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PIONEER CLD-D925
Laserdisc Player
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Due to the release of the DVD system in 1998, there are an increasing number of Laserdisc players becoming available either second-hand or Ex-Demo from dealers. The price of the software for such machines is also starting to drop in price to match the DVD titles. There are many titles available for Laserdisc and as such, it represents good value for a high quality alternative to the many VHS VCR's.
I picked my machine up ex-demo from a local dealer and paid about one quarter of the original asking price of eight hundred pounds and also received two-hundred pounds worth of software to use with it.
I am particularly impressed with the picture quality from it compared to normal VHS video equipment. I haven't yet seen any other Laserdisc equipment at the local dealer's showrooms so I can't make any direct comparisons but I'm suitably impressed.
This is the second laserdisc player that I have owned. My first one the CLD-s315 burnt out it's main laser assembly after I accidentally left it in pause mode for three days. Be aware that spare parts for LD players are now getting scarce, although there are still plenty of players cropping up in the classified from time to time.
The CLD-D925 was launched in June 1996 as a replacement for the previous high end machine, the CLD-2950. The CLD-D925 continues almost all the features of the CLD-2950 and for the first time ever on a dual standard machine adds a field store to allow freeze frame and slow motion on CLV (Long Play) discs. This feature, which has been available on high end NTSC LaserDisc players since the late 1980s finally means that the dual standard machines are no longer second-grade citizens to their NTSC counterparts. The CLD-D925 also shares with the revamped versions of the lower end players the addition of an Dolby AC-3 output. The UK list price is UK £799.
The CLD-D925 showing its loading tray.
Features
SystemAudio Features
- Dual System (PAL / NTSC)
- 3-Disc Compatibility (CD, CDV, LD)
- Both-Side Play (LD)
Video Features
- 1-Bit DLC with Pulseflow D/A Converter
- Analogue Sound Reproduction (PAL / NTSC)
Conveniences
- Horizontal Resolution 440 / 425 lines
- DVP (Digital Video Processing) System
- High-Quality Circuits (3-Line Digital Comb Filter & Noise Reduction)
- 3-LineDigital Comb Filter
- Digital Field Memory
Terminals
- Quick Turn
- Repeat Mode 7
- Programm Play (Chapter / Track 24 Steps)
- Multi-Speed Play (Forward / Reverse) (CAV / CLV / CDV)
- Still / Step Play (Forward / Reverse) (CAV / CLV / CDV)
- Random Play
- Intro / Hi-Lite Scan
- Multilingual On-Screen Display
- SR (System Remote) Control Unit
- Display Off (FL & On-Screen Display
- Independent CD Tray
- Last Memory Review mode
- S-Video Input 1
- Dolby Digital RF Out (AC-3)
- In / Out Terminal for SR (System Remote) Controle
- Video Output 1
- Audio Output 1
- SCART Euro-Connector 2
- Digital Output Optical
Power Requirements 220 - 240 V, 50 - 60Hz Power Consumption 51W Dimensions (W x H x D) 420 x 132 x 407 mm Weight 6.8 kg
The following review is from issue 40 of HomeEntertainment magazine.
Borrowed from the following URL http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/archive/reviews/200_printrev.html
Why's It Here? Regular readers will know that Dolby Digital AC-3 is the surround sound format of the future, that HE is right on its tail and that AC-3 is currently only available on imported LaserDisc NTSC software. You may also know that the Pioneer LaserDisc Corporation Europe (LDCE) has exclusive rights to distribute various PAL titles in the UK, while campaigning to block the parallel importation of NTSC material.
Fortunately, the Pioneer Electronic Corporation is happier to service the consumer than support the ambitions of its software organisation - hence the introduction of its £800 CLD-D925, a dual-standard (PAL/NTSC) LD player with an integral AC-3 RF output. This flexible player is modelled on the cheaper CLD-D515 (HE27), with its faster Epsilon-turn mechanism to facilitate both-sides of play. However, it also features all the advantages of the heftier CLD-2950 (HE15), including double Scart sockets and an S-Type video output.
Any Unique Features? The big one is obviously its AC-3 RF output. Also rather nifty is a new Digital Field Memory, which will store consecutive video frames in a buffer, bringing trick-play features like freeze-frame, slow-motion and high-speed scanning to both CAV and CLV software.
Digital Video Processing (DVP) brings various benefits. Fast scanning is now significantly smoother, as frame sequences are flashed up without rolling; hitting the pause key now leaves you with a frozen scene rather than a blue screen, and, while the E-turn mechanism is doing its thing, you get to view the last frame from side A while side B is swiftly brought into line. Whatever next?
