Ok, I know it's a DVD, Blu-Ray, Netflex, Digital Down Loading world out there. Don't for a moment get me wrong, I love the picture quality that a Digital Flat panel provides me when I'm watching a HD broadcast or when I've fired up my LG Blu-ray player and it's either spinning a disc ( The Remastered 4K transfer of "The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray - WOW! ) or Streaming some Netflex HD content from over the net.
I mean, like Holy Cow! Right? Seriously. Streaming 720p over the net without a computer? I mean, HD video without a disc in the player!
Who would have dared dreamed of that 16 years ago when the 1st Big Screen CRT rear projection HDTV's from Hitachi first hit the market ?
But hold on.
Wait a minute.
Where does the old Laserdisc fit into this?
Well, they don't, right?
Come on, lets face it,
they are a throwback to the pre-digital era gone by,
left behind by current technology. Right?
I mean a mere 400 lines of analog resolution !
Who cares, right?
They (sometimes) can look horrific
on these new 1080p LCD displays,
so why keep them?
Throw them away, and leave then behind already.
Heck, LD's are barely a step above that old analog
video recording system call VHS, so what's the big deal?
Get over it. The industry is Moving on....Next.
Now, just hold on there. Wait a minute.
Wait a minute....
Not so fast there young whipper-snapper, not so fast.
So, please tell me, why is it , that, to this day,
I still find that I both want and desire them?
I mean, I not only do I like them, but I actual like some of them
more than their DVD and Blu-ray HD counterparts,
even though the analog picture most certainly doesn't stand up
on modern day HDTV's. ( Upscaling not included. )
Why? - you ask.
Well, I was reading a response that some young adult posted
in regard to a picture that someone else had posted of their CD, record and old reel to reel tape collection over on Audioholics Facebook Page
In which he said:
“It's interesting how the notion of your own collection changes when you have it stored on an external hard drive. You tend to forget about the CD/DVD/LP object, as your relationship with it is through your screen; reading the scanned booklets, loading tracks to your player, ripping CDs, converting WAV to FLAC, etc.
Now-
The real change happens when you start purchasing online.
The
entire chain of buying an the product at the store, carrying it home,
opening it up and reading the booklet, while playing it on your DVD/
CD player or turntable, and then finding it a place among your
personal indexing system, is now - Forever Broken.
With
just a couple of mouse clicks, now you can, without converting,
embedding cover images, or even writing out track names when CD's have
no tags, etc. Now you can simply drag and drop the file into the rest of your
collection - where it finds it's own alphabetical order, while you sit
down and read a book, either on your phone or tablet, and sip your drink.
After
a while, you're no longer grabbing DVD's or CDs or LPs to play. You become
accustomed to your collection on a screen and the DVD/CD player and
the turntable have started collecting dust. Suddenly all you want is
a DAC that will do everything, and you end up getting a Macmini -
that exceeds the energy star requirements several times - to avoid
plugging in your laptop and putting it on top of the CD player every
time you want to jam.
Since
the Macmini has now turned you into a believing minimalist, you buy a
super accurate pair of active studio monitors with DSP crossovers in
order to get the old Pre-Amps and Power Amps out of the way and to
make room for your new HD 3D 42" ( or larger) 1080p LED TV. And bang! --
Without noticing it much, you've gone from HiFi to computer.
Now
you can even start to brag about doing your part to contribution to
helping to stop catastrophic climate change, and how small your
footprint has become- in both plastic and electronic components, not
to mention the electric bill.
Now you can finally enjoy the full size of
your living room, as your collection will never grow beyond the size
of your external drive, and you can comfortably select your track or
movie from the remote App on your tablet without letting your Latte
getting cold.
Welcome
to the future.”
I thought about this for a while and I've come to this conclusion:
All the things that I like BEST about Laserdisc,
are NOT digitized.
Well, ok, shit- truth be told , they can be,
simply by using my scanner to digitally transfer the pics
and store them on my computer's hard drive.
( which IS what I did )
Oh sure,
I can do a frame capture and share it with the world,
But that's not it.
