Laserdisc
Encyclopedia
LaserDisc was a home video
format and the first commercial optical disc
storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known as simply "DiscoVision") in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical Videodisc, and Disco-Vision (with a dash), with the first players referring to the format as "Video Long Play". Later, Pioneer Electronics purchased the majority stake in the format and marketed it as both LaserVision (format name) and LaserDisc (brand name) in 1980, with some releases unofficially referring to the medium as "Laser Videodisc".
Although the format was capable of offering higher quality video and audio than its consumer rivals, the VHS
and Betamax
videocassette systems, it was poorly received in North America. It also remained a largely obscure format in Europe and Australia. However, it was much more popular in Japan and in the more affluent regions of South East Asia, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Laserdisc was the prevalent rental video medium in Hong Kong during the 1990s.
Significantly, the technologies and concepts behind Laserdisc are the foundation for later and more popular optical disc formats, including Compact Disc
s and DVD
s.
in 1958 (and patented in 1961 and 1990). By 1969, Philips
had developed a videodisc
in reflective mode, which has advantages over the transparent mode. MCA
and Philips
decided to combine their efforts: they first publicly demonstrated the videodisc in 1972. Laserdisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, on December 15, 1978, two years after the introduction of the VHS
VCR, and four years before the introduction of the CD
(which is based on Laserdisc technology). Philips produced the players while MCA produced the discs. The Philips-MCA cooperation was not successful, and discontinued after a few years. Several of the scientists responsible for the early research (Richard Wilkinson, Ray Dakin and John Winslow) founded Optical Disc Corporation (now ODC Nimbus).
In 1979, the Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago opened their "Newspaper" exhibit which used interactive Laserdiscs to allow visitors to search for the front page of any Chicago Tribune
newspaper. This was a very early example of public access to electronically stored information in a museum.
The first Laserdisc title marketed in North America was the MCA DiscoVision release of Jaws
in 1978. The last two titles released in North America were Paramount's Sleepy Hollow
and Bringing Out the Dead
in 2000. The last Japanese released movie was the Hong Kong film Tokyo Raiders
from Golden Harvest
. A dozen or so more titles continued to be released in Japan, until the end of 2001. Production of Laserdisc players continued until January 14, 2009, when Pioneer stopped making them.
It was estimated that in 1998, Laserdisc players were in approximately 2% of U.S. households (roughly two million). By comparison, in 1999, players were in 10% of Japanese households. Laserdisc was released on June 10, 1981, and a total of 3.6 million Laserdisc players were sold in Japan. A total of 16.8 million Laserdisc players were sold worldwide, of which 9.5 million of them were sold by Pioneer.
By the early 2000s, Laserdisc was completely replaced by DVD
in the North American retail marketplace, as neither players nor software were now produced. Players were still exported to North America from Japan until the end of 2001. The format 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 always remained an obscure format. It was, however, chosen by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the BBC Domesday Project
in the mid-1980s, a school-based project to commemorate 900 years since the original Domesday Book
in England.
s or DVD
s, Laserdiscs used analog video
stored in the composite domain
with analog sound and/or some form of digital audio
. However, despite its analog nature, the Laserdisc at its most fundamental level was still recorded as a series of pits and lands much like CDs, DVDs, and even Blu-rays are today. The first Laserdiscs featured in 1978 were entirely analog but the format evolved to incorporate digital stereo sound in CD format (sometimes with a TOSlink
or coax output to feed an external DAC), and later multi-channel formats such as Dolby Digital
and DTS.
Since digital encoding and compression schemes were either unavailable or impractical in 1978, three encoding formats based on the rotation speed were used:
As Pioneer introduced Digital Audio to Laserdisc in 1985, they further refined the CAA format. CAA55 was introduced in 1985 with a total playback capacity per side of 55 minutes 5 seconds, reducing the video capacity to resolve bandwidth issues with the inclusion of Digital Audio. Several titles released between 1985 and 1987 were analog audio only due to the length of the title and the desire to keep the film on one disc (e.g., Back to the Future). By 1987, Pioneer had overcome the technical challenges and was able to once again encode in CAA60—allowing a total of 60 minutes 5 seconds. Pioneer further refined CAA, offering CAA45—encoding 45 minutes of material, but filling the entire playback surface of the side. Used on only a handful of titles, CAA65 offered 65 minutes 5 seconds of playback time per side. The final variant of CAA is CAA70, which could accommodate 70 minutes of playback time per side. There are not any known uses of this format on the consumer market.
could be stored in either analog or digital format and in a variety of surround sound
formats; NTSC
discs could carry two analog audio tracks, plus two uncompressed PCM digital audio
tracks, which were CD encoded channels, (EFM
, CIRC
, 16-bit and 44.1 kHz sample rate). PAL
discs could carry one pair of audio tracks, either analog or digital; in the UK, the term LaserVision is used to refer to discs with analog sound, while LaserDisc is used for those with digital audio. The digital sound signal in both formats are EFM
-encoded as in CD. Dolby Digital
(also called AC-3) and DTS—which are now common on DVD titles—first became available on Laserdisc, and Star Wars: Episode I (1999) which was released on Laserdisc in Japan, is among the first home video releases ever to include 6.1 channel Dolby Digital EX Surround. Unlike DVDs, which carry Dolby Digital audio in digital form, Laserdiscs store Dolby Digital in a frequency modulated form within a track normally used for analog audio. Extracting Dolby Digital from a Laserdisc required a player equipped with a special "AC-3 RF" output and an external demodulator in addition to an AC-3 decoder
. The demodulator was necessary to convert the 2.88 MHz modulated AC-3 information on the disc into a 384 kbit/s signal that the decoder could handle. DTS audio, when available on a disc, replaced the digital audio tracks; hearing DTS sound required only an S/PDIF compliant digital
connection to a DTS decoder.
The two FM audio channels occupied the disc spectrum at 2.3 and 2.8 MHz on NTSC formatted discs and each channel had a 100 kHz FM deviation. The FM audio carrier frequencies were chosen to minimize their visibility in the video image, so that even with a poorly mastered disc, audio carrier beats in the video will be at least -35 dB down, and thus, invisible. Due to the frequencies chosen, the 2.8 MHz audio carrier (Right Channel) and the lower edge of the chroma signal are very close together and if filters are not carefully set during mastering, there can be interference between the two. In addition, high audio levels combined with high chroma levels can cause mutual interference, leading to beats becoming visible in highly saturated areas of the image. To help deal with this, Pioneer decided to implement the CX Noise Reduction System on the analog tracks. By reducing the dynamic range and peak levels of the audio signals stored on the disc, filtering requirements were relaxed and visible beats greatly reduced or eliminated. The CX system gives a total NR effect of 20 dB, but in the interest of better compatibility for non-decoded playback, Pioneer reduced this to only 14 dB of noise reduction (the RCA CED system used the "original" 20 dB CX system). This also relaxed calibration tolerances in players and helped reduce audible pumping if the CX decoder was not calibrated correctly.
At least where the digital audio tracks were concerned, the sound quality was unsurpassed at the time compared to consumer videotape, but the quality of the analog soundtracks varied greatly depending on the disc and, sometimes, the player. Many early and lower-end LD players had poor analog audio components, and many early discs had poorly mastered analog audio tracks, making digital soundtracks in any form most desirable to serious enthusiasts. Early DiscoVision and Laserdisc titles lacked the digital audio option, but many of those movies received digital sound in later re-issues by Universal, and the quality of analog audio tracks generally got far better as time went on. Many discs that had originally carried old analog stereo tracks received new Dolby Stereo
and Dolby Surround
tracks instead, often in addition to digital tracks, helping boost sound quality. Later analog discs also applied CX Noise Reduction
, which improved the signal-noise ratio of their audio.
Both AC-3 and DTS surround audio were clumsily implemented on Laserdiscs, leading to some interesting player- and disc-dependent issues. A disc that included AC-3 audio forfeited the right analog audio channel to the modulated AC-3 RF stream. If the player did not have an AC-3 output available, the next most attractive playback option would be the digital Dolby Surround or stereo audio tracks. The reason for this is the RF signal needs to bypass the audio circuitry in order to be properly processed by the demodulator. If either the player did not support digital audio tracks (common in older players), or the disc did not include digital audio tracks at all (uncommon for a disc which is mastered with an AC-3 track), the only remaining option was to fall back to a monophonic presentation of the left analog audio track. However, many older analog-only players not only failed to output AC-3 streams correctly, but were not even aware of their potential existence. Such a player will happily play the analog audio tracks verbatim, resulting in garbage (static) output in the right channel.
On a DTS disc, digital PCM audio was not available, so if a DTS decoder was also not available, the only option is to fall back to the analog Dolby Surround or stereo audio tracks. In some cases, the analog audio tracks were further made unavailable through replacement with supplementary audio such as isolated scores or audio commentary. This effectively reduced playback of a DTS disc on a non-DTS equipped system to mono audio—or in a handful of cases, no film soundtrack at all.
Only one 5.1 surround sound option existed on a given Laserdisc (either Dolby Digital or DTS), so if surround sound is desired, the disc had to be matched to the capabilities of the playback equipment (LD Player and Receiver/Decoder) by the purchaser. A fully capable Laserdisc playback rig included a newer Laserdisc player that is capable of playing digital tracks, had a digital optical output for digital PCM and DTS audio, would be aware of AC-3 audio tracks, and had an AC-3 coaxial output; an external or internal AC-3 RF demodulator and AC-3 decoder; and a DTS decoder. Many 1990s A/V receivers combined the AC-3 decoder and DTS decoder logic, but an integrated AC-3 demodulator was rare both in Laserdisc players and in later A/V receivers.
tubes to read discs and had a red-orange light with a wavelength of 628 nm, while later solid-state players used infrared
semiconductor
laser diode
s with a wavelength of 780 nm. Many Pioneer Model-III (DiscoVision PR-7820), VP-1000, LD-1100, LD-660 and PR-8210s are still in good working order. Both the Magnavox Magnavision and the Pioneer LD players used the same model of laser tube. Optical hobbyists have been known to cannibalize the laser tube machines. From 1978 to 1984, basically all LaserDisc players, either industrial or consumer, used Helium-Neon laser tubes.
In March 1984, Pioneer introduced the first consumer player with a solid-state laser, the LD-700. It was also the first LD player to load from the front and not the top. One year earlier Hitachi introduced an expensive industrial player with a laser diode, but the player, which had poor picture quality due to an inadequate drop-out compensator, was made only in limited quantities. After Pioneer released the LD-700, gas lasers were no longer used in consumer players, despite their advantages, although Philips continued to use gas lasers in their industrial units until 1985. Helium-Neon gas lasers had a shorter-wavelength laser that created a much smaller spot on the disc, leading to better tracking of imperfectly manufactured discs——such as an off-center hole punch or slightly eccentric tracks. The use of a solid state laser diode necessitated the introduction of the tilt-servo mechanism in LD players; this physically tilted the entire laser table, keeping it parallel with the disc, thus ensuring the larger laser beam spot was always perfectly circular and helping to reduce or eliminate crosstalk on warped CLV discs. In addition, the gas laser was less sensitive to external vibration, a must in certain industrial environments, and generated less photon-shot noise than the solid-state laser diode, resulting in a cleaner, less "busy" on-screen image.
The picture produced by the LD-700's laser could be instantly recognized at the time; it was slightly softer, and large expanses of color in the image, such as a blue sky, would show streaking artifacts. Also, the infrared laser did not cope as well with disc manufacturing defects, such as dirt trapped under the surface of the disc (inclusions), an off-center hole or track errors created during mastering, such as track-to-track "kissing" (tracks touching). Because of this, collectors with large MCA DiscoVision collections (DiscoVision discs had just those type of above mentioned defects) tended to use tube-based LaserDisc players since they played these discs better. In addition to being the first LD player to use a laser diode, the Pioneer LD-700 was also the first player ever to have the aforementioned "tilt" servo, which was arguably one of the greatest advances in LD players, providing superior tracking.
Most machines made were single-sided and required the viewer to manually turn the disc over to play the other side. A number of players (all diode laser based) were made that were capable of playing both sides of the disc automatically; at the end of the first side, or at the viewers command, the machine would reverse the direction of the disc's rotation, simultaneously moving the laser pickup head to the other side of the disc, and then initiate playback. Since LD's are made up of two single sided discs glued together, the auto-reverse player would center each disc side individually, and instead of a simple U-shaped reversing mechanism, Pioneer players physically rotated the laser reading head 180°
as it moved from one side of the disc to the other, ensuring that the laser retained the same playback orientation on both sides of the disc. This optimized playback and tracking quality. While Pioneer produced some industrial "jukeboxes" that held more than 50 discs, one company offered, for a short time in 1984, a "LaserStack" unit that required the user to physically remove the player lid for installation and attached to the top of the Pioneer LD-600, LD-1100 or the Sylvania/Magnavox clones. LaserStack held up to 10 discs and could automatically load or remove them from the player or change sides in around 15 seconds. A version for the Magnavox Magnavision and Pioneer VP-1000 was announced, as was a model for the front-loading players, but the company went out of business before the units were available. Only one consumer player, the LD-W1 (it was also released industrially too), was made that could hold more than a single disc; the W1 held two discs and could automatically change discs and sides by rotating the entire mechanism, including both the laser and turntable. Electrically, the LD-W1 was identical to the Elite LD-S1. The LD-W1 remained in the Pioneer catalog for many years and received many improvements: While the first 'version' of the W1 had only 2X oversampling and 16-bit D/A converters in the digital audio, the later units had 4X oversampling with 20-bit D/A converters. The video noise reduction was improved too, sharpening the picture and reducing disc noise while eliminating the artifacts it caused. In addition, high-frequency response in the FM video demodulator and A/D-D/A converters was extended and flattened, increasing resolution and reducing visible digital artifacts. The W1's player software was refined too, making disc and side-changing faster—plus, during side or disc changes, it grabbed a still-frame closer to the actual end-of-program instead of just any frame from the side's last five minutes.
was the first mass-produced industrial laserdisc player, sold originally as the MCA DiscoVision PR-7820. This unit was used in many GM dealerships as a source of training videos and presentation of GM's new line of cars and trucks in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After MCA DiscoVision shut down, Pioneer continued to sell the player under the Pioneer name as the Pioneer Model-III. The unit was a full Level-III player and could accept a data-dump from discs themselves. It could also be controlled by an external computer and could be gen-locked to external video sources.
