Does anyone feel like anime or tv shows have better reasons to be purchased on DVD as opposed to LD? When I first started anime I strictly went DVD since VHS was a rip off because of not having as many episodes for almost the same price. I only did VHS mainly after a fire sale at Rightstuf.com and also got there last copy of Golden Boy LD (my first and sealed/new LD) which unfortunately I got rid of during a recent move...Anyway I go LD for a few things and sometimes its cheaper to have a set of discs for a show than DVD or now BD.

So I guess do anyone get it because its cheaper sometimes while still having a better quality than VHS and some early DVDs?

Thank Pioneer for saving the format post DiscoVision, and Image Entertainment for releasing so much on the format. Image starting off as a company releasing p0rn on LaserDisc (and they released ALOT), but they also released everything they could license from smaller non-studio affliated labels. They averaged 100 LaserDisc releases per month, which is why they relied on so many manufacturers. After they tried 3M, they relied on them heavily, but had to use Pioneer and Technidisc for their p0rn titles, as 3M refused to make adult titles.

STAY AWESOME!

The reason I collect LaserDiscs for the later releases is that you feel like you have something rather than a miniscule DVD or Blu-ray. However I collect early releases for a totally different reason. I like how most early releases were sourced from 16mm. I like the scratches and splices that are on 16mm films. Today's movies are too perfect and have no strange anomlies. I think that sometimes this adds to the feel of the film. e.g. Psycho on Discovision. So why don't I buy the 16mm copies then? Well, it's simple. They can cost sometimes 100 times the prices of a copy on Discovision. for example I recently saw a good copy of King Kong on 16mm go for about $300, money that I don't have. So I made the choice to jump in to the world of Discovision and although there are some things I don't like about Discovision, (Laserrot and Laserlock) I still enjoy collecting them.

I've been getting alot of emails lately from Sinister Cinema. They are selling alot of the 16mm and 35mm prints at heavily discounted prices, if you're interested go to their site.

http://www.sinistercinema.com/

If you want to collect titles on a format with alot of clitches, try CED.

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Sadly, there's a problem with me a CED discs. Firstly is getting a player. Not so easy in Australia. Importing postage can cost twice or three times the price of the machine I buy.
Secondly, the fact that every time you view the discs you are slighly wearing it away. And also it's more like skipping not the spliceiness and cue marks that I enjoy seeing.
Thirdly, not as wider libary as LD and most are more expensive then their LD counter-parts. (shipping is the big thing here)

Oh forgot to mention. I don't really like the fiddling to spool the film and the worries about sellers who sell film that has degraded and devloped vinegar syndrome but with LaserDisc simply just pop the disc in the machine and off we go! (unless it has severe Laserrot)
Also with 16mm, you got to be careful about breakages and splicing and you need a lot of equipment to run 16mm. And noisy. Well, they wern't built for home use.
But thanks for suggesting, I'll certainly have a look.

Plus, if you think laserdiscs take up space, try collecting 16mm.

True, but for me I was attracted to LaserDisc because of it's size. DVD's look tiny now.

Well, the degree to which the stylus wears away the signal on a CED is comparable to the degree to which projection fades a film print. Unless you're playing your favourite film every week, it's not going to be a very big deal.

I'm not interested in CED, which seems to me an unnecessary format, but its disadvantages can be exaggerated.

After having read through all the above thread I really feel excited that there are so many people love this format like or more than me. I just want put in my story for enjoyment sharing.
When I was 17 years old my father bought a Pioneer all-in-one gear at the cost my mother did not dare to know. That is the first time I got to know laserdisc. But the price of a single title was equal to 3 times of my father's monthly income. Hoho, the shiny disc was just like something on the moon at that time.
It was until 3 years later that we bought the first title as a birthday gift when I turned 20!
I really love the packaging, that is sort of genuine "art"work which can fascinate you deeply even that is a poor title.
From that moment on I made my mind to collect whatever I am interested at whatever cost and I am doing so currently. Toy Story alone, for instance, have been watched by my whole family (grandpartents, wife and my 3-year-old son) for at least 4 times during the past 6 months and my little one already started to know how to pull the disc out!!
I do not exclude any samller disc format at all. However, I just found those things are for public consumer maket but not for true video/film lovers like us.
Last but most important, laserdisc gives us the best analog video quality to emulate a film at home whereas all digital stuff puts us in the situation where only limited imagination is allowed!!

analog FTW

they released alot of titles but each one had a limited pressing, which seams pretty silly, if they went to the trouble of making an LD pressing, they might as well have made alot of them

Problem is, if they didn't sell a million copies, Laserdiscs don't fit nicely into a bargain bin like unsold DVDs do these days.

