Laserdiscs?

Who else here collects or enjoys Laserdiscs?

I just started collecting Laserdiscs, but only for movies I really love, or to compare picture and sound clarity to other releases I'm interested in.

I have a nice Pioneer auto-flip LD player, and about 50+ LDs that I got from a co-worker who sold them to me for about 2 dollars a piece when he was cleaning out his girlfriend's dad's place as he was moving, but they're all in immaculate condition.

Any tips for a collector or enthusiast? Where can I find these things in the wild? Pawn shops and yard sales are pretty hit or miss.

So, Laserdisc general?

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youtube.com/watch?v=Lt3ZueIvCqw
youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1110&v=KOrn2hBsYKE
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why the fuck would you buy inferior media?

I've never seen a laserdisc in person. They look cool as hell.

The novelty. Most of them are pretty cheap, too. Also, the sleeves generally have really bitchin' artwork that current day formats just can't show off.

>why the fuck would you buy inferior media?
Not him, but if you can get quality merchandise of an inferior media for cheap, then why the hell wouldn't jump on it? Laserdiscs are higher quality than VHS, they are capable of things Bluray and DVDs aren't, some Laserdiscs have exclusive extras that haven't been released on dvd or bluray, and some films released on laserdisc haven't been released on bluray or dvd.

OP here, notably, the Star Wars Widescreen Collector's Edition Trilogy. Original cuts, no loss of frames, and in widescreen like the theater. Best quality you can get bar blu-ray, and we all know the issues those versions have.

>they are capable of things Bluray and DVDs aren't

youtube.com/watch?v=KOrn2hBsYKE

They are. Laserdiscs rewind and fast forward smoother, and you can even watch scenes frame by frame. You can't do this on dvd or bluray without it be incredibly jerky.

>that remote
>that shuttle dial
>that frame-by-frame wheel
why is modern tech so shitty?

>not collecting RCA Video Discs instead of Laserdiscs

youtube.com/watch?v=xQfH1z4QcvY

I wish I could appreciate them more, but the players are usually in bad shape, and the Cards are oftentimes severely water damaged or in otherwise terrible shape.

>that video distortion
whoever invented this should be shot

I don't, but my aunt still has Laserdisc copies of karoke albums (she loved to do that), Thriller, and a bunch of other albums.

Those might be worth something, user. A lot of music LDs are worth decent money, since the audio quality is so good, even compared to Bluray.

Uncompressed audio?

Exactly. Analogue formats have that advantage over music or concert DVDs or Blurays.

>auto-flip
How the fuck did they manage that

youtube.com/watch?v=Lt3ZueIvCqw

It doesn't flip the disc, it flips the reading laser.

So, the laser head inside the machine moves off to the side, and is rotated, and shimmies over to the top side of the disc, so it's not the disc that flips, but the laser array itself as it moves across an arm.
The downside is that it's more prone to failure than non-auto-flip models, and the issues are harder to diagnose and resolve, since there are far more moving parts.

I got all this shit for about $30

>Who else here is a dispicable manchild?

Nice, find, dude. Where from?

I got lucky and found the player for $20 at goodwill. It had a faulty belt for ejecting the disc tray, but I was able to fix it with just a rubber band.

The discs I got for around a buck each at a local Half-Price Books

Watched some movies on it with friends this week, it was fun.

Jesus what a mess.

not sure why the shoes are there, but ya my roommates and I have more shit than we have room for.

...

It's actually not as messy as it usually is right now

this is comfy.

I've been interested in getting into laserdisc. My local record shop has a ton of great films on laserdisc. What type of tv do you have? What's your setup?

I'd only get it for star wars tbqh

>Laserdiscs rewind and fast forward smoother, and you can even watch scenes frame by frame. You can't do this on dvd or bluray without it be incredibly jerky.
That's hilariously false. The only thing Laserdiscs can do that newer formats can't is have analog audio, which is pretty neat.

I'm looking to get into this actually. I have Porco Rosso on laserdisc and am hoping to get whatever other Ghibli/Miyazaki movies were released that way. It's the Japanese edition but the cover artwork is incredible. I have a player that a customer at a store I used to work at gave to me but haven't tried it out yet. It looks to be in pretty much perfect condition. Are laserdiscs region free? I'd rather ask here than Google just to try and start conversation.

get some floor standing speakers to match them pioneers senpai

I have a Sony Trinitron Wega and that gets the job done really well, but I've also tested it on a modern LCD TV and the difference between the two televisions isn't really noticeable, to be honest.
Go with your gut. If you're an audiophile, though, set up some nice speakers to make the sound really pop.

Look, I collect vinyl and I enjoy the sound, but the sample rate of digital audio was chosen to take advantage of the limitations of human hearing. The reason analog audio can sound better is due to how those albums were mastered in comparison to today's shitty mastering, not due the fact that they're an inherently superior format to transmit sound.

>That's hilariously false.
No it's not

Is it better than blu ray quality?

and to add to this, look at this video
youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1110&v=KOrn2hBsYKE
Look at the slowmo. You can not achieve this level of smoothness with dvds or blurays because they have to load data.

Not in picture quality, but the audio quality is unparalleled. Still better than DVDs, though, by and large.

Who gives a fuck? Do you watch movies to be able to watch shit in slow motion and forward scenes more quickly? The picture quality of blu ray makes it a much better format

Could you possibly be more angry about being proved wrong?
>Who gives a fuck?
You told me I was wrong when I was right.
>The picture quality of blu ray makes it a much better format
I never said laserdisc was better than bluray. I said that Laserdisc had advantages to bluray.

Nice assumption about me being that other poster, faggot. That was my first post.

also, I figured I'd mention, even VHS was capable of being better than Laserdisc. Standard VHS was obviously inferior though.
youtube.com/watch?v=jiu0LPeLQPE

>That was my first post.
And it was a stupid post filled with hostility
>Nice assumption
The irony. You assume that I'm talking like Laserdisc is superior to bluray when I never said such a thing. I said i had advantages. Yes, they are small advantages, but that doesn't change the fact that they are advantages. And those small advantages are kind of funny since one would figure that because dvds and blurays are superior formats, they should at least be able to do those things.

Face it. He blew you the fuck out.

I made that post in order to articulate my view that collecting a shitty format because of a single, stupid advantage is ridiculous. If that wasn't the intention of your post, then I apologize.

>that collecting a shitty format because of a single, stupid advantage is ridiculous.
I never said anyone should collect them specifically for that single reason. But there is no harm in collecting, buying or even watching them because of all the points said all together in my original post. They're dirt cheap, they have unique qualities that aren't available in superior formats, some movies on them haven't been released on dvd and bluray and the packaging for them are of quality.

Sorry but you got rekt cuck

>rekt
I fail to see how I got "rekt" at all considering I was countering someone who said I was wrong about something. Of course I'm going to assume he was the poster I was originally talking to.

Also, he made an assumption that I was implying that laserdisc was a better than bluray when I wasn't