In 1991, several manufacturers announced specifications for what would become known as Hi-Vision LD, representing a span of almost 15 years until the feats of this HD analog optical disc system would finally be duplicated digitally by HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Encoded using NHK's MUSE "Hi-Vision" analog HDTV system, MUSE discs would operate like standard LaserDiscs but would contain high-definition 1,125-line (1,035 visible lines; Sony HDVS) video with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The MUSE players were also capable of playing standard NTSC format discs and are superior in performance to non-MUSE players even with these NTSC discs. The MUSE-capable players had several noteworthy advantages over standard LaserDisc players, including a red laser with a much narrower wavelength than the lasers found in standard players. The red laser was capable of reading through disc defects such as scratches and even mild disc rot that would cause most other players to stop, stutter or drop-out. Crosstalk was not an issue with MUSE discs, and the narrow wavelength of the laser allowed for the virtual elimination of crosstalk with normal discs.

To view MUSE-encoded discs, it was necessary to have a MUSE decoder in addition to a compatible player. There are televisions with MUSE decoding built-in and set-top tuners with decoders that can provide the proper MUSE input. Equipment prices were high, especially for early HDTVs which generally eclipsed US$10,000, and even in Japan the market for MUSE was tiny. Players and discs were never officially sold in North America, although several distributors imported MUSE discs along with other import titles. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Lawrence of Arabia, A League of Their Own, Bugsy, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Chaplin were among the theatrical releases available on MUSE LDs. Several documentaries, including one about Formula One at Japan's Suzuka Circuit were also released.

LaserDisc players and LaserDiscs that worked with the competing European HD-MAC HDTV standard were also made.

Picture discs

Picture discs have artistic etching on one side of the disc to make the disc more visually attractive than the standard shiny silver surface. This etching might look like a movie character, logo, or other promotional material. Sometimes that side of the LD would be made with colored plastic, rather than the clear material used for the data side. Picture disc LDs only had video material on one side as the "picture" side could not contain any data. Picture discs are rare in North America.

LD-G

Pioneer Electronics—one of the format's largest supporters/investors—was also deeply involved in the karaoke business in Japan, and used LaserDiscs as the storage medium for music and additional content such as graphics. This format was generally called LD-G. While several other karaoke labels manufactured LaserDiscs, there was nothing like the breadth of competition in that industry that exists now, as almost all manufacturers have transitioned to CD+G discs.

Anamorphic LaserDiscs

With the release of 16:9 televisions in the early 1990s, Pioneer and Toshiba decided that it was time to take advantage of this aspect ratio. Squeeze LDs were enhanced 16:9-ratio widescreen LaserDiscs. During the video transfer stage, the movie was stored in an anamorphic "squeezed" format. The widescreen movie image was stretched to fill the entire video frame with less or none of the video resolution wasted to create letterbox bars. The advantage was a 33% greater vertical resolution compared to letterboxed widescreen LaserDisc. This same procedure was used for anamorphic DVDs, but unlike all DVD players, very few LD players had the ability to unsqueeze the image for 4:3 sets, If the discs were played on a standard 4:3 television the image would be distorted. Some 4:3 sets (such as the Sony WEGA series) could be set to unsqueeze the image. Since very few people outside of Japan owned 16:9 displays, the marketability of these special discs was very limited.

There were no anamorphic LaserDisc titles available in the US except for promotional purposes. Upon purchase of a Toshiba 16:9 television viewers had the option of selecting a number of Warner Bros. 16:9 films. Titles include Unforgiven, Grumpy Old Men, The Fugitive, and Free Willy. The Japanese lineup of titles was different. A series of releases under the banner "Squeeze LD" from Pioneer of mostly Carolco titles included Basic Instinct, Stargate, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Showgirls, Cutthroat Island, and Cliffhanger. Terminator 2 was released twice in Squeeze LD, the second release being THX certified and a notable improvement over the first.

Recordable formats

Several recordable variants of the LaserDisc format were developed for professional and industrial applications, but none were marketed to consumers. Their limited availability contributed to the common perception that LaserDisc lacked recording capability.

