laser disc VS DVD?

I know LD is pretty much dead, but there are plenty of players and used disks out there for cheap.

Sure I have a DVD for most use, but I picked up an LD player at a thrift to see how it stacked uo as a CD player, and was wondering what an LD would look like. Are there differences and we, john Q public, simply accept the lessor quality for cost? Or is it a wash and doesn't matter?

DVD has much higher picture resolution than analog LD. It also has higher density meaning that a regular length movie will generally fit on one disc (single sided). Compare this to Laserdisc and the hassle of flipping the disc(s) over. A major drawback for the format, compared to even videotapes.

Later Laserdiscs have Dolby AC-3 Digital soundtracks like DVD and are actually pretty good. Picture still leagues better than any VCR.

DVD being digital sometimes suffer from dropouts, images freezing and other anomalities. However, it is very reliable compared to the flaws of early Laserdiscs (laser lockup and disc rot come to mind).

Laserdiscs were always more expensive to manufacture than videotapes. The machines, specially the early gas laser types, were also very complex. Back in the early days of LD, people were more concerned with taping TV shows than picture/sound quality. Home Theater was still years in the future.

Laserdisc technology started to gain much more popularity with the advent of Dolby Digital and Home Theater as we know it today. However, it was already "sentenced" to death by DVD.

Not too long ago, I picked up a Radio Shack/Realistic MD-1000 laserdisc player at the local thrift along with a few discs. If I find a LD of a rare performance or film, reasonably priced I buy it. I even found a rare 1978 DiscoVision (predecessor to Laserdisc) movie at the local SA the other day. I was surprised to find out it played on my machine!

I owned an LD player in the early to mid nineties,and I loved it,but it did have major drawbacks.The great thing was that while most movies only came out on VHS rental for several months,they would be on LD the day they came out.The sound and picture quality were much better than VHS pre super VHS.On the debit side,was turning the discs over,often 2 discs.And the extra features we take for granted on DVD were something you only got on special edition LD,and damn,did they cost.I remember paying around 80 or 90 bucks for the Pulp Fiction SE,if memory serves me.A lot of used book/media stores here sell used LD's,and I know you can find them on ebay pretty cheap,but if it were me,I'd use that player mainly for my cd's.
Jimmy

I'm a big fan of laserdiscs. Reasons:

Thousands of titles available. Most are cheap, some aren't.

Players available for peanuts. I got an RCA from a dumpster that plays both sides without flipping.

They look great to me.

They sound great too.

They're big and shiny with big jackets that are fun to read, like LPs.

No menus to navigate, you put it on and it plays, like LPs.

I like obsolete formats, especially if they perform well.

They fit on my record shelves.

Very cool, IMO.

Lee

2DualsNotEnough said:

... if it were me,I'd use that player mainly for my cd's.
Jimmy

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Great idea, back in the late 90's some high end companies (eg. Theta, MSB) used Pioneer and Panasonic LD mechanisms as the basis for their CD transports.

Those old LD motors had great speed accuracy and reliability.
Maybe overkill but results were superb.

As for LD as a video medium; it's dead in today's digital age (for those unfamiliar with LD it carried analog pictures with analog/digital sound).

Sound is still pretty good but picture quality of even the top Pioneers like the CLD-D704/99, HLD-X9, can't compare with even a cheap $200 DVDP.

Like others, I've still got most of my LD collection but they rarely get played.

About ten years ago i picked up a Pioneer VP-1000 like this at a thrift store.
The thing worked well and had a terrific picture.
At the time there was a place nearby that had a huge rental library of LD's and I had a great time fo about a year or so till it got to the point where it wouldn't make it through a movie without skipping.

I'm sorry to say I took it to work and we disassembled it to see how it ticked.
The Laser had it's own power supply and could be plugged in without needing any of the other circuitry to work.

That thing would project a beam the length of the shop (about 140+ ft!) thankfully we never hit anyone in the eye with it

Eric

The VP-1000 was the first reliable LD machine released to the general public. In 1980 it was quite modern, capable of searching frame by frame and using an advanced user-interface. This was in sharp contrast to the first Magnavox machines which were plagued with problems.

