8mm Forum: Laserdisc ... Do you still use it ?

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Topic: Laserdisc ... Do you still use it ?

David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 01, 2018 10:14 AM

I was wondering if anyone on this forum still uses good old Laserdiscs.

If your answer is "Yes " do you project it and what do you think of it ?

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted May 01, 2018 11:35 AM

Only when I don't have the film in any other format, which happens every once in awhile. I even have a CAV laserisc box set (the BIG black one) of the original STAR WARS trilogy that is truly great, (with some "deleted scene" stuff that honestly, I have never seen anywhere else), but only watched once.

Sheesh, i still have around 150 of those things. I think i've watched one last year, period. [Smile]

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Bill Phelps
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1482
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2009

posted May 01, 2018 12:48 PM

Yes I do, I have far to many to not watch them. I use the television. I only project film. [Smile]

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Dave Groves
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 508
From: Southend on Sea, Essex, UK
Registered: Feb 2015

posted May 01, 2018 01:32 PM

I have about 80 discs and recently discovered my amplifier can decode the surround sound on some of the discs. I don't project them. My 55" t.v. takes them to the limit. I still love the system with it's covers you can actually read, and why would I part with 'The Republic Pictures Story', MGM, When the Lion Roars' and 'The Busby Berkerley Story? Sometimes I put on the Classical music discs.Still absolute pleasure.

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Dave

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted May 01, 2018 03:12 PM

It's far short of DVD quality, so although I have access to a player, it's more of an occasional novelty than anything. But the look on the kids' faces when they see those huge gorgeous discs!

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Reese Williams
Junior
Posts: 21
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: Apr 2018

posted May 01, 2018 04:07 PM

Yes!!

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David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 01, 2018 05:41 PM

I still use mine quite regularly too keep the player in action.
I find that on projection is very acceptable on some transfers.
Better than some 8mm prints.

I used to take my discs to my work and some mornings when i had time to spare i would watch them via our video projection system.
The results on a large cinema screen were not to bad.

The sound was always excellent.

I have to keep my player and collection for some movies that may not ever see the light of day on DVD or Blu-Ray.

For example the complete roadshow version of John Wayne's THE ALAMO .

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 01, 2018 09:40 PM

Color quality from the LDs (especially the NTSC version) has always gone wrong for my eyes.

What do you guys think?

cheers,

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Winbert

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted May 02, 2018 11:52 AM

I must say that the later CAV laseerdiscs had pretty darned good image quality. Not bluray, of course, but right up there with DVD.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003

posted May 02, 2018 12:52 PM

I recall that the big deal at the time was AC-3 sound, in other words 5.1 dolby digital at home.

Seems antiquated now of course, but back in the early 1990's, this was a huge thing for home cinema fans.

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted May 02, 2018 01:20 PM

But not only that, but the fact that LDs were routinely equipped with uncompressed CD-quality sound means that a Dolby matrix surround track was a virtual copy of the studio master, lossless. It would only sound better today on a Blu-ray with DolbyTrueHD.

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William Olson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Poughkeepsie, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2010

posted May 02, 2018 02:37 PM

I have all my laserdics from the 80's and 90's. I still take one out and watch every once in a while. I watch them on a 50" Samsung 4K TV. Obviously, laserdics don't display in 4K but the TV does a decent job of upscaling considering the source. My discs of the first three Star Wars movies are valuable to me as they are the original theatrical releases. I wasn't pleased with the tweaking done to them in later years.

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Kilian Henin
Junior
Posts: 8
From: Calgary, AB, Canada
Registered: May 2016

posted May 02, 2018 02:44 PM

I actually love laserdiscs, especially on a CRT TV. But I'm weird that way; I prefer the look of analogue video to digital. Yes, there is less resolution than Bluray but on a smaller TV that doesn't matter. The colours look nice and the image is almost 3D (on a CRT tv of course) -- with way more depth than anything digital, especially in sun-lit daylight scenes. But it is a noisy picture, and not as sharp as Bluray of course. But I think it looks better and is easier on the eyes. Digital just looks .... processed in some way; less realistic.

Also, there is a huge variation of quality amongst individual laserdiscs. Some look great and some look truly horrible.

