(2024-12) The Return of VHS (& Dolby Surround?)

[atrocity]

Or better yet, bring back RCA's SELECTAVISION...utilizing a stylus to read gunked up discs which were nestled in a 'caddy!' What were they thinking??????

In defense of CED: At the time of the first stereo CED player, it was far and away the cheapest way to get stereo on home video.

On the other hand, ALL discs skipped.

 

[kfbkfb]

https://www.amazon.com/Business-Research-VideoDisc-Economic-Twentieth/dp/0521368219

(at least RCA planned [1972-11 announcement, mentioned in the above book] to offer discrete quadraphonic sound on the CED videodisc)

There are still fans of the CED videodisc system:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=374466


Back to VHS (Hi-Fi) - fortunately, the streaming services I videotape all (apparently) downmix the movie/TV show surround sound to Dolby Surround like encoded stereo sound which provides good surround sound using Dolby Pro-Logic decoding.


Kirk Bayne

 

[4-earredwonder]

Just last night while listening to Steve Wilson’s spectacular Dolby ATMOS remix of XTC’s Skylarking on my new 7.1 system with 4 subs, I was ruminating how so many audiophiles still listen to their music on absolutely insanely priced STEREO all analogue systems with pricey turntables, step up phono transformers and exotic speakers costing thousands on the best custom pressed vinyl available and will NEVER experience the total immersive qualities of a state of the art SURROUND system.

Because of all the negative vibes their beloved Audiophile rags have spewed for years about how degrading the transition from analogue to digital has ‘poisoned’ the music they will never make the connection that in the past 10 years Digital has come a long way. And that remixing in surround has allowed the inner detail of most recordings to expand and lavish the listener with a new sensation unobtainable in two channels only.

While this thread is dedicated to older formats …. My take is that it’s all that we had way back when and I for one don’t ever want to return to that period of low image video quality and sub par casssette decks and even Pioneer’s laserdisc format … all of which I spent a considerable fortune on to have the best formats available but which I in no way MISS!

My only regret is that a lot of our favorites recorded treasures, past and present, will most probably NEVER be awarded a surround remix which still makes RBCD and even vinyl preferable for a lot of collectors.

But at least with digital we still have the option to cheat by employing the DSP modes on our pre pro and even with the surround master [which I don’t yet own] to allow all recordings to render a faux surround soundstage…something a two channel system is just not capable of.

And the real irony …. MOST of the world continue to watch films on their IPhones and even listen to music on their ear buds which further deters the music industry from issuing more of their vast catalogues into SURROUND!

My storage space is still littered with remnants from the past ….;VHS/Beta/even Hi 8 HI FI decks and multiple laserdisc players and even two DAT players and a Nakamichi cassette player but honestly my philosophy is LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE!

 

[kfbkfb]

IMHO, there's a marketing opportunity to re-introduce the simple Hafler/DynaQuad method of extracting a surround channel (for high end stereo systems).

A surround speaker of the style of high end stereo speakers and a passive decoder that looks at home with other high end hardware would seem be an easy way to try to get stereo listeners possibly interested in surround sound.

(this is way off topic, so I'll stop now...)


Kirk Bayne

 

[Sal1950]

Actually saw that movie at the cinema, was terrible

I'm a big fan of SciFi and monster, etc; movies and never did enjoy any of the Alien series.
I remember going to the cinema to see the first and being quite annoyed at the very dark, almost unviewable presentation of the Alien monster. After seeing what was possible in special effects, etc; filming of the 1977 Star Wars, I was deeply disappointed in this 1979 movie. Maybe my feelings in 79 spoiled me on the later releases, Never saw much value in the rest. JMHO

 

[Sal1950]

Just last night while listening to Steve Wilson’s spectacular Dolby ATMOS remix of XTC’s Skylarking on my new 7.1 system with 4 subs, I was ruminating how so many audiophiles still listen to their music on absolutely insanely priced STEREO all analogue systems with pricey turntables, step up phono transformers and exotic speakers costing thousands on the best custom pressed vinyl available and will NEVER experience the total immersive qualities of a state of the art SURROUND system.

Because of all the negative vibes their beloved Audiophile rags have spewed for years about how degrading the transition from analogue to digital has ‘poisoned’ the music they will never make the connection that in the past 10 years Digital has come a long way. And that remixing in surround has allowed the inner detail of most recordings to expand and lavish the listener with a new sensation unobtainable in two channels only.

