Hi

Haven’t posted in a while, but recently I felt the urge to upgrade my LD playback setup. Currently I use a Retrotink 5X for my LD Player because I have it for my gaming stuff anyways. However, the comb filter is not the best, which was very obvious when watching “A Nightmare Before Christmas” the other day.

I also tried my AVR, a Denon X6700H, but I wasn’t happy with the result. Does anyone know if the Denon has a good comb filter? I can’t seem to find any information on the analog signal processing of this unit.

Anyhow, I now though about adding a Kramer 773 or an Extron DSC301 to my setup and then either go to the AVR from there or use the Retrotink. But I can’t decide on which one to get and hoped someone here could help me out. I might update my Retrotink 5x to the new 4K unit, will this be any good for LD when using an external comb filter?

Thanks for any help in advance.

What is your display?

It’s a LG CX OLED without any analog inputs.

I am interested in the replies as well. I got a similar situation:
Got an LG CX9 OLED combined with a Marantz SR6014 (the little brother of your Denon AV).

I tried the Retrotink 2X and some other mid priced (300-500€) converters and was very disappointed with the result on my 77“ TV.

My best result by far is using the Marantz.
LD -> Marantz -> TV

To me it seems the comb filter in the Marantz is doing a very decent job!
But as Denon and Marantz are owned by the same company I would expected that your AV got the same comb filter. However I did not find any resource on the internet regarding the used comb filters.

Just FYI the way I use the system:
CLD 2950 -> Marantz (no upscaling, just the AD conversion) -> LG CX9 (Upscaling, some picture adjustments and colour matching; vertical zoom. The noise reduction on high is doing miracles!)
I am happy with the result and expect there is some major cash required to further improve the quality (Lumagen?).

Cheers,
Markus

This is a public service announcement:

Sony still puts SD inputs on its USDM TVs and LD looks amazing on them these days.

LG/Samsung are the Kia/Hyundai of TVs.

This has been a public service announcement.

Yeah sure... that's why Sony is buying its OLED panels from Samsung (QD-OLED) and LG (A90, A80 etc.).

And you are right: They are the Kia/Hyundai of TVs.

In the last 5 years they have become one of the best cars you can buy on the planet today.
Believe me... as a German automotive test engineer I hate to say so.

The LG CX does have composite input. You need one of these adaptors. There should have been one shipped with the TV.

The only downside is that the quality is awful (at least the one time I tested it).

You are correct for the US and Asian market (not 100% sure about Asia), but they did leave out the analog input completely for the European market. I am actually glad you say it sucks, because I was very frustrated about this fact when I got into LD.

Extron can be had for cheaper - Kramer VP-77X usually go for more...as for which is the best - Can only vouch for the Extron and would say its the best picture I have achieved thus far with a samsung QLED TV. The other benefit of the Extron is it is 'tiny' ! ..hoping then that someone will join the discussion to share their experiences with both.

Thanks, I will try an Extron and see how it goes.

What about the droid attack on the wookiees Faroudja?

So I got my Extron and I‘m really happy with the result. Only issue is the added delay to the video of around 230ms. A bit annoying to correct every time but not to bad.

Hilarious. As an American test technician I find this hilarious. For one…the Korean car companies are right at the bottom of reliability these days with Merc and BMW so I don’t disagree with every aspect of what you’re saying, just the majority of it. Both German and Korean cars these days seem to be in a race to the recycling yard. The AMG V8 and the Theta 2.0 both blow up faster than a Trabant…but you can’t just rebuild them like a Trabant because the entire engine block is shot after the head bolts crack in two (Merc) or the rods fly through the block (Kia).

My favorite Hyundai story is the $56,000 battery replacement in an Ioniq 5. Lady runs over a muffler in the street and the insurance company has to write the entire car off.

And as for TVs…yeah, Sony uses Samsung panels or whatever…but please…be grown…there’s more to a TV than the tube. As an engineer you know that support componentry is at least as important as the main device. If the Sony one looks great with LD and the Samsung model doesn’t even have SD inputs then…that’s my point. It’s not about brand loyalty it’s about quality. Since my 4K TV cost a bit more I didn’t have to shop around for black boxes like all the users who start all these threads.

Wow. You really live in a bubble! Telling me to get grown?
Congratulations!

Maybe one day you will be able to pop it and see the whole picture.

Just a hint: Your personal experience =! World

And even if you check the very biased JD Powers report you will find ...

What do I care. You are one of the rudest, most unfriendly people here in the forum.
Nothing will make you even consider that you might be wrong.

I am curious:
Can you explain what exactly looks better than your previous setup?
Do you compare it to the Denon or do you use it combined with the Denon?

It's all calculated, products would/should last about 10 years and then thrown into recycle bin.

Compared to the Retro-Tink 5X. Of course the comb filter leading to fewer rainbow artifacts. And it is cleaner overall. I haven't used the Denon for composite in ages, so now idea how it compares. However, back when I tried the Denon I felt like it was very noisy. So that's why I never used it. Maybe I will try the Denon again to see how it compares

Thanks for the update!
If you find the time to make a comparission, maybe with some pictures that would be very appreciated.
I have been thinking about the RetroTINK 4k once it is available again, but I doubt the result will be worth the price (if only bought for LD and not for retro gaming).

Cheers!

I have tried both. The 773 was significantly better in my setup and supports a remote control.