Laserdisc wasn't a success because Rachael didn't buy enough Hi-Vision discs :D

Laserdisc wasn't a success because Rachael didn't buy enough Hi-Vision discs :D

...well yeah, I'll 'fess up to that if you take the rap for the demise of RCA because of all those CED's that you didn't buy....;)

I just won an auction for a working Panasonic lx-600. optical out, auto reverse, made in '93 for $62 shipped. Good deal?

Decent deal.. I try to steer people to more current players when possible is all.

I always wondered about the Helium lasers used in the earliest LD units...were these prone to simply 'wear out' over time?
I did some reading on wiki but never really got a concrete answer. They did mention that scientists/hobbyists would cannibalize old LD units to get these lasers, but not much else.
The gas powered LD machines really sucked big time. They had a very hard time reproducing color in the red spectrum and they were prone to many breakdowns. When watching them I always got the impression that it was all they could do to put a picture on the screen. Later machines were infinitely better.

...well yeah, I'll 'fess up to that if you take the rap for the demise of RCA because of all those CED's that you didn't buy....;)

Guilty as charged.

:)

To the OP: Yes, I think Laserdisc was a success. As was stated earlier, it put Pioneer on the map as a CE company.

My mom bought her first player in '85, I think. She still has one, and uses one, and she's 82!

It got me hooked on HT stuff. I have two players; a CLD-703 with a Precision Laserdisc AC-3 mod and a CLD-99. In fact, I bought my AVR off ebay several years ago - I got a Denon AVR-5700 because it had a built-in AC-3 demodulator. This was well before I had a house for a home theater, let alone the theater itself. I knew I would be watching Laserdiscs in it, though.

My wife went through an ebay buying period. She got almost all the Hitchcock films. I got almost all the Bonds.

When we finally built the HT I had cabinets custom-made to hold my disk collection.

http://www.c-not-k.com/OddsEnds/MtHebron/HomeImprovement/HT/Full/IMG_0191.JPG

(The movie is a British cartoon "Superted", which my kids loved. We also got a lot of classic Disney on LD)

http://www.c-not-k.com/OddsEnds/MtHebron/HomeImprovement/HT/Full/IMG_0322.JPG


BTW, duct tape over your deck's S-video output. It's useless. If the CLD-99's comb filter is flawed in this day and age...

Thanks for the tip. I have a nice scaler (Crystalio II). I'll feed it composite and post my observations later.

I love your Superted disc. I got some VHS and DVD's of it, as it was aired in Norway in the mid-80's, so it brings back some memories.

The gas powered LD machines really sucked big time. They had a very hard time reproducing color in the red spectrum and they were prone to many breakdowns. When watching them I always got the impression that it was all they could do to put a picture on the screen. Later machines were infinitely better.

You should see my LD-1100 - it puts out an incredible picture - the problem with the top loading gas-laser players was that their alignment, both the laser and the circuitry, was so persnickety. But once it was properly aligned, they can match modern players in terms of SN and chroma - NOT resolution though - they do provide full NTSC Chroma resolution but their RF circuitry cuts off at around 350 lines or so - my LD-1100 can show a solid 380 lines with Video Standard LD. And, it will track anything - the red He/Ne laser is so tight that it sails through defects that cause later, solid-state, laser-players to stick or skip. And with absolutely no crosstalk... of course, it's not a 'standard' LD-1100 - it's a "dealer" player, one hand-tweaked by Pioneer for heavy use on the showroom floor. A few VP-1000's were made that way too - they had the VP-1000A+ designation on the back - not just the "A", the "+" had to be there too. All resistors, etc... had tighter specs, more QC, etc...

I actually prefer the picture from a gas laser player - there's no noise reduction or anything on the image - it delivers exactly whats on the disc. And combined with an excellent comb-filter and deinterlacing my LD-1100 looks fantastic on the Sanyo Z3 projector - some of the old DiscoVision transfers were so good they take on a 3D look - like the CAV PSYCHO. The rarer educational titles like "The Amish" also look fantastic - like you are viewing an actual 16mm print, not video.

I have a question regarding surround sound and laserdiscs. Is it true that an LD player with optical out cannot output surround sound? Or does the player need AC-3 RF out?

So a LD movie with AC-3 needs a player with AC-3 RF out?

Surround sound is to broad of a term.....

Out the Optical via PCM you can get... 2 channel, Prologic level surround, and if your AVR / pre-pro has a DTS decoder you can get nice full real DTS out of it.


What you can't do is get DD 5.1 as this cannot be transmitted via PCM. You need the AC3 out, and an AC3 to DD demodulator or an AVR / Pre-Pro that has an actual AC3 input on it.

wow i forgot all about laser discs. never realised they lasted as long as they did. i only ever knew one person that had an LD player and thats where i watched my first and only LD film (well not my film it was the blokes who owned the LD player), i think it was predator or something like that. it was really quite amazing, he had iall hooked up to some mad sound system. can you still buy players and discs?

yes, you can still buy players and discs... I believe the last new players were made in 2002 though.

Real fun to collect, and they don't cost hardly nothing to collect, own, and watch.

To the OP, no LD was not a success IMO. It did enjoy some measure of success in that it survived as a niche product for many years. However, the lack of market penetration reached by LD - particularly in light of what DVD did - shows that it was a failed format. I think if you look at the Video market as a whole that's the only logical conclusion.

So any new product has to have DVD player and media type penatration to be considered a success?

I think your setting the bar to high here. Laserdisc was a sucess becuase everybody involved made real money at it at one point and time. :)

Well that and 50,000 titles.

Laserdisc was a great success. I had good PQ and AQ (at that time), whereas hardly anyone else did. I do not regret the money that I spend.

BR is about to blow it. If it becomes mass-market, then everyone will have PQ and AQ, in which case it is jut another commodity. It is like everyone becomes a billionaire, in which case no one is really wealthy.

No, DVD just illustrates how ripe the market was for a better widget. LD failed to be that widget. That's all I'm saying.

If LD had captured more than just a token percentage of the market then I'd have a different opinion. But single digit percentage of overall revenue is insignificant. LD was only profitable because the equipment and movies were outrageously expensive. It was a catch-22. High prices made it viable, but prevented it from really succeeding.

LD was only profitable because the equipment and movies were outrageously expensive. It was a catch-22. High prices made it viable, but prevented it from really succeeding.


Huh? Most movies were priced between $29-$39 MSRP. That was at a time when most VHS movies were priced for rental only ($60-$90), and the occasional mass-market VHS sell through title was $19. Many VHS tapes were $24-$29, making LD comparable to VHS if not priced a bit higher for a significant quality increase.

Players could be had for relatively inexpensive pricing (basic features), whereas double-sided play and more widgets = higher pricing.

LD was a success - otherwise it wouldn't have survived the 20+ years it did, receiving nearly universal studio support. Was it a commercial success? In the U.S., not anywhere near VHS - but most people with VHS didn't buy their tapes, they recorded them off air or copied them from video stores until Macrovision kicked in. Even then, VHS owners tended to be mostly renters whereas LD owners were movie collectors.

Nevermind LD helped usher in widescreen, digital sound, as well as "directors cuts" or "Special editions". In that regard, LD was a 100% success that DVD continued to build off of.

Was it a commercial success? In the U.S., not anywhere near VHS

And that is the crux of my position. LD was simply not a success when you look at the total market and are objective in analyzing it.

As far as the pricing on movies, $29-39 was outrageously expensive. This is particularly true given how many years ago we're talking. It is also true that many movies were not priced to be owned on VHS either (but some were and priced much cheaper than that), but this is all beside my point.

LD was was limited to a very small market segment. So of course to the people within that small group they are going to consider it a success. But to the other 90+ percentage of the population it was a failure that was not worth buying into.

No, DVD just illustrates how ripe the market was for a better widget. LD failed to be that widget. That's all I'm saying.

If LD had captured more than just a token percentage of the market then I'd have a different opinion. But single digit percentage of overall revenue is insignificant. LD was only profitable because the equipment and movies were outrageously expensive. It was a catch-22. High prices made it viable, but prevented it from really succeeding.

I fixed that for you.....

"If Bluray had captured more than just a token percentage of the market then I'd have a different opinion. But single digit percentage of overall revenue is insignificant. Bluray was only profitable because the equipment and movies were outrageously expensive. It was a catch-22. High prices made it viable, but prevented Bluray from really succeeding...."


:)

To the OP, no LD was not a success IMO. It did enjoy some measure of success in that it survived as a niche product for many years. However, the lack of market penetration reached by LD - particularly in light of what DVD did - shows that it was a failed format. I think if you look at the Video market as a whole that's the only logical conclusion.

When you say this, do you have even an inling of how much market penetration was achieved in Asia? Do you have any idea how sucessful LD was as an industrial product? Failed products don't persist for 20+ years and sell on multiple fronts.

As for a industrial product, I use to program a verity of displays for retail store display, exhibits, amusement parks, etc. big multi cube displays. interactive, mechanical, robotic, automated devices that used a combination of LD, barcode, and computer control.

LD was was limited to a very small market segment. So of course to the people within that small group they are going to consider it a success. But to the other 90+ percentage of the population it was a failure that was not worth buying into.

Fishing rods only sell to a limited market segment, folks who fish. I suppose fishing rods are a commercial failure because everybody doesn't have one. I bet that's reassuring to bass, pike, and trout.... ;)

As for a industrial product, I use to program a verity of displays for retail store display, exhibits, amusement parks, etc. big multi cube displays. interactive, mechanical, robotic, automated devices that used a combination of LD, barcode, and computer control.
...not to forget the millions of Arcade machines which were produced before the video game industry crash.

Fishing rods only sell to a limited market segment, folks who fish. I suppose fishing rods are a commercial failure because everybody doesn't have one. I bet that's reassuring to bass, pike, and trout.... ;)

Exactly! And LD was simply HUGE in Japan!

And that is the crux of my position. LD was simply not a success when you look at the total market and are objective in analyzing it. As far as the pricing on movies, $29-39 was outrageously expensive.

LD was was limited to a very small market segment. So of course to the people within that small group they are going to consider it a success. But to the other 90+ percentage of the population it was a failure that was not worth buying into.

Sorry to say - don't lump me into a group that considers it a success. My opinion as does yours is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is Pioneer, Sony, Panasonic, and a host of other companies felt it was a compelling and profitable market. Otherwise they wouldn't have supplied players and other associated hardware for 20+ years.

The other fact of the matter is that *every* major movie studio felt that laserdisc was a success, otherwise they wouldn't have supported the format with movies for the past 20+ years. And success means that they not only released on that format, they actually put MORE effort into laserdisc releases: Dolby Digital on later discs, widescreen versions (in addition to pan-and scan, no cheap feat), special editions, all the things you could NOT find on VHS (or Beta) or even Video-CD.

So I'll say it again - laserdisc was a success because all of the necessary companies supported it for all these years with product. Unsuccessful products or formats don't survive this long.

And Rachael's annecdote is spot on -

I stumbled across this thread and enjoyed reading and could not resist throwing my $.02 in. I am a long time audio/video junkie - and still have many laser disc titles that have never been replaced on dvd. Both my Pioneer DVL-909 combo players are still hooked up and functional, my Sony laser disc is hooked up and functional up in the mountain cabin (where laser discs that have been replaced by dvd's go to live) and I'm sure the original Panasonic laserdisc player that got me started is stashed in a closet somewhere still. Everything still works - well, except for the group of mostly Sony/Columbia discs that went into laser rot due to shoddy manufacturing. Each step along the home theater path has provided improved, ongoing enjoyment, and laser disc was a very important technological development and key milestone along that path. In spite of the niche market share it never got past, it was very successful and long lived. And it still gets used occasionally around here. :cool:

It can extract Dolby PL from the PCM tracks, it can also decode DTS from optical.

When you say this, do you have even an inling of how much market penetration was achieved in Asia? Do you have any idea how sucessful LD was as an industrial product? Failed products don't persist for 20+ years and sell on multiple fronts.

Look at how long Betamax hung around. Sony made players over a period of 16 years. Nobody questions that is a failed format. Longevity is just one measure of success, in and of itself it does not prove LD was an overall successful platform.

As far as Asian market penetration, I won't argue that LD was vastly more successful over there. My position is that it was a failed product in the broader global market, and particularly in the US.

Fishing rods only sell to a limited market segment, folks who fish. I suppose fishing rods are a commercial failure because everybody doesn't have one. I bet that's reassuring to bass, pike, and trout.... ;)

This is a very flawed analogy. The home video market was anything but small, it was just untapped by LD. The majority of households owned a VCR, and the majority of households moved on to DVD. There was widespread interest in owning movies. LD could have been the next step after VHS. The fact that it was not proves its failure.

Sorry to say - don't lump me into a group that considers it a success. My opinion as does yours is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is Pioneer, Sony, Panasonic, and a host of other companies felt it was a compelling and profitable market. Otherwise they wouldn't have supplied players and other associated hardware for 20+ years.

The other fact of the matter is that *every* major movie studio felt that laserdisc was a success, otherwise they wouldn't have supported the format with movies for the past 20+ years. And success means that they not only released on that format, they actually put MORE effort into laserdisc releases: Dolby Digital on later discs, widescreen versions (in addition to pan-and scan, no cheap feat), special editions, all the things you could NOT find on VHS (or Beta) or even Video-CD.

So I'll say it again - laserdisc was a success because all of the necessary companies supported it for all these years with product. Unsuccessful products or formats don't survive this long.

And Rachael's annecdote is spot on -

Profit and success are two different things. The Chicago Cubs are a profitable endeavor, they just haven't had success in 100 years (their last World Series championship was 1908). LD was profitable, there is no question about that. Every major studio supporting LD only proves that they wanted it to succeed, and there was money to be made in the market. None of those facts prove that LD was actually a success.

On the other hand, the fact that LD was never more than a niche product while DVD took the world by storm shows that LD was actually a failure.

Profit and success are two different things. None of those facts prove that LD was actually a success.

On the other hand, the fact that LD was never more than a niche product while DVD took the world by storm shows that LD was actually a failure.

Actually it does - unsuccessful (i.e. unprofitable businesses) don't continue for that length of time.

And for LD vs DVD - LD had run its course, and that does not prove that the success of DVD = failure for LD. In fact, DVD wasn't off to a rip roaring start either. It wasn't until many years into DVD production when cheap players (sub-$100 + game systems) really brought it into the mass market. Know who kept DVD going initially? LD supporters.

The mass market adopted DVD because it became really cheap (even vs. VCRs), and they didn't have to flip discs. Know when that was? Quite a bit after LD had already been laid to rest.

When DVD was released I was the 1st person on the block (literally) who owned a player. Guess what? I kept buying LDs since DVD PQ at the time was cruddy. After a while I moved more and more towards DVD just becuase it's getting so difficult to get new titles on LD.

Look at how long Betamax hung around. Sony made players over a period of 16 years. Nobody questions that is a failed format.

...but I would! Beta was a supremely sucessful industrial format. It has a strong parallel to LD's success.

Listening to you spin up these various arguments, one can only sumise that to you LD is a failure because you didn't have it.

...but I would! Beta was a supremely sucessful industrial format. It has a strong parallel to LD's success.

Listening to you spin up these various arguments, one can only sumise that to you LD is a failure because you didn't have it.

Agreed.

However, for Beta, movie studios stopped releasing content on the format. Even after Sony bought Columbia/Tri-star, it'd be a number of years before Beta would cease. But even then, Sony didn't start issuing Beta tapes again.

Beta survived via hardware, but no software in the last 3/4 of the 1980s. Laserdisc was around because there was software, and that's what helps ensure a formats survival, regardless how 'success' can be debated.

I actually have some prerecorded beta titles from universal from the early 1990's. When did pre recorded betamax stop?

I remember that I see the options on Betamax and VHS at Columbia House video club in 1992. That's 100% for sure.

...but I would! Beta was a supremely sucessful industrial format. It has a strong parallel to LD's success.

