• I) Introduction to Laserdisc - Sections 1 through 6
• II) Hardware - Sections 7 through 12
• III) Software - Sections 13 through 16
• IV) Resources - Section 17 through 18

Enjoy.

Henrik 'Leopold' Herranen

Compiled by Henrik Herranen and Timm Doolen
Compilation copyright 1995-98 Henrik Herranen (1994 Timm Doolen).
All Rights Reserved
Authors of individual contributions retain the respective copyrights
of the original works they are excerpted from.

I) Introduction to laserdisc

• 1. Intro to LD technology
  • 1.1 What is LD?
  • 1.2 In short, what are the advantages/disadvantages of laserdisc?
• 2. Advantages
  • 2.1 Is it true laserdiscs will outlive me?
  • 2.2 Is the picture really better than my VCR
  • 2.3 What about sound quality?
    • 2.3.1 Analog channels
    • 2.3.2 Uncompressed digital channels, or PCM channels
    • 2.3.3 Dolby Digital a.k.a. AC-3, or compressed digital channels
    • 2.3.4 DTS
  • 2.4 What cool features can I expect out of laserdisc players?
  • 2. Can I play CDs on a laserdisc player?
• 3. Disadvantages
  • 3.1 Can I record onto a laserdisc?
  • 3.2 Do LD players cost more than my VCR?
  • 3.3 Can I rent laserdiscs?
  • 3.4 I've never seen a copy of my favourite movie on laserdisc but it's been out on VHS tape for years. Why?
  • 3.5 How come when I watch a laserdisc, I have to flip the disc over?
• 4. Other differences between laserdisc and VHS
  • 4.1 What are those black bars at the top and bottom of my screen?
  • 4.2 How big must my TV set be in order to truly appreciate LD quality?
  • 4.3 Why do laserdiscs cost so much?
  • 4.4 Sometimes I hear about a laserdisc about to be released and it's forever before it hits the stores. What gives?
• 5. Defining the Medium
  • 5.1 What parties are involved in bringing a movie to laserdisc?
    • 5.1.1 The studio
    • 5.1.2 The label
    • 5.1.3 The masterer
    • 5.1.4 The manufacturer
    • 5.1.5 The distributor
    • 5.1.6 The retailer
  • 5.2 So laserdiscs are just like big CDs with movies on them, right?
  • 5.3 What's all this talk about NTSC, PAL and SECAM?
    • 5.3.1 NTSC
    • 5.3.2 PAL
  • 5.4 What is "CX noise reduction"?
  • 5.5 What does CLV and CAV mean?
  • 5.6 What is CAA then?
  • 5.7 What is the qualitative difference between CAV and CLV?
  • 5.8 What is the difference between Dolby Surround, Pro-Logic, Dolby Digital, AC-3, DTS and THX?
  • 5.9 What is an anamorphic, or 16:9 transfer?
• 6. Rivals of laserdisc
  • 6.1 VHS
  • 6.2 CD-I and VideoCD
  • 6.3 DVD

II) Hardware

• 7. Buying a laserdisc player
  • 7.1 What features should I look for when buying an LD player?
  • 7.2 What are all the different outputs on the back of an LD player?
  • 7.3 How are Karaoke players different than regular LD players?
  • 7.4 Which LD player should I buy?
• 8. Tech Tweaking
  • 8.1 What are comb filters? Why do I need one?
  • 8.2 Does S-video output improve the picture quality?
  • 8.3 What is "LD101: A Video Standard"?
  • 8.4 What are THX laserdiscs? Do I need new hardware to play them?
  • 8.5 What is the THX - WOW disc?
• 9. Can I modify my player to get these features?
  • 9.1 Dolby Digital RF output
    • 9.1.1 How to add Dolby Digital yourself
    • 9.1.2 How to get Dolby Digital added commercially
  • 9.2 True NTSC output for Pioneer CLD-1450
• 10. Care and maintenance of laserdiscs
  • 10.1 What is the absolutely best way to preserve my laserdiscs?
    • 10.1.1 Buying a laserdisc
    • 10.1.2 Remove the shrink wrap
    • 10.1.3 Inspect and sample
    • 10.1.4 Upgrade the inner sleeves
    • 10.1.5 Disc insertion
    • 10.1.6 Outer sleeve
    • 10.1.7 Store the disc properly
    • 10.1.8 Playing the disc
• 11. Common LD complaints
  • 11.1 Can you explain some common defects?
    • 11.1.1 Crosstalk
    • 11.1.2 Dropouts
    • 11.1.3 Laser lock
    • 11.1.4 Lines
    • 11.1.5 Scratches
    • 11.1.6 Seek fail
    • 11.1.7 Skipping
    • 11.1.8 Smearing of colors
    • 11.1.9 Smudges
    • 11.1.10 Spotting
    • 11.1.11 Time compression
    • 11.1.12 Vertical interval defects
    • 11.1.13 Vertical interval errors
    • 11.1.14 Video noise, lines (usually white)
    • 11.1.15 Video noise, snow
    • 11.1.16 Video noise, streaking
    • 11.1.17 Warping
  • 11.2. What is "laser rot"?
    • 11.2.1 OK, so what is laser rot?
    • 11.2.2 How does rot occur?
    • 11.2.3 What titles are known to rot often?
  • 11.3 Some opening/end titles were chopped off while watching a movie. Why?
  • 11.4 Aliasing, or why are all horizontal lines flickering like hell?
• 12. What is the pin ordering of this connector?
  • 12.1 Scart
  • 12.2 S-Video (also sometimes called Y/C or S-VHS)

III) Software

• 13. Buying laserdiscs
  • 13.1 What is the Criterion Collection?
  • 13.2 What are cutouts and are they ok to buy?
  • 13.3 I've bought used VHS tapes that are unwatchable. Are used laserdiscs worth the money?
  • 13.4 I'm in Canada. Are there any problems using UPS?
  • 13.5 What is the 1-800 number for the Columbia House club?
• 14. Aspect ratios and letterboxing
  • 14.1 Can you go over widescreen, letterbox, etc. one more time?
  • 14.2 What are some of the terms I need to know when studying aspect ratios?
  • 14.3 What are some of the popular widescreen film formats?
  • 14.4 I heard that if a film is shot "flat" then you actually lose screen information when it is letterboxed. Is this true?
• 15. Lists
  • 15.1 Popular titles never released on LD in USA
  • 15.2 Popular titles now out of print on LD in USA
  • 15.3 Popular titles not released in letterbox format yet in USA
  • 15.4 What animated Disney movies are available?
• 16. Specific titles
  • 16.1 Explanations of different versions
    • 16.1.1 Blade Runner
    • 16.1.2 Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
    • 16.1.3 Lawrence of Arabia
    • 16.1.4 The Terminator
    • 16.1.5 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
    • 16.1.6 Bram Stoker's Dracula
    • 16.1.7 2001 - A Space Odyssay
    • 16.1.8 Star Trek movies
    • 16.1.9 Babylon 5
    • 16.1.10 Roger Rabbit discs

IV) Resources

• 17. Resources
  • 17.1 What are some places to mailorder laserdiscs from?
  • 17.2 Are there any good laserdisc magazines I can subscribe to?
  • 17.3 Is there a guide to Bob Niland's articles?
  • 17.4 What good WWW-pages are there for people interested in LDs?
  • 17.5 What are some other Internet resources for LD info?
• 18. People You Might Want to Avoid
  • 18.1 Known Scam Artists
  • 18.2 Flamethrowers