First time capturing Laserdisc video - Please help me?

Hello everyone,

I am planning on capturing a few titles from laserdisc to include in special edition Blu Rays I am creating.  I have never attempted this before and I would appreciate some help from experts on these forums.

1.  I need to buy the equipment I need.  First off is a laserdisc player.  I really don't want to spend more than I have to.  What is your opinion on Pioneer LD-V8000?  It can be had quite cheaply.

I am looking for the best quality video.  But I would prefer not to spend much more than $100.  I could stretch to $200 or so but I'm not thinking of spending anywhere close to the amount the high end Pioneer players are going for ($400 and up).

2.  Do I need a DVD Recorder or some other equipment with a high end comb filter?  Which would you recommend?

3.  I am thinking of capturing to my hard drive in a lossless format like Huffyuv.  Then I plan on editing it, filtering (if necessary) then finally encoding it with MainConcept Reference.  Since I am planning to include the video as a special feature on a Blu Ray title I am making, I was thinking of of encoding it in 1080p x264 at a high bitrate to preserve the most detail possible.  I do want to crop the top and bottom to create a genuine widescreen anamorphic presentation of the title.

Given all this, what hardware do you recommend?  Any suggestions you could give me regarding filtering and methods to capture at the highest possible quality?

Thanks.

The '8000 doesn't have S/PDIF output, though.  And, the older the player, the higher the risk that rubber belts and things have turned to goo.

For what it's worth, some Hitachi laserdisc players are rebadged Pioneers.  Some of those use the CXD2500 digital audio chip which has an S/PDIF output option, and the boards even have unpopulated locations for a Toslink transmitter.  Add a couple of jumpers, cut a hole in the back panel, and wire up a Toslink transmitter salvaged from a junked DVD player.  My Hitachi now has optical and RCA outputs.

The LD-V8000 uses a Sony chip which does not have an S/PDIF output pin; it may be possible to swap it for a similar chip that does.  Or, add a board which translates the available digital audio signals into S/PDIF.  There's discussion of this at Diyaudio.com  (If someone reading this happens to have a scrap LD-V8000, I'd be interested in getting the audio board out of it to experiment with.  PM or email me.)

That's good to know... that's the chip I planned to use.

S/PDIF out seems to be one of the rarest features; the only player I've actually touched that had it was a broken Sony I got for free.  There was another Hitachi at a local pawn shop, but I resisted buying it because of the difficulty of getting it home by bicycle.  (I think it was a VIP-RX10; mine is the VIP-RX8EX.)