Pioneer finally pulls plug on LaserDisc

Randomus 2009-01-15 13:31:52 UTC #1

I just posted the article Pioneer finally pulls plug on LaserDisc.

RIP LaserDisc
Pioneer is set to officially end the production of LaserDisc players at the end of March, with 3,000 more LaserDisc units still in production.
"In 1980, Pioneer introduced...

Read the full article here:  [http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15421-Pioneer-finally-pulls-plug-on-LaserDisc.html](http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15421-Pioneer-finally-pulls-plug-on-LaserDisc.html)

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guest 2009-01-16 10:43:20 UTC #2

Myth about laserdiscs #236: Video quality is worse than DVD

Actually, DVD resolution is irrelevant in this conversation because Laserdisc video is uncompressed. Hence, the larger disc size. So as long as the source was a clean master, DVD video files are always going to be lossy.

guest 2009-01-16 17:03:07 UTC #3

Laser disk died the day DVD was released.

guest 2009-01-17 05:00:59 UTC #4

get real old3eyes my laserdisc dvl 919e is the best fucking thing its high end sucker

guest 2009-01-17 11:01:42 UTC #5

Jebus Phil,…it’s analog,…of course it’s uncompressed,but you fail to mention that it’s not even as good as SVHS tape…where they seperated chroma and lumi.

Laserdiscs were just niche market for the “letterbox” folk,…I was one,…but there was stupidity at best…take a full 425 line format,then…showing a 2:35 film…you get about 200 lines of res…lol.

Now an anamorphic laserdisc (which they had in Japan),were super sweet,but who had anything to unsqueeze?

DukeNukem 2009-01-17 18:45:10 UTC #6

Wow, I’m in a state of shock. I had no idea they were still making players. In a related note, I was in a store on Yonge Street (Toronto) last week and the guy was selling new HD DVDs for $5 each. God, how I wish Toshiba had the balls to tough it out. I think they would have made a comeback. Excuse me, I have to go. I have something in my eye. Sniff…

dentman42 2009-01-19 11:24:23 UTC #7

Actually, LaserDisc was superior in quality to VHS. Some players did have S-Video outs as well, and a properly made disc didn’t degrade like SVHS. (It wasn’t a better picture than ED-Beta, but the best discs were equal in quality).

Also, Pioneer introduced their first industrial players no later than 1979.

It wasn’t just a format for letterbox (there are a LOT of P&S discs out there), it was a format for videophiles. There’s a lot more players and discs out there than most people think, but anyone I knew with a home theatre setup (or even a big screen TV) in the 80’s up to the late 90’s had a LaserDisc player.

Take a look at MAME. The goal there is complete accuracy. In implementing LaserDisc games, they judged MPEG-2 (which DVD uses) to be insufficient for preserving the quality of the discs used in the games.

technidisc 2009-01-22 13:51:29 UTC #8

I still have my Laserdisc player that is used from time to time. I do miss the that format

guest 2009-02-19 14:33:59 UTC #9

I bought into laserdisc when it first came out because VHS and SVHs sucked when played side by side. but all you heard from folks in the stores was " you can’t record on it" Well you couldn’t when DvDs first came out BUT everyone bought into that one! And now DvDs have gone back to AC-3 wonder why ? better sound. I still play my laserdisc’s and am looking at the new player.