Listening to you spin up these various arguments, one can only sumise that to you LD is a failure because you didn't have it.

Rachael, we obviously are on the 'same side of the fence', so I'm not trying to give you $hit or start an argument, but I just wanted to say that home Betamax and the various Betacam formats have absolutely NOTHING in common other than one of the three sizes of available Betacam cassette shell happens to be the same size as the consumer Beta format and "Beta" is used in the name. Oh, and they use half-inch tape. The large Betacam cassette is more like VHS due to its size - and Sony pretty much abandoned the U-Load early on for the Betacam formats. Otherwise, they are completely different. Betacam and the M-II format have more in common than Consumer Beta and Betacam.

I bring this up because I see a lot of people mentioning it and it's always kinda 'bugged' me as an argument for Betamax - do you know what I mean? I, personally, love (ed) the Beta format - SuperHi-Band ßIs is STILL is a fantastic recording format. And I still use my GCS-50 with dbx-II Noise Reduction for recording long talk-radio broadcasts and stuff. (I use the dbx-II because it completely eliminates any problem with later Beta Hi-Fi compander mis-tracking when playing on a different Beta Hi-Fi VCR - a real problem that Sony NEVER addressed)

One side-note - back in the day many, many people, including those in Sony's American consumer division, lobbied Sony to introduce a larger cassette size for the Betamax to increase recording time - and once Sony came out with the large Betacam cassette, they lobbied even harder - asking Sony to 're-cast' the small Beta cassette size as a "Betamovie" tape and the large-size tape for up to 20 hours of home recording on a single tape. But, like Sony refusing the plea's for Betamovie to have built-in playback capability, electronic viewfinders and Hi-Fi audio recording, Sony completely ignored the idea of a large-size consumer cassette. Yet, when the DV format effort was underway, it was Sony who suggested the large size cassette with the small size for camcorders. They can be an incredibly stubborn and downright self-defeating company.

A question out of curiosity (since Beta was *not* a factor at all in my country): how many home video titles have been released for beta?

A question out of curiosity (since Beta was *not* a factor at all in my country): how many home video titles have been released for beta?

A lot! Seriously, I've been Googling and can't find hard numbers - up until 1987 or so, EVERYTHING was released on both Beta and VHS - after that, only 'top' titles were released on Beta - the final Pre-recorded Beta tapes were released in 1993 by Paramount. So, it's hundreds of thousands of titles.

A lot! Seriously, I've been Googling and can't find hard numbers - up until 1987 or so, EVERYTHING was released on both Beta and VHS - after that, only 'top' titles were released on Beta - the final Pre-recorded Beta tapes were released in 1993 by Paramount. So, it's hundreds of thousands of titles.
Interesting. It seems in Europe VHS had the lead, but there are no hard numbers to be found either --- anyway most of the tapes must have rotted in the meantime.

Just trying to get the release numbers of LD (worldwide 40.000? or even more) in relation to Beta.

Disclord, I knew the vagaries of how Beta evolved away from the consumer format. I've seen some of that equipment but never used it. When I used to work with videographers, we mainly used PAL Hi-8 and Super VHS. Things got moved to NTSC after editing. One of the videographers I worked with had a Beta cam that used the bigger tape but he didn't use it except for the occasional, bigger jobs. For wedding and such we usually shot PAL Hi-8. I don't recall ever using that Betacam.

You obviously are much more well versed on Beta than I. My sister and her hubbie used Beta to record TV till the mid-90's when their last deck fizzled. I never had it. I'm far from an expert on all the various Beta systems which sound like their biggest simularity is the name.

I'm so on the LD team that I watched one last night, Mutiny On The Bounty, 1935. Academy Ratio films is my main LD intrest these days. I even have a Gable/Crawford boxset with 4 movies yet to view. Spin on, brothers and sisters.... :)

Interesting. It seems in Europe VHS had the lead, but there are no hard numbers to be found either --- anyway most of the tapes must have rotted in the meantime.

Just trying to get the release numbers of LD (worldwide 40.000? or even more) in relation to Beta.

From Wiki:


It was estimated that in 1998, laserdisc players were in approximately 2% of US households (roughly two million).[4] By comparison, in 1999, players were in 10% of Japanese households.[5] Laserdisc has been completely replaced by DVD in the North American retail marketplace, as neither players nor software are now produced there. Laserdisc has retained some popularity among American collectors and, to a greater degree, in Japan, where the format was better supported and more prevalent during its life. In Europe, laserdisc has always remained an obscure format.

If memory serves me . . . 18,000+ titles released in the USA and 36,000+ released in Japan . . .not sure though.

Disclord, I knew the vagaries of how Beta evolved away from the consumer format. I've seen some of that equipment but never used it. When I used to work with videographers, we mainly used PAL Hi-8 and Super VHS. Things got moved to NTSC after editing. One of the videographers I worked with had a Beta cam that used the bigger tape but he didn't use it except for the occasional, bigger jobs. For wedding and such we usually shot PAL Hi-8. I don't recall ever using that Betacam.

You obviously are much more well versed on Beta than I. My sister and her hubbie used Beta to record TV till the mid-90's when their last deck fizzled. I never had it. I'm far from an expert on all the various Beta systems which sound like their biggest simularity is the name.

I'm so on the LD team that I watched one last night, Mutiny On The Bounty, 1935. Academy Ratio films is my main LD intrest these days. I even have a Gable/Crawford boxset with 4 movies yet to view. Spin on, brothers and sisters.... :)

Oh, I still watch LD's all the time too! Even my old MCA DiscoVision titles.

I feel sorry for people who are 'offended' by old or discontinued technology - you know the kind of people I mean, the ones who act like they'll get cooties if they have some dead format/software around - when a format dies, they are the first to sell off EVERYTHING they have for it.

You know, the thing that's interesting about Academy Ratio is that even back in the 30's the vast majority of theaters cropped the image in some form - a survey of theaters during the showing of Gone With The Wind in 1939 showed that the most common crop was 1.66. I don't think anyone considered that "widescreen" though - it was just the way they showed the movie, you know?

^ I watched my MCA "laser videodisc" of "Videodrome" a few weeks ago. :) Damn thing is almost as old as I am but still spins like a champ.

http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/30230/11018/Videodrome-(1982)

You know, the thing that's interesting about Academy Ratio is that even back in the 30's the vast majority of theaters cropped the image in some form - a survey of theaters during the showing of Gone With The Wind in 1939 showed that the most common crop was 1.66. I don't think anyone considered that "widescreen" though - it was just the way they showed the movie, you know?

A theory that fits the facts is that theatres had over-sized screens that predated the standardization of the aspect ratio. Before that, ratios were all over the place including, literally widescreen, as we know it, occasionally. I know they did some films in France that were akin to Panavision.

I have quite a few DiscoVision discs too, maybe 50. I have a friend that has over 100. They circulated alot here. This area had a bunch of Philips-Magnavox plants back then. On quite a few Christmases, they rewarded employees with MagnaVision players and discs. I have one of the decks that I bought for $50 with a pile of discs some years ago. It stille works. I wasn't really that intrested in DiscoVision discs till I got an HLD-X9. Then, I could make somethin' of the discs.

I have LD for the duration..... :)

Rachael do you have any of the Disney Discovision titles? And if so, do they still play?

^ I watched my MCA "laser videodisc" of "Videodrome" a few weeks ago. :) Damn thing is almost as old as I am but still spins like a champ.

http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/30230/11018/Videodrome-(1982)

Blasphemy! You should watch that on betamax!

Rachael do you have any of the Disney Discovision titles? And if so, do they still play?
I am not Rachael, but I do have several Disney Discovision laser discs. They all play fine if I remember right, though probably none of mine are entirely free of artifacts.

I feel sorry for people who are 'offended' by old or discontinued technology - you know the kind of people I mean, the ones who act like they'll get cooties if they have some dead format/software around - when a format dies, they are the first to sell off EVERYTHING they have for it.

Is that group any better or worse than the people who absolutely disdain and find all the faults in any new technology? I am on another forum, for collectors of old equipment, and there is just a constant roar of whining there about anything non-CRT and/or digital.

Rachael do you have any of the Disney Discovision titles? And if so, do they still play?


Yes, I have a bunch of their cartoons. When I bought the MagniVision player, they were in the lot of discs. They, mostly, play well on an HLD-X9. It's been a long time since I tried them in a reg-lar player. The ones that don't play well, it's mostly because of scuffs. Children, obviously, had a goodie time beating, well, playing 'em. ;)

I'd bet that, short of the X9, my MagnaVision deck would be the next best player for them....?

A theory that fits the facts is that theatres had over-sized screens that predated the standardization of the aspect ratio. Before that, ratios were all over the place including, literally widescreen, as we know it, occasionally. I know they did some films in France that were akin to Panavision.

I have quite a few DiscoVision discs too, maybe 50. I have a friend that has over 100. They circulated alot here. This area had a bunch of Philips-Magnavox plants back then. On quite a few Christmases, they rewarded employees with MagnaVision players and discs. I have one of the decks that I bought for $50 with a pile of discs some years ago. It stille works. I wasn't really that intrested in DiscoVision discs till I got an HLD-X9. Then, I could make somethin' of the discs.

I have LD for the duration..... :)

My partner and I have about 400 DiscoVision-label titles - but that includes duplicates and Test-Pressings.

The Magnavision players made outside the USA were VERY different electrically, than the US version - Philips corrected all of the design mistakes of the player and also changed the circuitry to conform to the discs actually being pressed by MCA in California. So, it ended up being a much more reliable player with better overall quality than the Magnavision VH-8000 and VH-8005 sold in the USA.

BTW, for the USA models, the "CH00x" after the model number on the back of the Magnavision player or on the box, such as "VH-8000CH003" refers to the 'version' of the circuitry contained inside. The VH-8000CH001 had the original Philips 'VLP' circuitry that was designed in 1976 - the players were manufactured in Holland and sent to America as a 'parts-kit' for final assembly by hand - the player only conformed with the original CAV Standard Play specifications, but when being assembled by Magnavox here in the USA, the player was modified to enable playback of CLV Extended Play discs. The VH-8000CH002 is a mid-1979 version with various updates (over 300) applied at the factory in Holland. The VH-8000CH003 is the 1980 model that has a new laser slider assembly and electronics that finally conform fully to the types of discs that MCA was making. The CH003 could really be considered the "mass market" version of the Magnavision - in addition to the new laser slider, all the electronics were redesigned and it was 100% made and assembled here in America by Magnavox. There was also CH004 and CH005 that have minor parts changes where Philips couldn't get a certain part and it had to have a substitute. Same with the VH-8005 (remote-control version) - it starts at CH001 and is based on the 8000's CH003 chassis. There is also a VH-8005CH002 and that's where the line ends.

yikes, an image I did aught to forget. I remember that betamax scene in Videodrome. eeek!

Is that group any better or worse than the people who absolutely disdain and find all the faults in any new technology? I am on another forum, for collectors of old equipment, and there is just a constant roar of whining there about anything non-CRT and/or digital.

The problem is that way too often, formats that bring supposed improvements are hyped without any note of their drawbacks.

Discrete pixel sets provide a great picture, but they still don't look as good as the pictures provided by well setup CRTs, either direct view or projectors.

DVDs are great and have wonderful blacks, but can't do the trick play things and aren't frame accessible like CAV Laserdiscs. LD also has no macroblocking.

Blu-Ray is great, but I don't have to update the firmware in my DVD player monthly to make sure I can watch the latest title.

CDs promised "perfect sound" but of course the original CDs sounded like garbage, with LP providing superior soundstaging and greater warmth in many cases even today.

The bottom line is that the newer technologies generally do provide improvements, but they're certainly not improvements in all areas.

I don't think it's being a Luddite to point that out.

Blu-Ray is great, but I don't have to update the firmware in my DVD player monthly to make sure I can watch the latest title..

DVD was the last piece (IMO) electronics device that didn't require firmware updates. My Nintendo Wii, PSP, PS3, Blu-Ray player, iPod, Samsung flat panel, Tvix, you name it seems every electronics device these days requires firmware updates.

DVD was the last piece (IMO) electronics device that didn't require firmware updates. My Nintendo Wii, PSP, PS3, Blu-Ray player, iPod, Samsung flat panel, Tvix, you name it seems every electronics device these days requires firmware updates.

To be honest, my DVD player has required firmware updates as well, and I recall Pioneer releasing a new ROM for my LD player.

So the increasing requirement for ever more frequent firmware updates is a good thing?

Frankly, this is one of the reasons I do not at present recommend to friends and family that they buy a Blu-Ray player. Between lockups, the need for frequent firmware updates and other glitches, it's really still an early adopter technology rather than something I'd feel comfortable providing to someone that didn't want to update their player every six weeks.

I had a nostalgic weekend spinning Laser-rays.... The Fall Of The Roman Empire, Mutiny On The Bounty (1935), Heartbreak Hotel, and No Time For Sergeants. It firmwared my brain.

I spun "Ten Commandments" off of LD over the weekend. :)


Well.. Kucharsk... I have the feeling from now on. Even things like the fridge are going to need them. So I am no so sure your strategy is going to pay off for anybody that waits over those that buy now or even have purchased Blu-ray.

Guys, I finally picked up a player and several discs. Player is a CLD-D604. But, I have a problem hopefully someone has a suggestion.
Player powers on, plays CDs great, but laserdiscs just eject automatically after a few seconds of trying to read (tried several discs). I'm guessing it has something to do with it not being able to either grab and/or read the disc (duh ;) )
Any suggestions? I'm not opposed to poking my head inside...
thanks,
brian

An old roommate of mine, probably around '93, had a LD player. I must have watched 'Cheech and Chong - Up in Smoke' close to 30 times.

Guys, I finally picked up a player and several discs. Player is a CLD-D604. But, I have a problem hopefully someone has a suggestion.
Player powers on, plays CDs great, but laserdiscs just eject automatically after a few seconds of trying to read (tried several discs). I'm guessing it has something to do with it not being able to either grab and/or read the disc (duh ;) )
Any suggestions? I'm not opposed to poking my head inside...
thanks,
brian

The repair may not be worth it. I think I'd just shoot for a different player. Pioneer at last check still supported their LD players, so parts shoudl be available.

Guys, I finally picked up a player and several discs. Player is a CLD-D604. But, I have a problem hopefully someone has a suggestion.
Player powers on, plays CDs great, but laserdiscs just eject automatically after a few seconds of trying to read (tried several discs). I'm guessing it has something to do with it not being able to either grab and/or read the disc (duh ;) )
Any suggestions? I'm not opposed to poking my head inside...
thanks,
brian


I think there's a pad on the disc pick-up that gets slick and needs cleaning or replacing eventually. That might be all there is to it? "Baby LD's", CD's, are easier to grab at their low weight. I'm thinkin' you proably don't have a serious problem but I'm no authority on how to repair 'em. Ask Kurtis Bahr. I haven't seen him on the forum lately but it's gotten so gigantic.....

I wouldn't spend too much on this deck though unless you need it for the sing-along function. It's a rather average player.

I use the CLD-D504. It works very well. Reads LD's and CD'S just fine. A bit noisy as the disc reaches playing speed but all my LD players were like that.

So id guess just a simple issue as well. id go ahead and open it see if everything looks good. Not much you can do the cost of repairing the player might be more then buying another one.

thanks, I think you could be right. After more attempts at putting in discs, it appears to be working now, albeit somewhat inconsistently, so maybe just needs a little cleaning. will give it a go. didn't spend much at all on it,and wouldn't want to spend much to fix it either

Originally posted by Rachael Bellomy
"Baby LD's"


Hey Rachael.... your LDs procreate!!!

Seriously though....I never had one of those 20cm LDs of my own:(


I still have around 200-300 LDs which I intend to keep. Among all the AV formats LD is still king in the "cool factor" department.... nothing can beat those collectors box sets!

