The Wonderful World Of Laserdiscs 

After publishing I realized that I was thinking of Futureworld - the Peter Fonda/ Blythe Danner sequel to Westworld for that CGI stuff. Also, the Apollo Command Module Simulator that I stood on at the Smithsonian is in the background of a shot in Futureworld! True Fact!

I loved laserdisc. I had over 5000 of them in the mid 90s. It was the only way to hear director’s commentaries. Great video.

Yay! Another LD cinephile! The day I watched Forbidden Planet, letterboxed, in beautiful color, ruined me for VHS. There was a local video store that had wall-to-wall LDs for rent and purchase. I still remember watching the traveling matte boxes as they followed the T.I.E. fighters on that very same Star Wars disc. That's when the video store owner introduced me to the phrase "Never The Same Color" and taught me about video color space. This video was a joy. Thank you so much for this.

You have such cool things....love when you share them with us. You are one of my favorite YT stars......ps....anytime with you is never a waste of it.

Fun Fact: Silent Running is also the movie that gave Joel the idea to make MST3k in the form of "guy alone on a satellite with robot friends"

Thanks for the frame sync!

I would put 2001 a Space Odyssey up there with Blade Runner as one of a few influential films in the Science Fiction Genre.

Listening to Fran ramble about Laserdisc is truly the greatest thing on RU-vid.

Laser Disc format was definitely ahead of its time. I remember seeing the first Philips LD player being demonstrated in their research labs in Eindhoven in 1974!

Techmoan and Technology Connections both has great videos explaining about laserdisc. We had Русь-501 ВИДЕО and 3 more players in USSR but it was ultra rare thing

I worked at an Interactive TV company back in the dotcom days where we used custom pressed laserdiscs for trade shows and other areas. Since it was an analog signal the data injected in the VBI it would be preserved and played back correctly to the set top boxes. Also we had an internal broadcast cable network running various content with one notable channel playing BladeRunner 24/7.

My friend has a rare copy of “ A Clockwork Orange” It was especially rare because we are in the U.K. he worked for a publishing company “Dennis Publishing” and his boss Felix Dennis was a friend of Stanley Kubrick and I believe he was presented this by Stanley many years ago.

Cool stuff, Fran. "Forbidden Planet", one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. 👍👍🖖😎

One small correction: CX was the noise reduction system that was added to the analog soundtrack of LaserDiscs beginning in 1981 (similar to Dolby NR on audio cassettes). Digital audio came later, in 1984.

I love this! My only experience with Laserdisk was seeing it once... in middle school, and the teacher used one of those pen scanners to scan a book that would bring up different video clips of science stuff. Really wish they'd have used it more!

I had the good fortune of buying an early Pioneer VP-1000 LD player and discs from the estate of a Honeywell engineer. He had a lot of classic discs, but the glory of the collection were 3 of the Space Archive discs!

Love Repo Man. "The life of a repo man is always intense."

Nobody remembers brainstorm! Yet it stuck in my memory for years. I didn't know what it was called for a long time because I saw it on TV. And yes! David Warner is a very underrated actor. He pops up everywhere. THERE ARE FIVE LIGHTS!

I somehow just knew that you are a Repo Fan.... Back in the 80's when I was in film school we would pool our money and rent 5 or 6 laser discs and then cram 25 people into the living room of a tiny apartment for a classic movie Marathon! It would sometimes run from the early afternoon and all night...well we would have to look at the photos, and read part of the scripts. 2001 was a favorite....and Escape from New York(but that one might have been on Betamax).

You are a National Treasure, Fran! Thank you so much for this. Not only a wonderful look at Laserdiscs, but what a filmography! I eagerly await each new video from you you, but this one might be my favorite of all. So many films that i've seen, and agree with you on (any comments on "Repo Man?"), yet so many more that i now must see! Thanks again for sharing another of your multiple facets with us.

Amazing stuff, thanks for some random movie tips I'd never heard of. Fond memories of 90's laserdisc experiences (thanks to friends), spending 14hrs going through the entire Spinal Tap Criterion Box Set, the Brazil Criterion, scraping frame by frame out of the CAV Taxi Driver, the clarity of analogue audio on Alien compared to DVD.... plus the Star Trek : The Motion Picture longest TV version edition that remains my favourite cut to this day.

Awesome video, Fran.

Great collection.

Not a waste of time Fran, was worth every minute.

I still watch my laserdiscs. thanks for doing a video on this format.

