Thanks for your efforts and posts - I remember being very impressed with Laserdisc in 1983 as compared to VHS, which was still a fairly new technology. I remember wowing the hell out of my friends playing Top Gun through my Sony 27 inch Trinitron and my Carver amp and Cerwin Vega speakers with a JVC stereo VCR and a Fosgate 360 processor that created a phantom center channel and sent a mono signal to two speakers in the rear - That was in 1986. So amazing to have lived through all the incremental advances in technology.
Even before auto-reverse players, flipping and changing discs never bothered me, even the CAV ones. What did bother me a lot was the abysmally awful picture quality of VHS tapes regardless of the "4 hours" of video capacity. I trade convenience in favor of quality anytime, that's why I enjoyed premium audio-video with my LaserDiscs (with proper widescreen aspect ratio and surround sound) during the the two decades before DVD when most people endured with the shitty quality of tapes just to have the benefit of not having to move their butts off the couch.
Convenience is the coffin nail of the poor man's bad decisions… Too bad we the people, who CARE about quality, always have to suffer for the bad choices of the lazy fucks…
Barton Lynch I think another few reasons most people stuck with VHS was stuff like “they already had the players, they couldn’t afford multiple video players, and they needed something to record programs on, etc.” That’s why Laserdisc didn’t break beyond the enthusiast market
The thing is, I never realized vhs quality was bad until I saw a dvd. My 7th grade science teacher used laser disc for certain lessons and I never realized vhs could not be that sharp. I also figured it was just some fancy interactive tech used by schools. I didnt realize you could watch regular movies on it. In fact, when I first started using my parents video8 camcorder a year later, I was frustrated that I couldnt figure out how to copy it to a vhs, like all the professional movies had. And vhs had a bigger tape and casette, so it seemed like had to store way more detail.
I love laser discs for getting them autographed! More room for the celeb to sign, easy to frame and take out when you get a chance to get another signature on it. Much more durable than a photo or poster
You couldn't record and you had to flip them but the biggest problem with LD in the 90s is that they were too expensive! The cost of 1 movie was 30 to 50 dollars each and that was back in the 90s. The cheapest players were about 500 dollars for the bottom end unless you bought one in a pawn shop like I did.
@ Colton West: Doesn't have to be a huge collection. Mine is ca. 60 titles and it probably won't become that much more because i have everything i wanted and am very happy with it.
Major correction needed: Each side on a disc can hold up to 60 minutes of NTSC/64 minutes of PAL video. But since most movies are 90 minutes minutes in length, each side will contain about 45 minutes of video. As for the whole thing about CLV vs CAV, CAV is somewhat popular with true LD collectors as they offer both slightly better video quality due to the smaller chance of crosstalk and also has trick play features such as near-perfect still frame, slow motion and less video noise in general. Only caveat is the playing time of each side being cut in half compared to CLV discs, so choosing between a CAV or a CLV version of a movie will always be a choice between convinience or quality.
Shipping costs and furthermore, weight weren't an issue in the 90s. There was no "online" to order things from. Sure you could mail-order them from some places, but you could usually find one rental place (at least) that rented out LDs alongside VHS tapes. Many of the high end AV shops also sold and rented them as well. (also, it was 60mins per side for NTSC anyway. ;)
LaserDiscs are analog, not digital like a DVD/Blu Ray, hence the shorter lengths and deterioration. At the same time though, this means that you can do things like fast-forward no matter what, unlike DVDs/Blu-Rays which often block this at certain points. In my mind though, the cons outweigh the pros.
I had a Pioneer Laserdisc player and over 10 years I never had a single problem with the player. I only gave it up when I made a big move so who know how many more years of life the machine still had in it.
Laserdisc WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL. It stood for almost 30 years and more than 25.000 titles were available. It didn't catch as the terrible VHS mostly for bad marketing strategies. I myself have about 500 laserdiscs and they are all in perfect condition. I'll never get rid of them.
The LaaserDisc Database now has over 61,000 LD releases in it. That's worldwide though. It was the most popular format in Japan for Anime, and the most popular rental format in Hong Kong. Fortunately the U.S., Hong Kong, and Japan all used the same standard - NTSC, and no region encoding.
Laserdisc's main problem was that it was impossible to record on them, which at the same time was VHS's greatest advantage. Most people bought VCRs to record TV shows, while LaserDisc was trying to introduce a completely new format: Home video.
@@Tuppoo94 Yeah home recording was THE POINT of VHS. Hollywood didn't start selling movies on tapes in a big way until the 80s, it wasn't until Top Gun sold their tapes for the then insanely low price of $27 that the home movie collection became a normal thing. The normal price for big movies on VHS then was $80-$100. LaserDisc was even more expensive. LaserDisc never had the economy of scale to get that cheap and turn a real profit.
Laserdisc is the only format still that had the Criterion Edition of "Seven", which is truly amazing. It contains almost every photo taken during the production including all 365 Sloth Victim photos and one of the funniest blooper reels ever.
Didn't Criterion come about because of the quality of LD? I think they lost their impact on DVD and are almost irrelevant now on bluray. Still, all those extras, and yes they still source the very best film sources.
