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/r/LaserDisc's
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The most popular Products mentioned in /r/LaserDisc:
![Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Skynet Edition) [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mUqZuCMiL._SL500_.jpg)
The most popular Services mentioned in /r/LaserDisc:
HackADay
VirtualDub
IMDb TV
AniDB
Open Culture
OfferUp
The most popular Android Apps mentioned in /r/LaserDisc:
The most popular reviews in /r/LaserDisc:
That appears to be a copy of the old Laser Video File (later Laser Video Guide) with a cover custom-printed for Suncoast. You can see the "regular" edition, along with several others, here. I was thinking that Half Price Books has an inflated sense of how much this catalog is worth, but that was before I looked at Amazon and saw that some third-party seller there is offering a copy of the Winter 1997 Laser Video Guide for twice as much. You used to be able to pick up older copies of these at places that sold laserdiscs for almost nothing.
Keep at it. I hear they can be very expensive and heavily edited. You could grab this to tide you over. I have it and it's very good. https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Lake-Memories-Complete-History/dp/1845763432/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0/136-3272645-9170616?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1845763432&pd_rd_r=0331ff29-07c4-42ad-941b-a5692487409a&pd_rd_w=B21kQ&pd_rd_wg=a1qEF&pf_rd...
Well done. Always have been a big fan of his movies. (Purposely missed a music lesson when a I was 11 because Jason and the Argonauts was playing at the theater next door). If you haven’t heard of this book you should check it out. It is THE definitive biography. Tons of pictures and fabulous information. https://www.amazon.com/Ray-Harryhausen-Animated-Life/dp/0823084027/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
You could look at the Darbee products. They are getting ready to put out a new 4K device (https://www.pixelgendesign.com/products/pxlvision) and their older 1080p upscalers (https://smile.amazon.com/DarbeeVision-DVP-5000S-Visual-Presence-Processor/dp/B06XYW9ZWB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TKF37PBKDR0K&dchild=1&keywords=darbeevision+dvp-5000s&qid=1619126340&sprefix=Darbee%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-1) are hard to find but work very well. Not sure how it would all turn out using the 5000s going to your 4K display's upscaling. I tried playing my laser discs on my 77C8 (using Pioneer CLD-99) without any scaling device and they all looked pretty bad. Moved my player back to a 50” plasma in another room and it was way better.
> subUrbia.
The 84' Penelope Spheeris film about the punks?
If so, there have been multiple DVD releases going back to 2000; you can get it on Amazon for $11.
Oh wow, I'd almost forgotten about that one!
Eric Bogosian is a talented dude, and that was one of my two favorites of his films. I was 13 when it came out, a little young to fully appreciate it, but I remember watching it again in my early twenties and finding it really "touched home".
Looks like it's available to stream in HD via Amazon, I think I'll watch it again this weekend.
Your best bet is a DVD Recorder with VHS. I had one from Panasonic that output HDMI at 720p or 1080i. If you can find something with similar specs (VHS and HDMI) from another brand, I would say go for it. This is a link to the model I had: (Amazon). Don’t let that price fool you. I got mine at Goodwill for $15. And I still see comparable units for under $30 pretty often. YMMV.
Why VHS and HDMI matters: better analog video processors. Some DVD recorders are only designed for high quality MPEG2 reproduction. And they scale to 1080p really well, but only do a basic pass through on composite video sources. DVD Recorders with VHS are much more likely to have a video signal process with features like advanced comb filtering, deinterlacing, chroma and luma noise reduction, and the option to scale at a native 4:3 screen ratio, or stretched 16:9.
Good luck.
I got a good one as I've tried a few. Many of the Chinese ones you get on Amazon almost always stretch the 4:3 signal to 16:9 or have interlace issues. The one I got that didn't do that is from Avermedia.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQ43WI8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Not only does it keep the ratio at 4:3 but it outputs the video at 480i without attempting to deinterlace it or "upscale" it to 720p or 1080p... just 480i as it is and the result is very good actually. I mean... it's not perfect but it's better than the $20 converters Amazon sells. It can run off the USB port of your receiver and then you hook it up accordingly.
