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cmjohnson
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 1:44 am Post subject: Know anybody who services LASERDISC players??? |
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For the first time in...quite some time...I fired up the good old Pioneer Elite DVL-90 just to see if it still worked.
It does but obviously it's showing signs of age. The picture jumps frames frequently and even upscaled to 1080p it just
does not look anywhere as good as I remembered.
Clearly it needs servicing and alignment.
The grip pads on the laserdisc clamp are not very grippy so startup is hit and miss.
Fortunately, the rubberized coating on the disc trays, which first turns gummy and then turns to dust, is past the
gummy stage so it won't foul a disc. But that dust can't be good for optical performance.
I'd like to restore this unit to (as much as possible of) its former glory.
Know anybody who does that?
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gregstv
Joined: 27 Aug 2007 Posts: 628 Location: Australia
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 2:53 am Post subject: |
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Getting parts may be a problem. You should be able to do it yourself if you can get the service manual and parts.
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cmjohnson
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 3:03 am Post subject: |
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I don't have the test equipment required to do an alignment. Not anymore. A few years ago, yes. But I sold it all off.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 17860 Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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You sure it's not just laser rot? An example video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giyZdKmPLs8
Quote: | The earliest laserdiscs date from around 1980, many of these laserdiscs where defective and after many years, have began to experience "laser rot," corrosion and contamination of the reflective layer that causes artifacts and eventually renders the disc unplayable. Laser rot may not be apparent to the naked eye on the disc surface, but is easily discernible by "snow" artifacts on playback, garbled sound, and unexpected pauses. Dual layer laserdiscs are more prone to this rot effect, with one side usually being more affected than the other.
This example uses the intro, outro, and warning screens to "Taxi Driver," A dual layer CLV laserdisc printed in 1983 by Pioneer. Artifacts are clearly visible on side one playback, but not so much on side 2. The disc surface has no visible corrosion or discoloration.
It is important for those who would like to collect laserdisc media, to verify playback before purchase, as laser rot may not be apparent on the actual disc surface. |
Another link: https://www.lddb.com/laserrot.php
Try a few different discs ...
Kal
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cmjohnson
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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I do know about laser rot, it usually manifests as speckles of all colors randomly flashing on the screen. I have one LD which has it for sure,
but I know that's not this problem. All discs I tried skip frames, the picture quality is far from what it should be even for standard NTSC video.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 17860 Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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cmjohnson wrote: | ...the picture quality is far from what it should be even for standard NTSC video. |
The video output side is all analog right? (S-video and composite if I remember correctly). Could be that some other components have gotten old causing the picture to be softer... it could also be that you're so used to HD that watching 480i these days just looks worse than you remember it. I know I find it really hard to watch 480i on the big screen today and wonder how I was ever able to enjoy it (which I did back in the day!).
If your Blu-ray player supports it you could set the video output to 480i and compare. Of course, the mastering done on the Blu-ray's probably better than what was done on the old LD... but it would still be interesting to compare (would be disc specific of course).
What titles do you have on LD that you can't get on Blu-ray?
Kal
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cmjohnson
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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I have a fair number of LDs that I might want to watch but not so much that I want to spend money to get HD transfers of them.
There's no doubt that this player is somewhat degraded. I did compare to BD set to 480i and that was pretty conclusive.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 17860 Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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cmjohnson wrote: | I have a fair number of LDs that I might want to watch but not so much that I want to spend money to get HD transfers of them. |
Was just curious how many because if the number is low, it may be cheaper to get the Blu-ray versions instead of paying to fix/tune the LD player. Older Blu-ray titles tend to be dirt cheap too. Often under $10 (see list: http://amzn.to/2r0kH0J )
1080p too which of course is an added bonus. Often a better transfer too with better sound (lossless).
Kal
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cmjohnson
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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I still want the LD player to work properly. There is a non-rational nostalgia factor in play here.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 17860 Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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gregstv
Joined: 27 Aug 2007 Posts: 628 Location: Australia
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe re-cap the power supply to start with. If the two problems are related this would be a good start.
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Curt Palme CRT Tech
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 24305 Location: Langley, BC
TV/Projector: All of them!
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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Chris, you're on Facebook; there's a very large LD user group of people that are very friendly, and should know someone that can work on them. There's lots of pix of laser rot, etc there as well.
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cmjohnson
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s
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Link Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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I sent a join group request.
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jbmeyer13
Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 1135
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Link Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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cmjohnson wrote: | I still want the LD player to work properly. There is a non-rational nostalgia factor in play here. |
Contact Chris Stephen's; he was refurbing/modding CLD-99's a couple of years back
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UncleWill
Joined: 11 Dec 2012 Posts: 413 Location: WashDC area, ViennaVA
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Link Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:44 am Post subject: |
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You can replace the grip on the clamp assembly. I forget the part number...but I saw a link for it on Pioneer's website. See this video here. Might have some info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5uerkY2iuA
Cleaning the laser lens should be easy. Clean the LD eye lightly with distilled water or light windex.
LASERDISC FOREVER on Facebook is a wealth of information.
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UncleWill
Joined: 11 Dec 2012 Posts: 413 Location: WashDC area, ViennaVA
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