Another important detail worth mentioning is that DTS Laserdisc audio tracks are uncompressed, 1,235 kbit, whereas dvd's are only 768 kbit. An example is JURASSIC PARK on Laserdisc. The dvds and blurays are all remixed, but the DTS Laserdisc is the pure original transfer from theatres.
Some older movies that were 90 minutes or shorter world have split formats. The first side would be CLV and the second side would be CAV. Since most films like BEAST FROM 20, 000 FANTOMS had most of the special effects in the last half-hour that was great because you could step through it.
Excellent video. I'm a laserdisc collector myself. But I recommend not touching the surface of a laserdisc, because you could potentially damage the disc.
I believe that quite a few of these discs have special features that have never been seen on later formats, so if someone is into that sort of stuff, then that's another incentive to collect these things.
I remember they always had Mortal Kombat playing on LD on a bose system at Sears it was on a 27in tv and a pioneer player I think I watched it 2 times just standing there with people
To grab a disc: hold the sleeve so the disc falls out. Hold the edge (no grabbing) of the disc; then when the hole is out, put your thumb in the hole and your fingers on edge. C simple!
There was a film format that caught on in Japan in the 80s/90s. Like Laserdisc, it was a disc format, but it was actual vinyl. The player would read the grooves as binary and translate it to video and audio.
Well, I happen to have a lot of luck in terms of Laserdiscs. I found a Laserdisc player at a local Charity Shop for $60AU. It was an Panasonic NTSC model, and given the rarity of finding such things in a store like this, I decided to go for it. And with the discs being inexpensive now, it's a worthwhile investment.
oh yeah Poineer released Laserdisc players in the mid 90s with a digital frame buffer so you could freeze frame and cleanly fast forward a CLV Disc with ease.
Still have laserdisc. One nice thing about them is, they didn't have copy protection. Here in Denver, we had a store Laserland, that rented and sold laserdiscs exclusively. Have the 5 set of Warner Bros "Golden age of animation" 5 sets, 5 disks each, 10 cartoons on each side. A lot of early anime was only available on Japan imports. Great Video. Thanks
Karaoke was probably what kept Laserdisc afloat for so long. Japan loves Karaoke and they had some insane Laserdisc jukeboxes, Pioneer was deeply invested in the Karaoke bars themselves.
To be honest I dont mind flipping discs, cause it gives you time to get up take a bathroom break and stuff or grab something to eat, I mean you could always pause the movie but flipping movies for me is not a big deal.
Interesting stuff about Laser Discs. But I think they were initially released in 1976. I had a copy of ' 76 Popular Science mag touting a player on the cover. And another player makes an appearance in the movie Airport '77. But no doubt in 1978 is when most of the major titles and classics started coming out encouraging the public to buy players and disc's. And I remember LD's being rented before VHS as well.
He forgot an important thing: 1/2 of discs offered ACs (audio commentaries.) In fact some discs had TWO ACs. I pg $110 for Spartacus which had 2 ACs and several docs!
You also need a decoder (sold separate) for better sound orherwise you get static. Tward's the end they were Laserdisc/DVD combo. Also there was HD Laserdisc called Muse Hi-Vision. Also there was a rare 2 Laserdisc machine
Rare special features Original theatrical (lossless) soundtracks And original cuts of films are 2 big reasons to buy Laserdiscs. The other is beautiful sleeve art.
No matter what you say i would much more prefer LD over DVD and Bluray. No trailers of new movies coming out on DVD. No menus to set up. The movie stats straight away on LD not so on DVD or BR. It was no hassle to turn a disc over or change the discs. Hell even in Cinemas they have adverts and ice cream breaks etc. But it was the feeling i got when inserting a huge LD and sit back and enjoy unknown quality in those days
That used to be the case with pausing CLV and CAV discs however with newer players, CLV discs can pause with the frame on screen. Also CLV evolved to CAA discs but still labeled as CLV.
I love Laserdiscs i have 4 players connected to 60” Pioneer Kuro plasma tvs. They look pretty good and sound amazing especially with DTS and Ac-3 digital. I keep buying them especially all Disney remastered versions. I actually see flipping side since my automatic option broke as good thing to grab a snac etc. dont mind switching sides at all
It's a little more complicated than that. The original record mode for Betamax called Beta 1 DID have better picture quality, but they pretty much sacrificed it in order to compete with the longer runtime offered by VHS. The later decks can't even play (much less record) Beta 1. Beta 2 became the standard and it looks pretty much identical to VHS, with Beta 3 being the Betamax equivalent of the LP mode. At least I assume this to be the case because I've never seen a Beta 1 tape being played back anywhere. Even the comparison videos on youtube are using modern decks that don't support it.
In Beta 1 recording mode, the betamax format could play back video at stronger signal to noise ratio with a horizontal resolution of 250 TV lines . VHS SP mode allows only 240 TV lines with a noiser image
If you connected a laser disc, dvd & Blu-ray play to a CRT tv the difference would be nominal but they would all be much better than a VHS. The real benefit of a laser disc came from the audio with a good home theater system - especially if the disc was encoded for AC3, the precursor for Dolby digital sound.
