1 00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:03,149 It is time to end the series on Laserdisc. 2 00:00:03,149 --> 00:00:07,460 I know, I know, it’s tragic, but I’ve been putting it off and and its long overdue. 3 00:00:07,460 --> 00:00:11,210 Many new subscribers have perhaps not seen any of my Laserdisc series, and I’ll place 4 00:00:11,210 --> 00:00:13,330 a link to the playlist down below. 5 00:00:13,330 --> 00:00:14,960 As the fastest recap possible, 6 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:20,580 Laserdiscs were the first optical disc format, predating the CD by four years, and they held 7 00:00:20,589 --> 00:00:26,330 up to an hour of excellent quality video--nearly that of DVD--with CD quality digital sound. 8 00:00:26,330 --> 00:00:31,460 They never achieved great success in the US or really all of Europe due to the high cost of the system 9 00:00:31,460 --> 00:00:36,260 and the inability to record television shows on them, but in Japan they were pretty successful 10 00:00:36,270 --> 00:00:38,320 reaching about a 10% market penetration. 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,190 I’d also like to just throw in here because I keep forgetting to do so, I’m on Twitter 12 00:00:42,190 --> 00:00:44,040 now @TechConnectify. 13 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,670 That’s only the second time I’ve mentioned that and I’ve had it for two months now. 14 00:00:47,670 --> 00:00:49,060 I’m really good at this! 15 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:54,190 Now, this final video on the format goes over three things: One, the discs popularity in 16 00:00:54,190 --> 00:01:00,150 karaoke, two the Japan-only Squeeze LD format and Three, the MUSE high definition Laserdisc. 17 00:01:00,150 --> 00:01:03,100 We’ll start with that because that’s what’s the title and thumbnail said. 18 00:01:03,100 --> 00:01:07,760 Japan, being Japan, was way ahead of the rest of the world when it came to high definition 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:08,760 television. 20 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:13,119 As an American, I think of HD as being a product of the early 2000’s, especially with the 21 00:01:13,119 --> 00:01:18,229 introduction of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD in 2006 providing the first form of high definition 22 00:01:18,229 --> 00:01:19,679 home video. 23 00:01:19,679 --> 00:01:24,899 That is of course only if you don’t count the first D-Theater D-VHS releases from 2002. 24 00:01:24,899 --> 00:01:29,270 And I am aware that the first HD broadcast in the US took place in 1996, but adoption 25 00:01:29,270 --> 00:01:32,360 didn’t really take off until 2004-2005. 26 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:38,469 But in Japan, a new analog High Definition standard began test broadcasts in 1989 via 27 00:01:38,469 --> 00:01:42,080 satellite, and it was in development as far back as 1979. 28 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:48,100 This standard was called MUSE, which was a sloppy acronym for Multiple sub-Nyquist Sampling Encoding. 29 00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:53,340 NHK, the national broadcasting company in Japan, preferred the name Hi-Vision. 30 00:01:53,340 --> 00:01:58,350 The actual specifics of MUSE are very very complicated and involve some strange sampling 31 00:01:58,350 --> 00:02:02,579 techniques to increase the resolution that go way over my head. 32 00:02:02,579 --> 00:02:05,950 Apparently it’s not strictly analog but also includes some digital sampling that is 33 00:02:05,950 --> 00:02:10,869 limited by movement within the frame and it’s just real weird so please visit some of the 34 00:02:10,869 --> 00:02:13,230 links down below if you’d like to learn more. 35 00:02:13,230 --> 00:02:19,120 But in simple terms, MUSE produced a video source nearly equivalent to today’s 1080i resolution. 36 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:26,569 With 1,125 lines transmitted, of which 1035 were visible, you could call the resolution 1035i. 37 00:02:26,569 --> 00:02:29,569 And similar to NTSC, it used a 60 hz refresh rate. 38 00:02:29,569 --> 00:02:33,659 To get the MUSE signal on a Laserdisc required tweaking the format somewhat. 