Cool.

Cooll! I just bought one some weeks ago and stsrted to collected some great movies.

Where did you find your player? Hard in the UK

I'm with you on this. I really enjoy watching and listening to movies knowing I hear and see close to what the director intended and not some souped up version tailored to please the TikTok generation. ;-)

Except the color grading is the not the same. Sure, it has technically the same grading from the og master film, but the output is vastly different - both because the scan is differently from a projector, and because every single CRT (which was the format it was supposed to be played on) wasn't calibrated nor color accurate. In this terms, we still have the issue of any screen being different, but a Blu-Ray or 4K Blu-Ray actually is vastly more accurate on average than a laser disc by a shocking amount. In regards to audio, DVD had different masters because theaters by the time DVDs started to be popular (March 2000, aka PS2 release) had way more speakers - today we peak at the average 44 speakers for IMAX formats, but for standard we are at 8 - or 12 for Atmos (minimum, of course, it wouldn't be unusual for 14 standard), the decibels standards are vastly different than at home (even enforced by law). It's not as easy as loading the master audio track on ProTools and lower it (which it was what they were doing with Laser Discs), you need a new mix that while different mimics the theatrical one. Blu-Ray 4K is the format that brings the movie to its closest glory, sometime even improves it (point in case Bridge on River Kwai never looked better, or The Matrix never sounded better). I'm sorry I had to point these things out, but the statements you guys are making are technically very, very, very wrong.

@@lukeripa You're correct-on average, the UHD Blu-ray master is the most accurate to the cinematic release. There are some cases, like Sleeping Beauty and Lady & The Tramp, where the Blu-ray version is actually superior to anything that would or could have been shown in cinemas at the time (2.55:1 aspect ratio). This may be a premature take, but UHD Blu-ray will probably be the last, and greatest, physical format for cinephiles. Sure, 8K and 12-bit colour are within spec, but that's only really beneficial for a minority of features (anything shot in 65mm or 70mm). For 35mm content, UHD Blu-ray is pretty much it.

@@5minutesofretro if it was catered to the tiktok generation it would come in 1000's of short segments and be cropped to portrait aspect ratio ;)

🤷🏻‍♂️ Titanic laserdisc color gradings and image exposition looked awful.

It was very expensive. Remember it all too well. ;-)

@@5minutesofretro I remember the first time I saw a laserdisc movie for sale in the 1980s. The movies cost around a $75- $100+ each which was really a lot of money back in the 1980s. I think the players were in the one or two thousand dollar range, which was out reach for my family. This format was for wealthier people.

Big movies also were in theatres for like a full year

Many thanks! I just watched one this afternoon (it's afternoon here as I'm typing this.) I love it!

Yeah same I never got to own or watch any laser disc as a kid but was always fascinated by them my first PC had a DVD player in it which was a big thing so my time was the DVD era I also found it interesting you had to flip them halfway through the movie I'm in Australia and quite sure if they took off here I know my mates older brother always talked about them if I ever get the chance to own one I would definitely watch them for the fun of it

Nice! Must have been awesome for a child at the time.

@@5minutesofretroHi Espen - any way to value laserdisc movies? Is there a site like Discogs Where you Can see if they are worth anything? Best regards Anders

@@andersfrend5365 Yeah sure, check out LaserDiscDataBase LDDB. www.lddb.com/index.php

@@5minutesofretroThank you very much - just inherited around 100 laserdiscs which I would like to sell incl a Marantz player 😊

​@@andersfrend5365So, did you sell them?

I remember I paid 1500NOK for "Close encounters of the third kind" which was totally bonkers in hindsight. That said, some titles cost way more than that now.

True. Lots of titles unavailable on newer formats.

