Quick review on 1080i scaling Liteon LVD2001 DVD Player (1 Viewer)

[Eric_Connelly]

My best guess is, the cheap IDE cable was a antenna for the PS....it carried interference along it from the PS to the logic board and its analog sections.

I think instead of shielding the PS, maybe shielding the logic board and see if that would help more.

Eitheway the cable did help, no doubts about it.

 

[JohnSterling]

Al,

I'll try Nemo tonight on my player just for grins to see what's happening.

 

[Robert P. Jones]

>>The stock IDE cable runs directly AWAY from the PS. This means that IF the PS is sending out nasty interferance,(what PS doesn't?), the layout of the cable itself is magnifying the effect of that interferance. Being a computer guy, if you've ever had to run CAT5 cable, you know that you NEVER run CAT5 (or CAT3) parralel with a 110 or 220 power circuit. You'll get all sorts of grief.


Something very similar happens in car stereo. You never run your 12v. lines right next to your signal lines, or you'll pick up the stray spikes from your ignition system and spark plugs.

You always run the power wires on one side of your car and the signal wires on the other, since they both usually have to run parallel to each other. In which case distance matters. You NEVER run them within 6" of each other, even if you can't separate them further.

As far as separating the PS from the unit itself, I agree wholeheartedly. Many low voltage instruments use adapters for just that purpose. My $1200 Accupel HD signal generator does just that. A first glance it makes it look like a cheapo little toy box because like many cheap little toy boxes, it uses a separate plug-in adapter that you plug straight into wall power, and a thin low voltage line - from the secondary, lowered in voltage and purified very carefully - runs to the unit and plugs into it.

But that was done on purpose, to keep the 60 Hz - and anything else riding the wires on the transformer's primary from the wall power like a carrier, such as line noise from a hair dryer in the next room - away from the internal pattern generation circuitry inside the box. Only the highly purified low voltage line now has access to the innards of that box, with its very sensitive circuitry.

At second glance you realize of course that this is a first rate, topnotch, professional grade instrument, and its performance is incredible. I am sure the adapter plays its part in that high degree of performance.


Mr Bob

 

[Glenn]

Hi,

Thanks to the notes here I upgraded my IDE cable today in my 2001 player. It was a very EASY job. Five minutes or so to complete it. I have not done much viewing yet but I wanted to let people know how easy it is. I cannot see how this upgrade could hurt your picture quality as the replaced IDE cable is a very cheap one. I used on from PCCables to replace it. I did not have to add a
hole to my new cable.

I also have the 3.01 beta firmware and have had no problems with it.

Will the new cable really upgrade the picture? I don't know but I don't think it can hurt and for less than $10 it was worth a try. I will say that I was alreadt pretty happy with the quality on my Pioneer 533.

Glenn

 

[Nathan_H]

Irony of ironies: Been trying to (half-heartedly) sell my RPTV for a while.... but didn't have any takers. The LiteOn 2001 came along and made me like my TV better (it was one of those models that only did the 16x9 squeeze on 1080i signals).... and then, within a month, the TV sells!

The good news is, I can begin to put together the pieces for a FP system. The bad news is, I don't need the LiteOn because my new system will certainly have DVI inputs galore.

So my player is for sale. Please see this topic in the "for sale" area on this forum for details.

 

[Nathan_H]

[woops. just revised the above instead.]

 

[ThomasW]

Did an IDE cable experiment.

We took two identical LVD-2001's, stock IDE cable in one machine, round shielded IDE cable in the other. Both machines set to 1080i output

Stacked the players one on top of the other, moved the power and video cables back and forth between the machines.

Video playback system: Sony 400Q LCD projector, set to accept 1080i input, Da-Lite Model B High-Power 52"X92" screen.

Used the SuperBit copy of "The Fifth Element"

Results: absolutely no difference in image quality between the two players.

More comparisons pending.......