39 00:02:33,659 --> 00:02:36,819 The most significant twist was the adoption of a red laser. 40 00:02:36,819 --> 00:02:40,890 If you thought DVD was the first format to use the red laser, think again. 41 00:02:40,890 --> 00:02:45,400 Just as the pits in a DVD are smaller and allow for more data on the disc compared to 42 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,939 a CD, the smaller pits of MUSE laserdiscs allowed for a higher bandwidth analog signal 43 00:02:50,939 --> 00:02:52,410 than a conventional Laserdisc. 44 00:02:52,410 --> 00:02:57,379 Hi-Vision Laserdiscs used the same CAV and CLV flavors of your standard discs, but due 45 00:02:57,379 --> 00:03:01,661 to a higher linear speed required--apparently the pits were still the same length, just 46 00:03:01,661 --> 00:03:06,239 squished closer together-- CAV discs used a smaller portion of the disc, with the inner 47 00:03:06,239 --> 00:03:09,330 radius being pushed out 76 millimeters. 48 00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:15,599 And CLV discs used the entire face of the disc, but the inner portion was read at 2,700 RPM. 49 00:03:15,599 --> 00:03:16,599 My word. 50 00:03:16,599 --> 00:03:17,599 That is ridiculous. 51 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:24,469 OK, just as a reminder, these discs weigh a tad over 200g, or just under half a pound. 52 00:03:24,469 --> 00:03:30,500 And a consumer piece of A/V equipment would get this massive disc spinning at 2,700 RPM. 53 00:03:30,500 --> 00:03:36,290 If the disc were rolling, it would be travelling at 152.6 kilometers per hour, or about 95 54 00:03:36,290 --> 00:03:37,470 miles per hour. 55 00:03:37,470 --> 00:03:38,800 In your living room. 56 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,829 For more context into this absurdity, a standard Laserdisc spins at up to 1,800 RPM and already 57 00:03:43,829 --> 00:03:46,000 that seems too fast for comfort. 58 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,580 Just listen to this player spin a disc up. 59 00:03:50,340 --> 00:04:05,140 [loud, building whirring noise, with a bassy vibration] 60 00:04:05,140 --> 00:04:07,260 To be fair, this old beast is louder than 61 00:04:07,300 --> 00:04:11,520 newer players, but newer players are still plenty frightening when their covers are off. 62 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,340 [mechanical sounds as transport engages with disc] 63 00:04:14,340 --> 00:04:28,780 [Slightly less loud whirring noise, but still at unsettling speeds] 64 00:04:28,780 --> 00:04:30,940 Now imagine that 50% faster. 65 00:04:30,940 --> 00:04:31,940 Yikes. 66 00:04:31,940 --> 00:04:36,270 Anyway, even though Japan was early for HD, and MUSE Laserdisc was among the earliest 67 00:04:36,270 --> 00:04:40,540 ways to get HD content, it was the Laserdisc of Laserdiscs. 68 00:04:40,540 --> 00:04:43,860 Adoption was very poor, and the players were mighty expensive. 69 00:04:43,870 --> 00:04:48,900 Plus, they required a separate MUSE decoder to actually create a component output to send 70 00:04:48,900 --> 00:04:50,130 to your TV. 71 00:04:50,130 --> 00:04:53,910 But still, near 1080i video on a disc in the mid nineties? 72 00:04:53,910 --> 00:04:55,419 That’s pretty wild. 73 00:04:55,419 --> 00:05:00,020 Today, these MUSE Laserdisc players are highly sought after for numerous reasons. 74 00:05:00,020 --> 00:05:02,949 First is probably their collectability and relative rarity. 75 00:05:02,949 --> 00:05:05,220 And trust me, they aren’t common. 76 00:05:05,220 --> 00:05:09,449 As I write this, on eBay there’s a player with an asking price of $1800, and someone 77 00:05:09,449 --> 00:05:12,400 else wants nearly $4000 for theirs. 78 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,160 Discs are also hideously expensive, commanding $300 or more. 79 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:20,400 But aside from their novelty, they are among the best laserdisc players available. 80 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:25,780 These players used their red laser to read standard NTSC laserdiscs too, and the shorter wavelength 81 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:29,020 of the laser means it could read discs more easily. 