The Official LaserDisc Thread

[Retroj23]

I watch my laserdiscs on my 54 inch Panny plasma. The quality holds up well on the better mastered discs (THX certified for example) than on the older ones but overall the experience is still pleasant
I still like to watch my THX certified Terminator laserdisc with the original mono audio

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

I have a widescreen Sony tube which is my pride and joy. I love that TV as much if not more than my Kuro. It is absolute perfection for watching LD's.

I'm really torn whether to finally get rid of it or not when I move into my new house.

I have a KD-36XS955, and I wouldn't trade it in for any TV out there.

TLK

[LaserD]

Originally Posted by biznus97

So do you guys watch the LaserDiscs on your large screens/projectors? Or do you set them up on smaller screens? Seems cool to have the option to grab movies that never made it to DVD or Blu and/or different cuts of films

I have two LD players, one on a 42" Panasonic plasma and the other on my Sharp 60" LCD. I use a zoom feature on both TVs when the LaserDisc was formatted in letterbox for 4:3 aspect ratio. I know I'm losing a bit left and right, but it's hard to watch with such large black bars. The 60" does really show up imperfections and emphasizes the lower picture quality in comparison to our older smaller screens, but some things I just want large, like a science fiction film. In general, I prefer watching LaserDiscs on my smaller 42" screen where I don't notice the picture quality differences so much. My 60" allows me to have separate picture calibrations for each input, so I feel I've optimized my LaserDisc/VCR input adequately. My other TV does not have individual calibration function, so that TV is optimized for my Blu-ray and everything else just has to make do.

Last LD I watched was a unique-to-LD release as far as I know. Certainly no DVD release was made for Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. This low-budget SF film was nowhere near as bad as critics would have you believe. If you're okay with movies made on a shoestring budget, there was nothing wrong with the story. And I rather enjoyed seeing the clunky computer graphics in it.

[meremortal]

I watch LDs occasionally on an old Infocus 4805 (480p) projector, which -imo- serves lasers pretty well. That projector's about 10 years old now but I've always liked it for dvd and ld. Gives a fairly smooth, filmlike picture, though lacking in the fine detail and color accuracy of the newer formats and tvs/projectors.

[Pondosinatra]

There's a spirited side thread Laserdisc related going on here:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread....=1#post6876330

If anyone wants to chime in.

[starman15317]

I found the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc today!



I also found the work in progress version of Beauty and the Beast and the Criterion version of King Kong, with the first ever audio commentary!

[Exist2Inspire]

Originally Posted by starman15317

I found the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc today! [/IMG]

Congrats man! Always nice to see people finding those Star Wars discs! I watch mine all the time.

[moviea]

Originally Posted by meremortal

I watch LDs occasionally on an old Infocus 4805 (480p) projector, which -imo- serves lasers pretty well. That projector's about 10 years old now but I've always liked it for dvd and ld. Gives a fairly smooth, filmlike picture, though lacking in the fine detail and color accuracy of the newer formats and tvs/projectors.

It seems that you liked it

[LaserD]

[QUOTE=starman15317;6880170]I found the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc today!

I also found the Criterion version of King Kong, with the first ever audio commentary!

I love how Ronald Haver describes this first venture into the format as a "lecture". The term audio commentary had not been coined yet.

[LaserD]

Sad news. My Pioneer CLD-990 -- my first entry-level player at about $600 at the time -- has finally given in. I tried to play Local Hero (1983) last week and it read "NO DISC" and no motor sound when I closed the tray. This thing has worked like a tank since 1991 and given me 21 years of service, including 3 years in the 1990s when it doubled as my CD player as well.

I have a local Pioneer repairman that has been doing laserdiscs since the beginning, and I have used him before for another player. What say you? Should I buy used and take my chances or splurge on a repair?

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by LaserD

Sad news. My Pioneer CLD-990 -- my first entry-level player at about $600 at the time -- has finally given in. I tried to play Local Hero (1983) last week and it read "NO DISC" and no motor sound when I closed the tray. This thing has worked like a tank since 1991 and given me 21 years of service, including 3 years in the 1990s when it doubled as my CD player as well.

I have a local Pioneer repairman that has been doing laserdiscs since the beginning, and I have used him before for another player. What say you? Should I buy used and take my chances or splurge on a repair?

Buy from Duncan at Bayview Electronics.

http://www.laserdiscservice.com/used1.htm

TLK

[denvertrakker]

I think it depends on what's wrong. If it's something simple and the unit is otherwise OK, then yes. However, a unit that old has some definite drawbacks as far as PQ is concerned. If it needs a spindle motor or some such, then I agree with TLK: invest in a newer unit from Duncan (or Kurtis - since you're kind of in the middle between the two).

[starman15317]

[quote=LaserD;6910158]

Originally Posted by starman15317

I found the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc today!

I also found the Criterion version of King Kong, with the first ever audio commentary!

I love how Ronald Haver describes this first venture into the format as a "lecture". The term audio commentary had not been coined yet.

Yeah, it's kind of funny, although since mine is the 1987 reissue, the back of the case refers to the track as a commentary. Wonder when the term was first coined.

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by otakujohn

A few new toys... In perfect condition.

Back to the Future 1,2, and 3 covers
Cover close up
Disc case

What's up with the image of the car on the cover of Back to the Future?

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by The Edge

What's up with the image of the car on the cover of Back to the Future?

It's a 1.21-gigawatt DeLorean time machine.

TLK

[starman15317]

I decided to buy an LD copy of Wim Wenders' film Until the End of the World on eBay (it's not on DVD). I also ordered a copy of True Lies and the Criterion Chasing Amy LD on Amazon (which doesn't seem to be the best place for laserdiscs but whatever.) And yesterday I bought Top Gun in fullscreen (although I believe that this movie was actually shot in Academy ratio, so the LD I have is actually Academy ratio.)

[invenio]

Just bought 53 LD's from duffsflix.com. This has got to stop!

[denvertrakker]

Originally Posted by invenio

Just bought 53 LD's from duffsflix.com. This has got to stop!

"Stuff By Duff"? I didn't even know he was still around. Bought a bunch from him years ago. A good resource.

[Pondosinatra]

I've pretty much stopped collecting. The few remaining that I want are going for thousands of dollars

However last night I was rocking out to a bunch of music LD's

[Xtempo]

^same here.

I should probably concentrate on Kylie and other music ones but I've practically stopped looking at eBay.

I'm only trying to get stuff I really want now in all formats though I wish I could have gotten that Nadia boxset that was signed by Anno himself
But I have both DVD collections Volume 1 and 2 with the OSTs from ADV and the music videos on LD so for Nadia at least I'm good.

As far as Eva I just need to bit the bullet and buy the Symphony of Evangelion sometime but the first time I saw that on eBay was 2005. I was exceptionally stupid and moronic not picking it up. It was in the US and less than $20 bucks