What are you talming about, the jump from laserdisc to dvd to blu ray can still be huge on a CRT TV. You just got to use good quality cables like Component cables and hope your CRT TV accepts 31kz 480p video
Hey Niki! Love your amazing content, I have a suggestion you can consider. Maybe you should change the channel name to something else instead of your name. Having a channel called something like Movie Talk is a lot more recognizable and memorable than a persons name. Keep it up, awesome videos dude
I have a question: how did you get the T2 LD to look anamorphic on your flatscreen t.v.? Did you have to adjust the settings because I don't think LDs are anamorphic to begin with?
Honestly it looks pretty good, I might consider getting into LDs as a hobby! I know they're not on the same level as DVD/Blu resolution wise but still very good for home entertainment watching. Maybe studios should reconsider them in the same way as when they brought back vinyl records but they probably never will, people are too spoiled by HD lol! DVD/Blu Ray doesn't have the huge gate fold covers though and LDs just had a much better exterior presentation for collector's, the newer formats just don't have that and feel less special unless it's a box set or something released by Shout Factory or Arrow Video.
There actually were a small number of laserdisc re-releases with the picture squeezed to better fit with a 16x9 tv. Problem is they were stuck like that and couldn't shrink back like a dvd does on a 4x3 set. In the late 90's, very few people had widescreen tv's so they didn't catch on. Terminator 2 was in fact one of them.
So the running time on each side could be either 30 minutes (CAV) or 60 minutes (CLV), at least with NTSC discs. A lot of movies that were over 2 hours (and thus needed more than 2 sides) put about 45 minutes on to even out the amount of video on each part and to ensure the side breaks were put at the least distracting point. For example, Star Wars is 122 minutes. It would have been silly to put 60 minutes on the first 2 sides of disc 1 and then the last 2 minutes on the second disc.
i just bought a pioneer dvl-90 recently i plan on getting those dts converter and hdmi s-video connector to see what this thing can really be like if they were still produced today. the last LD player that came out was in 2009 that`s when they discontinued the LD for ever.
I never had a laserdisc. But I heard some special features were on the laserdisc that didn't pass onto the DVD or bluray version such as ET the extraterrestrial. It has a long making of featurette which I also found on RUclips but it's not on my DVD or bluray versions.
LaserDisc didn't get huge because of 1 thing: It couldn't record. This is completely ridiculous, but people back then only were concerned about recording television. The idea of actually "owning" a movie was alien to most. Then, video rental stores started popping up and they only rented VHS and Beta. The war was between those 2 formats. Laserdisc wasn't even in the ring. It was a niche product. Only the smart, informed people owned it. It was a "high-end" product. It was intentionally designed to be exactly like an LP. This way it would be a "familiar" product even though it was a new product. So the size was never an issue in the beginning. It was the concept of buying and owning a movie. Nobody valued the idea. Then on top of that, the cost of the investment was much more than a tape machine. As the Compact Disc grew bigger in the '80s, Laserdisc grew with it, then the two merged into one. As the demands for home theater became bigger, Laserdisc fit right in and became the standard for A/V movie presentation in the home. But, by that time people were so used to the size of a compact disc, the LD seemed a little bit too big... enter the DVD format.. So there ya go! It is a niche product. Blu-ray has become the same thing. And on we go into the future...
2:02 yeah this is exactly why i don't really buy any release from big studios anymore that all come in shameful pathetic empty plastic cases… but rather Steelbooks or Mediabook releases from smaller labels. Because THOSE actually feel like good releases worthy the class of a Laserdisc.
In Japan laserdisc was huge . And watching and old anime in laserdisc looks much better than some dvd version . Since most studio didn't took care of there old master
The dvd example of Titanic you used is not a fair comparison. It is from the 2012 remaster which is also used for the blu-ray and features a different color timing. The dvd from 1999 might have been sourced from the same master. I'm not sure what capturing equipment you used but some parts (like the sky at 5:52) look less washed on on your vhs. (Maybe because it's a PAL vhs which has more horizontal lines of resolution?) But at 5:59, the lower third of laserdisc shows some vertical lines inside the ship. Notice they are completely blurred by the vhs. This is exactly how the 440 lines vs 220 lines of vertical resolution makes a difference.
How they encode an analog signal into two state pits and lands seems like a voodoo. I wonder how does the track pitch compare to CD, and if there was a possibility for improvement to increase the capacity. CDs got denser over time.
Very informative video, thanks. I grew up with Betamax. Some one mention 'Video 2000' in the comment section, yep I recall that, boy that was a really heavy machine ; - ) I have never own a Laserdisc, in fact i don't even recall any one who bought them. What about subtitles on a laserdisc? Was that even possible?
Hi. I didn't own a laserdisc either. I got my first laserdisc player in 2015! I had VHS and Video2000 in my childhood. I have a few laserdiscs with subtitles, but they are burned in. Since laserdisc is analog, I don't think there's any releases where you can actually turn on subtitles like on DVD. I've heard that you can add subtitles with a caption decoder connected to the TV, but I've never tried it.
Like vhs, some have closed captions that can be turned on or off. Subtitles are burned in permanently, but a lot of widescreen editions have them placed in the black bars.
For the people who dont no if your using a stock av cable on your LaserDisc the picture quality will be completely garbage but if you use a monster AV cable or a monster / THX cable the picture is amazing if you like that movie theatre quality
My Criterion Blu-rays of _Walkabout_ and _Kagemusha_ prove that the digital HD formats can get disc rot every bit as much as Laserdiscs. A problem of manufacturing, not the particular format materials.