82 00:05:29,020 --> 00:05:31,970 Scratched and worn discs play better on a MUSE machine. 83 00:05:31,970 --> 00:05:37,380 Really, all discs play better on MUSE machines because the red laser almost entirely eliminates 84 00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:41,280 crosstalk, and its more advanced electronics produce a better output. 85 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:45,570 Moving on then, for those that aren’t already aware, karaoke is a BIG deal in many parts 86 00:05:45,570 --> 00:05:46,720 of Asia. 87 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,530 Much of Laserdisc’s success came from Asia at large, and some of this was due to its 88 00:05:50,530 --> 00:05:53,250 seemingly perfect alignment with the karaoke business. 89 00:05:53,250 --> 00:05:55,870 Karaoke, after all, began in Japan. 90 00:05:55,870 --> 00:06:00,389 Pioneer was involved in the karaoke business to a surprising degree, apparently producing 91 00:06:00,389 --> 00:06:02,990 many of the music videos used in karaoke machines. 92 00:06:02,990 --> 00:06:07,130 Which, of course, were made very flexible with the use of Laserdiscs. 93 00:06:07,130 --> 00:06:12,599 Pioneer made various models of Laserdisc jukeboxes that could hold 50 or more discs. 94 00:06:12,599 --> 00:06:17,350 These machines, with catalogs of up to 100 hours of material available all in one place, 95 00:06:17,350 --> 00:06:20,879 helped make Laserdisc the format of choice for karaoke machines. 96 00:06:20,879 --> 00:06:25,060 To be clear, though, there were and are many different types of karaoke venue; those that 97 00:06:25,060 --> 00:06:28,900 would have one of the Laserdisc jukeboxes were probably in a small percentage of the 98 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:29,900 total. 99 00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:32,699 Still, laserdisc as a format was used fairly widely. 100 00:06:32,699 --> 00:06:37,470 Now, if you weren’t aware, a large innovation in Karaoke was the development of the CD+G 101 00:06:37,470 --> 00:06:40,660 format, that’s compact disc-graphics. 102 00:06:40,660 --> 00:06:45,490 Using the rarely-used subcode channels of an audio CD, the CD+G was able to store basic 103 00:06:45,490 --> 00:06:51,500 graphics (16 colors at a resolution of 300 X 216) alongside the audio. 104 00:06:51,500 --> 00:06:55,760 Karaoke machines displayed these graphics, which were usually lyrics, while playing a disc. 105 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:57,940 Laserdisc received a similar extension. 106 00:06:57,949 --> 00:07:01,419 The LD-G addition wasn’t quite as impressive, though. 107 00:07:01,419 --> 00:07:05,660 Info on its specifics is sparse, but it appears it was more along the lines of a closed-captioning 108 00:07:05,660 --> 00:07:10,449 system, with white text on black boxes resembling the standard line 21 decoding we have here 109 00:07:10,449 --> 00:07:11,539 in the States. 110 00:07:11,540 --> 00:07:14,340 The actual data was hidden in the audio stream. 111 00:07:14,340 --> 00:07:17,000 While it wasn’t as impressive as CD-Graphics... 112 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:18,930 it’s a Laserdisc so it has full motion 113 00:07:18,930 --> 00:07:20,270 video going on already. 114 00:07:20,270 --> 00:07:25,620 Plus, the LD-G standard supported 16 different data streams, so multiple languages of lyrics 115 00:07:25,620 --> 00:07:27,830 or subtitles could be supported. 116 00:07:27,830 --> 00:07:32,409 Whether or not LD-G made its way into karaoke is unclear, but it’s still pretty neat. 117 00:07:32,409 --> 00:07:35,150 Well, it seems as though this final installment will be pretty short. 118 00:07:35,150 --> 00:07:38,180 I suppose it is pretty much a “here’s three other things we haven’t talked about 119 00:07:38,180 --> 00:07:39,770 Laserdisc yet!” episode. 120 00:07:39,770 --> 00:07:40,770 Hmm. 121 00:07:40,770 --> 00:07:44,980 Well anyway, the third and final thing is what we are going to refer to as “Squeeze LD” 122 00:07:44,980 --> 00:07:46,580 because that’s what it’s called. 