Dick York is "The Shy Guy". I didn't spend time in the basement building radios, it was more like taking them apart (to my dads dismay) to see all the parts. Which now leads me to my broken Pioneer VP-1000. Wish I could fix it so I can watch all of my LD movies. Great episode Fran, love your show!

This was delightful. A lot of the films in your stack there (including Repo Man) are top favorites of mine too, and there were only 3 or 4 I haven't seen. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, memories and insights.

Love and greetings from Germany Fran. Your channel is awesome! Thank you for all your work!

How uncultured can you get to dislike an awsome video like this ? I Love what you're doing keep it up

I am so impressed that the LD quality even lets you see the artifacts from the color wheel they used on the moon video camera!

CX is a noise reduction system from CBS and it was tried on 33 rpm LPs as well. Perhaps you are thinking of Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital), a predecessor of later Dolby Surround systems.

Really enjoyed this Fran, thanks for sharing your collection!

YAY! FRAN'S STILL HERE!!! I don't have to keep looking for music videos here. :)

Thanks for sharing your gems Fran

Yes I DID watch captain Scarlett & the Mysterons ;-) I started watching Thunderbirds in 1966 on a 9" black&white tv. I wish I could stop by some time and visit you and your museum (will most likely never happen). Thank you so much for sharing these memories, knowledge and treasures with us.

GREAT TASTE! of course, lovely collection Fran...thanks for the rundown on laserdisc - yes Capt Scarlett and The Mysterons!

Absolutely luv the retro tech info vids you do. Franlab - turning retro tech up to 11 👍

What an absolutely STUNNING collection, you are a treasure, thank you so much for sharing!!!!!D

During one of my classes in grad school, we created a Laserdisc that could be accessed using Apple HyperCard and a Macintosh. Each of us did an educational stack and did a content video. This was probably 1994. A lot of fun and we all felt pretty special. This was when we were still updating software via floppies. Burning "disposable" CDs was still in the future for us.

A friend dumped a huge collection of laserdiscs on me and I’ve acquired quite a few players at thrift store including one that plays Genesis games, but I never knew much about the features on these. This has rekindled my interest.

You have great taste Fran!

Spot on about Hard Day’s Night - “transportive” - yes, it is!

Nice collection

Fascinating video. I never got into laserdiscs but I do remember seeing original broadcasts of Star Trek on big TVs. The color and clarity were nothing like the later syndicated shows.

I loved that player. Jog on the remote was so cool, and you didn't have to flip the disk over!

Built quite a collection of these several years ago when everyone was dumping them on eBay. I also managed to grab several players for next to nothing around that same time. Definitely worth the effort!

Useless fact of the day, the Saturn 5 took 167,000 kg of fuel to get to the top of the launch tower.

What a wonderful episode Fran! Watched it all the way through to the end in one go. I liked the scene where you didn't want to break off the Apollo 17 launch. :-) That really was to most beautiful Saturn V launch. That goes for the EVA's too by the way. Thanks Fran. You made me realize I have some movie classics to watch in the near future.

I've got almost all of those in my library, including Repo Man. "a repo man's always intense"

Awesome video! Thank you for sharing your collection 🙂

You're awesome, Fran! Thanks

Thanks for taking us on this voyage. I first saw Laserdiscs in the mid 80's, it was so 'high tech' and brilliant but never owned one. I used to race home from school to watch Thunderbirds and love it still. Danger Diabolik is one of those films I have heard about but never seen, now I must seek it out. You have great, fun taste.

I remember my uncle briefly got into laserdisc back in the day, but I personally have zero experience of them. I am old enough to have watched the last few moon landings on tv, so I would love to sit through that Apollo 17 footage. I kept waiting for you to talk about Rep Man, but I’ll just have to go watch it instead. Thanks for sharing some of your collection and knowledge of the system.

Thanks for sharing.

I'm a recent LD person, so my only LD is Independence Day on PAL, which thankfully is in perfect condition. Disc rot is a major problem.

Fran, 'Brainstorm' is possibly my favorite film. Aspect ratio use as you say in this film is fantastic - must have seen it in the cinema back in the day 4-5 times. Great LD collection Fran, love them all!

Fran Rocks!