Might be useful: I use My Media Catalogue on Android to scan the bar codes and it then uses lddb.com as a source.
You can then export from My Media Catalogue and bulk import into your lddb.com collection. One presumes the same process could be used as a seller.
Or you can frame them....
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ARXSXA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Used these for outer sleeves. Worked great for single discs. Good for doubles. But if double with gatefold they can get pretty tight. Premium Record Sleeves
Saw some on Amazon, ... hang on ... check here
Buy some plastic sleeves if you're worried about the covers being up against the foam. These are good. https://www.amazon.com/Invest-Vinyl-Protective-Collection-Protection/dp/B01HHBA0PY
I'd put the sleeve opening on a different side than the plastic opening. I have my LDs in plastic crates I bought from Target, standing up, and they've been fine.
The S-VHS output on my Sony LD offers less color bleed, but have hooked it up both ways and 90% of the time the analog to digital convertor does enough heavy lifting to make it indistinguishable. Some of the LD players did have signal problems...so its better to test for yourself...S-VHS cables should be pretty cheap. https://www.amazon.com/Cmple-S-Video-Cable-Gold-Plated-SVideo/dp/B003WB70O8
Yes! Big fan of this one, which includes a physical switch for 4:3/16:9 and has dual inputs (composite only) I use it when I capture my LDs to MP4 (external converter)
Yup, that’s it! I got mine off of Amazon.
Tendak 3RCA AV CVBS Composite & S-Video R/L Audio to HDMI Converter Adapter Support 720P/1080P with 3RCA S-Video Cable for NES SNES N64 PS2 PS3 HDTV https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V2ULHBS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_6E8E104ECQ29F4847GBN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
The best value for money/picture quality option is to see if your TV has a Composite dongle attachment and hook your player via that. Most HDTVs either come with the dongle in the box or you can buy them separately. If you what a improvement in picture quality, but not have to sell your first born, you can try picking up a 2000s DVD recorder and hooking your player through that. You can get DVD recorders that have an HDMI output, or using the above mention dongle, connect that way.
The DVD recorder will work as a pretty decent up-scaler with-out the price tag of a DVDO, etc. People will over a million ways to hook your player up, but I find the best overall option is to put as little as much between your player and TV. I use a https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMR-EZ28K-Recorder-1080p-Upconversion/dp/B0014F7Z94
It’s mainly a ton of box, with just 2 discs inside. No other inserts or anything
There are a few players advertised as working on Ebay for $80-100, but you'll also have to pay shipping and there's always some risk of damage in transit.
Aside from that I'd try the online options otherwise suggested here, I often find a couple on Craigslist and sometimes see them on Offrup. Although you'll face the "shipping issues" with those sites as well unless you find something near enough to pick up in-person.
I've heard of people finding them at thrift stores, so it might be worth calling around. But I wouldn't rely too much on that; the store operators are usually aware that there's very little demand for LD hardware and will often refuse or recycle it.
HI! I was actually reading your code earlier today!
The Rasberrypi2 has a sampling rate of 7.2 MHz (when compiling in C), which should be plenty fast for capturing the data and controlling the servos, worst case scenario I can just play a laserdisc from start to finish while tapping into the photo-receptor(I might have to amplify this, I'll scope its voltage output), as well as the precise RPM/angular velocity.
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/27/the-pi-2-means-faster-gpio/
Edit: although theres the FPGA option, I have a spare USB logic analyzer that could capture gigs of data if all else fails.
Edit2: I fixed the max sampling rate to 7.2 MHz, which for comparison, the full speed bandwidth of a laserdisc is about 4.2 MHz.
I use an Onkyo brand learning remote found at a thrift store. Whichever functions are not directly programmable can be learnt from another device. For that I use thrift store GE brand universal remotes and an Android app called irplus.
I would check first to see if you can pick-up a composite dongle for your TV. I have a Samsung and just have the player hooked directly to my TV via a dongle. This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Gender-Cable-RCA-BN39-02189A/dp/B01LQQ83KU/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=samsung+av+dongle&qid=1639030208&sr=8-4.
