Pioneer finally kills production of its remaining laserdisc players
by Laura June 
posted Jan 14th 2009 at 12:22PM
Yes, we're just as shocked and horrified to hear the news as you are, but it seems to be true. Pioneer, the last major electronics manufacturer to continue production of laserdisc players, has announced they'll discontinue all three of the models they currently offer, leaving dozens of hardcore fans in the dust. But cheer up: we'll always have the memories, and this poster.
Filed under: Industry, Other formats
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael Sterling @ Jan 14th 2009 12:29PM
Okay, I'll say it:
Pioneer was still making Laserdisc players?
WebDev511 @ Jan 14th 2009 1:13PM
Dang, I was hoping they'd do one last player with a 5 disc changer for CD, DVD & BD that also played and upconverted LD. It would have been less laughable than the VHS BD player.
wreckedchevy @ Jan 14th 2009 1:15PM
holy crap batman i thought those went south along a$$ time ago
Dayton Guy @ Jan 14th 2009 1:35PM
I remember when I first saw a Laserdisc player... 14 years ago when I was in 3rd grade. lol
Jason @ Jan 14th 2009 1:35PM
It appears that there is only one Laserdisc player still available as new in the United States, the $1,000 high-end DVL-919. At least it plays DVDs, too.
David Susilo @ Jan 14th 2009 7:15PM
DVL-919 is so not high-end. High end for LD is Pioneer HLD-X0 at (approx) $7,000.
squiggleslash @ Jan 14th 2009 2:38PM
Well, the niche high quality video format lasted nearly forty years.
So there's still hope, Blu-ray owners!
*ducks*
Mr. E @ Jan 14th 2009 10:25PM
As a former LD owner, I am gratified to see that Blu-ray has already gained more market share than LaserDisc ever dreamed of.
jack @ Jan 14th 2009 3:49PM
if that was for laser disc then its a safe bet that blu ray wont go away any time soon. no mater what comes next
teej @ Jan 14th 2009 4:29PM
yeah, but who still makes LD movies?
Sinful Lust @ Jan 14th 2009 4:35PM
i was just wondering the same thing... if they use laser disk for something else than movies because ive never seen them in stores...
Carney @ Jan 14th 2009 3:55PM
This isn't technically an HD related story though is it? I mean we're talking Super VHS quailty here.
Jimmy @ Jan 14th 2009 5:46PM
Normally I would agree but LD was available in 1080i HD.
http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laserdisc_archive/muse_high_def_ld/Muse_high_def_ld.htm
Jim Mallory @ Jan 15th 2009 10:44AM
Actually, it was considerably better than Super VHS (I had both), resolution was the same (maybe a little higher on LD) but there was much less noise on LD.
squiggleslash @ Jan 16th 2009 8:41AM
I believe standard-definition Laserdisc video was pretty much identical to PAL/NTSC in terms of quality (as in the data was what would be broadcast via an NTSC or PAL video carrier.) All non-digital variants of VHS traded either colour, intensity, or both for bandwidth, making them much lower quality than either broadcast standard.
SuperVHS, IIRC, had much lower colour resolution than regular VHS in exchange for higher resolution intensity information.
As Jimmy points out, a version of Laserdisc designed for Japan's analog HD system MUSE was released and, together with D-VHS, was one of the first HD media distribution systems.
The only area where SuperVHS and Laserdisc was comparable was with audio, as both allowed for digital CD-quality stereo PCM soundtracks, which on Laserdisc were occasionally replaced with Dolby Digital or DTS encoded streams. However, on SuperVHS digital audio was never fully standardized, and was supported by only a small number of recorders, and was pretty much never used for distribution. So even then, the comparison was theoretical, not practical.
Sporadik @ Jan 14th 2009 4:14PM
WTF other than a couple dragons lair emulator dudes. Who buys these and for what movies or videos that is so strange that they've still been making them. I remember having a friend who had a LD player the films were like $100 so they only rented. Someone please tell us about the underground LD scene we didn't know existed the last 15years this is the strangest thing I've read here in a while although that robot farmer suit was a good laugh
David Susilo @ Jan 14th 2009 7:22PM
LD didn't disappear 15 years go. LD movie stopped being produced about 7 years ago tops. Even during DVD days I bought Star Wars The Phantom Menace on LD.
reallynotnick @ Jan 14th 2009 5:32PM
WTF, and I JUST adopted LD thinking it would stick around!
