Welcome!
These pages document extensive information on the home video LaserDisc
format as originally published by Bob Niland. The decline in mainstream use and appreciation
of the technology makes reproduction and preservation of this material
that much more important.
Due to my long and ongoing fascination and interest in the
feature film industry, over time I have come to learn that the LaserDisc
home video presentation is more closely related to film than all other
forms. This relationship saw its peak in the mid 1990s and has
unfortunately dropped off as more user-friendly, affordable,
and widely available formats have arrived for consumers (I will refrain from raving of my disdain for disruptive technologies).
Click
the 
on any page to return to this index.
-
That is one big disc! -
Information
and educational materials on the Internet have declined dramatically,
and because of this I felt it necessary to amass as much information and
technical material as is possible in order to carry the history of this
great format into the future. I have written many an essay in the past
as a result of my dissatisfaction with the manner in which the DVD
(digital versatile disc) format has been brought to the masses. True,
DVD is inexpensive, compact, and provides all of the video and audio
resolution consumers desire in their homes, but the full capability of
LaserDisc was never realized because of the speed at which home video
manufacturers pushed the DVD hardware and software to the market. In
addition to this flip in technology, the smaller disc is now the medium
of choice for personal computers.
-
Joy onscreen -
So,
I have provided these pages to inform those unfamiliar with LaserDiscs
and the enjoyment they provide. Hopefully, this information
will be noticed and appreciated by many. Read on...
07/13/2012
Major
sections (each is indexed on its own page):
I) Introduction to
LaserDisc
II)
Hardware
III)
Software
IV)
Resources
V)
The LaserDisc Legacy (Dilemma)
VI)
Bibliography of LD-related Publications
VII)
A LaserDisc/Film Opinion
VIII)
LaserDisc to DVD: A Fundamental Difference
XIV)
LaserDisc Mint Marks
X) Film/video 3-2 pulldown
Full
index:
1.
Intro to LD Technology
1.1 What is LD?
1.2 What are the advantages/disadvantages of the laserdisc format?
2. Advantages
2.1 Is it true laserdiscs will outlive me?
2.2 Is the picture really better than my VCR?
2.3 What about the sound quality?
2.3.1 Analog channels
2.3.2 Uncompressed digital channels, or PCM channels
2.3.3 Dolby Digital a.k.a. AC-3, or compressed digital channels
2.3.4 DTS
2.4 What cool features can I expect out of laserdisc players?
2.5 Can I play CDs on a laserdisc player?
3.
Disadvantages
3.1 Can I record onto a laserdisc?
3.2 Do LD players cost more than my VCR?
3.3 Can I rent laserdiscs?
3.4 I've never seen a copy of my favorite movie on laserdisc but it's
been out on VHS tape for years. Why?
3.5 How come when I watch a laserdisc, I have to flip the disc over?
4.
Other differences between laserdisc and VHS
4.1 What are those black bars at the top and bottom of my screen?
4.2 How big must my TV set be in order to truly appreciate LD quality?
4.3 Why do laserdiscs cost so much?
4.4 Sometimes I'll hear about a laserdisc about to be released and
it's forever before it hits the stores. What gives?
5.
Defining the medium
5.1 What parties are involved in bringing a movie to laserdisc?
5.1.1 The studio
5.1.2 The label
5.1.3 The masterer
5.1.4 The manufacturer
5.1.5 The distributor
5.1.6 The retailer
5.2 So laserdiscs are just like big CDs with movies on them, right?
5.3 What's all this talk about NTSC, PAL and SECAM?
5.3.1 NTSC
5.3.2 PAL
5.4 What is "CX noise reduction"?
5.5 What does CLV and CAV mean?
5.6 What is CAA then?
5.7 What is the qualitative difference between CAV and CLV?
5.8 What is the difference between Dolby Surround, Pro-Logic, Dolby
Digital, AC-3, DTS and THX?
5.9 What is an anamorphic, or 16:9 transfer?
6.
Rivals of laserdisc
6.1 VHS
6.2 CD-I and VideoCD: The digital 5" CD-ROM -like laserdiscs
6.3 DVD: The new digital 5" laserdisc
top
II)
Hardware
7. Buying a laserdisc
player
7.1 What features should I look for when buying an LD player?
7.2 What are all the different outputs on the back of an LD player?
7.3 How are Karaoke players different than regular LD players?
7.4 Which LD player should I buy?
8.
