krbahr wrote:
You are also comparing an older Pioneer 3080 which uses a design used for low noise thru PCB layouts and parts used with no Digital Noise Reduction, DNR, verses a Panasonic LX-900U which was also a very nice player but like all of the newer players used good layouts but not as critical as the 3080 with switching power supplies which can add noise and then use DNR to improve the picture.
The power supplies in the later players are awful.
I liken the later players to taking someone who can't sing into the studio and then adding autotune and other effects to make them sound good. I'm not saying the picture of the CLD-D704/99/etc is bad, it just looks different. A CLD-3080 will give you softer, more analog looking video. A CLD-D704 will give you sharper, more digital looking video. It is a matter of what you want laserdisc to look like.