I keep certain movies on LD I also have on DVD just for the beautiful packing like the T2 box set... now how would ever sell off something like this!:confused:

I had 2 "baby LD's"

They were both nothing more than the Image Entertainment "catalog" showing title covers that you advanced one frame at a time - CAV.

Hey Rachael.... your LDs procreate!!!

If you saw my shelves of LD's, you'd think they multiplied like Tribbles... ;) I only have one of those 20 cm discs out of my approximately 1000 discs and sets. Most of 'em I saw over the years, 20 cm titles, were music videos that didn't crank my tractor. I have the one as a curiosity. It's a music sampler with 4 differnt artists. The only 20 cm disc that I ever really wanted was a Beatles disc that a friend had. I offered him $50 for it and got refused. Later, he told me e-Bay'ed it for $175.

When I said baby LD's, I meant blind babies, CD's....;)

I've been on an LD watching spree this past week. Many of mine, well many hundreds, are for more than show. Last night's fare, Citizen Kane and Compulsion. The night before I watched Ed Wood....I love it's cover. It's gonna become Album Art. I may stille take it down off the wall and play it from time to time...?

I have Sergeant York, Inherit The Wind, and a bunch of others lined up for spin therapy. It's refreshing to watch LD's compared to DVD's and their edge halos and other MPEG2 distortions.

For me, LD is Kaiser of old black and whites.... :)

I have 2 of those small discs, "The Motels" (CAV) and "Missing Persons - Surrender Your Heart." Talk about feeling old...I bought those discs in 1984.

I have just one of the smaller LD's. Alice cooper video trash. Its just 4 random songs from the full LD.

I have 2 of those small discs, "The Motels" (CAV) and "Missing Persons - Surrender Your Heart." Talk about feeling old...I bought those discs in 1984.

well, I have over 800 of those 8" discs, all music clip jukebox discs, they were very rare.

they are sold today for insane prices on ebay, the last one I saw fetched over $400 just a couple of weeks ago.

you really get super quality 80's style videoclips that look worse when released on DVD.


Michael

I know the 5" CDV's are more common. I have a Madonna and The Police. Both have 2 or 3 songs and a music video.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me"! What an awful video, just the band playing in colored siloette.

I know the 5" CDV's are more common. I have a Madonna and The Police. Both have 2 or 3 songs and a music video.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me"! What an awful video, just the band playing in colored siloette.


I think I have a Men without Hats "Pop Goes the World" :o

I have just one of the smaller LD's. Alice cooper video trash. Its just 4 random songs from the full LD.

Alice cooper! i have one of those discs, used to watch it all the time back in my younger days. pink floyd too.
My daughter almost threw out my LD collection a while back during spring cleaning. I went berserk when I saw them in the outgoing trash in the back of my truck.

I have a few. I love the Spinal Tap 8" disc!!!!

I have had people on the floor die'n laughing by running that one just out of the blue at random times.... :)

For me, LD is Kaiser of old black and whites.... :)

Also, I like the LPCM mono soundtrack on LDs for old B&W movies. I still have a lot of 50's Sci-Fi classics on LD which I prefer to the DVD counterpart for the Audio.

Definetly on the audio... The oldest movies all seem to be better on LD than the DVD releases.

PS: I am die'n for a copy of Frank Zappa 200 Motels... Anybody willing to part with it, pm me right up on that one.

I think I have all the alice cooper laserdiscs.
Welcome to my nightmare, prime cuts, trash the world and the 8" video trash disc. I haven't seen any others. Although I've been looking for the Japan version of trashes the world

I had a couple of LD players by Pioneer, and allot of used LD's. Not anymore though. I gave them to a friend that collects them, but loved the idea. I like the DVD better because of the limited space I have.

I still use my Pioneer CLD-D704 player every day. It's a very good CD Transport.

Most of my LD collection has suffered from ROT... i suppose Florida humidity doesn't help.

The other half of my collection was ruined by water damage :(

I loved LD simply for being able to watch movies in their correct aspect ratio!!! big deal back then :)

That was LD's real contribution and it's place in history for consumers of media based title ownership.

OAR

That was LD's real contribution and it's place in history for consumers of media based title ownership.

OAR


That, and no rewinding movies. Man, oh, man, how I hates me some rewinding.

Rewinding VHS can be interesting I still use my SVHS to recored SD sat as it looks about the same. I've forgoten to rewind a few times the recording often starting in the middle of the last show I recorded. I've been using the DVD recorder a lot as well but I plan on getting D* HDDVR as I've got the KA/KU dish now with a H20. I was hoping a BD recorder weould be out by now but nothing in the US yet. Plus the discs are too much yet. I may still get a DVHS. One of those if I had the extra money things.

I ought to watch a laserdisc tonight as I haven't in awhile as I've been watching a lot of HDM as of late.

It's funny but I still have about a dozen of my favorite LD's but currently no player to play them on. It was a trip to show them to my 11-y/o niece and watch her look very confused at the big "dvd". She took one to her show and tell and her teacher didn't know what it was. DVD still hasn't been able to put out some of the detailed LD's that I have (notably the pioneer special editions [limited]) My Amadeus had the LD's, a picture book, the soundtrack, and a lot of other stuff. My Platoon LD was done in a Military file style, and my Schidler's List had the LD's, soundtrack and book. Very nice stuff. http://cgi.*********/Platoon-Box-Set-Special-Edition-WS-Laserdisc_W0QQitemZ370038037094QQihZ024QQcategoryZ381QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.*********/Platoon-Box-Set-Special-Edition-WS-Laserdisc_W0QQitemZ370038037094QQihZ024QQcategoryZ381QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I just got that same Amadeus package for $ 20!
it was listed under lazer, so it did not have many bidders.

Even though I never had LD, I think it's the coolest, classiest format ever. I'm planning to get a couple of disks from eBay just for decoration.

I've had a big week of both watching LD's and organizing the collection. I seperated out about 200 titles that I don't need anymore because I have 'em on DVD's, HD-DVD's, or Blu-rays that I'd rather watch. I'll give my nephews any of 'em they want.

The most off-the-wall thang I watched was the Leonard Nemoy Introduction To MagnaVision. I also viewed It Came From Hollywood, Sergeant York, All About Eve, and Jefferson In Paris. I have another 20 or so LD's out to watch inbetween my new BD's trickkling in from Amazon over the coming weeks.

I wanted to stress test my DIY masking system in the theater, so Sat. night we screened Ben-Hur from LD. Very nice all the way around on that one.

My masking was just long enough to cover it. :) Impressive because I shifted it down to the standard 2.35:1 bottom mask because it would of been to high up otherwise.

I can't imagine watching my Camera 65 edition of Ben Hur ever again. It's just a miserable looking LD.....watch those lines flicker and move. My LD binge continues. Last night's fare, I Am The Law and The Last Seduction.

I hope Ben Hur made a good science projet! ;)

I was surprised it came off so well. Many even commented about the nice PQ.

Just a lowly CLD-99 player too. The AE1000U seems very good on shimmers and jaggies in general with my LD's.

I was surprised it came off so well. Many even commented about the nice PQ.

Just a lowly CLD-99 player too. The AE1000U seems very good on shimmers and jaggies in general with my LD's.

I have a CLD-D704 and a PT-AE1000U and I love it. Obviously my blu-ray and HD DVD collection has more A/V WOW effect but I have some very cool stuff on LD that may never be released on SD DVD or HDM (such as the Godfather Epic or Star Wars original THX releases or special editions).

Yeah, it seems many or even most of us LD'rs have gravitated to the AE1000U.
I still say it may be the king on SD of all 1080p projectors ever. :)

I mean, they don't hold a candle to BD or HD-DVD, but the best titles come very close to SD-DVD still. And the audio... man... The audio seemed spectacular on the Ben-Hur disc.

Looks like a nice PJ. I've been meaning to get one looks like the perfect one for those not willing to give up the laserdisc while still looking to the future. Not a bad price either. May have to save up for one the PS3, A1 and laserdisc would look great. Id still use my 30" TV for TV veiwing as id want to extend the life a lot.
You know its odd I never have owned a PJ yet I've invested a bit into audio and video players but not the visual is self. As I've never had more then a 32" TV.

Prehapps I'm just dreaming a bit, but what's wrong with that. Id also love to get the high end RX yamaha amplifers. As they look so sweet. My 5790 is a great amplifer but the RX has HDMI and can do lossless as well as multi-rooms.

You know I've always wanted a movie room sort of a gallery if you will have all my HDM,DVDs and laserdiscs on display. Have a few LCDs running trailers of the movies I have. (IN HD of course). A few posters of my favorite movies.
I could never get away with that though as other would want to utilize such a room for an office or bedroom but who needs that. Pfff.

Most with front projection have dedicated theater rooms.

I had nicely sound treated and sound proofed room(s) that I used for a recording studio back in the day, so the conversion to a theater room was pretty much a no brainer.

Now it's gotten a little out of hand for me... :)

I recently spoofed up a mini lobby / concessions area. Fridge, drink fountain, Popcorn maker, hot dog roller, nacho stand, candy display. And now it has spilled a little into the main living area as well with a marquis and false ticket booth. :)

Nothing wrong with any sized display your happy with. With that said? There is nothing else really like your own movie theater though.

Yup, I still have my Pioneer dual-side player in my system and actually used it... once... in the last several years.

When DVD was new a really well mastered Laserdisc was about its equal. (Yes, I did a/b tests) But that was then, this is now. Today's DVDs are almost universally so much better than those of yore. And in comparison to either the now-defunct (but still superb) HD-DVD or BluRay, Laserdiscs a whole 'nother world.

For all that I keep my player and my discs if only for the "Hey, what are those? records?" inquiries from younger friends.

But then again, I still have my Nakamicci Dragon hooked into my listening room system. Haven't yet had anyone ask "what's this thing?" when they see an audio cassette, but the day is no doubt a' comin.'

-don

I recently spoofed up a mini lobby / concessions area. Fridge, drink fountain, Popcorn maker, hot dog roller, nacho stand, candy display. And ... a marquis and false ticket booth. :)

When I hear the first HT owner who boasts about having synthetically stickified floors I'll know I've met a real moviehouse aficionado. :D

-nod

Synthetics not needed. The biggest draw back to owning your own theater is definetly cleaning it.

I am forced to get out the steam cleaner at a min of every few weeks if not sooner most times. Some mornings after a screening with guests? It literally looks like a freaking bomb went off in there. Lots of sticky stuff in the carpet, on the wooden riser, and the furniture as well. :)

So far I may be lucky because the old Bissel has been able to make everything like brand new every time.

Does Anybody Here have a Movie room. A room dedicated to the display of of you movies. A gallery.
Or is that to extreme. I don't think so. Do you

Most Front Projection owners have them in dedicated rooms or at leats mostly dedicated rooms.

My media is on display in the theater itself. But when you walk in, you don't think "Movie room" it screems theater. :)

The Futureshop.ca site descibes the Tremors "Signature Collection Letterboxed Edition laserdisc, catalog #42781". It is obviously a copy over of information but funny that a decade later laserdisc still has remnants on retail sites.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FSM1756063&catid=14739#

Does Anybody Here have a Movie room. A room dedicated to the display of of you movies. A gallery.
Or is that to extreme. I don't think so. Do you

I have attached a picture of my movie closet (before I added my HDM area currently 148 strong)

I still have my LD collection after 25 years and still watch some of them once in a while and here is why:They are not available in either DVD or BR even today. Here are some of them:
Masterieces of the Met
Salamandre (Châteaux of the Loire) and interractive much before DVD!
Orsay (The Musée d'Orsay)
Louvre (Paintings Drawing)
Claurio Arrau (The 80th Birthday Recital)
Krystian Zimerman (Frédéric Chopin . 4 Ballads etc..)
The Met's Centennial Gala. Best picture and sound. All releases since have been blotched.
And many movies all in original OAR!
LD was awesome for its contents and discriminating offerings. Criterion was a big part of it.
Ah nostalgia....

Mériadec

I just hooked up my Pioneer LD-S1 after years in storage and am surprised by the good image quality on my Sony XBR4. I thought it would be horrid. Of course it depends on the laserdisc itself, some were better mastered than others.

Took my old Yamaha CDV-870 LaserDisc player out of mothballs and hooked it up to my Samsung 61" DLP LED set.. and tweaked the brightness etc.. looks pretty darn decent considering.. and the sound is of course on some LD's better than the corresponding DVD.. i wonder what would happen if i bought a CLD-97 off of ebay??! hmmm I think i will drive my spouse crazy with yet another old format hobby (the other being vinyl!!)

!!

I still watch a few titles now and then and only this and last week I was looking at few titles under close scrutiny. Yes it was very much so a HUGE success LASERDISC RULES OK!

I still remember the excitement of getting my first Magnavox LD player when the format was first introduced, and in very short supply. Compared to VHS, it was an amazing product.

I went through the Magnavox, then a Sylvania and finally a Pioneer. Each one was better, and the quality of the discs greatly improved from the old DiscoVision ones. Ultimately, though, I got rid of everything once DVD hit the scene.

Flipping discs every half hour, plus the amount of storage space required was just not worth it. However, they gave many years of enjoyment for the amount of money investment----so, in my case, I'd consider it a success.

This thread made me get out my cld-515 and since I just got my BRD of it, Natural Born Killers Pioneer Directors cut boxset.
A-B ing them the only thing that lets the Laserdisc down is the vivid colour that the BRD offers

This thread made me get out my cld-515 and since I just got my BRD of it, Natural Born Killers Pioneer Directors cut boxset.
A-B ing them the only thing that lets the Laserdisc down is the vivid colour that the BRD offers

You might be suprised how much closer the colour would be if you had an HLD-X9, LD-S9, or even CLD-97 to spin the LD.....particularly for that particular title since so much of it is somewhat colour-muted and processed in other ways. I used to have this LD but gave it to my brother. He'd proably give it back now, if I asked....? He thinks LD sux these dayz....

In the Drugstore scene with the green gel's it looks washed out a little, I got my player at something like 1994-1995 as dvd was on its way in lol.
I was 14-16 and in the Uk as I am found it hard but have about 50+ titles noting cool but a few PAL bits

Folks, I just wanted to chime in after taking a couple of days to read through this thread. I saw the start of it last year, but I could not have predicted it would last so long and be filled with such enthusiasm for a format so far back in the rear-view mirror for most.

Anyway, I'm doing the Blu-ray thing (hate my flakey Samsung player, by the way, but I've got a Pioneer on pre-order), and of course my DVDs outnumber everything by a wide margin. But I'm also in the process of more than doubling my LD collection. Took me 10 years (1988 to 1998) to acquire about 300 LDs and haven't gotten another in the 10 years since. But I just bought a fellow movie collector's 500-plus LDs and am awaiting their arrival in multiple shipments from clear across the country.

There'll be some duplicates, but still a lot of unique titles. It'll be fun watching them, handling the big covers and discs, cataloguing them.

I kicked my Pioneer 503 out of the theater last year because it displayed too much noise on my 100 projection screen and replaced it with a Mitsubishi 7057 (clone of the Pioneer 704) and got a much better picture on the big screen. I bought the Mitsubishi from the esteemed Kurtis Bahr. I'm happy to report, too, that the 503 got connected to a more reasonably sized tube TV in my den, and it's a better match. Don't see the noise on the smaller screen.

Mind you, in my theater LD doesn't come close to the Blu-ray or better DVD presentations, but it's still possible to enjoy a good movie and good bonus materials on the old format that treated us so well in its time.

I've got room for a few hundred more LDs if somebody else needs to clear out some space. :-) Wish I could buy a LD-S9, but I dunno....

In the Drugstore scene with the green gel's it looks washed out a little, I got my player at something like 1994-1995 as dvd was on its way in lol.

