Or better yet, you could be forming an archive, which I often refer to my collection as. We're just splitting hairs here in definition. I applaud you on sharing with others. Must be tough to carry around an LD player with discs? Digitize and keeping it compact would be alot of work but much easier to carry. For myself this would never work, I'm often playing videos for dance or listening, mixing etc. Laserdisc is far to slow and cumbersome for this. For a single movie played through, yeah, it might even be fun to show off the laserdisc, but not for VJ'ing. Also getting on a plane might be tough.

Either way, we all enjoy the gift that laserdisc offers. I like posting about an alternative method to store/archive material through digital means because others here may enjoy this method and freedom it offers or we could connect on ideas to enhance this process or make it easier.

Elvis

I have to completely agree, which is why I just got into LD's. When I first started collecting movies I had about 20 VHS tapes which I gave away and replaced with DVD, back in '98 or '99. And I have to say DVD was great. But there was never really any sense of specialty or exclusivity when I bought a new release. Now I have all my movies on hard drives and play them on Plex, and all my DVD's have gone to boxes eliminating the clutter.

But recently I've longed for that nostalgic feeling when purchasing or playing or sifting through your collection. You can't do that with DVD, the cheap, mass-produced plastic covers just take away any euphoria associated with collecting. And VHS, well I don't think I even need to go there. The only thing close is Blu-ray, because of the new remasters, but very similar in packaging.

I never could have afforded Laserdiscs back then, so it's kind of cool now to finally get into it, even if it's stepping back in technology. And the other really cool thing about LD's is that you can get a near-digital or digital processed copy of the movie when it was originally released ('78-'96 releases thereabouts not counting DVD's '97 and later). There was VHS too, but really who cares. That and my favorites movies were made before 2000, so it's nice to have something in a presentable format, yet still good quality.

Laserdiscs were ahead of their time in quality. I think it was just a little early in the home video market. Blockbuster was easier and cheaper. Not everyone bought movies like today.

Plus, if you were to gift someone a Blu-ray or DVD there really isn't a WOW factor only in that you didn't have that movie before and now you do. With a Laserdisc it's just right in your face, the artwork, the plastic cover, the large silver disc with your reflection staring back at you. I mean it's like you OWN the movie. Not the movie, but THEE movie. You're the only one.

On my way to work I stopped off to collect a parcel containing some laserdiscs.....just another day in life as far as I was concerned.
During lunch several colleagues asked what I had in the parcel and I told them it was just a few laserdiscs.

laserdiscs....what's that someone said?.....You need to remember that not a single person at my place of work had ever seen a laserdisc before - so I couldn't resist and opened the parcel. The WOW factor was just so intense I couldn't believe it!! I think if I had driven to work in a McLaren it would have had less impact!

It was just a pretty average set of music laserdiscs content wise yet the reaction I got was incredible!
No other format in the world comes close.....period!

I've had that same reaction the first time I had a Laserdisc delivered to where I worked. Everyone thought it was an LP sountrack for the movie in question. When I showed them the big shiny disc contained therein, you'd think I was showing them the Hope Diamond.

Yeah! That's what I'm talking about. I'm sure there's a lot of people that don't even know what they are, shove a gatefold Jurassic Park under their nose and watch their mouths drool!

"Now children, these are ... Laserdiscs. They came before DVD's or Blu-rays." "Aaahhhh, cool! Are they 3D?" --Smack!!

Wouldn't it be awesome if some company started making them again. I'm sure they could sell 5000 copies of each new release. Probably never happen with licensing/distribution rights and costs though.

With LP records back in vogue, it is incredible that someone hasn't thought how about producing some laserdiscs?
Man those things would look fantastic in any shop front. It would really pull the crowds in!

There was a recent Rihanna release of her Loud album which came in beautiful 12" gatefold packaging - the Limited Couture edition.
I bought a copy because it reminded me so much of laserdisc.
There have actually been quite a few CD/DVD issues that came out in this style of packaging as it is just so striking and attractive.