How Does It Perform? As long-term fans of Pioneer's CLD-2950, we were eager to pitch it against this new pretender, a comparison that wasn't disappointing. For starters, Pioneer seems to have improved its transcoding of NTSC software for viewing on PAL TVs, so any slight increase in noise (particularly on reds) and loss of contrast in very dark scenes that occurs with its pseudo-PAL output is less noticeable. So much so, in fact, that the quality of software itself could become a bigger issue. Take Pioneer's (PLDC) new PAL release of Star Trek's Unification as an example. In practice, the flattened contrast of this film (from NTSC stock), the loss of richness to bright reds and blues, together with a faint brown 'haze' which permeates many scenes are all part-and-parcel of what is, as far as the CLD-D925 is concerned, a standard PAL format disc. The point is, the perceived loss of quality here is more substantial than that between, say, PAL and NTSC copies of Apollo 13, with the CLD-D925 transcoding the latter.
This wonderful film also exposes the slightly freer, gentler but very 'easy-sounding' audio performance of the new player. There's little or no sense of strain and certainly no harshness or vocal sibilance to mar a long sitting. Listening to the Saturn separating one stage from the next certainly put a rocket up the subwoofer - its tremendous bass executed with great control to prevent any blurring of coincidental dialogue. And AC-3 is little short of stunning. Then again, We've already nailed our colours to this particular digital mast.
With the best PAL-system software, the CLD-D925's picture quality is exceptionally fine. Its combination of bright, pure-looking colours, accurate registration (freedom from dot-crawl and moire-like distortions), plus a smooth transition across the greyscale all help to yield images that bubble with a life and depth, which leaves the very best of VHS looking both deadpan and bleary.
Our Verdict On first acquaintance, Pioneer's CLD-D925 looks like a cheaper relative of the chunky CLD-2950. Lightweight it may be, but the added sophistication of its quiet mechanism, superb video and audio performance and handy Digital Field Memory soon shine through.
All this, plus a built-in RF output to service your upgrade to AC-3, fully justifies its £800 ticket - it's the slickest front-end yet for the very best home-cinema systems.
The following review is from HomeCinemaChoice magazine.
Borrowed from the following URL
http://home.clara.net/laserdisc/laserdisc_archive/pioneer/pioneer_cld-d925/cld-d925.htm
Since Its debut in 1994, Pioneer's CLD-2950 has been widely regarded as perhaps the best PAL/NTSC laser disc player available. For £700 it offered superlative picture quality and access to the vast resources of the American NTSC laser disc catalogue.
But for some that still isn't enough. Exotic features such as a digital frame store, grabbing still images even from CLV encoded discs, and AC-3 Dolby Digital sound have long adorned laser disc players in America and Japan, but here we've had to make do with 'grey' imports with such facilities - like the Pioneer Elite CLD-99 - which might well set you back more than £1,500.
Now Pioneer UK has gotten into the act with a new flagship laser disc player, the CLD-D925. Although intrinsically a budget model in terms of construction when compared to the US Elite, it offers several eagerly-awaited features, including the aforementioned digital frame store, allowing frame-by-frame playback of CLV discs, and AC-3 audio from NTSC discs. And at just £800, the 925 leaves you with money in the bank to buy the AC-3 amplifier you will also need to make the most of your new toy.
Pioneer's new baby is considerably smaller than its illustrious predecessor. At just 132mm high it is trim and attractive. The front fascia is dominated by numerous glowing buttons - laser disc and compact disc selection buttons in green, disc side indicators in orange and three smaller green buttons for the Quick Turn mechanism, the HQ circuit and the Display Off control. If you don't like lights the 925 is not for you; the Display Off button merely disables the LED display panel — those other lights go right on twinkling.
Other front-panel controls include System (for choosing between PAL and NTSC), Language (for onscreen displays), manual search buttons, play controls and a power switch. The large disc tray sits atop the LED panel and includes the usual dedicated CD compartment.
Around the back are twin Scart sockets, video and stereo audio phono outputs, the all-important AC-3 output and an S-Video output. There is also an optical digital output (but no coax digital out).
The 925 offers a multitude of playback features to enhance your viewing experience, the most welcome being the digital frame store. This feature brings CLV discs in line with the rarer CAV ones, allowing frame-by-frame analysis of your favourite scenes without needing to have the movie spread over three discs. It also means you no longer have to listen to your big-headed mate boasting about his CAV-encoded Star Wars trilogy. Buy the films for a third of the price and laugh in his face.
As well as the freeze frame, playback speed can be one thirtieth, one eighth, half and twice normal speed. The still frame performance isn't as good as that from a CAV disc, but it's a great facility to have.
A Last Memory function allows you to stop the disc and start it again at a point just before where you left off- handy for when you have to answer the phone or call your mate to rub it in about the Star Wars discs again. You can also search for a desired scene using the jog-shuttle dial on the remote control. This allows scan playback at up to 30x normal speed. It is also possible to input a time or chapter number and start playback from there.
