Alan, after some quick research here this morning I found out what a great player your Pioneer LD-S9 is ! I doubt that my DVL-909 can equal it in the LD playback performance really.
I did find the following, on a web site that reviewed the DVL-909:
As an LD player, this machine reminds me very much of Pioneer's awesome CLD-D704 laserdisc player. As the owner of a 704, I very much love what it can do. The 909 has many of the same features, including both-side play for laserdisc, digital video effects for watching frame by frame on a CLV laserdisc, and all the usual controls and refinements that we're used to with the laserdisc format.
As a laserdisc player, the 909 is actually pretty close to our reference CLD-99, which is generally regarded as one of the best LD players out there. The digital comb filter in the 909 is great, presenting very little chroma AM or PM noise; on the A Video Standard laserdisc this was readily apparent. As for stereo music sound quality, the 909 didn't sound quite as lush and warm as the CLD-99's internal digital-to-analog converters, but it could easily be used as a midrange CD player, bettering many $500 standalone CD players on the market. In particular, on U2's "If God Will Send His Angels," from their critically maligned Pop album, the internal D/A converters just shined, highlighting this track's deep bass and subtle imaging.
Now, about the PAL option. It looks like it OUTPUTS a PAL signal (when the switch is toggled on the back). There is also an option in the LD player Menu to switch it to/from PAL and NTSC. I'm still trying to confirm this and will now go try to find the owners manual
