I think this topic will be interesting for many...
I decided to do some capture tests (see my previous thread) but before them, I compared different players and different laserdisc edition.
Hardware used:
Pioneer CLD-D925 PAL/NTSC LD player
Pioneer CLD-2950 PAL/NTSC LD player
Pioneer LD-V4300D PAL/NTSC LD player
Pioneer DVL-909 PAL/NTSC LD player / PAL only DVD player
Pioneer CLD-600 PAL LD player
Pioneer DVR-320S DVD recorder (with 3D Y/C comb filter)
SAA733x based capture card in a Sony VGX-XL201 PC Core 2 Duo E6300
Notes: unless stated, the captures were not color corrected.
Let's start:
* choose which laserdisc platter to compare *
All are PAL OUT THX (no DVNR master) EXCEPT the "pyramid" edition that is not THX.
As you can see, the Pyramid french edition is the worst - older than the other, and no THX benefits. Has completely different colors, less details and cropped image. Discarded immediately.
The german edition seems to have a little more definition than the french one. The spanish shows a little less definition. So I choose to test the spanish.
Why I didn't choose the german one? Because it's too easy to test players with the best image, and I wanted to see which player shows the best with the non-top discs...
* test comparison one - using the spanish LD *
The first picture is taken from the Pioneer CLD-600 composite out passed through the Pioneer DVR-320S - note the difference VS the second picture, direct composite output?
Part of the merit is certainly of the 3D Y/C comb filter (but I presume it works only with NTSC video, and in PAL it *may* be a 4 or 5 lines 2D comb filter), but quite surely the second picture suffer from a DShow capture, instead of a higher quality direct capture, because DScaler don't "see" the composite in - note also the different image size. From now on, I'll use only the S-Video input of my capture card.
The third picture is from the DVL-909. To me, face colors are better and also the definition seems a little more better than the fourth picture, taken from the CLD-2950; by the way, the last picture shows a better white.
* test comparison two - using the spanish LD *
The first picture is from the Pioneer LD-V4300D routed through the DVR-320S, just because the first has not an S-Video out.
The second picture is from the same capture, but after some very basic Avisynth scripts, to correct color and cancel some noise. It seems it has better colors now.
The third picture is from the composite output of the CLD-D925 routed through the DVR-320S. It seems the blacks are "blacker" but the details are quite the same of the first picture.
The last picture is from S-Video output of the CLD-D925. Colors are less vibrant, but it looks like there are fewer artifacts than the previous picture.
Here you are the results.
What is the best picture?
Waiting for your comments,
Thai Panther