Do you own a Laserdisc player?

Who here owns a Laserdisc player? I've got a Pioneer CLD-D515 I bought in 1997.

Have a whole string of Star Trek movies on PAL disc, but the NTSC discs always look nicer.

I just think a thick 12" optical ANALOG video disc is the ultimate in retro cool.

 

Mine also reads the other side without having to flip over. Apparently Laserdisc players make excellent CD players (those that are compatible) because the player clamps the disc very firmly reducing jitter and read errors. I say "apparently" cause audiophiles will sometimes believe anything. While my Laserdisc player has a lovely CD sound, it's no better than my standard Yamaha CD player. Or at least I can't tell the difference.

My favorite are the CAV discs cause they're so pretty when held under the light. You can see the vertical blanking interval and the sync pulses.

I once took a Laserdisc to work to show my students. These were 19, 20 year olds and they were amazed at the size of the thing. They thought optical discs was a new thing....Incidentally Sony toyed with the idea of making an audio only 12" Laserdisc encoded with digital PCM audio in the late 70's. The idea spilled over to eventually become the CD in collaboration with Philips. Below is the CD player prototype (1979). Notice how the "CD" looks like a tiny Laserdisc, complete with label in the middle.



The first time I ever saw a Laserdisc must have been in 1991 or so. A friend of mines' dad was a software developer. His company had been tasked with developing an interactive tour of the apartments offered by a developer. The images were stored on a Laserdisc, played via a computer controlled player. Clients could then "walk" through the apartment by touching a screen. The player would then instantly jump to the next image and hold it there. My friend and I got to play with the prototype. I think his dad encouraged us. Of course we had to tell him if something didn't work....WAAAY cool at the time.

 

DVD player today would blow a Laserdisc out of the water for image and sound quality, but remember that in an era of VHS, Laserdisc was the ultimate in picture and sound.

My Laserdisc player sounds just fine as a CD player. I sometimes just play a CD or two to give the mechanicals a bit of a workout. I also like to buy Laserdiscs on ebay because:

- People who bought Laserdiscs generally took good care of them
- The discs don't wear out
- Some things were never re-released on DVD
- The NTSC Laserdiscs with THX mastering look stunning!

 

Those were most likely

this wasn't optical but rather a needle and groove system. Also way retro cool.

THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO...but it explains this needle in groove videodisc very well.

 

Yeah, I don't watch my collection all that often either. There's two movies I do like to watch at least once a year:

- Noises Off
- The Birdcage

Very funny!

Movies I wouldn't mind to find on Laserdisc

- Xanadu
- Tron