Laserdisk transfer to digital?
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last. There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals. ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
There is a device available called the Domesday Duplicator that would allow you to capture the video from Laserdiscs at the best possible quality for archiving the contents. On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 2:46 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
On June 20, 2021 2:46:23 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
Matt Patoray can do this with his eyes closed.. - Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
I would think depending on the player, You could use the highest resolution possible to video capture the content. Many laser disc players have S-video which is probably the best resolution you’ll get. And if sound is as important as the video, some players have optical outputs to capture audio. If copy protection is an issue, then it may be a different story. That is mostly dependent on the video capture card. Mike Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Jun 20, 2021, at 2:46 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and will remove Macrovision. On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How soon does this need done? Jeff Salzman On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and will remove Macrovision.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How soon does this need done?
There is no rush for this, but I would like someone to work on it steadily so that it doesn't get forgotten. A player was donated, but don't know if it works or if it is better or worse than your player. I will leave that up to you. Alex Jaccocks has offered to do this, but maybe both of you can figure out between you two who wants to do it or collaborate.
Jeff Salzman
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and will remove Macrovision.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
There is a device available called the Domesday Duplicator that would allow you to capture the video from Laserdiscs at the best possible quality for archiving the contents.
This really is the way to go — it captures the signal directly from the disc, which is then processed using the open-source ld-decode software. This allows for some fairly advanced recovery, including dropout correction/repair. As the software is improved over time, the captured data can be reprocessed, resulting in improved conversions. One downside, though, is that each capture can take as much as 40-80GB per disc. Unfortunately, setting up a capture environment is not the most straightforward —among other things, it is necessary to calibrate the LD player using a GGV1069 calibration disc. I'm not sure these are still available, but as of 6 months ago or so they were from Donberg Electronics and PacParts. More detailed information on this process can be found at https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978> and assistance can be obtained at the project Discord which is linked from https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=416 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=416>. If the quantity of discs does not justify setting up a capture environment and VCF is willing to mail the discs to a project member for capture, it might be possible to arrange for this as well — they are very much interested in getting non-movie LaserDisc titles captured. David
On Jun 20, 2021, at 4:29 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How soon does this need done?
There is no rush for this, but I would like someone to work on it steadily so that it doesn't get forgotten. A player was donated, but don't know if it works or if it is better or worse than your player. I will leave that up to you. Alex Jaccocks has offered to do this, but maybe both of you can figure out between you two who wants to do it or collaborate.
Jeff Salzman
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and will remove Macrovision.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
Some interesting and relevant information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC5Zr3NC2PY On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:50 PM David Ryskalczyk via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
There is a device available called the Domesday Duplicator that would allow you to capture the video from Laserdiscs at the best possible quality for archiving the contents.
This really is the way to go — it captures the signal directly from the disc, which is then processed using the open-source ld-decode software. This allows for some fairly advanced recovery, including dropout correction/repair. As the software is improved over time, the captured data can be reprocessed, resulting in improved conversions. One downside, though, is that each capture can take as much as 40-80GB per disc.
Unfortunately, setting up a capture environment is not the most straightforward —among other things, it is necessary to calibrate the LD player using a GGV1069 calibration disc. I'm not sure these are still available, but as of 6 months ago or so they were from Donberg Electronics and PacParts.
More detailed information on this process can be found at https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978 < https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978> and assistance can be obtained at the project Discord which is linked from https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=416 < https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=416>. If the quantity of discs does not justify setting up a capture environment and VCF is willing to mail the discs to a project member for capture, it might be possible to arrange for this as well — they are very much interested in getting non-movie LaserDisc titles captured.
David
On Jun 20, 2021, at 4:29 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How soon does this need done?
There is no rush for this, but I would like someone to work on it steadily so that it doesn't get forgotten. A player was donated, but don't know if it works or if it is better or worse than your player. I will leave that up to you. Alex Jaccocks has offered to do this, but maybe both of you can figure out between you two who wants to do it or collaborate.
