How Does LaserDisc Work and Why Did It Fail? 

I had heard of LaserDisc before but never really knew much about it. Great video dude!

Awesome man!

You forgot something VERY IMPORTANT, you could record on a VHS tape, but not onto a laser disc. That is the reason why few people purchased laserdisc players. DVR eventually killed the VCR.

This why I love this channel you are all over the place with tech old and new , your channel is remarkable :) great job

So many little mistakes in this video... The biggest outright error is claiming the DVD didn't originally support Dolby Digital. This is just wrong. In fact, a Dolby Digital decoder is mandatory according to the DVD standard, together with PCM.

VHS vs Beta-max Not hipster enough Film vs Theater Better.

You forgot to mention that laser disc produced an HD format 15 years before the tech was replicated by dvd or blu ray!

I still have my LD Player.

I still watch Laserdiscs several times a week. I refuse to get rid of my collection. I'll own it until I die!

Another immensely interesting video. You've been killing it lately dude. Keep it up!

20 years for a format its not bad .Did it fail, i don t think so.

Some good info here, but info at 6:00 is wrong- DVD had 5.1 Dolby Digital from the very beginning. DTS was added a few months later. Many of the first DVDs had 5.1 mixes that hadn't been available on laserdisc. I didn't even get my first DVD player until I could also upgrade to a 5.1 sound system, as without one I'd be hearing the 5.1 tracks mixed down.

I've heard people say that LaserDiscs were analogue before but I never heard someone explain how that was so. thank you

Good video. I own e a pioneer Laserdisc player and 70+ discs.

Since this video was made, others have pointed out that the ability to record to VHS was what made it more popular than LaserDisc in the early '80s, in reality the price of both the players and the discs was competitive with VHS at the time (this would change later on partly as a consequence of VHS already being far more popular). And since many already had or wanted VCRs for recording live TV broadcasts, there was little incentive to also buy a new LaserDisc player for slightly better video and audio quality on prerecorded discs.

Great video Quinn, thanks for all the info!

Nicely done video. I still have dozens of discs I bought in the early-mid 1980s and two players - one is the first the Pioneer VP1000.

Actually the earliest laserdisk players were a little cheaper than the VCR's they were competing with. But in point of fact, they weren't competing, because while Laserdisks were being sold to play movies you buy, VCR's were being sold to record TV shows and especially football games to be watched later. So for the early 80's consumer, a laserdisk was a device that would see occasional use to watch movies you've bought to add to your collection, while a VCR could see near daily use letting you watch that one beloved TV show that was airing in a very inconvenient timeslot.

I still have my dad's old Pioneer CLD-D702 player. It's actually a Laser Disc AND CD player. And I remember watching Antz on it when I was like 5

My dad has a collection of like 50 of these, pretty cool to hear the history. He even had a Pioneer player (although his was a consumer version).

I'm still so in love with the LaserDisc format. It is still being used by people who are into fanres as some of those discs are very well mastered in terms of colour and brightness. A very good example is the Laserdisc version of the movie The Thing that was used as reference for colorgrading a fen restoration version. Something you didn't mention is that LaserDisc was used in a wide variety of arcade games with one of the most poplular titles being Dragon's Lair. Now laserdisc wasn't the first attempt to put video on a disk. Prior to laserdisc there was actually video on vinyl. It is still a mystery to me that laserdisc survived for this long being from the late 70s upto the early 2K's. And yes, it also had a high vision version (more or less an HD verion) but only in Japan. The popularity of the format was also there because of it's introduction to special edition of movies. It was the only format you could get content on that was displayed in widescreen or letterbox. It is of no surprise to me that more of the pro laserdisc players are still very expensive. For a video and mediabuff, this is a format to own. It shaped the way we now consume digital entertainment.

Contrary to what was said in the video, Pioneer was actually pretty well known in the 1970s for their audio equipment line, in Japan and actually throughout the world.

Hi. Can you tell me what video camera use to do this videos? Thanks!

This is a great history of LaserDisc! I was blown away by it when I was a kid - truly futuristic for its time. Also, a lot of early DVDs were actually remasters of LaserDisc releases ... purists would prefer the LaserDisc version because there would be video degradation when it was converted to DVD format by the studio. Also, I remember in Canada prices for LaserDiscs were >$80 - $100 in the early 90s? That was probably around $50USD+?

