So I know Laserdisc's are cool but I have never seen a player or a actual disc in my life. I frequent thrift shops and always check the crappy VCR/CD player sections to see if one is throw in. Well... Today I hit the jackpot! It was 25% off all electronics and they had one so I snatched it up for the low cost of just 10$ Its a Pioneer CLD-M90 6 Disc CD/CDV and LD changer all in one and from what I can tell it works like new. It played all Music Cd's I put in it, even burnt ones I dont actually have any LDs yet but im super excited to get some and try it out to see what its like. I just wanted to get a feel for what movies I should get and ask how they look on modern plasma and LCD tv sets.
I really need to get a player sometime. I've been doing the same as you watching in pawn and thrift shops, but no luck so far. I need to watch Star Wars Episode IV and Grease! =P
There are a good amount of movies you can now get that aren't out on dvd.This is a good website to check out: http://www.lddb.com/
Ok so I had my dad respond to a ad in Ohio on Craigslist for some movies. How did I make out? I paid 30$ for the following complete and Limited editions 1) Star Wars 2) Star Wars Return of the Jedi 3) Alien 4) Hunt for Red October 5) Close Encounters of the thrid Kind 6) Batman All mint On a side note I need a remote control for my unit. I picked up what I throught was the correct one at the thrift store but its not. Are there universals that will work or what?
I absolutely suggest you getting the PULSE LD from pink floyd's concert. The dvd is out now, but the editing is really different and it's a pretty different experience to see it. My friend has it oh for the best quality keep your LD clean when you play them, otherwise the video quality will decrease
not neccessarily, a friend had one with RGB out. Though it suffered on the Projector due to the relatively low resolution of LDs, even with a Faroudja optimizer-thingy in between. Another Laserdisc suggestion: Jurassic Park. The soundtrack on the LD was imho far superior to the criterion collection DVD release and any other DVD version I listened to, it had loads more "oomph" than the DTS DVD track. The T-Rex stomping around never sounded so menacing Also, The Fifth Element. Again, the soundtrack is imho way better than the DVD release, and much better than the DVD re-release which, although sporting a DTS soundtrack again, had lots missing in the bass department and sounded much "tinnier".
Perhaps the Audio compression they used had something to do with that. As i'm sure the Blu-Ray releases use uncompressed audio probably sound better
it wasn't just the compression, more the mixing of the track. Certain frequencies just weren't there at all, similar to what goes on in the music cd business. Google for "loudness war", the audio gets compressed (that doesn't have something to do with compression aka MP3 or something, but rather flattening the frequency/volume curve) into a mushy, spongy sound which sounds halfway decent on cheap stereos (which wouldn't be able to reproduce p.ex. the really deep notes) but sounds tinny and weak on good ones. Since more and more people are buying loudspeakers especially for Home Theater use, and lots of these speakers tend to be on the cheap side, filmmakers are trying to cater to the broader audience and make the movies sound "good" for them, just as the cd producers are doing their thing so the latest album from Bruce Whatshisname sounds acceptable on most car stereos. Audiophiles weep in horror, but they are a minority, and then "specially refined" (=unedited) versions of the albums/movies are re-released especially for them, with a hefty price tag.
LDs are already encoded to a PAL or NTSC colour space though, i.e. a composited signal, right? I'm not sure what the point of RGB would be. I'm pretty sure most LDs used either analogue audio or uncompressed PCM, like CDs. It would've been early days for audio compression anyway, MP3 didn't come along until 1991.
LaserDisc contains a composite video signal, so it depends on the used comb filter. The S-Video connection is the composite signal that has been filtered by the comb filter, the composite connection is unfiltered probably. Try all the different connection types to see what gives the best display. I heard that the Pioneer comb filters used in their LaserDisc equipment were the best ever designed, but I don't know how well modern TV's handle those signals in comparison. I saw those Pioneer LaserDisc units that supported High Def, but the Japanese analog High Def (MUSE or something). Those units... hardware porn. :love2:
I was just looking around the web, found this absolute bargain for anybody in the US: http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260633612771&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT I would buy it myself wouldn't it be for the shipping to Holland. Somebody buy this thing if you want to start with LaserDisc.
Welcome to the club! I sometimes see a large bundle of LD movies for less than $1 a piece and I pick up the lot and just watch them over time. I'm an 80s geek so the titles are usually right up my alley. One thing you might want to check into are live concerts and music, especially the ones from Japan. They have a big selection of older music (80s rock bands, etc) that were never released outside of Japan. Back when I was big into laserdiscs I remember reading that Japan had a thing for keeping the rights to the concerts they filmed and released on LD which is why they've been so slow to be converted to DVD.
The laserdiscs I got are in Ohio with my family and I wont have them until they come up to visit me since I moved to MI with my wife So I still dont have one to test my player with right now. Im going to make a post in the WTB marketplace and see what I can find from some members here Please post there if you have any spare discs to part with for cash or trade!