FORBIDDEN PLANET !!! woo whooo loved that since I was 4 years old !!! David warner is Awesome !! Omg Fran Brainstorm!!! You never cease to amaze me with everything and I mean everything that you dig is the same that I do!! You are totally from my space and time!!!! I've never known anyone so dead on frequency with my way of being !!! Are you AI reading my mind?? ♥♥HuGGs♥♥

“Lasahdisc”. Love your pronunciation of “Laserdisc” and love this video! I’ve been into laserdisc since 1990, and this video explains everything so nicely. I look forward to exploring your channel.

I love your collection of esoteric equipment you just have LoL ❣️ Back in the day I was computer technological cutting edge with my C64, two Commodore 1851 3 1/2 disk drives, but that 1701 was key, the Commodore monitor that was so much better than using a blurry TV.

REPO MAN!! One of my all time Favorite Movies and an all time Cult Classic!! "Your gonna be OK Man; maybe not". "It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes.". " The life of a repo man is always intense.". "Oh... You don't wanna look in there." "You eat a lot of acid, Miller, back in the hippie days?". ;-)

Laserdisc was so awesome! I had one, with a huge collection of discs! I lost them all in an ugly divorce, but I digress... It really was the most awesome format from the late 70s, 80's, and 90s. The first Pioneer unit I had contained a Helium Neon laser, and the driver board kept overheating and burning out. It was so awesome when Pioneer came out with a player that had an integrated laser, because it got so old having to lug that ten ton player back to the stereo shop for warranty replacements, LOL! I think that's what gave it a bad rep back when it first came out. But one fascinating thing about the original was how industrial it was. That Helium Neon laser was the real deal! That sucker was BRIGHT! Awesome collection!

What entertainment! My first LD I watched was JAWS. Never seen Spinal Tapped (D'OH!). I've never seen such cool variety on a single RU-vid channel. Fran, you're the best!

Well that certainly takes me back-my home-video setup for a couple of years was a LaserDisc player hooked up to a Commodore 1702 monitor. Widescreen movies were a very squinty experience on that rig.

30:05 - Local stations also cut out scenes to make room for more commercials!

Love Laserdisc - I still use them, just not as often nowadays

Gotta love that old Commodore monitor!

The Woodstock 3-disc Director's Cut and Elephant Parts are my two favorites.

I loved Laserdisc, but then along comes 1080 P and I kinda gave up on them. And then I learned you could upscale, and I'm in love again! A happy ending. Great video. Take care...

Nice collection - I still have my dual side play CLD-2950 with a DIY AC-3 RF output and a stack of LDs - although not got it out for years!

Great video, I too was a Laser Disc viewer. I like your videos but I must say my three favorites are the one about 45s, was so much interesting facts I was unaware of and also the disc collection from the Voyager probe. That video was both entertaining and informative. And the third is this one on Laser discs. Thanks.

Man, you're hitting all my favorites there... Gerry Anderson and Brainstorm and Colossus... good stuff!

Oh the 1702 / 1701 CBM Monitor! That's a great unit. I've only had experiences with Pioneer Laser disc players and this Mitsubishi I've never seen! Thanks for sharing!

I was introduced to Danger Diabolik through Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was the final episode until the Netflix reboot and it's on RU-vid. Actually, i got to thank MST3K for making me fall in love with 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s cinema but especially science fiction. I enjoyed this video Fran, thanks for sharing.

HEY! It's Fran Again! Howdy Fran!

LOL, my Commodore 64's monitor was my TV for years after I stopped using the computer itself, plugged into a VCR. Nice of them to include the regular audio and video jacks!

Thanks for the memories Fran, I also invested in Laser Discs, and with the S connector the picture was even better. Unfortunately I had to throw out my entire collection due to disc rot. And now my DVD collection is going through the same thing...good episode, and yes Brainstorm is still a great movie!

Commodore 1701-1702 monitor's are pure gold!

I admre your devotion to obsolescent technology. Me, I decided I had to slim down and never got into laser discs, abjured 8-tracks, came back to reel-to-reel, and kept my vinyl and cassettes.

