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I never knew laserdisc was analog! Wow.

by sandos 1y ago

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
MBCook 1y ago
Yeah that was the big difference between it and DVDs. LDs are just the NTSC signal on the disc, the same way a CD is just raw audio on a disc (wrong! See replies). That means no compression. And given they didn’t have the higher density discs we got with DVDs they had to be the size of LPs and flipped mid movie. DVDs were digital so the video could be compressed. Except LDs aren’t like CDs, it’s sort of the other way around! Laserdisc came out 5 years before audio CDs. That blew my mind when I first heard it. Came out in ‘78.
- mmmlinux 1y ago
  CDs are still digital though. Its more like how records are just analog audio.
  - MBCook 1y ago
    I was just looking up laser disk and I never realized just how analog they were. I always thought that they recorded the video signal the same way CDs did, in a series of bits. I had no idea the length of the pits on the disk actually corresponded to the wave form. They’re not digital in any way shape or form. Amazing. Thanks!
    - actionfromafar 1y ago
      To further mess with your mind, there was a digital tape format which is more like you imagined - it is a CVBS video signal, but in PCM format. Very similar to CD audio in concept. It was used in TV studios and also found use for mastering LaserDiscs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-2_(video) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-2_(video)
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - MBCook 1y ago
        Oh I think I saw a picture of that compared to a normal VHS cassette online the other day. But I didn’t know what it was.
      - dylan604 1y ago
        We had an Ampex D-2 unit that was nicknamed the dishwasher for its size. Supposedly, there was a demo of the error correction abilities of the unit where the tape had a hole punched in it yet no concealment errors visible when playing frame by frame. They also had the demo rigged up to be able to rotate the machine to be inverted while connected to scopes to show now stable the transport was. I never saw any of these myself, and only heard of these 3rd person style, hence the supposedly. It was large enough to hold a 3 hour cassette. The smaller Sony unit could only hold 2 hour cassettes
        Sesse__ 1y ago
        The first audio CD demonstrations were also like that. People drilling holes in the discs, smearing them with ketchup, etc., to show how reliable the system was. At least the next 15 seconds…
        toast0 1y ago
        I remember the first time I heard a CD skipping. It was at my uncle's house. Someone came to him and said hey, the music is skipping. He said CDs don't skip. The other person said, well... whatever CDs do, it's doing that.
        ethagnawl 1y ago
        I really appreciated the irony of stereos (particularly in cars with subwoofers) which were loud/powerful enough to cause the CD skip. So, in a sense, the CD was causing itself to skip.
- apaprocki 1y ago
  Dual-layer DVDs didn’t come out until later. Long movies on single-layer (or those whose producers were too lazy to optimize compression or use dual-layer) DVD had to be flipped mid-movie as well.
  - dylan604 1y ago
    DVD-5 single layer, single side DVD-10 single layer, double side DVD-9 dual layer, single side DVD-18 dual layer, double side With the dual layer discs, the first layer had to be larger than the second layer. There was a slight pause when switching layers, and care was taken to place the layer break at a spot to hide that pause as much as possible. At least on the discs where the author took pride in work unlike the YT decisions on when/where to place ads. Although, I've seen some really poorly placed layer breaks too.
    - 10729287 1y ago
      Fun fact, I remember my french version of Reservoir Dogs switching from first layer to the other exactly during the torture scene, with the pause you are describing. Absolutely no care taken. Or maybe to put this at the worst moment possible. What a turn down !
  - Foobar8568 1y ago
    I totally forgot flipping DVD for some movies or series, I can't recall now. Damn.
  - epcoa 1y ago
    Mass produced dual layer DVDs came out early on around late 1997 (maybe confusing with DVD recordable?), it’s not like the spec changed. There were some low cost distributors that couldn’t afford the equipment but the majors were stamping early on. Besides unlike the one hour max on an LD, a 120 minute movie will fit on a single side single layer, so most early movie releases would fit on a single side single layer (the quality did suffer). More commonly in the early days the dual side was to provide a pan and scan and letterbox option or extras. There are so called “flippers”, but they weren’t that common. An LD is 1 hour max so you are almost always flipping for any feature length.
mistyvales 1y ago
LD's could also have digital PCM audio tracks in addition to the analog tracks. Some of them later on had Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as some rare discs with DTS. Look into Hi-Vision as well, which was HD LaserDisc back in the 90s in Japan. Muse was used to broadcast really high def signals for the time. I have a player that can play both sides without having to get up and flip - CLD-D703
qingcharles 1y ago
Yeah, the earliest ones were basically just a wear-resistant higher quality version of VHS/Beta. I had this 1982 top-loader model as a kid: https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/1982-philips-vlp600-laservision-player/ https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/1982-philips-vlp600-laservision-...

