[Stephen]

Aye videodisc was read like a record and looked like one. Laserdiscs are 12inch discs looking like big CDs and although read by laser they are analogue video with digital sound. First launched in 1978 as Discovision with the name Laserdisc replacing it in 1980 and the format officially died on 21st September 2001.

The discs typically ranging from 600 to 1,800 rpm as its a variable read speed.

Two types of disc exist, CAV and CLV, with have only holding 30-36 mins per side and CLV holding 60-64 mins per side. Meaning almost every movie was at least two sides.

Video resolution was almost double that of Beta or VHS and close to that of DVD with 425-440 horizontal lines, so on a crt tv they can look pretty decent as unlike tape they don't wear out with use. I have mine by rgb scart to a 2013 LCD TV and it still looks fairly decent.

Videodisc was a pretty bad format and really poor quality and prone to skipping and jumping due to dust or scratches on the vinyl record