Basis of the project is a Hi-vision (muse) laserdisc player, Sony C2ex. Reason for using it instead of a Pioneer X0 is modability and potential to beat the X0 on Ntsc material. Both are LD only, have a shorter wavelength laser than the non Muse players and direct Bnc composite video output.
My intention is to capture the original trilogy on laserdisc in the best possible quality. People wanted detailed info about what i have done and doing to it (mostly tech/modding stuff for those interested). First of all i got two players from Japan, the C2ex and one broken Mdp 999 (Both Japan only high end) 999 is 30kg overbuilt. In the design of the merged player i have made almost no compromises, Muse (hi-vision) playback has been removed permanently. Some sections of the motherboard have been desoldered in order to keep the amount of active components to a minimum to further reduce fine “mosquito” noise. The 25 pound video processor from Runco has got the same treatment, now its no longer a scaler but only 5xBnc C-video input and 1xS-video output (it had 32 more connectors before), the reason for putting it in the loop is because of its very high grade design, broadcast quality Time base correction and adaptive 3D comb filter. Back to the laserdisc player, the chassis from the Mdp 999 is very sturdy and will be the base of the player. 5 massive brass feet on a thick cast aluminium plate with two 2.5mm copper plated steel plates to further stabilize it (see picture) the rest is all copper plated. On the other hand you have the C2ex that has much more high tech hardware but doesent come close to the chassis of the 999, merge them and “Hercules” is born. Its currently under the knife so to speak till i start reassembly pending a large order of capacitors (total around 200 and silver solder) bypassed by different film capacitors for different sections of the mainboard. The best of the bunch is Vishay Mkp 1837 that will be used around the most crucial chip (laser-RF to analog composite decoding) and the optical pickup input (flat) lead. Assortment of Wima film caps for the rest of the capacitors. After its been put together its going to be dampened and shielded, c2ex came with some sheet metal shields, they will be acid dipped and coated with copper before getting back to further avoid Emi and Rf interference. Together with some chip damping and shield planes. First line of defense is a 8mm aluminium lid that came off the 999 (the thicker the better in such applications) The final chassis will consist of 3mm sandblasted aluminium plates with copper sheets in between, however i dont anticipate to finish the whole chassis before i start capturing. The power filtering system will sit in the 999 chassis while the c2ex can operate fine on its own. Several powersupplies will find use in the player, some from broadcast equipment with very low dc noise output. The stock powersupply is disassembled waiting for new premium caps and mkp10 bypass. The acceptable quality OT movies only exsist on LD and a few numbers of deteriorating prints. Even the LDs dont have eternal life, so im going to do all in my power to get the best captures possible. I Heard Arine.D talking about rainbowing on the JSC discs, that is good news to me because it means there is resolution potential on those discs when they rainbow on an X-9.