5.1 surround tracks didn't appear on LD until the mid-90s, but hybrid discs with digital audio (usually with matrix-encoded surround sound) actually hit the market in the 80s.

you really know how to fill up a technology channel. great content man, I've been subscribed since 2011 and I'm glad to watch the channel take off again

I still have my Pioneer CLD 3030 player and a good number of disks. In fact I watched the 1935 'Bride of Frankenstein' on laserdisc just prior to supper today. This was the first time I viewed it since being able to upscale LDs to 1080p (via a Pioneer A/V receiver). Image quality was very nice, exceeding my expectations, especially since my disk is an old 1985 MCA Encore Edition pressing that, so far as I know, received no sort of special treatment. Not a hint of laser rot either. I've watched a decent number of LDs lately. Last week I watched my Criterion Collection King Kong (early sound version), which sports the first ever audio commentary track!

My parents have a LaserDisc player, I don't remember it being used that often, but I still have memories of it.

Yet here I am baffled that this video is in 4K in 2015 😳

Grew up with LaserDiscs. Thanks for the nostalgia! So much better than VHS.

Yes, it was a great technology. They problem was that MCA did not release the laserdisc for video rental, at least not early on, and they limited the content. Originally the laserdisc was to be sold like records, while VCR was to be used for playback of tv, an early PVR. People already had VCRs, and shared recorded programs, so an industry formed around pre recorded VHS tapes, and it didn't make sence to buy a laserdisc player.

8:05 the reason why they where big and bulky was because they are the same size as vinyl records, so that you don't have to develop a new shipping method or even display method (store display).

laser disc are the best still have more then 1000+ in my collection

I like to think that in an alternate universe, LaserDisc became the defacto standard for video and its quality improved such that 4k video with 7.1 high-res audio could be stored on it. Can you imagine a PS4 that used 4k LaserDisc rather than BlueRay?

Laserdisc being more expensive in the 90s is true but in the early 80s, both the players and discs were typically cheaper than VHS. VHS pre recorded tapes really didn’t become cheaper than laserdisc until the late 1980s.

We had this as kids growing up! Thanks for the memories!

Ironically, in the very early days of the format, Laser Discs only cost about $15.00, to $25.00 while the same movies on Beta, and VHS would be anywhere from $50.00 to $120.00. It was definitely the superior format in the pre HDMI SD CRT era, but alas, even the most expensive players eventually only got up to S video outputs, and to really look good on modern HD TVs, you need at least an RGB component output. I'm not sure if newer sets even have those inputs anymore. I have about a hundred LDs, and my player only has composite outs.

I'm glad you are back Snazzy Labs! the whole retro videos was what got me hooked to your channel when I first started watching RU-vid videos. Thanks for the content man!

Can you do a video on CED?

You should do a video on future technology. A few ideas like implants in our optical nerve. Augmented reality helmets and implants. Cybernetics. And wearable tech. I know it's not your style Snazzy but it would be so cool. It's a mix of Science and Tech so I'd totally be watching. With regards from New York!

Snazzy Labs Awesome video !!!. Pls do this kind of videos more.. Want to know how the technology evolved over time. Very hard to find such videos.

Great video! I don't ever remember watching LaserDiscs, but I do remember renting VideoDiscs when I was young.

I do miss these type of videos, where you focus on tech other than Mac and PC. I’d love to see you bring these kind of videos back, maybe a review of the new Technics SL-1200MK 7!

In reality, the VHS/Betamax vs Laserdisc did end up being a format war of sorts (add in Video2000 for EU countries) initially Laserdisc and VHS/BM weren't in competition. Early cassette based formats did not offer prerecorded media during to this was not their original purpose. The purpose was to time shift (think modern DVR). The reason it didn't catch on was that Home Video was a completely new idea, and one that, at least initially, wasn't worth the price.

I wouldn’t necessarily call laser disc a failure. It was ground breaking technology for its time and better technology eventually came along. You must remember that when this was out it was not cheap and not many normal folks could afford it like the way, say DVD, Blu-ray took off.

Loving the content your putting out man!

I think format wars will still exist just in a different form. These days you have wars between video codecs like VP8 vs. H.264 or VP9 & AV1 vs. H.265

Wow, same size as an LP. Love these types of videos, a nice surprise in my sub box. Keep it up!

quins videos on my subscription list is always "expect the unexpected" type videos XD

Good vid, but, I wouldn’t use the word “ failed”. Technology just advanced, and the format was never meant to be recorded on anyway. I purchased my first my player back in 1993 and have built an extensive library since ( luckily before EBay was founded). CDs, DVDs, and now Blu-ray, are all children “of” the laserdisc. Blu-ray is a beautiful and superior format, but nothing replaces the extras you would get with laserdiscs; fold out gate covers, exclusive books, posters, 8x10 glossy photos, cd soundtracks, and limited autographed copies were all worth their prices when compared to the sometimes microscopic liner notes that come with the current formats. I suppose it all comes down to taste and preferences.

aye thank you so much for this!! i recently came across some LD's for one of my fav series but had no idea what it was. but now i know and it's REALLY cool!! i'm thinking of getting it now even though i won't be able to play it cause it's just so gosh darn cool!