It was a good thing Pioneer became involved with LD in the long term. They even coined the term "Laserdisc". Their technological and manufacturing know-how made the technology viable and usable way beyond the 1990s.

Those lasers were indeed quite impressive. They were visible to the naked eye, unlike the CD type semiconductor lasers that have a different wavelength.

I recall reading somewhere that many older LD players were cannibalized for their laser tubes. These were used by discos and even by some rock acts for their "laser" effects.

Not nearly as good as DVD.

I still have a pristine McIntosh MLD7020 with AC-3(Dolby Digital) in my equipment stack. I have a few laser titles that have not been pressed in DVD, and that is the ONLY reason I'm keeping the Mac plugged in. I like to see Linda Ronstadt doing "The Pirates of Penzance". There is a DVD offering of the same cast doing the score, but it is NOT the same production as the LaserDisk. They finally came out with Steve Martin's "Pennies From Heaven" on DVD, so I do keep pecking away at replacing my laser library.

There is absolutely no comparison with DVD, but like some others, I do get a kick out of making the older technology perform. The MLD 7020 is built on the Pioneer mechanism, I believe, with some (?) McIntosh circuit board tweaks.

I gave my LD's and player to my brother years ago. Had several discs "rot" that became unplayable.

We keep 6 or 7 Pioneers and 1 Sony around in each of the systems here at home and in my studio. We were able to pick up lots of bargain LDs when the DVD started to pick up interest and I watch many concerts and things that haven't been put on DVD and there are many that haven't made the transition. Not DVD quality; but not that bad either.

At least you can watch the real Star Wars Trilogy on LD.

I drooled at magazine ad pictures of Laserdisc machines back in the 80's.
I seriously considered adding a player into my stereo/video system. Checking them out in person at local stores was even more impressive so was the prices! And forget about the prices of the movies! WOW! I soon realized I could not afford either the player nor have any means of ever having a nice stock of movies. The idea was nixed and put away for many years.
In Japan when new movies were released the price was the same for vhs or LD! This was to help promote LD sales and the format itself.
But here in the US you could pay up to five times the amount for a LD versus vhs.
About three years ago I finally got an PIONEER Elite reversing model.
Several reasons for diving into it. Players are way cheap now. Love the older technology whether obsolete or not. Its just way cool to have those large LP size covers with pics and artwork. Not to mention the big shiny disc :thmbsp:
But the main reason was the fact that there are some rare movies,cartoons and most of all alot of concerts and rock band LD's that will never see the light on DVD.
I have 5 box sets of Looney Tunes plus another 10 or 12 single discs
of 100's of cartoons you CANNOT get in the DVD store releases. I am now in the process of archiving them on a DVD burner. Alot of documentaries/behind the scenes/videos/live shows of rock bands and others.
Plus the fact they do not have copy protection so you can back them up on vhs or DVD. You can share a rare concert or cartoons with family and friends
without having to invest into copy guard eliminators.
I like the fact that the picture is analog and uncompressed! It boasts 420+ lines of resolution. Regular vhs can barely accomplish 240 lines!
I found around 250-300 movies at a Goodwill here for $1.00 each! Some were still sealed with prices of $35.95-$45.95 on them.
I bought what I could afford about 75 then someone else grabbed the rest.
I have experienced Laser rot, but its unfortuntaley the downside of poor manufacturing practices. But it is way cool to play with.
I am not a big fan of wide screen movies. Some titles can be found of older movies in full screen on LD where the same movie is only available on widescreen on DVD.
Even though one of the main attractions in its heyday was to offer the movie buyer widescreen on LD back in the day when only full screen was available on vhs. Some of the concerts look absolutely fantastic on LD. Adding the fact that when they were produced back then the master used was relatively new.
I wonder what condition the masters are now days when they transfer to DVD?
How much digital enhancing is needed to bring it up to snuff?
Plus LD does not have the annoying pixelating visuals you can sometimes see on DVD.
I am a big fan of Laserdisc but only recently actually with hands on.

