Hi.

first of all, I've been a member of LDDB for quite some time, but I have never posted anything before. I'm not asking for “newbie protection”, but I do ask for a bit of understanding.

What this is about

I want to bring new LaserDiscs to the market.
This is not just an idea or a vague dream. I have been able to convince Sonopress to support this project. They are willing to manufacture new LaserDiscs if I can supply a glass master. Sonopress has the experience, infrastructure, and historical know-how to actually do this. This maybe the last realistic opportunity to produce new LaserDiscs. If we let this opportunity slip, it may be gone forever.

Current status: what already exists

Glass master basics are solved.

• A supplier for the custom glass has been secured.
• The photosensitive coating is also solved; I currently have two viable coating options.

This means: the physical glass master itself is no longer the main problem.

What is missing

What is missing are the premastering hardware and the LBR. With Sonopress' help, we contacted former LaserDisc manufacturers in Japan to ask whether any of this equipment might still exist. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I also contacted museums in Europe, as well as companies such as Kenwood, Rohde & Schwarz, and Pioneer, but either received no response or no positive feedback.
At this point, I have to assume that this hardware is effectively gone.

Parallel technical work

In parallel to searching for hardware, I started working on the signal side. I began generating an NTSC LaserDisc RF signal using GNURadio. As a source, I used an NTSC generator, fed it into GNURadio, modulated it, and verified the result using ld-decode from the Doomsday Project. The quality is not great yet, but it proves that this approach is viable. However, so far I have not been able to test this with real hardware, such as an actual LD RF demodulator.

Financing

The whole project is paid by me.

That includes:

• Glass master production
• Coating
• Any premastering or LBR hardware, should we find it
• Actual disc production

I do not have a company to bill these costs to, and I am not wealthy. All expenses are paid privately.

My goal

My goal is to release selected movies on LaserDisc, in small amounts, with high-quality sleeves. Made for enthusiasts and collectors. This is not a project to make money.

Why I am asking for help now

I need help to realize this project. I am reaching the absolute limits of what I can do on my own. I have taken this as far as I possibly can, technically and personally. I have invested countless hours and a huge amount of energy because I truly believe that LaserDisc deserves more than to become just a forgotten format in museums and collections.

This is a call to everyone who still cares about LaserDisc.

What kind of help is needed

Specifically:

• Help from people who can actively search for premastering hardware and LBRs (museums, former industry contacts, broadcasters, surplus dealers, archives, etc.)
• Help with the development of hardware and/or software to generate and test a LD RF signal. This does not have to be GNURadio based. If someone can build this using analog hardware: even better.

One important limitation

I cannot pay anyone for their help. This is also the reason why I waited so long before asking. It is uncomfortable to ask for support at this level without being able to compensate people financially.

One important promise

All knowledge, software, and hardware developed or collected as part of this project will be published in the end.

Transparency

For transparency, I would like to mention that I already posted about this project on Reddit a few months ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LaserDisc/comments/1iurrpl/laserdisc_production_this_next_year/

Update 2026-06-16

• I was able to successfully modulate an analog audio signal (left and right channel) onto the LaserDisc RF signal and demodulate it using a LaserDisc player. I also made a short video demonstrating this: https://youtu.be/JL2vJfprfGU.
• The next test will be with a NTSC player. Many thanks to acp3d for making this possible.
• Many thanks also to the Reddit User Patrick. He is helping me find a company that can perform the glass master coating process under vacuum. In the course of this effort, it has also become clear that EC Europe Coating GmbH is not capable of providing this service.
• Following the successful RF signal tests, Sonopress is currently looking into ways of modifying an old LBR so that it can process analog signals.

Update: 16.04.2026

As mentioned, we now have a glass master (thanks again to acp3d) that has been checked by Sonopress. We are currently looking for a company in Germany that can coat this glass master with copper under vacuum. Right now, I had no time for this research.

I have successfully tested my LaserDisc RF signal generated with GNURadio using a real LaserDisc player. Here is a video of it (in German, sorry): https://youtu.be/P3-uwVbLvug

So far, I’ve only had access to an old PAL player, which doesn’t match my NTSC source. I would like to repeat the same test with an NTSC player. If anyone has an NTSC player from the early 1980s, I would greatly appreciate a donation. The electronic (PCB's) must be functional, but the mechanics and the laser itself can be defective.