While this thread is dedicated to older formats …. My take is that it’s all that we had way back when and I for one don’t ever want to return to that period of low image video quality and sub par casssette decks and even Pioneer’s laserdisc format … all of which I spent a considerable fortune on to have the best formats available but which I in no way MISS!

My only regret is that a lot of our favorites recorded treasures, past and present, will most probably NEVER be awarded a surround remix which still makes RBCD and even vinyl preferable for a lot of collectors.

But at least with digital we still have the option to cheat by employing the DSP modes on our pre pro and even with the surround master [which I don’t yet own] to allow all recordings to render a faux surround soundstage…something a two channel system is just not capable of.

And the real irony …. MOST of the world continue to watch films on their IPhones and even listen to music on their ear buds which further deters the music industry from issuing more of their vast catalogues into SURROUND!

My storage space is still littered with remnants from the past ….;VHS/Beta/even Hi 8 HI FI decks and multiple laserdisc players and even two DAT players and a Nakamichi cassette player but honestly my philosophy is LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE!

Very well said! I fully respect and understand the enjoyment many of our members get from their classic gear and the playback of the original quad sources, very much fun.
What I will never understand is why people are spending thousands, tens of thousands of dollars even, along paying huge money for some of the new vinyl releases.
Everything about digital performance is better, cheaper, and much more convenient to use. From the day I got my first Magnavox CD player and the Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms CD, I couldn't wait for a time when I could get all my music in this glorious new format.
YMMV
I've been an audiophile and multich enthusiast for over 50 years

 

[GilWave]

What next... Laserdisc...

Just moved all my LaserDiscs to storage, I don't know what to do with them - so much $$$ to collect them originally, can't bear to throw them out

 

[barfle]

no joke - I picked up this book back in 1987 at the airport in Dallas while at a trade show I have moved 4 times since then, and each time I move I pack it up with my other books and say "I'm going to read this when I unpack stuff at the new house"... and I just found it again in my storage locker last week - still haven't read it!

I used to like to say "never put off until tomorrow that which you can put off until next week"... but 37 years is a bit much - even for me! ;-)

I don’t think I’m procrastinating on any of my projects, it’s just that I have too freaking many of them, and my stamina isn’t what it usedtawas.

Many of us have a mountain of unplayed media - me, too. And of course, I just bought about 50 hours more a couple of weeka ago and now it’s all here. I’ve noted that I can play laserdiscs for the first time in seven years - about 100 of those to review and, hopefully digitize and burn to DVD. My mom left me with three boxes of photos to scan and send to family members. Where’s that turntable I’ve been trying to buy? And when I do, I have over 1200 LPs that I haven’t been able to play since I packed up in Virginia.

Oh, and I have to pick up leaves every other day. I barely have time to sleep.

 

[barfle]

In defense of CED: At the time of the first stereo CED player, it was far and away the cheapest way to get stereo on home video.

On the other hand, ALL discs skipped.

They still do.

 

[barfle]

While this thread is dedicated to older formats …. My take is that it’s all that we had way back when and I for one don’t ever want to return to that period of low image video quality and sub par casssette decks and even Pioneer’s laserdisc format … all of which I spent a considerable fortune on to have the best formats available but which I in no way MISS!

I’ve been looking at a bunch of my laserdisc collection lately. Sure, there are far better ways to watch movies, but a lot of what’s in my collection isn’t available on any other format. I have a little over 100 laserdiscs of music and shows that were shot with TV cameras of the day, and the recordings are still pretty darn good. If I’m a bit crazy, I can run the analog output into a HDMI adapter and have my Oppo upscale it, but that’s not really necessary.

I agree that it’s crazy to spend over $100 on an LP when you can get the RBCD for under $20, but what I’m referring to is unique performances that the original rights holder doesn’t feel are financially viable to re-release in a modern format.

 

[barfle]

Just moved all my LaserDiscs to storage, I don't know what to do with them - so much $$$ to collect them originally, can't bear to throw them out

And I pulled mine OUT of storage and started to play them.

If it’s a movie, there’s an excellent chance that it’s been re-released in a modern, hi-def format, so maybe those are charity donations. Had a bunch, and they have been replaced if I actually wanted to watch the movie again.

But being the colllector of obscurity that I am, as noted above, I have a decent pile of very good musical performances that don’t seem to have been made available on the smaller discs. Of course, I have no idea what’s in your pile, but putting them in storage benefits nobody. And, given the fact that we reallyndidn’t know how to bond the layers together, they can deteriorate. It was called “laser rot,” but it was really delamination and the resultant oxidation of the aluminum layer with the pits. I found a couple of mine had large dark areas near the edge.

