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In Reply to: Re: Laserdiscs posted by Estes on April 25, 2002 at 17:57:11:
Well, working CED players are still available over 15 years after RCA pulled the plug on that format. I would not worry too much about the availability of LD players, at least for the next 20 years (However, this is from someone who owns 8 LD players at present--I would be considerably more nervous if I only had one or two). I like LDs also, as is probably obvious from my moniker. I like DVDs as well but find many of them to have distracting digital artifacts. LD is plagued with chroma noise and always has the spectre of laser rot lurking in the background, but I have many discs with a very good to excellent picture. Laserdisc PCM, or actually even the stereo analog tracks, does a much nicer job IMO on music intensive material than the DD 5.1 typcially found on DVDs.The last generation of LD/CD players that Pioneer produced, such as the CLD-D704 and CLD-79 and 99, really do an excellent job of minimizing chroma noise. There are some Japanese imports available that provide an even better picture, such as my HLD-X9, but I believe these may also now be out of production.
Todd
Follow Ups:
Hi ToddI must have got one of the last ones 12 months ago and have never regretted it. I have some PAL LDs also, and hunted around for a used D925 (reputedly the last & best) and ended up importing one from NZ - thanks Michael w for alerting me to its existance. However the picture does not hold a candle to the HLD-X9 on either NTSC or PAL.
That said, there is some pretty bad LD software around also. Seems to be the curse of all formats!
BTW I was just able to access Big Emma http://www.bigemma.com/shop_recent.asp
so they are still operating and have some reasonably priced LD movies if anyone is interested.John
Peace at AA
Hi!I'm a HLD-X9 owner (I also have a LD-S9). And I think this machine
is soooo great. I prefer many movies on LD over their DVD countpart,
+ all movies that are not on DVD yet. And not ot talk about the sound.
mono/stereo on PCM KILLS the DD mono/stereo!!!
I'm so happy with my HLD-X9 that I have one more on order as a back-up, plus one HLD-X0!
So if anyone wants I player they are still in production some month more.-Mattias-
Hi Todd: I said what I did, because market pentration for LD was always very low, less than 5%. So I don't see a bunch of companies rushing to fill the "demand" for high quality LD machines. For turntables there were tons made and vinyl is still being pressed, even if only as a fringe hobby. Companies continue to make TTs and cartridges. Heck, I even have a cassette machine and a bunch of cassettes. Do I add one more "dead" technology to my collection? I have seen Sony LD machines for less than $75. It is tempting.I agree regarding the limitations of DVD. A lot of compression is needed to make them work. Not so with LD. What kept me away from LD in its heyday was the high cost of the software. How many movies am I going to watch over again for $60 a crack. One LD is the cost of several trips to the movie theatre. Plus I am lucky to live where there are a bunch of decent movie theatres. So for me it was go to the theatre. With DVDs going for less than $20 Canadian, I will buy a copy of Rio Bravo to watch once a week ;-)
One of the reasons Sony LD players are relatively cheap is that they are known for their generally mediocre performance and reliability. Pioneer has had some problem models also, such as the 3090 from the early 90's, but overall, their models offer vastly superior performance and good to very good reliability. Panasonic players were also pretty good. If you're interested in acquiring an LD player, I would stick with a Pioneer or Panasonic based model (both companies built machines for or furnished chassis to other brands).Todd
Thanks for the info. A friend bought the Sony MLD500 series back in the late 80s (early 90s?) and at the time he said it was viewed as one of the best machines on the market. That is why I was thinking of a Sony. Ok that plus the price. Come to think of it, I have not seen many Pioneer or Panasonic LD players come on the used market. I guess people are hanging on to them.
My first player was a Sony MDP-510, bought new in 1990. It was easily the worst player I have ever owned in terms of both performance and reliability. Even my Pioneer CLD-D701, which is a very poor player for a Pioneer and which I would never recommend to anyone, just whomps the crap out of the Sony in terms of performance and is still functional after nearly 10 years. The performance on my Sony deteriorated so far after just a few years that I gave it to my parents to use as a CD player. It then developed a drawer problem (a dreadfully common defect on both the MDP-510 and MDP-333 players) and was subsequently junked. It was a nice looking machine with a cool remote but was unfortunately a piece of junk.Todd
Fix it! Its not that hard. mine had the same problem, and its easily fixed by a new band from the motor to the gears, and a bit of lubricant.
CLD-97 and CLD-D406.
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