Fran, Loved the video on the venerable laserdisc. I think this may have been covered but just to clear up any confusion. The audio on LaserDisc is carried in several ways. Mode 1 the original that laserdisc launched with, 2 AFM audio channels that could be strapped together for stereo or separate for selecting a second language or directors commentary. Mode 2 An update of mode 1 done by Pioneer adding the CBS CX (compatible Extension) noise reduction system to the standard AFM audio. Mode 3 PCM 44.1 kHz sample rate 16-bit quantization digital sound, this was added to LaserDisc in 1984 by Pioneer, it does not disturb the standard analog audio channels. Mode 4 DTS a 1.5 Mbps DTS 5.1 signal replaces the PCM digital audio, for compatibility the standard analog channels have a stereo or Dolby stereo signal included on the analog tracks. Mode 5 Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital) The Left analog audio channel is replaced with a 384 kbps encoded(RF) signal that replaces the left analog audio channel, leaving right for directors commentary or a second mon language channel, the 44.1/16 PCM signal is left along on the digital audio track, with it being either stereo or Dolby stereo enoded. The RF signal is demodulated and converted into the AC-3 bitstream and sent out to a Dolby Digital decoder, this involved either a separate demodulator, a demodulator/dd decoder or on some receivers an RF input that had an internal demodulator inside the receiver.

No matter what you’re up to. You are always fascinating.

You seem like such a fun and nice lady. I really enjoyed watching you geek out. I love how something like your lazer disc collection or my commodore 64 can just make someone light up. I'm planning on purchasing my first laserdisc player before the end of this year. It seems laserdiscs are rather affordable besides buying a machine. I love your videos fran. Sorry for being long winded

I bought and have alot of laserdisk back when they came out. I boxed them up and have forgoten about them. This video will give me an excuse to go to storage and search for them.

Malcolm McDowell, played Wells in Time After Time. One of my all time favorite movies.

The fact that it can DO still frames, where VHS just made a mess on screen, is impressive for the day. Too bad they were so bloody expensive.

Fascinating vid! Thanks for sharing your laserdisc memories. Great to see all that glorious artwork on the covers. You have impeccable taste in movies btw. Top notch collection. :-)

Super marination here too, watched almost everything the Andersons made. Fireball XL5 (not to be confused with the US show), Joe 90, UFO, Space 1999, Stingray

Just found you Fran. Sooo good see you. I shall enjoy hearing about the wonderland you live in. Cheers mate

Two of my absolute favorite laserdiscs were Brainstorm and IAMMMMW I bought IAMMMMW the day it was released. I forget what I paid but it was a lot. Brainstorm made me want to learn about computers, and have worked in IT ever since. I recommend if you don't already have it Get Cool world. Another great laserdisc

I am sooo coming over to watch movies at your place!!! You have all the best movies and toys ever made!!!!!

I'm impressed. I thought I was the only one that loved "Time After Time" and David Warner! "Spinal Tap' and its sequel... Wow! I think "Time After Time" is so underrated and I think people miss the connection/mixing with H. G. Wells's and Jack... You blew my mind on this video. Unfortunately I could never afford to buy a laser disc player then. Thanks for sharing.

MY Favorite Year! One of my favorite films too. it is based on the same scenario as the Dick Van Dyke show. Writer for a variety TV show, Sid Ceasar's Show of Shows (King kaiser Comedy Hour) has an adventure while a Hollywood film star guest stars on the show. The young writer is based on Carl Reiner, the same as Rob Petrie and the show they write for are both based on Your Show of Shows staring Sid Cesar. In fact. the character of Buddy Sorrell was originally conceived as young kid in a leather jacket, hence the name "Buddy"

Great channel. I love laserdiscs too. I found some good ones together with vinyl at the local rubbish dump. Paid £15 to the guys there. Better laserdiscs and vinyl to what I can normally find in charity / thrift shops. I also have a smaller collection of CED discs that are fun to watch especially when they skip!

Forbidden Planet is one of several old sci-fi's I have, but on dvd. I never had a laser disc back in the day but saw one once somebody had. Was really cool then. You have a nice collection there.

My Dad just sold his Laser Disc version of the original Night of the Living Dead. It was signed by all the living members at the time back in the early 90's.

Awesome video, I’m just now getting into laserdisc and love your channel! I subscribed 💿

Brainstorm was Natalie Wood's last movie. She died during the filming in a boating accident. Part of the story and filming had to be redone. There was an investigation and quite a bit of controversy surrounding her death. As I understand, Natalie always had a fear that she would die by drowning. Fran, you are right - The movie is great and if anyone hasn't seen it, you should.

I thought they would make great frisbees glinting in the sunshine when our elementary middle school had them. They wouldn't let me test it out. Didn't know it was analog tech, very cool stuff Fran.

Fran, I watched Star Trek and Lost in Space originally in the 60's. I was about 8 or 9 years of age.(Great Shows!)

Amazing! I remember Laserdisc was defacto media format in many Karaoke places until the DVD became more common after 2000's