Atleast you're not mad about it, are you? LOL.... Alot of folks that got Laserdisc late were P'ed off that DVD suddenly came out and LD supply. mostly dropped like a rock. I had LD a decade when DVD came out. It just seemed like progress to me, except for the audio.... ;)

It's just amazing how much vivid colour HLD-X9's and LD-S9's can yank out of LD's. The LD-S9 is like a CLD-99 with better onboard video processing and a truely useful S-video output. The HLD-X9 has the same processing and a red laser that gets a better read of discs minimizing speckling and even making the most of rotted discs. Hey Mike, you'd like either of these players. They'll up the performance of your discs.

It still is the successful format that had an exclusive audience of film admires.:)

I have lds playing on a CLD-D704 to a 34" wide Sony CRT. I calibrated with a video essentails laserdisc and the picture to me looks better than dvd. Sound is really nice too.

I have lds playing on a CLD-D704 to a 34" wide Sony CRT. I calibrated with a video essentails laserdisc and the picture to me looks better than dvd. Sound is really nice too.

I got one of those tubes too. I have mine running with my LD-S9 > DVDO iscan V2 > component video input. It's scaled to 16 x 9....except when I play native 16 x 9, well, all two discs T2 Squeez & Cliffhanger Squeez. I watched T2 Squeez recently on the tube. It has a way more natural lookin' PQ than any of the DVD's and nary an edge halo to be found...unlike the DVD's!

I've been playng my 4 Journey Into The Mind's Eye LD's lately too....and had a borrowed copy of a Japanese Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense LD to spin. My S9 isn't getting dusty.

after reading through this thread it really brings back memories...I got my first LD player in 96 and the guy at Magnolia Hi-Fi tried to talk me out of it because of some new DVD thing coming out.

I have my 704 running composite to the XBR960. No filters or upscalers just pure analog. I don't know, but it just looks better than digital.

I don't think anybody can ever come close to the collectors edtions on LD. I've got star wars the definitve collection. Which has all 3 films, a book as well as a large 12x12 booklet explaning the contents. Very cool. The box is very heavy with 9 LDs and a book.

the CAV sets were great as well goldfinger CAV is a nice set too.

I have my 704 running composite to the XBR960. No filters or upscalers just pure analog. I don't know, but it just looks better than digital.

I wouldn't say that LD always looks better than digital but many LD's really excel against digital comp. You're proably noticing the lack of edge halos. Very few LD's have edge sharpening. I've seen a few that do including some of the Squeez LD's....like the Cliffhanger Squeez I mentioned. You can bloody tell where they turn if off and on. T2 Squeez THX hasn't any that I can tell. I think they had an excellent master to work with and knew better than to fug with it.

Getting worthy masters to make LD's was always a problem way back when.....some thangs don't seem to change now, do they...? When they did, those LD's can really shine. The narrower the aspect ratio, generally, the more competative the LD's become, well, became.

To be honest, I've never given my 960 a go with de-interlacing my LD's. I just transplanted my set up from the XBR 450, 4 x 3, digital set that the 960 replaced. The de-interlacing in the 450 was abysmal....which wasted the set's 3-D comb, IMO. That's how I ended up with this set-up which delivers extrodinary colour from LD's....if they have it..... :)

I've been playng my 4 Journey Into The Mind's Eye LD's lately too....

I have that in glorious HD! But it's on 1" HDVS reel to reel videotape! And you think it's painful to change change laserdisc platters and sides! ha!:p

TK, do you have all 4 of the editions. The one with Thomas Dolby doing the music has some stuff that would be awsome in HD. The first one is a big step behind the latter 3 sequels with big-name musicans and new and improved animation.

How in the world did you get such a thing on that format I only vaguely know what it might be....? I mean do you know the folks that put the videos together....or are you one of 'em....?

Hey, send me a copy on some format I can play like Muse LD... ;) I'm envious! :)

"....let's do the time warp again...." ;)

Isn't computer/backup crashes great... not even AVSforum can be safe :(

The MUSE and Hi-Vision system has started to interest me :)
Rachel or TK: Can you explain what kind of sound and surround types you get from MUSE LD's ? Are they similar to Dolby Surround, and what is the sound quality like ?

Erik

Isn't computer/backup crashes great... not even AVSforum can be safe :(

The MUSE and Hi-Vision system has started to interest me :)
Rachel or TK: Can you explain what kind of sound and surround types you get from MUSE LD's ? Are they similar to Dolby Surround, and what is the sound quality like ?

Erik

Erik, I wrote a rather long comparison about LaserActive and Palcom MSX, plus some information regarding additional home LD gaming systems (RDI Halcyon, SoftwareCorner Lasergame System). This all went lost in the server crash :(

In short: Palcom LDs are standard LDs with analog sound (left channel contains the soundtrack, right channel the program which is loaded into the Palcom computer). LaserActive LDs are LD-ROMs, and cannot be "played" with conventional consumer players. Some industrial players are able to play the video part of a LaserActive LD (e.g. the LD-V4xxx series). Quality wise: LaserActive is better. However, playing the (only 13 released) Palcom LD games is much fun, if one considers the time the system came to market, and how inferior every other home video game system was at that time. Popular Palcom titles include Astron Belt, Esh Aurunmilla, Badlands, which are comparable to their Arcade LD counterparts (same footage). Other LD gaming systems: Halcyon never saw the light of the day, as it went down with the video game market crash in 1984/85. A system marketed in europe (Germany, Italy, some other countries) was the SoftwareCorner Lasergame system. The system uses Arcade LDs, played with a Pioneer LD player which is controlled with a home computer (C64, Amiga, or PC). Popular games are Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Thayer's Quest. I have a couple of LDs left from a fire sale, if someone is interested in building such a system (not too hard).

The MUSE and Hi-Vision system has started to interest me :)
Rachel or TK: Can you explain what kind of sound and surround types you get from MUSE LD's ? Are they similar to Dolby Surround, and what is the sound quality like ?



Most movies (and some scenery discs) have both an EFM (PCM 2-channel) track that plays out of the digital output of the laser player and is often Dolby Surround encoded, and an A-Mode track which is embedded in the MUSE signal. With A-Mode, you get a 4-channel discrete audio. The audio is 32Khz 12-bit that must then be sent from the MUSE decoder either through analog outputs, or through twin digital outputs. Channel 1 is Left, Right; Channel 2 is Center, Surround (mono).

No receiver (other than a modified Lexicon MC-1 that I'm aware of) will accept two digital inputs and decode them simultaneously (including Japanese release receivers). I think the thinking back then was if you're going to blow (at the time) $12k on MUSE LD, you'd spend a bit more and run two receivers. Who knows. The other option is most MUSE decoders will decode the 3-1 signal to a 5-channel analog output (Left, Center, Right, Surround Left, Surround Right).

Then there was B-Mode which is on most scenery discs and some movie discs. This was a 48KHz 2-channel (often Dolby Surround encoded) signal that could either be decoded by the MUSE decoder or output digitaly from the MUSE decoder.

hi folks my CLD-99 just arrived and doing some basic comparisons to the CLD-A100 laseractive.

Comparing composite to composite, the CLD-99 colors are noticably better than the CLD-A100.

I am using a Mitsubishi HC5500 projector with the Reon HQV processor. I was expecting the S-video to look much better than the composite output, but it's actually the other way around?

Composite output has better color, clarity and definition of the image. (using jurassic park LD for demo). what could be going on here?

btw, this is one sharp looking player. very classy for the mid 90's. love the wood!

http://mynikonphotos.com/projector/CLD-99.jpg

hi folks my CLD-99 just arrived and doing some basic comparisons to the CLD-A100 laseractive.

Comparing composite to composite, the CLD-99 colors are noticably better than the CLD-A100.

I am using a Mitsubishi HC5500 projector with the Reon HQV processor. I was expecting the S-video to look much better than the composite output, but it's actually the other way around?

Composite output has better color, clarity and definition of the image. (using jurassic park LD for demo). what could be going on here?

btw, this is one sharp looking player. very classy for the mid 90's. love the wood!

http://mynikonphotos.com/projector/CLD-99.jpg

That is a work of beauty that is wicked laserdisc player awesome.:)

Erik, I wrote a rather long comparison about LaserActive and Palcom MSX, plus some information regarding additional home LD gaming systems (RDI Halcyon, SoftwareCorner Lasergame System). This all went lost in the server crash :(

In short: Palcom LDs are standard LDs with analog sound (left channel contains the soundtrack, right channel the program which is loaded into the Palcom computer). LaserActive LDs are LD-ROMs, and cannot be "played" with conventional consumer players. Some industrial players are able to play the video part of a LaserActive LD (e.g. the LD-V4xxx series). Quality wise: LaserActive is better. However, playing the (only 13 released) Palcom LD games is much fun, if one considers the time the system came to market, and how inferior every other home video game system was at that time. Popular Palcom titles include Astron Belt, Esh Aurunmilla, Badlands, which are comparable to their Arcade LD counterparts (same footage). Other LD gaming systems: Halcyon never saw the light of the day, as it went down with the video game market crash in 1984/85. A system marketed in europe (Germany, Italy, some other countries) was the SoftwareCorner Lasergame system. The system uses Arcade LDs, played with a Pioneer LD player which is controlled with a home computer (C64, Amiga, or PC). Popular games are Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Thayer's Quest. I have a couple of LDs left from a fire sale, if someone is interested in building such a system (not too hard).

Very cool to hear about the MSX Palcom. I used to have an MSX computer in the late 80's, but never heard of the Laserdisc "link" to the system.
You say that one analog track provides sound, the other analog track contains computer data for the MSX. So, is it real movie backgrounds generated on the laserdisc that are transferred to the MSX computer ? Is the LD running while you are playing the games ?
Please explain how this works different from LaserActive (which I am more familiar with) ?

Thanks,
Erik

Most movies (and some scenery discs) have both an EFM (PCM 2-channel) track that plays out of the digital output of the laser player and is often Dolby Surround encoded, and an A-Mode track which is embedded in the MUSE signal. With A-Mode, you get a 4-channel discrete audio. The audio is 32Khz 12-bit that must then be sent from the MUSE decoder either through analog outputs, or through twin digital outputs. Channel 1 is Left, Right; Channel 2 is Center, Surround (mono).

No receiver (other than a modified Lexicon MC-1 that I'm aware of) will accept two digital inputs and decode them simultaneously (including Japanese release receivers). I think the thinking back then was if you're going to blow (at the time) $12k on MUSE LD, you'd spend a bit more and run two receivers. Who knows. The other option is most MUSE decoders will decode the 3-1 signal to a 5-channel analog output (Left, Center, Right, Surround Left, Surround Right).

Then there was B-Mode which is on most scenery discs and some movie discs. This was a 48KHz 2-channel (often Dolby Surround encoded) signal that could either be decoded by the MUSE decoder or output digitaly from the MUSE decoder.

Thank you for a very informative post on MUSE sound.
I come to think about...was MUSE A-MODE the very first discrete surround system, did it arrive earlier than AC3 ?

hi folks my CLD-99 just arrived


Is that new or used, and how much are those going for nowadays?

Rocket Coaster Laseractive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S7nfcykBcU

Satr Trek on VHS and Laser Disc At Nobody Beats The WIZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT1pDr60V-0

Comparing composite to composite, the CLD-99 colors are noticably better than the CLD-A100.

I am using a Mitsubishi HC5500 projector with the Reon HQV processor. I was expecting the S-video to look much better than the composite output, but it's actually the other way around?

Composite output has better color, clarity and definition of the image. (using jurassic park LD for demo). what could be going on here?


I'm not the least bit suprised you like the composite better. First of all, LD is such an old format that it's natively composite. Your reaction suggests that the Reon HQV processor upconverts from composite to whatever better. My 99 looks better via composite to my Sony XBR-250 tube which has a better comb filter, to convert to S-video, than the one in the 99. The one in the 99 was above average for 1995 but a year or two later it was a below average 3-D comb filter.

Owning a 99 and a Japanese LD-S9, I can assure you that the 99's comb filter will mute colour. It makes a sharp image but the colour is not so good. The S9 with a really good 3-D comb just trounces the 99 on colour. Back in 1995, in Japan, the deck that was equivalent to the 99 was forth in their line....HLD-X0, HLD-X9, LD-S9, CLD- ?9?. I can't remember the decks whole name.... The Jjapanese gave up trying to sell us better video and concentrated on audio in the U.S.

CLD-99's look good via S-video on tubes that have S-input but have really mediocre comb filters on-board. Find a 27-36" tube and see for yourself.

Re: Image Entertainment porno laserdisc intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO0BTMQsqds

Laserdisc: How It Works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Nua2kku0c&feature=related

Some portions of this Denon LA-2300 looks a bit like the Pioneer CLD-2950 that I have.

Disc Loading Mechanism (LD) Laserdisc Player Denon LA-2300
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8SNi9iwx1I&feature=related

Being from the midwest, my only exposure to "the wiz" is the Seinfeld episode.

Erik, don't get too intrested in Muse. It's rather primative compared to the new formats. Fishface (Okinawa Underwater) is better looking than any of my films. I'd love to see Jurassic Park rendered by an X0 into whichever decoder matches it best. Same for Legends Of The Fall.

For years, Stargate was my fav Muse LD but the Blu-ray, despite it's flaws just smokes the LD. The LD looked better than any of the DVD's over the years. Chaplin, has some bad motion errors in a few scenes but otherwise looks better than the DVD. When the BLu-ray comes out, I'll have yet another Muse LD that's a fun curiosity.

About the only Muse LD I'd stille like to get is an all-star jazz jam that has Keith Jarret, Pat Methany, and many others.

Way too many of the Muse films look like the studio didn't give 'em anywhere near a good enough transfer to work with. Bugsy looked better on NTSC LD than Muse LD, no shoooot. There are exceptions....oh, Universal Soldier looks great on Muse....but it doesn't count now does it, ;) ? I'd darn near rather step on doggie doo than sit throug it again! I'll admit to watching it 3 times. Last time it was because a quest picked it off the shelf. It's coming out on Blu-ray too, soon.

The discs are a real mixed lot of gems and stinkers, in my experience. Unless you can get into Muse on the cheapo-cheapo, don't. The discs are all rare, expensive, and hard to justify with all the newer HD out.

Hot dam, Jurassic Park looks and sounds good even in 2-channel. I rekon the Muse LD sounds as good or better than any of the NTSC LD's some of which are considered quite good, that I've heard. Actually, I'm not sure it had B-sound. I never hooked up B-sound as the 2-channel was really good and agreed well with my Marantz AV9000 processing....

There's not very many Muse LD's worth pursuing anymore, really few....

Some portions of this Denon LA-2300 looks a bit like the Pioneer CLD-2950 that I have.

Disc Loading Mechanism (LD) Laserdisc Player Denon LA-2300
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8SNi9iwx1I&feature=related

All Denon players are Pieauhnear clones with the lone exception of the LA-3500 which is a Panasonic LX-900 clone with one upgrade, LD-Graphics control to operate LD-G on some Japanese LD's.

Kinda OT, but speaking of "JurassicPark", I picked up the DTS LD when some store was closing out their stock. Those DTS titles were really great.
ej

That DTS LD of Jurassic Park was great. It was loaned to me sometime back in the 90's. I watched it twice. The bloody film just sounded great in every format, PCM, DTS, AC-3, Muse. I think the Muse has more T-Rex thump, thump-thump than all the rest but it's been a long time since I heard the DTS LD.....over a decade.

I have a friend that has nearly all of 'em, the DTS LD's. She's working on getting the last few. I only have about 20 of 'em......

I'm not the least bit suprised you like the composite better. First of all, LD is such an old format that it's natively composite. Your reaction suggests that the Reon HQV processor upconverts from composite to whatever better. My 99 looks better via composite to my Sony XBR-250 tube which has a better comb filter, to convert to S-video, than the one in the 99. The one in the 99 was above average for 1995 but a year or two later it was a below average 3-D comb filter.



There are several settings on the player (I don't have the manual). Sharpening, Y/C, etc. Are these worth playing around with? Do they work on Composite and S-Video signal output? I tried changing them, but didn't see too much difference.