123 00:07:46,580 --> 00:07:49,760 Just as DVD can store the video on discs anamorphically, 124 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:51,930 whereby the image is squeezed in from side 125 00:07:51,930 --> 00:07:54,720 to side, Laserdisc could do it too! 126 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,140 But only in Japan. 127 00:07:56,140 --> 00:07:57,680 And only sometimes. 128 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,830 So as a refresher, the reason why this is a good idea is that for widescreen displays, 129 00:08:01,830 --> 00:08:06,060 it really helps if the content going to them is also widescreen. 130 00:08:06,060 --> 00:08:12,300 We could create a new 16:9 video standard, but sending a 16:9 signal to a 4:3 display 131 00:08:12,300 --> 00:08:13,700 might get messy. 132 00:08:13,710 --> 00:08:17,129 What we want is something that would be compatible with both. 133 00:08:17,129 --> 00:08:21,099 Anamorphic widescreen is a way to use the existing 4:3 video standard for widescreen 134 00:08:21,099 --> 00:08:22,800 in a non-destructive way. 135 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:27,150 In a DVD, if the disc is made using anamorphic widescreen, the actual video looks like this. 136 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:32,460 If this signal is going to a widescreen display, A DVD player will send this as is, and the 137 00:08:32,460 --> 00:08:35,709 TV will stretch that image out to fill itself in. 138 00:08:35,709 --> 00:08:40,360 If you don’t have a widescreen TV, then the DVD player will squish the image downward 139 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,680 and add letterboxes to the top and bottom to restore the correct aspect ratio. 140 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:48,720 Of course you can encode the video with the letterboxing, but then you’re wasting much 141 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,250 of the resolution on black bars. 142 00:08:51,250 --> 00:08:54,430 This means to fill a widescreen display, you have to zoom it in. 143 00:08:54,430 --> 00:08:58,600 And if you make these chunks go offscreen, you’re making all of that resolution just 144 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:00,040 go away. 145 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,710 By using anamorphic widescreen, none of the image is lost, it just becomes stretched. 146 00:09:04,710 --> 00:09:08,769 To use digital terms, it takes pixels that should be square and stretches them sideways 147 00:09:08,769 --> 00:09:09,769 into rectangles. 148 00:09:09,769 --> 00:09:13,100 But of course Laserdisc isn’t digital so there aren’t pixels. 149 00:09:13,100 --> 00:09:15,000 Let’s not go down that path… 150 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,560 Squeeze LD was perhaps the first time anamorphic widescreen was found in home video. 151 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:24,240 But it was rare for players to be able to unsqueeze the image--few Laserdisc players 152 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,140 had the ability to self-letterbox like any DVD player can. 153 00:09:28,140 --> 00:09:33,020 So unless you had a 16:9 television, which was a rare thing even in Japan while Laserdisc 154 00:09:33,020 --> 00:09:37,160 was still current, a Squeeze LD would actually really suck. 155 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,500 As you can imagine they aren’t particularly common, and they were never released in the States. 156 00:09:41,500 --> 00:09:43,080 Well, that about covers it. 157 00:09:43,089 --> 00:09:45,230 I think we said all there is to say about Laserdisc. 158 00:09:45,230 --> 00:09:46,230 Except no! 159 00:09:46,230 --> 00:09:47,230 There’s one more thing! 160 00:09:47,230 --> 00:09:48,300 A bonus fact! 161 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:50,600 There WERE recordable Laserdiscs! 162 00:09:50,610 --> 00:09:52,740 And in at least three varieties. 163 00:09:52,740 --> 00:09:58,301 Just like the CD-R is a thing, so was the LD-R. Except they were really called RLV for 164 00:09:58,301 --> 00:10:00,060 Recordable Laser Videodisc. 