Laserdisc Help.

[Retro_XXX_Buff]

Anyone here set up to transfer Laserdisc to AVI or MPEG ? I have a shot at getting a somewhat hard to find title, but it's a Laserdisc. I'm only set up for VHS to AVI.

[chip]

Not set up for it, but I'm in the same situation as you. I have a couple Laserdiscs I bought that I want to convert and do full DVDs of as well as smaller rips....And I've got my eye on a couple others and am always looking for more.

It's kind of a double-edged sword really. Yes, many titles never made it to DVD and Laserdisc is allegedly a better format than VHS. However it is for most people and purposes, a dead technology.

About the only thing I can think of to do is try and find an old player off of ebay or craigslist. It's pretty straightforward after that because the signal is analog just like VHS, so whatever interface (component or composite) you have already should do the trick.

Originally Posted by Retro_XXX_Buff

Anyone here set up to transfer Laserdisc to AVI or MPEG ? I have a shot at getting a somewhat hard to find title, but it's a Laserdisc. I'm only set up for VHS to AVI.

[Retro_XXX_Buff]

Thanks chip,
I was considering trying to find a player too and wasn't sure if it would work with my VHS 2 DVD Wizard software.

I figured I'd buy it and someone here might be able to transfer it for us here at VEF. I'd let them keep the disc for their trouble. The movie is probably a compilation, although I would like to see if any new material's in it.

Retro

[Immy]

Ask BigBobNobody guys, he's done a few dozen LD transfers and has the patience of a saint with tutorials.

[bigbobnobody]

Originally Posted by Immy

Ask BigBobNobody guys, he's done a few dozen LD transfers and has the patience of a saint with tutorials.

Immy's really being a bit too kind there lol, but I have transferred quite a
few LD's the past few years. First and foremost that anyone should know,
is of course that if you don't have something to play that big shiney disc,
that transferring it yourself will be impossible. Of course as Chip said, one
could always purchase one from Ebay or elsewhere, but then that's not
something I'd suggest if you only have one or two discs. There are quite
a few businesses these days that I've seen online, that will transfer your
discs for you, or if you run into someone you know that is capable of doing
it for you might be another way. I've never transferred a disc for anyone
else, but if either of you are interested, then feel free to PM me and I'll
certainly try to answer any questions either of you might have.

I'd been infatuated with laserdiscs ever since I was a teen and say my first
one. They were a bit pricey for me and my family back then, so we gravitated
as most did, to VHS's and a VCR. Still yet....that craving for them never
left and eventually I had an opportunity to purchase a few dozen discs,
that happened to come with two players at a really low price. It probably
wouldn't have made any difference if I'd known, but the cost to ship those
discs and players to me ended up increasing what I paid by about 4 times! lol
These players aren't light I'll tell ya! lol One of the one's I got, is seriously
a back breaker to lift, weighing at least 50 pounds! lol

If either of are considering purchasing a player, be sure to try to get some
sort of guarantee that it works well. These things are not only heavy and
expensive to ship, but they're expensive to be worked on as well, and finding
a place to work on them is not the easiest thing in the world either....at
least locally if you're not from a fairly large city.

So far I've been very very lucky with everything concerning LD's and their
players so far, running across only one disc out of about 100 with laser rot,
and both players still whirring away.

Despite any possible problems that might raise it's head getting into LD's,
I have to say that there's just not much of a bigger thrill for me than popping
in a disc of a title that was never released to DVD, and knowing that I'm
watching the absolute best quality of that title that has ever been available.
Just something about that kinda gives me the shivers every time lol.

Like I said....feel free to holler at me if anyone's got any questions, and
I'll do my best to answer em for ya.

[Retro_XXX_Buff]

Thanks for tips fellas, I think I'm going to hold off getting a Lasrdisc player as this would be too obvious of a weird piece to bring into the home and draw attention from the wife. We've never had one and it's obviously old technology she'd wonder what I got to play in it. I have gotten away with the VCR's because we have some old HS sports tapes / home videos I need to transfer. I don't think she realizes the amount of porn tapes I had and have been transferring.

