How do laser disc's look on plasma TV?

Early LD's had analog audio tracks only. In the late '80's PCM digital tracks were added. Any player I am aware made after that point will play both the analog and digital soundtracks.
As Rwwear says, if it has Dolby Digital (it will usually say AC3 on the back). And it will require the special player/demodulator. Dolby digital discs still have the PCM digital tracks in case you do not have a DD player.
And yes, the video is FM-modulated analog.
John

None of the best ones play both formats in fact the X9 only plays LDs, no CDs. I borrowed this info about the digital sound of LDs.
(Unlike DVDs, which carry Dolby Digital audio in digital form, Laserdiscs store Dolby Digital in a frequency modulated form within a track normally used for analog audio. Extracting Dolby Digital from a Laserdisc required a player equipped with a special "AC-3 RF" output and an external demodulator in addition to an AC-3 decoder. The demodulator was necessary to convert the 2.88 MHz modulated AC-3 information on the disc and convert it into a 384 kbit/s signal that the decoder could understand. DTS audio took the place of the PCM audio tracks, and required only a direct connection via Optical Audio cable and a decoder to be heard.)

Rwwear,
Most of my Laser disc's on the back say they have digital sound. Even the older ones with CX coding. I was told that the picture is analog though. Of these laser disc players you mention any of them play both formats.

I have a Japanese 919 myself and it is just a so-so LD player. If you want the best available player made for the US market, go with a Pioneer Elite CLD-97, Pioneer CLD-D704, or Mcintosh MLD-7020 which is the same as the Elite. There are a few more that are good such as some of the Thetas or EADs but the are based on the best Pioneer transports. I have a Japanese HLD-X9 which is the best LD player made. It is also playes Hi Def Muse LDs.

I personaly own 3 Ld players one is a first generation model which I use for burning CD's with my Pioneer burner. The other one is a marantz 1994 model which I would consider on the upper end of their food chain. The one I use mostly and it is connected via a Monster S connect is a Pioneer that plays Laser disc's and DVD's as well as CD. Your right about Ld'S not being anmoriphically enhanced because on LD this process on my Sony is by passed. Thanks guys, I have been toying on getting a wall mount Plasma and if I can hook up via a S connect I will be O.K.? The Pioneer is Top of the line model that was only produced in Japan I believe it is the 919.

Another issue with widescreen LD's on a 16:9 TV is that they are not anamorphically enhanced, so they will often come out "windowboxed", with "black bars" on all 4 sides of the picture, unless you zoom the picture. This zooming further reduces quality.
John

Don't got no plasma; got a Theta Data 3. I use the bnc composite no adaptors,please. LD's weren't pressed using S- tech so they don't look better using S-. If you get a better picture,the cables aren't of equal quality. But to be expected; dvds look better; but don't sound as good.

I still own a Pioneer Elite Cld-95 player, and have a 42" Panasonic Plasma. I thought it looked just great when I watched my box set of criterion collection Seven Samurai. The connection was via S-VHS.

Laserdisc players don't have component outs. Unless of course they are combi players and the LD portion still will not use the component outs. LD players differ greatly in quality as well as laserdiscs. The newest discs are very close to DVD without the digital compression and the sound is often better as well. The sound is analog. DTS discs are very few but usually of higher quality. LDs were just really getting good when DVD came out.

How old is his Laser Player? If he has a newer player with component video outputs it will look better, but still not the resolution of DVD's.

While better than video tape, the imperfections on Laserdiscs will show up on a large screen high resolution TV.

While not as good as component, SVideo output will be better than the standard RCA output.