Hi,

For the sake of collecting I'm interested in getting one the first Discovision titles released.
If I understand correctly, there were various pressings. For example, I see that the original release of Jaws dates back to 1977 as #0918. However I see non-extended copies with a 1978 copyright on the sleeve and a different reference saying #12-001.

What I'd like to find is a nice copy of the earliest masterings, which seems to be either:
- The Andromeda Strain (#0901), released March 1977, mint marks showing Feb 6/11/23 dates
- The Day of the Jackal (#0903), released March 1977, mine marks showing Jan/Feb 1977 dates

I'd opt for the second title (Day of the Jackal) as per earlier mint marks, supposing it's not impossible to find. However the copy available on ebay has a #11-004 reference instead of #0903.
My question is: am I getting confused somewhere between references, or are those #901-#903 pressings much harder to come by (mostly due to imperfections during manufacture, resulting in unstable / unplayable discs) ?

Thanks,

David

The 1977 disks are extremely rare, they were basically samples internal to MCA and Phillips and what still exists were more or less smuggled out by engineers etc.

The earliest you're likely to be able to get are the extra-large-box copies of Jaws and other early releases. You also might be interested in "House Calls" - that 1979 release was the earliest non-recalled CLV to exist in any quantity and has ~55min sides.

(If you're into Facebook groups, join "Discovision Collectors Community")

are the Discovision discs prone to rot?
I don't have any discs from this label.

I'm interested buying Stallone's NightHawks from 1981.
Is the first Discovision pressing any good or should I get the 2nd pressing with the soundtrack reworked?

That's a 1981 disk (basically Discovision In Name Only) made by Pioneer Japan - pre-1985 disks from that plant are very hit or miss. Some sides are very nice (I have a discovision dead side with ~37-38dB SNR) - others have much worse SNR and rot.

As for Discovision proper, the quality is hit or miss in different ways (the equivalent of level 1-2 rot should be expected - and on worse disks tracking issues), but the disks generally don't get worse over time.

I wouldn't import either type from the US unless the seller plays it to confirm it is playable with an acceptable-to-you level of rot first, or it's something you really want, quality be darned.

good to know, thanks for the update.
maybe should get the dvd with molested audio trax

My copy plays great on both sides, I'll sell it to you for 20 bux plus shipping.

I'm being very generous, I think?
I'll give ya a quarrah for the disc, scrap value = $0.25 cent
take it or leave it.

You can actually think

I'll pass on your offer.
Good luck on finding a good playing copy from a seller who is willing test it

If you look at my recent post about my Discovision score in Paris, you'll see that I got a bunch of those.
The collection has one NightHawks under the Discovision label. I happen to have the same under the Laservision label too (basically the later pressing made in Europe).

As for rot, I must admit that Discovision discs are rather collectibles, not really items you'd like to play expecting quality.
For example, I tried Jaws 2. Side 1 ok. Side 2 has messed sound. Side 3 is dead. Side 4 ok. All playable sides show constant speckles on top of screen. To this, add jumps (sync loss) and freezes and end of playable sides.

I then tried Abba. Side 1 ok with jumps / freezes after chapter 5 (of 6). Side 2 freezes after frame 550 or so.

If you really want to have a whole playable film, I guess you'll have to combine several copies.

Thanks to the people who warned me about this and especially the blamld site for its detailed guide about Discovision quality (which you should read, it's interesting).

So far so good !!!

This is the reputation of Discovision. I think my copy of "the Birds" is in pretty good shape.

Do you have an image of what the extra large box looks like compared to the later box styles? I know with Jaws and some other DiscoVision titles there are four distinct box styles, presumably from different batches that were made at different times, but I've yet to see a side-by-side comparison of them.

All the boxes I've ever had open like a pizza box, from the bottom up.

They are thinner and thicker, the thinner versions can easily hold 2 discs but some films that had more discs they jammed more discs in the thinner box.

I no longer own the larger boxes, I only have the thinner boxes and sleeve styles and can't help with any pictures.

So are the thinner boxes about the same thickness as the sleeves? I believe my three-disc set of Battlestar Galactica on DiscoVision has the thicker box but just want to confirm.

Nope, the thinner boxes are definitely thicker - even compared to the intermediate "side-open sticker" packaging.

But there's a good chance your Galactica is a thick box, especially if the disks are in felt sleeves and it feels like they have plenty of room in there.