Laserdiscs & Players

[Malcy]

Was in a record shop today and noticed they had a load of Laserdiscs for sale which was new. So of course my brain went "ooooh something new to collect".

I know it's an obsolete format etc but they were fairly cheap and there was a lot of good films there.

Anyone have any experiences with them? Had a quick look on eBay and working ones for ok prices but wouldn't know where to start.

[Memorex MP3]

I'm very surprised they haven't become more of a collectible tbh; the ornamental value alone for some of the nicer covers seems like it should be worth a bit in itself


Players cost a lot and outside of some extreme outliers there's not many cases where it'd be worth bothering with

[El Unicornio, mang]

I've seen some of the rarer discs go for as high as £500 each on eBay, lots of Japanese versions of stuff as diverse as Columbo and Twin Peaks going for 100-200. No intention of ever getting a player but would definitely consider buying some of the ones that are a fiver or tenner each just for the nice covers.

[Goldentony]

Pointless unless you end up with something like this - https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/11522/WPLP-9083/Twin-Peaks:-Visual-Soundtrack - or a big box set full of ephemera that makes you smile but I suppose you could do worse than framing a copy of Die Hard With A Vengeance

[El Unicornio, mang]

Pointless unless you end up with something like this - https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/11522/WPLP-9083/Twin-Peaks:-Visual-Soundtrack - or a big box set full of ephemera that makes you smile but I suppose you could do worse than framing a copy of Die Hard With A Vengeance

Treat yourself

Sticker sheet alone has gotta be worth the £350

[Malcy]

The discs were £6 each and all looked to be in good nick which was a draw. A somewhat inexpensive hobby.

[Sonny_Jim]

the ornamental value alone for some of the nicer covers seems like it should be worth a bit in itself

I was of the understanding that a lot of these discs will be suffering from disc rot, so by and large they are ornamental pieces now.  There are a few bits of 'lost media' people are looking for that end up with their laserdiscs version being the highest quality available, so the prices are high on those as the archivists love them.

[QDRPHNC]

Back in the pre-DVD days, I remember standing in line at HMV behind a chap spending over $1000 on (what I assume were) highly collectible laserdisc box sets. The clerk was bagging them like they contained nitroglycerine.

I never got into them (too expensive), but I can see the appeal, like with collecting vinyl. There's just something about them, obsolete and futuristic at the same time. That sort of care put into the packaging and artwork is, I think, one of the biggest losses of the move to steaming media. This is why I think there should be a law that says any 4k UHD release should have the original poster artwork on the box, as it's the last physical media format there's likely to be.

[touchingcloth]

Are they heavy? I've only ever seen pictures of them, but they've always looked like Simon Pegg could really fuck some shitty zombies up with them.

[Malcy]

Are they heavy? I've only ever seen pictures of them, but they've always looked like Simon Pegg could really fuck some shitty zombies up with them.

Yeah, given the choice I'd throw a Laserdisc at a zombie.

[Famous Mortimer]

I bought a player (from a sort-of pawn shop) purely so I could play "Clerks", as the laserdisc had extra footage or something like that. I think I watched maybe three or four other things on it before I sold it back to them. Fun idea, but a bit of a dead end.

[Malcy]

I bought a player (from a sort-of pawn shop) purely so I could play "Clerks", as the laserdisc had extra footage or something like that. I think I watched maybe three or four other things on it before I sold it back to them. Fun idea, but a bit of a dead end.

This is how I see it. If I can get one cheap enough, it can sit alongside other old bits of tech when I finally get everything all sorted (win the lottery) and just be there for something different to do once in a while. I'd also hope they aren't noisy. My Blu-Ray player can be a bit distracting. mainly because it's a small room.

[buzby]

I was of the understanding that a lot of these discs will be suffering from disc rot, so by and large they are ornamental pieces now.  There are a few bits of 'lost media' people are looking for that end up with their laserdiscs version being the highest quality available, so the prices are high on those as the archivists love them.

The stats from the Laserdisc database currently show about 1$ of the total discs in members collections have suffered disc rot. Like iwth CDs, discs from some pressing plants are more prone to it than others - the UK PDO plant whose CDs infamously suffer from rot also made LDs as well, but the two worst offencders are Sony and Pioneer's USA pressing plants. Unlike CDs, as the video is stored as an analogue signal it is a more progressive failure so you can still play them, up to a point.

This is how I see it. If I can get one cheap enough, it can sit alongside other old bits of tech when I finally get everything all sorted (win the lottery) and just be there for something different to do once in a while. I'd also hope they aren't noisy. My Blu-Ray player can be a bit distracting. mainly because it's a small room.

As well as the (minor) issue of disc rot. the laser diodes in the players will also eventually fail, and although the later units used the same type of laser diodes as CD players (earlier ones used HeNe gas laser tubes), the pickup modules are different and new ones are no longer available.

The other thing to consider is that as it is an analogue format, the players only have either S-video or SCART outputs, and there hasn't been a TV made for at least 5 years that has an analogue input. You would need an analogue to HDMI converter as well, which themselves are a bit of a minefield.

Techmoan has a good video on popping your Laserdisc cherry (this was from 7 years ago when TVs just about still had SCART sockets):

[touchingcloth]

Wait, do tellies not come with SCART inputs any more?

How old am I?

[Malcy]

Yeah I looked at one earlier and realised I would then hit a SCART to HDMI issue as well.