@@5minutesofretro however, film companies tend to dust off old film rolls and publish them in the new formats. Just google it. Then it may be that the film that is available on the British market is not available on the Swedish market. . But if it was a film that never sold well, there might be less interest in publishing it

DVD it probably counts as out of date today DVD came in the early 2000s. and they don't look so good on a modern flat screen TV. as the TV has to scale up the image. the resolution on DVD in Europe is 720 × 576 pixels. While the lowest resolution for HD television is 1280 × 720 progressive. although today Is probably 4K that applies in the TV shop. ie 3840 x 2160. The sound here is also improved such as Dolby TrueHD .DTS-HD master. DTSx. Dolby Atmos

cuz 12'' was too big

@@1sonyzzLaserdiscs were too big and that is why a lot of movies are not available on newer formats? Your comment makes no sense...

Great disc that. I know a lot of guys with discs, but no player these days. :P

Thanks for sharing! :)

Nothing beats the look of those big shiny discs. ;-)

If you check out my Poltergeist video you'll see the CED version. ;-)

I did, super incredible collection! of one of my fav movies! @@5minutesofretro

These titles were released on DVD

@@xrrrismickey and bluray

@@xrrrismickey And Blu-ray.

​@xrrrismickey the Godfather tv edit in chronological order was never released on dvd. The unaltered versions of the star wars trilogy were released as bonus features using the same 1993 master created for laserdisc, so some people still seek out star wars on laserdisc because the dvd's aren't remastered. Also certain audio mixes of star wars and the 1997 re-release never got a dvd version.

Awesome! Best of luck with the collecting. It's so much fun to pick up where I left off in the mid 90s.

Awesome!

Cool.

Awesome!

CRT is the "proper" way yes. ;-) I know some will disagree with us though :P

and they are - obviously - utterly wrong :P

Tron is awesome! Saw it in the cinemas when it was released.

Awesome!

Thanks!

It was a fun time Mr.Lie. Pool, 9-ball and Yahoo. ;-) I remember the 50 inch yes. Today we would probably not be able to see anything on there ha-ha. You getting the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc if I remember correctly. Great times!

Thanks!

Cheers!

Cool!

Thanks!

for example?

@@alanrogs3990 Non-SE Star Wars, Abyss, True Lies, Golden Age of Looney Tunes uncensored, Song of the South Japanese edition to name a few

Gradients is the worst part about DVDs yes. Cheers ;-)

I was so confused cause I had one of the first DVD Machines. I called up the manufacturer and asked them why they are claiming DVD is better when the picture quality doesn't match the laser disc. My example was the beginning of The Exorcist film and the bright sun. They told me it was because it was smaller in size, you didn't have to flip them, and came with multiple languages. But that I was correct that the laser disc picture is clearer than DVD. But then DVD started to get better with their compression and formatting for WideScreen TVs. I could go on...especially when earlier machines stop being able to play discs a year later, cause they needed firmware updates and their was no easy way for the consumer to get that done till eventually it level off and we started getting ethernet or wifi updates. Geez! :)

We never got into laser disk .... i remember them but we never bought into them.

I love it!

I know exactly how you feel. ;-) I have the Definitive collection Japanese edition as well in my Star Wars collection.

I too have Blu-Ray and 4K in my projector home cinema room. ;-) I enjoy that as well.

@@5minutesofretro I plan on getting a projector. I have a 65 inch lg oled in my bedroom. I sit 6 feet from it. 😀

Do it!

Exactly. Most of the time I listen in stereo as well. I've never been very interested in surround sound at all. I think it mostly interfere with what's on screen.

It's a lot of fun.

Thanks! I miss London, been there many times. Bought a lot of movies (mostly DVD's) over the years there as well.

Cool story. Thanks for sharing!

Awesome! Cheers!

Cheers!

Thanks! LD has a strong foothold here and I have several videos in the pipeline showcasing some of my favorites, setups and reviews etc. Cheers

Moro! Mange takk! :) More videos to come.

@@5minutesofretro kult, sjekk gjerne ut kanalen min også,) er en del Laserdisc relaterte videoer der

Skal gjøre!