Jeff Salzman
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and
will
remove Macrovision.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
I had forgotten about this! I think there was some talk about using this for MAME or something to allow full emulation of Dragon's Lair and other FMV games from the arcades. On 6/20/21, 4:49 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of David Ryskalczyk via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > There is a device available called the Domesday Duplicator that would allow > you to capture the video from Laserdiscs at the best possible quality for > archiving the contents. This really is the way to go — it captures the signal directly from the disc, which is then processed using the open-source ld-decode software. This allows for some fairly advanced recovery, including dropout correction/repair. As the software is improved over time, the captured data can be reprocessed, resulting in improved conversions. One downside, though, is that each capture can take as much as 40-80GB per disc. Unfortunately, setting up a capture environment is not the most straightforward —among other things, it is necessary to calibrate the LD player using a GGV1069 calibration disc. I'm not sure these are still available, but as of 6 months ago or so they were from Donberg Electronics and PacParts. More detailed information on this process can be found at https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978> and assistance can be obtained at the project Discord which is linked from https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=416 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=416>. If the quantity of discs does not justify setting up a capture environment and VCF is willing to mail the discs to a project member for capture, it might be possible to arrange for this as well — they are very much interested in getting non-movie LaserDisc titles captured. David > On Jun 20, 2021, at 4:29 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >> I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How >> soon does this need done? >> > > There is no rush for this, but I would like someone to work on it steadily > so that it doesn't get forgotten. > A player was donated, but don't know if it works or if it is better or > worse than your player. I will leave that up to you. > Alex Jaccocks has offered to do this, but maybe both of you can figure out > between you two who wants to do it or collaborate. > > >> >> Jeff Salzman >> >> On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < >> vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >> >>> So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and will >>> remove Macrovision. >>> >>> On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < >>> vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >>> >>>> Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video >> with >>>> mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all >> digital >>>> audio. >>>> >>>> They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite >> video >>>> converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as >> an >>>> analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the >>>> newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the >>> best. >>>> I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using >>> with >>>> vhs and am happy with. >>>> >>>> On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < >>>> vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern >>>> digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C >>>> programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C >>>> training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how >>>> rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last. >>>> >>>> There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some >>>> paper >>>> manuals. >>>> >>>> >>>> ========================================= >>>> Jeff Brace >>>> Vice President & Board Member >>>> Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner >>>> Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity >>>> http://www.vcfed.org/ >>>> jeffrey@vcfed.org >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>
Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called? I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-) - Ethan
Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-yIsrOUU8 On 6/21/21, 4:08 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called? I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-) - Ethan
Woah! He has one! I remember seeing one of those at a NASA auction. BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy. - Ethan
Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-yIsrOUU8
On 6/21/21, 4:08 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called?
I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-)
- Ethan
I'll try to address a whole bunch of emails together here:
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:24 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy.
The Domesday Duplicator folks are very interested in getting any discs of this nature preserved! There are people on the Discord who watch eBay for such discs, to buy them to preserve them. Often such discs sell for way too much.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 2:21 PM, Wil Birkmaier wrote: I had forgotten about this! I think there was some talk about using this for MAME or something to allow full emulation of Dragon's Lair and other FMV games from the arcades.
I believe that much of this media has already been captured, and work is being done to figure out the best way to handle these 50GB-per-side captures — just directly adding them to MAME would be problematic, in part due to size and in part due to the processing requirements of the ld-decode software!
On Jun 21, 2021, at 11:21 AM, Matt Patoray via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: For digitizing they video nothing is better than a “broadcast quality” transcoder/TBC, running composite out of the player is the best option since LaserDisc is a composite video format and any conversion to S-Video would be late 80’s-early 90’s consumer grade.
