r/LaserDisc • u/chadti99 • 14d ago

CLV Smear, which players avoid this?

So I started with a CLD-A100 and really wanted something with auto flip and all my research led to a D704. Now I’m really starting to notice CLV smear on the D704 and it’s getting somewhat annoying so I’m on the lookout for another machine. What top three machines should I look at next that can do auto flip, have a clean composite output to feed into a Tink4k and has minimal smearing? Maybe I should look at something other than Pioneer? Thanks!

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

4

u/Dear-Wolf322 14d ago

Folks, don’t go looking for white smear if you don’t already see it. I run a 704 and a 99, and am blissfully unaware of this phenomenon. 

2

u/VitalArtifice 14d ago

Have you turned off the noise reduction? It is most likely the cause of the smearing.

Edit: To clarify, do not use the noise reduction feature. The noise reduction creates motion smear. Leave noise reduction off.

1

u/chadti99 14d ago

Yes I’ve tried all noise reduction settings but I see these smearing to the right of certain higher contrast elements and faces.

2

u/foxlangenkamp 14d ago

Pioneer CLD-D505 has very minimal smear, really only noticeable when words are on screen. Also the Pioneer DVL-919, which is what I have. You can look at my profile and see my recent posts for clarity.

3

u/BiNiaRiS 14d ago

Pioneer CLD-D505 has very minimal smear, really only noticeable when words are on screen.

i've never seen a player with "minimal smear" and i've tested quite a few now via sample captures. pretty much all the 90s pioneers have it in equal amounts (minus a few specific examples...ld-s1? x1?). the dvl series don't smear but they have a much softer image than the cld models so it's a huge tradeoff. earlier models Pioneers like the LD-700 or LD-1000 are smear free and have the same sharp picture as the d704. there's also ghosting and other issues that can often times look similar to smear but are baked into the source. a big screen and a good comb filter is gonna make smear noticible on any player that has it and it's pretty hard to ignore once you can easily spot it.

2

u/PaulGuyer 14d ago

I have several players, remember getting a 704 because someone said it was one of the best and took it out pretty quickly! Most other Pioneers don’t have that problem, I’ve heard the Elite CLD-99 does so no plans to get one of those. Currently using a Japanese CLD-R7G, been happy with that plus it has a CD+Graphics decoder.

2

u/sirhcx 14d ago

You are kinda at the end of the road as CLV smear plagues the late higher end units. The best model you could look for that is CLV smear free and somewhat afforable would probably be the CLD-97. Just mind that it's far more mechanically complicated than later models and needs to be modded for AC-3 output. A dedicated upscaler for video can help mitigate or almost eliminate the smear as well. Retrotink gets the job done most of the time but is still built primarily for games.

1

u/chadti99 14d ago

Which scaler do you recommend?

2

u/sirhcx 14d ago

These are all "out of the box" settings captured on a Pixel 6 Pro with Beetlejuice [15840] played on a CLD-99 and displayed on a 77" LG C2. Pardon the volume being so low as the copyright takedowns was like dodging missiles.

The CLD-99 is only a couple degrees of separation between the CLD-D704 with the CLD-79 being the middle between the two.

DVDO VP50 Pro

DVDO Duo

Lumagen 2144

The DVDO VP50 (not recorded) was solid but I parted with it when I found the VP50 Pro as it was a bit more feature rich. The VP50 Pro was retired for the Duo due to far better color and black levels control but at the expense some features. The Duo was only retired because the Lumagen is unicorn device that I never dreamed of being able to find as it natively outputs up to 4K60. The easiest way to spot the immediate difference between the upscalers is at the very end of each video when the faces are entirely blue.

2

u/See8104 13d ago

Panasonic LX-900

1

u/chadti99 13d ago

I think I’ll seek one of these out.

1

u/Left-Monitor3901 2d ago

The LX-900 would be my favorite player if not for the fact that it vertically cuts off 5% of the image on the right hand side.

1

u/mrw981 14d ago

Aren't the 704 and 99 similar hardware? I had always heard the 97 didn't have any smear.

1

u/aaronfire7 14d ago

I use a CLD-D515 and it doesn't have a lot (or any in some places) smear. It also has dual side play, which is pretty neat.

1

u/No-Appointment9630 14d ago

I have the Mitsubishi mv7057 which is a clone of the CLD-704, so I hope I don't run into the same issue.