The 7820 was the only player ever sold to either the industrial or consumer market that was entirely designed and engineered by the technicians at MCA Disco-Vision and contained all of their preferred design approaches, such as playing the disc with the laser on top (instead of underneath) and moving the disc radially to provide tracking instead of moving the laser radially. MCA engineers designed the player at the DiscoVision labs in Torrance, CA and Universal-Pioneer mass produced it in Japan. The 7820 was such a high quality player that MCA themselves used it at their DiscoVision disc pressing plant in Carson, CA for quality control checks of both master discs and finished sets. Unfortunately, this caused problems because the 7820 could easily play discs that the poorly designed and quite primitive consumer player, the Magnavox VH-8000, simply could not cope with.
In 1980, Discovision Associates released a factory update (it could also be retrofitted to existing 7820s) that reduced disc search times to less than three seconds, and added the ability to jump up to 99 tracks during vertical blanking, giving essentially "instant" searches. An external computer interface box was also made available at the same time which contained additional memory that increased the total size of a disc-based computer program the 7820 could store and execute to 256k.
The 7820 was the first LD player to use solid-state tangential tracking — instead of a tangential tracking mirror, the 7820 used an electronic CCD delay line to provide tangential tracking corrections, giving the player superb color quality. It was not until 1985/6 that the tangential mirror began to be replaced by electronic correction, first by Yamaha in their first consumer LD player, and eventually, by Pioneer themselves.
MCA DiscoVision had no suggested retail price for the PR-7820; depending on the number purchased, it varied from $3,500 to $2,200 per unit if more than 1000 were bought at once. Fully functional 7820s are not easily available on eBay and are nearly impossible to find in fully functional condition. Because they have a steel chassis, weight is a shipping problem.
In 1996, the first model DVD/LD combi-player (and first Pioneer DVD player, for that matter) was the Pioneer DVL-9 released in Japan. The Pioneer Elite DVL-90, an updated version, followed by a similar, though supposedly lower-end model, the DVL-700, were released in 1997. Successors to this model include the Pioneer DVL-909, Pioneer DVL-919, and the Pioneer Elite DVL-91. Although the DVD/LD combi players offered competent LD performance, they paled in comparison to high-end LD players such as the Pioneer Elite CLD-99 and the Pioneer Hi-Vision/MUSE HLD-X9.
The Pioneer DVL-909 lacks support for DTS output. However, a modification to the player can allow this player to support DTS streams on DTS discs, essentially turning the DVL-909 into a Pioneer Elite DVL-91.
The last model DVD/LD player was the Japanese only DVL-H9, but the older DVL-919 is still sold in the U.S. and appears on Pioneer's North American website. However, it has not been actively marketed since the late 1990s. The DVL-919 supports DTS output. The DVL-919's DVD section is unremarkable by modern standards, and does not support progressive scan (480p) even though it has component output. As noted above, the LD section, while competent, is inferior to earlier high-end LD players. A few Pioneer dealers offer North American specification DVL-919s, and a unit purchased in April 2004 had a manufacture date of December 2003. Manufacturing of the DVL-919 continued until January 1, 2009, when Pioneer announced that production would cease after a final production run of 3000 DVL-919 and other model laser disc players.
The CLD-R7G, LD-S9 and HLD-X9 share a highly advanced comb filter
, allowing them to offer a considerable advantage in picture quality over most other LD players when the S-Video connection is used. The comb filter present in these players is unique and is purportedly the finest comb filter ever used in consumer A/V gear: it is still currently in use in Mitsubishi's top-spec CRT rear-projection television sets (the Diamond and now defunct Platinum series sets) and Pioneer's Elite line of rear-projection televisions.
In addition to the advanced comb filter, the HLD-X9 contains a red-laser pickup, which significantly reduces crosstalk and picture-noise levels compared to players with the traditional infrared laser; it can also read through all but the worst cases of laser rot and surface wear. The HLD-X9 was also a MUSE
player, capable when properly equipped of playing back high-definition video
Laserdiscs, called Hi-Vision or MUSE discs in Japan.
The HLD-X0 was Pioneer's original MUSE player, and is the player of choice for many enthusiasts despite the fact that it lacks the comb filter shared by the R7G, S9 and X9. It was entirely hand built from hand picked electronics and weighed 79 lb (35.8 kg). Many argue that the newer X9 was a more capable MUSE player but that the X0 had superior performance with standard NTSC
discs. Nonetheless, the X9 remained the more popular of the two models, as it included the newer comb filter and is a dual-side player, meaning that double sided discs did not need to be manually flipped over in order for both sides to be played.
laserdiscs had a slightly longer playing time than NTSC
discs, but had fewer audio options. PAL discs only have two audio tracks, consisting of either two analog-only tracks on older PAL LDs, or two digital-only tracks on newer discs. In comparison, later NTSC LDs are capable of carrying four tracks (two analog and two digital). On certain releases, one of the analog tracks is used to carry a modulated AC-3 signal for 5.1 channel audio (for decoding and playback by newer LD players with an "AC-3 RF" output). However, older NTSC LDs made before 1984 (such as the original DiscoVision discs) only have two analog audio tracks.
, which co-owned the technology, referred to it as the Optical Videodisc System, "Reflective Optical Videodisc" or "Laser Optical Videodisc", depending on the document; changing the name once in 1969 to Disco-Vision
and then again in 1978 to DiscoVision (without the hyphen), which became the official spelling. Technical documents and brochures produced by MCA Disco-Vision during the early and mid-'70s also used the term "Disco-Vision Records" to refer to the pressed discs. MCA owned the rights to the largest catalog of films in the world during this time, and they manufactured and distributed the DiscoVision releases of those films under the "MCA DiscoVision" software and manufacturing label; consumer sale of those titles began on December 15, 1978, with the aforementioned Jaws
.
Philips' preferred name for the format was "VLP", after the Dutch words Video Langspeel-Plaat ("Video long-play disc"), which in English-speaking countries stood for Video Long-Play. The first consumer player, the Magnavox VH-8000 even had the VLP logo on the player. For a while in the early and mid-1970s, Philips also discussed a compatible audio-only format they called "ALP", but that was soon dropped as the Compact Disc system became a non-compatible project in the Philips corporation. Until early 1980, the format had no "official" name; however, the LaserVision Association, made up of MCA, Universal-Pioneer, IBM
, and Philips/Magnavox, was formed to standardize the technical specifications of the format (which had been causing problems for the consumer market) and finally named the system officially as "LaserVision".
After its introduction in Japan in 1981, the format was introduced in Europe in 1983 with the LaserVision name although Philips used "VLP" in model designations, such as VLP-600. Philips tried renaming the entire format in 1987 to "CD-Video", and while the name and logo appeared on players and labels for years, the 'official' name of the format remained LaserVision. In the early 1990s, the format's name was finally changed to LaserDisc.
On single sided Laserdiscs mastered by Pioneer, playing the wrong side will cause a still screen to appear with a happy, upside down turtle that has a Laserdisc for a stomach (nicknamed the "Laserdisc Turtle"). The words "Program material is recorded on the other side of this disc" are below the turtle. Other manufacturers used a regular text message without graphics.
, Disney and Warner Bros.
Some of them added their own names to the disc jacket to signify that the movie was not owned by MCA. After Discovision Associates shut down in early 1982, Universal Studio's videodisc software label, called MCA Videodisc until 1984, began reissuing many DiscoVision titles. Sadly, quite a few, such as Battlestar Galactica
and Jaws
, were time-compressed versions of their CAV or CLV DiscoVision originals. The time-compressed CLV re-issue of Jaws no longer had the original soundtrack, having had incidental background music replaced for the videodisc version due to licensing cost (the music would not be available until the THX LaserDisc box set was released in 1995). One Universal/Columbia co-production issued by MCA DiscoVision in both CAV and CLV versions, The Electric Horseman
, is still not available in any other home video format with its original score intact; even the most recent DVD release has had substantial music replacements of both instrumental score and Willie Nelson's songs. An MCA release of Universal′s Howard the Duck
, sees only the start credits shown in widescreen before changing to 4:3 for the rest of the film. For many years this was the only disc-based release of the film, until widescreen DVD formats were released with extras. Also, the laser disc release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
, is the only format to include the cut scene of a young Harrison Ford
playing the part of the school headmaster telling off Elliott for letting the frogs free in the biology class.
. It featured a far sharper picture with a horizontal resolution
of 425 TVL
lines for NTSC and 440 TVL lines for PAL discs, while VHS featured only 240 TVL lines with NTSC. It could handle analog and digital audio where VHS was mostly analog only (VHS can have PCM audio in professional applications but is uncommon), and the NTSC discs could store multiple audio tracks. This allowed for extras like director's commentary tracks and other features to be added on to a film, creating "Special Edition" releases that would not have been possible with VHS. Disc access was random and chapter based, like the DVD format, meaning that one could jump to any point on a given disc very quickly. By comparison, VHS would require tedious rewinding and fast-forwarding to get to specific points. Laserdiscs were initially cheaper than videocassettes to manufacture, because they lacked the moving parts and plastic outer shell that are necessary for VHS tapes to work, and the duplication process was much simpler. A VHS cassette has at least 14 parts including the actual tape while laserdisc has one part with five or six layers. A disc can be stamped out in a matter of seconds whereas duplicating videotape required a complex bulk tape duplication mechanism and was a time-consuming process. However, by the end of the 1980s, average disc-pressing prices were over $5.00 per two-sided disc, due to the large amount of plastic material and the costly glass-mastering process need to make the metal stamper mechanisms. Due to the larger volume of demand, videocassettes quickly became much cheaper to duplicate, costing as little as $1.00 by the beginning of the 1990s.
Laserdiscs potentially had a much longer lifespan than videocassettes. Because the discs were read optically instead of magnetically, no physical contact needs to be made between the player and the disc, except for the player's clamp that holds the disc at its center as it is spun and read. As a result, playback would not wear the information-bearing part of the discs, and properly manufactured LDs would theoretically last beyond one's lifetime (however, see Laser rot, below). By contrast, a VHS tape held all of its picture and sound information on the tape in a magnetic coating which is in contact with the spinning heads on the head drum, causing progressive wear with each use (though later in VHS's lifespan, engineering improvements allowed tapes to be made and played back without contact). Also, the tape was thin and delicate, and it was easy for a player mechanism, especially on a low quality or malfunctioning model, to mishandle the tape and damage it by creasing it, frilling (stretching) its edges, or even breaking it.
format: the luminance (black and white) and chrominance (color) information were transmitted in one signal, separated by the receiver. While good comb filters can do so adequately, these two signals cannot be completely separated. On DVDs, data is stored in the form of digital blocks which make up each independent frame. The signal produced is dependent on the equipment used to master the disc. Signals range from composite and split, to YUV
and RGB. Depending upon which format is used, this can result in far higher fidelity, particularly at strong color borders or regions of high detail (especially if there is moderate movement in the picture) and low-contrast details like skin tones, where comb filters almost inevitably smudge some detail.
In contrast to the entirely digital DVD, Laserdiscs use only analog video. As the Laserdisc format is not digitally encoded and does not make use of compression techniques, it is immune to video macroblocking
(most visible as blockiness during high motion sequences) or contrast banding (subtle visible lines in gradient areas, such as skies or light casts from spotlights) that can be caused by the MPEG-2
encoding process as video is prepared for DVD. However, proprietary human-assisted encoders manually operated by specialist experts can vastly reduce the incidence of artifacts, depending on playing time and image complexity.
and DTS
for multichannel sound. Most Laserdiscs were encoded with stereo (often Dolby Surround) CD quality audio 16bit/44.1 kHz tracks as well as analog audio tracks.
DTS-encoded Laserdisc have full-bitrate DTS soundtracks (1,536 kbit/s) instead of the "half" bitrate (768 kbit/s) DTS tracks often used on DVDs.
warnings). However, some DVD players, particularly in the higher-end units, have the ability to ignore the blocking code and play the video without restrictions. With CAV Laserdiscs the user can jump directly to any individual frame of a video simply by entering the frame number on the remote keypad, a feature not common among DVD players. However, some DVD players have cache features which stores a certain amount of the video in RAM which allows the player to index a DVD as quickly as an LD, even down to the frame in some players.
Another advantage of Laserdisc was that damaged spots can be skipped, while a DVD will become unplayable. Some newer DVD players feature a repair+skip algorithm, which alleviates this problem by continuing to play the disc, filling in unreadable areas of the picture with blank space or a frozen frame of the last readable image and sound. The success of this feature depends upon the amount of damage. Laserdisc players, when working in full analog, recover from such errors faster than DVD players. Direct comparison is, however, almost impossible due to the sheer size differences between the two media. A 1 in (3 cm) scratch on a DVD will probably cause more problems than a 1" scratch on an Laserdisc, but a fingerprint taking up 1% of the area of a DVD would almost certainly cause fewer problems than a similar mark covering 1% of the surface of a Laserdisc.
Similar to the CD versus LP sound quality debates common in the audiophile
community, some videophiles argue that Laserdisc maintains a "smoother", more "film-like", natural image while DVD still looks slightly more artificial. Early DVD demo discs often had compression or encoding problems, lending additional support to such claims at the time. However, the lower video signal-to-noise ratio
of Laserdisc is substantially less than that of DVDs, making DVDs appear sharper and clearer to most viewers.
Criterion Collection edition of Citizen Kane
is generally credited as being the first "Special Edition" release to home video, and for setting the standard by which future SE discs were measured. The disc provided interviews, commentary tracks, documentaries, still photographs, and other features for historians and collectors.