When you find a bit you really like you can utilise the A-B Repeat mode, in which you specify a start and stop point and the 925 happily plays back the sequence over and over again until you see fit to let it stop. The 925 can also repeatedly play back a single side or the entire film.
If you really want to, you can play a disc back in random order. This feature is best applied to CDs, but it could make for a surreal viewing of a movie.
Don't bother looking for a headphone socket though. The player hasn't got one.
There's no doubt the 925 is equipped to mix it with the big boys. But how does it perform in the acid test? To provide the ultimate challenge, we paired the 925 up with Yamaha's stunning, £1,700 DSP-A3090 AC-3 amplifier and fed it a pristine pressing of Dead Presidents, an AC-3 NTSC import disc that has 'the year's best soundtrack,' according to the New York Daily News.
The 925 whirred into life and the lights were dimmed. What followed can only be described as breathtaking. As dollar bills burned in the opening credits and the theme music pounded out, it was clear that this machine will excite cinephiles in a way no other PAL/NTSC model has been able to before.
The picture reproduction is, by and large, immaculate. While the player is built upon the guts of the existing CLD-515, it employs entirely new video electronics. One curious aspect is the rather tortuous route the video processing goes through to get to both the composite and the S-Video outputs (all discs come in composite video flavour). The composite signal retrieved from disc enters the digital domain, goes through the frame-store stage, gets filtered into RGB, and is then converted into separate luma and chroma for the S-Video output. The composite video output is simply the separated chroma and luma of the S-Video output combined.
Thankfully, however, this processing hasn't apparently introduced any weird artefacts. The player is able to retrieve an astonishingly high level of detail. Lab tests reveal signal attenuation (strength) at 2MHz of-3.69dB. At the 4MHz frequency, response was tagged at -4.51dB - both good figures. Subjective resolution off our resident test disc was approx. 350 lines - better than figures achieved from the CLD-515, for example. Colour playback is very good, certainly better than the CLD-515.
The audio performance is a wow. The sound quality of the AC-3 audition disc made its Pro-Logic matrixed alternative seem flat.
This impression was confirmed when switching between AC-3 and Pro-Logic modes. The first scene of Dead Presidents features a dog barking in the rear sound-stage. In Pro-Logic it was impossible to locate where the sound was coming from, but in AC-3 it was clearly coming from behind my left shoulder.
During a graduation party scene, AC-3 turned the wall of conversation in the rear effects speakers into a localisable collection of clearly defined voices. It added hugely to the believability and atmosphere of the scene.
But not every film has an AC-3 soundtrack. In fact, only a limited selection do - about 100 at the last count - but most new movies are made in Dolby Digital Surround and the number of NTSC discs carrying an AC-3 soundtrack will steadily increase.
Even so, it would be stupid to immediately discount every non-AC-3 disc, because that would discount the entire PAL catalogue. AC-3 will not appear on PAL discs because the format is incompatible with the Dolby Digital spec.
We therefore also tested the 925 with new PAL titles Predator and Waterworld, which each highlighted different aspects of the deck's capabilities.
Predator showcased some stunning audio ability. There is a scene where a soldier takes a drink from a cut vine in a rainforest. As he drinks, there is a fluttering of wings from the left speaker and he looks towards it. It is a wonderful moment of sonic imaging and demonstrates perfectly how accurately steered sound can enhance a film.
Waterworld, meanwhile, boasts fabulous picture quality. Kevin Costner skims over an ocean that looks real enough to dive into, and the 925's performance is at least the equal of the 2950.
Over to more mundane matters, the side-turn mechanism takes about eight seconds to change sides and is quicker when the Quick Turn feature is engaged, in which mode the 925 saves time by not checking how many chapters are on the side being accessed.
So after all this praise, is there anything worth moaning about? Well, maybe, if you're picky. The remote control could benefit from back-lighting to make it easier to use in the dark, and it really would be preferable to be able to turn off those distracting front panel lights. Other than that, and the fact that the HQ circuit possibly had a slightly detrimental effect on picture quality, it seems churlish to fault this machine.
Even if you have no intention of importing AC-3 discs from the States and have no desire to part with £1,700 for an AC-3 amplifier, the digital frame store may still persuade you to consider this supremely delicious model. If, on the other hand, you import two or three discs a month and already have the Yamaha DSP-A3090 tucked away in your hi-fi rack, or if you haven't yet bought a laser disc player and are trying to make up your mind which to go for, there really isn't any question.
Your mind has just been made up for you.
David Smith, Home Cinema Choice, September 1996
Mick Evans 1999-2000
Last updated 2 July 2000
e-mail [email protected]