Update: 14.03.2026

I've got some color. https://github.com/andreaspeters/gnuradio-laserdisc

Update: 28.02.2026
As I promised, here comes the gnuradio companion with screenshots: https://github.com/andreaspeters/gnuradio-laserdisc

The screenshots show three test signals from my NTSC generator, "captured" via GNURadio Companion, demodulated, and displayed using the TBC tools.

As I already mentioned, the quality isn't good. Unfortunately, so far I've only managed it in monochrome. But I think it shows that the approach isn't entirely wrong. It's probably just a matter of missing knowledge about GNURadio on my part.

I don't like sh*tting on anyone's dreams and ambitions, but what your undertaking will cost a massive amount of money. Someone else had an idea like this and one of the members pointed out that in order to press LD's, you need an actual clean room. A clean room like you see what Intel/AMD uses to make their chips/wafers. A clean room will require a massive amount of investment...massive. Six to Seven digits.

I hope you succeed but the cost and barriers seem astronomical.

Sonopress is a German company that replicates DVDs, Blu-ray, and formerly... Laserdisc! I think this user may have solved that part of the equation.

Yeah, you don’t need a clean room. You just use someone else’s.

The financial outlay for this will be considerable. Even with a partner setting up to press 12” discs, gluing them, etc is an enterprise of its own. Sonopress will want money well beyond what they charge for 5” discs.

He thinks he lacks only the signal generation aspect but in reality once that’s done there will be a prototype process that will be expensive and will last who knows how long…single sided 8” discs would be hard enough but two side 12” discs? That alone is a huge deal.

As I already mentioned, Sonopress really likes the idea and is supporting me wherever they can. They also covering the costs for the prototyping phase. Thanks to @acp3d, they will receive an old glass master in the coming days/weeks and will start running tests.
I will have to cover the costs of the final production. But even here, they are giving me a significant price reduction.

Btw, Sonopress also develops production equipment in-house.

That sounds awesome.
Thanks for all the effort you already put into that.

I like the idea of a software-defined modulator/generator. Done right this has the potential to actually make better looking LDs than back in the days with the old hardware. Of course that's a long way.

First step could be to release the things you've done so far as open source, even if those are "only" GNURadio files. Some will start playing around and improve it.

Do you know what the contents of the glass master are?

For a first test - besides test patterns - you could use an "open source movie" like Big Buck Bunny. There are high quality source files available and of course no licensing fee.

What exactly is on the glass master from @acp3d is something neither of us really knows. However, that is not the main point here. The main purpose is for Sonopress to verify whether the machine they intend to use can handle the required resolution and whether the result can then be used as a proper analog signal. With digital formats, you can always compensate pressing errors through error correction. With an analog signal, pressing defects are much more visible and cannot simply be "calculated away". These were also the only "concerns" expressed by former employees who had actually worked on LaserDisc production back in the day.


Good idea. Thanks.

I posted a few photos of the glass master in another thread - the mint mark was Imation USA 11920C. It wasn't listed in the database but my understanding is the name change from 3M to Imation happened around 1996 and their releases at that time were mostly industrial and anime. The condition wasn't great but hopefully it is sufficient for testing. Glass masters wouldn't normally leave the replication facility, so I don't know how many have survived.

Hopefully we will find out what is on it.

A lot of things weren't supposed to leave the facility. I got a bunch of industrial test pressings once. Not a single one was in the database.

On reddit you wrote "Initial tests with our DIY test hardware have shown that we are on the right track. However, we have not yet been able to demodulate any LD RF signals generated by us with the HW. We are currently working on improving the demodulator. "
So did you actually test your signal using old LD hardware from a player. I think if it possible to get the RF signal from the laser on the test points it should also be possible to inject the signal there. However, the player has to be tricked into playing it without a disc present.

One issue could be that a LaserDisc not only contains the A/V RF signal but also a sort of TOC. And at the start the player will look for that. It it is not present, playback won't start (maybe it will in test mode). I'm not sure if it is known how to generate those signals. As a first attempt it might work if you take the TOC/leadin from a domesday capture and then add your custom video.