There are a lot of misinformed things on this video but let me just talk about Star Wars. The 1993 releases are remastered and have considerable DNR done to them. They have artifacts and the colors are off compared to the original film prints. Thus, they are arguably inferior to the previous widescreen versions: 1986-87 in Japan and 1989 in the US. The 2006 DVD releases aka as "GOUT" didn't "come" from the 1993 THX remastered laser discs. It came from the same masters. And it does live up to DVD standards.
It is worth knotting that when you say the Gout DVDs are sourced from the laserdisc "masters" most people will wonder what you mean when you say "masters". They're not gonna think of Sony D1 master tapes or restored film prints used for the LaserDisc at first. Like me the first thing that came to mind he said "which were sourced from the 1993 Laserdisc masters" the first thing that came to mind was the picture quality.
Didn’t know what these was til about a month ago. Went to eBay and bought two of my favorite movies on laserdisc to add to my collection and to have two of my favorite movies on all forms of physical media available. Titanic and JFK. Might frame them and hang them on my wall
Laserdisc featured true wide screen most DVDs didnt wide screen DVDs would show full picture from side to side but they would cut off part of the picture at the top and bottom of the screen
Great video but disco vision was cdc selctavison and used a vinyl format (black disc) and were in hard plastic sleeves. This type of film was made by RCA. It did not last long and is often confused with laser disc.
Canadian Circuits - Actually DiscoVision was definitely a laserdisc format. It was the name the first batch of laserdiscs went under. I have a few for my player (Jaws, Frankenstein and Psycho). There was indeed some name confusion though, as the CED titles were known as "Videodiscs" while early laserdiscs were actually known under a few different names, such as "Laser Videodisc," "DiscoVision" and "LaserVision"... before finally settling on "Laserdisc."
I have the original Star Wars movies in their original versions on both VHS and DVD, but the now out of print DVDs don't have the best picture quality. But at least their the originals, they're in widescreen unlike the VHS tapes I've got, and they do have a better picture than the VHS tapes.
In the old days people did not have remote control TVs. They had to get up to adjust the sound, change channel etc. And funny thing is that they did NOT mind. They did it without even giving it a thought!!!!! Today we are just spoiled!!! Lol!!!!!🤣🤣🤣
P.S. Excellent review! Although you neglected to talk about the Laserdisc popularity in Japan where it was made out to be far more affordable for the home consumer market there! I just found it strange how a very well researched video missed out on bringing that up as a major point of discussion!
i actually remember watching movies (like the land before time) on laserdisc more than i do watching vhs. i’m 16 so maybe a little young for the prime of vhs. my parents have a collection of about 100 with big titles like star wars and indiana jones, do you think it’s worth much?
Actually NTSC Laserdisc’s can store up to 60 minutes per side, and PAL discs up to 64 minutes. ;)
Thanks for your efforts and posts - I remember being very impressed with Laserdisc in 1983 as compared to VHS, which was still a fairly new technology. I remember wowing the hell out of my friends playing Top Gun through my Sony 27 inch Trinitron and my Carver amp and Cerwin Vega speakers with a JVC stereo VCR and a Fosgate 360 processor that created a phantom center channel and sent a mono signal to two speakers in the rear - That was in 1986. So amazing to have lived through all the incremental advances in technology.
Even before auto-reverse players, flipping and changing discs never bothered me, even the CAV ones. What did bother me a lot was the abysmally awful picture quality of VHS tapes regardless of the "4 hours" of video capacity. I trade convenience in favor of quality anytime, that's why I enjoyed premium audio-video with my LaserDiscs (with proper widescreen aspect ratio and surround sound) during the the two decades before DVD when most people endured with the shitty quality of tapes just to have the benefit of not having to move their butts off the couch.
Convenience is the coffin nail of the poor man's bad decisions… Too bad we the people, who CARE about quality, always have to suffer for the bad choices of the lazy fucks…
Barton Lynch I think another few reasons most people stuck with VHS was stuff like “they already had the players, they couldn’t afford multiple video players, and they needed something to record programs on, etc.” That’s why Laserdisc didn’t break beyond the enthusiast market
yeah why didnt your parents buy a 70mm projector for in the living room
The thing is, I never realized vhs quality was bad until I saw a dvd. My 7th grade science teacher used laser disc for certain lessons and I never realized vhs could not be that sharp. I also figured it was just some fancy interactive tech used by schools. I didnt realize you could watch regular movies on it.
In fact, when I first started using my parents video8 camcorder a year later, I was frustrated that I couldnt figure out how to copy it to a vhs, like all the professional movies had. And vhs had a bigger tape and casette, so it seemed like had to store way more detail.
I love laser discs for getting them autographed! More room for the celeb to sign, easy to frame and take out when you get a chance to get another signature on it. Much more durable than a photo or poster
You couldn't record and you had to flip them but the biggest problem with LD in the 90s is that they were too expensive! The cost of 1 movie was 30 to 50 dollars each and that was back in the 90s. The cheapest players were about 500 dollars for the bottom end unless you bought one in a pawn shop like I did.
That was a trip down memory lane. Oh, the good old days
God I love seeing people still talk about laserdiscs. My collection is a bit sparse but I have a copy of Godzilla 1985 and I'm quite proud of that
Nice! Hold on to it.