I think I set myself up for disappointment. I thought that a good player like the CLD-99 was going to at least look on the level of a DVD. Something tells me a DVD going direct source output (Pioneer BDP-51) HMDI to the projector is going to look considerably better than the LD player.

Am I expecting too much from this classic format?

I come to think about...was MUSE A-MODE the very first discrete surround system, did it arrive earlier than AC3 ?

Someone else can correct me, but A-Mode came online in 1992, so not sure about AC-3 but it is quite possibly (A-Mode) the first discrete audio system, uncompressed as well (but 32KHz).

Am I expecting too much from this classic format?

LD and DVD have NTSC in common. The narrower the movie, the more competative LD becomes, generally. Try something like Dr. Strangelove, Criterion CAV or an old Academy ratio film like The Great McGinty. Try some music LD's that were made to be 4/3.

You have a good player but like any other format, the discs are a mixed lot. The original Gunnga Din LD is poor. The relatively rare, Collector's Edition is magnificent.

When you play with the comb filter settings, pick some footage and set up an A-B repeat sequence and just experiment on the same footage over and over. The adjustments go all the way from 2-D to 3-D.

How your LD's look is at the mercy of the processing it's getting. What treatment does it get a the PJ?

Talk to ya later....I'm gong to the lake.

I just put aside my Yamaha DSP-A1 receiver with RF input and Picked up a Onkyo 805 W/O an RF input. I fired up the Panny LD player last night and the only sound I could get was 2ch through optical. Any thoughts how to get the AC3 soundtrack recognized by my receiver?

Thanks.

Can the DSP-A1 be used to pass AC-3 thru to your new receiver? if not...

You can get a used ac-3 demodulator or a processor with AC-3 built in. Most people dont know what they are for, so dont list them in for sale ads. but I've done most of the homework for the models that contain them, and some basic i/o info. They are listed in my sig. If you know of any other products with AC-3RF input, let me know, thanks.

Good point. The DSP-A1 can pass the AC3 but than I need two receivers in my setup and space is limited. I guess I need a RF modulator but not sure how much to pay and what features are required.

How do you plan on connecting it to your new receiver? Analog? Optical? Do you need additional i/o for other devices? Go based on that. $50-$100 or so. Typically more $ for a demodulator compared to an old processor or prepro that takes up more space. But will still be smaller than that huge DSP-A1.

Erik, don't get too intrested in Muse. It's rather primative compared to the new formats. Fishface (Okinawa Underwater) is better looking than any of my films. I'd love to see Jurassic Park rendered by an X0 into whichever decoder matches it best. Same for Legends Of The Fall.

For years, Stargate was my fav Muse LD but the Blu-ray, despite it's flaws just smokes the LD. The LD looked better than any of the DVD's over the years. Chaplin, has some bad motion errors in a few scenes but otherwise looks better than the DVD. When the BLu-ray comes out, I'll have yet another Muse LD that's a fun curiosity.

About the only Muse LD I'd stille like to get is an all-star jazz jam that has Keith Jarret, Pat Methany, and many others.

Way too many of the Muse films look like the studio didn't give 'em anywhere near a good enough transfer to work with. Bugsy looked better on NTSC LD than Muse LD, no shoooot. There are exceptions....oh, Universal Soldier looks great on Muse....but it doesn't count now does it, ;) ? I'd darn near rather step on doggie doo than sit throug it again! I'll admit to watching it 3 times. Last time it was because a quest picked it off the shelf. It's coming out on Blu-ray too, soon.

The discs are a real mixed lot of gems and stinkers, in my experience. Unless you can get into Muse on the cheapo-cheapo, don't. The discs are all rare, expensive, and hard to justify with all the newer HD out.

Hot dam, Jurassic Park looks and sounds good even in 2-channel. I rekon the Muse LD sounds as good or better than any of the NTSC LD's some of which are considered quite good, that I've heard. Actually, I'm not sure it had B-sound. I never hooked up B-sound as the 2-channel was really good and agreed well with my Marantz AV9000 processing....

There's not very many Muse LD's worth pursuing anymore, really few....

Thank you Rachael.
I agree, the prices are high on the MUSE stuff, but of course it rear and a collectors item now. I'll check a little more, would at least loved to see and hear it live :)
Was the MUSE system never introduced outside of Japan ?

Hi everyone !

A little trivia question about LD multichannel audio:
I have hooked up my AV stuff through my new Yamaha RXV-2700 receiver.
The receiver has a GUI menu that can detect and show the audio quality of the signals coming in via the different inputs. When I input a LD AC3 signal from the demodulator to the reciever it correctly shows Dolby Digital and bitrate (384) and frequency (48Khz). Very cool :)
Then, when a LD DTS signal is input to the receiver it shows DTS and frequency (44.1 Khz) but the bitrate is set to "open".
Why is that ? Is it because the DTS signal on LD is output the same way as a PCM signal and the bitrate is not detectable by a receiver, or is it another explanation ?

The old and the new meet 13 years later. 1995-2008.

I wish they would bring back the rosewood side panels.

http://mynikonphotos.com/projector/BDP-05-2.jpg

Very cool to hear about the MSX Palcom. I used to have an MSX computer in the late 80's, but never heard of the Laserdisc "link" to the system.
You say that one analog track provides sound, the other analog track contains computer data for the MSX. So, is it real movie backgrounds generated on the laserdisc that are transferred to the MSX computer ? Is the LD running while you are playing the games ?
Please explain how this works different from LaserActive (which I am more familiar with) ?

Thanks,
Erik
Sorry for being quiet for some time (just back from a few days vacation).

The Palcom system works as follows:
The composite video signal from the LD player is routed through the Palcom computer. That's why the computer can generate overlay graphics for the "movie" content which is stored on the LD. That means the video is not captured or loaded by the computer, but the computer generates overlay graphics and sends both (the original video and the overlay sprites) to the TV by it's composite output jack. The analog audio is also routed through the computer. The left audio channel contains background music or voices which fit to the video content of the game. The right audio channel contains the computer program. It's the same (modem tone) type of signal which they used to use on MSX cassette tapes. That's an interesting way of storing computer programs on laserdisc.

When you switch the Palcom computer on, you get the usual MSX BASIC command prompt. The LD must be inserted in the LD player. You enter the basic command "CALL LD", and the Palcom starts the laserdisc player (it's connected with the player through the command port). At the beginning of the LD there is some welcome screen, and you can hear the modem tones, which are loaded automatically into the computer. Then the computer starts the program. Dependent on the game program the computer reads which track the player is actually playing, and skips frames or tracks as needed. The Palcom Laserdiscs contain (exactly like the LaserActive) the background graphics for the game (so the LD is in play mode while you play the game), but the sprites are generated by the Palcom computer. Game background graphics and sounds are awesome for the time (1983?). The video contents depend on the game. For instance: the famous Astron Belt contains only some kind of starfield video, while you control the starship and try to shoot at enemies (your ship, the enemy ships, the laser beams, and some text / scores are all computer generated overlay graphics). Adventure games like Esh Aurunmilla or Badlands are different, here the video part is richer, and computer overlay graphics a bit simpler.

I would say Palcom and LaserActive are comparable technology wise, but Laseractive is the advanced gaming technology. I'll try to dig some links and videos regarding Palcom...

Edit: here are some links:
http://www.mccw.hetlab.tk/93/msxlaserdisc/en.html
www.dragons-lair-project.com (general information about Arcade LD gaming)
Badlands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1bjPD-81-4
Starfighters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Q7G6vkf78
Interstellar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPVSjH0ViV4
Esh's Aurunmilla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA8iJi1W4GE&NR=1 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPNXZC4Fr8Y

tteich, Thank you for very informative post ! I have to get myself a Palcom MSX :)

Regarding the structure of sound on LaserActive LD's, I haven't really figured that out.
Which soundtrack is used for the sound on games, analog or digital - or does it vary, depending on game ?

On some games I hear the music in left channel and the sound effects are on right channel. Intermission music (like continue, game over, next level) are played in both left and right channel.
First I thought this was a bug in my machine, but can this actually be related to how the allocation of sounds are made compatible with the LD system ?

Thank you Rachael.
I agree, the prices are high on the MUSE stuff, but of course it rear and a collectors item now. I'll check a little more, would at least loved to see and hear it live :)
Was the MUSE system never introduced outside of Japan ?

The first HD system for Estados Unidos was supposed to be Muse. Then, a bunch of suits decided they wanted an all-digital system with special cables for the many versions of HDCP & HDMI.....;) So. that's what we got. We could of had Muse by the mid 90's and morphed to all digital latter.

If Muse makes a comeback, my box can decode it from cable and I think antenna too. I'd be set! If only I understood the manual....

When 16 x 9 Muse capable sets hit Japan in the early 90's, several of the manufacturers brought a few over here. All the ones I saw were big-box CRT RP's. Most were 16 x 9. Pioneer's I remember well because it was 16 x 10 because they thought that was a better dimension to display all sorts of media. I read the little card next to the set that explained their philosophy....back in '92 or 93.

Toshiba had their Pieauhnear clone LD players paired with their 16 x 9 RP's. They had Warner fix 'em up with 3 16 x 9 LP's as an enticement.....Free Willy was one of 'em. I've seen it. tkmmedia loaned it to me some years back.
That got them not much of anywhere. Well, Toshiba's and everybody else's sets were about $5000. I can't remember how big they were but surely 50" (127 cm) or more....?

The sell 16 x 9 sets to North America push lasted a few painful months. That's as close as Muse got to the U.S.

Rejecting Muse ended up meaning that Pioneer didn't distribute their top models to the U.S. in the latter days of LD. The last really fine player they sold here was the CLD-97 IMO. The HLD-X9 took over that niche in Japan and it didn't get distributed here I suppose because we were not aMused? ;) They could of brought over the LD-S9 but passed off the CLD-99 as the season's spinning dervish deee-luxe.

The studios didn't want HD without CP. The cable companies proably didn't want their limited bandwidth cut by 1035i channels. Forces lined up to prevent premature hi-def-amation occuring here. "Let the peons watch SD decreed the kING". ;)

tteich, Thank you for very informative post ! I have to get myself a Palcom MSX :)

Regarding the structure of sound on LaserActive LD's, I haven't really figured that out.
Which soundtrack is used for the sound on games, analog or digital - or does it vary, depending on game ?

On some games I hear the music in left channel and the sound effects are on right channel. Intermission music (like continue, game over, next level) are played in both left and right channel.
First I thought this was a bug in my machine, but can this actually be related to how the allocation of sounds are made compatible with the LD system ?
... but don't buy a PAL-Palcom :) (I mean, the cheap to have european Pioneer PX-7 computers are PAL only and *not* compatible with the games --- no, they cannot be modded with an NTSC Video Display Processor). So you need a japanese NTSC model (PX-7, PX-V7, or PX-V60). The LD player is cheap and easier to come by.

I believe LaserActive uses digital sound - but I'm not exactly sure as I have not powered my machine on for months. I think the different left-right sounds that you noticed are just as the game is designed, so nothing wrong with your setup.

tteich, do you think you could check your LaserActive's sound on games for comparison ? The separate left/ right thing occurs on games like Triad Stone, Pyramid Patrol and some others. It would be very interesting to know if this this goes for your LaserActive too.

BTW, do you have any really useful links for LaserActive ? I have found a few, but unfortunately not so many with technical information like the ones you posted for MSX Palcom.

tteich, do you think you could check your LaserActive's sound on games for comparison ? The separate left/ right thing occurs on games like Triad Stone, Pyramid Patrol and some others. It would be very interesting to know if this this goes for your LaserActive too.

BTW, do you have any really useful links for LaserActive ? I have found a few, but unfortunately not so many with technical information like the ones you posted for MSX Palcom.

Beside the sites that you find by google search I don't have any particular ones with a great detail of technical information about the system. L/A lived not long enough, and was so exotic that I think the important technical docs are buried in Pioneers development departments and not available anywhere.

Sure, I can test those games, but my gaming systems are stored in boxes in the basement since we moved. It may take some time until I have the chance to power it on.

Hi everyone !

A little trivia question about LD multichannel audio:
I have hooked up my AV stuff through my new Yamaha RXV-2700 receiver.
The receiver has a GUI menu that can detect and show the audio quality of the signals coming in via the different inputs. When I input a LD AC3 signal from the demodulator to the reciever it correctly shows Dolby Digital and bitrate (384) and frequency (48Khz). Very cool :)
Then, when a LD DTS signal is input to the receiver it shows DTS and frequency (44.1 Khz) but the bitrate is set to "open".
Why is that ? Is it because the DTS signal on LD is output the same way as a PCM signal and the bitrate is not detectable by a receiver, or is it another explanation ?


Is there somebody that can confirm/verify this ?

Erik

I did an A/B comparison with the JP DTS LD and the JP DTS DVD...sound exactly the same in IMO...I'll be selling my JP LD on eBay...

I did an A/B comparison with the JP DTS LD and the JP DTS DVD...sound exactly the same in IMO...I'll be selling my JP LD on eBay...

is it in good shape? PM with with your asking pricing.

what LD and DVD player were you using to compare? any comments on image quality differences between the 2?

is it in good shape? PM with with your asking pricing.

what LD and DVD player were you using to compare? any comments on image quality differences between the 2?

I was using a Pioneer CLD-D704 LD player via opticial...to Onkyo 705.
My DVD player is the Toshiba HD-A35...via HDMI.

Picture on DVD definitely blows away the LD...but if you interested check your inbox! I sent you a PM.

It was ahead of it's time, great packaging and supplementary features, was great for music as soundtrack was better than dvd. I am selling some laserdiscs on ebay if anyone is interested.

It seems each format loses somthing interms of box conntent.

Laserdiscs offten had full 11x11 color booklets explaining the movie. some were very good such as the abyss SE set, starwars definnitve collection.
even the simple fold outs of the james bond films were great

DVD did this but very few have them still.

Blu-ray even less so. offten times nothing or only a firmware card is included

Got this today... :D

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5945/img1754wp1.jpg

What movie is that?

Great thread. I was just talking to some of the folks over on the high end forum about laserdisc. I still have my collection, still add to it when something interesting pops up and I have a 16' wide scope screen.

I use an LD-S2 and when you blow the picture up to 16' wide for a scope image, LD just doesn't hold up compared to DVD (and definitely not HDDVD or Blu-ray). LD is completely watchable on older titles that are 1.85 or 1.33 aspect ratios. And I do still watch films in my screening room on LD because I just dig the format. It was the technology that pushed me into this hobby.

Besides, I have no other way to watch Song of the South or The African Queen if I get rid of my LD players!

Chris White

What movie is that?

Demons.

Great thread. I was just talking to some of the folks over on the high end forum about laserdisc. I still have my collection, still add to it when something interesting pops up and I have a 16' wide scope screen.

I use an LD-S2 and when you blow the picture up to 16' wide for a scope image, LD just doesn't hold up compared to DVD (and definitely not HDDVD or Blu-ray). LD is completely watchable on older titles that are 1.85 or 1.33 aspect ratios. And I do still watch films in my screening room on LD because I just dig the format. It was the technology that pushed me into this hobby.

Besides, I have no other way to watch Song of the South or The African Queen if I get rid of my LD players!

Chris White
And perhaps LD will remain to be the only way to watch Song of the South.

Foolishly I sold my Japanese copy of Song of the South on LD thinking that it'll be available on DVD. :(

Besides, I have no other way to watch Song of the South or The African Queen if I get rid of my LD players!

African Queen is coming early 2009.

Well that may be, but we won't ever see Song of the South I'm afraid.

Chris White

As a 19 year old college student I'm about to get into the world of LDs. Mostly I like the packaging on them and of course Star Wars and the Anime LDs. I'm getting a cheap Pioneer CLD-V2800 for like $15 later today, but of course I'm in the market for the better players that can read the disc from both sides, AC-3 output, and great picture output. Some guy is offering me a Yamaha model, but I need to ask him for the model of the unit.

