VCD Player???

[Kathleen Brogan]

I'm looking for a machine that was popular for a short time in the early 1980's called a VHD player that plays a black double-sided disc, similar concept to a laser disc, but different. I know that JVC & Victor made the players, models 9300 and 5000. I have a Janis concert (Restless Eyes era) in this format that I want to have converted to DVD. Does anyone have access to the machine, or a service that would convert it for me?

Any advice would be well appreciated!

Kathleen

[Rkitko]

I don't know about those, Kathleen, but your post brings me back to my childhood when a friend and neighbor had an early DVD player. The machine was massive and the discs were the size of large dinner plates. That had to be early- to mid-90s.

Check your local university. Their Audio-visual department may have one in storage somewhere, probably covered in dust and obscurity.

[Kathleen Brogan]

I think you mean the old laser discs! I have a Janis concert on one of those too! Thanks for the suggestion!

[Rkitko]

So that's what that was! I never knew. Admittedly, I was around 10 years old when I last saw it. I astonish myself that I even remember it at all.

[DaveM]

There were laser disks (basically big DVDs) and video disks, which were played with a needle or stylus. Usually the video disk was enclosed in a plastic case and you slid the whole thing into the player, which somehow gained access to the disk inside. Laser disks came in cardboard sleeves.

I would definitely ask at a school or the like--the bigger the AV department, the more likely they are to have one or both sitting around.

Both players also turn up on eBay now and then and the last time I checked, sell for very little. Be warned, however, that they weigh just over 50 pounds and are a NIGHTMARE to ship!

[Kathleen Brogan]

I knew Dave would pop up with some advice. There is a lot of info on the web too, but so far finding a machine (except a new one for $4,000) has been difficult so far. Duplicating services have barely heard of the medium!

Thanks for the info! I trudge on!

[Amy in Vermont]

Kathleen:

Contact the Media Services folks at the nearest large educational institution. They may have one. I will check with the folks here. I know we still have laser disc players....

[Marcia Drummergal]

Kathleen. We *might* have one in the basement. I'll look at it when I get home from work. It's been collecting dust for years. Honestly, I don't know if it works or not but you can have it if you want. Again, I'll check when I get home and see if it is the type of machine you're seeking. If it is and if it works....well, I'd just LOVE a copy of that Restless Eyes concert! :p

Marcia :)

[Kathleen Brogan]

Fingers crossing!!!! WOW!!!!! Rudie Restless Eyes vibes coming your way!!! And, of course a copy will be yours!!!!

[Marcia Drummergal]

Shoot! Bad news, Kathleen. I REALLY tried. It came out at the same time as the VCD player but when I unearthed it, it is called a CED player. The kind that DaveM mentioned, it had a sleeve that looked like a record album. You stuck the whole thing in and the machine pulled out the movie to be played from the sleeve. It says "RCA Selectavision" on it but it doesn't say VCD. And in as bad shape as it looks (we had a flood in the basement many years ago), it looks like it didn't escape. I really wanted it to be what you wanted Kathleen. Don't give up looking though.

Marcia :(

[Kathleen Brogan]

I just finished a correspondence with a guy stateside who will do the transfer for me! He's a VHD & CED Guru!!! Thanks so much for checking, Marcia! So everything worked out, and you'll still get the copy for trying, and setting up those good "Rudie Vibes". Now we just need to hope that the original disc is in good condition!!!!

Thanks again!

Kathleen

[Marcia Drummergal]

Kathleen. I am relieved that you found someone to help you with the transfer. It was disappointing when I realized that I had the "other" laser disc player. I remember that it was a hard decision back in 1982! Trying to decide which format was better. Of course, they were both just flashes in the pan and then VHS came along. I wonder what the next medium will be...after dvd's that is!

Marcia :)

[Kathleen Brogan]

Actually, I saw my first VCR in 1977, I think the guy who had it paid $2,500 for it! So the VHD & CED came later, just followed by the laserdisc!

[DaveM]

My folks bought a VCR in 1981, paying something like $800 for it. Mercifully, they did not get a Betamax. The unit they did get, however, was most entertaining to operate. It was prone to overheating, would not operate at all if the humidity went up, and had such a weak motor that unless the tape being played or recorded was moving VERY smoothly, it would just give up and stall. It had the then-revolutionary stereo capacity, which was never used since my parents never saw any point in adding an amplifier and speakers. This was of course long before anything like "Hi Fi" soundtracks, home theatres, or any form of surround sound.

I still have a fair number of cassettes which were recorded on that old clunky machine--one of those things I hang onto despite the fact that I can barely remember the last time I pulled one of them out and played it. Those old recordings--some now 25 years old--are fuzzy, grainy....marginally watchable, frankly and the image quality does not even approach that of my current VCR, a $29.95 clearance sale item purchased about five years ago.

The various disk formats did at least have decent playback quality as I recall. My hope and belief is that the next generation in video playback will involve some solid state medium with no moving parts--something like Flash memory but permanent, perhaps just a video iPod into which movies are downloaded rather than physically purchased or rented. I do not believe that either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will come out the winner--someone else will release a format with backwards compatibility and that will be the end of that (anyone remember the great competition between Digital Audio Tape and Compact Disks?).

I look at those old home recordings and feel just a trace of future shock. And cannot help but wonder how I'd feel if I were to see my parents' first color TV set (a huge console thingy purchased in 1970) again. I remember the sense of wonder it brought into the house. And I wonder, ever more often these days, if I will know that sensation again. Somehow, the next Windows update just doesn't cut it.