RU.08,
the HLD-X9 will ABSOLUTELY blow away any PAL laserdisc player!!!
By the way, I have not any LD based on a smear-free master, based on what Moth3r replied some posts before... or not?!?
So I decided to find the truth, because, as Mulder says, "the truth is out there"... and finally I found this thread.
Reassuming all, it *SEEMS* there is a smear-free (so, AFAIK, DVNR-free too) master that is not "shrinking"... ANH LD with cat.#1130-85.
Now, it happens that my french PAL LD has cat.#113037... maybe it's just a coincidence, but... check the following comparisons (all the first three images are just taken from the former thread).
Comparison 1: Tantive corridor burn mark
It seems that my capture has better blacks but lack of details and yellowish white.
(Note: this time I used the Pioneer LD-V4300D with a brand new gold-plated "fat" BNC cable with RCA plug, but it seems there is no quality improvements: on the contrary, the resolution seems lower, but it may be the re-adjusted Pioneer DVR-320S comb filter settings where the LD-V4300D is passed through - needs further investigations)
Comparison 2: Two-eyed VS Four-eyed stormtrooper
One of the first test captures done. The colors are similar to JSC. Note that is hald stormtrooper on the left, and not only his shadow!
Comparison 3: Sandspeeder over dude's legs
No color correction between my two captures; to my eyes, the spanishLD capture's sky has the best color of the lot.
Then, to me, the PAL LD master is the same of the smear-free edition, that is, if I'm not wrong, the Special Widescreen Edition (SWE).
Now, I'm sure Moth3r is more expert than me about these things, because he said the PAL master is NOT DVNR free, but in the linked thread he's not talked about this issue...
At the end, is the PAL master DVNR-free or not? If yes, then the SWE should be the same, and so not smear-free, as it seems they have the same master...
I'm lost now... please save me ;-)
Waiting for your comments!