It's a pain in the butt to find a LD player on craigslist. I went to five pawn shops and I can't find them anywhere.

Well that may be, but we won't ever see Song of the South I'm afraid.

Chris White

Well-you could always get a capture card-digitally capture it, then either create a dvd and/or master archive it and playback this 1 remaining title on your dvd player, pc, popcorn hour, tvix, or whatever and jettison all of your LD gear and banish this format forever?

Maybe sell all your gear to some LD nut and take home a decent windfall before christmas.

I hear ya, but believe it or not, I enjoy collecting LD's. It's more of a nostalgia thing than anything else.

Chris White

Hi Chris,

Just read your thread and could totally relate to your love of the LD format and the nostalgia Value.

When I started the AV hobby in April of 1998, I loved spending all of my available funds on purchasing Laserdisc's and used to travel about 160 miles(there and back,) to a retailer who sold US LD's (very few independant outlets sold them in the UK.)

The Journey took me about 2 1/2 hours to get there, but loved it with excitment at the prospect of my next purchases.

Long story short and moving to present day'

I have been purchasing a large number of Japanese equivalent's, and rare LD titles from a seller in Japan, and am currently in the process of receiving 11 titles with the next week.

This order includes the following; THE NEGOCIATOR, STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT, SOLDIER (KIRT RUSSEL,) ALIEN RESURRECTION JP DTS, THE BEACH, 1998 BOX SET OF GODZILLA, JP ONLY BOX SET OF SPAWN 3 DISC'S, ANTZ, MOUSE HUNT, JP FIFTH ELEMENT, SQZ STARGATE NEW.

I shall then have another order of about 12 titles to complete all of my rarest titles, that were only produced in Japan i.e. regular titles; The 6th Day, MI2, 007 The World is not enough, ect, ect....

These titles are now demanding a very high price, but are truly worth owning, ''even though I have struggled with funds''

I enjoyed reading your message.

Genuine regards

Mark (UK) :)

Hey guys I been offer different players, and I need to know what one is good:

Yamaha CDV-W901 (it does eveything, even AC-3, might buy this)
Pioneer Elite CLD-91 (no AC-3)
Mitsubishi M-V7057

The Elite might be the cheapest, but I herd it's better to get the mid-90s players.

my vote is for the Mits 7057.

Hey guys I been offer different players, and I need to know what one is good:

Yamaha CDV-W901 (it does eveything, even AC-3, might buy this)
Pioneer Elite CLD-91 (no AC-3)
Mitsubishi M-V7057

The Elite might be the cheapest, but I herd it's better to get the mid-90s players.


The Yamaha is a clone of the Pioneer 59. It's a step-down from the Mitsu clone which is derived from the CLD-D704. The CLD-91 is a very, very old player from around 1990 and I'd just forget it. It proably would be visually a step-down from the 59 even.

Mitsu M-V7057/D704 is the clear choice.

OK guys the guy with the Mushi model wants $225 shipped for the item without no movies. It's complete with the remote, manual, and box. He also can do $300 if I buy all his movies which I have no interest in watching. It might be the best but it's waaay beyond my price range.

Yamaha CDV-W901 the guy wants $150 before shipping and two movies that I'm interested in. He just told me that he can sell me the AC3 demodulator for $25 more and extra LDs to sweeten the deal. I might go with him because he's a great seller and he knows how to ship stuff. And also the demodulator is ultra cheap.

Pioneer Elite CLD-91 the guy will most likely sell it to me for cheap.

We'll see how this goes, I don't have room to do the AC3 route (this is college after all), but I can think of something to get a receiver and a 5.1 set up (speaking of this I can do a 5.1 on my DVD player as well).

One more question, are all Sony LD players crap?

OK guys the guy with the Mushi model wants $225 shipped for the item without no movies. It's complete with the remote, manual, and box. He also can do $300 if I buy all his movies which I have no interest in watching. It might be the best but it's waaay beyond my price range.

Yamaha CDV-W901 the guy wants $150 before shipping and two movies that I'm interested in. He just told me that he can sell me the AC3 demodulator for $25 more and extra LDs to sweeten the deal. I might go with him because he's a great seller and he knows how to ship stuff. And also the demodulator is ultra cheap.

Pioneer Elite CLD-91 the guy will most likely sell it to me for cheap.

We'll see how this goes, I don't have room to do the AC3 route (this is college after all), but I can think of something to get a receiver and a 5.1 set up (speaking of this I can do a 5.1 on my DVD player as well).

One more question, are all Sony LD players crap?

Hi HyperDuel,

From a friend and Neighbour here in the UK!!!!!!!!
Time here is now 04:34 have been enjoying reading your messages on the forum.

I personally would not touch a sony LD player, although I do love the Sony brand in general.

Pioneer Elite US models from the the early 1990's onwards and the Japanese high quality players including the HLD X0 / X9 models are fantastic.

Hope all is well with you?

Genuine regards from a guy working the graveyard shift.

Mark:):eek:

One more question, are all Sony LD players crap?

No, no U.S. Sony models are as good as crappie. They're worse! They're absolutely-positively excremental. I wouldn't give a piece of used toliet paper for one.

Buy the best player, the Mitsu. The two movies with the other deck, the 59, are likely easy to get, C-H-E-A-P. AC3 LD's are a dime-a-dozen for the most part because AC-3 DVD's soon displaced them.

I'd forget about AC-3 Demodulation tilll you test drive a player. The PCM audio on Digital Sound LD's in superior to AC-3, generally. The Mitsu has an AC-3 output if you need it on down the line. The Mitsu has the superior PQ, don't think twice, go for the PQ.

What are the 2 discs that have you tempted to take the lesser player, the Yamaha? I doubt they're Song Of The South or any other rare title!

don't AC3 demods still command a pretty good price? maybe he could resell it?

Hey Mark get some rest. ;)

No, no U.S. Sony models are as good as crappie. They're worse! They're absolutely-positively excremental. I wouldn't give a piece of used toliet paper for one.

Buy the best player, the Mitsu. The two movies with the other deck, the 59, are likely easy to get, C-H-E-A-P. AC3 LD's are a dime-a-dozen for the most part because AC-3 DVD's soon displaced them.

I'd forget about AC-3 Demodulation tilll you test drive a player. The PCM audio on Digital Sound LD's in superior to AC-3, generally. The Mitsu has an AC-3 output if you need it on down the line. The Mitsu has the superior PQ, don't think twice, go for the PQ.

What are the 2 discs that have you tempted to take the lesser player, the Yamaha? I doubt they're Song Of The South or any other rare title!

I don't know Rachael, $225 for a LD player with no movies to me is beyond crazy (and remember I'm 19 and in college, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh). I might get one, but not from that seller. Or I should go for the CLD-D704 (but wait, one guy offer me $200 shipped for a unit without any movies, only the unit and remote).

PQ I'm kind-of concerned, but I'm not all tight up about it. I seen far worse in my life time.

And the Yamaha being cheap, I couldn't find the Yamaha CDV-W901 without paying at least $100 for it. If you know where I can get it for less then let me know.

I know about PCM (I like it), but I think it's cool that I can do 5.1 on the LD if it supports it.

The two movies, no they are not the rare titles (actually many of them don't interest me that much). I'm an Anime fan so I'm generally looking for US Anime LD releases first, then live-action second. The movies were Akira (I need to ask the guy that this title has Laser Rot, I herd some copies do have Rotting issues), and Highlander.

I'm not a fan of buying lots because most of the time I'll be stuck with movies that I don't even want. :P

don't AC3 demods still command a pretty good price? maybe he could resell it?

Yeah, I can still get a pretty penny if I want (some Yamaha demods are priced like crazy). Then again I would like to have one just for kicks.

Hey Mark get some rest. ;)



I don't know Rachael, $225 for a LD player with no movies to me is beyond crazy (and remember I'm 19 and in college, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh). I might get one, but not from that seller. Or I should go for the CLD-D704 (but wait, one guy offer me $200 shipped for a unit without any movies, only the unit and remote).

PQ I'm kind-of concerned, but I'm not all tight up about it. I seen far worse in my life time.

And the Yamaha being cheap, I couldn't find the Yamaha CDV-W901 without paying at least $100 for it. If you know where I can get it for less then let me know.

I know about PCM (I like it), but I think it's cool that I can do 5.1 on the LD if it supports it.

The two movies, no they are not the rare titles (actually many of them don't interest me that much). I'm an Anime fan so I'm generally looking for US Anime LD releases first, then live-action second. The movies were Akira (I need to ask the guy that this title has Laser Rot, I herd some copies do have Rotting issues), and Highlander.

I'm not a fan of buying lots because most of the time I'll be stuck with movies that I don't even want. :P



Yeah, I can still get a pretty penny if I want (some Yamaha demods are priced like crazy). Then again I would like to have one just for kicks.

Read this:

http://www.moesrealm.com/hometheater/laserdisc-guide.html

I wrote it 7 or 8 years ago. Nothing has changed. I just recommend you buy one of the "above average" players. I'd get patient and wait for a 704 at the price you want to pay. I'd rather have a Pionner 704 over a Pieauhnear 704 if for no other reason, service would be easier.

Buy for the machine's PQ. Discs are floating around. Highlander ought'a be easy to find. I have a copy. That anime (?) title, I know nothing about.

No, no U.S. Sony models are as good as crappie. They're worse! They're absolutely-positively excremental. I wouldn't give a piece of used toliet paper for one.

[...]
This post made my day :D

Hi Rachael ,

Like tteich!.....your reply has made my evening.......Great stuff your the best Rachael.

Kindest regards

Mark :eek::eek::D:)

Well, thanks ya'all for the kind words. The thought came easily to me since an MDP-333, a few weeks out of warranty, dug a canal through my X-Files LD when the main board went out setting the laserhead free to wreck havoc. I was dispaointed in the decks video performance and had relegated it to my 20" bedroom TV....where it comitted the crime.

The only kind thing I have to say about Sony LD players is, they were ultra attractive.... ;) ...an' booty es skan deep.

:)

I regret selling (The X-Files Fight the Future 1998) I have the region 2 DVD but the laserdisc would eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner yummy, yummy laserdisc forever.

I regret selling (The X-Files Fight the Future 1998) I have the region 2 DVD but the laserdisc would eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner yummy, yummy laserdisc forever.

Hi JBLsound4645,

I have this title on LD Dolby Digital and 2 DTS and would never give them up as I love this fine format ''the dts sound is amazing:eek::eek:''

I love the laserdisc format, the collectability of it all, and am currently awaiting a number of LD titles from Nicolas Santini in Japan.

Sorry friend!....do you still have your LD collection?

Shall look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

Sincere Regards

Mark

Well guys a guy is offering me a great price for the CLD-D702 and it looks like it has Digital Out without the demodulator.

Do I still need the demodulator for AC3 (just want to make sure)?

I'm not 100% certain, but IIRC, yes.

Well guys a guy is offering me a great price for the CLD-D702 and it looks like it has Digital Out without the demodulator.

Do I still need the demodulator for AC3 (just want to make sure)?

The 702 predates AC-3 output unless one has been added. The AC-3 out is seperate from the other digital outputs that the 702 has. Unless the 702 is modded for AC-3, no go. Scan the article I linked.

Well guys a guy is offering me a great price for the CLD-D702 and it looks like it has Digital Out without the demodulator.

Do I still need the demodulator for AC3 (just want to make sure)?

Hi friend,

I believe if you have a player without RF input, but with a Coax or Optical you will still get sound in stereo.

If your av amp has an RF input then you should be OK, otherwise get yourself an RF demodulator box to be on the safe side.

There are many members on this site who are willing to help you get the best from your system.

I have a number of RF demodulators, but because I have an RF input on my Denon Av amp I hav'nt got round to using them yet.

I will however be getting another amp and processor by mid 2009 and will definately need a demod for this.

Geniunely hope you get your system sorted friend.

Regards

Mark :)

Hi JBLsound4645,

I have this title on LD Dolby Digital and 2 DTS and would never give them up as I love this fine format ''the dts sound is amazing:eek::eek:''

I love the laserdisc format, the collectability of it all, and am currently awaiting a number of LD titles from Nicolas Santini in Japan.

Sorry friend!....do you still have your LD collection?

Shall look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

Sincere Regards

Mark

Well pop on down to Bournemouth, I’ll even put up for the weekend and give you £50.00 pounds not for sexual favours :p:D just the dts laserdisc well suffice. Final offer, errr, yes.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2008/03/12/DealOrNoDeal460.jpg

Just think how many bluray discs you can buy with that at ASDA?:D

Hey JBLsound4645,

Sorry friend no can do, But should I purchase another one I would send this to you free of charge (NO KIDDING I WOULD.)

Thanks for the offer thou appreciate it.........your message made me laugh you nutter.

Stay in touch!

I shall be on duty all night, including Sat and Sun, so correspond if you like.

Sincere Regards

Mark

P.S. I would send you free of charge promise!.....no joke:eek::)

If you can get your paws on dts version of The X-Files 1998 great that would be cool and I would pay £50.00 because I know how rare those dts laserdisc are today. The most expensive or is less I can’t fully remember was dts laserdisc clear out back around (1999 or 2000) there was loads of dts laserdisc going also dts CD as well.

My friend ordered.

Apollo 13
Born on the Fourth of July
Last Man Standing
Tomorrow Never Dies
Carlito’s Way
The Lost World Jurassic Park

The remaining of few dts laserdisc I brought though the Disc Emporium or laser Enterprise I think, oh one was private owner True Lies that the postman delivered and was placed at my flat door, Wow how trusting the neighbours where because that could have been nicked LOL. There it was standing outside my door at nearly 12am.

Damn is it nippy tonight; had any snow where you are? Bournemouth’s had sod all in the form of snow, just an icy stone cold to freeze your bollocks off!

Free of charge well I’d have to make some sexual :D I mean contribution pop on down for the weekend providing you don’t get snowed in!

I’m still stuffed without any single modifications to the two, Pioneer laserdisc players CLD-1750 and CLD-2950. That’s why I went with the Millennium dts decoder that now sits in the bedroom doing sod all! The Kenwood KRF-X9050D THX select will do almost everything.

I guess I betting I’d need an (RF AC-3 demodulator) to plug in between the laserdisc player and the AVR Dolby AC-3 decoder. How much are those kits and is there a picture diagram to show where to make an surface cuts to the PCB to solder the wires? I bet those kits are cheap as biscuits now.

I’m still stuffed without any single modifications to the two, Pioneer laserdisc players CLD-1750 and CLD-2950. That’s why I went with the Millennium dts decoder that now sits in the bedroom doing sod all! The Kenwood KRF-X9050D THX select will do almost everything.

I guess I betting I’d need an (RF AC-3 demodulator) to plug in between the laserdisc player and the AVR Dolby AC-3 decoder. How much are those kits and is there a picture diagram to show where to make an surface cuts to the PCB to solder the wires? I bet those kits are cheap as biscuits now.

Hello JBLsound4645,

First of all'' sorry for not replying sooner sir' have been busy at work ''graveyard shift and all that :rolleyes:''

AC-3 Mod Kits can be purchased from Duncan of ''LASERDISC SERVICE'' on the web, price for this kit is around £100 aprox and comes with a step by step illistrated guide. send Duncan an email, he is usually very busy but he will reply, and also he is well known amongst LD enthusiasts ''i.e recommended by a number of members. I have corresponded with him about a Pioneer Elite LD player CLD-99 and AC-3 Mod kits.

I used to travel 60 miles each way to purchase LD's and DVD's from ''The Disc Emporium in Knebworth'' with Dave and Peter in charge, Dave is still in business, but will soon be opening up a Rock Cafe and get out of the AV business.

I also purchased LD's from Chris at LVS in Kings Langley, and when I first started the AV interest in April 1998, used to travel about 80+ one way to Whichford in Kent (this took me 2 1/2 hrs in the car one way to get there.)