The space-consuming analog video signal of a Laserdisc limited playback duration to 30 minutes (CAV) or 60 minutes (CLV) per side because of the hardware manufacturer's refusal to reduce line count for increased playtime. After one side was finished playing, a disc has to be flipped over in order to continue watching a movie, and some titles fill two or more discs. Many players, especially units built after the mid-1980s, can "flip" discs automatically by rotating the optical pickup to the other side of the disc, but this is accompanied by a pause in the movie during the side change. If the movie is longer than what could be stored on two sides of a single disc, manually swapping to a second disc is necessary at some point during the film. One exception to this rule is the Pioneer LD-W1, which features two disc platters. In addition, perfect still frames and random access to individual still frames is limited only to the more expensive CAV discs, which only had a playing time of approximately 30 minutes per side. In later years, Pioneer and other manufacturers overcame this limitation by incorporating a digital memory buffer, which "grabbed" a single frame from a CLV disc.
The analog information encoded on Laserdiscs does not include any form of built-in checksum or error correction. Because of this, slight dust and scratches on the disc surface can result in read-errors which cause various video quality problems—glitches, streaks, bursts of static, or momentary picture interruptions. In contrast, the digital MPEG-2 format information used on DVDs has built-in error correction which ensures that the signal from a damaged disc will remain identical to that from a perfect disc right up until the point at which damage to the disc surface is so substantial that it prevents the laser from being able to identify usable data.
In addition, Laserdisc video sometimes exhibit a problem known as “crosstalk”. The issue can arise when the laser optical pickup assembly within the player is out of alignment or because the disc is damaged or excessively warped, but it could also occur even with a properly functioning player and a factory-new disc, depending on electrical and mechanical alignment problems. In these instances, the issue arose due to the fact that CLV discs require subtle changes in rotating speed at various points during playback. During a change in speed, the optical pickup inside the player might read video information from a track adjacent to the intended one, causing data from the two tracks to "cross"; the extra video information picked up from that second track shows up as distortion in the picture which looks reminiscent of swirling "barber poles" or rolling lines of static.
Assuming the player's optical pickup is in proper working order, crosstalk distortion normally does not occur during playback of CAV format Laserdiscs, as the rotational speed never varies. However, if the player calibration is out of order or if the CAV disc is faulty or damaged, other problems affecting tracking accuracy can occur. One such problem is "laser lock", where the player reads the same two fields for a given frame over and over again, causing the picture to look frozen as if the movie were paused.
Another significant issue unique to Laserdisc is one involving the inconsistency of playback quality between different makers and models of player. On most televisions, a given DVD player will produce a picture that is visually indistinguishable from other units. Differences in image quality between players only becomes easily apparent on large televisions and substantial leaps in image quality are generally only obtained with expensive, high-end players that allow for post-processing of the MPEG-2 stream during playback. In contrast, Laserdisc playback quality is highly dependent on hardware quality. Major variances in picture quality appear between different makers and models of LD players, even when tested on a low to mid-range television. The obvious benefits of using high quality equipment has helped keep demand for some players high, thus also keeping pricing for those units comparably high. In the 1990s, notable players sold for anywhere from US$
200 to well over $1,000, while older and less desirable players could be purchased in working condition for as little as $25.
"LaserDisc" name of the underlying product) among LD enthusiasts, also called "color flash" internally by laserdisc-pressing plants. Some forms of laser rot could appear as black spots that looked like mold or burned plastic which cause the disc to skip and the movie to exhibit excessive speckling noise. But, for the most part, rotted discs could actually appear perfectly fine to the naked eye.
Later optical standards have been known to suffer similar problems
, including a notorious batch of defective CDs manufactured by Philips-DuPont Optical in Europe during the early 1990s.
due to the high cost of the players and discs, which were far more expensive than VHS players and tapes, and due to marketplace confusion with the technologically inferior CED, which also went by the name Videodisc
. While the format was unsuitable with most North American consumers, it was well received among videophile
s and celebrities
due to the superior audio and video quality compared to VHS
and Betamax
tapes. The format was more popular in Japan
than in North America because prices were kept low to ensure adoption, resulting in minimal price differences between VHS tapes and the higher quality Laserdiscs, helping ensure that it quickly became the dominant consumer video format in Japan. Anime
collectors in every country the LD format was released, which includes both North America and Japan, also quickly became familiar with this format, and sought the higher video and sound quality of laserdisc and the availability of numerous titles not available on VHS. Laserdiscs were also popular alternatives to videocasettes among movie enthusiasts in the more affluent regions of South East Asia, such as Singapore, due to their high integration with the Japanese export market and the disc-based media's superior longevity compared to videocassette, especially in the humid conditions endemic to that area of the world.
The format also became quite popular in Hong Kong
during the 1990s before the introduction of VCDs
and DVD; although people rarely bought the discs (because each LD is priced around USD100), high rental activity helped the video rental business in the city grow larger than it had ever been previously. Due to integration with the Japanese export market, NTSC laserdiscs were used in the Hong Kong market, in contrast to the PAL standard used for broadcast (This anomaly also exists for DVD). This created a market for multi-system TVs and multi-system VCRs which could display or play both PAL and NTSC materials in addition to SECAM materials (which were never popular in Hong Kong). Some LD players could convert NTSC signals to PAL so that most TVs used in Hong Kong could display the LD materials.
Despite the mild popularity, manufacturers refused to market recordable Laserdisc devices on the consumer market, even though the competing VCR devices could record onto cassette, which hurt sales worldwide. The inconvenient disc size, the high cost of both the players and the media and the inability to record onto the discs combined to take a serious toll on sales, and contributed to the format's poor adoption figures.
Although the Laserdisc format was supplanted by DVD by the late 1990s, many LD titles are still highly coveted by movie enthusiasts (for example, Disney's Song of the South
which is unavailable in the US in any format, but was issued in Japan on LD). This is largely because there are many films that are still only available on LD and many other LD releases contain supplemental material not available on subsequent DVD versions of those films. Until the end of 2001, many titles were released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD in Japan.
LD players are also sometimes still found in contemporary North American high school
and college physics
classrooms, in order to play a disc of the Physics: Cinema Classics series of mid-20th century Encyclopædia Britannica
films reproducing classic experiments in the field which are difficult or impossible to replicate in the laboratories in educational settings. These films have now been released on DVD.
, Duran Duran
, and Cyndi Lauper
. When connected to a PC this combination could be used to display images or information for educational or archival purposes, for example thousands of scanned medieval manuscripts. This strange device could be considered a very early equivalent of a CD-ROM.
In 1986, a SCSI
-equipped Laserdisc player attached to a BBC Master
computer was used for the BBC Domesday Project
. The player was referred as an LV-ROM (LaserVision Read Only Memory) as the discs contained the driving software as well as the video frames. The discs used the CAV format, and encoded data as a binary signal represented by the analog audio recording. These discs could contain in each CAV frame video/audio or video/binary data, but not both. "Data" frames would appear blank when played as video. It was typical for each disc to start with the disc catalog (a few blank frames) then the video introduction before the rest of the data. Because the format (based on the ADFS hard disc format) used a starting sector for each file, the data layout effectively skipped over any video frames. If all 54,000 frames are used for data storage an LV-ROM disc can contain 324 MB of data.
Apple's HyperCard
scripting language provided Macintosh computer users with a means to design databases of slides, animation, video and sounds from Laserdiscs and then to create interfaces for users to play specific content from the disc. User-created "stacks" were shared and were especially popular in education where teacher-generated stacks were used to access discs ranging from art collections to basic biological processes. Commercially available stacks were also popular with the Voyager company being possibly the most successful distributor.
Commodore International
's 1992 multimedia presentation system for the Amiga
, AmigaVision, included device drivers for controlling a number of Laserdisc players through a serial port. Coupled with the Amiga's ability to use a Genlock
, this allowed for the Laserdisc video to be overlaid with computer graphics and integrated into presentations and multimedia displays, years before such practice was commonplace.
Pioneer also made computer-controlled units such as the LD-V2000. It had a back-panel RS-232
serial connection through a five-pin DIN connector
, and no front-panel controls except Open/Close. (The disc would be played automatically upon insertion.)
Under contract from the U.S. Military, Matrox produced a combination computer laserdisc player for instructional purposes. The computer was a 286
, the Laserdisc player only capable of reading the analog audio tracks. Together they weighed 43 lb (19.5 kg) and sturdy handles were provided in case two people were required to lift the unit. The computer controlled the player via a 25-pin serial port at the back of the player and a ribbon cable connected to a proprietary port on the motherboard. Many of these were sold as surplus by the military during the 1990s, often without the controller software. Nevertheless, it is possible to control the unit by removing the ribbon cable and connecting a serial cable directly from the computer's serial port to the port on the laserdisc player.
s and several companies saw potential in using Laserdiscs for video games in the 1980s and 1990s, beginning in 1983 with Sega’s Astron Belt
. American Laser Games
and Cinematronics
produced elaborate arcade consoles that used the random-access features to create interactive movies such as Dragon's Lair
and Space Ace
. Similarly, the Pioneer Laseractive
and Halcyon
were introduced as home video game consoles that used laserdisc media for their software.
. Encoded using NHK
's MUSE "Hi-Vision" analogue TV system, MUSE discs would operate like standard Laserdiscs but would contain high-definition 1,125-line (1,035 visible lines) (Sony HDVS
) video with a 5:3 aspect ratio. The MUSE players were also capable of playing standard NTSC format discs and are superior in performance to non-MUSE players even with these NTSC discs. The MUSE-capable players had several noteworthy advantages over standard Laserdisc players, including a red laser with a much narrower wavelength than the lasers found in standard players. The red laser was capable of reading through disc defects such as scratches and even mild disc rot that would cause most other players to stop, stutter or drop-out. Crosstalk was not an issue with MUSE discs, and the narrow wavelength of the laser allowed for the virtual elimination of crosstalk with normal discs.
In order to view MUSE encoded discs, it was necessary to have a MUSE decoder in addition to a compatible player. There are televisions with MUSE decoding built-in and set top tuners with decoders that can provide the proper MUSE input. Equipment prices were high, especially for early HDTVs which generally eclipsed US$10,000, and even in Japan the market for MUSE was tiny. Players and discs were never officially sold in North America, although several distributors imported MUSE discs along with other import titles. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
, Lawrence of Arabia
, A League of Their Own
, Bugsy
, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Chaplin were among the theatrical releases available on MUSE LDs. Several documentaries, including one about Formula One
at Japan's Suzuka Circuit
were also released.
s. These discs allowed for 30 minutes per side (CAV) or 60 minutes per side (CLV). The vast majority of programming for the Laserdisc format was produced on these discs.
A number of 7.9 in (20 cm) Laserdiscs were also published. These smaller "EP
"-sized LDs allowed for 20 minutes per side (CLV). They are much rarer than the full-size LDs, especially in North America. These discs were often used for music video compilations (e.g. Bon Jovi
′s "Breakout", Bananarama
′s "Video Singles" or T'Pau's
"View From A Bridge").
There were also 4.7 in (12 cm) "single
"-style discs produced that were playable on Laserdisc players. These were referred to as CD Video
(CD-V) discs, and Video Single Disc
s (VSD). A CD-V carried up to five minutes of analog Laserdisc-type video content (usually a music video), as well as up to 20 minutes of digital audio CD
tracks. The original 1989 release of David Bowie's restrospective Sound and Vision CD box set prominently featured a CD-V video of Ashes To Ashes, and standalone promo CD-Vs featured the video, plus three audio tracks: John, I'm Only Dancing, Changes and The Supermen.
CD-Vs are not to be confused with Video CD
s (which are all-digital and can only be played on VCD
players, DVD
players, CD-i
players, computers, and later-model Laserdisc players, such as the DVL series from Pioneer that can also play DVDs). CD-Vs can only be played back on Laserdisc players with CD-V capability. VSDs were the same as CD-Vs, but without the audio CD
tracks. CD-Vs were somewhat popular for a brief time worldwide, but soon faded from view. VSDs were popular only in Japan and other parts of Asia, and were never really introduced to the rest of the world.
business in Japan, and used Laserdiscs as the storage medium for music and additional content such as graphics. The format was generally called LD-G. While several other karaoke labels manufactured Laserdiscs, there was nothing like the breadth of competition in that industry that exists now, as almost all manufacturers have transitioned to CD+G
discs (en route, possibly, to a new DVD-based format).
televisions in the mid 1990s, Pioneer and Toshiba decided that it was time to take advantage of this aspect ratio. Squeeze LDs were enhanced 16:9-ratio widescreen Laserdiscs. During the video transfer stage, the movie was stored in an anamorphic "squeezed" format. The widescreen movie image was stretched to fill the entire video frame with less or none of the video resolution wasted to create letterbox
bars. The advantage was a 33% greater vertical resolution compared to letterboxed widescreen Laserdisc. This same procedure was used for DVD. Unlike all DVD players, very few LD players had the ability to unsqueeze the image for 4:3 sets. If the discs were played on a 4:3 television the image would be distorted. Since very few people owned 16:9 displays, the marketability of these special discs was very limited.
There were no anamorphic laserdisc titles available in the US except for promotional purposes. Upon purchase of a Toshiba 16:9 television viewers had the option of selecting a number of Warner Brothers 16:9 films. Titles include Unforgiven
, Grumpy Old Men
, The Fugitive
, and Free Willy
. The Japanese lineup of titles was different. A series of releases under the banner "SQUEEZE LD" from Pioneer of mostly Carolco titles included Basic Instinct
, Stargate
, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
, Showgirls
, Cutthroat Island
, and Cliffhanger
. Strangely, Terminator 2 was released twice in Squeeze LD, the second release being THX certified and a notable improvement over the first.
, CRVdiscs resemble early PC
CD-ROM
caddies with a disc inside resembling a full-sized LD. CRVdiscs were blank, write-once, read-many
media that could be recorded once on each side. CRVdiscs were used largely for backup storage in professional/commercial applications.
Another form of recordable Laserdisc that was completely playback-compatible with the Laserdisc format (unlike CRVdisc with its caddy enclosure) is the RLV, or Recordable LaserVision disc. It was developed and first marketed by the Optical Disc Corporation (ODC, now ODC Nimbus) in 1984. RLV discs, like CRVdisc, are also a WORM
technology, and function exactly like a CD-R
disc. RLV discs looked almost exactly like standard Laserdiscs, and could play in any standard Laserdisc player after they have been recorded.