The Domesday Duplicator method is more akin to using a flux-level imager for floppy disks. It does not involve any conversion to S-Video or any other format. Instead, the signal is captured as close to the laser as possible, bypassing nearly all the filtering/processing circuitry in the player. After this archival capture is made, the data can then be processed in software using ld-decode (https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode <https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode>), which is an open-source software-defined LD decoder. Sufficient oversampling is used to capture the best signal possible, but even so, multiple captures of different "copies" of the same disc pressing can be "stacked" to obtain better results. https://mastodon.online/@simoni/104874150717929190 <https://mastodon.online/@simoni/104874150717929190> shows an example of what stacking can do. Software decoding of the RF directly from the laser also allows for advanced recovery techniques such as dropout correction, and allow for the direct capture of chapter markers, frame numbers, and digital audio. The Acorn and BBC Micro User Group had two fairly detailed presentations with the project leads here: http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/07/04/domesday-86-part-1-the-project/ <http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/07/04/domesday-86-part-1-the-project/> (hardware) http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/08/01/domesday-86-part-2-ld-decode-simon-i... <http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/08/01/domesday-86-part-2-ld-decode-simon-inns-chad-page/> (software) No matter what method is being used, having a calibrated player turns out to be important. Calibration requires the GGV1069 disc, and procedures that don't requite custom tools can be found at https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=2896 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=2896>. Overall, I would expect a Domesday Duplicator setup to require the following (in addition to electronics tools to perform the calibration and tap the RF): Working LD player (most will work, certain models are preferred based on reliability and calibration) GGV1069 calibration disc (around $100) Domesday Duplicators, consisting of an Altera DE0-Nano board, Cypress FX3 board, and the Domesday Duplicator board — people have been putting these together for around $300-$500 A computer to capture the data — USB 3.0 and 16GB of RAM is probably enough A computer to process the data — this can be done offline, after the fact As the Domesday Duplicator captures the RF signal before it is processed by the LaserDisc player, the player would have to be slightly modified to tap the RF.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 3:45 PM, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: As usual, there is a complicated answer and way to do things and there is a simple answer and way to do things.
In this case the process for LaserDisc has been very much refined, and the folks over at the Discord channel provide lots of help. So even though it might be more complicated to get started, there is plenty of support available and long term the results are much better. That said, it might not be worth the trouble for a handful of discs if someone already has a full setup! This method is being extended to VHS and other tape, with some rather impressive results — See e.g. the videos on this YouTube channel for some VHS examples: https://www.youtube.com/user/swilwerth/videos <https://www.youtube.com/user/swilwerth/videos> Do note however: the process for tape is nowhere near as refined and much more experimental, compared to LaserDisc! David
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:24 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Woah! He has one! I remember seeing one of those at a NASA auction.
BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy.
- Ethan
Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-yIsrOUU8
On 6/21/21, 4:08 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called?
I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-)
- Ethan
I’m glad that you sent out this email which made it much more clear to people like me, who needed this explanation. Of course it is out of reach for people like me who don’t have the hardware or the money to spend on something like this. I will stick to S-Video and TBC for now! Mike Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:56 PM, David Ryskalczyk via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I'll try to address a whole bunch of emails together here:
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:24 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy.
The Domesday Duplicator folks are very interested in getting any discs of this nature preserved! There are people on the Discord who watch eBay for such discs, to buy them to preserve them. Often such discs sell for way too much.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 2:21 PM, Wil Birkmaier wrote: I had forgotten about this! I think there was some talk about using this for MAME or something to allow full emulation of Dragon's Lair and other FMV games from the arcades.
I believe that much of this media has already been captured, and work is being done to figure out the best way to handle these 50GB-per-side captures — just directly adding them to MAME would be problematic, in part due to size and in part due to the processing requirements of the ld-decode software!
On Jun 21, 2021, at 11:21 AM, Matt Patoray via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: For digitizing they video nothing is better than a “broadcast quality” transcoder/TBC, running composite out of the player is the best option since LaserDisc is a composite video format and any conversion to S-Video would be late 80’s-early 90’s consumer grade.
The Domesday Duplicator method is more akin to using a flux-level imager for floppy disks. It does not involve any conversion to S-Video or any other format. Instead, the signal is captured as close to the laser as possible, bypassing nearly all the filtering/processing circuitry in the player. After this archival capture is made, the data can then be processed in software using ld-decode (https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode <https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode>), which is an open-source software-defined LD decoder. Sufficient oversampling is used to capture the best signal possible, but even so, multiple captures of different "copies" of the same disc pressing can be "stacked" to obtain better results. https://mastodon.online/@simoni/104874150717929190 <https://mastodon.online/@simoni/104874150717929190> shows an example of what stacking can do.
Software decoding of the RF directly from the laser also allows for advanced recovery techniques such as dropout correction, and allow for the direct capture of chapter markers, frame numbers, and digital audio.
