GrungeGopher
418 Posts
15 years, 10 months ago
Does anybody on Retrojunk remember Laserdiscs? It was a rival to VHS and Betamax back in the 80s. Laserdiscs were kinda like the older cousin of DVDs, and the video quality on the discs was exceptional...but they were HUGE! Here's a laserdisc compared to a regular CD or DVD
Wow...anyways..just wondering
Wow...anyways..just wondering
Delete Confirmation
Does anybody on Retrojunk remember Laserdiscs? It was a rival to VHS and Betamax back in the 80s. Laserdiscs were kinda like the older cousin of DVDs, and the video quality on the discs was exceptional...but they were HUGE! Here's a laserdisc compared to a regular CD or DVD
Wow...anyways..just wondering
Wow...anyways..just wondering
For some reason this sounds familiar...I must've heard of those somewhere.
Whoa. That's a big difference in size of those two CDs :shock:
Whoa. That's a big difference in size of those two CDs :shock:
I know a few people who still own Laserdiscs. It appears that they're as big as records.
How about this forgotten laserdisc blast from the past the Pioneer LaserActive
You can learn more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_LaserActive and here http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg90-pioneer.htm
They have one on EBay that comes with the NEC and Sega pacs for it. You can buy it now for $990 +$200 shipping. A rare gem for the serious game collector, if I had the extra loot I'd pick this bad boy up.
You can learn more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_LaserActive and here http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg90-pioneer.htm
They have one on EBay that comes with the NEC and Sega pacs for it. You can buy it now for $990 +$200 shipping. A rare gem for the serious game collector, if I had the extra loot I'd pick this bad boy up.
Delete Confirmation
How about this forgotten laserdisc blast from the past the Pioneer LaserActive
You can learn more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_LaserActive and here http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg90-pioneer.htm
They have one on EBay that comes with the NEC and Sega pacs for it. You can buy it now for $990 +$200 shipping. A rare gem for the serious game collector, if I had the extra loot I'd pick this bad boy up.
You can learn more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_LaserActive and here http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg90-pioneer.htm
They have one on EBay that comes with the NEC and Sega pacs for it. You can buy it now for $990 +$200 shipping. A rare gem for the serious game collector, if I had the extra loot I'd pick this bad boy up.
System
79987 Posts
15 years, 10 months ago
I've heard of them, but I've never had a player or anything. I never realized that they were that freaking huge.
I recall, back in 1996, my brother and I spent the weekend at my Uncle Eddie's house. We rented some movies from their local Blockbuster, and as I was wandering around the store, I saw a bin filled with laserdiscs at a very cheap price. The only title I recall distinctly is "'Crocodile' Dundee II", but they had a whole bunch of them. Well, DVD was on the horizon and laserdiscs didn't really do all that well, so I guess Blockbuster was looking ahead.
Yeah, I remember Laserdisc. I was young, it was expensive, obscure, and dying off. My Dad would have never forked out that kinda money for something to just watch movies.
Interestingly though, in high school, the Driver's Ed. classroom was equipped with pseudo-simulators of a cars. The hub of the system was a Laserdisc player with Laserdiscs containing driving and tutorial footage.
Interestingly though, in high school, the Driver's Ed. classroom was equipped with pseudo-simulators of a cars. The hub of the system was a Laserdisc player with Laserdiscs containing driving and tutorial footage.
System
79987 Posts
15 years, 10 months ago
Despite laserdiscs being so big...you could only fit half a movie on one side. So you'd actually have to flip the disc halfway through the movie.
What's really sad, is there are actually certain DVDs where you have to do this too! Good example is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the original DVD release of it, not sure if you still have to flip the disc with the special edition).
What's really sad, is there are actually certain DVDs where you have to do this too! Good example is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the original DVD release of it, not sure if you still have to flip the disc with the special edition).
My history teacher used them in our class last year. First time I ever saw 'em. Except on Homestar Runner.
retromaniac
Despite laserdiscs being so big...you could only fit half a movie on one side. So you'd actually have to flip the disc halfway through the movie.
Didn't matter if you have a model that played both sides like mine.
What's really sad, is there are actually certain DVDs where you have to do this too! Good example is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the original DVD release of it, not sure if you still have to flip the disc with the special edition).
Oh well, it's all about quantity over quality that matters in situations like that. I actually didn't mind changing tapes at all when that was common too.
Mezase_Master
My history teacher used them in our class last year. First time I ever saw 'em. Except on Homestar Runner.
Heh, being reminded of seeing them back in the 80's personally, but not usually in schools until later (they were still using film projectors and outdated video machines).
Greengoblin
1731 Posts
15 years, 10 months ago
Thank god for DVDs and Blu-Rays now.
I've heard of them but i've never used one or had one. A few of my friends had them, though.
I remember begging my parents to get one in the late 70's when they first became popular. My local big funiture store that went out of business long time ago I think in 95 use to have a pretty big electronic part of the store that selled Laserdiscs. One day I saw the cover of Hollywood Hot Tubs.
System
79987 Posts
15 years, 10 months ago
I remember laserdiscs. Nowadays you see a bunch of Japanese ones mostly on eBay, especially Song of the South.
i had terminator 2 for laserdisc.
Cyber_Ninja
I remember begging my parents to get one in the late 70's when they first became popular. My local big funiture store that went out of business long time ago I think in 95 use to have a pretty big electronic part of the store that selled Laserdiscs. One day I saw the cover of Hollywood Hot Tubs.
Baloo
I remember laserdiscs. Nowadays you see a bunch of Japanese ones mostly on eBay, especially Song of the South.
Do they still go for over $200? I remember when those went for such high prices but I eventually bought one myself. Sadly the first time I did so, the disc cracked during shipping, and got refunded thankfully for it, but I now have an excellent copy in my collection.
Many of those Japanese LD's are still quite cool to check out for some things that may not be available on DVD either in Japan or the US.
Laser Discs are retro cool! I collect vinyl record albums and still find the disks in thrift stores from time to time. I bought an old Pioneer model that was heavy as a t.v. along with about twenty discs for twenty bucks about ten years ago. The remote control to it was about the size of a game boy color. I still own a few like The Jerk, Airplane, Popeye(Robin Williams), Flash Gordon, Annie,ABBA, Paul McCartney Wings over America, and Natural Born Killers(bought on Ebay)