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How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=10736		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  andrewnorman2001 [ 21 Jan 2023, 23:53 ]
Post subject:  How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
Hello, this is my very first forum post here in the LDDB.

I've been hearing that some people were able to turn on this "test mode" that plays the entire beginning of a LaserDisc (examples: The entire DiscoVision intro at the start of each DiscoVision release or the Pioneer "space" logo at the beginning of some Japanese Pioneer LDs from the 80s).

The specific model I own is the Pioneer CLD-M301 5-disc CD changer. I've tried looking for a PDF of the service manual for the player, but I haven't found it. If anyone has any answers to this question, please comment below and let me know :)
Author:  rein-o [ 22 Jan 2023, 01:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
There aren't easter eggs like DVDs, you may run into an issue of actually messing up the player if you select something wrong while in test mode.

Not much to see on the edge of the disc other than jamming your laser further than it needs to be on such a fragile player like a 301
Author:  ldfan [ 22 Jan 2023, 02:02 ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
In my 30+ years in the hobby, I have never heard of a hidden video clip on an LD. Maybe you can educate us on what this is about. I always assume whatever is at the beginning of an LD was always accessible since the counter starts at 0:00.
Author:  andrewnorman2001 [ 22 Jan 2023, 02:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
rein-o wrote:
There aren't easter eggs like DVDs, you may run into an issue of actually messing up the player if you select something wrong while in test mode.

Not much to see on the edge of the disc other than jamming your laser further than it needs to be on such a fragile player like a 301


Thanks for your answer :D

And yeah, I did hear that the M301 is a pretty fragile and low-end LD player. I've seen Technology Connections' video about the player. It's very informative. And I do think that the "robotic arm" that chooses which disc to read is pretty impressive, but flawed.
Author:  ldfan [ 22 Jan 2023, 07:19 ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
andrewnorman2001 wrote:
And I do think that the "robotic arm" that chooses which disc to read is pretty impressive, but flawed.


It is impressive but I don’t think it’s anywhere near being flawed.

It serves the purpose to make a 5 disc CD changer work inside of an LD player. If you were thinking it could have been simplified like a standard CD carousel changer, that would have been an impossible feet considering the discs (LD and CD) needed to be placed into the center of the mechanism.

In any case, I own an M90 and I’m happy to have one because it is so unique. However, it’s nowhere near being my favorite player simply because its performance is average at best.
Author:  atsampson [ 23 Jan 2023, 01:31 ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
You can indeed view the lead-in and lead-out in service mode, but most discs have either black or colourbars in the lead-in and lead-out, so it's not very exciting. I've only found two discs that have anything else in the lead-in...

Louvre 1: Peintures, dessins (1989) [LOUVRE 1] has colourbars, then a few frames of a caption saying what the disc is:
Attachment:
frame_pal_chroma_ar43_102_Louvre1_CAV_PAL_ANA_side1leadinbars_4400_2020-01-04_15-29-00.tbc.jpg
frame_pal_chroma_ar43_102_Louvre1_CAV_PAL_ANA_side1leadinbars_4400_2020-01-04_15-29-00.tbc.jpg [ 136.47 KiB | Viewed 635 times ]


Pioneer LaserDisc Reference Disc (2001) [GGV1069] has black, then a 30-second animated countdown before the disc starts at frame 1:
Attachment:
frame_ntsc_chroma_ar43_7_ggv1069-countdown.tbc.jpg
frame_ntsc_chroma_ar43_7_ggv1069-countdown.tbc.jpg [ 30.95 KiB | Viewed 635 times ]


Going back to the poster's original question, if you've got access to a programmable remote control (or something else that can send IR codes, like a Raspberry Pi) then I'd try sending it the ESC TEST sequence that most Pioneer players respond to. There may also be a test jumper near the player's CPU that you can short to ground when turning the player on to start up in service mode.
Author:  ldfan [ 23 Jan 2023, 02:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you turn on "test mode" on the Pioneer CLD-M301?
atsampson wrote:
You can indeed view the lead-in and lead-out in service mode, but most discs have either black or colourbars in the lead-in and lead-out, so it's not very exciting. I've only found two discs that have anything else in the lead-in...


Thanks for the providing the answer to the question. Good to learn something new after all these year. :thumbup:
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