Panasonic LX-HD20 Muse Hi-Def

Clone of the Sony HIL-C2EX.

The LX-HD20 plays NTSC Laserdisc and Hi-Vision MUSE Laserdiscs (Japanese hi-definition TV standard).
The player is finished in brushed champagne metal and high gloss wood sides.

The player has phono and S-video outputs for normal TV, and coaxial outouts for Hi-Vision TV receivers.

The first machine to reach the market on May 20th 1994 was Panasonic's LX-HD10 which costs Y600.000 and was
followed in 1996 by the Panasonic LX-HD20 which is similar in appearance to the Sony HIL-C2EX.

A significant difference of all Hi-Vision LD players, is that instead of the conventional 780 nanometre laser they make
use of a shorter wavelength 670nm device, able to read the more closely packed spiral of pits on the new discs. With
NTSC the nominal track pitch is 1.67 microns whereas with Hi Vision it comes clown to 1.1 microns. The actual size
of the pits encoded on die discs is the same as before. However, in CAV and at the fastest CLV speed the new discs
rotate 50% faster at 2,700 rpm (NTSC is 1800rpm.)

What is Hi-Vision?

1991, several manufacturers announced specifications for what would become known as "MUSE" Laserdisc. Encoded
using technology adopted from "Hi-Vision" (Japanese HDTV) hardware, MUSE discs would operate like standard
Laserdiscs but would contain material transferred in High Definition (1080i) widescreen, that is a real 1920 x 1200
solution. The MUSE players are also capable of playing standard NTSC format discs and are said to have superior
performance to non-MUSE players. In order to view MUSE encoded discs, it is necessary to have a MUSE decoder
in addition to this player.

Several distributors imported MUSE discs along with other import titles. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Lawrence of
Arabia, A League of Their Own, Bugsy, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Chaplin were
among the theatrical releases available on MUSE. Several documentaries, including one about Formula One at Japan's
Suzuka Circuit were also released.

Victor / JVC HV-MD2 Muse Hi-Vision decoder

This Victor HV-MD2 is not only a decoder but also a Hi-Vision into NTSC
converter, in opposite to many other Muse decoders, e.g. Sony MSC-4000. It is in Champaign colour.

Decoders are needed to read the Muse-out signal from the Hi-Vision laserdisc player and export it in 1125i
theoretical (1080i actual) solution, that is a real 1920 x 1200 solution.