[Provert]

Retro,

I have a couple of Pioneer Laserdisc players and have done transfers using a Sony Direct DVD stand alone recorder. I haven't had the best of luck using the optical digital output for transfers so it is mostly and analog to digital recording.

The quality is better than VHS but I also had to use a video filter to reduce the color flares in the Copyguard.

Macrovision seems to be the most prevalent in most adult LD's. GREX filters seem to be the best when using analog transfers and Booya works for Digital.

Good luck!

[Mainwaring1967]

I'm currently set-up for LD to MPEG transfer (Pioneer NTSC LD player to DVD Recorder). I've also got a Grass Valley/Canopus analogue to digital 'buggery box' which defeats the analogue copy-protection used on VHS and Laserdisc.

But as I'm w-a-a-a-a-a-y down here in Australia, I suspect that this is about as much use to you as a job is to someone with an earning disability (or 'dole bludger' as such types are known "down here"); and I have the feeling that our Customs people might confiscate sexually-explicit material (never brought the stuff in before).

Be aware that there is a known problem that affects the analogue audio tracks of Laserdiscs. Akin to the phenomenon popularly known as 'laser rot' (which is generally associated with an unplayable picture), this particular flavour of rot manifests itself as non-existent audio while the video remains perfect.

I mention this because I'd hate for you to get excited about finally tracking-down a copy of a particular movie, only to find that there's no sound (as happened with my LD copy of "Let It Be").

If the LD is an early disc (i.e. only has analogue audio tracks), you really should get the vendor to confirm that audio is present throughout the entire disc (one of my discs has intermittent audio from the "analogue" audio tracks).

Later LD discs incorporated two additional 'digital audio' tracks (not to be confused with the 'digital datastream' AC3 or DTS audio) - which are, AFAIK, impervious to the 'rot' issue.

The foregoing may well sound like 'techno-babble' but it is all very relevant to ensuring that you can actually play what you buy.

Cheers.

[bigbobnobody]

Macrovision on LD's is about as rare as hen's teeth. The LD format just
wasn't a strong enough market to make it feasible to put on every disc.
I've never seen one....disc or player.......and until today never knew that
any ever even existed. From what I've read though, the few that were made
were more for theater type viewings. I guess if you've got one......it might
be worth something lol......dunno. But I don't expect on running into any
at any point in the future lol. .

[hermit-tech]

I just sold 81 of my discs and a old Pioneer LD player. All of the discs were copies or movies I would not ever watch, as I buy bulk lots of LDs. I have over 200 movies in LD format and a Pioneer LD/DVD player (just found out it is not reading LD's after being moved from old house to new one, and sending it into the shop after Christmas).

Mainwaring1967 is right about laser rot. The laser does not actually rot the disc but when the disc was manufactured if any air was trapped in between the layers inside the disc over time the disc will "rot". Most of the discs I have seen with laser rot had heavy "snow" or random white spots in the picture and skipping or missing sound tracks.

I do know that LDs were becoming popular in Japan over the last couple of years again and I believe around 2010 Pioneer started making a new LD/DVD player (might be wrong on year). I looked in getting a new player but it was only sold in Japan and was approx $3,000.00 US.

I have copied a few LDs to AVI format using a standard vhs to digital converter with no problems but I am more into the classic format of the LD so I have not converted many of them. I collect LDs like my friend collects records and I feel they give me the classic feel of being in a theater when played on my big screen.

Don't get me wrong I love HD and bluray but sometimes it is nice to see the old grain on the picture as you would in an old theater.

Retro_XXX_Buff if you are still looking for someone to convert it I am happy to attempt to once I get my player serviced. I am here in the states and somewhat near you. Just send me message and I will see what I can do for you.