From: mpapp@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (Michael Papp)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars
Subject: Re: * Star Wars movies on cassette....LETTERBOXED!
Date: 4 Oct 92 17:15:23 GMT
Organization: Ohio University, Athens Ohio.

In article <1992Sep23.234826.1@camins.camosun.bc.ca> alumni106@camins.camosun.bc.ca (Max Sterling) writes:
>In article <19qe55INNju9@bigboote.WPI.EDU>, boisvert@yaya.WPI.EDU (Brian Richard Boisvert) writes:
>
>> tape is physically in touch with the machine.  There is no contact with a
>> LD, therefore no degradation.
>
>Not from read/write friction, but LD's DO degrade over time (oxidation, 
>laser rot, whatever).
>
>+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|Kup- "This reminds me of the time when my   +-> Kup- "You ever SEEN a Regulan|
>|      my platoon was stranded on Regulan IV;|         Metal Monger, lad?"    |
>|      there we were, only SEVEN HUNDRED of  |   Hot Rod- "Uh, no,..."        |
>|      US, against THREE WHOLE REGULAN METAL |   Kup- "TRUST me! We were      |
>|      Mongers!"                             |         outnumbered!           |
>|Hot Rod- "Seven HUNDRED of YOU? Against     +--------------------------------+
>|          THREE of THEM? Aw, come on, Kup!"-+ alumni106@camins.camosun.bc.ca |
>+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

I couldn't stay out of this any longer.  It seems that Max Sterling has a
few facts mixed up.  Laserdiscs DO NOT degrade with time by oxidation (if
they do it is several hundred years).  Laser rot is not an inherent property
of the Laserdisc or player but a defect in the manufacturing of the disc.
If the disc has this defect, you can take it back to the place you 
purchased the disc from or the manufacturer and get a new disc NO MATTER
HOW LONG YOU HAD THE DISC.  Now about picture quality.  FACT:  LD's have 
better picture quality than tape.  A VHS tape has some 325 horizontal lines
of resolution.  SVHS has 400 lines.  LD's have 425 lines.  If you compare
a VHS tape to a LD and see no difference either the TV is crap or the LD
player is not connected correctly.  Many times the LD is hooked up through
the RF connector instead of the video in of the TV.  This degrades the
picture of an LD to only 300 some lines of horizontal resolution.  About  
sound quality.  This can be somewhat arbitrary depending on what one 
considers good sound.  Because LD's are CD's when it comes to sound quality,
I have to say that LD's have better sound than any tape (cassette or VHS).
This is a proven fact.  Read any report about the subject.  If tapes where
as good as CD's, they wouldn't be buying CD's.  After all, tapes are up to
$7 cheaper.  However, it can be hard to tell the difference between tape
and LD (CD) if they are both made from the same (digital) master until 
the tape has been played for a while and allowed to degrade.

Arguments can be made either way but from a scientific (unbiased) stand point,
LD's are better than tapes.  This has been documented hundreds of times
in any audio or video magazine.  I suggest reading Bob Niland's articles
(query on rec.video on how to get it) on LD's.  This should answer any
questions concerning the subject.

jpapp@uceng.uc.edu
John 'using brother's account because mine is too slow' Papp

PS:  REPLY BY EMAIL OR MOVE DISCUSSION TO REC.VIDEO.