Just got my hands on a CLD-2950. Will review it on my site a bit later.

Out of the box from ebay two issues:

* Discs won't load (classic Pioneer belt issue) - resolved with by changing the small SQM4.0 loading belt, the original belt was stiff a more like plastic than rubber.
* Paused/Stopped OSD both rolls and is sort of diagonal. Suspect a faulty connection somewhere, doesn't interfere with playback except during glitches from on the disc where the image jumps

If anyone has any ideas on the second issue - please let me know.

if its only the blue sceen that rolls flickers it shouldn't be an issue. my CLD 3070 has that issue only on the blue screen with no other issues.

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I don't see any OSD specific adjustments in the service manual, but perhaps the clock's off?

Looks like this is a NTSC/PAL version of the 503 - with a CCD TBC feeding the NTSC/PAL version of the (sub?)standard Sony 2D comb filter (which feeds analog NR). Hopefully it has less ghosting than the 4300D - the 4300/4400/8000 are a bit infamous for it.

Given the issues the 925 has, there's a chance the Euro DVL's may actually be the best PAL players...

(Thinking about it, is there an HQ button on your 925? If so turning that off might help)

Best pal machine is a theta voyager with boards swapped from a dvl-919e:)

Now gotto find a theta voyager and import a 919e. Both rare and expensive:0 is it worth it?

What PAL disks do you have?

I only have a handful. The only significant one is the showgirls in pal+ (16:9 anamorphic). I am very anal about the cosmetics of my components. The only way I would feel fine having a PAL player sit in my video rack is if it is under theta voyager disguise:)

Same reason why ced players dont excide me they look cheap.

Front panel controls made no difference to the rolling. A dodgy timing adjustment/crystal sounds about right.

Happycube - I was really disappointed by the ghosting on the 4300D, I thought it might be a dry joint type issue and was pondering trying to get it refurbished but if it's a known problem with that end of the industrial line, it doesn't seem worthwhile.

I was thinking about getting a CLD-D515 next, but I'm starting to drown in Laserdisc players.

A DVL-919E might be worth a look, but I worry that it'll have the same sort of problems as the 925.

substance: hmm. OTOH Showgirls got a very good muse release per lddb, at least if you'ld find any Japan release of it acceptable

Yup, I can confirm ghosting issues on the V8000 and have heard of bad ghosting/CLV smear on the 4400. acuzzio told me that someone figured out a fix for the 8000 - perhaps it would apply to the 4300D, but I'm not sure.

The 925 would be a good candidate for an analog tap after the TBC to see if the issue is introduced in the comb filter/NR stages - if you know someone who has an oscilloscope the multiburst screen should be easy to lock into to take a look. If that stage is fine the 515 might be OK, since it doesn't appear to have a comb filter+NR.

So how's the 2950 looking megapixie?

Re: CLD-2950

It's re-belted. I just need to run Video Essentials through it and capture the output for analysis. Unfortunately the end of the year is always crazy for me, so it may be a few weeks before I get enough time in a straight-line to actually do that.

Initial results look like it might be a little more noisy in PAL than the CLD-D925 (About 1.5db), but that could reflect having better high frequency response (there is of course a trade-off there).