Laserdiscs still look super cool and futuristic and with things going the way they are, where we are being forced to move away from formats, their appeal grows with every day.
In my life so far only a handful of products have inspired this level of fanaticism. The two most memorable being the first Macintosh computer I ever used and the first time I bought and watched a laserdisc!

Heh, been there, even back in the days laserdiscs were pretty obscure stuff at this corner of the world - when lining out rather small collectors' circles they weren't practically seen anywhere except in karaoke restaurants - so no wonder that when I happen to mention them even briefly to someone the most common reply is "Wha...?", and when I show people the actual things they usually end up being both fascinated and confused like hell.

i had an awesome moment at work when i first got into laserdisc, i had my whole department in awe as i explained it them lol

I'm a high school teacher and my class were studying Citizen Kane. I brought in my criterion edition on laserdisc and they were impressed. But it also confirmed for them how much of a geek I am.

It can never be geeky to spread the "Laserdisc Wisdom" =)

I have to admit, I do enjoy the "wow factor" when I show up with my gig bag & start pulling LDs out of it, or people see me carrying around a big cardboard box I got from the post office, & I cut the tape & inside are all these big exotic things.

I have to say, I have found copying LDs to a data format to be a near-total waste of time & effort. Quite apart from the inevitable quality loss, it's dependent on mechanisms which are basically undependable. I don't know how often, at the anime club, somebody's gone to open a video file & had it flake out — "but it worked fine at home!" And at the big anime convention here, I wound up pulling additional shifts (fortunately I had packed extra media) the year they tried to run things totally off a hard-drive/video-server system, because some of the files, despite having been vetted beforehand, screwed up somehow, or the servers stopped working unexpectedly, not to mention the setup problems…
With my antiquated analog physical media, all I have to do is drop the disc in & press Play.

Fantastic comments !
The WOW factor is a common occurance among the non-initiated.
I opened a fresh package of LD titles straight from Japan at the hospital were I work one night when we were slow.
Found the parcel on my porch when leaving for work and did not wish to take the time to run it into the house.
Not one person in the ER had ever even heard of what a LaserDisc is/was.
They could not believe that there is a society of fans that keep this format kicking.......
Let alone that it was the precursor for cd/dvd technology !!!
And I also refer to my "collection" as an archive or library.
It is with great pride that I show people the myriad titles and enjoy the jaw dropping that commences right until the opening credits begin sometimes to the ending ones as well. LOL
I keep smelling salts handy just in case the wafting odor of fresh popcorn does not revive properly !!!
Great Thread Here !!!

I always thought LaserDiscs were from late '80's to earlier '90's. I had no idea they started making them in '78. Truly, ahead of their time. I recently watched the Leonard Nimoy Magnavision commercial, very entertaining. I'm still in awe that they were around for twenty-two years, I maybe had only heard of them for about 3 or years back in the '90's. The fact that these things are still amazing to look at I think say something about LaserDiscs. Out of all the outdated formats, it's the best and still functional in an all-digital world.

The packaging was also topnotch, which borrows from LP's, a much older design, so it sort of carries the torch into newer generations. The cases for DVD's cost around a penny to make. They've even stopped adding the paper inside that covered the black case with chapter markers (unless some company can pay for it with advertising). The only real reason to buy movies now, is to just get the movie. There really is no joy in buying movies now. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like twenty to twenty-five years ago. Sure you spent a few more bucks per title, but I'm sure it was worth it. Which is why all my DVD's are now in boxes and I'm going to put all my newly added LD's on the shelf.

It's incredible in the differences in packaging between DVD and LD. I'd have to say my best DVD package is the Superman Collection that has the metal tin and all the movies, booklet and I had to spend about 75.00 on it. I can't really think of any others that stand out. With LD's, even a bad movie gets the EXTREME MAKEOVER. It's just sad. I want new release LD's!

There still are good quality DVD releases. The "Masters of Cinema" Collection from the UK are multi-disc releases with good commentaries and 40+ page booklets with great info on the movie. While you don't get the size of the laserdisc, you still get a great package to enjoy. Take a look at what they've done with the Fritz Lang silents.