Plus, that's a lot of acrylic to go to waste!

Wow I ask myself this question all the time. I often wonder "why on earth am I buying films on such an old and obsolete format?" (usually after my girlfriend asks!). Then I remember why -

1) I find them facinating. It's amazing how old, yet how advanced this technology is. From chapers, Dolby Digital and DTS sound to HDLD, uncompressed PCM and Squeeze; Laserdiscs were at the forefront of home video technology for years and most of their achievements are used every day on DVD/Blu Ray and some of them have yet to be improved!
2) They sound amazing!
3) They are niche and different; I don't know anybody who owns them and they are a constant sorce of intregue.
4) The analogue picture looks warm and inviting
5) It's so much fun hunting for discs. With dvd, you can easily get any film you want. With LD it takes a bit more effort. I love disc hunting in Hong Kong, trying to find random cool movies to buy. Sure, I could buy Bride of Chucky on dvd and I wouldn't care less, but I was over the moon to find it the other day on LD for $1.

As I read your post it hit me. The thing I miss most about collecting in the digital age is the hunt. Everything seems so available now and so, less important. I've hunted a long time for titles I really wanted to see that I could have easily downloaded or rented on dvd but it wouldn't feel the same. I truly love film but there is some added magic in watching a good movie (or even a bad one) that I have hunted for months for and finally found. Thanks for that reminder.

VHD might be a good format to try. I'm currently paying for a VHD player from someone in Japan (the only country it was released in). It was well supported, and shipping from Japan to Australia shouldn't be as much of a problem as shipping a CED player from the U.S.

STAY AWESOME!

sorry for bumping an old topic but I feel like you guys would like this video and he discusses exactly what some of you are talking about-

http://www.youtube.com/user/Zaranyzerak ... eLVQSFyzd0

bump away I like the jackets. Something DVDs cant replicate. Same thing I feel for albums over Cds. Each format has their place in my house. I just enjoy different things in different manners.

I became aware of the Laserdisc about 30 years ago which at the time was very advanced for it's time especially considering the original orange laser was very close to the red laser that's being used to read DVDs today (680nm laserdisc/650nm DVD). Also VHS tapes took up more room than Laserdiscs since I once found I could store 26 Laserdiscs in the same space that would be occupied by at most 18 VHS tapes. Further the covers were more elaborate especially the Criterion CAV discs such as The Rock & MGM's Deluxe CAV Editions of Goldfinger & Thunderball, in addition the outer sleeves included a chapter index if the discs had chapters though many examples from Paramount & MGM didn't have chapters. Also I've noticed some DVDs such as the black & white episodes of The Saint exhibits macroblocking though that maybe the MPEG-2 encoder being unable to handle the full information of the 35mm film prints. The only issue of the day was the system differences between the USA & the UK since we adopted PAL in 1966 & 625 in c.1962 for the launch of BBC2 & to prepare for the advent of colour with the experimental NTSC 625 broadcasts. Today NTSC compatibility is something we take for granted but 20 years ago I had to look for a dual standard television by reading the tech specs for those made by Sony, JVC, & Toshiba though NTSC compatibility was mostly found on their high end models but with DVD to play NTSC discs the DVD player has to be modified due to regional coding. 13 years ago DVDs were unwatchable on projection systems due to the macrovision interfering with the circuits of the video projectors so a modification was needed to turn off the macrovision. So there's plenty of reasons plus a lot of Laserdisc releases being canceled or movie series being incomplete on Laserdisc i.e. James and & Star Trek to dislike DVD & continue to love the Laserdisc.