of the art video" format! > >I have the machine directly hooked up to a monitor using gold cable connections. > >Is there something wrong with my machine or are all extended play disks >this terrible? > >Anyone out there have any experience with this? > > >-- > >{hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!zarifes --Ken Zarifes If the "static" you mention is colored dots, and you also have audio noise, you have defective discs. The MOST common, and about the only, defect with LasarVision discs is audio/video noise caused, I believe, by imperfect laminations between the center and cover sheets. I return approximately 15% (!!!) of my discs because of this defect. (The "average" return rate is about 8-10%, I am told. I am apparently more critical than others.) Pioneer is a WONDERFUL company. I had some discs get noisy after I had then for a while, probably because of some semi-extreme temperature cycling (I leave the hit at 55 and A/C at 85, many days of back and forth cycling). Pioneer replaced the discs 2 1/2 years after purchase, refunding full price for those which were temporarily out of stock at the warehouse. Plus an apology. If you can't find ANY disc which works, then the player may be defective. Do you have a friend with a player? Did you purchase the disc(s) from a dealer with a player? Try the disc on another player. Try different discs on this player. In other words, do the standard "what changes the result" testing and report back. --Kne
freak@ihlpa.UUCP (Malloy) (01/21/86)
> In article <227@bnrmtv.UUCP> zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) writes: > >I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that plays > >laser video disks AND compact disks (is it "discs"?). > >Well, I played about 5 movies on it which were all "Extended Play" (CLV) > >disks and all 5 of them looked terrible! There was actually static in > >the picture. It also didn't seem to have the awesome resolution I've heard > >about. So much for the "state of the art video" format! > > I've got an older model that's not nearly that fancy and I've found that CLV > discs play fine on it, ... BUT sometimes you get a bad disc. Have you > considered taking the discs back to where you got them and asking for > replacement copies? > > --Andy Rosen using Lee Gold's access Five BAD discs in a row, hardly. I would suggest that you find someone of equally excellent taste in video quality (this is a given, because LV is the best video can get) who has a different model and check your discs on their machine. I think that you will find the machine to be at fault. From inside the Tesseract of Clancy Malloy (ihnp4!ihlpa!freak) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Everyone looked up and realized that we were only tenants of this world; | | We have been given a new lease, and a warning, from the landlord. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
arcorp@utcsri.UUCP (Alias Research Corp.) (01/21/86)
> I just purchased a Pioneer CLD 900, you know, the one that plays > etc... Are you certain it didn't have a needle? :-) > the picture was not good. LV is a format that can offer video comparable to one inch tape, as well as audio that is exactly as good as Compact Discs. (Simultaneously) The video will only be bettered by a television broadcast that is being picked up off air. (this is an opinion) The CLD 900 player uses a semiconductor laser pickup, which some say produces pictures slightly lower in quality compared to those picked up with a tube laser. I heard such comments regarding the pioneer model 700. I once test-viewed some discs on a 900 at the store where I bought them. The picture looked just about the same when I viewed them later at home (on a tube model). Discs can be defective, but things are much better these days. Recently, a batch of 17 (various) discs turned up only a single marginal disc. Disc flaws may generate sparkles, among other things. The quality of the transfer and original can degrade or enhance the finished product to a great degree, we must remember. The difference between tape and disc won't "knock your socks off", but it is an improvement along the road that ends at the limits imposed by NTSC. Stephen Trutiak Alias Research Inc. Toronto