I consider myself lucky, because I happened to find a Panasonic Laserdisc player at a local charity shop here in Australia. It was still in working condition, and it only cost $60AU. As I am a fan of retro technology, I gathered my money and purchased when I had a chance. It had a Australian power supply, yet it could play NTSC discs on my flatscreen TV easily. And given I can find Laserdiscs from America quite easily, it is a good investment.
This. Is. The. Best. Documentary. I. Have. Ever! SEEN!!! You and Jay have been working so hard to getting this done and I am very impressed of how it has come out. Jay did a great job at collaborating with you and over all the documentaries I have watched in my life this is the best one so far. Amazing work CCG88! I am looking forward to your other stuff as well. Like your next RLE! Amazing and extraordinary work, Cam and Jay! I'm impressed!
CD Video was a cheap rebrand by philips to make the laserdisc do better in europe. It didn't, so they moved on to video cd, dvd, and blu-ray as time went on.
The problem with Laserdisc at the time was availability. When I was a kid in the 80's/90's I never saw a laserdisc, not once. I never saw them on display in Dixons, Currys, Comet, Argos, Littlewoods or even in any catalogue for that matter. I never saw the discs themselves in any record, movie shop or rental store. It was a limited and for all I know restricted clientele. I only ever knew about them from movies and even then there's only a few movies that I watched that had them in them. Most people had VCR's because they were featured in hire purchase catalogues which made it affordable for most people. Technology was very expensive back then due to all the mechanical mechanisms inside them which drove up the price by quite a lot. It's not that Laserdisc was a failure or even expensive, it was just hard to get hold of one. Most people didn't have the internet back then so you'd need to go to a shop to buy one but if your local shops weren't selling them then tough luck. You'd need to go into a city to buy one as well as the discs. A huge selling point for Video tape was the recording feature. That's what sold the machine. People wanted features for their money. Watching one TV show while recording another was a big thing when two programmes are being broadcast at the same time and you want to watch both or setting the timer to record a movie at 2AM. Movies were expensive so a lot of people recorded them from TV and up to 4 hours on a SP tape you could fit a few on just one tape. Kids recorded Saturday Morning TV and recorded Soaps and Sitcoms. Laserdisc didn't do any of that. It was a versatile machine don't get me wrong but it was very limited for a household. Yes, you got a better picture but when it's on a CRT TV then it's hardly noticeable. Nowadays it's a collectors market. I bought mine a few years ago and even then it cost me £1000 for the one I wanted. The discs are fairly inexpensive but finding a good disc can be a problem. You need to do a lot of research before you buy one because it could be a "Rotter" then all you have is a shiny frisbee. Should you get one? Well, that's up to you. Do you need one? No. There's better quality formats out there but to side with Laserdisc here there's been titles on Laserdisc that weren't released on DVD or Bluray and Laserdisc has a lot of features that other disc or tape formats never had and to me that's a selling point. Also, Laserdisc had some excellent audio encoding, far beyond the others even today so if you like great audio on your movies then yes get it but don't expect it to work miracles for you. It's a dated and discontinued format and it's mostly for collectors.
That MCA logo at 4:59 brings so much memories, because when you see that logo at the end of a 1975 to 1991 UNIVERSAL program, you would know what's next... The infamous 1975 Universal TV logo! (1982 theme or 1982 low tone theme would happen most likely.)
Picture quality be damned, anything I own on laserdisc, bluray, or 4k bluray I watch on laserdisc because the sound just sounds so much more dynamic and full like a movie theater. Examples include Apocalypse Now, Jurassic Park DTS, Casper DTS, Twister thx, Alien thx, The Frighteners DTS, the list goes on...