There's something about that for sure. Cheers :)

Many thanks!

Lots of players will flip the side automatically. I have several that does this.

Cheers!

Cool man. I too enjoy other formats and I have a nice 4K projection setup where I play 2160 UHD discs. I do prefer laserdiscs though as they represent a time and magic that can never be surpassed. ;-)

Oh sure. I have the Criterion Laserdisc of Blade Runner which is the International Cut and was surprised how good it looks. @@5minutesofretro

I used to have a laserdisc player... but it broke, then someone threw it away on me. But i still do have a big stack of laserdiscs that i don't know what to do with. I actually want to give them away, as long as they're going to the right person, like someone who can use them.

Plenty of laserdiscs out there. :)

:P

Cheers!

I too remember the Aliens Special Box set and the circumstances leading up to me getting it. A magical time and memories etched into my soul.

@@5minutesofretro yes, I remember seeing it in a glass case at my local vhs rental store.He was a cool store owner he setup a glass case to put just that laserdisc in it to see if it would sell and I bought it right then and there.He sold the store a year later 2 yrs later but he was able to order laserdiscs for me then store l I ke Laserland started opening and then I was in awe I could spend hours there and my gam I ly would watch movies in the back where they had a couch and great setup I remember my son and wife where watching The Fugitve 1993 and it was loud and thats when I hooked up my system great years and great times nothing like laserdisc the artwork the box sets the special edition Criterion collection discs wow I would say from 1991 to 1997 where the best years of movie watching at least at home anyway great times won't happen again no matter if we have 4k 8k or anything it'll never be as fresh and new as when laserdisc was here.

Cool story! I agree to the full about nothing else today can match what we felt back in the day. We're so jaded now. Nothing really impresses any more. ;-)

@5minutesofretro 100% right, it's impossible to be impressed by anything now,its like been there done that or this is too much now if they somehow start making 8k discs I think that will be pushing it too far there areninky a few movies that would benefit 8k maybe Avatar films and or films made with 4 and 8k lenses 8k will look like crap on a 4k or 1080p tv most cable and streaming services still mainly use 1080p and some still use 1080i which would look terrible on 8k tvs

Sure, I don't think many people that didn't experience it in the late 80s and 90s will appreciate them very much today anyways.

I have mine hooked up to a 4k OLED and it looks surprisingly decent. The format was capable of near dvd quality but was from a time when film to video transfers were less consistent.

@@Knightmessenger DVD is already awful in 2023. No thanks.

I'll do a video about that later. I have different releases of it.

@@5minutesofretro I bought it straight away when it was released on VHS, but that got stolen at one point. I got it later on DVD, and still have it. If you make a video about Fantasia, I'll be sure to watch it!!!

Sweet!

It was very popular in Norway.

I know how he feels. I have a great vintage video game collection and all people want to play when they come over is Super Mario Brothers on NES.

Thanks! I don't have a surround setup here in the CRT room. In fact, I don't like to watch laserdiscs with Dolby Digital encoding as it means it's not the original theatre stereo mix. Usually. I prefer to watch laserdisc to get as close as possible to the original experience in terms of picture and and sound. All the DST and Dolby Digital releases came later and they'd often remix the whole thing. I do have a dedicated (Yamaha) AC3 decoder and it works very well though. I have that in my 4K projector room now so I CAN pull out a laserdisc and run it through my main surround speaker setup there. I do have AC3 decoding in my Denon AVC-1 receiver as well though. It's a 29" Sony Triniton from 1991.

Sure, I have a dedicated home cinema with 4K projection and Dolby Atmos. Great fun. I still prefer my Laserdisc setup upstairs though. ;-)

mybe you learn something today that before laser disc there was another format that went against vhs and beta max called Vhd. it was movies on vinyl record.

It was always an enthusiast format so to speak. I still have several friends that collects and watch the format regularly.

