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Topic: Pioneer LD-V8000 Laser Disk Player

Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-07-2003 08:37 PM

Went browsing through the electronic junkyard today and saw the LD-V8000 Player for 5 bucks, as is. Very good exterior condition. Figuring I could not really lose - I bought it, brought it home and gave it a bath.

Plugged it in, and it has a better picture than some DVD's have.

Anyway, does anyone know of any "issues" with the V8000? It seems to be of very good quality engineering, and is very stable.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 08-07-2003 10:54 PM

Does this thing have a modem port or something? Seems to be a specialized LD player. Maybe this is the player that was used in arcade machines such as Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Cobra Command (Thunderstorm), and Road Avenger.

Advantages:
Digital video memory:
   Enables the last image displayed to remain displayed during a search

Fast search speed:
   Less time spent waiting for a search to complete

On Screen Display (OSD):
   Easy set-up of LaserAce via monitor.

Disadvantages:
DSP processing of the video signal results in the player being a little slow in completing short searches of 130 frames or less

ASCII mnemonic communications - slower than binary/hex
Will reject discs that have bad laser rot or bad scratches

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-07-2003 11:04 PM

Yes, Joe. That could be possible. It has a "D" connector on the back (I don't know how many pins except it is the size of a game joystick port) called "interface connector" along with some BNC connectors for sync output for a gen-lock system, sync input for "C" sync in (whatever the hell that is) and some RCA connectors for video output (2 RCA outputs for that) and 2 sets of RCA stereo audio outputs. However, it does not have an RF pass-through input or outputs like that other hunk of crap I had. It is strictly composite video outputs.

By judging the performance of this thing, I was finally in the right place at the right time. Since I am so damn cheap I figured the price was right. The picture it produces is crystal clear. The best I have seen with a laser disk player in general.

Furthermore, I don't think it was orginally designed for home entertainment systems. I think it fits the catagory of arcade machine hardware as you suggested. I am also under the impression that it was designed for a possible rack-mounted enviroment option.

It seems to be a very nice player. I just ran some of my laser archives in it, and I am highly pleased! It seems to look equal to or better than DVD on the TV monitors. It is actually too close for me to call.

In any event, for 5 bucks I think I got one helluva deal. [Wink]

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-08-2003 12:52 AM

The LD-V8000 was the workhorse for years for many special venue theatres at Universal and other places. I personally designed venues and installed well over 500 of those machines.

The big advantage is that they are a 24/7 workhorse and had great LaserDisc reproduction and digital audio capability as well as serial control features. It could also generate color-frame/phase accurate sync or lock to other players for synchronous playback (with the Iwerks mod). This was used many times for multi-channel digital audio playback all over the world.

Their only weakness is they tend get gummed up on the laser reader sliders and skip. Easily fixed with cleaning.

If I remember right, I think the drivers for their control protocol is included with "WINDOWS" ..it's that popular of a protocol system that other players, including DVD players had adopted.

>>> Phil

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-08-2003 12:56 AM

Phil, that info is good to know. Thank you.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 08-08-2003 02:04 AM

Do you have a picture of this player that you can post, Paul?

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-08-2003 07:29 AM

Pioneer LD-V8000:

16 Players in phase-accurate sync for multi-channel digital audio playback (About 10 years ago...long B4 digital audio was common):

>>> Phil

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-08-2003 11:15 AM

Joe, Phil beat me to it.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-09-2003 03:58 PM

Hmmm Complete with QSC's EX amplifiers and CE's MS-100 monitor with custom channel label!

Steve

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