The first thing I think of about the Laserdisc is Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned here. Still, good overview of the Laserdisc's history! :D
Sorry for the late comment, but that's what I call the best documentary of LaserDisc *EVER!!!!* You managed to get a lot of info for LaserDisc very accurately, which is very good!! However the image you've shown at 1:01 and 4:15 was not a LaserDisc, but an RCA CED disc, since I could tell by the visible grooves on it and the black vinyl appearance on it, and has the cartridge removed. But speaking of the RCA CED disc, you should make a documentary on it, since it was actually a cheap competitor to LaserDisc. And also, didn't you know that the CRV LaserDisc was used to record the BBC1 idents in the 1990s? That was interesting!! And another system called "Lucasfilm Editdroid", which was used in some Star Wars films, but edited footage recorded on the LaserDisc itself. But anyways, what a well done great documentary there CCG88 and keep up with the brilliant great work!!!! :D :) ;)
It was a great technology for its time. I still have two machines and over 300 laser discs but ultimately it is not as good as modern tech such as 4K discs and related software such as Dolby Atmos and HDR. Good overview of an innovative technology.
The first picture of a disc someone is holding at the start of the video is a CED and not a laserdisc and it's not laser rot it's DISC ROT... lol... Great video
Great video but it's not laser rot, it's disc rot the laser isn't rotting, it's the disc.. And you list a problem with laserdisc as having to manually flip the disc but no they are automatic machines the play the B-side for you... I have one hehe... Keep up the fab work... Long live laserdisc
We were aware of these. It's fine to call it laser rot or disc rot. Most machines weren't capable of flipping the laser, and those that did was expensive.
When it comes to audio the laserdisc with digital audio 5.1 to 6,1 channels of Dolby digital or dts they gave you the theatrical experience no compression no ne’er field mix just list to Jurassic park in dts or saving private Ryan in ac-3dolby digital and you will see why it got huge in the mid 1990s
I've got a raging one for DTS. When I first heard it; it blew me away and now every movie I can get has to be in DTS. I let my 11 year old Nephew watch Saving Private Ryan in DTS for his first time experience. On the Omaha Beach scene He was left speechless. He'd never heard anything like it before in his life. You should have seen his face. PRICELESS! His next one was Terminator 2 Special Edition. He loved it. Jurassic Park might be his next I don't know yet but I think I've converted him over to our side.
I'm kinda disappointed by this documentary, it's really not as researched as your VHS one and it's quite obvious, you omitted a lot of info on the LD format, most notably the sound quality that you didn't even mentioned once in this video even though it's one the big reason why people are still collecting LDs, with the presence of dolby surround and the first appearance on home video of dolby digital and dts format, you also didn't talk about the HD MUSE LD wich were "HD" Laserdiscs that were basically running at a 1080i resolution. There is also the differences between CAV and CLV that you didn't explained fully and other stuff like the 16:9 discs etc...
I wasn't interested in researching the sound or the MUSE LD's, since I was only interested in the history of the disc. I didn't want to go into full detail about the technical specs of it, fearing that it would bore some people, and get a bit complicated. Most of my fans are very young, so when making a video, I have to think about what they're going to notice and remember. The video was long enough as it is including what I did include, and I didn't want to make it too long, again, fearing it would be boring. I apologise that you're disappointed with the outcome, but I can't overload stuff like with how it works. - CCG88.
@@CCGFilms I understand the fear of too much technical aspect, but the sound really plays a big part in the history of the disc, since the sound quality made it THE home cinema format for the movie passionate that made it's comeback throughout the 90's with the arrival of Dolby Digital and DTS with some movie directors even saying it was the best format to watch movies ans still is to a very few.
I would've probably mentioned the sound quality, if the main LaserDisc wikipedia section talked about it in a more enthusiastic way. All it had was the repetition of Dolby and DTS, and again, it would be rather boring. There's no way you can audio sound enthusiastic, if you're just repeating how it works. Having, "...which were (EFM, CIRC, 16-bit and 44.056 kHz sample rate). PAL discs could carry one pair of audio tracks, either analog or digital and the digital tracks on a PAL disc were 16-bit 44.1 kHz as on a CD..." wouldn't make things interesting. It's too technical for my type of audience. Again, I apologise for missing out on it.
