LaserDisc
Sign in to saveLaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United States in 1978 under the name DiscoVision, a brand used by MCA. As Pioneer took a greater role in its development and promotion, the format was rebranded LaserVision. While the LaserDisc brand originally referred specifically to Pioneer's line of players, the term gradually came to be used generically to refer to the format as a whole, making it a genericized trademark. The discs typically hav
Key facts
- Media.logo
- LaserDisc logo.svgclass=skin-invert
- Media.image
- LaserDisc.jpg
- Media.caption
- A LaserDisc being held
- Media.type
- Optical disc
- Media.encoding
- MUSE
- Media.read
- 670 nm wavelength semiconductor laser
- Media.standard
- LaserVision
- Media.use
- Home video
- Media.released
- 1994
- Media.discontinued
- September 21, 2001 (films)July 2009 (production)
- Media.title
- Hi-Vision LD
- Media.capacity
- 60 minutes per side on CLV discs
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
32 sectionsContents
- History
- Design
- Audio
- LaserDisc players
- Notable players
- Branding
- Pioneer
- MCA
- Comparison with other formats
- VHS
- DVD
- Advantages
- Disadvantages
- Laser rot
- Impact and decline
- Later years: 1996-2001
- Further developments and applications
- Computer control
- Video games
- Hi-Vision LD
- Picture discs
- LD-G
- Anamorphic LaserDiscs
- Recordable formats
- LaserDisc sizes
- 30 cm (Full-size)
- 20 cm ("EP"-size)
- 12 cm (CD Video and Video Single Disc)
- Footnotes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United States in 1978 under the name DiscoVision, a brand used by MCA. As Pioneer took a greater role in its development and promotion, the format was rebranded LaserVision. While the LaserDisc brand originally referred specifically to Pioneer's line of players, the term gradually came to be used generically to refer to the format as a whole, making it a genericized trademark. The discs typically have a diameter of , similar in size to the phonograph record. Unlike most later optical disc formats, LaserDisc is not fully digital; it stores an analog video signal.
Many titles featured CD-quality digital audio, and LaserDisc was the first home video format to support surround sound. Its 425 to 440 horizontal lines of resolution was nearly double that of competing consumer videotape formats, VHS and Betamax, and approaching the resolution later achieved by DVDs. Despite these advantages, the format failed to achieve widespread adoption in North America or Europe, primarily due to the high cost of players and their inability to record.