 

[Jay Blair]

Thomas

A few comments regarding your testing. I've heard a number of posts that the LiteOn does not have as much of a video impact on LCD systems as CRT-based systems. Some have even commented that they saw no improvement for video with the LiteOn at 1080i. This could account for there being no perceivable difference in your tests.

The difference on my Sony RPTV is amazing, in the range of at least 10% improvement to around 25%. Someone else posted an improvement of up to 50% on their system; I have not had nearly that kind of result. But even an improvement of 10% is substantial for a $15 upgrade.

I would also ask what component cables you're using--are they a good quality 75 ohm set? And which firmware?

Did you also switch the positions of the two units, moving the top unit to the lower position and then redoing the tests?

And most importantly, what IDE round cables were you using? The standard round cables that do not have a grounding wire will not have nearly as large of an improvement as the highly shielded round cables with grounding, such as the Cobra and IOSS Gladiator cables previously discussed in this thread--these cables will be the best and give a far bigger improvement.

Another thought: Also try using a different test disk than the Superbit Fifth Element. The image quality is so good to start with on Fifth Element that I see far less video improvement with this DVD than with Blade Runner or other less than stellar quality DVDs.


Finally, as I promised I want to mention that I have now done some limited testing using both the IOSS Gladiator and the Cobra IDE cables and could not find any significant difference between these two cables. I did not however do my tests using both cables in the same LiteOn unit because the 2nd Gladiator cable I bought did not work (I probably screwed it up when I drilled out the plug) and therefore did my testing using my original unit with the Gladiator and my second unit with the Cobra and switching them in and out of my system. Both players have had extra shielding added and slightly different upgrades done to them and this makes for a less than completely fair test. I have another Gladiator cable on order and will do a final test after I receive this cable, by switching both cables in and out of an otherwise completely stock LiteOn belonging to a friend.

 

[Jason Stocker]

Is there anyplace that still sells this player?

 

[Nathan_H]

YGM -- There are a few (including one of mine) in the For Sale area of this forum. There are also some on ebay, that tend to cost about $50+ more.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I got this DVD player 5-6 months ago. I got it because I had heard it’s based on a computer DVD-Rom drive and therefore could read any discs. At the beginning it did. Now after few months, it starts to read with difficulty and lots of jumps and pixilation the same DVD-Rs that it read perfectly before. The funny thing is that it still reads CD-Rs perfectly. I was wondering what gives? Is the lens dirty? Should I clean it? And what’s the best method to do it without damaging it? Thanks.

 

[Robert P. Jones]

The things that go most often on DVDPs and CDPs are the lens getting dusty and the platter motor starting to fail.

The best way to clean the lens is to get a Qtip wet with cleaning solution - I've used alcohol countless times on CDPs, but you may want to just use Windex - and rub it lightly across the surface of the laser eye, following it with a dry Qtip quickly, before it has a chance to get dry. In the case of alcohol of course, the dry wipe is not necessary. There might be an anti-reflective coating on the lens eye, so Windex might be the best thing to use.

Lubrication can also be added to the runner, which may be sticking a bit if the factory lube has started to dry out. You need to be adding the right stuff, of course. Radio Shack used to have a Teflon based needlepin-administered lubricant that was wonderful on such things.

The motor getting weak - which is servo-controlled by the feedback from the bitstream read by the eye - requires motor replacement. It is usually a very inexpensive motor to replace.

I have no experience with any type of device like this getting weak in these areas within months of purchase, tho. I believe it has a year's warranty. I would get it serviced under warranty, whether that takes sending it in or finding a local warranty station.


Mr Bob

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Funny, of course like idiots I had forgotten that there is a DVD-Rom player inside my player, so I opened my player to clean the lens with a Qtip and tada, found a perfectly closed DVD-Rom drive which was impossible to access inside it! Can I use these special DVDs that clean the lens or do they damage the lens? They are also more expensive than Qtips!!!

When I opened my player, I disconnected its DVD-Rom and connected a Pioneer DVD-RW/R to it. It didn’t work. But the open and close function worked even with the remote!

