Anybody besides me a big fan of the Laserdisc technology?

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It was so ahead of its time. It had various features that most people first saw on DVD. It was invented in 1978.
- chapters
- freeze frame
- director's commentary
- bonus footage (behind the scenes, interviews with the director, etc)
- widescreen
- looked almost as good as DVD (to the untrained eye, 100% like DVD)
- HD (only in Japan, starting 1993)

There were two movies I cherished that never made it to DVD. Laserdisc was my best method to enjoy the movies.

Digital VHS also had high definition capability.

Nope that was a failed video format by RCA. Laserdiscs look like giant compact discs and don't come in caddies.

CRVs were contact, as in like a phonograph record, just able to transcribe video back.

I'd like to say I'm a huge fan of them, but I've never actually used a player in person, so I'd be a bit of a poseur really. I SO SO wanted one when I was a kid, though. I think it may have been one of my "Aspie obsessions" I was like 10-12 years old, read about one in the encyclopedia, and just thought it was the coolest thing ever. Analog, but on a disc? How? I also really liked vinyl records, and even made a crude record player from a needle and a paper, and wowed and amazed my like...5th grade class and teacher with it. I especially was interested in those CRV discs, the contact was like an amazing concept to me. All that stuff seemed so exotic to me at the time, my house was full of VHS, but we were late adoptees to DVDs in my family, and yeah.

But yeah, for the longest time, I wanted a player. Just now, it seems sorta impractical, as any picture advantages laserdiscs did have over DVD technology (including bluray and HD-DVD in this) are irrelevant now that TVs are high definition and everything is digital now. I'd like to think if I came across a player cheap that worked, I'd buy it. Just, everything is cheaper for the most part on DVD, it just seems like too much of an expense to "get into" as a hobby now. I'm not too much of "movie buff" I'd love to, and especially for anime LDs, the cover art is amazing, but alas, just not worth it for me to collect.

So I admire them, but my random little media hobby like that is vinyl records. So far it's turned out to be a pretty cheap hobby, I can usually pick up something I'll like for a dollar or less at the Salvation Army everytime I go, I do gotta get some better equipment, though, but vinyl records is my big media hobby. Maybe one day when I have more genuine alone time I'll get into LDs, as to me LDs are like the equivalent of vinyl records for movies.

But yeah, laserdiscs seem so cool!

Yeah I really like them but I don't have a huge collection, maybe 10 movies. You have to swap discs mid movie but I love that part. I bought a player 10 years so I could play my Star Wars Definitive Collection laserdisc boxset on it.





It's one of my favourite things that I own.