They were niche in the US but most video stores had at least 100 discs for rent including the top new releases.

Yes, a CRT projector is great. I was tempted to get a Barco, but decided I wanted to keep the same old TV I've always had. It just gives me the same feeling as I always had and that's in many ways the most important part. It's also great for retro gaming, where using a projector, of any kind, just sucks.

Thanks! That's a sweet TV.

Thanks for sharing! I'm very happy that there are still belts and everything being made for laserdisc repairs and I have 2 players that are serviced by a very skilful tech that lives not far from here. Laserdiscs are so much fun and I love taking one out of the shelf, so much more fun than just streaming. The artwork, gatefold and size of the discs. Love it!

Yes the Audio mixes back in the day with the vocals cantered… I miss that..

Cool. I too have a collection of 4K UHD Blu-Rays and I enjoy those as well. On a completely different setup, in another room. I actually don't bother that directors alters the colors or sound when it comes to 4K releases as I see them as a different way of enjoying home video. So I can have the best of two worlds so to speak.

@@5minutesofretro Yeah i don't mind that too IF they would at least make it optional. But in many case we are not given the choice to chose. Usually it's the smaller Labels who often do releases where you get different versions and also the choice between the different colour gradings. I hope when "The Abyss" finally comes to UHD and Blu-ray, they will also include the opened version that James Cameron did for the 4:3 Laserdisc release since he shot it in Super 35 and often resented having to crop it to 2,35:1. That's a movie i have on Laserdisc twice. The original Theatrical cut as NTSC Laserdisc with an aspect ratio of 1,90:1 and the Special Edition extended cut as PAL Laserdisc with an aspect ratio of 2,35:1.

I've bought The Abyss and Aliens a lot of times during the years, on different formats. I'm not too keen on The Abyss any more. I've seen it enough. ;-) I saw it in 70mm on the big screen in Oslo when it was released back in the day. I'm not that concerned with the "open matte" thing either. I like the 2:35 aspect ratio. I have it in several different releases as well. On laserdisc.

@@5minutesofretro Lucky You x3 I only saw it on TV in the late 90s and was a fan ever since. I really hope they do a 70mm screening again should they re-release it. I would SOOOO go to see it then. Yeah Aliens is in my collection as well both on Laserdisc (the 1995 NTSC remaster where they re-constructed the entire movie from new 35mm scans) (ref-number on LDDB 8761-85), DVD and Blu-ray. Jim Cameron's movies really are a must have on Laserdisc. I think he's the only director & filmmaker with the most movies in my Laserdisc collection. 😁

Always treasured my James Bond on LD too. ;-)

Cheers!

Easily fixed today. They make spare parts. All my players have refurbished. Works like new. They're supposed to be watched on CRT TVs and they're also out there. Love my setup. Just like in the 90s. Works like a charm. You're out of excuses. ;-)

@@5minutesofretro nope, is not a excuse. Don't worth keep pumping money in this thing anymore. Is so stressing searching and hunting for replacement components that many times are not made anymore and If is made barely have warranty or support from other unkown companies. Not counting that you need learn open and fix yourself since those companies refuse fix this, some other people that does that will not do for cheap too. I am totally fine in replace with DVD or Blu-ray, is much less stress. And happy to have a LCD TV instead a CRT. Some old tech can stay in a museum for good. If you have money and mainly space to keep the massive old hardware and massive media, good for you.

Sure, it was meant as a joke. What you consider a chore, I see as a hobby I love. I even made nostalgia my job so I'm pretty biased. We all do what we feel is right of course. Cheers

I have a 4K home cinema room downstairs and I could (if I wanted to) hook up a laserdisc player to that system, but to me that takes away the fun, nostalgia and sweetness of experiencing laserdiscs as I first gor to love them. On my Sony Trinitron. That's the kick I still get out of them and to me that's the only "proper" way of watching laserdiscs. ;-)