 

[Thonolan]

What I will never understand is why people are spending thousands, tens of thousands of dollars even, along paying huge money for some of the new vinyl releases.
Everything about digital performance is better, cheaper, and much more convenient to use. From the day I got my first Magnavox CD player and the Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms CD, I couldn't wait for a time when I could get all my music in this glorious new format.
YMMV
I've been an audiophile and multich enthusiast for over 50 years

I get the vinyl thing for the specific examples in which a specific vinyl mastering is noticeably better than any of the available digital masters. This isn't rare (unfortunately), and it's the main reason why I still buy vinyl from time to time. For instance, I have listened to pretty much every digital master of Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and none of them sounds nearly as good as the original UK vinyl to me. I realIy wish they did, but they don't (and it's not a subtle difference).

I also appreciate the bigger format for the cover artwork. Feels great when you have it in your hands. But I don't appreciate thay vinyl is cumbersome and can be stupidly expensive nowadays. So, unless it's really obvious to me that the best sounding version of a given album is a vinyl edition, I avoid it.

 

[DoctorO]

On the topic of VHS, do any of you know of a software program using AI that would substantially improve viewing quality when digitizing old VHS tapes?

Thanks!

 

[Thonolan]

On the topic of VHS, do any of you know of a software program using AI that would substantially improve viewing quality when digitizing old VHS tapes?

I've tried Topaz Video AI several times for that. Can give you some really decent results if the transfer is good and the VHS wasn't badly deteriorated. Results may vary a lot depending on the source. Topaz is great but it isn't free, nor cheap either.

 

[audiomaster]

I am aware of the higher fidelity of VHS Hi-Fi vs linear stereo (VHS Hi-Fi using the addtional 2 heads on the rotating drum)
but I was not aware of any matrix encoding of commercial VHS tapes.
I was an early adopter of VHS HiFi but never heard of Surround encoded VHS tapes.

Live and learn.....Thx.

It used to be that you could improve playback of VHS by running the signal thru a "time base corrector" but they were "pro" devices and very expensive. I wonder if there is a cheaper version of this device today that would help improve copying?

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

And I pulled mine OUT of storage and started to play them.

If it’s a movie, there’s an excellent chance that it’s been re-released in a modern, hi-def format, so maybe those are charity donations. Had a bunch, and they have been replaced if I actually wanted to watch the movie again.

I recall reading somewhere that LaserDiscs are the only way to get untampered theatrical audio tracks for some films...especially for Japanese laserdiscs. It might be worthwhile to check the audio options and compare them with a modern Blu-ray before charity-donating them.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

Just moved all my LaserDiscs to storage, I don't know what to do with them - so much $$$ to collect them originally, can't bear to throw them out

I did this years ago. Still have all of them boxed up!

 

[GilWave]

I did this years ago. Still have all of them boxed up!

Any ideas on how to re-home them?

 

[GilWave]

I don’t think I’m procrastinating on any of my projects, it’s just that I have too freaking many of them, and my stamina isn’t what it usedtawas.

Many of us have a mountain of unplayed media - me, too. And of course, I just bought about 50 hours more a couple of weeka ago and now it’s all here. I’ve noted that I can play laserdiscs for the first time in seven years - about 100 of those to review and, hopefully digitize and burn to DVD. My mom left me with three boxes of photos to scan and send to family members. Where’s that turntable I’ve been trying to buy? And when I do, I have over 1200 LPs that I haven’t been able to play since I packed up in Virginia.

Oh, and I have to pick up leaves every other day. I barely have time to sleep.

I came to realize that I now have more media than I could possibly watch/listen to even if I spent 12 hours a day for the rest of my life doing so. (I'm 66)

Yet I keep buying more. Is there an Audioholics Anonymous? I need a 12-step program.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Any ideas on how to re-home them?

My Pioneer ELITE Laserdisc player stopped working years ago. The drawer refused to open and even if it did the image quality compared to today's BD and 4K formats is dismal.

As for the hundreds upon hundreds of discs I still have in shelves in my dehumidified basement ... I just consider them relics of the past and I'm sure any DISCOVISION discs I have pressed from that era all have 'laser rot!'

I also have a THETA DIGITAL LD player and haven't fired that up in years either. Both players weigh a veritable ton and it's amazing how even a tiny SONY X800 4K Universal player weighing only a few pounds can out perform those giant behemoths at a fraction of their original cost on a 5" disc!!!!!!!!!