Greek LaserDisc Collection

Some of my favorites:

Terminator 2: Judgment Day < LB > < CAV >
The Abyss < LB > < CLV >
Jurassic Park < THX > < LB > < CAV >
The Professional < LB > < CLV >
Toy Story < LB > < CLV > < THX >
I D 4: Independence Day < LB > < CAV > < THX > < AC-3 Dig >
Twister < LB > < CLV > < THX > < AC-3 Dig >

The rest of my humble collection:

Back to the Future I, II, and III < CLV >
Lethal Weapon I, II and III < CLV > < LB >
Predator < CLV >
The Running Man < CLV >
The Terminator < CLV >
Total Recall < CLV >
Beverly Hills Cop < CLV >
What About Bob? < CLV >
Top Gun < CLV >
Die Hard < CLV > < LB >
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? < CAV >
Star Wars < CLV > < LB >
The Empire Strikes Back < CLV > < LB >
Return of the Jedi < CLV > < LB >
Last Action Hero < LB >
Demolition Man < CLV >
Airplane! < CLV >
Goodfellas < CLV >
The Lion King < THX > < CLV >
The Fugitive < CLV > < LB >
Caddyshack < CLV >
Reservoir Dogs < CLV > < LB >
Pulp Fiction < THX > < LB > < CLV >
A Few Good Men < CLV > < LB >
The Hunt for Red October < CLV > < LB >
Wiley Coyote: If at first you don't succeed, try again < CLV > (Best of Wiley and Roadrunner)
Goldeneye < THX > < AC3 Dig > < LB > < CLV >
Apollo 13 < THX > < LB > < CLV >
Forrest Gump < LB > < CLV >
Schindler's List < LB > < CLV >
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles < CLV >
Tequila Sunrise < LB > < CLV >
Batman < LB > < CLV >
Animal House < CLV >
Broken Arrow < LB > < CLV > < THX > < AC-3 Dig >
While You Were Sleeping < CLV > < LB > < THX >
Heat < LB > < CLV >
Boomerang < LB > < CLV >
True Lies < THX > < LB > < CLV > < AC3 Dig >
Robocop < THX > < LB > < CLV > < Criterion >
Alladin < THX > < LB > < CAV >
The Net < LB > < CLV >
Cliffhanger < LB > < CLV >
L. A. Story < LB > < CLV >

Your Guide to Pleasurable LaserDisc Viewing:

< CAV > - Standing for Constant Angular Velocity, this denotes discs which are generally regarded as better for special effects movies. They can be easily maneuvered on by the player because it does not have to adjust speed as different parts of the Disc are read. CAV Discs can hold only 30 minutes per side. T2, for example, requires 3 Discs;
(3 Discs) * (2 sides) * (30 minutes per side) = 3 hours possible (actually ~ 2:20)

< CLV > - Constant Linear Velocity - This means that the disc's rotational speed is adjusted as the laser reads at different radii on the disc. Starting from the center of the disc, the player must accelerate the disc to a high velocity, which is then decreased (not quite linearly) as the movie is played. CLV discs can hold a maximum of one hour of full-motion video and audio on each side. This is enough to accommodate most full length feature films. If the movie is slightly more than 2 hours, usually about 40 minutes are put on each side, and 2 discs are used. It is common to see that the fourth side (second side of the second disc) is not used. (This side usually contains a message to the effect.)

< THX > - This is a highly advanced theatrical audio system, utilizing eight speakers, designed primarily for the theater viewing itself. More and more laserdiscs are created using THX which really just indicates a certain standard of video and audio performance (signal-to-noise, image quality, etc.)

< AC3 Dig > - This is the latest advance in audio systems, called AC-3 Digital. It provides 5 full channels of audio (left front, center front, right front, left rear, and right rear) to provide full separation (coded more effectively than surround sound). True Lies is one of the first disks that has the AC-3 system on it, and as a result, the right analog channel sounds scrambled -- it is really the encoding of the AC-3 Digital Sound System.

Sony D V D (Digital Video Disc) Home Page

I will probably buy a Digital Video Disc (DVD) recorder when they come out, but it seems to me that it is pretty worthless to have a DVD player. Yeah, there is an added bonus of image quality and size, but I would rather wait a couple more months to have the ability to record high quality video. Hopefully, the camcorder market will then soon be converted to DVDcorders so that home movies and other special events can be captured on a high-quality, non-deteriorating digital medium.

They will have to handle the skipping problem though. It seems to me that if the camcorder had enough digital memory to store 10 seconds of video ahead, this problem would be solved. Kind of like the reverse of some of today's Compact Disc (CD) players, this buffer would allow the camcorder to keep recording in the event of a skip. Once the skip was resolved (a couple of seconds later) the digital video memory would be recorded to the DVD. This would require a double-speed (or so) recording ability in the camcorder, which could also be utilized for slow-motion recording, special effects, etc.

Any comments, suggestions?

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E-Mail to the Greek!!
( Craig.Lampe@UTSouthwestern.edu )