Pioneering an old LD player.. !?

50nstillhifi

Super Member
I finally brought into the "lab" (my garage workshop), an old model Pioneer Laserdisc player, model number: LD-V4400. Amazingly after borrowing two discs, "Species" and "Star Trek.. The Wrath of Khan", loading and waiting while the noise settled and provided video... It Works!

Now to my question, do I need use the same or similar technique for adjusting CD players as a guide for fine tuning this device?

At issue, the color is lost and there seems to be some minor video distortion. Otherwise this old Pioneer unit is working as designed.

Needless to say, with only two movies to watch thus far, this will not be my future "go to" form of video entertainment. But it will be fun to demonstrate for "show and tell" during the upcoming family get-togethers!

Any suggestions or experienced techs are welcome to assist in its full recovery!
 
Very cool! I own several LaserDisc players, along with a few dozen LDs, and it's fun to watch movies on the format. Other than the use of a laser, there isn't a whole lot of overlap technology-wise between CD and LD. For one thing, the audio and video tracks on an early LaserDisc are entirely analog. Later LDs achieved digital sound using a modulated signal in one of the analog audio tracks. If you play a digital sound-encoded disc in an LD player not meant for them, you'll get mono audio in one channel, and digital hash in the other.

As far as the issues you're having go, I'm not quite sure what could be causing them. I suggest tracking down a service manual, though you may need specialized test equipment in order to perform whatever tests it indicates. Also, check to see if any belts are involved with the disc drive system; not sure if this is true with LDs, but when I was dealing with an old CED player, the combination of a loose drive belt and dry platter bearings caused the color to flicker constantly because the disc wasn't able to achieve the proper speed. Good luck!
-Adam
 
Very cool! I own several LaserDisc players, along with a few dozen LDs, and it's fun to watch movies on the format. Other than the use of a laser, there isn't a whole lot of overlap technology-wise between CD and LD. For one thing, the audio and video tracks on an early LaserDisc are entirely analog. Later LDs achieved digital sound using a modulated signal in one of the analog audio tracks. If you play a digital sound-encoded disc in an LD player not meant for them, you'll get mono audio in one channel, and digital hash in the other.

As far as the issues you're having go, I'm not quite sure what could be causing them. I suggest tracking down a service manual, though you may need specialized test equipment in order to perform whatever tests it indicates. Also, check to see if any belts are involved with the disc drive system; not sure if this is true with LDs, but when I was dealing with an old CED player, the combination of a loose drive belt and dry platter bearings caused the color to flicker constantly because the disc wasn't able to achieve the proper speed. Good luck!
-Adam

Thank you for the info.. and I will certainly apply some of the technique for CD players and see what becomes of it.

For an older model, its doing pretty well and I will keep my repair simple in approach.
 
It sounds to me that a capacitor or two is the more likely reason for the color issues. Adjusting the laser strength should only compensate for the natural aging process by which the laser strength can degrade causing more and more disc read issues.
 
It sounds to me that a capacitor or two is the more likely reason for the color issues. Adjusting the laser strength should only compensate for the natural aging process by which the laser strength can degrade causing more and more disc read issues.

OK.... Will pursue this suggestion as well and will keep you posted on the outcome!
 
So..... since my last post I have removed the chassis to the LD player and cleaned some of moving pieces, platter and the like. This unit is in rather excellent condition and it did not have a lot of dust or debris about.

Also, I vacuumed and lubed some of the gearing and platter transport gearing since I suspected them of making noise during open and close.

Closing it up and replaying the unit, the visual was about the same and the gearing did make less "noise".

I suppose I will not venture to do the optical adjustments until I get a tech manual or get guidance from someone having done it before.

Right now, next to my TT which gets used every so often, its a "converstaion piece. But if I do get more discs, I may use it more often. Yet after moving this 25+ pound chassis around, its no wonder engineers had to come up with something a litte easier on the back.. or the rack, for that matter!
 
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