I still get the same joy in purchasing and receiving LD's today as when I did then (when I started out.)

I personally moved into my first home in April and waited many years ''which was very tough indeed''
Have been very busy all year working towards furnishing and the purchase of items reserved with retailers before I moved in, and am gradually getting there.

2009 will be another busy year and the good news is that there are now less items to purchase, but will still take all year, including av support stands x 2 to be designed by me and the cabinet makers in Summerset.

how has life been with you friend.

Honest and genuine regards

Mark

P.S. Will be asleep during the day but will return by 18:30 Sat evening.
Moved into my first home

It's true, the 702 doesn't output AC-3. :(

It's true, the 702 doesn't output AC-3. :(

Hi Duel,

The main thing is that you will still be able to get stereo, even though DD and DTS would be better.

The good news in all of this, is that the picture will be ok as long as you have Composite 2nd option or better than this will be S-Video.

How are you friend?

Regards

Mark :)

It's true, the 702 doesn't output AC-3. :(
You will still be able to play DTS-LDs (via bitstream over the digital audio output). However, DTS-LDs are usually more expensive, and there are a lot more LDs with AC3. So an AC3-RF output would be desirable. In any case you need a demodulator for AC3, or a receiver with AC3-RF-Input (there are a few).

Laserdiscs made me realized how good lossless tracks sound (of course it was PCM in those days, no such thing as TrueHD or DTS-HD/MA), and later made me realized how awful lossy tracks sound (as in DD on DVDs). 25 years later some studios like Warner still doesn't get it.

The picture used to be real bad on my other CRT Sony monitor due to its filtering technology that resulted in hard edge on bright colours, weird? Since it gave up the ghost with loss of contrast and comet tails displayed across black background images it looked bad.

I later found a dumped Toshiba in the alleyway at my old digs and after testing it out it worked fine. Colour brightness and contrast holds up nicely for dumped CRT. I might have downscaled from 27” to 24” and I can tolerate it, thou some would be climbing the wall by now. LOL

Once I get out of the money issues I’ll focus all my attention on an affordable LCD video projector for film view and the CRT for regular viewing because running a video projector isn’t cheap due to bulb life.

The Laserdisc image when sent directly to the CRT is bit snowy as if the CRT is tuned slightly off frequency, kinder like terrestrial TV broadcast and I don’t even watch British TV no more#, bugger the BBC and their rip off licence fee, they can’t finger me if I don’t view and I don’t have any asperities to view it, not if I was paid £1 million pounds, now then, how’s that for strong will power!

Now if I pass the laserdisc image composite to my DVD-RW Cello DR-810 input and use its output feed into the Toshiba CRT the image looks great. Thou I still can’t put my finger on why the image looks snowy?

It only appears snowy even if I run DVD in composite mode if I switch to RGB the image looks like millions pounds, well maybe (alleyway quality) LOL I guess the filtering on the Cello DR-810 must convert the image to RGB along with some filtering?? Why knock if it works.

Laserdisc transferred to DVD-RW in best mode play looks okay the more high long play mode I use the image starts to downgrade poorly.

I’ve heard of digital noise filters to improve on (line resolution) something called (Mosquito) it also adds more line resolution as well as eliminating digital noise artefacts, only problem is it costs too damn much LOL.

You will still be able to play DTS-LDs (via bitstream over the digital audio output). However, DTS-LDs are usually more expensive, and there are a lot more LDs with AC3. So an AC3-RF output would be desirable. In any case you need a demodulator for AC3, or a receiver with AC3-RF-Input (there are a few).

That’s what I noticed over the course of years that Dolby AC-3 was outgrowing dts one it had a head-start by a few years. And buy the time DVD was hitting it BIG dts more or less came around and only a few more years production left for distribution of laserdiscs retired in late (1999 early 2000) that sucks.

Hi Duel,

The main thing is that you will still be able to get stereo, even though DD and DTS would be better.

The good news in all of this, is that the picture will be ok as long as you have Composite 2nd option or better than this will be S-Video.

How are you friend?

Regards

Mark :)

The difference I’ve noticed between RGB and S-Video is rainbow no not this one http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2002/Jul/Week4/1086023.jpg :D some types of patens displayed on the screen have an annoying looking rainbow on (ties or rooftops tiles) (Gladiator DVD even thou its in RGB mode) has this type of effect has the camera moves over the buildings in the capital of Rome. Or on the mating of the Saturn V rocket in (Apollo 13 laserdisc) as it has strange surface paten along the different boaster stages.

Hello JBLsound4645,

First of all'' sorry for not replying sooner sir' have been busy at work ''graveyard shift and all that :rolleyes:''

AC-3 Mod Kits can be purchased from Duncan of ''LASERDISC SERVICE'' on the web, price for this kit is around £100 aprox and comes with a step by step illistrated guide. send Duncan an email, he is usually very busy but he will reply, and also he is well known amongst LD enthusiasts ''i.e recommended by a number of members. I have corresponded with him about a Pioneer Elite LD player CLD-99 and AC-3 Mod kits.

I used to travel 60 miles each way to purchase LD's and DVD's from ''The Disc Emporium in Knebworth'' with Dave and Peter in charge, Dave is still in business, but will soon be opening up a Rock Cafe and get out of the AV business.

I also purchased LD's from Chris at LVS in Kings Langley, and when I first started the AV interest in April 1998, used to travel about 80+ one way to Whichford in Kent (this took me 2 1/2 hrs in the car one way to get there.)

I still get the same joy in purchasing and receiving LD's today as when I did then (when I started out.)

I personally moved into my first home in April and waited many years ''which was very tough indeed''
Have been very busy all year working towards furnishing and the purchase of items reserved with retailers before I moved in, and am gradually getting there.

2009 will be another busy year and the good news is that there are now less items to purchase, but will still take all year, including av support stands x 2 to be designed by me and the cabinet makers in Summerset.

how has life been with you friend.

Honest and genuine regards

Mark

P.S. Will be asleep during the day but will return by 18:30 Sat evening.
Moved into my first home

In-between at the moment health isn’t too good. But what’s worrying me is my cat at the moment I’ll be making an appointment on Money for an early check-up on Thursday bit stuffed with the dosh at the moment but hey that’s life it sucks.

Other than that £100.00 pounds if it works I might consider it, if the money on this side is okay, if not I’ll have to wait and wait but I don’t what to sidetrack too much as I like to stay on track with previous plans.

I have more than a few AC-3 laserdiscs over dts tittles the (Star Wars 1997) versions would be nice to listen to with the Princess firing what sounds like a (Dirty Magnum Harry 44 gun) at the stormtroopers what in the was Skywalker Sound smoking when they remixed this in 1997??

Also I need simple part to place on the spindle motor on Pioneer CLD-2950 it’s a type of rubber ring that helps to prevent the laserdisc from slipping. Also the damn thing is so noisy due to spindle motor chassis vibration, I mean it gives a whole new meaning to the word, vibrator.

I tried looking at, it but the whole thing is all joined together. Even thou the acceleration decreases with a few seconds with CLV laserdisc it’s the CAV laserdisc that has constant acceleration. My Pioneer CLD-1750 isn’t so bad

Anyway I have to get my priorities organised for this week.

Oh, looks like Jack Frost was streaking around Bournemouth a few nights ago because he left a few white spots on the surfaces nippy. I’d say there’s a 40% chance of snow hitting before (December 22nd or maybe 27th 2008) but I could be wrong?:D

Interesting, I have been a member for a long time and for whatever reason I missed this thread. I have a Pioneer DVL-909 DVD/LD player. This was my third and last LD player I have owned. I got into them back in 1982 and the 909 was my move from LD to DVD. Its funny as I have not really used it much in the last few years and 2 weeks ago I decided to take all of my LD's and put them on my walls as movie art. It took me 6 hiurs as I have about 145 left. By the time I was done I was like...holy crap look at all of these great disc's!

So I decided to reintroduce the Pioneer back into my system. I still have my Yamaha RF AC-3 converter but like the Pioneer had not been used. After making all of the connections and what not. I fired her up. I was like wow these still look great. The first dic I put in was The Fifth Element AC-3 DD disc. What a treat this was. Colors were awesome and just as good looking as my DVD of it.

I run a front pj setup and my screen is 124" dia and I was very impressed with what I was seeing. Needless to say I ran it thru the paces and all worked great. Looks like LD's are back in vogue at The Grand Carriage Cinema.

Hello and good morning,

Just to let you know that Laserdisc production carried on on Japan until the end of September 2001 and there are some great titles.

The US production titles and reissue numbers are: 35.000 aprox.
The Japanese production titles and reissue numbers are: 37.800 aprox.

I prefer the Japanes equivelant, as the Packaging and transfers in most cases are better.

How are you keeping?

Sincere regards

Mark :)

Mark

In regards to the phone call on Star Ship Troopers I’ve managed to fired up the Pioneer CLD-1750 and had issues getting side 1 starting up and tried side 2 and then side 3 starts up the Pioneer it’s a bit dicey to start up that’s all.

I’ve noticed minor sparkles on side 3 only minor but slight laser rot never the less. Wow the sound is big in Dolby stereo Just Bloody Loud JBL! The sparkles are only evident in the blacks.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=126286&stc=1&d=1228719764

I’ll try start up on side 1 and 2 in while and report on the status.

“Running low”
“I’m out too”
“here make them count”


Andy

LOL “know your foe”. Censored! :D

This still packs a punch on the PCM Dolby stereo 4:2:4 too bad I haven’t got Dolby AC-3 on the Pioneer CLD-1750. The discrete six-track Dolby stereo mix on region 2 DVD is far to say good enough. I’d have to set the SPL db metre up and A B & C the difference between the analogue Dolby stereo on DVD and the Dolby digital mix and the size it up with the PCM Dolby stereo 4:2:4 matrix mix.

One thing that is glaring my eyes is the rainbow effect on the end credits, when switched from NTSC 3.58MHz to PAL and I don’t know the PAL trans-coder isn’t working not sure if has something to do with the Cello DR-810 or the Toshiba CRT, well its got no colour that’s where the rainbow disrepairs it’s the colour its or is it the (chromo) I forget which?

I guess one of those Mosquitoes will clear the mess up, yes?


Here’s a weird thing? The remote controls for the, two Pioneer CLD-1750 and CLD-2950.

CU-CLD097 (Pioneer CLD-2950) the (rotary wheel dial) the spring inside is shagged it one day broke and is there a replacement spring I can order for this, I mean why get a new remote all it needs is spring to help the dial flip back!

CU-CLD071 (Pioneer CLD-1750) now I just went to the kitchen and took it out the draw as its been a bit shagged in the past. One day it failed to send commands via the (rotary wheel dial) I know it had liquid spilt on it in the past and I’m sure I cleaned most of it out the remote as I had to open it up.

The remote works thou some of the buttons feels like its got liquid still lingering inside on a few buttons. Looks like another cleaning job!

"Come on you apes, you wanna live forever???" Hahaha!

I just bought my first laserdisc player ever a few weeks ago, a D704. I got it so I could pick up the original theatrical cuts of Star Trek TMP and the Star Wars films. I'm outputting composite to my Samsung A750 LCD, and it looks surprisingly good. I'm loving it!

Interesting, I have been a member for a long time and for whatever reason I missed this thread. I have a Pioneer DVL-909 DVD/LD player. This was my third and last LD player I have owned. I got into them back in 1982 and the 909 was my move from LD to DVD. Its funny as I have not really used it much in the last few years and 2 weeks ago I decided to take all of my LD's and put them on my walls as movie art. It took me 6 hiurs as I have about 145 left. By the time I was done I was like...holy crap look at all of these great disc's!

So I decided to reintroduce the Pioneer back into my system. I still have my Yamaha RF AC-3 converter but like the Pioneer had not been used. After making all of the connections and what not. I fired her up. I was like wow these still look great. The first dic I put in was The Fifth Element AC-3 DD disc. What a treat this was. Colors were awesome and just as good looking as my DVD of it.

I run a front pj setup and my screen is 124" dia and I was very impressed with what I was seeing. Needless to say I ran it thru the paces and all worked great. Looks like LD's are back in vogue at The Grand Carriage Cinema.

Well that’s cool player (Pioneer DLV-909) those sold new at the time for around £700.00? I think the model number is a bit different to the UK PAL/NTSC model. An all in one player whether you use it or not? Does it have any sync issues with sound on DVD as I seem to remember reading a Pioneer DVD or combo model around late 1998 early 2000 had issues??

I can’t believe the cost some owners are flogging these combo players for on fleaBay some are cheaper than the laserdiscs themselves. LOL

"Come on you apes, you wanna live forever???" Hahaha!

I just bought my first laserdisc player ever a few weeks ago, a D704. I got it so I could pick up the original theatrical cuts of Star Trek TMP and the Star Wars films. I'm outputting composite to my Samsung A750 LCD, and it looks surprisingly good. I'm loving it!

Yeah I’m still running side 3 I like the end credits the brass of the score beating away, “service guarantees citizenship”.

Which version of Star Trek as there are so many on laserdisc database site?

I have the NTSC letterbox late version 1992 I think, I’ve made a laserdisc to DVD-RW transfer of the film to spin, VERY often in fact it was watched at least 3 times last week in one night and 4 or 5 times sometime last month?


If you listen to the directors edition on DVD its got so many Foley effect errors and the BS I had to listen to on the DVD extras disc was astonishing or was it the audio commentary. I think poor ole Robert Wise must have been stone deaf!!!

Listen to the part where Kirk and McCoy are watching Decker and Illa on a viewing screen while there on the recreation deck. Kick knocks his knuckle down on the table! But hold on wait! Where is the sound!!??

Now listen to the Germany language track! Weird hey why is the sound effects on this language track and not universal on both, makes no sense? Also the new sound effects that they stuck in, hold on replaying the end credits again (chapter 65).

Yeah the bridge alarm sounds like strangled cat in reverse! Who ever made that sound effect needs to be lynched!

The original rules, there is nothing wrong with the sound on it nothing at all! I believe a rare 70mm six-track Dolby stereo version was released so why is Paramount Pictures jerking us all off, not that I liked to be man handled by Paramount Pictures I’d sooner have ORIGNAL! Or is that word to hard for studios to grasp on to these days!

Here’s some of my small laserdisc collection it used to be a little bit bigger sold off a few titles regrettably.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc1.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc2.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc3.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc4.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc5.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc6.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc7.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc8.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc10.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc11.jpg


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc12.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc13.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc14.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc15.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc16.jpg

Only a pitifully 11 dts laserdisc titles it would have been more if production hadn’t stopped in the US.

Godeneye (1995) performs well even with centre back surround that was on of the first demonstrations I tried back in (1998) with Millennium dts 2.4.6 decoder processor with surrounds patched into the Yamaha DSR-70 Pro-logic. Its action was fast freeing the centre phantom from the stereo surrounds and sending it to a very crude around of matching speakers that I ripped out of shopping store that had closed down.

The tank scene was one of the highlights with wreckage skidding along the sides thus freeing other sound elements has came towards you and crashing behind! Then Bond straightens his tie, nice one.

Jurassic Park (1997) the Lost World was great at the time thou the silly last half of the T-Rex stomping and rooming around the streets was ridiculous. The footfalls and bangs crashes and rolling deep, deep, deep low end rumbles is extremely thrilling god knows what this must have sounded like at the Empire Leicester Square! In the home it violently vibrated the floorboards joists to angry neighbours as it travelled into the semidetached building.

Well at least I know the JBL 4645 was doing its stuff.:D

Last Man Standing (1996) is brutal no nonsense (shoot them up) action adventure as Bruce enters a small town out in the middle of no where? He’s soon troubled by the towns gang that bust his car up, on the first day then he looks for means of settling the score with white knuckled pistol shootouts with plenty of trigger recoil to satisfy most bass and sub bass heads.

