A little after film reels and VHS but certainly before DVDs and Blu-Rays, and even internet films for that matter, what was it like to watch films on a Laser Disc? Quality-wise, in the 1990s or so, could they compete with DVDs, would a laserdisc player work on a modern TV these days?
shareYes I do. it was considered quite the luxury item at the time and was well outside of my affordability back then.
shareI only know it because I'm a movie/tv freak who knows little bits and pieces of useless information.
I'm sure the high price tag and the domination of VHS killed the Laserdisc.
I find it ironic that I can pull out an old VHS tape that hasn't been played in 20 years and pull out a DVD that hasn't been played in one 1 year and dollars to bet I can still watch the VHS tape while the DVD will probably skip again and again.
STOP SCRATCHING YOUR DVDS....I OWN THOUSANDS...SOME FOR OVER 20 YEARS...THEY ALL PLAY PERFECTLY STILL,UNLESS THEYRE SCRATCHED...VHS IS AMAZING,BUT THE TAPE ACTUALLY DOES DEGRADE..IT CAN ALSO GET MOLDY AND TAPES ARE SUPER SENSITIVE TO COLD/HOT TEMPS...DVD QUALITY IS MUCH MUCH BETTER TOO.
DVD KILLED LASERDISC...ITS THE SMALLER CHEAPER BETTER VERSION...THEY CME OUT IN 97 AND AXED THE NICHE COLLECTOR'S FORMAT OF LASERDISC.
Yes, got some and a player.
shareNo and I was born in the mid 80s. I never knew anyone that had one. Everyone I knew had VCRs back then.
shareI remember the format but never owned it, nor knew anyone who did.
Does anyone remember which aspect ratio it used? Full-screen, or wide-screen with letterboxing?
I think early format releases were 3:4 (LaserDisc came out in the 70s and it's basically simply used NTSC standard) and more recent releases were widescreen (various ratios) with black bars on top and bottom.
It's a format worth 20+ years of availabilty (last releases were 1999 or so, DVD is already out a few years earlier in 1997) so it would naturally evolve along the way.
Thanks!
shareYes, I never bought the system, the discs were large and expensive
My friend had it, we watched Top Gun and a few others and the picture and sound were fine
I remember a friend getting them in the late 80s. Then I worked at a music/video store in the early 90s and we had an extensive selection of laserdiscs. Only one guy would come in to buy them and we eventually stopped carrying them.
The idea of flipping the disc mid movie is a complete deal breaker to me. What a major flaw. It's like the 8-track of DVDs.
Yeah, my neighbour had one in the 80s. We had a beta.
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