I got a set of these rare service LD's off eBay a while back, and I finished encoding and posting them on YouTube tonight. The useful S104 video service guide is also in this playlist...
There are some good clips even for non-technicians - around the 15 minute mark of volume 1 has some good shots of LD production.
That would be great. I can use all the help I can get.
Finally got some time to get some pics posted. These pics are a mix of three mods I did on my Pioneer, CLD-D701, Denon, LA-3100, and ProScan, PSLD43.
I first start off by removing the entire back panel and picking a spot that is in a nice open area that won't get in the way of anything mechanical on the other side (e.g.: the moving tray or turn mechanism). In addition, I try to avoid punching a hole out over any graphics on the back panel just for the sake of making the mod look nice. https://i.vgy.me/eZxZcQ.jpg
As I stated in a previous post, I use a hole punch instead of a drill bit (forgot the punch size but it's about the diameter of the RCA jack) as my preferred method as there is less chance of slipping and damaging the back panel. https://i.vgy.me/8LWpn4.jpg
In addition, I still need to utilize a reamer to slightly enlarge the hole in order the for plastic washer to fit snugly into it (the RCA jack will never touch the casing itself). https://i.vgy.me/IJ5QIS.jpg
The RCA jack now installed (plastic washer is now painted black to match the back panel). https://i.vgy.me/GKjNaE.jpg https://i.vgy.me/aU0Tjy.jpg
The back panel can now to be reattached to the player and now it's time to mount the AC3-RF board. I used a plastic standoff to lift the AC3 board above the main board for this particular player (for your CLD-97, you may not be able to do this so double stick tape is an option). You should pick a spot that will be as close to the AFM point as you want to make a coax lead as short as possible to the board (as you can see, I already have the AFM coax cable and yellow mute lead soldered to their respective points). https://i.vgy.me/5awyLG.jpg
Next step is to prep the coax cables that will be needed for delivering signal to and from the AC3-RF board and make sure to make them only as long as they need to be. You will need to make one cable w/ "both" ends that will look like this and tin the leads. https://i.vgy.me/uesgI7.jpg
The other cable will have one end w/ the same GND extension as above but the other end will have the GND wires cut off and then surrounded in a shrink tube. https://i.vgy.me/YpmUy7.jpg
A more close up shot of how the wires will look connected to the board. Note how the coax cables connect to it w/ the extended GND. (Also, ignore the doubling of wires I have on the blue and black wires as that was done for an alternate mod on this particular player). https://i.vgy.me/asBFCf.jpg
Finally, the RCA jack being connected up w/ the coax wire. Note where the wires connect on the jack and the installed cap on the GND wire that goes back to chassis GND. https://i.vgy.me/YlQSwX.jpg
I end the mod by providing my own label (and try to keep the font the same as the other labeling on the unit) so that it's obvious what this jack is meant for. (The labeling would usually say "AC3 RF Out" but this particular mod also had an RF Demodulator installed so it had to be called an "AC3 Digital Out") https://i.vgy.me/yJesB0.jpg
To test if your new AC3-RF output works, you can stick a voltmeter on the RCA jack (red probe on middle pin and black probe on GND) and should get a reading anywhere from 3.6v to 4.5v when an AC3 disc is in play and 0v when the disc is paused or stopped.
Yeah! Finally. It's strange, i wanted to get Laserdisc player way back in late 80's early 90's but here in Finland the movies were hideously expensive and often imported - so i passed that thought... and time went by. From VHS, to VCD, SVCD, DVD, BR... and then i realized there's no reason why NOT get one now! I must admit it's kind of nostalgic trip for me but it's something that i always wanted to experience.
So i finally picked up nice Pioneer DVL-909 and elsewhere, few disks tonight. Now.. i'm going to enjoy it all.
Should have no issues with mechanical adjustments, but I would be more concerned about heat.
People buy the CLD-R7G for the S-Video, not the composite. It has one of the best combfilters ever put inside a LD player. Composite signal can be cleaned up by bypassing recombination/digital memory/etc but this is not the player for that.
You can see if the CLD-D515 or CLD-D925 power supply might work.
Yeah, the chip pretty much is the circuit. There was little to no firmware in any consumer level gear back then.
I would not assume any pirate copies exist. AC-3 decoding for Laserdisc was only relevant for five years, if that, and the installed user base was a few hundred thousand. The incentive to copy something so worthless seems ...below zero. Even pirate LDs themselves are rare because there just want a market for it.
The good thing with the R7 is that it’s feature complete for LD - it has AC3 out, CLV picture memory, LD-G decoding, autoreverse and all that jazz so there’s no need, perceived or otherwise, to mess deeply with the player.