The only cosmetic difference between an RLV disc and a regular factory-pressed Laserdiscs was their reflective purple-violet (or blue with some RLV discs) color resulting from the dye embedded in the reflective layer of the disc to make it recordable, as opposed to the silver mirror appearance of regular LDs. The purplish color of RLVs was very similar to present-day DVD-R
and DVD+R
discs. RLVs were popular for making short-run quantities of Laserdiscs for specialized applications such as interactive kiosk
s and flight simulator
s.
In spite of nonrecordability being commonly regarded as the primary weakness of the Laserdisc format, these recordable LD systems were never marketed toward the general public, and are so poorly known as to create the misconception that a home recording system for Laserdiscs was impossible.
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
format and the first commercial optical disc
Optical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known as simply "DiscoVision") in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical Videodisc, and Disco-Vision (with a dash), with the first players referring to the format as "Video Long Play". Later, Pioneer Electronics purchased the majority stake in the format and marketed it as both LaserVision (format name) and LaserDisc (brand name) in 1980, with some releases unofficially referring to the medium as "Laser Videodisc".
Although the format was capable of offering higher quality video and audio than its consumer rivals, the VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
videocassette systems, it was poorly received in North America. It also remained a largely obscure format in Europe and Australia. However, it was much more popular in Japan and in the more affluent regions of South East Asia, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Laserdisc was the prevalent rental video medium in Hong Kong during the 1990s.
Significantly, the technologies and concepts behind Laserdisc are the foundation for later and more popular optical disc formats, including Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s.
History
Laserdisc technology, using a transparent disc, was invented by David Paul GreggDavid Paul Gregg
Dr. David Paul Gregg was the inventor of the optical disc . Gregg was inspired to create the optical disc in 1958. He originally had it patented as the "Videodisk" in 1961. In 1968 his patents were purchased by MCA who help develop the technology further...
in 1958 (and patented in 1961 and 1990). By 1969, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
had developed a videodisc
Videodisc
Videodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
in reflective mode, which has advantages over the transparent mode. MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
and Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
decided to combine their efforts: they first publicly demonstrated the videodisc in 1972. Laserdisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, on December 15, 1978, two years after the introduction of the VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
VCR, and four years before the introduction of the CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
(which is based on Laserdisc technology). Philips produced the players while MCA produced the discs. The Philips-MCA cooperation was not successful, and discontinued after a few years. Several of the scientists responsible for the early research (Richard Wilkinson, Ray Dakin and John Winslow) founded Optical Disc Corporation (now ODC Nimbus).
In 1979, the Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
in Chicago opened their "Newspaper" exhibit which used interactive Laserdiscs to allow visitors to search for the front page of any Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
newspaper. This was a very early example of public access to electronically stored information in a museum.
The first Laserdisc title marketed in North America was the MCA DiscoVision release of Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
in 1978. The last two titles released in North America were Paramount's Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow (film)
Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 American period horror film directed by Tim Burton. It is a film adaptation loosely inspired by the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving and stars Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Marc Pickering, Michael Gambon, Jeffrey Jones,...
and Bringing Out the Dead
Bringing Out the Dead
Bringing Out the Dead is a 1999 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, and based on the novel by Joe Connelly with the screenplay by Paul Schrader...
in 2000. The last Japanese released movie was the Hong Kong film Tokyo Raiders
Tokyo Raiders
Tokyo Raiders is a 2000 Hong Kong action film set in Hong Kong and Tokyo, directed by Jingle Ma and starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ekin Cheng and Kelly Chen. The success of the film led to the making of its sequel, Seoul Raiders, in 2005...
from Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It played a major role in becoming the first Chinese film company to successfully enter the western market for an extended period of time, especially with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan...
. A dozen or so more titles continued to be released in Japan, until the end of 2001. Production of Laserdisc players continued until January 14, 2009, when Pioneer stopped making them.
It was estimated that in 1998, Laserdisc players were in approximately 2% of U.S. households (roughly two million). By comparison, in 1999, players were in 10% of Japanese households. Laserdisc was released on June 10, 1981, and a total of 3.6 million Laserdisc players were sold in Japan. A total of 16.8 million Laserdisc players were sold worldwide, of which 9.5 million of them were sold by Pioneer.
By the early 2000s, Laserdisc was completely replaced by DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the North American retail marketplace, as neither players nor software were now produced. Players were still exported to North America from Japan until the end of 2001. The format 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 always remained an obscure format. It was, however, chosen by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the BBC Domesday Project
BBC Domesday Project
The BBC Domesday Project was a partnership between Acorn Computers Ltd, Philips, Logica and the BBC to mark the 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book, an 11th century census of England...
in the mid-1980s, a school-based project to commemorate 900 years since the original Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in England.
Technical information
The standard home video Laserdisc was 11.81 in (30 cm) in diameter and made up of two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. Although appearing similar to compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s, Laserdiscs used analog video
Analog video
Analog video is a video signal transferred by an analog signal. An analog color video signal contains luminance, brightness and chrominance of an analog television image...
stored in the composite domain
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
with analog sound and/or some form of digital audio
Digital audio
Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...
. However, despite its analog nature, the Laserdisc at its most fundamental level was still recorded as a series of pits and lands much like CDs, DVDs, and even Blu-rays are today. The first Laserdiscs featured in 1978 were entirely analog but the format evolved to incorporate digital stereo sound in CD format (sometimes with a TOSlink
TOSLINK
TOSLINK is a standardized optical fiber connection system. Also known generically as an "optical audio cable," its most common use is in consumer audio equipment , where it carries a digital audio stream from components such as MiniDisc, CD and DVD players, DAT recorders, computers, and modern...
or coax output to feed an external DAC), and later multi-channel formats such as Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
and DTS.
Since digital encoding and compression schemes were either unavailable or impractical in 1978, three encoding formats based on the rotation speed were used:
- CAV (Constant Angular VelocityConstant angular velocityIn optical storage, constant angular velocity is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable discs...
) or Standard Play discs supported several unique features such as freeze frame, variable slow motion and reverse. CAV discs were spun at a constant rotational speed (1800 rpm for 525 line and 1500 rpm for 625 line discs) during playback, with one video frame read per revolution. In this mode, 54,000 individual frames (30 minutes of audio/video) could be stored on a single side of a CAV disc. Another unique attribute to CAV was to reduce the visibility of crosstalkCrosstalk (electronics)In electronics, crosstalk is any phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit or channel of a transmission system creates an undesired effect in another circuit or channel...
from adjacent tracks, since on CAV discs any crosstalk at a specific point in a frame is simply from the same point in the next or previous frame. CAV was used less frequently than CLV, and reserved for special editions of feature films to highlight bonus material and special effects. One of the most intriguing advantages of this format was the ability to reference every frame of a film directly by number—a feature of particular interest to film buffs, students and others intrigued by the study of errors in staging, continuity, etc.
- CLV (Constant Linear VelocityConstant linear velocityIn optical storage, constant linear velocity is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable discs. CLV implies that the angular velocity varies during an operation, as contrasted with CAV modes...
) or Extended Play discs do not have the "trick play" features of CAV, offering only simple playback on all but the high-end Laserdisc players incorporating a digital frame store. These high-end Laserdisc players could add features not normally available to CLV discs such as variable forward and reverse, and a VCR-like "pause". By gradually slowing down their rotational speed (1,800–600 rpm) CLV encoded discs could store 60 minutes of audio/video per side, or two hours per disc. For films with a run–time less than 120 minutes, this meant they could fit on one disc, lowering the cost of the title and eliminating the distracting exercise of "getting up to change the disc"—at least for those who owned a dual-sided player. The vast majority of titles were only available in CLV (a few titles were released partly CLV, partly CAV. For example, a 140-minute movie could fit on two CLV sides and one CAV side, thus allowing for the CAV-only features during the climax of the film).
- CAA (Constant Angular Acceleration). In the early 1980s, due to problems with crosstalk distortion on CLV extended play Laserdiscs, Pioneer Video introduced CAA formatting for extended play discs. Constant Angular Acceleration is very similar to Constant Linear Velocity, save for the fact that CAA varies the angular rotation of the disc in controlled steps instead of gradually slowing down in a steady linear pace as a CLV disc is read. With the exception of 3M3M3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
/ImationImationImation is a US based multi-national technology corporation that designs, manufactures and sells recordable data storage media, consumer electronics products and accessories.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
, all Laserdisc manufacturers adopted the CAA encoding scheme, although the term was rarely (if ever) used on any consumer packaging. CAA encoding noticeably improved picture quality and greatly reduced crosstalk and other tracking problems.
As Pioneer introduced Digital Audio to Laserdisc in 1985, they further refined the CAA format. CAA55 was introduced in 1985 with a total playback capacity per side of 55 minutes 5 seconds, reducing the video capacity to resolve bandwidth issues with the inclusion of Digital Audio. Several titles released between 1985 and 1987 were analog audio only due to the length of the title and the desire to keep the film on one disc (e.g., Back to the Future). By 1987, Pioneer had overcome the technical challenges and was able to once again encode in CAA60—allowing a total of 60 minutes 5 seconds. Pioneer further refined CAA, offering CAA45—encoding 45 minutes of material, but filling the entire playback surface of the side. Used on only a handful of titles, CAA65 offered 65 minutes 5 seconds of playback time per side. The final variant of CAA is CAA70, which could accommodate 70 minutes of playback time per side. There are not any known uses of this format on the consumer market.
Audio
AudioSound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
could be stored in either analog or digital format and in a variety of surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
formats; NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
discs could carry two analog audio tracks, plus two uncompressed PCM digital audio
Digital audio
Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...
tracks, which were CD encoded channels, (EFM
Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation
Eight-to-fourteen modulation is a data encoding technique – formally, a channel code – used by compact discs and pre-Hi-MD MiniDiscs. EFMPlus is a related code, used in DVDs and SACDs. EFM and EFMPlus were both invented by Kees A...
, CIRC
Cross-Interleaved Reed-Solomon Coding
In the compact disc system, cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon code provides error detection and error correction. CIRC adds to every three data bytes one redundant parity byte.-Overview:...
, 16-bit and 44.1 kHz sample rate). PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
discs could carry one pair of audio tracks, either analog or digital; in the UK, the term LaserVision is used to refer to discs with analog sound, while LaserDisc is used for those with digital audio. The digital sound signal in both formats are EFM
Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation
Eight-to-fourteen modulation is a data encoding technique – formally, a channel code – used by compact discs and pre-Hi-MD MiniDiscs. EFMPlus is a related code, used in DVDs and SACDs. EFM and EFMPlus were both invented by Kees A...
-encoded as in CD. Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
(also called AC-3) and DTS—which are now common on DVD titles—first became available on Laserdisc, and Star Wars: Episode I (1999) which was released on Laserdisc in Japan, is among the first home video releases ever to include 6.1 channel Dolby Digital EX Surround. Unlike DVDs, which carry Dolby Digital audio in digital form, Laserdiscs store Dolby Digital in a frequency modulated form within a track normally used for analog audio. Extracting Dolby Digital from a Laserdisc required a player equipped with a special "AC-3 RF" output and an external demodulator in addition to an AC-3 decoder
Decoder
A decoder is a device which does the reverse operation of an encoder, undoing the encoding so that the original information can be retrieved. The same method used to encode is usually just reversed in order to decode...
. The demodulator was necessary to convert the 2.88 MHz modulated AC-3 information on the disc into a 384 kbit/s signal that the decoder could handle. DTS audio, when available on a disc, replaced the digital audio tracks; hearing DTS sound required only an S/PDIF compliant digital
S/PDIF
S/PDIF is a digital audio interconnect used in consumer audio equipment over relatively short distances. The signal is transmitted over either a coaxial cable with RCA connectors or a fiber optic cable with TOSLINK connectors. S/PDIF interconnects components in home theaters and other digital high...
connection to a DTS decoder.
The two FM audio channels occupied the disc spectrum at 2.3 and 2.8 MHz on NTSC formatted discs and each channel had a 100 kHz FM deviation. The FM audio carrier frequencies were chosen to minimize their visibility in the video image, so that even with a poorly mastered disc, audio carrier beats in the video will be at least -35 dB down, and thus, invisible. Due to the frequencies chosen, the 2.8 MHz audio carrier (Right Channel) and the lower edge of the chroma signal are very close together and if filters are not carefully set during mastering, there can be interference between the two. In addition, high audio levels combined with high chroma levels can cause mutual interference, leading to beats becoming visible in highly saturated areas of the image. To help deal with this, Pioneer decided to implement the CX Noise Reduction System on the analog tracks. By reducing the dynamic range and peak levels of the audio signals stored on the disc, filtering requirements were relaxed and visible beats greatly reduced or eliminated. The CX system gives a total NR effect of 20 dB, but in the interest of better compatibility for non-decoded playback, Pioneer reduced this to only 14 dB of noise reduction (the RCA CED system used the "original" 20 dB CX system). This also relaxed calibration tolerances in players and helped reduce audible pumping if the CX decoder was not calibrated correctly.
At least where the digital audio tracks were concerned, the sound quality was unsurpassed at the time compared to consumer videotape, but the quality of the analog soundtracks varied greatly depending on the disc and, sometimes, the player. Many early and lower-end LD players had poor analog audio components, and many early discs had poorly mastered analog audio tracks, making digital soundtracks in any form most desirable to serious enthusiasts. Early DiscoVision and Laserdisc titles lacked the digital audio option, but many of those movies received digital sound in later re-issues by Universal, and the quality of analog audio tracks generally got far better as time went on. Many discs that had originally carried old analog stereo tracks received new Dolby Stereo
Dolby Stereo
Dolby Stereo, is the trade mark that Dolby Laboratories used for the various analogue stereo cinema sound formats that they produced.Two basic systems used this name. The first was the 'Dolby SVA' system used with optical soundtracks on 35mm film...
and Dolby Surround
Dolby Surround
Dolby Surround was the earliest consumer version of Dolby's multichannel analog film sound decoding format Dolby Stereo introduced to the public in 1982 during the time home video recording formats were introducing Stereo and HiFi capability...
tracks instead, often in addition to digital tracks, helping boost sound quality. Later analog discs also applied CX Noise Reduction
CX (audio)
CX is a noise reduction system for recorded analog audio. It was developed by CBS Laboratories in the early 1980s, as a competitor to other noise reduction systems such as Dolby and dbx...
