Forum - View topicNEWS: Pioneer Stops Making Laserdisc Players After 27 Years
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
|
|||
|
How will I play my Daicon openings then?! Nah really, if you don't have a laser disc player by now, you're probably not going to need one ever.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Descent123
|
|
|||
|
My LD player is still kicking and I still watch my LDs often.
|
||||
penguintruth
 Posts: 8503 Location: Penguinopolis |
|
|||
|
Quite frankly, I'm shocked they made them for this long.
|
||||
|
||||
AirCooledMan_2006
 Posts: 594 Location: Delaware, U.S. |
|
|||
|
I never knew anyone still made Laserdisc players. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who ever owned one.
Why the hell didn't Laserdiscs catch on here in the States anyway? Did retailers WANT it to fail? |
||||
|
||||
|
swatty
Posts: 1 |
|
|||
|
I actually picked up 2 laserdisc players in the last 6 years. One at a garage give-a-way(old Pioneer, built-in RF modulator, only does analog tracks), and another when I bought some other audio stuff (Sanyo, supports playing the digital tracks(although only as analog out), has on screen display, can play CDs and CD-Video (not Video CD, this is something different.) )
Of course I only have 2 LDs, neither of them anime. And I probably will not get any other LDs since most things I care about now are available on DVD. Part of the reason I own one is just being able to say I own one, as well as a desire to be able to play anything and everything. |
||||
|
||||
|
gohmifune
Posts: 26 |
|
|||
From what I remember, they were much more expensive than VHS and Beta for the length of VHS's dominance, like how DVDs were compared to VHS or how BDs were at first. Also, I don't think the jump in quality was significant enough for most people. Also, in the eighties and early nineties, there weren't many non-english film markets compared to today, so multiple audio(one on both sides I believe) really wasn't an important feature. LDs would have been fairly useless for anime here, by the time of that boom in the nineties for us, DVDs were on their way.[/quote] |
||||
|
||||
Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
|
|||
I think it was the size, they where huge, and frankly it was only really great for niche stuff like anime. For example my mom owned one for her school work as an art teacher, we just used VHS than DVD for movies because it offorded no real advantage. I mean extras only became great with the DVD. |
||||
|
||||
|
geopgeop
Posts: 23 Location: Las Vegas |
|
|||
|
The motor on the side changer is sort of broke on mine. Not really a problem though: eject, flip over, then reinsert. (Forgetting the fact that those laserdiscs are HUGE)
Most of my laserdiscs are Tagalog karaoke... the only anime amongst them is a clip from Tenchi Muyo! included in the sample disc that came with the player. Umm, is there anyone with a Pioneer LD player that DIDN'T come with that sample disc? |
||||
|
||||
|
AirCooledMan_2006
Posts: 594 Location: Delaware, U.S. |
|
|||
Couldn't they have put extras on Laserdiscs, too? Only times I ever saw a Laserdisc player: Eighth grade science class. Teach brought out this video on rocks and minerals and when I saw the disc, I was all like, "Man, that shit's fuggin' huge!" A classmate of mine had remarked, "You could cut someone with that shit!" (I was expecting a VHS tape, as was usual in the day, and DVDs were still new as hell back then.) From then on, I wouldn't see another LD deck until my senior year of high school, when the science teacher I was working for as a teacher's aide brought one out with a couple LDs near it--one being an educational film and the other was some movie. Outside of that, I never even saw an LD deck at Wal-Mart or K-Mart or anywhere. |
||||
|
||||
|
Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
|
|||
|
I don't think they thought of it yet. I mean we didn't start getting great extras on DVDs until they became commonplace.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Enchantertim
Posts: 7 |
|
|||
|
The only Laserdisk player I ever used was connected to the computerized automobile alignment machine my highschool automotive lab had.
- It used the LD to play a little video on how to set up the sensors on various models of cars, I think.
For a while you could still buy a Laserdisk/DVD machine direct from Pioneer in America. MSRP is something like $999.99 though. |
||||
|
||||
|
Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
|
|||
Keep in mind that Animeigo, CPM, ADV and others released numerous LaserDisc versions of their releases in the early to mid 90's. It was a popular niche format with anime fans domestically until DVD came along- ADV's initial Evangelion release included a LaserDisc edition. |
||||
|
||||
|
GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
|
|||
|
The main advantage of keeping laserdiscs for anime is that there are still a ton of early anime releases in both Japan and the US that have never migrated to DVD.
On the CPM side, some of the most notable releases in this category are the Rumic World OVAs -- the original Mermaid Forest, Maris the Chojo/The Supergal, Firetripper, and Laughing Target. AnimEigo -- Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, Lupin III: City of Babylon/Gold of Babylon? Streamline Pictures -- Robot Carnival (mediocre LD release, but still not on DVD) The original dub of Akira plus most of the extras that were on the Criterion LD set. Numerous pre-1990s OVAs and theatrical films. One great thing about LD is its portability to DVD. There is no copy protection and all you really have to do is connect to a DVD recorder (preferably with a hard drive) and voila! Instant copy. If you want all the menu extras, then you need a computer and authoring program and preferably rewritable DVDs to transfer the recordings to your computer's hard drive(s). |
||||
|
||||
|
GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
|
|||
|
The main advantage of keeping laserdiscs for anime is that there are still a ton of early anime releases in both Japan and the US that have never migrated to DVD.
On the CPM side, some of the most notable releases in this category are the Rumic World OVAs -- the original Mermaid Forest, Maris the Chojo/The Supergal, Firetripper, and Laughing Target. AnimEigo -- Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, Lupin III: City of Babylon/Gold of Babylon? Streamline Pictures -- Robot Carnival (mediocre LD release, but still not on DVD) The original dub of Akira plus most of the extras that were on the Criterion LD set. (Yeah, I'm aware of the R4 DVD release that has the original dub, but that doesn't help American fans.) Numerous pre-1990s OVAs and theatrical films. One great thing about LD is its portability to DVD. There is no copy protection and all you really have to do is connect to a DVD recorder (preferably with a hard drive) and voila! Instant copy. If you want all the menu extras, then you need a computer and authoring program and preferably rewritable DVDs to transfer the recordings to your computer's hard drive(s). |
||||
|
||||
kokuryu
 Posts: 915 |
|
|||
|
Ah but you all forgot about Laser Rot. I have a TON of LDs - both original Japanese and US releases. Tons of Japanese series that never made it to the US, and many US items that never got done onto DVD. But Laser Rot has crept in, and probably 1/3 of my Laser Discs are no good anymore. It's a shame. Most of those are irreplaceable.
I will probably have to buy one of these last LD models made just to make sure it's compatable with the latest TV equipment. |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group