History of laserdiscs

[douglas pratt]

i saw my first laserdisc player in the fall of 1979, tough i have heard that
a gas laser machine and a few discovision titles were available as early as
the summer of 1978.

If there is anyone who can settle a disagreement between my wife and I

with

some factual information I would greatly appreciate it. We are in
disagreement as to when Laserdiscs were first released to the general
public. She says that they were available in the mid 80's and I believe it
was more around the early to mid 90's. Please help us!!!

[Jake]

Post by douglas pratt
i saw my first laserdisc player in the fall of 1979, tough i have heard that
a gas laser machine and a few discovision titles were available as early
as the summer of 1978.

Whoah! A gas player? That would be pretty darn heavy duty, not to mention
noisy. That would be so dope to have one of those. "Check it out. I've got
a gas LD player!" and the sounds of the internal combustion engine would be
heard from far and wide.

[Steve(JazzHunter)]

Post by Jake

Post by douglas pratt
i saw my first laserdisc player in the fall of 1979, tough i have heard that
a gas laser machine and a few discovision titles were available as early
as the summer of 1978.

Whoah! A gas player? That would be pretty darn heavy duty, not to mention
noisy. That would be so dope to have one of those. "Check it out. I've got
a gas LD player!" and the sounds of the internal combustion engine would be
heard from far and wide.

Vacuum tube technology, Electrons excite argon gas or some which gives
off light and that is focused into a coherent beam; as opposed to
Solid State LED emitters which came into use between 1983 and 1987.
My first CD player, a big top-loading Phillips, used a Gas Laser.
Also my first three Laserdisc players, theVH8000, and top-loading
Pioneers 660 and 1000 were gas Laser.

. Steve .

[Blaine Young]

The following units used a He-Ne gas tube:

PR-7820 - Pioneer
VH-8000 - Magnavox
VP-1000 - Pioneer
VH-8005 - Magnavox
VH-8010 - Magnavox
VP-7200 - Sylvania
LD-660 - Pioneer
LD-1100 - Pioneer
PR-8210 - Pioneer
LD-V1000 - Pioneer
LD-V1001 - Pioneer
LD-1000 - Pioneer (Japanese version of LD-1100)
LDP-1000 - Sony
LD-V10 - Akai (Black PR-8210 w/ Windowed Hood)
VLP-700 - Philips
VLP-720 - Philips
VLP-831 - Philips
VP-500 - Philips
VP-835 - Philips
VP-931 - Philips

I may be missing a few - and a bunch of these are industrial units.
Many are also PAL.

Just FYI

Blaine

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 22:10:36 -0400, "Steve(JazzHunter)"

Post by Steve(JazzHunter)

Post by Jake

Post by douglas pratt
i saw my first laserdisc player in the fall of 1979, tough i have heard that
a gas laser machine and a few discovision titles were available as early
as the summer of 1978.

Whoah! A gas player? That would be pretty darn heavy duty, not to mention
noisy. That would be so dope to have one of those. "Check it out. I've got
a gas LD player!" and the sounds of the internal combustion engine would be
heard from far and wide.

Vacuum tube technology, Electrons excite argon gas or some which gives
off light and that is focused into a coherent beam; as opposed to
Solid State LED emitters which came into use between 1983 and 1987.
My first CD player, a big top-loading Phillips, used a Gas Laser.
Also my first three Laserdisc players, theVH8000, and top-loading
Pioneers 660 and 1000 were gas Laser.
. Steve .

Blaine
***@oz.net
http://www.blamld.com

[Max Volume]

Post by Blaine Young
LD-660 - Pioneer

I've got one of these that doesn't seem to be working. I'd sell it,
too, if it weren't so $@#&! heavy.

[Steve(JazzHunter)]

Post by Max Volume

Post by Blaine Young
LD-660 - Pioneer

I've got one of these that doesn't seem to be working. I'd sell it,

I've got one that DOES work (I guess I've mentioned that <g>) and it
has a surprisingly good picture. Of course the overweaning virtue of
this model is that it will play side 5 (is it) of the Discovision of
"Frenzy." (with every frame marked as a Stop point.)

Steve .

[Blaine Young]

My very first LD player was the LD-660. It died a gross and ugly
death many years ago. However, I've recently picked up another unit
that someone thought would look good in black - so they took a can of
spray paint to it.

An interesting idea, but poorly executed.

I picked up a junked LD-V1000 industrial unit - which uses the excact
same plastics - and transferred the guts of the LD-660 into the skin
of the LD-V1000. Now, I've got a fully functional Black LD-660. The
only drawback is the buttons are still the original cream color. The
LD-V1000 doesn't have any external controls.

Just thought I'd share.

Blaine


On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 21:25:53 -0400, "Steve(JazzHunter)"

Post by Steve(JazzHunter)

Post by Max Volume

Post by Blaine Young
LD-660 - Pioneer

I've got one of these that doesn't seem to be working. I'd sell it,

I've got one that DOES work (I guess I've mentioned that <g>) and it
has a surprisingly good picture. Of course the overweaning virtue of
this model is that it will play side 5 (is it) of the Discovision of
"Frenzy." (with every frame marked as a Stop point.)
Steve .

Blaine
***@oz.net
http://www.blamld.com

[service]

<I picked up a junked LD-V1000 industrial unit - which uses the excact
same plastics - and transferred the guts of the LD-660 into the skin
of the LD-V1000. Now, I've got a fully functional Black LD-660. The
only drawback is the buttons are still the original cream color. The
LD-V1000 doesn't have any external controls.>

I STILL maintain you have way too much time on your hands :)