@@CCGFilms You should've made better research like exploring the Laserdic database forum instead of just staying on wikipedia, there are people that explained how it works pretty simply on this forum
I did have a look at the LaserDisc Database, but more so on the players, not the technical aspects. You have to give some form of credit to us for trying with this one. I wanted it to be more on the creative side.
1:02, that's the disc from a CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) caddy.
This is also applied to JVC'S Video High Density/VHD
Elbow Pads Pads and Knee Pads and Taped Wrists and MMA Style Gloves
Great documentary! I learned a lot about this that I didn't know of before!
I'm looking forward to seeing this!! :D
This is my favorite old tech video it's like a educational obsolete video that I love to watch multiple time same as you VHS video! Great work!
DVD Player $100.00 Each and Laser Disc Player $100.00 Each and VHS Player $100.00 Each
DVD $20.00 Each and Laser Disc $20.00 Each and VHS $20.00 Each
Cassette $20.00 Each and Compact Disc $20.00 Each and Vinyl $20.00 Each
Cassette Player $100.00 Each and Compact Disc Player $100.00 Each and Vinyl Player $100.00 Each
I am watching this right now.
I consider myself lucky, because I happened to find a Panasonic Laserdisc player at a local charity shop here in Australia. It was still in working condition, and it only cost $60AU. As I am a fan of retro technology, I gathered my money and purchased when I had a chance. It had a Australian power supply, yet it could play NTSC discs on my flatscreen TV easily. And given I can find Laserdiscs from America quite easily, it is a good investment.
Don't keep it.
This will be epic
I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-- 3hours later... (not really) OOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!
This. Is. The. Best. Documentary. I. Have. Ever! SEEN!!! You and Jay have been working so hard to getting this done and I am very impressed of how it has come out. Jay did a great job at collaborating with you and over all the documentaries I have watched in my life this is the best one so far. Amazing work CCG88! I am looking forward to your other stuff as well. Like your next RLE! Amazing and extraordinary work, Cam and Jay! I'm impressed!
Speaking of that blockbuster picture. Theres literally one still open
9:59 30 years of this sound for me, alwas make me smile.
9:56 My Table Vibrating
thats a nostalgia 😊
Laserdisc was later refined into the CD Video, or CDV, which is the combination of both CD and Laserdisc.
CD Video was a cheap rebrand by philips to make the laserdisc do better in europe. It didn't, so they moved on to video cd, dvd, and blu-ray as time went on.
Nice Documentary!
What a way to finish August :-)
This is amazing good joob cg88 good job😀
The problem with Laserdisc at the time was availability. When I was a kid in the 80's/90's I never saw a laserdisc, not once. I never saw them on display in Dixons, Currys, Comet, Argos, Littlewoods or even in any catalogue for that matter. I never saw the discs themselves in any record, movie shop or rental store. It was a limited and for all I know restricted clientele. I only ever knew about them from movies and even then there's only a few movies that I watched that had them in them. Most people had VCR's because they were featured in hire purchase catalogues which made it affordable for most people. Technology was very expensive back then due to all the mechanical mechanisms inside them which drove up the price by quite a lot.
It's not that Laserdisc was a failure or even expensive, it was just hard to get hold of one. Most people didn't have the internet back then so you'd need to go to a shop to buy one but if your local shops weren't selling them then tough luck. You'd need to go into a city to buy one as well as the discs. A huge selling point for Video tape was the recording feature. That's what sold the machine. People wanted features for their money. Watching one TV show while recording another was a big thing when two programmes are being broadcast at the same time and you want to watch both or setting the timer to record a movie at 2AM. Movies were expensive so a lot of people recorded them from TV and up to 4 hours on a SP tape you could fit a few on just one tape. Kids recorded Saturday Morning TV and recorded Soaps and Sitcoms. Laserdisc didn't do any of that. It was a versatile machine don't get me wrong but it was very limited for a household. Yes, you got a better picture but when it's on a CRT TV then it's hardly noticeable.