Great video Quin. Very inciteful. Keep up the great work and more videos along this line would be great. Mini Disc? HD DVD vs Blu-Ray? Digital formats like FLAC vs MP3 or MP4 vs xvid or alike? Could become a great series! Thanks again

I LOVE your videos man and the way you respond to your viewers is great, because I imagine it can be a headache. Keep it up the great work!

I really like how it looks and somewhat works like a vinyl, but with a CD texture on it. Nice video!

Laserdiscs were ahead of their time. I'm surprised they didn't go over better than DVD.

I got a laser disc player for my 12 birthday in 92. It had so much better picture quality and sound and all my friends thought it was cool. Well for a year. I have no idea what I did with the player, but I still have all the movies I bought in that short time.

a lot of concerts were released on laserdisc, perfect example, most of Tina Turner's concerts are on Laserdisc, and the 1993 documentary The Girl From Nutbush

I don’t remember any of these, because my family was too luddite-ish to have HD DVD or Blu-Ray, as we were still using VHS, and I was too young for any of the older format wars. But I know about most of them now, and the one I know the best is the VHS vs Betamax Format War, I even know about Video2000, which came third in a two-horse race.

I the snazzy labs logo there in the wall a printed carboard or a piece of paper after a piece of glass?

just bought one today at my local goodwill for 2 bucks!! will look great on my bedroom wall along with my records

Really enjoyed this. Interesting to hear the history. Thanks.

Excellent video! One of the best run downs on a piece of tech I've seen in a while! I didn't laser disc was analog, but I knew you had to flip them... FM huh? So basically it was like excellent cable from a disc. Good stuff!

Every failure should be this successful.

In the 80s, Laserdisc was cheaper than VHS. In the early days of VHS, a tape would cost $80 to $100, while a laserdisc would be $20...but Laserdisc players were more expensive than a VHS or even a Betamax deck due to more manufacturers producing VHS players which drove the price down. Pricing wasn't the cause of people not buying Laserdisc in America. If that were the case, CED would have had a longer foothold than 4 years since it was considerably cheaper to get a CED player and disks. The main cause was Laserdisc (and CED) was read only at a time when people in the States wanted recordable media, this was not an issue in Japan. This is one big reason why VHS won out over Beta, since VHS could record for 6hrs while Beta was limited to 4-5 hrs. DVD didn't take complete foothold over VHS till affordable set top DVD recorders were available as there were still pre-recorded VHS tapes being produced commercially till 2007 with Borat being the last one.

Just bought a Laserdisc at a thrift store for $1.50. I don't have a player, but it looks pretty sweet mounted on the wall.

The other major error is saying that the track on an LD varies in both frequency (distance) and amplitude (height); no, you just said it's FM modulation. That's frequency modulation; the entire point of using FM is to avoid distortion caused by amplitude error. By definition, only the frequency varies, then.

Are there advantages in laser disc compared to a DVD?

I'm loving this new format!

As far as failures go, this was a pretty good one. It certainly wasn't a complete failure. On an engineering/ technical level, there wasn't really anything inherently wrong with it, and the format WAS popular in some regions, and was in production for over 20 years.

One thing i believe you have wrong, are the prices. I started buying Laserdisc in 1991, and by then, Laserdisc were cheaper to buy than VHS in the US. I still have magazines like Billboard, Premiere and Variety with advertising prices. If you wanted to buy a movie in VHS, the regular price was 89.99 dollars, where the same movie in Laserdisc costed 29.99 dollars. (some titles were 39.99 dollars) There where always exceptions, like for blockbusters (for example Terminator 2), VHS prices would be same as Laserdisc.

Another awesome video! I love your retro reviews!!!

Really excellent video! Keep up the good work Quinn!

nice way to end friday haha

Great video! You're also very good at keeping the viewer hooked. :)

Very educational video... Learn a lot... Thanks 👍🏻

Excellent Laserdisc review man! Think you practically got the best review of Laserdisc out there. Although it would've helped somewhat if you put some videos up as examples or narrated through clips while explaining Laserdisc's advantages over VHS when i was commercially available. But you didn't mentioned Laserdisc's uncompressed superior audio and colour schemes over DVD & Blu-ray. While DVD and Blu-ray have Laserdisc now beat over picture resolution, Laserdisc has the advantage when it came down to its audio quality. I just think you should've highlighted this fact way moreso is all. It also failed in Europe for the exact same reasons you outlined already, again you should've stated this however.

there was also different video disc formats. There was a weird one that actually played like a record. I forget what it was called, but the disc player would have a needle actually touch the video disc, and play the movie. I can't remember if the the disc was made of vinyl or some other thing.