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Reese Williams
Junior
Posts: 21
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: Apr 2018

posted May 03, 2018 08:08 AM

I agree with you: there is a huge variation of quality amongst individual laserdiscs. Some look great and some look truly horrible.

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Ken Finch
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 543
From: Herne Bay, Kent. U.K.
Registered: Oct 2011

posted May 07, 2018 12:15 PM

I still screen them via a Pioneer player and Epson projector. Bought some second hand as they were quite expensive when they were first introduced. I have also gota copy of the original Philips demo disc!! One disc has unfortunately developed "Laser Rot" but there is a DVD version available. They are often available at the collectors fairs. Ken Finch.

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David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 08, 2018 11:01 AM

Nice replies there guys.

Its always good to read about people keeping old redundant formats in use and still being enjoyed for what they are.

A bit like film really. [Smile]

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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William Olson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Poughkeepsie, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2010

posted May 08, 2018 05:57 PM

Bill Brandenstein, this is precisely why I will not part with my laserdisc of Fantasia. The soundtrack is much closer to the original Fantasound than the later DVD's and Blue-Rays.

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted May 08, 2018 06:13 PM

Good point! Also, some very rare pressings had a DTS 5.1 data stream instead of the linear PCM stereo digital track, and those sound fantastic on any home theater receiver too. Much higher bitrate than Dolby Digital.

Unfortunately, I don't personally have any at this point. Great stuff.

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David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 09, 2018 02:08 PM

I have yet to hear a DVD or Bluray disc soundtrack that sounds as good or better than the sound quality i get from Laserdisc.

As for 8mm or 16mmm sound no matter how good ...well i will not even go there.

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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Ken Finch
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 543
From: Herne Bay, Kent. U.K.
Registered: Oct 2011

posted May 10, 2018 11:57 AM

I have Laserdisc and DVD versions of "Annie" and agree with David the sound quality of the Laserdisc is better. May I also add that I also lave a large collection of "films" on VHS which I find still seem to screen well via the Epson. The quality of picture and sound is not so bad as many believe. Most people seem to have junked theirs, so I wonder if there are any others still using them, or collecting them. Not all have appeared on DVD. Am I starting a new thread? I can imagine a number expressions of HORROR !! amongst the fraternity.
A bit like years ago when I was still using 9.5mm!! Ken Finch [Wink]

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David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 11, 2018 11:35 AM

Hey Ken i still have some VHS too. I have to agree that on projection provided the tape was of good quality and the transfer also it is not so bad as some would claim.

To be honest i have projected some VHS shorts and features that are actually sharper and have better definition than some of the 8mm releases i have bought. The same can be said of the Laserdiscs.

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted May 11, 2018 12:08 PM

This series of posts inspired me!

I decided to watch our "3M" (brand) Laserdisc of "pardon Us" (Laurel and Hardy) which I was always impressed with, image quality. It also has the short, "The Chimp"

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Kilian Henin
Junior
Posts: 8
From: Calgary, AB, Canada
Registered: May 2016

posted May 15, 2018 02:58 PM

There's no shame in keeping VHS tapes--especially considering that there are hundreds (probably thousands actually)of movies that have never made it to DVD. Also, VHS is a much more stable format. I have lots of DVDs that won't play at all, while all my videotapes from 1978 still play perfectly (or they're easily fixable by transferring the tape to a new cassette).

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Lee McCaffrey
Junior
Posts: 13
From: Newton Abbot, Devon, England
Registered: Jun 2018

posted June 08, 2018 02:29 PM

I got back into laserdiscs last year, mainly for the soundtracks. A lot of the mixes used are original theatrical mixes and sound much much better than the mixes used on DVD/Blu ray. Fed into a display with a good comb-filter they can look surprisingly good as well, even projected.
There's a very interesting project going on over at the laserdisc database:

Laserdisc software decoder

The aim is to capture the raw RF output of the laser and use software decoding to produce the 'purest' video quality possible, completely bypassing the player's processing circuitry. It's way over my head but it's fascinating stuff.

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Brian Fretwell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1785
From: London, UK
Registered: Jun 2014

posted June 09, 2018 03:48 AM

If it can remove the cross colour due to the way colour (or rather coloured B&W with colour sub-carrier) as the BBC Transform decoder worked on PAL tapes it could be a big improvement. The RF output would have those artifacts.

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