I have about 500 LDs and will never ever trade them for their DVD equivalents - if they ever come out! A little bit like obscure LPs that will obviously never resurface on CD. My friends who have extensive DVD collections litterally drool when in front of my collection. I'm in Europe and buying LDs then meant getting grey market imports at nearly the double of the US list price!

Just for the fun of it I recently bought the first 2 gen' of players (Magnavox/Philips VH8005/VLP700, 1978!) and the VLP720 successor from 1981 - neither of them plays anymore (empty gas tubes) but the sheer size and weight of these beasts is quite fascinating. I love big formats and objects that aren't afraid of their own presence And the large sleeves - CDs and DVDs really look like crappy Minidiscs in comparison.

As for quality, most of the transfers weren't bad but a little soft ; I've never experienced laser-rot, even from the early 1980 discs I have found. A few discs I have put most DVDs to shame but, granted, those really weren't the majority. DVD is too digital and aseptized for me but it is obvioulsy a better format as long as you don't try to expand the very lossy MPEG image on an oversized screen. DVD is always pure video, good LDs are film on video - different viewing experience.

eBay still has interesting titles at times (a few years back it was madness, I saw a couple of boxed sets I own tickle the grand mark!)
The best shop around is www.bigemma.com. The only problem is maintenance of the players (200 grams spinning at 1800rpm in there!) but there's still plenty of them out there.

I should add a section devoted to Laserdisc on my website soon (www.thevintageknob.org) - it's not audio but I love that format too much

sorry, I've been lengthy again
axel

I have a question. Everybody says that CD player lasers have invisible laser radiation, aka different wavelength, yadda.

I can see CD laser emission plain as day. DVD emission is stronger though.


How come I can see it?

outlawmws said:

I know LD is pretty much dead, but there are plenty of players and used disks out there for cheap.

Sure I have a DVD for most use, but I picked up an LD player at a thrift to see how it stacked uo as a CD player, and was wondering what an LD would look like. Are there differences and we, john Q public, simply accept the lessor quality for cost? Or is it a wash and doesn't matter?

Click to expand...

Excuse me retired! I still play laserdisc most days, hail laserdisc.:thmbsp:

I enjoy LDs as much now as I did back in the early 80's.In fact, I'm buying mostly used LDs now for a song and a dance and have forsaken most DVD purchases. I just have a fondness for the format. I can now pick up 20-30 discs for the price of 1 or 2 back when.Not a bad deal.Plus, I like the way they look.Nice and shiny.Plus the beautiful jackets. I have room for both formats. IMO, DVD has a slight advantage in picture quality, especially via component.That being said,LD looks extremely good to me.DTS LDs blow away any similar DTS DVDs.

For me the attraction is I could not afford the format when it was at its peak. Always wanted to get into it but on a budget. I too have picked up movies for a song. At a GW I got around 30 for $1 each then two other trips scored more @$3.00 each.
Now I collect rare Japanese concert and documentary discs. They are not cheap but most will never see the light on DVD. Even if they did I doubt the sound would be up to par, plus the fact that the masters are older now and may need alot of digital cleanup to make a descent release.

I really like LD for all of the above reasons. Other notable problems with them, however:

LDs are not nearly as convenient - the disks are even bigger than LPs and many times heavier - really clunky and kind of a pain to handle. However, as some have pointed out, some people will find the size just adds to the novelty.

You have to flip 'em - and sometimes even change disks for longer recordings - in the middle of the movie. Although this does add something I feel has long been missing in movie theatres - the intermission!! It gives you a chance to go to the bathroom, go grab a snack, etc.

I have as sony ld player that plays cds but not ld's does that mean the laser died? It isw a model that plays both sides. I actually have a few disc that someone gave me along with the player. with its remote.

simplynuts said:

I have as sony ld player that plays cds but not ld's does that mean the laser died? It isw a model that plays both sides. I actually have a few disc that someone gave me along with the player. with its remote.

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Some of the Sony MDP players have this problem.If I remember correctly,the MDP-605 was notorious for the issue you describe.I don't know if it just a matter of alignment or not.If it's worth it to you,you might want to inquire as how much it would cost to fix.