Can my LD Player PAL & Secam as WELL as NTSC? (1 Viewer)

[LargoJr]

Lately, I've been finding HUGE LD collections being sold, both privately as well a on E-Bay. However, some of them aren't exclusively NTSC. Some have PAL, Secam, and Hi-Vu.

I have a Pioneer CDL-D604, with lots of nice features. It outputs AC-3 thru RF and DTS thru the optical.

I bought it at a local Sears off the shelf, a Demo unit. The Manager said it had been sitting there untouched for 2 years, and sold it to me for $50 plus 2 dozen brand new unopened disks they had in the office, that no-one had bothered to play because DVDs seemed to be the big push. Problem was, it didn't come with a Manual or paperwork or remote.

Since my CLD-3090 had just taken a giant crap (but the remote is still fantastic), tripping over this was not only great luck, but a giant upgrade in quality and ability.

Not having the manual though, I have no clue if it can do PAL/Secam or not. I know my DVD player isn't hampered by either, and my LCD Monitor can play back 1080p and under. I've been reading that many LD players couldn't play back PAL though, and wanted to know if there was a database or website that listed each player's abilities and limitations?

Also... what the heck is the 'attenuator switch' on the back of the unit for? Thanks all, and hope to hear from you soon.

Any advice would be welcome

 

[Mattias_ka]

The CLD-604 is a american player and only plays NTSC disc. Look for a CLD-925, CLD-2950, for a NTSC and PAL player.
I don't think there is any SECAM disc's and player ever release. I have to heard about it.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I've never seen an LD player, at least an American one that could play both PAL and NTSC. I have one PAL LD "Pavarotti and Friends" that someone gave me, the later players recognize it as PAL right when it spins up and refuse to play it but I have an older top-loading player that will play it in black & white (same effect as playing a PAL DVD on a player that doesn't convert) with no sound. I've got one PAL CD-Video too, my CLD-D502 plays the audio tracks but doesn't even acknowledge the video track being there, and my DVL-909 ejects it, refusing to play even the audio tracks on it.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

In a word, no. You need a PAL or dual-system player to play PAL LaserDiscs. Some players will reproduce a picture, but it will be silent and in black-and-white : even if your TV can reproduce PAL, it certainly can't handle 625 lines, 30 frames per second, with 5.3 MHz subcarrier, which is what will come out that composite output jack. Anyway, the number of PAL LDs ever made was quite small, and there are almost none which don't have a NTSC release, generally of better quality. There is no SECAM LD, because SECAM doesn't work very well, and every SECAM TV is built to accept PAL as well (the scan standard is the same, only the colour is different) — in fact, before Betacam and digital video, SECAM television programmes were mostly produced in PAL and then converted. The "attenuator" switch is only used if you have the LD player hooked up to TV speakers which are distorting due to their limited dynamic range.

 

[LargoJr]

Thanks all! I appreciate all the info... guess I won't sweat PAL for now.. and thanks also for the info on the attenuator.. was REALLY bugging me. Like 'The Big Red Button' from Ren & Stimpy.