Having read through many treads, I feel all of us would be trilled if LD production would restart, but is this realistic, since ...

1) machines to reproduce LDs do they still exist? stored in a warehouse? or destroyed?
2) mastering & creation of stamper still possible?
3) LD plastics still available?
4) quantities of LDs to be manufactured has be be economical viable.
5) who is willing to (still) invest in this, if technically and practially we could restart?

All of us are "die-hards", but are we (still) willing to buy LDs? at what price? and which titles? copyright?

My 2 cents (of the dream):

- if there is still a company that has the production facility in place, it is just a financing issue, we need a 100% pre-financed project per LD title (but there is none, so not an option ... )
- if there is no longer a production facility in place, it will remain a dream as our community is too small to re-build producion and to re-start production in sufficient quanties to be economical.

So I can only conclude it is a nice dream, that will never ever turn into reality.... let's enjoy the more than 50K discs that exist

Really would like your side of this dream

Hello edwin240170,

I enjoyed reading your post,

There was a similar discussion on another av forum of which was very interesting to say the least.

This is what knowledge came out;
Before DVD came on to the world scene Pioneer were working on a single sided Polycarbonate 12'' hidef disc, of which would have really been something and would have address the Laserdisc Rot issue.

Most die-hard Laserdisc colectors ect, who were watching things progress knew that Pioneer were working on something greater than the MUSE format.

Who knows eh................

To be honest I would be willing to pay for such a format ''come to think of it'' I am still paying high prices for some rare LD's and have some reserved at present . . . . . .I am so looking forward to finally receiving them when Paid for.

P.S. So my answer is if the format returnes then i'm in for sure

We can probably distinguish three levels of difficulty.

The first level is the CD-V Single or VSD, which can be produced on ordinary CD pressing equipment. It requires only modifications to the mastering plant, ones which could probably be accommodated by most facilities.

The second is the 20 cm LD. Apparently these were the last LDs being pressed, by a Japanese firm called Memory-Tech, so the equipment is most likely to survive. As regards the thin LD-Single, at least, it is more likely that CD or DVD production equipment could be adapted to the purpose. (I, of course, would be interested in the potential of 20 cm MUSE discs, although these have to be double-sided because the optical properties of polycarbonate are not suitable.)

The most difficult is the standard 30 cm disc. Since the equipment for this is so much larger than that for the optical discs currently on the market, it is most likely to have been scrapped rather than modified or kept in storage.

Dream or Reality...

Dream

Julien

Where there is a will there is a way. If flares could make a comeback so can laserdisc!

Cash is king in this business and money talks! That dream could easily become a reality if it can be translated into profit.
Also Pioneer cannot stop anyone who previously was licenced to produce LDs from resuming production.
Nobody wants to setup business and go bankrupt. The skill is only producing discs to order with guaranteed sales paid for up front.
Keep quantities produced small with every single disc counting - warehouses filled with junk titles that nobody wants is a thing of the past.
Keep prices high to help justify production costs - this is a niche format so anyone who is serious about wanting new releases on laserdisc
should be serious about having to pay a premium for them. If not then this will never work.

DREAM! It'll never happen because there isn't a demand for it, outside of a few diehard fans. Especially since one can get a Blu-ray disc cheaper, with a higher resolution, and it takes up less shelf space. I think the future of home video will probably be digital downloads. That doesn't really excite me (I like having a hard copy), but it seems like it will be too convenient for most consumers to pass up.

Never going to happen. The boat has left the dock ... the cowboy rode off into the sunset ... the fat lady has sung!
"Hasta la vista, baby".

It will happen but not anytime soon. I wrote about this in another thread. We are living in a digitally saturated climate and analog (as far a video) is far from the forefront. However, time will tick by no matter how much we kick and scream. Analog will always be with us as you see in the desire for vinyl again. I would say in 10 to 15 years there will be a desire for an alternative to digital viewing. It may start with a new laserdisc pressing, probably- analog HD. There will be switches to convert from analog to digital on one unit as those players soon follow the pressings. It's all about our current state of mind. Fast, mega-pixeled and hardly tangable is now the name of the game. The desire to appreciate film in it's natural state (or a variation) will resurface. How about playing your old laserdisc copy of Goldfinger on your new 2024 model laserdisc player. Hang onto your laserdiscs!!

