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 Post subject: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV?
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 03:02 
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So we all know that composite gives the worst image, is it enough for you or do you use a different type of cable to get the best picture out of your LD player?

I know people in Europe have the better SCART cable (RGB?) but I don't think any modern TV's have SCART input. Do you use SCART cables that have a component, S-Video, or HDMI on the other end? Or do you use a converter box? Do you use an upscaler/line-doubler or you think it takes out the authentic "LaserDisc look"?
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 04:14 
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LDs are composite video on a disc so composite is the worst but also the best because that’s all there is.

Some players have very fancy electronics in them that can produce an s-video output. Sometimes that looks better, usually not if you have a good TV made after the LD player was. It’s close on some.

SCART is not an inherently RGB cable system. It can handle RGB but few things actually used it since no prerecorded format could output it, it’s mainly for early computers and video games up until the PS2 when component YPbPr took over. Most stuff that attached by SCART, like VCRs, only used composite, sometimes s-video.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 04:52 
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I have a Pioneer CLD-D750 player.
My main tv for most things is a cheap 43" 1080p LED LCD from a few years back, but I also have a couple of other tv's...a much older cheap 24" 1080p LCD and finally a 32" Sony Trinitron crt 4:3 that is 480i/576i (so not HD).

The D750 has composite and s-video output.

43" LCD doesn't have s-video input and composite from the D750 doesn't look great imo. Another telltale sign of this tv not liking legacy type inputs (imo) is that it can be odd about composite from old game consoles. N64 works ok but doesn't look great, it doesn't like NES and Super Famicom.

24" LCD doesn't have s-video input but composite from the D750 looks better than the above display. N64, NES and Super Famicom all look ok on this tv.

32" Trinitron; I've tried both composite and s-video from the D750, either way it looks better than either LCD display but I can't see a massive difference between the two input choices. Super Famicom using s-video looks really good imo, other old game consoles also look nice on this tv via composite.


So if you don't want to spend decent money on a video processor and also don't want a crt tv (space or whatever reason), an older LCD might be an option especially as you can get fairly high end units for next to nothing now. The older units can have a lot of inputs, over here I see quite a few of them with scart ports (which has disappeared on new displays completely afaik) but I guess you wouldn't see that in NA.

Plasma is another thing but those can be heavy.
Also, there's a thread about DVD recorders with comb filters which might be another option.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 06:41 
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SVHS and composite, I switch sources according to disc.
SVHS is inherently superior, but discs mastered with DNR produce image lag which will produce ghosting (trails) when compounded with lag from another source such as video processing, and can in some cases produce it on its own e.g. Grand Canyon.
  
 
 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 07:49 
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Quality of the composite cable i have noticed to be quite important.
I used for awhile cables i think was from a PS1 and brought some fatties from a local A/V installation shop.
Was much less 'noisy'
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 07:57 
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Some players like R7G, CLD-99, X-0 that have the most advanced comb filters will produce a better image on period displays (high end CRTs from 1995, for example). However even with more high end players composite may still look better with certain newer displays and processors.

Some players have totally garbage comb filters, medium priced home decks, some industrials. On these players I can't see any use for the s-video unless you were using some sort of pro gear that only handled Y/C. On almost any TV that isn't broken the composite will look better.

Even with older displays, you never know for sure until you try it. I have a XBR960 which is, more or less, as high end as any consumer CRT ever was and a CLD-99 which has the best comb filter in LD and frankly I'd say its a toss up between the two. Motion is I think slightly better on the composite but color is for sure better on the s-video.

Really though its kind of over for s-video and has been for ages. Nothing new has it. It doesn't hurt either though because the SD stages in the newest TVs seem to be amazing again. I think they must be listening. Either that or they just developed a super cheap way to implement quality SD, like one chip to rule them all, kind of like how all the new CD players all operate at SACD rates. Either way my 2017 4K Bravia makes LD look terrific. The color in particular is just amazing and it does this with composite because of course it has no s-video input.

There are many aftermarket scalers that can cook the video all sorts of ways and many other people here can chime in with that info. There's some $4000 Lumajiggy thing that people say is awesome. I avoid processors and just keep a lot of old junk around so I can always match display technology/era to any source (VGA CRT, HD wide CRT, LCD, 4K LCD, 27" SD CRT, etc).