, which improved the signal-noise ratio of their audio.
Both AC-3 and DTS surround audio were clumsily implemented on Laserdiscs, leading to some interesting player- and disc-dependent issues. A disc that included AC-3 audio forfeited the right analog audio channel to the modulated AC-3 RF stream. If the player did not have an AC-3 output available, the next most attractive playback option would be the digital Dolby Surround or stereo audio tracks. The reason for this is the RF signal needs to bypass the audio circuitry in order to be properly processed by the demodulator. If either the player did not support digital audio tracks (common in older players), or the disc did not include digital audio tracks at all (uncommon for a disc which is mastered with an AC-3 track), the only remaining option was to fall back to a monophonic presentation of the left analog audio track. However, many older analog-only players not only failed to output AC-3 streams correctly, but were not even aware of their potential existence. Such a player will happily play the analog audio tracks verbatim, resulting in garbage (static) output in the right channel.
On a DTS disc, digital PCM audio was not available, so if a DTS decoder was also not available, the only option is to fall back to the analog Dolby Surround or stereo audio tracks. In some cases, the analog audio tracks were further made unavailable through replacement with supplementary audio such as isolated scores or audio commentary. This effectively reduced playback of a DTS disc on a non-DTS equipped system to mono audio—or in a handful of cases, no film soundtrack at all.
Only one 5.1 surround sound option existed on a given Laserdisc (either Dolby Digital or DTS), so if surround sound is desired, the disc had to be matched to the capabilities of the playback equipment (LD Player and Receiver/Decoder) by the purchaser. A fully capable Laserdisc playback rig included a newer Laserdisc player that is capable of playing digital tracks, had a digital optical output for digital PCM and DTS audio, would be aware of AC-3 audio tracks, and had an AC-3 coaxial output; an external or internal AC-3 RF demodulator and AC-3 decoder; and a DTS decoder. Many 1990s A/V receivers combined the AC-3 decoder and DTS decoder logic, but an integrated AC-3 demodulator was rare both in Laserdisc players and in later A/V receivers.
Hardware
The earliest players employed gas Helium-neon laserHelium-neon laser
A helium–neon laser or HeNe laser, is a type of gas laser whose gain medium consists of a mixture of helium and neon inside of a small bore capillary tube, usually excited by a DC electrical discharge.- History of HeNe laser development:...
tubes to read discs and had a red-orange light with a wavelength of 628 nm, while later solid-state players used infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
laser diode
Laser diode
The laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. The most common type of laser diode is formed from a p-n junction and powered by injected electric current...
s with a wavelength of 780 nm. Many Pioneer Model-III (DiscoVision PR-7820), VP-1000, LD-1100, LD-660 and PR-8210s are still in good working order. Both the Magnavox Magnavision and the Pioneer LD players used the same model of laser tube. Optical hobbyists have been known to cannibalize the laser tube machines. From 1978 to 1984, basically all LaserDisc players, either industrial or consumer, used Helium-Neon laser tubes.
In March 1984, Pioneer introduced the first consumer player with a solid-state laser, the LD-700. It was also the first LD player to load from the front and not the top. One year earlier Hitachi introduced an expensive industrial player with a laser diode, but the player, which had poor picture quality due to an inadequate drop-out compensator, was made only in limited quantities. After Pioneer released the LD-700, gas lasers were no longer used in consumer players, despite their advantages, although Philips continued to use gas lasers in their industrial units until 1985. Helium-Neon gas lasers had a shorter-wavelength laser that created a much smaller spot on the disc, leading to better tracking of imperfectly manufactured discs——such as an off-center hole punch or slightly eccentric tracks. The use of a solid state laser diode necessitated the introduction of the tilt-servo mechanism in LD players; this physically tilted the entire laser table, keeping it parallel with the disc, thus ensuring the larger laser beam spot was always perfectly circular and helping to reduce or eliminate crosstalk on warped CLV discs. In addition, the gas laser was less sensitive to external vibration, a must in certain industrial environments, and generated less photon-shot noise than the solid-state laser diode, resulting in a cleaner, less "busy" on-screen image.
The picture produced by the LD-700's laser could be instantly recognized at the time; it was slightly softer, and large expanses of color in the image, such as a blue sky, would show streaking artifacts. Also, the infrared laser did not cope as well with disc manufacturing defects, such as dirt trapped under the surface of the disc (inclusions), an off-center hole or track errors created during mastering, such as track-to-track "kissing" (tracks touching). Because of this, collectors with large MCA DiscoVision collections (DiscoVision discs had just those type of above mentioned defects) tended to use tube-based LaserDisc players since they played these discs better. In addition to being the first LD player to use a laser diode, the Pioneer LD-700 was also the first player ever to have the aforementioned "tilt" servo, which was arguably one of the greatest advances in LD players, providing superior tracking.
Most machines made were single-sided and required the viewer to manually turn the disc over to play the other side. A number of players (all diode laser based) were made that were capable of playing both sides of the disc automatically; at the end of the first side, or at the viewers command, the machine would reverse the direction of the disc's rotation, simultaneously moving the laser pickup head to the other side of the disc, and then initiate playback. Since LD's are made up of two single sided discs glued together, the auto-reverse player would center each disc side individually, and instead of a simple U-shaped reversing mechanism, Pioneer players physically rotated the laser reading head 180°
Degree (angle)
A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...
as it moved from one side of the disc to the other, ensuring that the laser retained the same playback orientation on both sides of the disc. This optimized playback and tracking quality. While Pioneer produced some industrial "jukeboxes" that held more than 50 discs, one company offered, for a short time in 1984, a "LaserStack" unit that required the user to physically remove the player lid for installation and attached to the top of the Pioneer LD-600, LD-1100 or the Sylvania/Magnavox clones. LaserStack held up to 10 discs and could automatically load or remove them from the player or change sides in around 15 seconds. A version for the Magnavox Magnavision and Pioneer VP-1000 was announced, as was a model for the front-loading players, but the company went out of business before the units were available. Only one consumer player, the LD-W1 (it was also released industrially too), was made that could hold more than a single disc; the W1 held two discs and could automatically change discs and sides by rotating the entire mechanism, including both the laser and turntable. Electrically, the LD-W1 was identical to the Elite LD-S1. The LD-W1 remained in the Pioneer catalog for many years and received many improvements: While the first 'version' of the W1 had only 2X oversampling and 16-bit D/A converters in the digital audio, the later units had 4X oversampling with 20-bit D/A converters. The video noise reduction was improved too, sharpening the picture and reducing disc noise while eliminating the artifacts it caused. In addition, high-frequency response in the FM video demodulator and A/D-D/A converters was extended and flattened, increasing resolution and reducing visible digital artifacts. The W1's player software was refined too, making disc and side-changing faster—plus, during side or disc changes, it grabbed a still-frame closer to the actual end-of-program instead of just any frame from the side's last five minutes.
Pioneer PR7820
The Pioneer PR7820Pioneer PR7820
The Pioneer PR7820 was the first mass-produced industrial laserdisc player, sold originally as the MCA DiscoVision PR-7820. This unit was used in many General Motors dealerships as a source of training videos and presentation of GM's new line of cars and trucks in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
was the first mass-produced industrial laserdisc player, sold originally as the MCA DiscoVision PR-7820. This unit was used in many GM dealerships as a source of training videos and presentation of GM's new line of cars and trucks in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After MCA DiscoVision shut down, Pioneer continued to sell the player under the Pioneer name as the Pioneer Model-III. The unit was a full Level-III player and could accept a data-dump from discs themselves. It could also be controlled by an external computer and could be gen-locked to external video sources.
The 7820 was the only player ever sold to either the industrial or consumer market that was entirely designed and engineered by the technicians at MCA Disco-Vision and contained all of their preferred design approaches, such as playing the disc with the laser on top (instead of underneath) and moving the disc radially to provide tracking instead of moving the laser radially. MCA engineers designed the player at the DiscoVision labs in Torrance, CA and Universal-Pioneer mass produced it in Japan. The 7820 was such a high quality player that MCA themselves used it at their DiscoVision disc pressing plant in Carson, CA for quality control checks of both master discs and finished sets. Unfortunately, this caused problems because the 7820 could easily play discs that the poorly designed and quite primitive consumer player, the Magnavox VH-8000, simply could not cope with.
In 1980, Discovision Associates released a factory update (it could also be retrofitted to existing 7820s) that reduced disc search times to less than three seconds, and added the ability to jump up to 99 tracks during vertical blanking, giving essentially "instant" searches. An external computer interface box was also made available at the same time which contained additional memory that increased the total size of a disc-based computer program the 7820 could store and execute to 256k.
The 7820 was the first LD player to use solid-state tangential tracking — instead of a tangential tracking mirror, the 7820 used an electronic CCD delay line to provide tangential tracking corrections, giving the player superb color quality. It was not until 1985/6 that the tangential mirror began to be replaced by electronic correction, first by Yamaha in their first consumer LD player, and eventually, by Pioneer themselves.
MCA DiscoVision had no suggested retail price for the PR-7820; depending on the number purchased, it varied from $3,500 to $2,200 per unit if more than 1000 were bought at once. Fully functional 7820s are not easily available on eBay and are nearly impossible to find in fully functional condition. Because they have a steel chassis, weight is a shipping problem.
Combi-players
Most players made after the mid-1980s were capable of also playing audio CDs. These players included a 4.7 in (12 cm) indentation in the loading tray, where the CD would be placed for play. At least one Pioneer model (CLD-M301) also operated as a CD-changer, with several 4.7 in indentations around the circumference of the main tray.In 1996, the first model DVD/LD combi-player (and first Pioneer DVD player, for that matter) was the Pioneer DVL-9 released in Japan. The Pioneer Elite DVL-90, an updated version, followed by a similar, though supposedly lower-end model, the DVL-700, were released in 1997. Successors to this model include the Pioneer DVL-909, Pioneer DVL-919, and the Pioneer Elite DVL-91. Although the DVD/LD combi players offered competent LD performance, they paled in comparison to high-end LD players such as the Pioneer Elite CLD-99 and the Pioneer Hi-Vision/MUSE HLD-X9.
The Pioneer DVL-909 lacks support for DTS output. However, a modification to the player can allow this player to support DTS streams on DTS discs, essentially turning the DVL-909 into a Pioneer Elite DVL-91.
The last model DVD/LD player was the Japanese only DVL-H9, but the older DVL-919 is still sold in the U.S. and appears on Pioneer's North American website. However, it has not been actively marketed since the late 1990s. The DVL-919 supports DTS output. The DVL-919's DVD section is unremarkable by modern standards, and does not support progressive scan (480p) even though it has component output. As noted above, the LD section, while competent, is inferior to earlier high-end LD players. A few Pioneer dealers offer North American specification DVL-919s, and a unit purchased in April 2004 had a manufacture date of December 2003. Manufacturing of the DVL-919 continued until January 1, 2009, when Pioneer announced that production would cease after a final production run of 3000 DVL-919 and other model laser disc players.
High-end Japanese players
Certain Japanese players—which are considered to be of higher quality or of greater capacity for quality playback than the North American units—are occasionally imported by enthusiasts. These include the CLD-R7G, LD-S9, HLD-X9 and HLD-X0. All four were manufactured by Pioneer and three contained technology that was never officially available in North American Laserdisc players.The CLD-R7G, LD-S9 and HLD-X9 share a highly advanced comb filter
Comb filter
In signal processing, a comb filter adds a delayed version of a signal to itself, causing constructive and destructive interference. The frequency response of a comb filter consists of a series of regularly spaced spikes, giving the appearance of a comb....
, allowing them to offer a considerable advantage in picture quality over most other LD players when the S-Video connection is used. The comb filter present in these players is unique and is purportedly the finest comb filter ever used in consumer A/V gear: it is still currently in use in Mitsubishi's top-spec CRT rear-projection television sets (the Diamond and now defunct Platinum series sets) and Pioneer's Elite line of rear-projection televisions.
In addition to the advanced comb filter, the HLD-X9 contains a red-laser pickup, which significantly reduces crosstalk and picture-noise levels compared to players with the traditional infrared laser; it can also read through all but the worst cases of laser rot and surface wear. The HLD-X9 was also a MUSE
Multiple sub-nyquist sampling Encoding system
MUSE , was a dot-interlaced digital video compression system that used analog modulation for transmission to deliver 1125-line high definition video signals to the home. Japan had the earliest working HDTV system, which was named Hi-Vision with design efforts going back to 1979...
player, capable when properly equipped of playing back high-definition video
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
Laserdiscs, called Hi-Vision or MUSE discs in Japan.
The HLD-X0 was Pioneer's original MUSE player, and is the player of choice for many enthusiasts despite the fact that it lacks the comb filter shared by the R7G, S9 and X9. It was entirely hand built from hand picked electronics and weighed 79 lb (35.8 kg). Many argue that the newer X9 was a more capable MUSE player but that the X0 had superior performance with standard NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
discs. Nonetheless, the X9 remained the more popular of the two models, as it included the newer comb filter and is a dual-side player, meaning that double sided discs did not need to be manually flipped over in order for both sides to be played.
Japanese
- Pioneer LD-1000—Pioneer's first Japanese-market LD player introduced in 1981.
- Pioneer HLD-X0
- Pioneer HLD-X9
- Pioneer LD-S1—Released in 1986.
- Pioneer LD-X1—Known as the Pioneer LD-S2 in America.
American
- Pioneer VP-1000—Pioneer's first consumer player released in America in 1980.
- Pioneer LD-1100—Pioneer's first player to have built-in CX Noise Reduction. Introduced in late 1981.
- Pioneer CLD-1010Pioneer CLD-1010The Pioneer CLD-1010 is a Laserdisc player introduced by Pioneer Electronics in 1987 as the last of their top-spec players not to be part of their "Elite" lineup.- Information :...
—First player capable of playing 5 inches (127 mm) CD-Video discs. Released in 1987. - Pioneer LD-S2—Also known as the Pioneer LD-X1 in Japan.
- Pioneer CLD-D703Pioneer CLD-D703The Pioneer CLD-D703 was a part of Pioneer's seven-hundred-series of upper-mid-range Laserdisc players, and the first player in the family. It was evolved into the CLD-D704, which itself was the basis for the CLD-79 and CLD-99 "Elite" line high-end players....
- Pioneer CLD-97
- Pioneer CLD-99
- Pioneer LaserActivePioneer LaserActiveThe Pioneer LaserActive was a short-lived Laserdisc-based game console released by Pioneer in 1993. In addition to LaserActive games, separately sold add-on modules expanded the hardware to include compatibility with the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 game cartridges and...
—Player that provided the ability to play Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) and TurboGrafx16 (PC Engine) video games when used in conjunction with additional components (PACs).
European
- Pioneer CLD-1050—PAL only
- Pioneer CLD-2950—PAL/NTSC Compatible.
- Pioneer CLD-D925—PAL/NTSC Compatible.
- Pioneer DVL-9/DVL-700/DVL-90/DVL-91/DVL-909/DVL-919Pioneer DVLThe DVL-XXXX Series of LaserDisc home video players were manufactured by Pioneer Corporation and were some of the last LaserDisc players manufactured before the format's retirement. They Included the capability of playing LaserDisc, CD Video, Audio CD, and DVD....
—Capable of playing both Laserdiscs and DVD.
PAL Laserdiscs
PALPAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
laserdiscs had a slightly longer playing time than NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
discs, but had fewer audio options. PAL discs only have two audio tracks, consisting of either two analog-only tracks on older PAL LDs, or two digital-only tracks on newer discs. In comparison, later NTSC LDs are capable of carrying four tracks (two analog and two digital). On certain releases, one of the analog tracks is used to carry a modulated AC-3 signal for 5.1 channel audio (for decoding and playback by newer LD players with an "AC-3 RF" output). However, older NTSC LDs made before 1984 (such as the original DiscoVision discs) only have two analog audio tracks.
Branding
During its development, MCAMusic Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, which co-owned the technology, referred to it as the Optical Videodisc System, "Reflective Optical Videodisc" or "Laser Optical Videodisc", depending on the document; changing the name once in 1969 to Disco-Vision
DiscoVision
DiscoVision is the name of several things related to the video laserdisc format. It was the original name of the "Reflective Optical Videodisc System" format later known as LaserVision or LaserDisc....
and then again in 1978 to DiscoVision (without the hyphen), which became the official spelling. Technical documents and brochures produced by MCA Disco-Vision during the early and mid-'70s also used the term "Disco-Vision Records" to refer to the pressed discs. MCA owned the rights to the largest catalog of films in the world during this time, and they manufactured and distributed the DiscoVision releases of those films under the "MCA DiscoVision" software and manufacturing label; consumer sale of those titles began on December 15, 1978, with the aforementioned Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
.
Philips' preferred name for the format was "VLP", after the Dutch words Video Langspeel-Plaat ("Video long-play disc"), which in English-speaking countries stood for Video Long-Play. The first consumer player, the Magnavox VH-8000 even had the VLP logo on the player. For a while in the early and mid-1970s, Philips also discussed a compatible audio-only format they called "ALP", but that was soon dropped as the Compact Disc system became a non-compatible project in the Philips corporation. Until early 1980, the format had no "official" name; however, the LaserVision Association, made up of MCA, Universal-Pioneer, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, and Philips/Magnavox, was formed to standardize the technical specifications of the format (which had been causing problems for the consumer market) and finally named the system officially as "LaserVision".
After its introduction in Japan in 1981, the format was introduced in Europe in 1983 with the LaserVision name although Philips used "VLP" in model designations, such as VLP-600. Philips tried renaming the entire format in 1987 to "CD-Video", and while the name and logo appeared on players and labels for years, the 'official' name of the format remained LaserVision. In the early 1990s, the format's name was finally changed to LaserDisc.
Pioneer
Pioneer Electronics also entered the optical disc market in 1977 as a 50/50 joint-venture with MCA called Universal-Pioneer and manufacturing MCA designed industrial players under the MCA DiscoVision name (the PR-7800 and PR-7820). For the 1980 launch of the first Universal-Pioneer player, the VP-1000, the name became Laser Disc (with a 'rainbow' type logo joining the two words); in 1981, the space was eliminated and the intercap "LaserDisc" became the final and common brand name for the format, although the official name was LaserVision (as seen at the beginning of many LaserDisc releases just before the start of the film). However, as Pioneer reminded numerous video magazines and stores in 1984, LaserDisc was a trademarked word, standing only for LaserVision products manufactured for sale by Pioneer Video or Pioneer Electronics. A 1984 Ray Charles ad for the LD-700 player bore the term "Pioneer LaserDisc brand videodisc player". From 1981 until the early 1990s, all properly licensed discs carried the LaserVision name and logo, even Pioneer Artists titles.On single sided Laserdiscs mastered by Pioneer, playing the wrong side will cause a still screen to appear with a happy, upside down turtle that has a Laserdisc for a stomach (nicknamed the "Laserdisc Turtle"). The words "Program material is recorded on the other side of this disc" are below the turtle. Other manufacturers used a regular text message without graphics.
MCA
During the early years, MCA also manufactured discs for other companies including ParamountParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, Disney and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Some of them added their own names to the disc jacket to signify that the movie was not owned by MCA. After Discovision Associates shut down in early 1982, Universal Studio's videodisc software label, called MCA Videodisc until 1984, began reissuing many DiscoVision titles. Sadly, quite a few, such as Battlestar Galactica
Saga of a Star World
"Saga of a Star World" is the pilot for the American science fiction television series of Battlestar Galactica which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson...
and Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, were time-compressed versions of their CAV or CLV DiscoVision originals. The time-compressed CLV re-issue of Jaws no longer had the original soundtrack, having had incidental background music replaced for the videodisc version due to licensing cost (the music would not be available until the THX LaserDisc box set was released in 1995). One Universal/Columbia co-production issued by MCA DiscoVision in both CAV and CLV versions, The Electric Horseman
The Electric Horseman
The Electric Horseman is a 1979 adventure and romance feature film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack. It was the third time Redford and Fonda starred together in a feature film, having previously teamed on The Chase and Barefoot in the Park .-Plot:Sonny Steele ...
, is still not available in any other home video format with its original score intact; even the most recent DVD release has had substantial music replacements of both instrumental score and Willie Nelson's songs. An MCA release of Universal′s Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck (film)
Howard the Duck is a 1986 American science fiction comedy film directed by Willard Huyck and produced by George Lucas. It is loosely based on the Marvel comic book of the same name, created by Steve Gerber and quoting scripts by Bill Mantlo, the film focuses on Howard, an alien from a planet...
, sees only the start credits shown in widescreen before changing to 4:3 for the rest of the film. For many years this was the only disc-based release of the film, until widescreen DVD formats were released with extras. Also, the laser disc release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
, is the only format to include the cut scene of a young Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
playing the part of the school headmaster telling off Elliott for letting the frogs free in the biology class.
Comparison with other formats
For a comparison of consumer video resolutions see List of Common Resolutions (Television)VHS
LD had a number of advantages over VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
. It featured a far sharper picture with a horizontal resolution
Image resolution
Image resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....
of 425 TVL
Television lines
Television lines is a specification of an analog camera's or monitors's horizontal resolution power. It is alternatively known as Lines of Horizontal...
lines for NTSC and 440 TVL lines for PAL discs, while VHS featured only 240 TVL lines with NTSC. It could handle analog and digital audio where VHS was mostly analog only (VHS can have PCM audio in professional applications but is uncommon), and the NTSC discs could store multiple audio tracks. This allowed for extras like director's commentary tracks and other features to be added on to a film, creating "Special Edition" releases that would not have been possible with VHS. Disc access was random and chapter based, like the DVD format, meaning that one could jump to any point on a given disc very quickly. By comparison, VHS would require tedious rewinding and fast-forwarding to get to specific points. Laserdiscs were initially cheaper than videocassettes to manufacture, because they lacked the moving parts and plastic outer shell that are necessary for VHS tapes to work, and the duplication process was much simpler. A VHS cassette has at least 14 parts including the actual tape while laserdisc has one part with five or six layers. A disc can be stamped out in a matter of seconds whereas duplicating videotape required a complex bulk tape duplication mechanism and was a time-consuming process. However, by the end of the 1980s, average disc-pressing prices were over $5.00 per two-sided disc, due to the large amount of plastic material and the costly glass-mastering process need to make the metal stamper mechanisms. Due to the larger volume of demand, videocassettes quickly became much cheaper to duplicate, costing as little as $1.00 by the beginning of the 1990s.
Laserdiscs potentially had a much longer lifespan than videocassettes. Because the discs were read optically instead of magnetically, no physical contact needs to be made between the player and the disc, except for the player's clamp that holds the disc at its center as it is spun and read. As a result, playback would not wear the information-bearing part of the discs, and properly manufactured LDs would theoretically last beyond one's lifetime (however, see Laser rot, below). By contrast, a VHS tape held all of its picture and sound information on the tape in a magnetic coating which is in contact with the spinning heads on the head drum, causing progressive wear with each use (though later in VHS's lifespan, engineering improvements allowed tapes to be made and played back without contact). Also, the tape was thin and delicate, and it was easy for a player mechanism, especially on a low quality or malfunctioning model, to mishandle the tape and damage it by creasing it, frilling (stretching) its edges, or even breaking it.
Video
Laserdisc was a composite videoComposite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
format: the luminance (black and white) and chrominance (color) information were transmitted in one signal, separated by the receiver. While good comb filters can do so adequately, these two signals cannot be completely separated. On DVDs, data is stored in the form of digital blocks which make up each independent frame. The signal produced is dependent on the equipment used to master the disc. Signals range from composite and split, to YUV
YUV
YUV is a color space typically used as part of a color image pipeline. It encodes a color image or video taking human perception into account, allowing reduced bandwidth for chrominance components, thereby typically enabling transmission errors or compression artifacts to be more efficiently...
and RGB. Depending upon which format is used, this can result in far higher fidelity, particularly at strong color borders or regions of high detail (especially if there is moderate movement in the picture) and low-contrast details like skin tones, where comb filters almost inevitably smudge some detail.
In contrast to the entirely digital DVD, Laserdiscs use only analog video. As the Laserdisc format is not digitally encoded and does not make use of compression techniques, it is immune to video macroblocking
Compression artifact
A compression artifact is a noticeable distortion of media caused by the application of lossy data compression....
(most visible as blockiness during high motion sequences) or contrast banding (subtle visible lines in gradient areas, such as skies or light casts from spotlights) that can be caused by the MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
encoding process as video is prepared for DVD. However, proprietary human-assisted encoders manually operated by specialist experts can vastly reduce the incidence of artifacts, depending on playing time and image complexity.
Audio
DVDs use compressed audio formats such as Dolby DigitalDolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
and DTS
Digital Theater System
DTS is a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. , an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications...
for multichannel sound. Most Laserdiscs were encoded with stereo (often Dolby Surround) CD quality audio 16bit/44.1 kHz tracks as well as analog audio tracks.
DTS-encoded Laserdisc have full-bitrate DTS soundtracks (1,536 kbit/s) instead of the "half" bitrate (768 kbit/s) DTS tracks often used on DVDs.
Advantages of Laserdiscs
Laserdisc players can provide a great degree of control over the playback process. Unlike many DVD players, the operator is immediately tied to the transport mechanism: pause, fast-forward, and fast-reverse commands are always accepted. There were no "User Prohibited Options" where content protection code instructs the player to refuse commands to skip a specific part (such as fast forwarding through copyrightCopyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
warnings). However, some DVD players, particularly in the higher-end units, have the ability to ignore the blocking code and play the video without restrictions. With CAV Laserdiscs the user can jump directly to any individual frame of a video simply by entering the frame number on the remote keypad, a feature not common among DVD players. However, some DVD players have cache features which stores a certain amount of the video in RAM which allows the player to index a DVD as quickly as an LD, even down to the frame in some players.
Another advantage of Laserdisc was that damaged spots can be skipped, while a DVD will become unplayable. Some newer DVD players feature a repair+skip algorithm, which alleviates this problem by continuing to play the disc, filling in unreadable areas of the picture with blank space or a frozen frame of the last readable image and sound. The success of this feature depends upon the amount of damage. Laserdisc players, when working in full analog, recover from such errors faster than DVD players. Direct comparison is, however, almost impossible due to the sheer size differences between the two media. A 1 in (3 cm) scratch on a DVD will probably cause more problems than a 1" scratch on an Laserdisc, but a fingerprint taking up 1% of the area of a DVD would almost certainly cause fewer problems than a similar mark covering 1% of the surface of a Laserdisc.
Similar to the CD versus LP sound quality debates common in the audiophile
Audiophile
An audiophile is a person who enjoys listening to recorded music, usually in a home. Some audiophiles are more interested in collecting and listening to music, while others are more interested in collecting and listening to audio components, whose "sound quality" they consider as important as the...
community, some videophiles argue that Laserdisc maintains a "smoother", more "film-like", natural image while DVD still looks slightly more artificial. Early DVD demo discs often had compression or encoding problems, lending additional support to such claims at the time. However, the lower video signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. It is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise...
of Laserdisc is substantially less than that of DVDs, making DVDs appear sharper and clearer to most viewers.
Special editions
Laserdisc's support for multiple audio tracks allowed for vast supplemental materials to be included on-disc and made it the first available format for "Special Edition" releases; the 19841984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
Criterion Collection edition of Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
is generally credited as being the first "Special Edition" release to home video, and for setting the standard by which future SE discs were measured. The disc provided interviews, commentary tracks, documentaries, still photographs, and other features for historians and collectors.
Disadvantages of Laserdiscs
Despite the advantages over competing technology at the time (namely VHS and Betamax), the format does have drawbacks. The discs are heavy (weighing about one pound each), cumbersome, more prone to damage if mishandled than a VHS tape, and manufacturers did not market LD units with recording capabilities to consumers. Also, because of their size, greater mechanical effort was required to spin the discs at the proper speed, resulting in much more noise generated than other media.The space-consuming analog video signal of a Laserdisc limited playback duration to 30 minutes (CAV) or 60 minutes (CLV) per side because of the hardware manufacturer's refusal to reduce line count for increased playtime. After one side was finished playing, a disc has to be flipped over in order to continue watching a movie, and some titles fill two or more discs. Many players, especially units built after the mid-1980s, can "flip" discs automatically by rotating the optical pickup to the other side of the disc, but this is accompanied by a pause in the movie during the side change. If the movie is longer than what could be stored on two sides of a single disc, manually swapping to a second disc is necessary at some point during the film. One exception to this rule is the Pioneer LD-W1, which features two disc platters. In addition, perfect still frames and random access to individual still frames is limited only to the more expensive CAV discs, which only had a playing time of approximately 30 minutes per side. In later years, Pioneer and other manufacturers overcame this limitation by incorporating a digital memory buffer, which "grabbed" a single frame from a CLV disc.
The analog information encoded on Laserdiscs does not include any form of built-in checksum or error correction. Because of this, slight dust and scratches on the disc surface can result in read-errors which cause various video quality problems—glitches, streaks, bursts of static, or momentary picture interruptions. In contrast, the digital MPEG-2 format information used on DVDs has built-in error correction which ensures that the signal from a damaged disc will remain identical to that from a perfect disc right up until the point at which damage to the disc surface is so substantial that it prevents the laser from being able to identify usable data.
In addition, Laserdisc video sometimes exhibit a problem known as “crosstalk”. The issue can arise when the laser optical pickup assembly within the player is out of alignment or because the disc is damaged or excessively warped, but it could also occur even with a properly functioning player and a factory-new disc, depending on electrical and mechanical alignment problems. In these instances, the issue arose due to the fact that CLV discs require subtle changes in rotating speed at various points during playback. During a change in speed, the optical pickup inside the player might read video information from a track adjacent to the intended one, causing data from the two tracks to "cross"; the extra video information picked up from that second track shows up as distortion in the picture which looks reminiscent of swirling "barber poles" or rolling lines of static.
Assuming the player's optical pickup is in proper working order, crosstalk distortion normally does not occur during playback of CAV format Laserdiscs, as the rotational speed never varies. However, if the player calibration is out of order or if the CAV disc is faulty or damaged, other problems affecting tracking accuracy can occur. One such problem is "laser lock", where the player reads the same two fields for a given frame over and over again, causing the picture to look frozen as if the movie were paused.
Another significant issue unique to Laserdisc is one involving the inconsistency of playback quality between different makers and models of player. On most televisions, a given DVD player will produce a picture that is visually indistinguishable from other units. Differences in image quality between players only becomes easily apparent on large televisions and substantial leaps in image quality are generally only obtained with expensive, high-end players that allow for post-processing of the MPEG-2 stream during playback. In contrast, Laserdisc playback quality is highly dependent on hardware quality. Major variances in picture quality appear between different makers and models of LD players, even when tested on a low to mid-range television. The obvious benefits of using high quality equipment has helped keep demand for some players high, thus also keeping pricing for those units comparably high. In the 1990s, notable players sold for anywhere from US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
200 to well over $1,000, while older and less desirable players could be purchased in working condition for as little as $25.
Laser rot
Many early LDs were not manufactured properly; sometimes a substandard adhesive was used to sandwich together the two sides of the disc. The adhesive contained impurities that were able to penetrate the lacquer seal layer and chemically attack the metalized reflective aluminium layer, causing it to oxidize and lose its reflective characteristics. This was a problem that was coined "laser rot" (or, "LaserRot", after the original official CamelCaseCamelCase
CamelCase , also known as medial capitals, is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in which the elements are joined without spaces, with each element's initial letter capitalized within the compound and the first letter either upper or lower case—as in "LaBelle", "BackColor",...
"LaserDisc" name of the underlying product) among LD enthusiasts, also called "color flash" internally by laserdisc-pressing plants. Some forms of laser rot could appear as black spots that looked like mold or burned plastic which cause the disc to skip and the movie to exhibit excessive speckling noise. But, for the most part, rotted discs could actually appear perfectly fine to the naked eye.
Later optical standards have been known to suffer similar problems
CD rot
Disc rot is a phrase describing the tendency of CD or DVD or other optical disks to become unreadable due to physical or chemical deterioration...
, including a notorious batch of defective CDs manufactured by Philips-DuPont Optical in Europe during the early 1990s.
Success of the format
Laserdisc was poorly received in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
due to the high cost of the players and discs, which were far more expensive than VHS players and tapes, and due to marketplace confusion with the technologically inferior CED, which also went by the name Videodisc
Videodisc
Videodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
. While the format was unsuitable with most North American consumers, it was well received among videophile
Videophile
A videophile is one who is concerned with achieving high-quality results in the recording and playback of movies, TV programs, etc....
s and celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
due to the superior audio and video quality compared to VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
tapes. The format was more popular in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
than in North America because prices were kept low to ensure adoption, resulting in minimal price differences between VHS tapes and the higher quality Laserdiscs, helping ensure that it quickly became the dominant consumer video format in Japan. Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
collectors in every country the LD format was released, which includes both North America and Japan, also quickly became familiar with this format, and sought the higher video and sound quality of laserdisc and the availability of numerous titles not available on VHS. Laserdiscs were also popular alternatives to videocasettes among movie enthusiasts in the more affluent regions of South East Asia, such as Singapore, due to their high integration with the Japanese export market and the disc-based media's superior longevity compared to videocassette, especially in the humid conditions endemic to that area of the world.
The format also became quite popular in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
during the 1990s before the introduction of VCDs
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
and DVD; although people rarely bought the discs (because each LD is priced around USD100), high rental activity helped the video rental business in the city grow larger than it had ever been previously. Due to integration with the Japanese export market, NTSC laserdiscs were used in the Hong Kong market, in contrast to the PAL standard used for broadcast (This anomaly also exists for DVD). This created a market for multi-system TVs and multi-system VCRs which could display or play both PAL and NTSC materials in addition to SECAM materials (which were never popular in Hong Kong). Some LD players could convert NTSC signals to PAL so that most TVs used in Hong Kong could display the LD materials.
Despite the mild popularity, manufacturers refused to market recordable Laserdisc devices on the consumer market, even though the competing VCR devices could record onto cassette, which hurt sales worldwide. The inconvenient disc size, the high cost of both the players and the media and the inability to record onto the discs combined to take a serious toll on sales, and contributed to the format's poor adoption figures.
Although the Laserdisc format was supplanted by DVD by the late 1990s, many LD titles are still highly coveted by movie enthusiasts (for example, Disney's Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
which is unavailable in the US in any format, but was issued in Japan on LD). This is largely because there are many films that are still only available on LD and many other LD releases contain supplemental material not available on subsequent DVD versions of those films. Until the end of 2001, many titles were released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD in Japan.
LD players are also sometimes still found in contemporary North American high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
and college physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
classrooms, in order to play a disc of the Physics: Cinema Classics series of mid-20th century Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
films reproducing classic experiments in the field which are difficult or impossible to replicate in the laboratories in educational settings. These films have now been released on DVD.
Computer control
In the early 1980s, Philips produced a Laserdisc player model adapted for a computer interface, dubbed "professional". In 1985, Jasmine Multimedia created laserdisc Juke Boxes featuring music videos from Michael JacksonMichael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, and Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
. When connected to a PC this combination could be used to display images or information for educational or archival purposes, for example thousands of scanned medieval manuscripts. This strange device could be considered a very early equivalent of a CD-ROM.
In 1986, a SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
-equipped Laserdisc player attached to a BBC Master
BBC Master
The BBC Master was a home computer released by Acorn Computers in early 1986. It was designed and built for the British Broadcasting Corporation and was the successor to the BBC Micro Model B. The Master 128 remained in production until 1993....
computer was used for the BBC Domesday Project
BBC Domesday Project
The BBC Domesday Project was a partnership between Acorn Computers Ltd, Philips, Logica and the BBC to mark the 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book, an 11th century census of England...
. The player was referred as an LV-ROM (LaserVision Read Only Memory) as the discs contained the driving software as well as the video frames. The discs used the CAV format, and encoded data as a binary signal represented by the analog audio recording. These discs could contain in each CAV frame video/audio or video/binary data, but not both. "Data" frames would appear blank when played as video. It was typical for each disc to start with the disc catalog (a few blank frames) then the video introduction before the rest of the data. Because the format (based on the ADFS hard disc format) used a starting sector for each file, the data layout effectively skipped over any video frames. If all 54,000 frames are used for data storage an LV-ROM disc can contain 324 MB of data.
Apple's HyperCard
HyperCard
HyperCard is an application program created by Bill Atkinson for Apple Computer, Inc. that was among the first successful hypermedia systems before the World Wide Web. It combines database capabilities with a graphical, flexible, user-modifiable interface. HyperCard also features HyperTalk, written...
scripting language provided Macintosh computer users with a means to design databases of slides, animation, video and sounds from Laserdiscs and then to create interfaces for users to play specific content from the disc. User-created "stacks" were shared and were especially popular in education where teacher-generated stacks were used to access discs ranging from art collections to basic biological processes. Commercially available stacks were also popular with the Voyager company being possibly the most successful distributor.
Commodore International
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
's 1992 multimedia presentation system for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, AmigaVision, included device drivers for controlling a number of Laserdisc players through a serial port. Coupled with the Amiga's ability to use a Genlock
Genlock
Genlock is a common technique where the video output of one source, or a specific reference signal from a signal generator, is used to synchronize other television picture sources together. The aim in video and digital audio applications is to ensure the coincidence of signals in time at a...
, this allowed for the Laserdisc video to be overlaid with computer graphics and integrated into presentations and multimedia displays, years before such practice was commonplace.
Pioneer also made computer-controlled units such as the LD-V2000. It had a back-panel RS-232
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial connection through a five-pin DIN connector
DIN connector
A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the , the German national standards organization. There are DIN standards for a large number of different connectors, therefore the term "DIN connector" alone does not unambiguously identify any particular type of connector unless...
, and no front-panel controls except Open/Close. (The disc would be played automatically upon insertion.)
Under contract from the U.S. Military, Matrox produced a combination computer laserdisc player for instructional purposes. The computer was a 286
Intel 80286
The Intel 80286 , introduced on 1 February 1982, was a 16-bit x86 microprocessor with 134,000 transistors. Like its contemporary simpler cousin, the 80186, it could correctly execute most software written for the earlier Intel 8086 and 8088...
, the Laserdisc player only capable of reading the analog audio tracks. Together they weighed 43 lb (19.5 kg) and sturdy handles were provided in case two people were required to lift the unit. The computer controlled the player via a 25-pin serial port at the back of the player and a ribbon cable connected to a proprietary port on the motherboard. Many of these were sold as surplus by the military during the 1990s, often without the controller software. Nevertheless, it is possible to control the unit by removing the ribbon cable and connecting a serial cable directly from the computer's serial port to the port on the laserdisc player.
Computer games
The format's instant-access capability made it possible for a new breed of Laserdisc-based video arcade gameArcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s and several companies saw potential in using Laserdiscs for video games in the 1980s and 1990s, beginning in 1983 with Sega’s Astron Belt
Astron Belt
Astron Belt is an early laserdisc video game and third-person space combat rail shooter, released in 1983 by Sega in Japan and licensed to Bally Midway for release in the United States. Developed in 1982, it is commonly cited as the first laserdisc game...
. American Laser Games
American Laser Games
American Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created a wide variety of light gun laserdisc video games. The company was founded in the late 1980s by Robert Grebe, who had originally created the system to train police officers under the company name ICAT , and adapted the...
and Cinematronics
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was a pioneering arcade game developer that had its heyday in the era of vector display games. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look...
produced elaborate arcade consoles that used the random-access features to create interactive movies such as Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
and Space Ace
Space Ace
Space Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
. Similarly, the Pioneer Laseractive
Pioneer LaserActive
The Pioneer LaserActive was a short-lived Laserdisc-based game console released by Pioneer in 1993. In addition to LaserActive games, separately sold add-on modules expanded the hardware to include compatibility with the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 game cartridges and...
and Halcyon
Halcyon (console)
The Halcyon was a home video game console released in January of 1985 by RDI Video Systems. The initial retail price for the system was USD$2500, and it featured a laserdisc player and attached computer, each the size of an early-model VCR. Only two games were released for the system before RDI...
were introduced as home video game consoles that used laserdisc media for their software.
MUSE LD
In 1991, several manufacturers announced specifications for what would become known as MUSE Laserdisc, representing a span of almost 15 years until the feats of this HD analog optical disc system would finally be duplicated digitally by HD DVD and Blu-rayComparison of high definition optical disc formats
This article compares the technical specifications of multiple high definition formats, including HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc; two mutually incompatible, high definition optical disc formats that, beginning in 2006, attempted to improve upon and eventually replace the DVD standard...
. Encoded using NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
's MUSE "Hi-Vision" analogue TV system, MUSE discs would operate like standard Laserdiscs but would contain high-definition 1,125-line (1,035 visible lines) (Sony HDVS
Sony HDVS
Sony HDVS was a range of high-definition video equipment developed in the 1980s to support an early analog high-definition television system thought to be the broadcast television systems that would be in use today...
) video with a 5:3 aspect ratio. The MUSE players were also capable of playing standard NTSC format discs and are superior in performance to non-MUSE players even with these NTSC discs. The MUSE-capable players had several noteworthy advantages over standard Laserdisc players, including a red laser with a much narrower wavelength than the lasers found in standard players. The red laser was capable of reading through disc defects such as scratches and even mild disc rot that would cause most other players to stop, stutter or drop-out. Crosstalk was not an issue with MUSE discs, and the narrow wavelength of the laser allowed for the virtual elimination of crosstalk with normal discs.
In order to view MUSE encoded discs, it was necessary to have a MUSE decoder in addition to a compatible player. There are televisions with MUSE decoding built-in and set top tuners with decoders that can provide the proper MUSE input. Equipment prices were high, especially for early HDTVs which generally eclipsed US$10,000, and even in Japan the market for MUSE was tiny. Players and discs were never officially sold in North America, although several distributors imported MUSE discs along with other import titles. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
, Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
, A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...
, Bugsy
Bugsy
Bugsy is a 1991 American crime-drama film which tells the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel. It stars Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould, Joe Mantegna, Bebe Neuwirth, and Bill Graham....
, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey...
, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Chaplin were among the theatrical releases available on MUSE LDs. Several documentaries, including one about Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
at Japan's Suzuka Circuit
Suzuka Circuit
, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..-Introduction:...
were also released.
Laserdisc sizes
The most common size of Laserdisc was 11.81 in (30 cm). These approximated the size of 12 in (30 cm) LP vinyl recordGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s. These discs allowed for 30 minutes per side (CAV) or 60 minutes per side (CLV). The vast majority of programming for the Laserdisc format was produced on these discs.
A number of 7.9 in (20 cm) Laserdiscs were also published. These smaller "EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
"-sized LDs allowed for 20 minutes per side (CLV). They are much rarer than the full-size LDs, especially in North America. These discs were often used for music video compilations (e.g. Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
′s "Breakout", Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
′s "Video Singles" or T'Pau's
T'Pau (band)
T'Pau was a 1980s British Rock group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe...
"View From A Bridge").
There were also 4.7 in (12 cm) "single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"-style discs produced that were playable on Laserdisc players. These were referred to as CD Video
CD Video
CD Video was a format introduced in 1987 that combined the technologies of compact disc and laserdisc. CD-V discs were the same size as a standard 12 cm audio CD, and contained up to 20 minutes worth of audio information that could be played on any audio CD player...
(CD-V) discs, and Video Single Disc
Video Single Disc
Video Single Disc was a disc-based format that carried the same analog video information as a laserdisc, but on a 12-centimetre diameter CD-DA-sized disc. It was a variation on the CD Video format, except VSD disc carried only video. It did not have any additional audio tracks like CD-V...
s (VSD). A CD-V carried up to five minutes of analog Laserdisc-type video content (usually a music video), as well as up to 20 minutes of digital audio CD
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
tracks. The original 1989 release of David Bowie's restrospective Sound and Vision CD box set prominently featured a CD-V video of Ashes To Ashes, and standalone promo CD-Vs featured the video, plus three audio tracks: John, I'm Only Dancing, Changes and The Supermen.
CD-Vs are not to be confused with Video CD
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
s (which are all-digital and can only be played on VCD
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
players, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
players, CD-i
CD-i
CD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony...
players, computers, and later-model Laserdisc players, such as the DVL series from Pioneer that can also play DVDs). CD-Vs can only be played back on Laserdisc players with CD-V capability. VSDs were the same as CD-Vs, but without the audio CD
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
tracks. CD-Vs were somewhat popular for a brief time worldwide, but soon faded from view. VSDs were popular only in Japan and other parts of Asia, and were never really introduced to the rest of the world.
Picture discs
Picture discs have artistic etching on one side of the disc to make the disc more visually attractive than the standard shiny silver surface. This etching might look like a movie character, logo, or other promotional material. Sometimes that side of the LD would be made with colored plastic rather than the clear material used for the data side. Picture disc LDs only had video material on one side as the "picture" side could not contain any data. Picture discs are rare in North America.LD-G
Pioneer Electronics—one of the format's largest supporters/investors—was also deeply involved in the karaokeKaraoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
business in Japan, and used Laserdiscs as the storage medium for music and additional content such as graphics. The format was generally called LD-G. While several other karaoke labels manufactured Laserdiscs, there was nothing like the breadth of competition in that industry that exists now, as almost all manufacturers have transitioned to CD+G
CD+G
CD+G is an extension of the compact disc standard that can present low-resolution graphics alongside the audio data on the disc when played on a compatible device...
discs (en route, possibly, to a new DVD-based format).
Squeeze LD
With the release of 16:916:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
televisions in the mid 1990s, Pioneer and Toshiba decided that it was time to take advantage of this aspect ratio. Squeeze LDs were enhanced 16:9-ratio widescreen Laserdiscs. During the video transfer stage, the movie was stored in an anamorphic "squeezed" format. The widescreen movie image was stretched to fill the entire video frame with less or none of the video resolution wasted to create letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
bars. The advantage was a 33% greater vertical resolution compared to letterboxed widescreen Laserdisc. This same procedure was used for DVD. Unlike all DVD players, very few LD players had the ability to unsqueeze the image for 4:3 sets. If the discs were played on a 4:3 television the image would be distorted. Since very few people owned 16:9 displays, the marketability of these special discs was very limited.
There were no anamorphic laserdisc titles available in the US except for promotional purposes. Upon purchase of a Toshiba 16:9 television viewers had the option of selecting a number of Warner Brothers 16:9 films. Titles include Unforgiven
Unforgiven
Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...
, Grumpy Old Men
Grumpy Old Men (film)
Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...
, The Fugitive
The Fugitive (1993 film)
The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
, and Free Willy
Free Willy
Free Willy is a 1993 family film directed by Simon Wincer, and released by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label. The film stars Jason James Richter as a young boy who befriends an orca whale, named "Willy."...
. The Japanese lineup of titles was different. A series of releases under the banner "SQUEEZE LD" from Pioneer of mostly Carolco titles included Basic Instinct
Basic Instinct
Basic Instinct is a 1992 erotic thriller directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas, and starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone....
, Stargate
Stargate (film)
Stargate is a 1994 American adventure-military science fiction film released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco Pictures. Created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the film is the first release in the Stargate franchise...
, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
, Showgirls
Showgirls
Showgirls is a 1995 American drama film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Gershon...
, Cutthroat Island
Cutthroat Island
Cutthroat Island is a 1995 action adventure film directed by Renny Harlin. The film stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, and Frank Langella. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a major box office bomb: listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of...
, and Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger (film)
Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow. Stallone plays a mountain climber, who becomes embroiled in a failed heist set in a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains...
. Strangely, Terminator 2 was released twice in Squeeze LD, the second release being THX certified and a notable improvement over the first.
Recordable formats
Another type of video media, CRVdisc, or "Component Recordable Video Disc" were available for a short time, mostly to professionals. Developed by SonySony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, CRVdiscs resemble early PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
caddies with a disc inside resembling a full-sized LD. CRVdiscs were blank, write-once, read-many
Write Once Read Many
A Write Once Read Many or WORM drive is a data storage device where information, once written, cannot be modified. On ordinary data storage devices, the number of times data can be modified is not limited, except by the rated lifespan of the device, as modification involves physical changes that...
media that could be recorded once on each side. CRVdiscs were used largely for backup storage in professional/commercial applications.
Another form of recordable Laserdisc that was completely playback-compatible with the Laserdisc format (unlike CRVdisc with its caddy enclosure) is the RLV, or Recordable LaserVision disc. It was developed and first marketed by the Optical Disc Corporation (ODC, now ODC Nimbus) in 1984. RLV discs, like CRVdisc, are also a WORM
Write Once Read Many
A Write Once Read Many or WORM drive is a data storage device where information, once written, cannot be modified. On ordinary data storage devices, the number of times data can be modified is not limited, except by the rated lifespan of the device, as modification involves physical changes that...
technology, and function exactly like a CD-R
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
disc. RLV discs looked almost exactly like standard Laserdiscs, and could play in any standard Laserdisc player after they have been recorded.
The only cosmetic difference between an RLV disc and a regular factory-pressed Laserdiscs was their reflective purple-violet (or blue with some RLV discs) color resulting from the dye embedded in the reflective layer of the disc to make it recordable, as opposed to the silver mirror appearance of regular LDs. The purplish color of RLVs was very similar to present-day DVD-R
DVD-R
DVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
and DVD+R
DVD+R
DVD+R is part of optical disc recording technologies. It is a format for optical disc data storage that utilizes digital recording. It is similar to, but incompatible with, the older DVD-R standard...
discs. RLVs were popular for making short-run quantities of Laserdiscs for specialized applications such as interactive kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s and flight simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
s.
In spite of nonrecordability being commonly regarded as the primary weakness of the Laserdisc format, these recordable LD systems were never marketed toward the general public, and are so poorly known as to create the misconception that a home recording system for Laserdiscs was impossible.
In popular culture
- An early single-sided prototype DiscoVision Laserdisc made an appearance in the 1977 movie Airport '77Airport '77Airport '77 is a 1977 disaster film and second sequel in the Airport franchise.The film stars a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Christopher Lee and Olivia de Havilland. Like its predecessors, Airport '77 was a box office hit earning US$30 million and...
, during a scene in which a flight attendant inserts it into what looks like a Magnavox VH-8000 Magnavision player for an in-flight video. - In Back to the FutureBack to the FutureBack to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
, an MCA LaserDisc hangs on the wall amongst Doc Brown's clocks. In Back to the Future Part IIBack to the Future Part IIBack to the Future Part II is a 1989 American science fiction comedy film and the second installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson...
, Laserdiscs are seen bundled up and left out as garbage when Doc and Marty leave Jennifer after their arrival in the year 2015, suggesting that they have become undesirable due to them being obsolete for 24 years. CDs (or CD-Videos) can also be seen in the bundles. Laserdisc players were also used for the videos on the amusement park ride based on the trilogyBack to the Future: The RideBack to the Future: The Ride is a simulator ride based on and inspired by the Back to the Future trilogy and is a mini-sequel to 1990's Back to the Future Part III. In the United States, it was replaced by The Simpsons Ride...
. The Ride in Hollywood closed on September 1, 2007, while the Florida version closed on March 30, 2007. - Although referred to as video discs, laserdiscs are featured prominently in the "Video Pirates" segment from the 1987 film Amazon Women on the MoonAmazon Women on the MoonAmazon Women on the Moon is a 1987 American satirical comedy film that parodies the experience of watching low-budget movies on late-night television...
. One pirate's enthusiasm for the bounty is quickly dismissed by his cohorts who exclaim "What good are they?", "You can't record on them!" and "They're not compatible with my system!". - A LaserDisc player appears briefly in the 19891989 in film-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
BondJames Bond (character)Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
film, Licence to KillLicence to KillLicence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
in Felix LeiterFelix LeiterFelix Leiter is a fictional CIA agent created by Ian Fleming in the James Bond series of novels and films. In both, Leiter works for the CIA and assists Bond in his various adventures as well as being his best friend. In further novels Leiter joins the Pinkerton Detective Agency and in the film...
's study as well as in a number of other scenes. James Bond (Timothy DaltonTimothy DaltonTimothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
) uses a computer controlled one to view a CD-ROM containing data. Philips was a major sponsor of the film. - During the late 1980s, Pioneer signed contracts with major music artists, such as MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Janet JacksonJanet JacksonJanet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
, Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
and others, to release their concerts on Laserdisc only through Pioneer. To this date, the contracts are still standing, and the concerts have not been re-released on DVD by Pioneer or others. An exception is the GenesisGenesis (band)Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
Laserdisc of "The Way We Walk", which was released to DVD in October 2002, under the Pioneer label. - In the U.S. sitcom FriendsFriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Ross suggests to the others that they have a "LaserDisc marathon" in the episode "The One Without The Ski Trip" (1997). - A LaserDisc player appears in the series CalifornicationCalifornication (TV series)Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody , is a troubled novelist whose move to California, coupled with his writer's block, complicates his relationships with his longtime girlfriend...
Season 3 episode "So Here's the Thing". It is playing on a large TV. - Free EnterpriseFree Enterprise (film)Free Enterprise is a 1999 romantic comedy film starring Eric McCormack and Rafer Weigel, and featuring William Shatner, directed by Robert Meyer Burnett and written by Mark A...
features discussion of LaserDiscs frequently and prominently. - In the TV series CommunityCommunity (TV series)Community is an American television comedy series created by Dan Harmon that airs on NBC. The series is about a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. The series heavily uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television...
, Troy, a 21-year-old, tells the other characters he "found something called 'Emmanuelle In Space on Laserdisc'" inside another character's wardrobe. It is clear that Troy does not know what a LaserDisc is. - The video game Portal 2Portal 2Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game...
has a model in its files called Laserdisk. During the co-operative initiative, each major area requires the players to insert a large optical disc, possibly Laserdiscs, into a drive to be read before being transported back to the main area.
See also
- Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
- CED
- SelectaVisionSelectaVisionThe Capacitance Electronic Disc was an analog video video disc playback system developed by RCA, in which video and audio could be played back on a TV set using a special needle and high-density groove system similar to phonograph records....
- VHD
- VideodiscVideodiscVideodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
Resources
- Jordan Isailovic, Videodisc and Optical Memory Systems Vol. 1, Boston: Prentice Hall, 1984. ISBN 978-0139420535
- Lenk, John D. Complete Guide to Laser/VideoDisc Player Troubleshooting and Repair. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1985. ISBN 0-13-160813-4.
External links
- The LaserDisc Database—titles database, profiling, marketplace
- The 'Total Rewind' VCR museum, covering Laserdisc and other vintage formats
- The Laserdisc FAQ, (original source)
- MCA DiscoVision History via the Wayback MachineInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- The UK Laserdisc Player Archive—includes North American players
- BLAM Entertainment Group—includes Star Wars and Star Trek Laserdisc catalogs and lists of Dolby Digital and DTS equipped titles
- RCA SelectaVision VideoDisc FAQ—also contains some DiscoVision history
- History of the Laserdisc, Terms and a look at some specific players
- eBay UK guide - Laserdisc Players and Laserdiscs - Formats and Features
- Guide to and software for the Matrox 286/Laserdisc player
- Laserdisc.TV