Hello everyone. I am new to the world of LD. I sort of fell into the format after picking up an LD player from a yard sale a few weeks back.

So here is my issue. I am running composite out of my CLD-M90 player into my dvdo iscan vp30 video processor and running HDMI out from the vp30 to my LCD projector. I am getting a very poor picture quality out of most of my discs. After doing fair amount of research it turns out that I do not have any sort of comb filter in my equipment chain. The M90, VP30, and projector do not have a comb filter. If i am understanding things correctly the most important things to have for good picture quality on LD are a good player (which I do not have) and a good comb filter (which I also do not appear to have). So it's no wonder I am getting poor PQ. So if you guys could help me out with the following questions Id appreciate it.

1. Am I correct about the importance of a comb filter?

2. Am I correct that the vp30 and M90 do not have a comb filter

3.What device would you recommend I pick up that has a decent comb filter built in to it?

4. I know most people recommend using the snell and Wilcox test on the video essentials discs to fine tune your equipment. I plan on eventually buying the video essentials discs but first I need to understand the data the s&w test gives you. Is there a tutorial any where that will tell me exactly what it is and how to use it?

I know I need to upgrade my player if I am going to take LD seriously, and I also know that LD is never going to look perfect, but for now I am taking this one step a time.

I Thought the dvdo was a scaler???

Also make sure all your settings are less than you think, keep sharpness down and such.
How bad does it look??

Hello ! Wellcome to the LD community !
First, all will depends to what you are meaning by "good quality" and "bad quality".
Because each people has different opinon in LD field, and their own likes/dislike.
Color warm / cold, smearing, noise, sharpness, etc...
LD is not a digital recored disc, then, you will never optain the render of a bluray or even good DVD.
It will differ for each player, each filter, etc.

You can choose a player and upscaler depending on your own likes / dislikes. And sometimes it doesn't cost that much money.

What is your principal visual discomfort currently ?

What size are you blowing up the image on your projector? you do realize that LD is a composite format, it only looks so good when it's enlarged especially on LCD.

A quick google search shows the dvdo indeed has a 2d comb filter, all processors should have a comb filter as far as I know, some work with LD better then others, the really good ones will cost you and are hard to find, I'd suggest sticking to what you have now and work on your settings to improve your picture.

It's more then just soft focus and uneven color.

Some movies are crystal clear. Other movies are filled with a lot of smearing and wavy vertical lines. It's seems to appear mostly with CLV discs of older movies. My clv copies of raiders of the lost ark, Tora Tora Tora, and Spartacus are the worst. The wavy lines, smearing, and extremely blotchy PQ makes the movies pretty much unwatchable. I think it is noise but I'm not sure. I don't think it's laser rot because I am not getting white specs all over the screen

Yea I read that the dvdo has a 2d comb filter, but then I read in a bunch of places that only the vp50 and above have a comb filter. So it confused me.

My screen size is 100in.

I realize that laserdisc is not a DVD or bluray and that it is not going to have the same level of PQ (especially when blown up on a giant screen).

Some movies are crystal clear while others seem to be filled with distortion (each vertical lines, blotchy picture, smearing, and horizontal lines coming off of text). My player doesn't seem to like CLV discs as these effects are the most noticeable on CLV.

Smear is inherent with LD, some more some less, some players more some players less. Some pressings more some pressings less etc.

As for wavy lines that sounds like cross talk or a bad cable, since its an M-90 I would say both.

Have you calibrated all your levels? Low, I mean? I ask because having brightness and color and contrast too high is THE way to make LD look bad. You can’t see the entire dynamic range of your TV by playing an LD, don’t try. Close the windows, turn off the lights, and turn that monster down to 90s levels. This takes place over a fancy comb filter or any gear at all.

Secondly, the M90 is a suck player on good day and you’ve never seen another LD player so you don’t even know if it’s doing as well as an M90 should. This will make things a lot harder.

Do you have a CRT TV in your house still? Any CRT TV? If so, hook it up to that. Otherwise you’ll never know what problems are 90s problems and which are brought on by the new gear. If it looks better on the CRT (wouldn’t surprise me) then we know something.

Lastly, I think there’s some kind of comb filter in there, there has to be to render the composite imagine, but don’t worry about it.

Smear is really hard to diagnose since it’s usually on the disc itself to some extent and unless someone had watched that disc and seen zero smear you’re never going to know where it comes from.

