What's the difference between laserdisc and DVD?

[KingNothing]

This just occurred to me, laserdisc seems like the Betamax version of DVD, but I dunno. What are the differences?

 

[Viper GTS]

Tons.

For one, laserdisc video is not digital. The audio is digital though.

Some info

I had some links with TONS of info (in a previous ld vs dvd thread), but the links are dead now.

Viper GTS

 

[KingNothing]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Tons.

For one, laserdisc video is not digital. The audio is digital though.

Viper GTS

You mean the original source video that was recorded on the laserdisc was analog, right? Wouldn't it have to be in digital format on the laserdisc itself?

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: KingNothing

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Tons.

For one, laserdisc video is not digital. The audio is digital though.

Viper GTS

You mean the original source video that was recorded on the laserdisc was analog, right? Wouldn't it have to be in digital format on the laserdisc itself?

No, I mean precisely what I said. The video on the laserdisc is not digital, it is analog. The audio is digital.

Viper GTS

 

[cjchaps]

DVD's compress the movie and it is stored as a movie datafile. Laserdiscs are like a film projector, in that a bunch of pictures are stored on the disc, and they are not comrpessed useing MPEG compression like DVD's.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Ignoring the obvious difference in form factor, laserdisc technology preceded home consumer DVD technology by at least a decade. It's essentially a legacy market at this point.

 

[KingNothing]

So basically the video quality was the same as VHS but the audio was better?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: KingNothing
So basically the video quality was the same as VHS but the audio was better?

It was better than VHS I believe. Better resolution(more lines drawn on the screen), as well as a cleaner souce - optical vs. magnetic.

 

[Flashram]

So basically the video quality was the same as VHS but the audio was better?

No, the picture quality is much better than VHS.

 

[cjchaps]

Laserdisc quality rivals DVDs, and if the DVD was not encoded well, the laserdisc will surpass the DVD in picture quality, largely in part becaues the laserdisc video is not compressed.

 

[Muadib]

The VHS format outputs 220 lines of horizontal resolution.
Broadcast TV has about 330 lines of horizontal resolution.
Laserdisc outputs just over 400 lines of horizontal resolution.
DVD outputs about 500 lines of horizontal resolution.

 

[Maverick]

I know laserdisc could do ac3 audio...but through an RF type connector. I don't know its compatible with today's standard decoders. Not sure of the capacity either, but I know the picture was close to DVD. Others are right though, the compression is the biggest difference between the two. Lack of compression made laserdiscs huge and expensive. Individual discs costed around $80-100.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Shiva112
I know laserdisc could do ac3 audio...but through an RF type connector. I don't know its compatible with today's standard decoders. Not sure of the capacity either, but I know the picture was close to DVD. Others are right though, the compression is the biggest difference between the two. Lack of compression made laserdiscs huge and expensive. Individual discs costed around $80-100.

As far as digital sound goes, if your LDP had either a coax or toslink digital output then you are good as far as using it on todays equipment. The RF type connector seems to have followed the ldp into history.

 

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: Shiva112
I know laserdisc could do ac3 audio...but through an RF type connector. I don't know its compatible with today's standard decoders. Not sure of the capacity either, but I know the picture was close to DVD. Others are right though, the compression is the biggest difference between the two. Lack of compression made laserdiscs huge and expensive. Individual discs costed around $80-100.

As far as digital sound goes, if your LDP had either a coax or toslink digital output then you are good as far as using it on todays equipment. The RF type connector seems to have followed the ldp into history.

Actually, that's not true.... laserdisc may use the same TYPE of connector (coax or optical) but the signal is still RF. To decode AC3 from a laserdisc player you need an RF Demodulator, which are fairly hard to find these days...

Dave

 

[Paulson]

THE SIZE OF THE DISCS

Record size CD's are not my thing... glad they came out with dvd's...

 

[zephyrprime]

Yep, LD is analog. As I understand it, the pit lengths are of variable lengths and these lengths encode voltages. Hmmm, now that I think about it, it seems to me that although the color components would be analog, the number of pixels would be discrete (ie digital).

DVD's uses mpg2 compressiong which LD doesn't of course.