165 00:10:00,060 --> 00:10:04,930 Now, Wikipedia tells us with no accompanying citation that these were developed and marketed 166 00:10:04,930 --> 00:10:07,480 by the Optical Disc Corporation in 1984. 167 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,860 I’ve linked some forum threads down below which shed some light on the issue, and it 168 00:10:11,860 --> 00:10:16,790 could be that fewer than 10 machines ever existed which could write to these RLVs. 169 00:10:16,790 --> 00:10:21,820 But, once written, they were compatible with standard Laserdisc players, just as a CD-R is 170 00:10:21,820 --> 00:10:23,300 with any old CD player. 171 00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:24,300 Usually. 172 00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:26,760 The second variety was actually re-writable. 173 00:10:26,779 --> 00:10:32,050 The Pioneer VDR-V1000 was a behemoth of a machine, equipped with 2 lasers to enable 174 00:10:32,050 --> 00:10:36,480 reading in one place while writing in another, and the caddy-protected discs had a theoretical 175 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,140 lifespan of one million re-writes. 176 00:10:39,140 --> 00:10:45,220 But, this thing was definitely for professional use only, with a retail price of £25,000. 177 00:10:45,220 --> 00:10:48,500 Discs, though, were quite the bargain at only £800. 178 00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:53,990 Sony developed a third, almost unrelated writable video standard called CRV, which rather than 179 00:10:53,990 --> 00:10:55,790 being a midsize crossover... 180 00:10:55,790 --> 00:11:01,050 I mean a re-writable disc, was a write-once read-many format, but it only held 24 minutes 181 00:11:01,050 --> 00:11:02,050 per side. 182 00:11:02,050 --> 00:11:05,730 It was mainly used as a video backup system in the professional market. 183 00:11:05,730 --> 00:11:11,550 Interesting, CRV stands for Component Recordable Video disc, which makes me wonder if it stored 184 00:11:11,550 --> 00:11:14,280 component signals rather than composite. 185 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,639 Perhaps that would explain its reduced runtime. 186 00:11:16,639 --> 00:11:20,399 There might have been more recordable versions of Laserdisc out there, but information on 187 00:11:20,399 --> 00:11:21,399 them is scarce. 188 00:11:21,399 --> 00:11:25,740 A lot of info for this video came from forum threads on the Laserdisc archive, the Laserdisc 189 00:11:25,740 --> 00:11:27,959 Database, and even CED magic. 190 00:11:27,959 --> 00:11:31,149 I’ve put some links down below if you’d like to take a look at these conversations. 191 00:11:31,149 --> 00:11:34,560 I believe I owe particular thanks to Disclord for his knowledge. 192 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:36,860 Well now, that is all I have to say about Laserdisc. 193 00:11:36,860 --> 00:11:40,300 I’m sure we’ll look at it again in some fashion, especially as I want to get this 194 00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:44,111 machine working again, but I think I’ve compiled everything you might want to know 195 00:11:44,111 --> 00:11:47,660 about the format into video form, if I do say so myself. 196 00:11:47,660 --> 00:11:50,310 Well, I’m sure that’s not true, but hopefully most of it. 197 00:11:50,310 --> 00:11:52,380 As always, thank you so much for watching. 198 00:11:52,380 --> 00:11:54,720 And thank you to everyone who supports this channel on Patreon, 199 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,360 especially these fine individuals. 200 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,120 I know I’ve said this before, but support from Patreon literally is what keeps these 201 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:02,480 videos coming. 202 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:07,060 Very soon this channel will become my full-time job thanks to the amazing support you’ve pledged. 203 00:12:07,060 --> 00:12:08,060 Thank you. 204 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:11,580 If you are interested in supporting the channel too, please check out my Patreon page. 205 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,540 Thank you for your consideration, and I’ll see you next time!