Colton West I got the star wars original trilogy unedited versions on laserdisc.
@ Colton West: Doesn't have to be a huge collection. Mine is ca. 60 titles and it probably won't become that much more because i have everything i wanted and am very happy with it.
I had the pioneer laserdisc player (My first was a Sony). Had over 200 laserdiscs. 💿💿💿💿💿
I have all laserdiscs
Major correction needed:
Each side on a disc can hold up to 60 minutes of NTSC/64 minutes of PAL video. But since most movies are 90 minutes minutes in length, each side will contain about 45 minutes of video.
As for the whole thing about CLV vs CAV, CAV is somewhat popular with true LD collectors as they offer both slightly better video quality due to the smaller chance of crosstalk and also has trick play features such as near-perfect still frame, slow motion and less video noise in general. Only caveat is the playing time of each side being cut in half compared to CLV discs, so choosing between a CAV or a CLV version of a movie will always be a choice between convinience or quality.
Other than that, great video.
Ok fair enough. It doesn't change the fact that all my discs only have 45 minutes on each side though.
Shipping costs and furthermore, weight weren't an issue in the 90s. There was no "online" to order things from. Sure you could mail-order them from some places, but you could usually find one rental place (at least) that rented out LDs alongside VHS tapes. Many of the high end AV shops also sold and rented them as well. (also, it was 60mins per side for NTSC anyway. ;)
The 1993 LaserDisc release of the unaltered Original Star Wars Trilogy being hundreds of dollars is why I prefer to get the separate 1995 releases
LaserDiscs are analog, not digital like a DVD/Blu Ray, hence the shorter lengths and deterioration. At the same time though, this means that you can do things like fast-forward no matter what, unlike DVDs/Blu-Rays which often block this at certain points. In my mind though, the cons outweigh the pros.
Being analog has absolutely nothing to do with deterioration.
I had a Pioneer Laserdisc player and over 10 years I never had a single problem with the player. I only gave it up when I made a big move so who know how many more years of life the machine still had in it.
Laserdisc WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL. It stood for almost 30 years and more than 25.000 titles were available.
It didn't catch as the terrible VHS mostly for bad marketing strategies. I myself have about 500 laserdiscs and they are all in perfect condition. I'll never get rid of them.
The LaaserDisc Database now has over 61,000 LD releases in it. That's worldwide though. It was the most popular format in Japan for Anime, and the most popular rental format in Hong Kong. Fortunately the U.S., Hong Kong, and Japan all used the same standard - NTSC, and no region encoding.
Laserdisc's main problem was that it was impossible to record on them, which at the same time was VHS's greatest advantage. Most people bought VCRs to record TV shows, while LaserDisc was trying to introduce a completely new format: Home video.
@@Tuppoo94 Yeah home recording was THE POINT of VHS. Hollywood didn't start selling movies on tapes in a big way until the 80s, it wasn't until Top Gun sold their tapes for the then insanely low price of $27 that the home movie collection became a normal thing. The normal price for big movies on VHS then was $80-$100. LaserDisc was even more expensive. LaserDisc never had the economy of scale to get that cheap and turn a real profit.
Laserdisc is the only format still that had the Criterion Edition of "Seven", which is truly amazing. It contains almost every photo taken during the production including all 365 Sloth Victim photos and one of the funniest blooper reels ever.
Didn't Criterion come about because of the quality of LD?
I think they lost their impact on DVD and are almost irrelevant now on bluray. Still, all those extras, and yes they still source the very best film sources.
So good to find a channel focused on Quality picture and better sound.
I believe we all subscribers have one trait in common: Hi-Standards
On paper laserdisc just seems awful but there is just something about laserdiscs that i love, and i cant stop watching and collecting them
Another important detail worth mentioning is that DTS Laserdisc audio tracks are uncompressed, 1,235 kbit, whereas dvd's are only 768 kbit. An example is JURASSIC PARK on Laserdisc. The dvds and blurays are all remixed, but the DTS Laserdisc is the pure original transfer from theatres.
Some older movies that were 90 minutes or shorter world have split formats. The first side would be CLV and the second side would be CAV. Since most films like BEAST FROM 20, 000 FANTOMS had most of the special effects in the last half-hour that was great because you could step through it.
Excellent video. I'm a laserdisc collector myself. But I recommend not touching the surface of a laserdisc, because you could potentially damage the disc.
I believe that quite a few of these discs have special features that have never been seen on later formats, so if someone is into that sort of stuff,
then that's another incentive to collect these things.
OHHHH!!!!! Mortal Kombat LD... something I wished to own back in the day..
I remember they always had Mortal Kombat playing on LD on a bose system at Sears it was on a 27in tv and a pioneer player I think I watched it 2 times just standing there with people
To grab a disc: hold the sleeve so the disc falls out. Hold the edge (no grabbing) of the disc; then when the hole is out, put your thumb in the hole and your fingers on edge. C simple!
Really nice video!
There was a film format that caught on in Japan in the 80s/90s. Like Laserdisc, it was a disc format, but it was actual vinyl. The player would read the grooves as binary and translate it to video and audio.