Nowadays it's a collectors market. I bought mine a few years ago and even then it cost me £1000 for the one I wanted. The discs are fairly inexpensive but finding a good disc can be a problem. You need to do a lot of research before you buy one because it could be a "Rotter" then all you have is a shiny frisbee. Should you get one? Well, that's up to you. Do you need one? No. There's better quality formats out there but to side with Laserdisc here there's been titles on Laserdisc that weren't released on DVD or Bluray and Laserdisc has a lot of features that other disc or tape formats never had and to me that's a selling point. Also, Laserdisc had some excellent audio encoding, far beyond the others even today so if you like great audio on your movies then yes get it but don't expect it to work miracles for you. It's a dated and discontinued format and it's mostly for collectors.
Got my first LD player in 93/94 and loved ir! And the auto side change
That MCA logo at 4:59 brings so much memories, because when you see that logo at the end of a 1975 to 1991 UNIVERSAL program, you would know what's next... The infamous 1975 Universal TV logo! (1982 theme or 1982 low tone theme would happen most likely.)
I think there is an episode of "Regular Show" that focuses on Laser Disc technology.
This is gonna be grrrrrrrrrrrreat!
fun fact : Beethovens 9th was used to determine the standard of maximum playback time for CDs.
I know about the LaserDisc more than the other home video formats (U-Matic, Betamax, VHS, CD, DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray & the Ultra HD Blu-ray).
What can I say? This is going to be great!
This document was amazing!
Picture quality be damned, anything I own on laserdisc, bluray, or 4k bluray I watch on laserdisc because the sound just sounds so much more dynamic and full like a movie theater. Examples include Apocalypse Now, Jurassic Park DTS, Casper DTS, Twister thx, Alien thx, The Frighteners DTS, the list goes on...
LaserDisc is my favorite.
Good film!
The first thing I think of about the Laserdisc is Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned here. Still, good overview of the Laserdisc's history! :D
This is gonna be good
The system itself is really interesting, but too bad it’s not that popular.
Colleen DeFabbio was not popular.....today more and more...highly colectible and will become incredibly valuable
I was known for my title card videos before Article 13 came along.
That was cool
Me excited
Sorry for the late comment, but that's what I call the best documentary of LaserDisc *EVER!!!!* You managed to get a lot of info for LaserDisc very accurately, which is very good!! However the image you've shown at 1:01 and 4:15 was not a LaserDisc, but an RCA CED disc, since I could tell by the visible grooves on it and the black vinyl appearance on it, and has the cartridge removed. But speaking of the RCA CED disc, you should make a documentary on it, since it was actually a cheap competitor to LaserDisc. And also, didn't you know that the CRV LaserDisc was used to record the BBC1 idents in the 1990s? That was interesting!! And another system called "Lucasfilm Editdroid", which was used in some Star Wars films, but edited footage recorded on the LaserDisc itself. But anyways, what a well done great documentary there CCG88 and keep up with the brilliant great work!!!! :D :) ;)
I wish I had Laserdiscs
Yes we
When ya' said AKAI, my mind went to MPC.
This was fantastic. But I really hope you've bought a player by now
Laserdisc is still around as of 2023.
I watched it was good
CCG88 Can you do United Artists please?
LaserDisc (Pioneer) may put Netflix out of business
It was a great technology for its time. I still have two machines and over 300 laser discs but ultimately it is not as good as modern tech such as 4K discs and related software such as Dolby Atmos and HDR. Good overview of an innovative technology.
Ok
Block Buster Audio and Video and Net Flix Audio and Video Hybrid Universe and A - Z and By Year and 01|01|2001 - 31|12|2024
The first picture of a disc someone is holding at the start of the video is a CED and not a laserdisc and it's not laser rot it's DISC ROT... lol... Great video
Why do you keep showing us pictures of the RCA CED as if it was a laserdisc?