That said, I’ve repaired and modded some really expensive amps and synthesizers, so I know enough to tread carefully at least.
No you don't, not with LD players, these are a different creature and you will botch it.
I've fixed synths to an extent, amps, guitars, speakers etc but know that LD players need a special hand. Not that it can't be done but you will botch the first few players I'm pretty sure of that.
It doesn’t matter which laser you have, if the servos are not properly adjusted any unit will not play a disc. I have some discs I use to test players and every unit plays and stops playing the disc at varying degree, it’s the electronics around the laser along with the laser. I could take three of the same model, perform calibrations, and they will perform differently. When you have a good performing player just enjoy it.
After saying for so long that I was going to do it, I finally found the time to complete this pretty intricate modification to this player. Let's quickly check out the before and after pics and then I'll provide some additional details.
Front View Of The Player https://i.vgy.me/6kXRWn.jpg
Back Panel "Before" https://i.vgy.me/LFap2e.jpg
Back Panel "After" https://i.vgy.me/NqOLBj.jpg
Back Panel "After" (wide view) https://i.vgy.me/HxUJ3d.jpg
Back Panel "After" (side view) https://i.vgy.me/RqlVLl.jpg
So now I'll break this mod down into four sections; 1) Back Panel Preparation, 2) Digital Output Mod, 3) AC-3 RF Output Mod, and 4) Adding Labels To The New Output Jacks.
Back Panel Preparation:
The first major challenge that literally took over a year to think about was how to punch out a square hole for the optical version of the Digital Output. I actually considered just doing the coaxial version of the Digital Output to simplify the mod but I really didn't want to waste the optical option that was part of the kit that I purchased. Here is the board that I used for this mod ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/CDROM-car-navigation-digital-signal-shaping-buffer-board-SPDIF-fiber-coaxial-out/323774426627 ).
https://i.vgy.me/rpwQ6q.jpg
I also considered just mounting this board simply "anywhere" inside the player and running a permanent optical cable out of a simple punch out but I thought it would look really cheesy (glad I did not do it).
In any case, let's get to the back panel. Of course, one has to remove it off of the player for the sake of ease especially since I'm going to be punching out three holes instead of the usual one hole in my previous mods. The panel came off pretty easily with only nine screws holding it in place.
https://i.vgy.me/JSpl4j.jpg
Now let's turn the panel around to see where I'm going to punch out of the holes.
https://i.vgy.me/nZnH9C.jpg
Here are the lines I drew out on the back to figure out a good placement as well as to line-up all three holes evenly....
https://i.vgy.me/xtcSNC.jpg
..... and finally a test fit to see if any obstructions could be a problem.
https://i.vgy.me/xyWugl.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/Tz50lg.jpg
The next step is to just punch out the holes with my Roper Whitney #5 Junior Hand Punch using the 3/32" punch size (about a 1/4" diameter).
https://i.vgy.me/MeqkeR.jpg
I prefer this over drilling as I feel it's a less risky option in respect to slipping or even bending the back panel if I was to apply pressure w/ a drill
I chose the following locations based on trying to line-up them up w/ the other RCA jacks on the bottom (at least on the left side) but I especially wanted my new jack openings to be straight across the top.
https://i.vgy.me/Ao1Ncm.jpg
Next, I needed to enlarge all three holes w/ a reamer as they were all just a tad too small for the RCA jacks and the optical transmitter.
https://i.vgy.me/Ex0HZh.jpg
The hole on the left is now enlarged and still looks nice and clean.
https://i.vgy.me/1cgT39.jpg
So now the challenge is to make a square opening for the optical transmitter. I first start w/ getting a template of the exact size I need and I found it on a CLUX HDMI Extractor.
https://i.vgy.me/rzPIRD.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/CIC9gq.jpg
I had the CLUX faceplate removed and centered it on the hole I needed shaved out (and used double stick tape to secure it).
https://i.vgy.me/lzIVY4.jpg
The next step is to use the reamer to enlarge the hole.....
https://i.vgy.me/bqFBzD.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/s5UvU0.jpg
.....and then I'll switch to a triangular file (Crescent Nicholson 21874NN)
https://i.vgy.me/7B2ksk.jpg (thanks to "integra" for the advice on the file he used on his ADP-303 mod :thumbup:).