You mean VHD
Well, I happen to have a lot of luck in terms of Laserdiscs. I found a Laserdisc player at a local Charity Shop for $60AU. It was an Panasonic NTSC model, and given the rarity of finding such things in a store like this, I decided to go for it. And with the discs being inexpensive now, it's a worthwhile investment.
You can actually freeze frame a CLV disc too, you just need a better Laserdisc player that supports digital memory; like the Pioneer Elite.
oh yeah Poineer released Laserdisc players in the mid 90s with a digital frame buffer so you could freeze frame and cleanly fast forward a CLV Disc with ease.
Still have laserdisc. One nice thing about them is, they didn't have copy protection. Here in Denver, we had a store Laserland, that rented and sold laserdiscs exclusively. Have the 5 set of Warner Bros "Golden age of animation" 5 sets, 5 disks each, 10 cartoons on each side. A lot of early anime was only available on Japan imports. Great Video. Thanks
Laserdiscs had so much use here in Spain in 1993/4/5 because it was the format for karaokes, made by Pioneer (also the players) :)
Karaoke was probably what kept Laserdisc afloat for so long. Japan loves Karaoke and they had some insane Laserdisc jukeboxes, Pioneer was deeply invested in the Karaoke bars themselves.
Love laserdisc. My Pioneer DVL 909 and newer Pioneer amp are a beautiful combo.
great knowledge...... great to know from a greater person.....
Its hard to belive some people never new what laserdisc was crazy I wish they still made them
love your videoes!! :) Such high quality! Keep up the great content!
Interesting. I bought into laserdisc when The Searchers was released on the format.
I own Looney tunes cartoons on laserdisc
OMG the rescuers! I got that vhs stuck in a player once, then bought the DVD. Recently i saw it was on Blu-ray now.
I was curious about laser discs and this really helped, thanks!
To be honest I dont mind flipping discs, cause it gives you time to get up take a bathroom break and stuff or grab something to eat, I mean you could always pause the movie but flipping movies for me is not a big deal.
Interesting stuff about Laser Discs. But I think they were initially released in 1976. I had a copy of ' 76 Popular Science mag touting a player on the cover. And another player makes an appearance in the movie Airport '77. But no doubt in 1978 is when most of the major titles and classics started coming out encouraging the public to buy players and disc's. And I remember LD's being rented before VHS as well.
My uncle had a few when I was a kid and my cousin has been collecting for years of so many classic movies
This was fascinating to watch cause I didn't know what a laserdisc was when we're there things made
WOW I really like the new video format
He forgot an important thing: 1/2 of discs offered ACs (audio commentaries.) In fact some discs had TWO ACs. I pg $110 for Spartacus which had 2 ACs and several docs!
You also need a decoder (sold separate) for better sound orherwise you get static. Tward's the end they were Laserdisc/DVD combo. Also there was HD Laserdisc called Muse Hi-Vision. Also there was a rare 2 Laserdisc machine
HD laserdisc was only released in Japan and was never mainstream. Interesting technology, though.
If Discovision was disco... then LaserDisc was Rock and Roll!
They were pretty popular in Japan back in the day. I think it's because Pioneer subsidized the cost so it was more affordable with VHS.
Rare special features
Original theatrical (lossless) soundtracks
And original cuts of films are 2 big reasons to buy Laserdiscs. The other is beautiful sleeve art.
Super video.
No matter what you say i would much more prefer LD over DVD and Bluray. No trailers of new movies coming out on DVD. No menus to set up. The movie stats straight away on LD not so on DVD or BR. It was no hassle to turn a disc over or change the discs. Hell even in Cinemas they have adverts and ice cream breaks etc. But it was the feeling i got when inserting a huge LD and sit back and enjoy unknown quality in those days
You don't have to flip the disc over if you're playing on the front-loading Laserdisc player. You just have to push the "Side 2" button...
Sweet! You got Twister on laserdisc! Great movie!
I have a old rental copy on CAV
That used to be the case with pausing CLV and CAV discs however with newer players, CLV discs can pause with the frame on screen. Also CLV evolved to CAA discs but still labeled as CLV.
I love Laserdiscs i have 4 players connected to 60” Pioneer Kuro plasma tvs. They look pretty good and sound amazing especially with DTS and Ac-3 digital. I keep buying them especially all Disney remastered versions.
I actually see flipping side since my automatic option broke as good thing to grab a snac etc. dont mind switching sides at all
Great video Niki :-)
I still have a huge collection of laserdiscs.
Did you make that Pewdiepie Jurassic edit? I saw your name and I came here.
AJ R I just got done with that video I also saw his name lol
Yes I did :)
Betamax didn't have better audiovisual quality than VHS. That's an urban legend.
It's a little more complicated than that. The original record mode for Betamax called Beta 1 DID have better picture quality, but they pretty much sacrificed it in order to compete with the longer runtime offered by VHS. The later decks can't even play (much less record) Beta 1. Beta 2 became the standard and it looks pretty much identical to VHS, with Beta 3 being the Betamax equivalent of the LP mode.
At least I assume this to be the case because I've never seen a Beta 1 tape being played back anywhere. Even the comparison videos on youtube are using modern decks that don't support it.