Spiza @ Jan 14th 2009 5:37PM
The best quality for the theatrical releases of Star Wars is the laser disc version. The DVDs were made from the Laser Disc cut. So you can guess there are a lot of Star Wars fanatics with the laser disc.
beagan @ Jan 14th 2009 5:41PM
LD...laughable? It was the elite medium of it's time. It was the only way to get widescreen movies for the longest time. First to deliver 5.1 AC-3. Audio commentaries. Chapter search. Deleted scenes. All of which paved the road to what we love today. And yes, I worked at a laserdisc store for seven years while in college in the O.C.. I was the one laughing at VHS...how could anyone watch those things??
beagan @ Jan 14th 2009 5:59PM
Edit: ...seven years while in high school and college...
Mr. E @ Jan 14th 2009 10:29PM
Hear, hear. LaserDisc is what first opened my eyes to the fact that a true home THEATER was going to be possible one day... Just seeing movies in their original aspect ratios was such a revelation. And that was circa 1989 for me.
RIP LaserDisc. You were the original enthusiasts' format.
Bozster @ Jan 14th 2009 5:56PM
Next .. Blu-Ray ha ha :)
mntwister @ Jan 14th 2009 6:51PM
There was a time called THE DAYS OF VHS when the introduction of laserdisc was pure gold (and pure heaven) for us film buffs, we finally got digital stereo, proper widescreen transfers and this is where the idea of extras and special remastered editions began. We owe much to the laserdisc. . I will always remember the laserdisc format with much respect, it's just what do I do with my 200-some discs I still have left? Surprisingly, there are a few that beat out the dvd versions, case in point, the aweful dvd version of Evita compared to a beautiful DTS (assumably lossless) transfer and a much better picture. There are still a few titles that actually beat their dvd counterparts.
Hats off to laserdisc, for starting the idea of digital sound, extras, and film remasters for special editions!
Britton @ Jan 14th 2009 11:19PM
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Joseph @ Jan 15th 2009 12:05AM
LaserDisc still has some of the best editions of:
The African Queen (not on DVD in North America)
John Wayne's The Alamo (185 minute director's cut not available on DVD)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (super-long "roadshow" version.. not on DVD)
1933's King Kong COLORIZED and in re-mixed STEREO!! (not available on DVD)
and tons of exclusive live concerts and videos released by Pioneer Artists label (and many others) for both the USA and Japanese market (both of which are NTSC and fully compatible).
My first widescreen laserdisc (1985!) - the Japanese import of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD Part II, in Dolby Surround stereo - I was stunned at "really seeing" a movie the way it was meant to be seen!
Alas... I still have a large personal collection and 3 working players, including two with AC-3 (DD 5.1) output.
But now I love HD DVD and Blu-ray too!
4LOM @ Jan 15th 2009 5:53PM
The Road Show version of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" wasn't available on LD. They only integrated some deleted or alternate scenes. The Road Show version has to be restored. Robert A. Harris is trying to achive this.
LB @ Jan 15th 2009 8:27AM
I had a Laserdisc player in the 80's. I remember buying the Indiana Jones CAV versions so I could do a good freeze frame.
I think Bluray will be around for many years too. SACD is still around after ten years and they have a smaller marketshare than Laserdisc had. And Opppo is still doing DVD-Audio even though I don't think anyone is released anything on DVD-A for years.
Philip Cohen @ Jan 15th 2009 8:45PM
Actually DVD-Audio discs still(occasionally) are released. Rhino Records recently released a DVD-A of "Graham Nash-Songs For Beginners".
Dan @ Jan 16th 2009 6:40AM
LD was my first foray into home movie theater. I just recently (in the last month or so) retired my old Yamaha 2090 and still have my Yamaha DDP-1 Dolby Digital processor hooked up to the new Onkyo, because the Onkyo doesn't have an AC-3 RF decoder.
My favourite LD is the limited edition box set of Amadeus.
[Nostalgic sigh] RIP LD - you paved the way for DVD and BluRay and opened folks' eyes to what was possible in the living room.
Tom Frank @ Feb 6th 2009 11:04PM
LD still has DVD beat in one area - direct access to specific time locations on the disc. You can jump to an arbitrary time on an LD, which is something you cannot do with a DVD.
LD's also were an excellent way to distribute photos; there were 6 LD's available that held the entire photo collection of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I have 5 of them...and as far as I know, this material has not been released on any other format.
I guess I need to hit eBay for a spare player now...
Kenny @ Feb 7th 2009 4:38PM
Are you talking about entering a certain time of the movie such as 1:13:57? If so DVD does that.