The Acorn and BBC Micro User Group had two fairly detailed presentations with the project leads here: http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/07/04/domesday-86-part-1-the-project/ <http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/07/04/domesday-86-part-1-the-project/> (hardware) http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/08/01/domesday-86-part-2-ld-decode-simon-i... <http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/08/01/domesday-86-part-2-ld-decode-simon-inns-chad-page/> (software)
No matter what method is being used, having a calibrated player turns out to be important. Calibration requires the GGV1069 disc, and procedures that don't requite custom tools can be found at https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=2896 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=2896>.
Overall, I would expect a Domesday Duplicator setup to require the following (in addition to electronics tools to perform the calibration and tap the RF):
Working LD player (most will work, certain models are preferred based on reliability and calibration) GGV1069 calibration disc (around $100) Domesday Duplicators, consisting of an Altera DE0-Nano board, Cypress FX3 board, and the Domesday Duplicator board — people have been putting these together for around $300-$500
A computer to capture the data — USB 3.0 and 16GB of RAM is probably enough A computer to process the data — this can be done offline, after the fact
As the Domesday Duplicator captures the RF signal before it is processed by the LaserDisc player, the player would have to be slightly modified to tap the RF.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 3:45 PM, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: As usual, there is a complicated answer and way to do things and there is a simple answer and way to do things.
In this case the process for LaserDisc has been very much refined, and the folks over at the Discord channel provide lots of help. So even though it might be more complicated to get started, there is plenty of support available and long term the results are much better. That said, it might not be worth the trouble for a handful of discs if someone already has a full setup!
This method is being extended to VHS and other tape, with some rather impressive results — See e.g. the videos on this YouTube channel for some VHS examples: https://www.youtube.com/user/swilwerth/videos <https://www.youtube.com/user/swilwerth/videos> Do note however: the process for tape is nowhere near as refined and much more experimental, compared to LaserDisc!
David
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:24 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Woah! He has one! I remember seeing one of those at a NASA auction.
BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy.
- Ethan
Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-yIsrOUU8
On 6/21/21, 4:08 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called?
I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-)
- Ethan
Of course it is out of reach for people like me who don’t have the hardware or the money to spend on something like this.
I should have mentioned: some people are using inexpensive Conexant TV AV capture boards which have a hidden "raw ADC" capture mode, but still have most of the all the capabilities of the more expensive Duplicator hardware. (driver at https://github.com/happycube/cxadc-linux3 <https://github.com/happycube/cxadc-linux3>) And others are working on improving TBC-based methods as well. So if you're doing any sort of analog capture, it might still be worth checking out the work in their Discord. David
On Jun 21, 2021, at 6:10 PM, Sentrytv <sentrytv@yahoo.com> wrote:
I’m glad that you sent out this email which made it much more clear to people like me, who needed this explanation.
Of course it is out of reach for people like me who don’t have the hardware or the money to spend on something like this.
I will stick to S-Video and TBC for now!
Mike
Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:56 PM, David Ryskalczyk via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I'll try to address a whole bunch of emails together here:
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:24 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy.
The Domesday Duplicator folks are very interested in getting any discs of this nature preserved! There are people on the Discord who watch eBay for such discs, to buy them to preserve them. Often such discs sell for way too much.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 2:21 PM, Wil Birkmaier wrote: I had forgotten about this! I think there was some talk about using this for MAME or something to allow full emulation of Dragon's Lair and other FMV games from the arcades.
I believe that much of this media has already been captured, and work is being done to figure out the best way to handle these 50GB-per-side captures — just directly adding them to MAME would be problematic, in part due to size and in part due to the processing requirements of the ld-decode software!
On Jun 21, 2021, at 11:21 AM, Matt Patoray via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: For digitizing they video nothing is better than a “broadcast quality” transcoder/TBC, running composite out of the player is the best option since LaserDisc is a composite video format and any conversion to S-Video would be late 80’s-early 90’s consumer grade.