I never knew laserdisc was analog! Wow.

by sandos 1y ago

I never knew laserdisc was analog! Wow.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

MBCook 1y ago

Yeah that was the big difference between it and DVDs. LDs are just the NTSC signal on the disc, the same way a CD is just raw audio on a disc (wrong! See replies). That means no compression. And given they didn’t have the higher density discs we got with DVDs they had to be the size of LPs and flipped mid movie. DVDs were digital so the video could be compressed. Except LDs aren’t like CDs, it’s sort of the other way around! Laserdisc came out 5 years before audio CDs. That blew my mind when I first heard it. Came out in ‘78.

mmmlinux 1y ago
CDs are still digital though. Its more like how records are just analog audio.
- MBCook 1y ago
  I was just looking up laser disk and I never realized just how analog they were. I always thought that they recorded the video signal the same way CDs did, in a series of bits. I had no idea the length of the pits on the disk actually corresponded to the wave form. They’re not digital in any way shape or form. Amazing. Thanks!
  - actionfromafar 1y ago
    To further mess with your mind, there was a digital tape format which is more like you imagined - it is a CVBS video signal, but in PCM format. Very similar to CD audio in concept. It was used in TV studios and also found use for mastering LaserDiscs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-2_(video) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-2_(video)
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - MBCook 1y ago
      Oh I think I saw a picture of that compared to a normal VHS cassette online the other day. But I didn’t know what it was.
    - dylan604 1y ago
      We had an Ampex D-2 unit that was nicknamed the dishwasher for its size. Supposedly, there was a demo of the error correction abilities of the unit where the tape had a hole punched in it yet no concealment errors visible when playing frame by frame. They also had the demo rigged up to be able to rotate the machine to be inverted while connected to scopes to show now stable the transport was. I never saw any of these myself, and only heard of these 3rd person style, hence the supposedly. It was large enough to hold a 3 hour cassette. The smaller Sony unit could only hold 2 hour cassettes
      - Sesse__ 1y ago
        The first audio CD demonstrations were also like that. People drilling holes in the discs, smearing them with ketchup, etc., to show how reliable the system was. At least the next 15 seconds…
        toast0 1y ago
        I remember the first time I heard a CD skipping. It was at my uncle's house. Someone came to him and said hey, the music is skipping. He said CDs don't skip. The other person said, well... whatever CDs do, it's doing that.
        ethagnawl 1y ago
        I really appreciated the irony of stereos (particularly in cars with subwoofers) which were loud/powerful enough to cause the CD skip. So, in a sense, the CD was causing itself to skip.
apaprocki 1y ago
Dual-layer DVDs didn’t come out until later. Long movies on single-layer (or those whose producers were too lazy to optimize compression or use dual-layer) DVD had to be flipped mid-movie as well.
- dylan604 1y ago
  DVD-5 single layer, single side DVD-10 single layer, double side DVD-9 dual layer, single side DVD-18 dual layer, double side With the dual layer discs, the first layer had to be larger than the second layer. There was a slight pause when switching layers, and care was taken to place the layer break at a spot to hide that pause as much as possible. At least on the discs where the author took pride in work unlike the YT decisions on when/where to place ads. Although, I've seen some really poorly placed layer breaks too.
  - 10729287 1y ago
    Fun fact, I remember my french version of Reservoir Dogs switching from first layer to the other exactly during the torture scene, with the pause you are describing. Absolutely no care taken. Or maybe to put this at the worst moment possible. What a turn down !
- Foobar8568 1y ago
  I totally forgot flipping DVD for some movies or series, I can't recall now. Damn.
- epcoa 1y ago
  Mass produced dual layer DVDs came out early on around late 1997 (maybe confusing with DVD recordable?), it’s not like the spec changed. There were some low cost distributors that couldn’t afford the equipment but the majors were stamping early on. Besides unlike the one hour max on an LD, a 120 minute movie will fit on a single side single layer, so most early movie releases would fit on a single side single layer (the quality did suffer). More commonly in the early days the dual side was to provide a pan and scan and letterbox option or extras. There are so called “flippers”, but they weren’t that common. An LD is 1 hour max so you are almost always flipping for any feature length.

mistyvales 1y ago

LD's could also have digital PCM audio tracks in addition to the analog tracks. Some of them later on had Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as some rare discs with DTS. Look into Hi-Vision as well, which was HD LaserDisc back in the 90s in Japan. Muse was used to broadcast really high def signals for the time. I have a player that can play both sides without having to get up and flip - CLD-D703

qingcharles 1y ago

Yeah, the earliest ones were basically just a wear-resistant higher quality version of VHS/Beta. I had this 1982 top-loader model as a kid: https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/1982-philips-vlp600-laservision-player/ https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/1982-philips-vlp600-laservision-...