A HDMI adapter will not act as an upscaler. If you can use the AV dongle on your TV, then hooking your player directly to the TV will be your best option.
No need: The disk sundered right after I ripped it.
The title: TWD Express (https://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=6811). I've seen the existing rip. Its awful.
I'd still like to save the disk itself if possible, but...
FYI: Amazon Prime members can watch Flower Drum Song for free in Amazon Video. On IMDB, you can see it for free with ads here: https://www.imdb.com/tv/watch/tt0054885?ref_=tt_wbr_fdv A sign on is required either with an IMDB account or your Google/FB/Apple logins.
I've done a lot of LD-to-digital transfers, and I think I've got a good routine down for it.
You'll need a quality video capture device, Hauppauge tends to make good stuff. I've been using their cards since the mid-90's with the WinTV models.
I like to use (VirtualDub)[http://www.virtualdub.org] to capture and process the video.
My process:
Connect the LD player to the capture device via composite.
Check audio by playing the disc a bit and monitoring the level as you adjust it.
Capture at 720x480 @ 29.97 FPS in VirtualDub using a lossless codec such as HuffYUV or (preferably) Logarith. Capture raw PCM audio at 16-bit, stereo, 48 KHz sample rate.
Do any necessary trimming and combining of the video for when you flipped sides, etc.
Apply a software comb filter and deinterlacing filter. I like the Yadif 2x deinterlace which doubles the frame rate and does a pretty good job of converting the interlaced source to 60 FPS progressive. If the video needs it, also add a filter to adjust brightness/contrast/black levels and crop if widescreen at this step.
Save with the filters to a new lossless file.
Use ffmpeg (a command line utility) to convert that filtered file to MP4. I get great results with a command line like this:
ffmpeg -i sourcefile.avi -vcodec h264 -preset veryslow -b:v 4000k -aspect 4:3 -acodec ac3 -b:a 320k outputfile.mp4
Obviously, change the aspect ratio above accordingly if you cropped your frame previously and it's not meant to be shown in 4:3.
BEST? would be a doomsday duplicator. Good enough and about 90% of the way there? https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-610-USB-Live-Digitizer-Capture/dp/B0036VO2BI/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2T1HYO6VRA5GC&dchild=1&keywords=hauppauge&qid=1633438309&sprefix=haup%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-4 just max out the bitrate in the software options. sure it aint perfect but its good enough to not be block city like most uploaders sadly do
It's the most economical way.
This would probably work for what you're looking for:
are you asking for a recommendation on a converter box?? Or are you asking whether to use composite of S-Video??
A1: 2 Port AV to HDMI Converter 16:9/4:3 support.
A2: Composite
>Can someone recommend a decent but not horribly expensive RCA to HDMI converter?
Most AV->HDMI converters stretch the video to 16:9. You want to avoid those.
I use these from Amazon. The work well I have all my LD box sets in them.
(25) 12" Resealable OVERSIZE Record Outer Sleeves - Super Clear Premium 2 Mil Thick Archival Quality BOPP - 13-7/8" x 13-1/4" + 1-5/8" Flap - FITS MOST BOX SETS UP TO 7/8" THICK #12SB02RSOS https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DKGM3A/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_glt_fabc_37W38PQJCFMFE14PCDYM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
You should really check out the HD remaster of Delicate Sound of Thunder. It's an entirely different (and better) concert film.
Not exactly a rah-rah LD post I know. But I precioused the DSOT LD like Gollum for over 30 years. The new remix blows it away.
I've tried a few of the ones on eBay but they all just convert the video from 4:3 into stretched 16:9. On my TV, I can stretch it, zoom, panoramic (which I'm still not sure what that mode is), or standard. Everything is just stretched to 16:9 and it's annoying. For that, I have to hook directly via composite as I have no other real choice. I don't see the need to spend the money on an upscaler since most on Amazon are cheap Chinese electronics that stretch everything to 16:9 anyway. But for anything, the picture was sharper even though it couldn't deinterlace without messing up the picture.
