Found a LaserDisc player at a thrift store for $15. Is LD a medium worth checking out and how good is this particular player?

[Brixbuster]

When I tested the player it appeared to function mechanically and play CDs. I have no LDs to test sadly.

[Needfuldoer]

LaserDisc was pretty much the highest quality video you could get at home back in the videotape era. Now, it's mostly an expensive curiosity. Think of them as LP-sized DVDs.

 

 

That player in particular is interesting because it's a LaserKaraoke machine.

 

 

[Blue4130]

24 minutes ago, Brixbuster said:

When I tested the player it appeared to function mechanically and play CDs. I have no LDs to test sadly.

 

Are you into retro tech? Do you have a source for Laser disks? Do you have extra cash to blow? If yes, then go for it. They are cool as a curiosity, nothing more. Streaming and DVD's/BR will out perform them.

[ChrisLoudon]

3 hours ago, Brixbuster said:

When I tested the player it appeared to function mechanically and play CDs. I have no LDs to test sadly.

Unfortunately, even if you do find any LDs on the used market, the chances are, they will all be suffering from 'laser-rot'.

 

I had an LD player about 20 years ago and even my discs were starting to suffer even back then.

[porina]

See what content you can get, at what cost? Quality is somewhere between VHS and DVD, although DVD can look pretty rough these days on bigger screens than were around when it was current due to compression artefacts. LD is analog so doesn't suffer from that.

[Blue4130]

6 hours ago, porina said:

LD is analog so doesn't suffer from that.

It just suffers from other image destroying issues

[porina]

15 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

It just suffers from other image destroying issues

Apart from the literal destroying from disk rot, there wasn't much to fault with it. It's still on my "to do" list but I do have a LD player from when they were still current and will set it up with my early gen LCD TV which is old enough to have a SCART socket.

 

DVDs are also pretty ancient by current standards. When I got my first dedicated player I used it with a 24" CRT TV. That was fine. When I later upgraded to a 1080p 32" LCD TV, DVD was no longer fine. It was just obvious macroblocking everywhere. Not as bad as YouTube 1080p bitrate, but I think that serves as a good example of higher resolution looking bad from insufficient bitrate. At least LD didn't suffer from digital compression artefacts. Make it bigger, it just looks softer.

 

Anyway, we're way over thinking it at this point. If you just want to see a film or series, most would just find it easiest to stream it somehow. Those after quality might seek out Blu-ray. Anything older than that is a bit of retro fun at this point, even DVDs.

[dilpickle]

No it's not worth it unless you have some specific interest in retro tech.