Well, this isn't exactly what you call video tapes, or, evey DVD.
Today, I was given a fairly large pile of mostly 12" Stereo Video Laser discs.
They are different movieses, and the such. I asked them to look for the machine, and, an hour later said they found what they think is the player.
They said the machine simply says Stereo Laser disc, which many of rhe discs do also say.
What can anybody tell me thee time frame these were made. ?
Thanks.
Bill Cahill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc

Everything you ever wanted to know, with the impeccable reliability of Wiki information

A bit about the format here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc

My oldest disk is 'ABBA" from 1980... my newest is the movie "Emma" from 1996. Some of my early disks suffer from "disk rot" and play poorly, including an otherwise very nice Olivia Newton-John Concert. :(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_rot

jr

Ahh, I am a HUGE fan of this format.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBk5Z2-LFZc

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/lddvd.jpg

I worked for one of the early sellers of Magnavox laser disc players in Chicago in 1980, and it was the best quality video/audio format until good DVDs surpassed it.

Well, yesterday I picked upt the player from my friend. It's a 1993 Pioneer.
It will play 3 types of laser discs, and, CD's. Not dvd's.
It has both digital, and, analog audio, but, only analog video.
That's fine with me because it won't interfere with my vintage tv's.
Model CLD-D704.
I have been watching several of the discs on it, and, it works fine, and, has an excellent picture, which is rock steady....
Not surprisingly, since it hasn't been turned on in several years, last night it was a little hesitant to follow commands. That didn't last long. It cleared up quickly. Likely some filters were slow to reform.
It was left plugged in, so, the power supply kept running all the time.
That saved the entire thing from failing..
I want to get more movies for it. E bay has them, but, most are over priced, and, lousy titles.
Bill Cahill

Bill-

Pioneer had an expensive line of equipment (the "Elite" models) as well as their regular lines. Among the regular models, that CLD-D704 is considered to be the best Laser Disc player they ever made. You got a good one!

Bill, Check your local Craigslist for laserdisc.

Many times you can find a bundle of a player and a massive amount of titles. I found a player and 200 titles for $300/bo tonight. If the player is $100 (generous) that is $1/title. That's how I ended up with three players. My Pioneer LD-V2000 with remote is available for shipping and whatever you want to donate. Single-side I think. Pink Panther disc included.

Mitsu MV-7010 in use now.

I had a Luxman D-08 LD/CD player a few years ago. Same as the Pioneer CLD-900. The biggest tank ever built. Back breaker. Had issues and someone else has the issues now.

And then there is Selectavision. Nothing like analog video via a stylus.

I'm a fan of the LD format too. My three players are in reverse order of obtainment CLD-D505, CLD-59, and CLD-V2800(which currently survives shipping destruction by some MacGuiver-esq actions on my part). I got a heap of discs too.

I also have it's competitor Selectavision with even MORE of that formats ridiculously heavy discs(with the way they were built in those plastic caddies they feel more like solid old toys than a recorded media format).

Is that the old RCA one that is played with a stylus? I have some of the discs, but, sadly, no machine.
Bill Cahill

I've got a Pioneer CLD-1070 laserdisc player that was unused for 20+ years. A couple of months after I received it, the previous owner found 3 large boxes of discs for it. I'm slowly watching my way through these discs, and am thoroughly enjoying it.

A friend had a Magnavox player around 1980, and I made recordings of a few DiscoVision titles that he had. I've still got those tapes today... 3/4" Umatic. They are very playable today.

I had a needle for the RCA Selectavision player in stock for years and years. I bought it for a customer that never brought the player back after she paid for the stylus! It's around here somewhere, I think... If I run across it, I'll post it on VK.

Hey what type of movies on laser are you looking for? in my opinion laser have better pix than dvds on some movies..Timothy:banana::banana:

I saw earlier in this thread than they made some players that played cds but did they make and laser disk or video disk players that played DVDs too?

I've never seen such a beast. DVD's came along when LD went away.

I saw earlier in this thread than they made some players that played cds but did they make and laser disk or video disk players that played DVDs too?

I recall from reading Wikipedia's LD article that the last LD player models also supported DVDs.

I recall from reading Wikipedia's LD article that the last LD player models also supported DVDs.