This took awhile to grind down but the results were amazing.
https://i.vgy.me/92H38j.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/V2lrcU.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/8HNt4G.jpg
Here is the optical transmitter being test fitted and it's a perfect fit.....
https://i.vgy.me/Vw5FdP.jpg
..... and now showing a screw hole punched out to mount the optical transmitter
https://i.vgy.me/L96Hdt.jpg
Now we have all three jacks mounted.....
https://i.vgy.me/EUWgoD.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/jGxOgZ.jpg
.....and tested for clearance w/ the tray retracted.
https://i.vgy.me/IyI904.jpg
Now it's time to move on to the next segment of this mod (but I'll still cover more about these jacks toward the end).
Digital Output Mod
My first step was to first remove the optical transmitter that came w/ the board as the original transmitter came with no mounting hole (the intent of this board was to use the board itself as the basis of a mount but that wasn't going to work here). Also, I had the RCA jack removed as I did not like the way it extended out and I wanted it to match the other RCA jack for the AC3-RF Out.
https://i.vgy.me/R2lWYv.jpg
Here is the board now w/ the new optical transmitter now soldered in and I also had hot glue added to the sides to strengthen its connection to the board (the transmitter housing is not well secured to the transmitter itself so the glue was necessary).
https://i.vgy.me/MMhkLA.jpg
Moving on, I soldered in a coax wire to the pad where the RCA jack used to reside so I could connect it up to the new jack I have mounted to the back panel.
https://i.vgy.me/HHf3bx.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/vSPwxl.jpg (red arrows indicate hot glue to add additional mounting strength for the board to the back panel)
Now it's time to tap the digital signal from the player to the board. The interface is right off the Sony CXD2500AQ DSP as shown here.
https://i.vgy.me/S9ahL0.jpg
Pin 60 will be the tap to provide the signal while Pin 59 is just a verification that the digital output is set to "on" (if there was 0 vdc on pin 59, I would have to jumper a 5vdc point to it). Fortunately, it was getting 5vdc so I didn't have to make any changes. The kit included a coax wire that was pre-tinned and I had it soldered in from the opposite side.
https://i.vgy.me/5o5Lcb.jpg (coax wire to pin 60 and green wire to GND)
Moving on, we'll also need a 5vdc power supply so that was as simple as finding some jumpers that were already labeled.
https://i.vgy.me/UE4ACK.jpg
The Digital Output is now complete and now it’s time to move on to the next step.
AC-3 RF Output Mod
So I'll be using my 2nd scratch built AC3 board that I built over two years ago (can't believe it's been that long).
Top https://i.vgy.me/T6XUSz.jpg
Bottom https://i.vgy.me/ZPHJS3.jpg
I won't get into details regarding the board itself since I covered it in this previous post. >>> https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7827
The focus here is mounting the board and running the wires.
First step, I needed to punch a hole into the board so I can install a plastic stand off....
https://i.vgy.me/jIn1KK.jpg
.... and put some electrical tape on the bottom of the board as a precaution against shorting in case it falls on to the main board.
https://i.vgy.me/hGD8fH.jpg
Next up, time to pick a place to mount the board and I chose a location toward the front of the player that limits the length the AFM signal needs to travel to it (it was mentioned in instructions I have received in the past to keep this cable under 10" as a means to reduce signal loss but I'm not sure how definitive that advice is).
https://i.vgy.me/aUESqY.jpg
The AFM point is tapped from the audio board (hangs vertical on the right side of the player) off of the middle pin of transistor Q351 which is located right before the band pass filters of the CX chip.
https://i.vgy.me/Wm9cBC.jpg
I had my coax cable soldered from the other side as such and also had the shielding grounded via the green wire.
https://i.vgy.me/VtMUvm.jpg
The remaining wires needed for the board are +5vdc (red), -5vdc (blue), Mute (yellow), GND (black), and another RF cable to the RCA jack. Here are images of all of them connected up.....
https://i.vgy.me/an8drZ.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/blTTSi.jpg
..... and the AC3-RF board w/ all the wires now connected.
https://i.vgy.me/ABILYe.jpg
Now a wide shot showing the entirety of the two mods.
https://i.vgy.me/D3GCdj.jpg
And finally, a shot of how much clearance there was w/ the tray. It looks close to hitting it but in reality there is still plenty of room.
https://i.vgy.me/J3426E.jpg
I tested the board w/ an AC3 LD and confirmed the signal was passing to my Demodulator / Processor and I did get a voltage output on the RCA jack at around 4.3 volts w/ the mute control operating correctly to kill that power on pause and stop (I really do feel if anyone does this mod to really try and get your mute control to work as a means to prevent extraneous noise on your speakers during start up and side changes).