Another idea: How about doing a 5" CDV first? There are machines for producing CD glass masters but will they take analog input for the video part?

That is exactly what I did. More precisely, I tried two things:

• I attempted to overdrive the original RF signal from the laser. My hope was to detect corresponding artifacts caused by the new signal. I did observe disturbances, but visually there was no sign of my injected RF signal.
• I replaced the original RF signal with my own RF signal during operation. However, the player immediately stopped and displayed the message "no disc".

According to the patent documentation, at least the early LDs do not seem to have a TOC-like signal (in the VBI). That is why I assumed that LD players are able to demodulate the signal even without TOC being present.
To clarify, with TOC I mean image or time information in the VBI. VBI does exists from my NTSC generator.


That's a good point. I should take a look at how I could get a domesday capture to the test point using GNU Radio and an SDR.


I had already discussed this with Sonopress. These LBRs do not support analog signals.

For premastering hardware, are you looking for a hardware RF signal generator like the Kenwood DV-3560, or something else?

For the Laser Beam Recorder, do you have any specs or documentation on what is required for the analog signal? Could an LBR for any other optical disc format be modified to work for Laserdisc?

That one would actually be perfect, since it also supports AC3. Sonopress and I are still looking for it.


The way the RF signal should look is very well described, and I could confirm it by looking at patents. I also have a patent showing how the LBR works. I'm not sure if I can share that, so I need to check. I haven't been able to confirm
the laser wavelength for an LD LBR 100%. Some sources say 350nm, others around 750nm. Right now, my priority is the RF signal itself.


Sadly no! I already discussed this with Sonopress. The point is that today's LBRs can only handle digital signals.

Maybe not today's hardware but other old hardware.
CRVDisc hardware is widely available but does not use composite video so likely not usable. I don't know what the Pioneer Laser VideoDisc Recorder VDR-V1000 uses. Those are also sold from time to time.

Just found this thread. I just wanted to add that IF you're going to produce a laserdisc, whether one-sided or two, CLV or CAV, do it in Super NTSC with the best possible composite signal that can be produced. Fill it will test patterns if you have space. Fill it with the best possible media you can find.

I've thought about this and how it is truly niche collector stuff, like building vacuum nixie tubes or a reproducing an automotive part for a classic car: the market is EXTREMELY limited. Pre-sell your entire production.
Make a documentary or YouTube channel for the process if you can. Get enough collectors to subscribe and you might make back some money.

Here's a crazy idea: Make it anamorphic 16x9 and let the TV expand it out for the best possible resolution. We all have 16x9 TVs now.

What about Analog or Digital Audio? CX encoding? AC-3? This might all be included in the mastering software if you locate the correct package. I hope you have contacted all of the people and companies historically involved in this. Don't re-invent the wheel. Just try to involve the people who did it before.

I'll enjoy watching this thread if something actually comes out of it.

Have you considered asking Elon Musk if he would consider donating a tiny portion of his wealth for the greater good of the laserdisc community?

Yes, squeeze LDs are the best option. PAL would be even better due to the higher resolution but PAL equipment is likely even harder to find. If we can use software for processing (which would be better quality wise than 30 year old hardware) it would work.



There are a lot of things that can be tried once everything works. But: Mastering back than was not done by software but by hardware. Sure we can encode the DTS track in software if we have other software that can generate the RF signal out of it.

There is a lot of stuff that hasn't been done in the past like a PAL-AC3 LD (should be possible with analog tracks) or a Squeeze-DTS-AC3 combo LD. But those are nice things to play with once it works. For now let's see how the first test with the existing glas master goes and then find a way to produce a proper LD-RF signal and a glass master from it. Everything else let's take it from there.

I'm absolutely interested in buying even test pressings with no real content, it's a nice curiosity for the collection.

We’re trying to be serious here so please at least make the jokes funny.

If no original LBR is available, do you have enough documentation on the specs to have a new one made?

This company has experience making LBRs and might be worth reaching out to: https://www.opticsforhire.com

I think Palmer would be more likely since he's into retro.
But LD may have been too old or expensive for him at the time.

Overall I doubt any real film rights holder will deal with this, not enough money for them.

Focus on players, we need Hardware then do software.