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I was going to get one of those devices that converts the RCA or SVideo to VGA and use that input, but my TV doesn't let me use the zoom option to enlarge it and leave off the top/bottom to make it like it was in 16:9 (like old non-anamorphic DVDs).
But if you have the option to zoom into this type of video that's 4:3 so you can do that, here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Composite-S-Video-Converter-Projector-Adapter/dp/B074M38P1H/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RV7J15FRQ2RE0Z7BG598
I collected records first, so I already had a few of these laying around: https://smile.amazon.com/100-Record-Outer-Sleeves-Polyethylene/dp/B000RA7IZS/ref=sxin_9_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-cmVjb3JkIHNsZWV2ZXMgb3V0ZXI%3D-ac_d_rm&cv_ct_cx=record+sleeve&dchild=1&keywords=record+sleeve&pd_rd_i=B000RA7IZS&pd_rd_r=...
If you find those split on you or anything, gives those guys a shot.
There are a lot of different LP frames that you can buy that fit LDs.
I suppose it's actually a decoder, here's what I picked up: <em>https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002J2MV4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1</em>
Mann's 1st cut of that film was 3.5 hours long; he reportedly put together a roughly 2-hour cut to please the studio, which they ditched in favor of the slapdash 96-minute cut they threw together for theatrical release.
That theatrical cut was what ended up on the VHS/LD releases, and (oddly) is available to stream via Amazon, although only in SD.
I'd kill for a re-release of the full cut.
The Intensity is decent quality and will do what you want. To get digital in, you can use a cheapo USB sound card to capture from like this one (https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Adapter-External-Digital-ICUSBAUDIO7D/dp/B002LM0U2S). You just have to make sure to keep the video and audio in sync!
As for capturing Dolby Digital; I don't know of a solution. SPDIF stereo/matrix Dolby Surround is as good as it gets I believe. Now, I haven't tried this but you theoretically SHOULD be able to capture DTS LDs in full 6 channel because the audio is stored on the regular PCM tracks as PCM and output as S/PDIF data. So long as you figure out how to store it bit-perfect (meaning no sample rate conversion, etc), spitting it back out into a receiver should give you 6 channel DTS.
Amazon UK has the intensity for £180.31, I imagine other retailers are charging roughly the same, as that lines up with it's USD pricing. Personally I think it's worth every penny, the only other solution I've seen that would be workable for any less would be an old ATI All-In-Wonder card, but the results you'll get with the Intensity are better, and it offers more flexibility.
As far as Digital Audio, you'll need a sound/interface card or USB/Thunderbolt input device with an SPDIF (optical) input. Many sound cards have them, some of which are under £100, so I'd say just do a little shopping and find the one you like at a price you're willing to pay. As long as you're using software that will allow you to merge the incoming video from the Intensity with the incoming audio from the card/input device, you're golden at least in terms of getting PCM to the PC.
Digitally encoded Dolby Stereo and Dolby Surround/Pro-Logic tracks should transfer with the "flags" intact for correct decoding at the other end. Whether you can capture Dolby Digital or DTS will depend on your interface device and software.
Yeah, I've read that it's appeared occasionally on Netflix throughout the past couple of years. I've personally never seen it on there. Good to know that there's an HD version out there somewhere, though.
EDIT: You can also buy an HD version from Amazon for $7.99 here
I have had good luck with Diskeeper! 2.0 Anti-Static Record Sleeves. They seem thick enough and are a pretty good deal as well.
I've been getting these frames (Amazon)
They also have a handy 6-pack to save some money if you're getting a few of them: (Amazon)
They're cheap, but the frames are aluminum, and just thick enough to cover up some minor corner damage. They're also dual sided, so you can take them off the wall and see the back of the jacket too.
Modern tvs are terrible at displaying standard definition content. Laserdisc players were often optimized for tube tvs. Even a cheap upscaler (just like what you get in an upscaling dvd players) might help some with the picture quality.