Adding Labels To The New Output Jacks
So finally we're near the end and believe it or not this was somewhat a complicated mess. I originally wanted the Digital Outs to emphasize their use to transfer both PCM and DTS encoding but space between the jacks and my pickiness to maintain the font size made that difficult as you will see.
https://i.vgy.me/YoAbUq.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/JRTIR9.jpg
I ended up w/ the labeling you see @ the top of this post and overall I'm pretty happy with it. I was trying for all three labels to have the same height so they looked even across. Unfortunately, I think I made a total of four attempts to get it perfect and in the end I got tired of trying.
I had the player tested on AC3 & DTS LDs' and DTS CD. The mod worked as it should and it was thrilling knowing that I was listening to a sound codec that over a week ago the player was incapable of playing. And since it's a CD Changer as well, now I have the convenience of playing multiple DTS (or standard) CD titles without getting up from my seat (this is actually the only CD Changer I've ever owned). Picture quality wise, this player is definitely not impressive as it is a bit noisy but it still holds up fine (especially with discs that have good mastering). I'll be using this player soon on my cheap set-up so I can pull my ProScan out for some much delayed minor maintenance and further test the player.
I finally made something I find useable and presentable. I gutted an old Faroudja processor and put the eval board, Raspberry Pi (to auto run script), HDCP stripper (my HTPC has an issue with it), and power supply all inside.
Everything works with a front mounted switch and I also wired in the front "on" LED light and replaced the stock (loud) fan with a silent Noctua.
This is all in one solution, front switch powers on eval and Raspberry Pi which runs the eval board script with no user interaction required.
Hey everyone. I came across a CLD-505 at a Goodwill for $19.99, took her home and found a broken M Mount inside. I did research looking for replacements and of course discovered they were no longer being produced. I then searched for files to 3D print a new one and found that others were working on them, but not much progress or public releases. So I started trying to create my own in the last 2 weeks and have successfully created a working prototype. It's by no means perfect and could probably still use some tweaking, which is why I am fully releasing not only .STL files, but also model files in Fusion 360 and .STEP format for others to tweak the design themselves. I've released the files to the public domain without any restrictions.
You can find the files on my Thingiverse page here : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4839120
Also available at Prusa Printers : https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/64739-pioneer-laserdisc-vnl-1779-m-mount
I've modified the design of the original to accept metal shafts which can be found on Amazon. The smaller of the 2 gears has a 2mm inner diameter for the shafts, and the larger gear is 2.5mm.
I got a set of these rare service LD's off eBay a while back, and I finished encoding and posting them on YouTube tonight. The useful S104 video service guide is also in this playlist...
Well, there aren't any specs, but I spent some time the last couple of weeks to figure out how it works: https://bitbucket.org/staffanulfberg/ldaudio/src/master/
I basically sampled the signals going into and out from my AC3RF decoder and wrote code to demodulate the bits going in, and also to decode the spdif stream going out. It took some crunching to figure out how it all fits together but it's not a mystery anymore:)
The MadVR Envy has very advanced AI based motion adaptive deinterlacing which HTPC does not have.
This makes 480i from Kramer 773 to MadVR Envy basically the best at this point. You get the near perfect deinterlacing (better than Lumagen / DVDO / Faroudja) as well as the proven best NGU (AI based) upscaling. I didn't even buy the Envy for Laserdisc but quite ironically I found improvements where I was not even looking.
The other amazing thing with the Envy is the AI based noise reduction that can work wonders for LD. Here is a quick video just showing me going through the steps of NR intensity - https://www.dropbox.com/s/x325dvd2yujad30/0809221839.mp4?dl=0
Sorry to not contributing to this thread for a while. Here is an update.
We are now shipping the SM03 as we have frozen the feature list after much feedback from some early customers. Here is a summary of the product:
Three basic functions: 3D comb filter decoder, 3D noise reduction and full frame synchoniser. NTSC/PAL input (CVBS or Y/C), SDI output. (Y/C input uses dual ADCs.) Stereo audio with programmable delay (compensate lip-sync) embedded into SDI output. Can lock to almost all VHS tape sources. Chroma edge enhancement. Full proc-amp features (gain, offset etc.) including NTSC chroma vector rotation (hue correction).
Despite efforts, we cannot reduce the price, especially with the worldwide component shortages, but we can offer a 'bundled' package with the Magewell image capture cards if you are archiving (and the pound is tanking so if you are outside the UK that will help lower the price to you). We despatch using DHL with full tracking information. We also include a programmer with every SM03 so any future features/bug fixes can be updated. The SM03 includes Y/C to BNC cables, universal power supply and phono to BNC adaptor.
https://www.singmai.com/Modules/sm03.html
We welcome continued feedback and are still open to any missing features you would like to see, but we will limit any updates to once very six months or so.
Thanks list