In Beta 1 recording mode, the betamax format could play back video at stronger signal to noise ratio with a horizontal resolution of 250 TV lines . VHS SP mode allows only 240 TV lines with a noiser image
I just saw a laser disc today for the first time and I was like I have never seen a vinyl record like this before😍
If you connected a laser disc, dvd & Blu-ray play to a CRT tv the difference would be nominal but they would all be much better than a VHS. The real benefit of a laser disc came from the audio with a good home theater system - especially if the disc was encoded for AC3, the precursor for Dolby digital sound.
What are you talming about, the jump from laserdisc to dvd to blu ray can still be huge on a CRT TV. You just got to use good quality cables like Component cables and hope your CRT TV accepts 31kz 480p video
Hey Niki!
Love your amazing content, I have a suggestion you can consider. Maybe you should change the channel name to something else instead of your name. Having a channel called something like Movie Talk is a lot more recognizable and memorable than a persons name. Keep it up, awesome videos dude
Yeah I might have to consider that. Thanks for the advice.
I have a question: how did you get the T2 LD to look anamorphic on your flatscreen t.v.? Did you have to adjust the settings because I don't think LDs are anamorphic to begin with?
Correct. I just used the 'aspect'' button on my remote to stretch and zoom the picture.
Honestly it looks pretty good, I might consider getting into LDs as a hobby! I know they're not on the same level as DVD/Blu resolution wise but still very good for home entertainment watching. Maybe studios should reconsider them in the same way as when they brought back vinyl records but they probably never will, people are too spoiled by HD lol! DVD/Blu Ray doesn't have the huge gate fold covers though and LDs just had a much better exterior presentation for collector's, the newer formats just don't have that and feel less special unless it's a box set or something released by Shout Factory or Arrow Video.
There actually were a small number of laserdisc re-releases with the picture squeezed to better fit with a 16x9 tv. Problem is they were stuck like that and couldn't shrink back like a dvd does on a 4x3 set. In the late 90's, very few people had widescreen tv's so they didn't catch on.
Terminator 2 was in fact one of them.
So the running time on each side could be either 30 minutes (CAV) or 60 minutes (CLV), at least with NTSC discs. A lot of movies that were over 2 hours (and thus needed more than 2 sides) put about 45 minutes on to even out the amount of video on each part and to ensure the side breaks were put at the least distracting point.
For example, Star Wars is 122 minutes. It would have been silly to put 60 minutes on the first 2 sides of disc 1 and then the last 2 minutes on the second disc.
Really nice review!
i just bought a pioneer dvl-90 recently i plan on getting those dts converter and hdmi s-video connector to see what this thing can really be like if they were still produced today. the last LD player that came out was in 2009 that`s when they discontinued the LD for ever.
Hey man, I used to have these bro. I had Jurassic Park! These laser discs ran for only two years I believe, mid to late 1990s
Cool comparison sequences great job!
I never had a laserdisc. But I heard some special features were on the laserdisc that didn't pass onto the DVD or bluray version such as ET the extraterrestrial. It has a long making of featurette which I also found on RUclips but it's not on my DVD or bluray versions.
Do one with Anamorphic Laserdiscs!
LaserDisc didn't get huge because of 1 thing: It couldn't record. This is completely ridiculous, but people back then only were concerned about recording television. The idea of actually "owning" a movie was alien to most. Then, video rental stores started popping up and they only rented VHS and Beta. The war was between those 2 formats. Laserdisc wasn't even in the ring. It was a niche product. Only the smart, informed people owned it. It was a "high-end" product.
It was intentionally designed to be exactly like an LP. This way it would be a "familiar" product even though it was a new product. So the size was never an issue in the beginning. It was the concept of buying and owning a movie. Nobody valued the idea. Then on top of that, the cost of the investment was much more than a tape machine.
As the Compact Disc grew bigger in the '80s, Laserdisc grew with it, then the two merged into one. As the demands for home theater became bigger, Laserdisc fit right in and became the standard for A/V movie presentation in the home. But, by that time people were so used to the size of a compact disc, the LD seemed a little bit too big... enter the DVD format..
So there ya go! It is a niche product. Blu-ray has become the same thing. And on we go into the future...
2:02 yeah this is exactly why i don't really buy any release from big studios anymore that all come in shameful pathetic empty plastic cases… but rather Steelbooks or Mediabook releases from smaller labels. Because THOSE actually feel like good releases worthy the class of a Laserdisc.
In Japan laserdisc was huge . And watching and old anime in laserdisc looks much better than some dvd version . Since most studio didn't took care of there old master
The dvd example of Titanic you used is not a fair comparison. It is from the 2012 remaster which is also used for the blu-ray and features a different color timing. The dvd from 1999 might have been sourced from the same master.
I'm not sure what capturing equipment you used but some parts (like the sky at 5:52) look less washed on on your vhs. (Maybe because it's a PAL vhs which has more horizontal lines of resolution?)
But at 5:59, the lower third of laserdisc shows some vertical lines inside the ship. Notice they are completely blurred by the vhs. This is exactly how the 440 lines vs 220 lines of vertical resolution makes a difference.
How they encode an analog signal into two state pits and lands seems like a voodoo. I wonder how does the track pitch compare to CD, and if there was a possibility for improvement to increase the capacity. CDs got denser over time.
Very informative video, thanks. I grew up with Betamax. Some one mention 'Video 2000' in the comment section, yep I recall that, boy that was a really heavy machine ; - ) I have never own a Laserdisc, in fact i don't even recall any one who bought them. What about subtitles on a laserdisc? Was that even possible?
