Pioneer LaserActive

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Pioneer LaserActive
Laser.png
Developer Pioneer Corporation
Type Home video game console
Generation Fourth generation
Release date 1993
Discontinued 1996
Emulated

The Pioneer LaserActive is a converged, fourth-generation device capable of playing LaserDiscs, compact discs, console games, and LD-G karaoke discs. It was released by Pioneer Corporation in 1993. In addition to LaserActive games, separately sold add-on modules (called "PACs" by Pioneer) accept Mega Drive and PC Engine ROM cartridges and CD-ROMs.

Pioneer released the LaserActive model CLD-A100 in Japan on August 20, 1993, at a cost of ¥89,800 and in the United States on September 13, 1993, at a cost of $970. NEC later released a cloned version of the system, the NEC PDE-LD1, which also accepted Pioneer's PAC modules. The LaserActive was a commercial failure.

Emulators[edit]

THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO EMULATORS FOR THIS DEVICE THAT CAN RUN COMMERCIAL GAMES AND/OR SOFTWARE.

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Enhancements Hardware features
and accessories
FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD git artifacts[N 1]
0.263
libretro core[N 2]
~ *
  1. CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos
  2. As 0.251, 0.139 (2010), 0.78 (2003), 0.37b5 (2000)

Enhancements[edit]

Name MAME
Graphics Resizable Internal Resolution For emulation of 2D systems, the resolution can only be upscaled, making the pixels more apparent.
Widescreen hack ?
Sprite Replacement ?
Performance Overclock ?
Internal Framerate Hack ?
Preload optical disc image to RAM
Useful enhancement feature for users with slow mechanical HDD seeking performance.
However you need reasonable amount of RAM capacity.
?
Post-Processing Post-rendering AA
(FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA)
?
Post-rendering scaling
(Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1)
Filters
AI-powered filter compatible
(Freestyle)
?
Shader Chain
Inverse tone mapping compatible ?
TAS features Macros/Scripts/Lua ?
Rewind
Fast-Forward/Turbo Speed ?
Savestates ?
Movie recording/playback ?
Controls Input lag-mitigating technique ?
Quality of life Per-Game Profiles
Command Line Options
Streamable compression format
Built-in Graphics mod editor/manager ?
Built-in Cheat Manager ?
Big Picture Mode
Built-in Custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes
For using this on Windows OS you need CRT Emudriver.
Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility".
Exclusive to libretro cores and GroovyMAME at the moment.
Also there is a project for achieving software emulators like libretro cores and GroovyMAME send the raw RGB data over a network to a core running on MiSTer, it basically turns the MiSTer into a GPU for the emulator allowing for easy setup and use with CRT TVs/Arcade monitors.
Misc Netplay ?
EmuVR support Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment.
RetroAchievements
Debug Features ?


Hardware features and accessories[edit]

Name MAME
DTS and RSS
(it lacks the popular Dolby AC-3 surround)
LD Player Unlike most optical-disc standards, LaserDisc is not fully digital, and instead requires the use of analog video signals.
Use this guide for LD media.
PACs Karaoke PAC
Sega PAC *
NEC PAC *
Computer Interface PAC

PACs[edit]

SegaRetro - LaserActive PACs
Sega PAC (PAC-S10/PAC-S1)
Mega LD games for the Pioneer LaserActive's Sega PAC expansion module

The Sega PAC allows the system to play Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, and also Sega Mega LD games, in addition to CD-G media. Like it's counterpart, the NEC PAC, it also expands the LaserDisc functionality of the system by adding advanced playback features like frame-by-frame view and multi-speed jogging.

NEC PAC (PAC-N10/PAC-N1)
consolemods: NEC LD-ROM² games for the Pioneer LaserActive's NEC PAC expansion module

The NEC PAC allows the system to play NEC PC Engine, NEC PC Engine CD-ROM², and also NEC LD-ROM² games, in addition to CD-G media. Like it's counterpart, the Sega PAC, it also expands the LaserDisc functionality of the system by adding advanced playback features like frame-by-frame view and multi-speed jogging.

Karaoke PAC (PAC-K10/PAC-K1)

The Karaoke PAC allows the system to play LD-G media, and features karaoke-oriented inputs and controls.

Computer Interface PAC (PAC-PC1)

The Computer Interface PAC allows the system to be controlled by an NEC PC-98, IBM PC DOS, or Apple Macintosh personal computer, by way of a custom program authored to communicate via the PAC's 25-pin serial port.

See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.

Emulation issues[edit]

The LaserActive Project wishes to document all LaserActive media. On their FAQ page, they have this to say about the possibility of creating a LaserActive emulator:

Emulation of the LaserActive, if attempted at all, would be an incredibly difficult task – due to the hybrid nature of the system's hardware (utilizing Sega/NEC hardware in synchronization with the unique LD player hardware) and the analog-digital composite image (analog video background, digital in-game graphics generated by said Sega/NEC hardware).[1]

Emulator developer Nemesis has made an effort to dump the games for the system (except for porn games).[2] Copies of the games sent to him will be dumped and then returned.[2]

References[edit]

External links[edit]