Most of the packaging on blu ray and dvd is very poor. Some new stuff is being released with statues, masks etc. I don't find that to be a substitute for what laserdisc offered. Large text on the jacket, informative back stories, descriptive chapter markings, an occasional booklet, large interesting photos and gate-folds are all part of the laserdisc experience. A cheap snap open plastic case with thumbnail pictures just doesn't do it for me.

With the release of King Kong on blu ray I can at least say they tried. A sturdy booklet with some nice writings and photos was good but only made me pine for what once was. Some blu rays really are mind blowing. However, I need to refer back to a film presentation (laserdisc) to take in the full cinematic feel.

I had Dee Wallace sign the last disc of the big special edition LD box set of "ET" and when she saw it she said "Is this a LaserDisc? I've never seen one in real life, but I know that Steve (Spielberg) has a huge collection of them." And when Gregory Peck signed my open top DiscoVision box of "To Kill A Mocking Bird" he said "Here's one of those things I don't get a damn penny in royalties for!"

Sean Young signed the first side of the "Directors Cut" of my "Blade Runner" LD, but she wasn't happy about doing it - she said that no one ever asks her to sign a disc or tape of "Baby: Secret Of The Lost Legend" - Now that I own that title on BD though, I'd ask her to sign it!

I get that all the time when I have my LDs signed by celebrities. I actually had a short conversation with George A. Romero about Laserdiscs when I had him sign my Elite Dawn of the Dead Box Set. The biggest reactions from celebs were from Malcolm McDowall when I handed him a Japanese LD of Get Crazy (probably because he'd rather forget that movie as much as the format it was on) or when I handed Dario Argento the Japanese box set of Suspiria--he didn't know what it was!

As far as Sean Young, I'd probably have her sign a copy of No Way Out or A Kiss Before Dying . . . as well as Blade Runner!

No Way Out was the movie I was projecting for her and the Kansas City film-fan club that gave her some kind of silly award. I was an IMAX/35mm projectionist at the time. Sean Young looked terrible, in a ratty trench coat and her hair pulled back badly in a clppy, and she had mascara flakes on her cheeks. I was VERY shocked at how short and "small" she is... She was even wearing heels.
Now Dee Wallace was a total class act... When I approached her to sign my LD, she recognized me, saying she saw me up in the projection booth and that my presentation of ET was excellent. We even chatted about her husband and she said she lit up talking about him... She said most people don't bring him up as a subject for fear it will upset her. A true Lady she is.

Love the artwork, gatefolds, etc. In terms of playback, I love that it starts right up without having to navigate a menu. Also, no previews of 5 other movies to skip over before watching the movie.

I've been watching DVDs of shows like The Saint in black & white & Star Trek Deep Space Nine Season 7. In the case of DS9 the pictures are very grainy possibly video grain from the upconversion from 625 lines to 1080 lines in addition to the film grain which on it's own would make the film prints better to watch since the images would have more detail despite the series post production using 525 line D1 video tape. It's quite clear the first 3 seasons at least were mastered using D2 due to the dot crawl & colour strobing which are inherent in composite video in addition to traces of the original scan lines that makes up the NTSC picture so for those episodes the Laserdiscs would be the best format to watch those episodes. For both Season 7 of DS9 & the black & white series of The Saint on DVD I've noticed some macro blacking in the picture but that's mostly located in the background presumably since the raw 35mm film of The Saint contains more information than the MPEG2 encoder can handle. If these shows are ever to be released on Blu-ray they'll look much better than the DVD equivalent. I've kept all the films I've bought on Laserdisc though i did consider buying The Ultimate Collection of James Bond on DVD but reconsidered due to the advent of Blu-ray. When I watch Thunderball or The Rock I find the Laserdisc copies to be very striking since they're multidisc sets with 4-5 discs in a box while the original special edition DVD version of Thunderball was convenient being on 1 disc only if i remember correctly the pictures will no doubt be pixellated due to the high levels of compression so the Laserdiscs in that regard are better.