I seriously doubt it.

Besides, the VCD, DVD, HD DVD and BR DVD are all merely updated variations of the laserdisc progressed.

Considering we're now living in the HD era it's improbable the Laserdisc in it's original format will be revived. Considering Japan had the HD Laserdisc 20 years ago with compromises built into it due to the laser optics available then it's more than likely we'll see an XD Laserdisc replace Blu-ray since SD Laserdisc is unsuitable for modern TVs due to the discs being encoded with interlaced video which modern TVs can't display also multichannel surround would have to be standardised from the outset to avoid the duplication of titles due to the lack of standardisation 15 years ago. Further since 720 supports 25fps films shot at 24fps would need to be subject to a 4% pulldown effect which should mean a fifth video frame being a repetition of the fourth film frame since i once read in the Sony catalogue their BRAVIA TVs employing a 5:4 pulldown effect which should mean less judder than we'd see on XD Laserdiscs coded at 720/30fps & the playback time would be identical to PAL Laserdiscs which were approximately 75 minutes per side for CLV.

Question - Would a full size 12 inch LD work if the plastic layer was thinner? Like CD/DVD thickness on each side? Or does it need to be as thick as it is? I know some of the 8 inch discs are very thin because they are one sided, but would it work with 12 inch discs? If so, wouldn't it be easier to conceive possibly pressing new discs, at least on the plastic side of things, than having to worry about bringing back an old practice?

never happen.
i hate to say it, i love it but it is dead.

IF this format every makes a comback i would never pay for it.
back in the day the CAV box of alien was $100.00
now you would pay 154.00 for that same set.

if there are any plants who can do it i think the cost of a set like Alien would be around 200+
due to the fact that it would be such a limited market, and cost of getting the license.

the only thing that would give the dead LD any life would be to get a company to start making players with modern HDMI connections or such so that the discs would look there best on TVs of now that will never go away.

but again i would never pay for such a player due to cost again.

Starting from scratch is probably cheaper than reviving old equipment and plastic. Also remember later pioneer players were cheaper to built and cheaper to sell due to more digital electronics used inside vs. High quality analog desings.
Todays ld replicator would be %99 digital electronics purchased from far east electronics manufacturers and the final one bit printing bits and lands on plastic discs. Most probably %100 sw operated and processed. 1/4 of the size and weight of the old ones.
If they make new players, they would be 7-8lbs total. Small digital servo motor and a red laser fee d into a 4 by 4" mediatek power board all compansations and loss covered via sw digitaly and outputted via hdmi in 1080p

There is a Honda commercial in Southern California where the guys meet in an old laserdisc pressing factory to hash out their Honda deals. If we could find this pressing plant we could start up on our own. Anyone know a Honda salesman in So Cal we could kidnap and get the info out of?

Highly doubtful we'll see a comeback unless we somehow advance to be able to personally generate custom electronics using 3D printing or something in the distant future.

On the other hand, if someone took the time to figure out how to use a laser to play a tree, I guess anything is possible.

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-p ... rings.html

The problem is finding someone who knows how to master it.
Also, you would need to have content you have the rights to.

well, who is going to start contacting them??
here is a list http://www.vdbs.com/vds/rlv.html

one of these has to have some equipment around or know who has it now.

if this disc is a bootleg it was done in small amounts from korea, that is where the seller was who had them when first listed on the bay around 2004 or 2005
The Beatles: The Ultimate Tour Live Collection - Tour Years 1964-1966 *BOOTLEG* [TMQ-LD-0628]

but you will still need rights and a good source material or you might as well just make dollar store DVDs on LD

It says "Updated August 10, 1999 Many entries probably out of date." I wonder if they're still around...

well, try try try, it's better to try something than talk and do nothing at all

i dont think pioneer or any other company is going to bring back laserdisc when 90% of the population doesn't even know what it is