Well well.....:thmbsp:

There were three Laser Disc players that also played DVDs. Pioneer models DVL-700, DVL-909, and DVL-919. All would be considered very primitive DVD players by post-2000 standards (no progressive scan, etc.). None of those were equal to the better Laser Disc players, either.

correct

IIRC the only difference between the 909 and the 919 was that the 919 supported both Laserdiscs encoded with DTS audio and DVD with DTS audio. You can still find 919's on ebay but be prepared to spend $300 or more for a nice one.

As far as I know, all Laserdisc players with an optical toslink port, support DTS audio, even if the player came out before DTS even came out. I know my LD player supports DTS out of the jack even though it's not marked as being able to do so.

I have one of the later Pioneer units that plays both DVD's and LD's and automatically flips the sides using a head that flips around. Still works fine all these years later.
It's got a neat drawer arrangement that slides out a small tray for the DVD's and CD's and a massive drawer for the LD's.
I have about 60 LD's that I didn't want to give up so the player made sense.
In most cases you cannot tell the difference between the average DVD and a laser disk and some DVD's are actually inferior due to shoddy mastering.
LD's were seen as a high end media and usually got the best attention on mastering.
Plus they produced great Videotape copies as there was no copy protection on LD's...

I spotted some laserdiscs Saturday and should have grabbed 'em: Ford Motor Company training videos. No sleeves, the seller has them hanging on the wall of his store from nails. I might have to get them next time I stop in.

MIne has a problem I don't like. If I stop it, it stops, but, then, I can't re start, nor, reject the disk.
I have to just hit reject to get it to stop, and, reject....
I also don't like the odd smell it makes while playing. I think it's from the disks getting warm.
Other than that, It plays quite well.
Mine appears to be LCD, and, CD only. NOthing is said about being able to play DVD's.
I have the owner's mannual with it............
Got the cables from my friend a few weeks back. Sorry. For some reason, this system hasn't been informing me of posts.
Bill Cahill

My brother is really into this format and I pick up titles for him whenever I find them. Yesterday I picked up Jim Henson's Dark Crystal for $1. Best score I've come across was last year at WFMU Record Fair I found the Japanese LD of Deep Purple @ Cal. Jam 1974 for $5. My brother, like myself is a huge DP fan.

I've got a DVL--700 LD/DVD player. Love to use that thing in the shop for playing on the old TV sets. Don't know why, but it seems that a lot of the LDs I play don't have that irritating Macrovision to mess up the picture.

Depending on where you find them, LDs seem to be either really affordable or way overpriced. Sometimes they are thrown in with the LPs at various thrift stores. :D

Sometimes they are thrown in with the LPs at various thrift stores. :D

That was the case with the Dark Crystal LD I mentioned.

I have a cld-d604 which has served me well, except that a little component in the power supply shorted and took out the line fuse. It's a little part that looks like a diode, right across the primary. It is apparently some kind of surge protection device. Tried to find a replacement but could not. I just removed it and replaced the fuse, no problems since then.

I have a copy of "The First National Kidisc" which was a very early interactive laserdisc for children, unfortunately it's a laser rot victim. I also bought the Star Wars Episode 4-6 boxed set along with the Pioneer, really nice transfers and no 90s-era special effects added...

Ah good old Laserdisc

have loved it since 1992 but did not get it until 2000
Currently have five pioneer players from 1992 to 1997

CLD 2950
CLD D750
CLD 1850
And the 1997 Karaoke machine

No elite players or hi vision muse players as of yet

what amazes me is how the lasers don't wear out on these players even after so many years. dvd players and Playstation 2 -3 lasers need tweaking eventually or replacing altogether

around 200 LD's in my collection including some signature collection box sets, T2 gold box, star wars special ed box, Jaws signature big box and DTS versions of Con Air and Volcano

I think the system has so much tolerance for errors and aging components that they keep going and going.

My MDP555 is still running, save for a stupid little 2" belt used to pull the tray in and out.

With regards to poorly mastered DVDs, the original release of 2001 A Space Odyssey looks so bad that I can't believe they didn't catch the issues in mastering and authoring. The CAV discs I have of this on the other hand look spectacular, especially on a PVM series monitor.

I would have thought they would have been trying to impress the crap out of the newly invested, but the video is marred by ringing in the luminance channel that really shows on a modern HDTV or pc. Heck, I can see it on a 14" BPC.

In the words of Gordon Ramsay: "Absolute F*&%ing Rubbish"

Ich. Gordon Ramsey. The kitchen lunatic.......

The only thing I don't like on mine is the laser must run awfully hot. After playing, and, during playing, it makes such a strong bad odor that only fades away.
Not like electrical burning. More like very hot plastic.
Bill Cahill