Hi. I didn't own a laserdisc either. I got my first laserdisc player in 2015! I had VHS and Video2000 in my childhood. I have a few laserdiscs with subtitles, but they are burned in. Since laserdisc is analog, I don't think there's any releases where you can actually turn on subtitles like on DVD. I've heard that you can add subtitles with a caption decoder connected to the TV, but I've never tried it.
Like vhs, some have closed captions that can be turned on or off. Subtitles are burned in permanently, but a lot of widescreen editions have them placed in the black bars.
Someday, I’ll get a laserdisc player and Lion King on CLV and CAV.
Betamax released in 1975.
VHS in 1976.
nice niki i enjoyed your video
For the people who dont no if your using a stock av cable on your LaserDisc the picture quality will be completely garbage but if you use a monster AV cable or a monster / THX cable the picture is amazing if you like that movie theatre quality
My Criterion Blu-rays of _Walkabout_ and _Kagemusha_ prove that the digital HD formats can get disc rot every bit as much as Laserdiscs. A problem of manufacturing, not the particular format materials.
you should do an video about movie formats before VHS (super 8 8mm etc)
I have a good LaserDisc collection and still watch then.
9:35 there is someone scream VHS tapes and don't forget about dvhs
There are a lot of misinformed things on this video but let me just talk about Star Wars.
The 1993 releases are remastered and have considerable DNR done to them. They have artifacts and the colors are off compared to the original film prints. Thus, they are arguably inferior to the previous widescreen versions: 1986-87 in Japan and 1989 in the US.
The 2006 DVD releases aka as "GOUT" didn't "come" from the 1993 THX remastered laser discs. It came from the same masters. And it does live up to DVD standards.
It is worth knotting that when you say the Gout DVDs are sourced from the laserdisc "masters" most people will wonder what you mean when you say "masters". They're not gonna think of Sony D1 master tapes or restored film prints used for the LaserDisc at first. Like me the first thing that came to mind he said "which were sourced from the 1993 Laserdisc masters" the first thing that came to mind was the picture quality.
On your NTSC/PAL player, does it output both standards or do you have to convert a PAL output to NTSC?
My dad has a laserdisc player and it still works to this day
Maybe is a good thing laser disc did win the format war. Imagine the size of a camcorder. Not to mention the battery.
great uploads you do informative.
LD's. Iconic. Nothing like a little Criterion action.
Didn’t know what these was til about a month ago. Went to eBay and bought two of my favorite movies on laserdisc to add to my collection and to have two of my favorite movies on all forms of physical media available. Titanic and JFK. Might frame them and hang them on my wall
Laserdisc featured true wide screen most DVDs didnt wide screen DVDs would show full picture from side to side but they would cut off part of the picture at the top and bottom of the screen
Great video but disco vision was cdc selctavison and used a vinyl format (black disc) and were in hard plastic sleeves. This type of film was made by RCA. It did not last long and is often confused with laser disc.
Canadian Circuits - Actually DiscoVision was definitely a laserdisc format. It was the name the first batch of laserdiscs went under. I have a few for my player (Jaws, Frankenstein and Psycho).
There was indeed some name confusion though, as the CED titles were known as "Videodiscs" while early laserdiscs were actually known under a few different names, such as "Laser Videodisc," "DiscoVision" and "LaserVision"... before finally settling on "Laserdisc."
You may be correct sir! My mistake lol. Thanks
Very Much informative video! I Love it Man!
I have the original Star Wars movies in their original versions on both VHS and DVD, but the now out of print DVDs don't have the best picture quality. But at least their the originals, they're in widescreen unlike the VHS tapes I've got, and they do have a better picture than the VHS tapes.
Didn't catch on?!?! It lasted between 1978 to 2001. VHS started in 1977 and stopped in 2008. So laserdisc did really well actually.
Yeah I love my small laserdisc collection and videos like this made me want to get into it! Yeah I love having 10 movies but I want more
I think the same can be said about 4k movies. I'm the only one that has a 4k player and movies amongst my family and friends.
How did you hook up your laserdisc player to your flat screen? Interesting video thank you.
I have a vcr/dvd player. To hook up to my tv screen, I use an AV cable
In the old days people did not have remote control TVs. They had to get up to adjust the sound, change channel etc. And funny thing is that they did NOT mind. They did it without even giving it a thought!!!!! Today we are just spoiled!!! Lol!!!!!🤣🤣🤣
I'm 32 and have been wearing glasses since I was 7, and I have no problems reading small print on the back of a blu ray box, come on son. 😝
Same and I'm 26
Nothing but Pioneer Laserdisc players in 90% of Laserdisc videos on youtube!
P.S. Excellent review! Although you neglected to talk about the Laserdisc popularity in Japan where it was made out to be far more affordable for the home consumer market there! I just found it strange how a very well researched video missed out on bringing that up as a major point of discussion!
i actually remember watching movies (like the land before time) on laserdisc more than i do watching vhs. i’m 16 so maybe a little young for the prime of vhs. my parents have a collection of about 100 with big titles like star wars and indiana jones, do you think it’s worth much?
I still own many; the ave price was $40, that was the main killer
2:15 omg you have robin hood