However only CLV discs have crosstalk and that sounds like what he’s complaining of. An alignment is probably needed.

Yes I have already adjusted brightness, contrast, ect..

Unfortunately I do not have a crt to connect my player to. Although I have hooked up the player to every tv in my house and the same distortions on the same discs appear on every tv.

I figured that the vp30 had some sort of filter in it, but I read in more then one place that only the vp50 and above have a comb filters and that you need to use a svhs or something with a good comb filter between the player and the vp30

How would one go about performing an alignment? I'm a diesel tech by trade and should have all the tooling and skill required. I just need to know the procedures and specs. Where would one find such info?

You will not take care of these problems (wave / smear) with any deinterlacer / comb filter etc...

Smearing :
Nothing can be change for smearing; If you don't like it, you can search for a smear low player. Expensive, and never had one, then cannot confirm it works. For exemple : Panasonic LX900 or Pionneer HLD-X9.
You will have very low smearing on good players as CLD 959, I can confirm this.
You also have to lower the black levels of your screen to take care of 50% of smearing.

Waves :
It depends. What sort of waves ? On all discs ? If it is the same on all disc, it can be a capacitor problem on video board (vertical light regular waves), or a misalignement of the pick up (crosstalk). For the vertical light waves, all the player has it as the capacitors are old. But the gravity depends of the player. And with a good setting of your screen (not too much sharpness, high noise filtering on your TV/Projector) you can take care of them (but the image will lose sharpness).

Anyway, because buying any expensive video processor, you should search a good configuration in you actual setting, or search for a better player. CLD-97 (959) is a good reference.
After finding a confortable image, you can increase the quality with video processor.

I won't claim to be an expert, but as far as I know anything that will take a composite signal will need to have some sort of a comb filter, or a notch filter at the very least. giving the modernity of your gear I'd guess 2d minimum. If your projector has a composite in it should have one as well, of course it would be bypassed in your current setup.

I think at this point if you want to go on I'd say before anything look for a better player, the m90 is not know for its quality, I wouldn't recommend an alignment on it, any time attempting to fix it would be much better spent looking for a better machine.

A good working CLD-503 or 504 are great players to start with.

You need a test disc and a scope, I’m pretty sure. I’ve never actually done it, always paid someone else. I DIY almost everything but this is one I leave to others. Not really because it’s massively difficult it’s just that I don’t have any if the stuff and other people who can still do the work are around. I’ll learn it eventually.

I'm not quite sure if I am ready to take the plunge into buying a new player just yet. However, there is a dvl-90 at a retro video and game store close to my house with a $200 price tag on it that is tempting me. From what I've read the dvl-90 is one of the best combo players ever made.

I think I am inclined to agree with you that the poor picture quality of my clv discs are the result of a cheapo player. From what I've read and from what others have told me it seems that the m90 was a pretty low quality budget player even back when it was brand new and that it was marketed more as a music player then a video device.

I don't think it would be worth paying any one to align my m90 for me.

But if I do bite the bullet and buy a better player is there any one you would recommend for future repairs?

The M90 wasn’t very good but it wasn’t broken. New it would have nearly zero crosstalk as would any player. If that’s the issue it would get way better with an alignment. Crosstalk itself looks terrible but more than that it’s ultimately more picture information for your scalers and whatnot to be confused by so it actually looks way worse on HDTV than a 20 year old tube.

Working properly the main issue with the M90 is video noise, which is about the same as S201, A100, and other cheap single sided early 90s decks.

There are a LOT of different LD players and really availability is key. The best player is one you don’t have to break in shipping.

The retro game and video store near my house has a dvl-90 for sale for $200. That seems a little steep to me, but they sale on eBay for about $400-$500.

Would you recommend buying the dvl-90 for $200?

If its working I would buy it.
I also want to add to what mimy said below.
It may be more than it should be but you won't get it in the mail working, you will end up saving how much money to send it off and get it fixed.

Also IF you are lucky to get one mailed how much will you actually save, you get it for 150 from a good seller and they
overcharge you on shipping by 50 bucks since it will be well packed.

This is IF you really want to collect LD.

I think it's a little bit expensive. Because it's the first DVD-LD combo model. DVL-91 would be this price.
But if it is perfectly working or with warranty, it could be a good affair.