Small update, but I've confirmed with someone who used to use these back in the 90's, and the "test" screen does confirm that they are blank. I feel like I'm getting a bit deeper into this rabbit hole than I had originally planned.
Here's a transcription of the conversation we had, and some more information.
Hey, haven't seen one of these in a while. Here's what I know!
In the 1990's, my father ran a video production business that specialized in weddings and trials, most of which wanted VHS copies of their stuff. A few did want Laserdisc, so he'd farm that out to this same company, "Laser Disc Recording Center" in Cambridge Massachusetts. The discs were all made by the "Optical Disc Corporation" out of Santa Fe Springs California. I was a kid at the time, but I'd estimate 100 or so of these discs passed through there. Both businesses folded sometime after the new millennium- my father's last filled recordable laser disc order was in 2003. If there had been a "prosumer" Laser Disc recorder available, I'm sure my father would have bought it, so I rather doubt there were any out there. He did say/brag that 'they' (the people who recorded the laserdiscs) were using the same system he was for S/VHS, the Amiga 4000T with NewTek's video toaster 4000- which was one of the top-of-the-line ways to handle analog video back in the day, so I wouldn't doubt it. The equipment these guys were using is still out there, somewhere, and it would be a great boost to the Laserdisc community/fandom if there were some way to get our hands on them as a service again. But short of getting the specialized equipment, or a time machine back to the 1990's, I don't know if there is a way to take those rare disks and make them into the most valuable treasure on earth. The Star Wars Holiday Special on Laserdisc... that would be beyond incredible.
Interestingly, some of the "single" sided disks have a silver "dimpled" pattern on the "blank" side. This leads me to believe that whatever media they're using to record on (the ruby stuff) is the most expensive component of making these recordable disks. I've no proof of that, but I can't think of why they'd leave a side basically blank like this.
Pictures:
Case:
Disk (side A):
Disk (side B):
I'll keep my eyes open, and do some sleuthing. If I ever can get my hands on the means to record one of these things, you'll be the first to know.
I followed up by asking if he knew how to tell if the discs were blank, or of they could have multiple writes.
I'm not really sure about rewriting them- the process by which these were made suggests that there might have been a way to erase a disk to then write a fresh analog signal, but I have no idea what sort of equipment you might need to achieve that, or what the results might be. Again, I'm not entirely sure on that one.
As for "are they actually blank" I took your pictures and showed them to my father. He said that that's the "blank" signal from ODC to verify the disk is good, and ready to be recorded to. You, my lucky friend, likely have some of the last blank RLV disks out there!
A bit more info he provided; the service Laser Disc Recording Center provided (he called it 'mastering' but I'm not sure that that's the right term) cost about $100 per disk, going all the way back to the mid 1990's. He said the only people that wanted Laserdiscs made were attorneys and insurance companies involved in big-ticket lawsuits he was hired to film depositions for, and they gladly paid the fees for them. He said he averaged about 10 disks a year until DVD came around.
The hunt for a machine that'll make RLV's continues. Again, if I find anything, you'll be the first to know!
) than it would to build a laserdisc recording studio. Getting funding to restart laserdisc production is a dead end and a major step backwards in design. No major movie studio would want to release on it because of the analog limitation and sub-SD quality recording. And the packaging size, it's hard enough to get BD's distributed when everyone is streaming these days, let alone a bigger package. Yes, LP's have made a comeback but the recording process is much cheaper. But also look at how much they cost too. So much more packaging and artwork. A 12" digital UHD disc would be a better path forward. Laserdisc 2.0 with capacity of 1TB/side. Problem is the 5" disc has become standard since CD/DVD and they keep finding ways to improve without going larger. But in this case maybe make it larger purely for nostalgic reasons and packaging/artwork. Yeah, time for a funding campaign.