7:01 wrong laser disc are no encoded with 1s and 0s they are a completely analog composite signal
u missed all the dragons lair, mad dog mcree stuff,, but nice effort lads,, pity ur not in australia id sell u a ld player cheap i have 8 of them
I'm in Australia and looking for a good LD player...been looking for ages.. Are you in QLD any chance?
Great video but it's not laser rot, it's disc rot the laser isn't rotting, it's the disc.. And you list a problem with laserdisc as having to manually flip the disc but no they are automatic machines the play the B-side for you... I have one hehe... Keep up the fab work... Long live laserdisc
We were aware of these. It's fine to call it laser rot or disc rot. Most machines weren't capable of flipping the laser, and those that did was expensive.
i was right
When it comes to audio the laserdisc with digital audio 5.1 to 6,1 channels of Dolby digital or dts they gave you the theatrical experience no compression no ne’er field mix just list to Jurassic park in dts or saving private Ryan in ac-3dolby digital and you will see why it got huge in the mid 1990s
I've got a raging one for DTS. When I first heard it; it blew me away and now every movie I can get has to be in DTS. I let my 11 year old Nephew watch Saving Private Ryan in DTS for his first time experience. On the Omaha Beach scene He was left speechless. He'd never heard anything like it before in his life. You should have seen his face. PRICELESS! His next one was Terminator 2 Special Edition. He loved it. Jurassic Park might be his next I don't know yet but I think I've converted him over to our side.
MCA OWNED UNIVERSAL! (1964?-1990)
Discovision is modern day UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT!
I'm kinda disappointed by this documentary, it's really not as researched as your VHS one and it's quite obvious, you omitted a lot of info on the LD format, most notably the sound quality that you didn't even mentioned once in this video even though it's one the big reason why people are still collecting LDs, with the presence of dolby surround and the first appearance on home video of dolby digital and dts format, you also didn't talk about the HD MUSE LD wich were "HD" Laserdiscs that were basically running at a 1080i resolution.
There is also the differences between CAV and CLV that you didn't explained fully and other stuff like the 16:9 discs etc...
I wasn't interested in researching the sound or the MUSE LD's, since I was only interested in the history of the disc. I didn't want to go into full detail about the technical specs of it, fearing that it would bore some people, and get a bit complicated. Most of my fans are very young, so when making a video, I have to think about what they're going to notice and remember. The video was long enough as it is including what I did include, and I didn't want to make it too long, again, fearing it would be boring. I apologise that you're disappointed with the outcome, but I can't overload stuff like with how it works. - CCG88.
@@CCGFilms I understand the fear of too much technical aspect, but the sound really plays a big part in the history of the disc, since the sound quality made it THE home cinema format for the movie passionate that made it's comeback throughout the 90's with the arrival of Dolby Digital and DTS with some movie directors even saying it was the best format to watch movies ans still is to a very few.
I would've probably mentioned the sound quality, if the main LaserDisc wikipedia section talked about it in a more enthusiastic way. All it had was the repetition of Dolby and DTS, and again, it would be rather boring. There's no way you can audio sound enthusiastic, if you're just repeating how it works. Having, "...which were (EFM, CIRC, 16-bit and 44.056 kHz sample rate). PAL discs could carry one pair of audio tracks, either analog or digital and the digital tracks on a PAL disc were 16-bit 44.1 kHz as on a CD..." wouldn't make things interesting. It's too technical for my type of audience. Again, I apologise for missing out on it.
@@CCGFilms You should've made better research like exploring the Laserdic database forum instead of just staying on wikipedia, there are people that explained how it works pretty simply on this forum
I did have a look at the LaserDisc Database, but more so on the players, not the technical aspects. You have to give some form of credit to us for trying with this one. I wanted it to be more on the creative side.
Jeez the music is too loud and distracting
E
Wow awesome I just got me a pointer laser disc for $20 like new at a yard sale