This is probably old ground that has already been covered but, it is new for me.
When DVD's first hit the market it was clear that they were intended to replace VHS but, not especially geared toward the "film buff" niche market that LD's had. The players took 3 generations of upgrades before they delivered what was originally promised and the early DVDs were no better quality than many VHS tapes. Quickly things improved with the DVD players and the quality of DVD discs, and LDs began to disappear. DVDs clearly had some great advantages over LDs, size, price, one sided.
Although DVD titles were being churned out at a rate that few people anticipated, the titles were and still are questionable. They took almost the exact opposite tact than LDs. The releases were mostly very bad B movies that had only seen the light of day in Drive In Theaters and the Phillipines, or they were new releases. So, to make sure that I would always have access to the older black and white movies and pre-1960's color movies in my collection, I bought special sleeves and jackets for the LDs I feared would never be released in this new medium. Newer films could be replaced with DVDs if needed so, I didn't give them any special care.
So, what does this have to do with the 5th Element DVD? Recently I bought this DVD since it was one of my favorite modern films on LD. I had read the articles in Widescreen Reveiw about how the sound on DVDs was inferior to LDs and quite frankly just thought they were crying sour grapes and never really cared. Brother, were they right. When the Diva began to sing on the DVD I can't tell you how disappointed I was. No amount of volume or tweaking my system bought back the magic of the scene I remembered from the Laser Disc. I dug out the LD and replayed the scene just to see if my memory was flawed. Nope, the sound on the LD is tactile, the DVD is flat and uninvolving by comparison. Now I am sending away for protective sleeves and jackets for all my LDs and will only replace LDs with DVDs if they ever come down with Laser rot.
Meanwhile I wonder how much better many of my movies on DVD would sound if they were also available on LD.
When DVD's first hit the market it was clear that they were intended to replace VHS but, not especially geared toward the "film buff" niche market that LD's had. The players took 3 generations of upgrades before they delivered what was originally promised and the early DVDs were no better quality than many VHS tapes. Quickly things improved with the DVD players and the quality of DVD discs, and LDs began to disappear. DVDs clearly had some great advantages over LDs, size, price, one sided.
Although DVD titles were being churned out at a rate that few people anticipated, the titles were and still are questionable. They took almost the exact opposite tact than LDs. The releases were mostly very bad B movies that had only seen the light of day in Drive In Theaters and the Phillipines, or they were new releases. So, to make sure that I would always have access to the older black and white movies and pre-1960's color movies in my collection, I bought special sleeves and jackets for the LDs I feared would never be released in this new medium. Newer films could be replaced with DVDs if needed so, I didn't give them any special care.
So, what does this have to do with the 5th Element DVD? Recently I bought this DVD since it was one of my favorite modern films on LD. I had read the articles in Widescreen Reveiw about how the sound on DVDs was inferior to LDs and quite frankly just thought they were crying sour grapes and never really cared. Brother, were they right. When the Diva began to sing on the DVD I can't tell you how disappointed I was. No amount of volume or tweaking my system bought back the magic of the scene I remembered from the Laser Disc. I dug out the LD and replayed the scene just to see if my memory was flawed. Nope, the sound on the LD is tactile, the DVD is flat and uninvolving by comparison. Now I am sending away for protective sleeves and jackets for all my LDs and will only replace LDs with DVDs if they ever come down with Laser rot.
Meanwhile I wonder how much better many of my movies on DVD would sound if they were also available on LD.
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