Laserdisc players + discs

branie

Were they ever sold here in Ireland?

krudler

branie wrote: »

Were they ever sold here in Ireland?

Savins in limerick used to alright, cost a fortune though

branie

How much were they?

Nolanger

Better quality than DVDs. Tower records used to sell.

jaykhunter

When you say quality, do you mean durability, or TVL or ??

Laserdisc is undoubtedly cooler than DVD (imo) due it's massive size, cover artwork, novelty and analogue tracking, but visual and audio quality it is not.

I'd recommend getting some online; finding a working LD player would be more difficult/costly.

Nolanger

Better picture and sound quality.

jaykhunter

I don't mean to sound snarky at all - i'm just inquisitive - i'd actually like to see some literature to back that up. Do u have anything I could read supporting your blunt statement? I don't see how an analogue medium that holds 30 or 60 minutes of video footage per disc can be described as better quality. Or is this a nostalgia/videophile thing?

Nolanger

Same way Beta was better than VHS! They used to sell lots of LazerDisc movies in Tower records. It was mainly an American format and it was considered better quality than DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-csoekgm0Q

the whole year inn

those disks where monsters!

FruitLover

Nolanger wrote: »

Better picture and sound quality.

Nonsense. I had an LD player back in the day, and upgraded around 2000 or 2001 to DVD when I watched some Criterion discs on a friend's system. LD was much better than VHS, but if you think an LD could look better than a good DVD transfer (e.g. Criterion; I'll grant you some DVDs, particularly early releases, suffer from nasty compression artifacts), you need your eyes checked.

Beta was technically superior to VHS, the only thing superior about LDs vs DVDs was the cover art (and the feeling of wielding a big, shiny disc!).

Dotrel

I'm certain Virgin Megstore on Aston Quay Dublin had them too. I remember not rightly even understanding what they even were or why the were so expensive but I did like looking thru the rack at the big artwork. IIRC they were in the region of £50 each in the mid 90s.

I've become slightly fascinated with them since. I wouldn't go as far as to buy a player or disks today but there's lots of interesting clips on youtube about them. I think it's hilarious that collectors would pay big money for these disks and happily put up with them all being 'flippers' (remember flippers?). Stuff like The Godfather Part II had 2x disks I believe so 4x sides for one movie! :eek:

Pyongyang

FruitLover wrote: »

Nonsense. I had an LD player back in the day, and upgraded around 2000 or 2001 to DVD when I watched some Criterion discs on a friend's system. LD was much better than VHS, but if you think an LD could look better than a good DVD transfer (e.g. Criterion; I'll grant you some DVDs, particularly early releases, suffer from nasty compression artifacts), you need your eyes checked.

Beta was technically superior to VHS, the only thing superior about LDs vs DVDs was the cover art (and the feeling of wielding a big, shiny disc!).

It's debatable. Some Laserdisc transfers are not far off a bog standard DVD print. However, Criterion and Japanese Hi-Muse Laserdiscs are right up there. You'd need an electron microscope and eyes like Lee Majors to notice the difference.

I've a CLD-1750 at home and some nice Criterion and Hi-Muse prints. The quality is fantastic. I'm planning to run the SCART through my DVDO video processor for an even better picture. The 1750 even has optical out, so I run that through my AV receiver.

Laserdisc still has the beans!