The best value in video processing that I've personally witnessed is my JVC DR-MV150B VHS/DVD combo recorder. Never underestimate boring old JVC! In addition to being a really handy thing to have around for sharing videos and stuff the video processing is extremely good. It also has no s-video input but that doesn't seem to hold it back. It outputs HDMI so the pass-through actually looks even better than the DVD recordings it makes which are also pretty great.

But before you buy anything, try to calibrate your display. You most likely need to turn the brightness and contrast waaaaay down and the sharpness needs to be zero. Now turn all the lights off like it was back in the Laserdisc days and check it out. LD can be amazing but it will look like crap if its competing with the sun or all the new LED lighting in your house. LD has a terrible SNR so boosting the gain will make it seem worse. You may be satisfied with what you have if you get your settings right, or maybe you do need to buy some stuff.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 08:34 
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Well composite is the best output for LD, I can assure you that there are 0 differences between SCART and composite except that you might have some kind of interference using scart if you have a poor cable with no shielding.
And as someone already said, the same goes for composite, if you have a cheap and thin cable, the picture will have much more noise than if you were using a thicker and better cable.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 09:45 
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That was my experience - a nicely built composite with good shielding from Blue Jeans Cable directly into my 4K UHDTV gave a noticeable boost to PQ. Conversely, when I ran composite through my AVR, which converted the signal to HDMI and then to the TV, there was a noticeable decrease in quality. I could only reach the conclusion that the video processing in my (relatively cheap) TV was better than my (mid-priced) receiver. . . of course, YMMV.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 13:24 
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S-video out from my x9 into my 40x3500 sony bravia is less noisy than with composite in. There may be some variables that need adjusting, like cable length and quality etc. But for my eyes s-video gives a cleaner image. That's on the normal setting for the comb filter and with all internal dnr settings switched off.

I bought a crystallio 2 recently and even through that the composite signal is a lot noiser compared to s-video directly into the TV. It was a bit disappointing really. I was going to make a thread about it. Still a lot to mess about with though.

Laserdisc directly into a CRT with either connection has a completely different look than through an LCD. It pops more. The practicalities of having a crt in this day and age however is a bit limiting.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 23:20 
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I use the lightning port on my LD player for 6K.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 07 Feb 2020, 23:30 
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substance wrote:
I use the lightning port on my LD player for 6K.


Hilarious...

SVideo to my Yamaha receiver which upscales and connects to my Sony Bravia 55" via HDMI.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 00:04 
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odotb3 wrote:
The practicalities of having a crt in this day and age however is a bit limiting.


I have an 88 kg Sony 36" wide CRT. I've moved four times with it, once interstate.

What you do is: you pay movers and they pick it up and put it on their truck. Then they deliver it to your new place. If I want to move it at my place I ask a friend to help.

I'm not sure why that seems so difficult to many people since most people don't move as much as I do?
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 00:18 
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BNC-to-RCA cable since the Runco LJR-II (and I for the matter) only has BNC and S-Video outputs.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 00:22 
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ryosaeba84 wrote:
Well composite is the best output for LD, I can assure you that there are 0 differences between SCART and composite except that you might have some kind of interference using scart if you have a poor cable with no shielding.
And as someone already said, the same goes for composite, if you have a cheap and thin cable, the picture will have much more noise than if you were using a thicker and better cable.


Well, composite video is a signal standard and SCART is really a variable standard for an everything-cable. Sorta apples and oranges. It can transfer composite, RF, component, s-video, mono audio, stereo audio, digital audio, RGB, and a +5V signal for switching purposes. You can’t do all of those at once but you can do any combination of them until you run out of wires. It also daisy chains. It was HDMI for the 80s. (I’m sure you know all this Ryo, I’m just mentioning for anyone else.)

However the cables are pretty much all the same so it’s up to the sending and receiving systems to sort out what’s actually there. With an LD player there will just be composite, stereo audio, and the +5. There may be a SCART equipped LD player that sends Y/C but I don’t know.

In end end you really wouldn’t even want to use it, mostly because “quality SCART cable” is an oxymoron from what I’ve seen. All those signals being wrapped together doesn’t help. The connectors and often the sockets are all garbage. With a standard RCA jack you’ll have way better cable selection. Also you don’t have the audio trapped in the SCART cable.

