I have recently purchased a new tv, a 55 inch Lg backlit LM670T I have my pioneer cld925 connected via scart lead, the image is pretty good to be honest but I was wondering if something like this might improve things

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/arch ... /page.html

Not really interested in the multi hdmi use as the tv has four hdmi imputs already, so would only be looking at the scaler to improve the image from my laserdisc and DVD player
Only asking as one is being sold on a uk av site at a reasonable cost
Not sure if the tv upscales the imput from the scart connection already ? Don't think it does

Any advise would be appreciated

There was a review from a scaler expert on the PDA-V100HD, and it was horrible.
Problem is... I cannot find the link anymore.

Anyhow the reason I reply is: I used to have a PDA-V100HD for a few weeks.
It did not improve picture quality at all.
I have spoken with other ppl who say "it improved picture quality a lot".
So now the question is... are they seeing things that aren't there, or am I not seeing things that should be seen?

Some people see what they believe, some people only believe wat they see

I found the review again; copy&paste of it follows:

"This sleek black box from high-end Plasma specialist Pioneer was never intended to be a standalone videoprocessing unit. Basically it is a Media Extender box for commercial Plasma displays. It allows a wall mounted installation of TVs with only a single HDMI running to the set. The suggested retail of the box is 449 EUR ($600), but it can currently (late 2008) be found for a mere 145 EUR from a dealer on the Amazon marketplace. Other online retailers start at around EUR 190. From the manual the box features a Faroudja chipset with DCDi processing, has Video, S-Video, Component (YUV) and RGB Scart inputs as well as four HDMI inputs and a single HDMI output. The output resolution can be switched to 480p/576p, 720p and 1080i.

What made the machine look interesting for the gaming community is the RGB Scart input. So I got and gave it a try. And threw it back out again: The whole analogue section is hardly worth mentioning. The picture quality (no matter if the input is set to 240p, 480i or even 480p is so bad, that it's definitely not worth getting this unit. What makes me really shudder is the fact, that not even a plain 480p (component) to 480p (HDMI) conversion looks good. It's all a blurry mess. This unit is actually a good example of how a good chipset (Faroudja w/ DCDi) is so poorly implemented, that it sheds really a bad light on an otherwise good name. Directly under this text you can see a picture of the chroma delay added by component processing (yellow/green-ish outline to the left of the object).

Conclusion: not even worth considering."

Source: http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/
Don't be fooled by the fact that this site is specializing on upscaling arcade games, videogames and consoles.
The guy writing the reviews also has a Pioneer HLD-X9 and is a videophile by all means.

I do own a PDA-V100HD and use it as hdmi hub and additional upscaling unit for one of my LD players. It's nothing compared to a real video processor but works fine for me. Ok, my plasma tv ain't that big (37") and it's only HD ready as I do own a lot of old analog video equipment I still use on a regular base. My LD-S9 is connected via composite to the Pioneer but I didn't "miss" anything yet. The player itself delivers a really crisp picture and the Pioneer only does upscaling from 480i to 720p, that's it. Any "picture improvement etc." functions from the tv have been disabled as well. Same player is also connected to a DVDO 50Pro unit via S-Video and by doing some screen tests lately I'd say the DVDO is the right choice if you need additional picture improvement for all those discs between mediocre and outright poor mastering whereas all the good stuff looked really good on both units! The Pioneer's surely nothing a videophile will ever like but if all you need is a basic upscaling unit the Pioneer ain't that bad...

I´m giving the pioneer pda-v 100 HD a second chance. I used to own one of these a few years ago. Back then I encountered the following problem: Using a Pioneer CLD-D925 with the pioneer pda-v 100 HD and NTSC Laserdiscs with signs of rot resulted in a loss of the signal from the pioneer pda-v 100 HD. These days I´m using a X9 /97 and I hope to achieve a stable HDMI signal without upscaling. I just want to get a 480i signal on the HDMI output (right before the signal goes into the DVDO VP50) Not quite sure if this will work out - the idea is, to get my Panasonic DVD Recorder out of the signal chain (and use insted the Pioneer).
Does anyone have experiences with this hardware ?

The original link is dead but Web Archive has one copy: PDA-V100HD (Archived) - Pioneer

Some more info/specs left at: https://www.superfi.co.uk/P-7103-discontinued-pioneer-pdav100hd-high-definition-converter-and-av-switcher.aspx

Julien

Thx for the link Julien. I still wonder if someone out there is using this hardware ?

I recently upgraded to a modern OLED TV and had to buy a high end video processor to work with my laserdisc players. It's great but they are not cheap. £500 for a processor. Sadly you have to spend serious money to get the sort of picture quality you got with direct S-VHS. So unless Pioneer decide to bring back a modern laserdisc player just to play those wonderful shinny discs high end video processors seem to be the only game in town. And bear in mind I only did the video processor after trying out various ones from amazon at 50 or 60 quid and they were rubbish.

I find upscalers built into the TV are not good. I have a Yamaha RX-A2020 receiver that does upscaling. I feed it S-Video from my DVL-919, which then upscales to my Sony Bravia 50" LCD in 1080P and I am generally pleased with the results.

Yep, I still use a PDA-V100HD to this very day in combination with the LD-S9. Just watched a disc yesterday (*batteries not included (1987) [40770]) and I still am very pleased with the results...