The aluminium reflects the pits and lands on the plastic. On the plastic is a layer of protective varnish. So please get that right. CDs were a derivative of Laserdisc technology and use similar, though improved manufacturing techniques. Also laser rot was an issue because the glue used to affix the two sides together would seep through. Google laser rot with The Eraser. That one is an interesting story.

I used to own one. By that time the hardware wasn't that expensive, I think I paid $300 for mine. Around 1995 it was the only way to watch widescreen. Practically all VHS releases were in 4:3. It was where extra features first started coming out. The star wars definitive collection laserdisc still has information that has not been released in any other format, to my knowledge anyway. The movies themselves were prohibitively expensive though. I for some releases I was paying $75 CAD. But it was the only way to watch films in their original aspect ratios. Plus the picture quality was so much better than VHS.

My family still has a Pioneer Laserdisc player and I remember watching the first Toy Story movie on it. I always used to wonder why the hell did I like it more when I watched on Laserdisc only now to realise it was a much better quality.

Well... It's nice video, but some of his information is flat out wrong. The aluminum surface of the disc is only for reflective purposes. All "pits and lands" are molded into the acrylic plastic. Side changes from 2-sided players varied slightly based on title (reversing rotational speed of 1800 rpm to 1800 rpm the other direction being the most significant timing), but Pioneer had this down to well below 10 seconds by the mid-90s. Dolby Digital multi-channel audio was available on DVD at the exact same bitrate as LaserDisc upon it's inception in 1997.

LaserDisc seems to be a precursor to today's DVD.

My best friend with "rich" parents had a laserdisc player at his house in the 90s with a surround sound system and "big screen" TV (a 46" projection TV, not even high def or widescreen). I always thought that it was a digital format just like CDs and DVDs, I actually looked up this video to confirm the claim that it's analog. Mind blown.

I still watch my Star Wars movies on Laserdisc it is the best and most pure way to watch them

Laserdiscs are better than DVDs because they can carry an HD picture. Only Blu-Ray can produce an HD picture better than LaserDiscs. Sadly, the HD Laserdiscs were only available in Japan.

I love my laserdisc player and have few hundred titles some of brothers friends are blown away when they see this format there in there young 30s so few of them never seen it

Laserdiscs were the lifeblood of the East Asian karaoke scene. My mom still has a few dozen lying around!

Absolutely awesome video! Informative and delivered well :D

7:32 Actually, the VHS was arguably more durable than any optical disc for the same reasons as cartridges: if you drop them, they aren't gonna shatter (unless you drop it too high), you can slide them across the floor without them being damaged without them in their case/box, you don't have to be careful when handling it (which in that size is a little hard to do very comfortably), etc. They also couldn't record tv, which could've been involved too. VHS is actually my favorite format, probably a mix of how much or a novelty they are and the fact that they are easy to find at thrift stores and really cheap.

DIVX wasnt a competitor to DVD it was a rental version of DVD,you'd buy it take it home and once you started watching it it would be playable for 48 hours or longer if you payed the additional fees

I don't own any laserdiscs but quite frankly they're awesome with a nice TV and S-Video if the tv has it. Flipping the disks reminds me quite a bit of VCD with changing it for the next part of the movie.

Blu ray vs HD DVD may be the last physical media for entertainment media but there is always format wars in other things. Hell i'd say the amount of streaming services is a format war because they're all offering the same basic services.

Nice my parents still have their laserdisc pioneer from the early 90s. They used mainly for karaoke lol

How did you get english versions of laser disc?

This reminds me a lot of regular show

This is good, but, the reason LaserDisc didn't make it big is more complicated than content price. The guy over at Technology Connections has a more complete explanation that I just watched titled Laserdisc's Failure: What Went Wrong.

Its such a shame to lost a media that can record analog audio without having to convert it to digital with its compression and what not. A true analog audio as it is meant to be reproduced. Perhaps with the advancement of current track sizes of a disc whether it be dvd or cd we can reinstate the technology of recording audio in analog, would that be something studio or enhanced listener be interested in?

Fantastic video! Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to see more like it :)

I can't believe Quinn _actually_ said "Blu-Ray VS HD-DVD may very well have been the last format war of all time". Hasn't he ever heard of wireless charging? Of video codecs? There are currently format wars going on right now, and there will be for quite a while into the foreseeable future.

Great overview!