Tech tweaking
8.1 What are comb filters? Why do I need one?
8.2 Does S-video output improve the picture quality?
8.3 What is "LD101: A Video Standard"?
8.4 What are THX laserdiscs? Do I need new hardware to play them?
8.5 What is the THX - WOW disc?
9.
Can I modify my player to get these features?
9.1 Dolby Digital RF output
9.1.1 How to add Dolby Digital yourself
9.1.2 How to get Dolby Digital added commercially
9.2 True NTSC output for Pioneer CLD-1450
10.
Care and maintenance of laserdiscs
10.1 What is the absolutely best way to preserve my laserdiscs?
10.1.1 Buying a laserdisc
10.1.2 Remove the shrink wrap
10.1.3 Inspect and sample
10.1.4 Upgrade the inner sleeves
10.1.5 Disc insertion
10.1.6 Outer sleeve
10.1.7 Store the disc properly
10.1.8 Playing the disc
11.
Common LD Complaints
11.1 Can you explain some common defects?
11.1.1 Crosstalk
11.1.2 Dropouts
11.1.3 Laser lock
11.1.4 Lines
11.1.5 Scratches
11.1.6 Seek fail
11.1.7 Skipping
11.1.8 Smearing of colors
11.1.9 Smudges
11.1.10 Spotting
11.1.11 Time compression
11.1.12 Vertical interval defects
11.1.13 Vertical interval errors
11.1.14 Video noise, lines (usually white)
11.1.15 Video noise, snow
11.1.16 Video noise, streaking
11.1.17 Warping
11.2 What is "laser rot"?
11.2.1 OK, so what is laser rot?
11.2.2 How does rot occur?
11.2.3 What titles are known to rot often?
11.3 Some opening/end titles were chopped while watching a movie.
Why?
11.4 Aliasing, or why are all horizontal lines flickering like hell?
12.
What is the pin ordering of this connector?
12.1 Scart
12.2 S-Video (also sometimes called Y/C or S-VHS)
top
III)
Software
13. Buying laserdiscs
13.1 What is the Criterion Collection?
13.2 What are cutouts and are they OK to buy?
13.3 I've bought used VHS tapes that are bad. Are used
laserdiscs worth the money?
13.4 I'm in Canada. Are there any problems in using UPS?
13.5 What is the 1-800 number for the Columbia House club?
14.
Aspect ratios and letterboxing
14.1 Can you go over widescreen, letterbox, etc. one more time?
14.2 What are some of the terms I need to know when studying aspect
ratios?
14.3 What are some of the popular widescreen film formats?
14.4) I heard that if a film is shot "flat" then you
actually lose screen information when it is letterboxed. Is this true?
15.
Lists
15.1 Popular titles never released on LD in USA
15.2 Popular titles now out of print on LD in USA
15.3 Popular titles not released in letterbox format yet in USA
15.4 What animated Disney movies are available?
16.
Specific titles
16.1 Explanations of different versions
16.1.1 Blade Runner
16.1.2 Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb
16.1.3 Lawrence of Arabia
16.1.4 The Terminator
16.1.5 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
16.1.6 Bram Stoker's Dracula
16.1.7 2001 - A Space Odyssey
16.1.8 Star Trek movies
16.1.9 Babylon 5
16.1.10 Roger Rabbit discs
IV)
Resources
17. Resources
(obsolete)
17.1 What are some places to
mail-order laserdiscs from?
17.1.1 New discs
17.1.2 Used Discs
17.2 Are there any good laserdisc magazines I can subscribe to?
17.3 Is there a guide to Bob Niland's articles?
17.4 What good WWW-pages are there for people interested in LDs?
17.5 What are some other Internet resources for LD info?
18.
People You Might Want to Avoid
18.1 Scam Artists
18.2 Flamethrowers
V)
The LaserDisc Legacy (Dilemma)
VI)
Bibliography of LD-related Publications
VII)
A LaserDisc/Film Opinion
VIII)
LaserDisc to DVD: A Fundamental Difference
IX)
LaserDisc Mint Marks
X) Film/video 3-2 pulldown
legal
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