Daylight (1996) is sheer bass sub bass overload its jam packed with well engineered dts mix that’s trilling from the start to the very end of the laserdisc. LCR fronts offer realistic amounts of directional sounds and well focused dialogue intelligibility. Stereo surrounds work well with centre back on this one so give it spin as Sly rigs the incoming water into the tunnel as the rivets start to give under the tremendous water pressure overhead, then fires the explosive! Wham!

Watch the levels I mean watch! The levels on the LFE.1 track if played too loud it will do damage!

Born of the Fourth of July (1989) I seem to remember seeing a dts demonstration 35mm test film at Warner Village 12 screen Bristol, when working for them years ago. The film was released exclusively in 70mm six-track Dolby stereo SR and might have been a good candidate for short demonstration has (Ron Kovic) played by (Tom Cruise) battles in the last final moments before being fatally wounded. Action of the riffle shooting outwards with so much individualism in the sound as well as reloading while still under fire! Mortars continue to drop around and impact in the distance with deep thud! Helicopter point looses control and burst into fiery ball of flames!

While Kovic yells out at the enemy along with John Williams score priceless, then takes a rapped thump! Thump! Thump! bullet to chest, and the score goes mute, with the sound of Foley as Ron falls back paralyzed from the waste down onto his back, unable to do thing.

LFE.1 is sparely used on this film so don’t expect a lot, expect plenty from LCRS.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) saw this in dts screen 5 thou it could have been screen 6 as both are identical I think my friend must have thrown the tickets away, this was around December if I remember correctly?

Hmmm, anyway the sound was of average playback the cinemas at the time believe it or not had no sub bass extension for Dolby stereo A and SR types much less LFE.1 discrete track. The LCR was bit underwhelming with the EV stage fronts lacked any decent slam of bass mid it was as if UCI Tower Park didn’t have the bottle to show-off.

Directional sounds are more or less identical on the dts laserdisc I seem to remember sitting front and center while my friend was sat middle centre row. Why am I talking about UCI the presentation sucked it wasn’t THX it sucked!

The home presentation just bloody loud JBL lots an lots of low end over LCRS and LFE.1! Opening titles by Cheryl Crow was very cool.


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc17.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc18.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc19.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc20.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/Laserdisc21.jpg

That is one crazy speaker system!

That is one crazy speaker system!

MY friend is on a mission and good on him to.

When I first viewed his speaker setup I thought ''FANTASTIC'' RESPECT!!

Hope you are well?

Regards

Mark:eek::eek::):rolleyes:

That is one crazy speaker system!

Oh, I tilted the camera downwards so the top half is cropped off! Here’s a an older picture more or less the same expect a few tinny millimetres in differences since then because the damn things move because of the vibration and needs to be securely fitted down so there’s no tendency to move.

The sound performance with PCM Laserdisc Dolby stereo 4:2:4 was one of solid well anchored centre that has second different speaker located behind to double up on some of the bass at different ranges over the short 5 meter distance. Sounded cool on Starship Troopers I was on the edge of the sofa with (Basil Poledouris) rip.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/JBLBladeRunnerfivescreen.jpg

Hello friend,

Great pictures of your LD's / equipment and although both of us are at different stages knowledge, and of work in progress, we can both relate to how much we need to get done, and the work involved before we are someware ''dare I say it'' completed.

Equal admoration,

Regards

Mark :):confused::rolleyes::cool:

Thought I would throw a pic or two up of my HT. You can see at the bottom of my equipment rack my Pioneer 909. Need to takes some new pics as I have just put all of my LD on the walls as movie art

Oh, I tilted the camera downwards so the top half is cropped off! Here’s a an older picture more or less the same expect a few tinny millimetres in differences since then because the damn things move because of the vibration and needs to be securely fitted down so there’s no tendency to move.

The sound performance with PCM Laserdisc Dolby stereo 4:2:4 was one of solid well anchored centre that has second different speaker located behind to double up on some of the bass at different ranges over the short 5 meter distance. Sounded cool on Starship Troopers I was on the edge of the sofa with (Basil Poledouris) rip.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/JBLBladeRunnerfivescreen.jpg

That little tv doesn't stand a chance!

That little tv doesn't stand a chance!

LOL I’m afraid to say that’s where you’re wrong. If I wanted a large screen I would have saved and saved and not bothered to eat for at least 4 or 5 months and put all the resources towards an LCD video projector! This little Toshiba looks miles, no make that, light-years better than my friends poor LCD 50” lagging that sticks out a like major sore thumb yuck, yuck, yuck.

Also there’s not one hint of colour stain due to being located in such tight proximity with the JBL 4645 sub, now then. ;)

Also looking at the picture is bit flat in dimension. I’m more or less standing in the same spot from the Toshiba and the perspective is somewhat different, because I’m viewing in three-dimension, not two- dimension, now then.

Also where the sound is on the furthest width is roughly where I’d like video projection screen to span out, but isn’t that too wishful thinking I think not I’d be lucky to get a 6 foot and half throw. Where I’d have to bring in the left, left centre right, right centre towards the centre.

Hello friend,

Great pictures of your LD's / equipment and although both of us are at different stages knowledge, and of work in progress, we can both relate to how much we need to get done, and the work involved before we are someware ''dare I say it'' completed.

Equal admoration,

Regards

Mark :):confused::rolleyes::cool:

Well lets say I’m content with what I have no force on this site with $6million :D could tempt me to change. Now that shows willpower. Besides I don’t fancy tripping over anything if you get my meaning? LOL :D

scooterdog, lets have a picture of the wall of laserdisc!

Ok here are some pics for you guys. I have these on several different walls and in different configurations...not a solid wall but as fill in between movie posters and stuff.

Here are some more.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=126422&d=1228875757

Very nice indeed.:)

(Arachnophobia 1990) now that has some wicked low end if you happened to have seen it High Wycombe CIC THX sound system JBL cinema! The bass and sub bass extension was DEEP I mean DEEP!

I can never figure out how to get my pics to post

never thought about hanging the LDs up, looks nice. I just have star was 1 hanging on the wall above the TV. don't really know why geuss it was just because I paid the most out of any single LD. athough the price was only $50 so that's really nothing LD price wise for a collectible disc

I also have the star wars definitive collection on a shelf. more so because the massive black box just looks cool.

never thought about hanging the LDs up, looks nice. I just have star was 1 hanging on the wall above the TV. don't really know why geuss it was just because I paid the most out of any single LD. athough the price was only $50 so that's really nothing LD price wise for a collectible disc

I also have the star wars definitive collection on a shelf. more so because the massive black box just looks cool.

Hi homerx;15259399,

I am in the process of purchasing the Japanese Definitive box set $315 ''I am nuts'' but this will either be new or mint in condition, have the US version already.:eek::eek::D

There are still a few of us guys that pay a lot to own the collectable items such as this.

The serious LD collector is still willing to pay for the rare titles even though some would not like to say, but hey!....It's so enjoyable to own such treasured items and great just to look at the artwork ''PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP COMES AT A PRICE'' and I know that a number of yourselves can relate to this, also appreciate what is being said hear.:eek::eek:

Great reading your threads guys and genuinly hope that you are well?

Sincere regards

Mark

All my lasers, bar the NBK box set

Part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzSu1nN30Xg&feature=channel_page
Part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAiQ6NoRqQ&feature=channel_page
Part three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGxwVhD-jzY&feature=channel_page


Edit
NBK Box set
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V_FXvEzljo&feature=channel_page

All my lasers, bar the NBK box set

Part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzSu1nN30Xg&feature=channel_page
Part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAiQ6NoRqQ&feature=channel_page
Part three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGxwVhD-jzY&feature=channel_page


Edit
NBK Box set
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V_FXvEzljo&feature=channel_page

Hi Friend,

Great video's and can honestly relate to your enthusiasm

Sincere Regards

:D:)

I have a pioneer laserdisk player in my attic that is collecting dust, well the box at least. I was looking to throw away junk but remembered that this player still worked when I viewed it last. Original box, manual, and remote I think. Can we call this vintage or what? Should I just pitch it? I don't have any movies (sold them).:mad:

I have a pioneer laserdisk player in my attic that is collecting dust, well the box at least. I was looking to throw away junk but remembered that this player still worked when I viewed it last. Original box, manual, and remote I think. Can we call this vintage or what? Should I just pitch it? I don't have any movies (sold them).:mad:
Could you post the type of the player? Pioneer produced a whole bunch of different players over the years. Some of them will only serve as door-stops, some of them draw good prices.

Does anyone rate the Pioneer dual DVD/Laserdisc models ?
I am guessing that the component outs dont work in Laserdisc mode

The component outputs on DVD/LD combo players are only for DVD playback. Also, the LD playback of the DVD/LD combo players is inferior to the better LD players, such as the Pioneer CLD-704, CLD-703, CLD-97, CLD-99, LD-S9, HLD-X0, and HLD-X9. The DVD/LD combo players (DVL-909, DVL-919, DVL-90, DVL-91) LD playback is similar to the CLD-604 player.

I only have a CLD-515 and its on its way out, I need to replace it with a PAL/NTSC model that I can get to the UK

The recommendations I've seen for PAL LD players are Pioneer's CLD-2950 and CLD-D925. I don't know much about them, as I am from the US, but I believe the CLD-D925 adds Digital effects (freeze frame/slow motion) for CLV discs and a Dolby Digital AC-3 output.

Thanks

Back to the thread title, consider these things:


the laserdisc format lifespan is 30 years long;
more than 16 million players was sold;
almost 50,000 titles available;
Pioneer alone pressed 100 million discs - it can be quite safe to say that all the other manufacturer printed from 50 to 100 million more;
certain titles have sold more than 600,000 copies;
it was used for movies, concerts, games, karaoke, hi-def contents, educational pourpose;
it introduced things like letterbox movies, subtitles, multi language tracks, digital audio, DD & DTS, 16/9 format, extras, that now you have granted on DVD


If you can't say it's a successful format, I surrend myself... obviously, the DVD format success is far superior, but you must consider also less succesful formats like HD-DVD, Beta, CED, VHD to name a few...

Consider the laserdisc the granddaddy of the DVD (his father was the video CD), and be respectful like you are regarding old people :D

Andrea

I'm keeping the cobwebs from forming in my LD player lately by using the spin cycle for:

Sergeant York

Ruggles Of Red Gap

The First Family

Roswell

and I took a gander at the extras on my Criterion Dr. Strangelove LD because this teenage fallout queen felt like ducking and covering.

When I finish up my John Adams BD set, which will be soon, I'm gonna resume strolling through my LD's.

I still got my CLD 99, great player and i still play the odd film now and again..

I remember reading the Pioneer 515 produced a better PAL image than the 925? is that true?..I had a 925 about 6 years ago and only had a couple of PAL LDs and they were never as good as the NTSC versions.

I have a quite a few dts LDs. The ones im fond off are Sudden Death and Hard Target both Van Damme films but have a great mixes. I also wanted to get hold of True Lies in dts but it always went for high prices so had to settle for the DD one instead.

Oh, I still watch LD's all the time too! Even my old MCA DiscoVision titles.

I feel sorry for people who are 'offended' by old or discontinued technology - you know the kind of people I mean, the ones who act like they'll get cooties if they have some dead format/software around - when a format dies, they are the first to sell off EVERYTHING they have for it.

You know, the thing that's interesting about Academy Ratio is that even back in the 30's the vast majority of theaters cropped the image in some form - a survey of theaters during the showing of Gone With The Wind in 1939 showed that the most common crop was 1.66. I don't think anyone considered that "widescreen" though - it was just the way they showed the movie, you know?


Sorry to post from a 90 day old comment, but you are right on. I ended up selling off my LD collection and regretted it ever since. I did end up archiving every disc I had that was not available on DVD at the time (2000) on SuperVHS, but I still regret it- mainly becouse I took years to replace every disc with a DVD and that SuperVHS was the ultimate stupid idea, but there is a nostalgia fun factor that is now kicking in.

I am just glad I kept my record collection! :)

Hi Guy's,

I just picked up a Pioneer dual disc Pioneer LD-W1 on ebay last night and need suggestions to start my collection, AGAIN.:o I want to start with a few that have reference picture as far as LD's go. Are there any titles that are 2 disc with content on all 4 sides? Aladdin comes to mind but I'm not sure. I need to make sure that the players dual disc system works ok. Also, I have a scope setup and need to find out if the Indiana Jones LD's have any subtitles during their running time. If anyone has any LD's to sell please pm me.

Thanks:)

Tom

Hi Guy's,

I just picked up a Pioneer dual disc Pioneer LD-W1 on ebay last night and need suggestions to start my collection, AGAIN.:o I want to start with a few that have reference picture as far as LD's go. Are there any titles that are 2 disc with content on all 4 sides? Aladdin comes to mind but I'm not sure. I need to make sure that the players dual disc system works ok....

Gone With The Wind has content on all four sides....so does the deluxe edition of Gunga Din. You ought to know if it's working right with 3 sides. You could just put in two single disc movies.

The W1 is really a slick idea. I wanted one back it the late 80's and early 90's. The problem with this 80's design is video noise. It's video S/N is just 48 db. The better decks do 51 db and more. You might wanna consider also obtaining a better performer if you're gonna collect LD's seriously.

LD is a good format for good ole Academy Ratio films. You might wanna look at music LD's by groups that are no longer pop-ular. Here's a few other LD's worth looking for:

First Family, It Came From Hollywood, Ruggles Of Red Gap, Song Of The South, The Thin Man....single or boxset. :)

Gone With The Wind has content on all four sides....so does the deluxe edition of Gunga Din. You ought to know if it's working right with 3 sides. You could just put in two single disc movies.

The W1 is really a slick idea. I wanted one back it the late 80's and early 90's. The problem with this 80's design is video noise. It's video S/N is just 48 db. The better decks do 51 db and more. You might wanna consider also obtaining a better performer if you're gonna collect LD's seriously.

LD is a good format for good ole Academy Ratio films. You might wanna look at music LD's by groups that are no longer pop-ular. Here's a few other LD's worth looking for:

First Family, It Came From Hollywood, Ruggles Of Red Gap, Song Of The South, The Thin Man....single or boxset. :)

I pretty much just purchsed the LD-W1 for nostalgia reasons so better pq from another player was not a priority. I'm just looking for a handful or so to play every great once in a while. Thanks for the suggestions however.

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid?

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid?


About $232 shipped but he had no remote so I had to pay an additional $68 for the LD-W1 remote from another guy on ebay. I probably payed too much but I was desperate. Lack of patience always hurts my wallet.

About $232 shipped but he had no remote so I had to pay an additional $68 for the LD-W1 remote from another guy on ebay. I probably payed too much but I was desperate. Lack of patience always hurts my wallet.

Sounds like a good deal to me...

Sounds like a good deal to me...

I just told the wife about your post. Thanks EJ;)

Tom

In it's day it was over priced and not many people bought it but it took over 30 years from the first technical demos (first public demo in 1972 Source:Wikipedia) to the final pressing (some arcade discs in 2002) I often see this question in reference to stuff like the Sega CD and my answer is that it is somewhere in the middle, Why keep making a failure for so long? And why isn't a successful product selling very well. It's clear that the market for Laserdisc was different from that of VHS.

Here are the only two LD's I own now. Paid almost $100 each for these James Cameron Director's Cuts. I made a plastic frame for the artwork and put them on the wall for a while. Makes me realize how much I really DID spend on LD's:eek:.....here's the pic!:cool:

I still believe in the benefits and the pleasure of Laserdisc.
I collect movies and players, my theater has a dedicated space only for Laserdisc and i think that stopping the LD production was a stupidity.
It has too much potential... Ok we now have HD and movies in plastic boxes that you can take everywhere...
Well some things in life i don't care about evolution (if we can call it evolution)...
Today people only want new gadgets and they don't explore a "format".
Laserdisc may not have been a success in a global opinion, but can anybody tell me what format besides Laserdisc and VHS lived for 24 years? :rolleyes: