The Laserdisc format in 2005 and beyond...

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

Wow... that's ridiculous! LDs might have actually caught on well if the
prices were lower. I guess they figured only rich people wanted LDs... and
there was a reason for that i guess heh.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 18:57:04 -0500, half_eaten <half_eaten@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>Wow... that's ridiculous! LDs might have actually caught on well if the
>prices were lower. I guess they figured only rich people wanted LDs... and
>there was a reason for that i guess heh.

Yeah. Just like tapes. (BTW: tapes started out with movie prices well
over $100 in the 70's.)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

> half_eaten <half_eaten@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:

> LDs might have actually caught on well if the
> prices were lower. I guess they figured only
> rich people wanted LDs...

a. As has been mentioned, tapes were then priced
for rental and not sell-through. LD prices
were often cheaper than tape when you wanted
to buy (not rent) a hot new release.

b. LD media was expensive to make, perhaps 10x
what it costs to press a DVD.

The size (12") may also have been a barrier to
adoption, as it evoked the "old fashioned" LP.
And the size will probably prevent the 12" format
from ever reappearing, even as a restricted-
circulation medium, such as theatrical HD.

So, to circle back to the basenote, as BTTF jokes
aside:
- no new LD media will be pressed
- no new players will be introduced
- the installed base of media will slowly fade
away from loss, damage, rot (although some
stable platters may last decades yet)
- the players may all have failed before the
last platter is gone

--
Regards, Bob Niland mailto:name@ispname.tld
http/www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

I hear alot about the great quality of Kuraray LDs, what are some good
titles released by them to look for? I'll tell you what though, my LD of
Devil's Advocate released by Warner Video is totally flawless. If I sit
down and watch that one and didn't know any better I'd say it was a DVD!
It's crystal-clear.

My Pioneer discs are pretty good too, but not even close to Devil's
Advocate.

-mike

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

"half_eaten" <half_eaten@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:df14b2dae36c1e4ebe88a2b3e1a23b17@localhost.talkaboutvideo.com...
> What was the original standard price of LDs anyway? I never had a
> laserdisc
> player back when they were actually kind of popular, but I recall
> seeing
> pretty high prices in the stores. Can't remember specifics.

The average MSRP for a movie-only CLV laserdisc was $39.99, which could
usually be found at retail for $34.99. Deluxe box sets such as the
Criterion CAV special editions like Brazil or Pulp Fiction sold for
$124.99. The Star Wars Definitive Collection box set was priced at
$249.99, as I recall.

When Goldeneye was released on LD with a Dolby Digital track, audio
commentary, a couple of featurettes, and a dozen or more trailers for
$49.95 it was considered the LD bargain of the decade. Nowadays a DVD
with that same content would be priced at no more than $19.99.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

>
>When Goldeneye was released on LD with a Dolby Digital track, audio
>commentary, a couple of featurettes, and a dozen or more trailers for
>$49.95 it was considered the LD bargain of the decade.


I do remember when GOLDENEYE was released on LD, I was totally SHOCKED
to find out it was only $49.95, that LD was a full color beautiful
Gatefold double LD, with tons of featurettes, trailers and other
goodies. This type of LD would usually run $69.95 with that much on
it.

 

[TB]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

"TCS" wrote:

>>Wow... that's ridiculous! LDs might have actually caught on well if the
>>prices were lower. I guess they figured only rich people wanted LDs... and
>>there was a reason for that i guess heh.
>
> Yeah. Just like tapes. (BTW: tapes started out with movie prices well
> over $100 in the 70's.)

I think "Jaws," "Animal House" and John Carpenter's "The Thing" were two of
the first vhs tapes I bought around 1982 and they were about $89.00 a piece.
I probably bought 3 or 4 movies a year during this time and you can bet they
had to be my absolute favorite movies. Tape rental stores didn't really
start becoming popular until the mid 80's so it was either pay a lot of
money for a movie or subscribe to over-the-air pay tv like "ONTV" in
Southern California and record lots of movies.

It wasn't 'til about '84 that studios started offering vhs tapes at a much
more reasonable price of around $29.95. I remember "Purple Rain" and "The
Empire Strikes back" were enormous sellers because they were among the first
vhs prerecorded tapes to be sold at around $30.

T.B.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

You may have paid $89 for those movies back in 1982, but what did you
pay for a STEREO VCR back then? $900? $1100?? They were extremely
expensive too.
I remember in 1993 paying $800 for a very highend Panasonic S-VHS VCR.
Even then WalMart had VCR's priced at $400 for their most expensive
ones. Long before the days of $39.99 4 head vcr's

Ed


On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 01:45:01 GMT, "TB" <partyslammer@socal.rr.com>
wrote:

>"TCS" wrote:
>
>>>Wow... that's ridiculous! LDs might have actually caught on well if the
>>>prices were lower. I guess they figured only rich people wanted LDs... and
>>>there was a reason for that i guess heh.
>>
>> Yeah. Just like tapes. (BTW: tapes started out with movie prices well
>> over $100 in the 70's.)
>
>I think "Jaws," "Animal House" and John Carpenter's "The Thing" were two of
>the first vhs tapes I bought around 1982 and they were about $89.00 a piece.
>I probably bought 3 or 4 movies a year during this time and you can bet they
>had to be my absolute favorite movies. Tape rental stores didn't really
>start becoming popular until the mid 80's so it was either pay a lot of
>money for a movie or subscribe to over-the-air pay tv like "ONTV" in
>Southern California and record lots of movies.
>
>It wasn't 'til about '84 that studios started offering vhs tapes at a much
>more reasonable price of around $29.95. I remember "Purple Rain" and "The
>Empire Strikes back" were enormous sellers because they were among the first
>vhs prerecorded tapes to be sold at around $30.
>
>T.B.
>

 

[TB]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

"Nitehawk^" wrote:

You may have paid $89 for those movies back in 1982, but what did you
> pay for a STEREO VCR back then? $900? $1100?? They were extremely
> expensive too.
> I remember in 1993 paying $800 for a very highend Panasonic S-VHS VCR.
> Even then WalMart had VCR's priced at $400 for their most expensive
> ones. Long before the days of $39.99 4 head vcr's

My first VCR were a huge table top Panasonic mono deck top loader weighing
about 30 lbs with a 24 hour timer and a channel "dial." I don't even
remember what I paid for that beats but I bought it around 1980-'81. It
featured a faux wood finish on the sides and looked out of date even when I
bought it new.

My second which I bought around 1982 was a Panasonic stereo deck that was
pretty cool for it's time. It was a two piece unit, meaning the deck that
played tapes was one piece that had a rechargeable nickel battery and the
other piece was the tuner and they were joined together by a couple av/power
cables. It was for people who were using "cam-corders," actually huge video
cameras that you had to hook to a deck like the Panasonic to actually record
on to a vhs tape. I think I paid about $995.00 for that thing and quite
honestly, it was a great player and lasted until about 1992.

T.B.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

5 years ago, I bought an awesome VCR for $700. It's an Aiwa MX100 HI-FI
with completely digital video processing(until it goes onto the tape of
course) and it supports 5 world-wide video formats.. NTSC, PAL, SECAM,
M-PAL, and N-PAL. Got a nice jog wheel too. It's a very nice machine, and
I needed a multi-format video for converting a bunch of bootleg concert
videos I had received from europe. Plus I am now able to send home videos
to my friends and family in Germany.

This thing also has a recording "indexing" feature where when you are
recording on a tape, it will remember each position on the tape where you
started a new recording down to 1 second.

In retrospect, $700 is like.. WAY too much but it's still a
state-of-the-art machine even now. When you record on a blank tape with it
though, the quality is amazing. Never seen another VCR record such a clear
picture!

-Mike

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 22:59:50 -0500, half_eaten <half_eaten@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>5 years ago, I bought an awesome VCR for $700. It's an Aiwa MX100 HI-FI
>with completely digital video processing(until it goes onto the tape of

20 years ago I bought an awesome hifi VCR for $400, about $800 in today's
dollars. It was the first hifi I saw for less than $800 and did absolutely
nothing. It still used tuner presets and couldn't randomly tune any station;
at least the 16 presets were electronicaly set instead of the more common use
of little tuner thumbwheels.

It lasted 3 years before it's first idler wheel wore out. Next one wore out
after 2 years; last one lasted two years and then I chucked the thing around
'93. Add $300 for repairs to that intitial $400.

 

[Greg]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

I agree about the Kurray Faces discs having less specks, but I also
find them to be more red, especially in flesh tones. I find the USA
pressings to have more accurate flesh tones. But I do agree that they
are generally better quality.


test wrote:
> That's what I said in a previous mail.... compare a
> Kuraray/Mitsubishi/Pioneer Japan pressing with a Pioneer USA edition
and you
> will agree with me that Pioneer USA wasn't that good as you thought
to be.
>
> The Japanese pressing plants were simply the best but -again- also
had their
> rotproblems.
>
> As for Kuraray pressings... when buying the Star Wars Faces editions
try to
> find the Kuraray ones. The first pressing made by Pioneer USA had -as

> always- rolling white lines/specks problems. The Kuraray pressings
are
> almost perfect.
> Some of the later Disneys (Little Mermaid CAV, Mary Poppins) are made
by K.
> and are indeed a joy to look at.
>
> Have fun,
> Roy
>
> "half_eaten" <half_eaten@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:ed2660e58435ac35d782be77345b639c@localhost.talkaboutvideo.com...
> >I hear alot about the great quality of Kuraray LDs, what are some
good
> > titles released by them to look for? I'll tell you what though, my
LD of
> > Devil's Advocate released by Warner Video is totally flawless. If I
sit
> > down and watch that one and didn't know any better I'd say it was a
DVD!
> > It's crystal-clear.
> >
> > My Pioneer discs are pretty good too, but not even close to Devil's
> > Advocate.
> >
> > -mike
> >

 

[test]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

That's what I said in a previous mail.... compare a
Kuraray/Mitsubishi/Pioneer Japan pressing with a Pioneer USA edition and you
will agree with me that Pioneer USA wasn't that good as you thought to be.

The Japanese pressing plants were simply the best but -again- also had their
rotproblems.

As for Kuraray pressings... when buying the Star Wars Faces editions try to
find the Kuraray ones. The first pressing made by Pioneer USA had -as
always- rolling white lines/specks problems. The Kuraray pressings are
almost perfect.
Some of the later Disneys (Little Mermaid CAV, Mary Poppins) are made by K.
and are indeed a joy to look at.

Have fun,
Roy

"half_eaten" <half_eaten@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ed2660e58435ac35d782be77345b639c@localhost.talkaboutvideo.com...
>I hear alot about the great quality of Kuraray LDs, what are some good
> titles released by them to look for? I'll tell you what though, my LD of
> Devil's Advocate released by Warner Video is totally flawless. If I sit
> down and watch that one and didn't know any better I'd say it was a DVD!
> It's crystal-clear.
>
> My Pioneer discs are pretty good too, but not even close to Devil's
> Advocate.
>
> -mike
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

Yes, I agree with Ed, there are many LD's in my collection that will
stay there because of the quality of the release - Just like you said,
the Highlander releases are difficult to beat, right down from the
gorgeous tripe gatefold embossed sleeves to the really good transfer
and superb AC3 soundtrack, these are discs that I will be hanging on to
for some time. But as you say, there are certain releases from the 80's
and early 90's that dont really look that great when viewed on our
modern TV's, Plasmas or Projectors. A lot of the earlier discs look
like direct transfers from VCR, with muffled sound and poor picture,
most often pan & scan. The only discs I look to hang on to from this
era are those that either hold some sentimental value or that are not
available on DVD at this time. Certain titles, like Silent Running, for
example, I will keep just for the sake of it, as I like the film.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

> Oh, and before I forget, a big thanks to Julien Wilk and all of the
> members at lddb for making it my definitive source of information on
> all things Laser.

