vintage to modern laserdisc players

[mathewhebailey0]

Anyone know about or collect vintage to modern laserdisc players? Not the DVD,CD or Blu-Ray format,but players that range from vintage,to modern players that use not only DVD's &CD's but laserdiscs (combo players) as well.
I believe so far one of the oldest & most vintage laserdisc players is the Pioneer/DiscoVision PR-7820 player,not only used anywhere,but also in GM dealerships & also used in the early 1980's (1983)laserdisc arcade game Dragon's Lair.
Pioneer stopped making laserdisc players in 2009.

 

[cfz2882]

I have a Pioneer laserdisc player from 1990-motor bearings are worn,but it works ok.I also have a couple RCA CED players-both from 1982,and one hooked up for use.

 

[mattl]

I've got a Pioneer LD player tucked away somewhere and a few disks to go with it.  I recall pulling it out a few years back and playing one of the disks - very disappointed in the video quality.  For a time it was one of the best sources of video, but time moves on.  Also found the audio very lacking.

 

For me it's a quaint reminder of how far we've come, along with my CD-4 receiver and vhs decks.  In the past year I've dumped $$$$ into a 4k display, new Marantz AVR with Atmos and 4 in ceiling speakers to go with it.  Stunning images and just as stunning sound - no looking back.

 

[cadman]

Somehow those early top-load LD players keep accumulating while I'm not looking. Last I checked I've got several Magnavisions (as made popular by Leonard Nemoy), Pioneer's VP1000, and the GM dealer DiscoVision PR-7820 along with the woodgrain display.

For serious LD watching, I have a "modern" DVL-909. The big issue today is interfacing with flat panel TV's. The image quality is terrible without a proper converter, though I get a very respectable picture when playing through a home cinema projector.

 

[tolivac]

I jhave two laserdisc machines-one is a Pioneer combo machine can play laserdisc or DVD-however the DVD player in this one won't work with later DVDs.Also have a Sony laserdisc only player-both can auto reverse.Don't use them anymore.DVD BluRay and 4 K BlueRay is SO MUCH better!!!!!!and can't use the laserdisc machines with my newer 4K Samsung 65" TV.So they sit in the closet.Same with the discs.Bet the discs now have "laserrot" and won't work anymore anyway.

 

[lowefficiency]

Have you guys seen the video where TechMoan reviews a TOL LaserDisc player?

He makes a very good observation, that although the LaserDiscs represented the very best quality one could have at the time, the actual movie content on the discs is often poor in comparison to that on the equivalent DVD.

The key observation though is that this fact has NOTHING to do with any faults in LaserDisc players or the LaserDisc distribution technology itself - it's that decades of time have passed, and we have much better technology for retroactively making new captures/transfers from the original movie film.

 

[mattl]

I recall renting LDs from a location in Lansing 50 miles from me.  I was working in that area at the time and on one local had disks to rent.  So long ago...