SCART, could have been the world standard if it were better implemented and people outside of Western Europe knew what it was. Sadly it kinda just turfed out.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 09:45 
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forper wrote:
odotb3 wrote:
The practicalities of having a crt in this day and age however is a bit limiting.


I have an 88 kg Sony 36" wide CRT. I've moved four times with it, once interstate.

What you do is: you pay movers and they pick it up and put it on their truck. Then they deliver it to your new place. If I want to move it at my place I ask a friend to help.

I'm not sure why that seems so difficult to many people since most people don't move as much as I do?


To be fair it takes two to move my 40" sony LCD. I meant more in terms of the fact that there aren't many modern devices you could use with a crt. I'm pretty sure you couldn't connect a ps4 to a crt without having to jump through hoops. A lot of modern digital devices can look terrible on a crt. Cheap set top boxes designed for digital TVs for example.

For me a crt would only be a dedicated display for my laserdiscs and retro video games.. not for general use. Which isn't too practical in a one bed flat. :lol:
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 12:11 
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We used to have a 50' CRT in the living-room growing up, that thing survived at-least 5 cross state moves and was built like a tank. At one point I was given the thing for my bedroom while in highschool, and I just about died trying to bring it upstairs solo.

Needless to say, the jump to flat-screens has been nice. I do have a small CRT with a built in VHS player that I use for some NES light-gun action, but that thing only weighs twenty odd pounds.

Anyway to be back on topic, I use composite for my LD player when it's hooked up to the TV, and S-Video when I'm capturing to my PC.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 12:52 
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odotb3 wrote:
forper wrote:
odotb3 wrote:
The practicalities of having a crt in this day and age however is a bit limiting.


I have an 88 kg Sony 36" wide CRT. I've moved four times with it, once interstate.

What you do is: you pay movers and they pick it up and put it on their truck. Then they deliver it to your new place. If I want to move it at my place I ask a friend to help.

I'm not sure why that seems so difficult to many people since most people don't move as much as I do?


To be fair it takes two to move my 40" sony LCD. I meant more in terms of the fact that there aren't many modern devices you could use with a crt. I'm pretty sure you couldn't connect a ps4 to a crt without having to jump through hoops. A lot of modern digital devices can look terrible on a crt. Cheap set top boxes designed for digital TVs for example.

For me a crt would only be a dedicated display for my laserdiscs and retro video games.. not for general use. Which isn't too practical in a one bed flat. :lol:


Okay, I get you. Sometimes I forget other people have modern media. The newest media I have is DVD and it looks great on CRT.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 13:06 
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Thanks everyone. Fans of videogames have found many ways to push better graphics from their older systems so much so making N64 produce some sort of RGB HD signal via HDMI by modding, while others have used upscalers specifically built to make CRT era video games look decent on modern HD displays. Some use different cables to get a better picture like VGA with the Dreamcast and component with the Nintendo Wii.

I thought the same could be done for VHS and LD players (I heard upscalers work good with VHS). Seems everyone here agrees RCA is the best picture possible to be output from an LD player.

signofzeta wrote:
Either way my 2017 4K Bravia makes LD look terrific. The color in particular is just amazing and it does this with composite because of course it has no s-video input.


This is out of topic but is there a reason you went with Sony brand tv? I always believed Samsung is better since Samsung is the big display manufacturer and Sony is probably just slapping their brand on Samsung produced TVs. Someone told me that Sony loads them with their own software that makes the picture look better and it specifically upscales SD the best. What I can say is that I have a Sony BD player that makes DVDs look as good as Blurays on a Samsung TV. I tried a Samsung BD player connected to LG TV and the DVD picture seriously looks bad. Its something similar to blocky avi video from mid-90s played on a computer.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 14:16 
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I always favoured Sony over Samsung. Sony being a Japanese brand compared to Samsung being made in South Korea. Nothing wrong with south Korean products at all but the Japanese have always been known for producing high quality electronics.
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 Post subject: Re: Which cable do you use to hook your LD player to your TV
PostPosted: 08 Feb 2020, 14:56 
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PS4 into an HD CRT does just work, but it's not optimal and there is no point. PS3 being mostly a 720p console looks great though.
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