Thanks!

Now back from vacation... "only" 520 updates left to process! It's
gonna take some time but eventually I'll go through it soon.

Rgds,
Julien
--
http/LDDb.com/ - Laserdisc Database

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

welcome back Julien, hope you had a great and relaxing time.

Ed


On 3 Mar 2005 17:03:19 -0800, "Julien Wilk" <generikz@gmail.com>
wrote:

>> Oh, and before I forget, a big thanks to Julien Wilk and all of the
>> members at lddb for making it my definitive source of information on
>> all things Laser.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Now back from vacation... "only" 520 updates left to process! It's
>gonna take some time but eventually I'll go through it soon.
>
>Rgds,
>Julien

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

After reading this thread I fired up my Pioneer CLD-D704 yesterday
to watch a couple of discs. It made me think about buying my first
LD player back in 1987 (Pioneer CLD-1030/still works!)
I didn't buy many discs during LD's long run as they were always
a little too expensive for my budget but I was fortunate to have
Laserland on Long Island, NY to rent anything I wanted to watch.
I probably only purchased about 50 discs until of course everyone sold
off their collections when DVD came about. I ended up purchasing a lot
of titles that I had always wanted. I have about 300 discs now and
have pretty much found every title that I ever wanted.
Watching my discs yesterday I was still impressed by LD's
quality. We all have to remember that from the mid 80's to the start
of DVD(1997?) LD was the best way to watch video at home. My
Hitachi 50" rear screen and Pioneer surround receiver provided many
hours of pleasant viewing at a very reasonable cost.

 

[dawi4321]

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

Hi All

I'm a newcomer to the usenet scene so bear with me if I'm talking
drivel or repeating a conversation you had last week. Its great to see
this group so active and that we have so many LD devotees still out
there. I've been into Laserdiscs for over a year now, you can say I was
a late embracer of the technology ) Having purchased a player and
discs on ebay, I've never looked back, and now I buy and sell them on
ebay as a hobby.

I think the format is great. Tactile objects, great cover art, great
picture quality on a well mastered disc, stunning audio, those ohhh so
lavish box sets, I could go on. Most of the people who know me think
I'm mad, but they soon change their tune when they experience a good
AC3/DTS & THX mastered disc in full tilt. I'm not saying that DVD isn't
superb in its own right, its just that there's something about LD's, I
can quite put my finger on it, maybe its cause I'm old enough to
remember vinyl )

So, I wonder what will happen to LD's over the next few years. Will
people be desperate to sell off collections and trade up to more modern
formats? With the production of new players now over, will existing
ones end up fetching stupidly high prices? I've almost given up on
getting a HLD-X9 for a half decent price already! And good old 'Laser
Rot' - A subject that has had many discussions i'm sure - Searching
back through the posts here shows that people were really concerned
about it a few years back - I wont say I haven't come across it, as I
have, but I wonder if the mid to late 90's pressings will have shown
any problems by now and wont deteriorate further on the shelf. I would
love to think I could enjoy my collection for years to come. Do people
think that discs themselves will become more valuable in the future?
With the number of LD only titles getting smaller and smaller, as
releases finally make their way to DVD, what do you think will happen
to their value? Even a common title like Aladdin fetched far more when
it was LD only.

I just wondered what LD devotees can see in their crystal balls )
Looking forward to hearing some views.

Oh, and before I forget, a big thanks to Julien Wilk and all of the
members at lddb for making it my definitive source of information on
all things Laser.

My regards, Mark