, introduced by the Optical Disc Corporation in 1984, was a write-once, read-many format that was fully compatible with standard LaserDisc players. Compared to conventional LaserDiscs, RLVs were distinguished by a red/purple tint of the dye used in the reflective layer that is burned by the laser.

, developed by Sony, was another write-once, read-many format intended for professional use. Housed in a protective caddy, the disc resembled an oversized floppy disk. The CRVdisc was used by the BBC for many years to playout idents.

, introduced by Pioneer in fall 1991, was a rewritable LaserDisc system designed for professional video production. It used CAV mode and protective caddies, with discs, which could hold 32 minutes of video per side, were rated for up to one million record/erase cycles. The dual-laser design enabled real-time, frame-accurate non-linear editing by allowing one laser to read while the other searched. The system's rapid access made it useful for editing workflows, including its integration into EditDroid, an early digital film editing system. The recorder sold for around , with blank discs priced at approximately .

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">

File:Recordable Laser Videodisc.png|A Recordable Laser Videodisc with a DVD-R for size comparison

File:CRVDisc.jpg|A CRVdisc with a VHS tape for size comparison

File:LaserRecorder.jpg|A Pioneer LaserRecorder that can be connected to a computer or a video source

</gallery>

LaserDisc sizes

30 cm (Full-size)

The most common size of LaserDisc was , approximately the size of LP vinyl records. These discs allowed for 30/36&nbsp;minutes per side (CAV NTSC/PAL) or 60/64&nbsp;minutes per side (CLV NTSC/PAL). The vast majority of programming for the LaserDisc format was produced on these discs.

20 cm ("EP"-size)

thumb|A 20&nbsp;cm Japanese NTSC LaserDisc for karaoke

A number of LaserDiscs were also published. These smaller "EP"-sized LDs allowed for 20&nbsp;minutes per side (CLV). They are much rarer than the full-size LDs, especially in North America, and roughly approximate the size of 45&nbsp;rpm () vinyl singles. These discs were often used for music video compilations (e.g. Bon Jovi's "Breakout" and Bananarama's "Video Singles") as well as Japanese karaoke machines.

12 cm (CD Video and Video Single Disc)

There were also (CD size) "single"-style discs produced that were playable on LaserDisc players. These were referred to as CD Video (CD-V) discs, and Video Single Discs (VSD).

CD-V was a hybrid format launched in the late 1980s, and carried up to five minutes of analog LaserDisc-type video content with a digital soundtrack (usually a music video), plus up to 20&nbsp;minutes of digital audio CD tracks. The original 1989 release of David Bowie's retrospective Sound + Vision CD box set prominently featured a CD-V video of "Ashes to Ashes", and standalone promo CD-Vs featured the video, plus three audio tracks: "John, I'm Only Dancing", "Changes", and "The Supermen".

Despite the similar name, CD Video is entirely incompatible with the later all-digital Video CD (VCD) format, and can only be played back on LaserDisc players with CD-V capability or one of the players dedicated to the smaller discs.

In Europe, Philips also used the "CD Video" name as part of a short-lived attempt in the late 1980s to relaunch and rebrand the entire LaserDisc system.

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Further reading

  • Isailovic, Jordan. Videodisc and Optical Memory Systems. Vol. 1, Boston, MA: Prentice Hall, 1984. .
  • Lenk, John D. Complete Guide to Laser/VideoDisc Player Troubleshooting and Repair. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985. .
  • LaserDisc Database
  • LaserDisc Technical Page
  • BLAM Entertainment Group
  • (archived)
  • LaserDisc Archive (archived)
  • 1980 video on Tomorrow's World
  • Optical disc formats at Total Rewind
  • Laser Disc Review #2-5 at LaserDisc Database
  • LaserDisc Player Formats and Features on eBay (archived)
  • Digital Audio Modulation in the PAL and NTSC Laservision Video Disc Coding Formats essay

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