NO, what I like BEST about the Laserdisc is
the Gatefold jackets and the artwork and letter's
from the producer's and director's that came with them.
I mean, just look at some this................................
No, not at all.
The disc just starts playing.
It's like that moment when the needle 1st make contact with a record. Bliss. Another feature that seems to be going away with today's Blu-ray DVD discs, is the chapter listings in the paperwork. In some cases, like with the disc you will find in the Wal-mart / Dollar General $4 – 5 dollar bin, for example, all you get is the disc. Period! No booklet, or additional information comes with it. ( Yeah, I know, what can you expect for less than $5 bucks, right?)
Some
of today's younger disc buyer's simply have never known or
experienced the joy of opening a disc box that not only included some
great color production photos, but also the chapter listings, some
back ground info, and may included both a booklet and a letter from
the director of the film included. ( like w/the Terminator Laserdisc box-set.)
Let's NOT even get started on the Star Wars Laserdisc Box sets, ok?
Sure,
they use to from time to time come out with some nice collector's DVD stuff , back when when these disc were retailing for $30 bucks for a new release of a Two-Disc “Special
Director's Edition” of a film, this 2008 release of "Bonnie & Clyde" comes to mind ,
or even the 4 disc collector's set of Pearl Harbor. However I'm not
seeing these type of movie boxsets being produced anymore. Keep in mind I'm not discussing TV series box-sets here . Now it's the $5 – 12 dollar
three to 4 pack of movies on DVD that are being offered, like with
the Superman, Alien, and Arnold movies box sets, with all that extra
stuff being left out in order to move a shit ton of back logged
manufactured disc out of the vender's warehouses before it becomes
out dated by the ever spiraling downward cost of the even more
popular Blu-ray version, before the 4K Ultra HD BR Disc's debut in 2015 .
Now
all the “extra's” are coming by way of the “BD Live” -
internet streaming feature. Even Blu-ray Skynet Edition of T2 didn't
have a “book” with it like what had come before with both The Artisan
Extreme & Ultimate Edition DVDs.
 |
| Booklet insert T2 DVD |
Much like Vinyl, you can frame Laservideo Disc covers and display them on the wall. If you hang a couple of them close enough together, they can be displayed like mini movie posters.
Since I started working in the projection booth
@ my local Carmike Movie theatre during the late 80's,
I've really liked this.
That's why I own some of the disc in my collection.
those are the movies I have fond memories of,
the ones that we showed while I was working in all those different movie houses, from that little Carmike three – screen hole in the wall named The Astro III ( which really wasn't a real “job”
It was more like - party central) in a college town, to the Big AMC 10, 12, and 18 multi-plexes. From General Cinema to Fox to all the independents, once I had become certified to operate all the different gear, I then ran hundreds of films at dozens of locations.
Those frame disc jackets remind me of some great times I had screening those movies with some great friends on all those late Thursday nights.
@ my local Carmike Movie theatre during the late 80's,
I've really liked this.
That's why I own some of the disc in my collection.
those are the movies I have fond memories of,
the ones that we showed while I was working in all those different movie houses, from that little Carmike three – screen hole in the wall named The Astro III ( which really wasn't a real “job”
It was more like - party central) in a college town, to the Big AMC 10, 12, and 18 multi-plexes. From General Cinema to Fox to all the independents, once I had become certified to operate all the different gear, I then ran hundreds of films at dozens of locations.
Those frame disc jackets remind me of some great times I had screening those movies with some great friends on all those late Thursday nights.
One more thought, if I may ?
Ever give a Laserdisc as a gift ?
I've received some of the best reactions from friends when I handed them their favorite film on a Laserdisc - even if they don't have a player ! They are just blown away ( Ever just given away A Star Trek Laserdisc @ a Trek Convention?)by a Laserdisc Box set that you know they have never seen before,and it's not in the store and they know they will never see it available for sale to the public again. Trust me - Laserdisc may be dead, but to this day - they STILL make the best gifts !
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