Pioneer CLD-99 is great



PKing80887 (pking80887) wrote:
: Wish to purchase a Elite Laser Player with ac3 output,I am replacing a
: pioneer model.704. Any one with information I would be very gratefull.

Doesn't the CLD-704 have an AC3 RF output?

The CLD-704 is a darn fine player and I wouldn't waste my money 
upgrading it unless you were going to get one of the $2000 CLD-99's.
Any other Pioneer Elite's (59 or 79) won't be an upgrade at all!

IMHO the CLD-99 with its glorious 3D comb filter is the best LD player
ever made.  Now here is a scandal, I hear the THX folks think so too. !

Check out the article on the CLD-99 at  http://www.cybertheater.com/
under equipment reviews.

erik olson



Donald S. Bondeson wrote in message
> >Does anyone out there own a Faroudja Laser Disc Player.  I am about to
> >pay the real bucks and want to know if there are any hang-ups with this
> >player.

brodia901 wrote:
> It would be unfair to say that the Foroudja is a rebadged Toshiba, but it
> kinda is.  Foroudja has added a whole bunch of outputs to suit every need,
> and (allegedly) beefed up the video performance with their proprietary

You're confusing the Faroudja LD player with their DVD player.
Both have big hefty chasis, look similar and cost about $5000. 

The Faroudja LD player is basically a Pioneer Elite CLD-99.
The Faroudja DVD player is basically a Toshiba 3006.

Yes, Faroudja tweeked their player a bit and they even had Enlightened
Audio completely redo the audio circuitry in their DVD player, but
who cares?  For that kind of money you better be going digital out anyways.

I've heard the Pioneer CLD-99 is being discontinued and can be picked
up for less than $1500.  It has a built in 3D comb filter and IMO the
finest LD player that was ever produced.  Some may argue the CLD-97 
(also long discontinued) was better.   My advice?  Since laser is composite,
you better have a 3D comb filter somewhere in your chain (LD player, TV,
line doubler, ...).

The Runco THX LD player was basically a Panasonic LX900, also a fine player,
it even had nicer CAV & CLV jog scanning.  I believe Runco did more mods
to their player than Faroudja is doing to its LD player.  I could be
wrong but this is what I get from the specs.

BTW I too believe the Sony S7000 is a better DVD player than the Faroudja.

My opinion?  Save your money, get a Pioneer CLD-99 and a Sony S7000 like me.
Both are fantastic players.  This way you'll be able to buy that be HD player
in a year or so without hesitation.

erik olson



Ron Kalil wrote:
: I recently purchased a Sony TV equipped with a 3D comb filter. To my 
: surprise the owner's manual recommends always using the S-video input when 
: connecting the TV to a video component with an S-video output in order to 
: achieve the best picture. This advice seems to ignore the fact that the 
: monitor's comb filter will more often than not be of higher quality than 
: source component's filter, because few source components are equipped 

: Are the manual and the technician wrong or am I? I had thought that the 
: simple rule was to make use of the comb filter in the source component 
: or the monitor, depending upon which had the better filter, 


Here are the rules I follow:

1) Always use the S-Video connector with equipment that have the
   video data in a color separated (component) state.  
   This will be true for all digital video sources.
   Examples: DVD, video game machines such as Saturn PSX and N64,
             super-VHS decks, DSS, webTV, and standard VHS if possible.
             Standard VHS stores the colors in a separated Y/C format,
             unfortunately most VCRs lack a S-Video connector.

2) Use the S-Video connector if the equipment has a better comb
   filter than the TV.
   Examples:  Pioneer CLD-99 with its 3D comb filter, and some
              high end LD players depending on the TV.

3) Use the composite cable if the 3D comb filter is better in the TV.
   Examples:  Low end LD players, and TV's with 3D filters.

So what real use is a 3D comb filter in the TV then?
For the TV tuner, most VCR's, and most (all but the CLD-99) LD players.

erik olson



Robert McJimsey wrote:
: > Please fill me in on this enhancer.  My guess is its an outboard digiatl 
: > comb filter.  Am I correct?  Anything else other that a comb filter?

: The VP100 is an outboard 2-D digital adaptive comb filter. Farouja adds his
: proprietary color enhancement circuit that ties the Chroma transition to
: the Luma one thus enhancing Chroma resolution. He also adds vertical
: aperture correction (sharpness control) to the common horizontal one. There
: are 2 controls on the front that adjust Sharpness and Chroma/Luma delay. I
: highly recommend the piece.

The Faroudja marketing guy I talked to explained it just like you said.
It is a digital comb filter that is slightly better than a 3 line digital
comb filter and not quite as good as a 3D adaptive comb filter plus it has
some enhancing circuitry of questionable value.

What do you use this for?  Converting your composite video into S-Video.
Period.  You would use this between your VCR, LD player and your TV. 
The VCR quality really isn't worth helping so the main use is with your
laser disc player.  This device is pointless to use with DVD or DSS since
the chroma and lumas are already seperated.

So if you already have a high end LD player like a CLD704 or a Panasonic LX900
which have digital 3 line comb filters then what can you expect from the
VP100?  From the demo I saw of the comb filter in their line quadrupler,
which I believe is the same patented hybrid that is in the VP100, it does
almost as good of a job as the 3D comb filter in my CLD-99.  Note that if
the only real use for the VP100 is with a LD player then the CLD-99 can be
had for about $1800, a mere $1000 more which gives you a lot of other
benefits.

The kicker is Faroudja's $5500 laser disc player is basically a repackaged
Pioneer Elite CLD-99 with its 3D comb filter.  This means to me that this
is an admission that the 3D adaptive comb filter in the CLD-99 is superior
to Faroudja's patented hybrid 2D comb filter!  Well, for $5500 it better be!

erik olson



Christy wrote:
>> >When I ran the Snell and Wilcox zone plate and saw almost all of the dot
>> >crawl/chroma bursting eliminated I stared at it in disbelief.  It looked
>> >almost like DVD.  The parts that normally generated wildly dancing
>> >rainbow effects had just a moire pattern with virtually no chroma burst.

Well I'm glad you discovered the CLD99, like I said months ago on my page
of LD's that are superior to the DVD at:

[deleted]

Many people gave me a hard time saying I must be crazy claiming that LD
looks almost as good as DVD.   Well the difference a CLD99 can make
is dramatic isn't it?  DVD really shines with the Snell and Wilcox
plate, but the CLD99 does make it look good.


> I've always known that the machine is important.  What surprises me
> however is that the CLD 99 solves problems that even a Faroudja LD player
> doesn't solve.  I'll surely post my results once I see them.

What do you mean?   The Faroudja LD player is basically a re-packaged CLD99.
Faroudja bought the chasis and electronics from Pioneer.


> Based on my  video essentials tests I am estimating that I'll improve my
> LD quality from 60-70% as good (on 4:3 transfers) to 80-90% as good.

Comparing my CLD99 with my Sony S7000, like I said months ago, the extra
resolution isn't that big of a deal, nor is the component nature of DVD
thanks to the 3D comb filter in the CLD99, but the total lack of video noise
on DVD is the most important improvement, especially with dark films.

erik olson


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