Hello,
I received my first LD player, a CLD-990. It was given to me for free but the previous owner said it didn't work, so I hoped for a simple fix like a belt or something. To my surprise, it actually seems to work OK. I have been able to play both CAV and CLV discs all the way through without any drops/skips.
That said, given that it may have previously not been working, it doesn't seem to be performing 100% perfectly. The picture quality is very poor. Now obviously since this is my first player I don't know exactly what to expect, and I know it's just composite video, but I am fairly sure that it's supposed to look better than this. It is very noisy, almost VHS-like. The video always stays in sync correctly, but solid colors (especially brighter ones) show very obvious noise, and slightly lighter/darker horizontal lines run throughout the image. It's watchable but doesn't look particularly good, even using a contemporary CRT. I have linked a short clip below, captured via a rather old capture card (so pardon the blurriness/frame rate), showing the Image Entertainment intro from The Mind's Eye [ID8530MM]. This is a CAV disc and seems to be in good condition. The same distortion is present in CLV discs, but I understand that its presence in CAV discs (or at least to this level) means that it is not traditional "crosstalk". It was previously also showing this noise in solid black screens (kind of appearing as rainbow noise), but after cleaning the laser that went away. However, the rest of the noise is still present.
https://imgur.com/ota44w4
*Also on a side note, the CD playback could have issues. While it does play CDs, it seems to take a lot longer than I would expect to read up the table of contests and start playing (probably about 2-3x as long as it takes to identify an LD). The audio also seems to clip at times (does NOT do this when playing LDs). Not sure if it's just bad design of the CD playback on the CLD-990, disc problems, or an actual player issue. Maybe caused by a similar issue to whatever is causing the video quality issues?
Even though this is a very low end player (no dual side play, no AC3, etc) I think it's still worth trying to fix up if possible since it is already in a functional state. There's no reason to have one less working player in the world, plus who knows how long it'll be until I find a higher end player.
I already do work on vintage computers and the like so I do have electronics experience and some equipment - no scope yet but this is as good a reason as any to get one.However, not sure what direction I would want to take on repairs. Is this something that can be fixed through adjustments, or does some part need replaced, or maybe bad caps? There also seems to be no service manual for this model available online except for some sketchy sites that want me to pay some stupid amount to get a PDF. I don't trust those sites to actually give me a legitimate file. Is there another model that uses the same PCB/assembly that might have an available service manual or does someone have a scan they can provide? Even with equipment I'm not sure how far I would get without a manual, unless there are some general tips that apply to all players. Any help, advice, or info would be appreciated as I start my Laserdisc adventure.