I have a DVD cleaning spray and used it on the DVD-Rs that I have problem with and surprisingly they got a lot better. I had cleaned them before but it seems this spray which I never believed in did magic! The DVD-Rs (Memorex) I had problem with were perfectly new, few months old and I never played them that much.

Can I use this spray for lens cleaning also? I have no idea of its composition.

 

[Hugo]

Sam, if you decide to claim the warranty, just be carefull that they might replace it with the 2002 model. So I would suggest to try fixing someplace else and not claim the warranty.

 

[Robert P. Jones]

I agree. I made this same point earlier on in this same thread.

Mr Bob

 

[JasonMcN]

Has anyone else noticed that if a disc is loaded without the player powering on and "booting up" first then you have problems playing the disc?

Jason

 

[Chris STL]

Thanks for the cable swapping tip. I picked up the Antec Cobra Cable from CompUsa. I immediately noticed a more detailed picture.My wife also noticed the same change in the video quality.

I also notice better audio separation. Does the cable carry the audio signal? Also, any opinions about how much and want kind of improvement can be gained by upgrading the component cables? I'm using AR cables from BB. Have a RPTV using firmware 3.01.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I’m still interested to know your opinions on DVDs that clean the lens. Are they safe?

 

[Robert P. Jones]

The cable I got from pccables has no grounding lead. I was thinking of slicing the plastic coating just a little and prying one in under it, in the slit.

Is this grounding lead I saw on other round cables pictured on this thread really important?


Mr Bob

 

[Jay Blair]

My first attempt at using an IDE round cable was with a fairly cheap one that did not have a grounding lead and also did not have nearly the quality of shielding of either the Cobra cable or the Gladiator cable that have been previously discussed. So I do know that having upgraded to the Gladiator cable (I've also tried the Cobra cable in one of my units) makes a very substantial video improvement over the first cable I tried. Whether that is because of the grounding wire or the better shielding, I can't say. But I can highly recommend upgrading to one of the other cables if your experiment with adding a grounding wire to your current cable doesn't improve things.

I have now basically completed all my upgrades to my two players and also added a Cobra cable to a friend's unit. Wow, when I plugged my friend's totally unaltered unit into my system, I was amazed at how bad the image looked compared to my two upgraded units (and I was careful to make sure the settings in all the units were identical to the settings I normally use with the 3.01b firmware). The IDE cable upgrade and the other shielding upgrades I've done to the LiteOn make a world of difference, even more than I originally thought.

I now find it hard to watch anything on my Panasonic DVD recorder, which puts out a fine picture (when run through my iScan Ultra) in comparison to other non-scaling DVD players. Even my friend's unaltered LiteOn was hard to watch at 1080i. After upgrading my friend's unit to the Cobra cable (with no other upgrades), the image was greatly enhanced, though still not up to the quality of my own two units. Shielding does make a difference, the more the better, whether to the IDE cable or to the unit itself.

At first using an upgraded power cord with my units made a small but noticeable improvement to the image, but now that I've completed all the additional shielding, as an experiment I went back to the stock power cord and the upgraded cord no longer improves anything. I no longer am recommending an upgraded power cord if the LiteOn has been sufficiently shielded.

A final note on the Gladiator IDE cable vs. the Cobra cable. After comparing both these cables in the same unit, I would now give a very slight edge to the IOSS Gladiator cable. The sharpness and color of both cables is almost a deadheat, but I think the Gladiator cable outputs a very slightly cleaner image. But either way you go, you can't miss with one of these two cables. Also when I bought a 3rd Gladiator cable (after screwing up a 2nd one I had purchased) I was forced to get a 12" cable instead of the 8" cables I originally purchased. For anyone unable to get an 8" cable, there is no difference in quality to using the longer cable (but the 8" does fit better in the case).


Sam, I've tried the DVD cleaning discs a few times and they have not harmed anything. I think they are safe if you stick with a name brand.