Pioneer CLD-2600

Thanks to Sascha for the above pictures.

Thanks to Ralf Becker for the pictures.

The Site has a copy of a brochure listing the specs and features for the CLD-2600, CLD-1600 and CLD-600. The brochure is German. Please email if a copy is required.

Pioneer's top-end CLD-2600 (1992) is a PAL-only combi capable of playing both laserdisc sides without reloading. It has jog-shuttle control rather than forward/reverse scan buttons. The suggested retail price is expected to be around £549. 

The player incorporates twin scan connectors, to make certain configurations of hook-up easier. There is also something called '4 language OSD. Each player has a small front panel preset that allows the on-screen displays (for time, chapter etc) to be output in English, French, German or Italian. On the audio side the new players incor­porate a 1-bit pulse flow D/A converters with an 8x 20-bit digital filter. Pioneer quotes measurable differences for S/N, dynamic range, channel separation and THD between the 2600 and 600 but they are modest differences.

 Video frequency response is given as the now standard 440 lines (which is a greater bandwidth than ever encoded on the discs) but there are three new integra­ted circuits developed for the players which should enhance picture quality in other ways. One is for the focus tracking slider which it is claimed will improve reliability. A new time base servo IC upgrades colour and picture stability and, coupled with the effects of the focus tracking slider IC, there is a claimed improvement in the CLV scan. Lastly, a new video IC has raised picture quality and increased the signal-to-noise ratio.

Thanks to Sascha Grau for the above picture.