The Domesday Duplicator method is more akin to using a flux-level imager for floppy disks. It does not involve any conversion to S-Video or any other format. Instead, the signal is captured as close to the laser as possible, bypassing nearly all the filtering/processing circuitry in the player. After this archival capture is made, the data can then be processed in software using ld-decode (https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode <https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode>), which is an open-source software-defined LD decoder. Sufficient oversampling is used to capture the best signal possible, but even so, multiple captures of different "copies" of the same disc pressing can be "stacked" to obtain better results. https://mastodon.online/@simoni/104874150717929190 <https://mastodon.online/@simoni/104874150717929190> shows an example of what stacking can do.
Software decoding of the RF directly from the laser also allows for advanced recovery techniques such as dropout correction, and allow for the direct capture of chapter markers, frame numbers, and digital audio.
The Acorn and BBC Micro User Group had two fairly detailed presentations with the project leads here: http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/07/04/domesday-86-part-1-the-project/ <http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/07/04/domesday-86-part-1-the-project/> (hardware) http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/08/01/domesday-86-part-2-ld-decode-simon-i... <http://abug.org.uk/index.php/2020/08/01/domesday-86-part-2-ld-decode-simon-inns-chad-page/> (software)
No matter what method is being used, having a calibrated player turns out to be important. Calibration requires the GGV1069 disc, and procedures that don't requite custom tools can be found at https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=2896 <https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=2896>.
Overall, I would expect a Domesday Duplicator setup to require the following (in addition to electronics tools to perform the calibration and tap the RF):
Working LD player (most will work, certain models are preferred based on reliability and calibration) GGV1069 calibration disc (around $100) Domesday Duplicators, consisting of an Altera DE0-Nano board, Cypress FX3 board, and the Domesday Duplicator board — people have been putting these together for around $300-$500
A computer to capture the data — USB 3.0 and 16GB of RAM is probably enough A computer to process the data — this can be done offline, after the fact
As the Domesday Duplicator captures the RF signal before it is processed by the LaserDisc player, the player would have to be slightly modified to tap the RF.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 3:45 PM, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: As usual, there is a complicated answer and way to do things and there is a simple answer and way to do things.
In this case the process for LaserDisc has been very much refined, and the folks over at the Discord channel provide lots of help. So even though it might be more complicated to get started, there is plenty of support available and long term the results are much better. That said, it might not be worth the trouble for a handful of discs if someone already has a full setup!
This method is being extended to VHS and other tape, with some rather impressive results — See e.g. the videos on this YouTube channel for some VHS examples: https://www.youtube.com/user/swilwerth/videos <https://www.youtube.com/user/swilwerth/videos> Do note however: the process for tape is nowhere near as refined and much more experimental, compared to LaserDisc!
David
On Jun 21, 2021, at 4:24 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Woah! He has one! I remember seeing one of those at a NASA auction.
BUT... the discs I have are 3M branded "blank" laserdiscs that are not in a cart, they work in a normal consumer laser disc machine. The video on them is surgeries, some kind of doctor training. It looks like the 3M silver floppy disc boxes, but it's just a cardboard sleeve with the recorded disc inside, no caddy.
- Ethan
Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-yIsrOUU8
On 6/21/21, 4:08 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called?
I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-)
- Ethan
On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 4:08 PM Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Are the training laserdiscs pressed at a factory or are they the ones recorded in a LD-R or whatever the DIY laser disc recorder machine was called?
I'm not sure. I will take a picture of them tomorrow and let everyone know.
I have a few that were recorded on one of those DIY machines, neat conversation peice. I think they're 3M. Look like giant floppy disc box on the front :-)
- Ethan
Since Matt has offered, and he has the expertise, I think that we should have him do it. If you want, at the Baltimore workshop, bring the LDs and, and I will bring them to Matt, in Pittsburgh. - Alex On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:30 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How soon does this need done?
There is no rush for this, but I would like someone to work on it steadily so that it doesn't get forgotten. A player was donated, but don't know if it works or if it is better or worse than your player. I will leave that up to you. Alex Jaccocks has offered to do this, but maybe both of you can figure out between you two who wants to do it or collaborate.
Jeff Salzman
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and
will
remove Macrovision.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
As usual, there is a complicated answer and way to do things and there is a simple answer and way to do things. Somewhere in between is the correct way to do this. JM2C Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Jun 21, 2021, at 1:03 PM, Alexander Jacocks via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Since Matt has offered, and he has the expertise, I think that we should have him do it.
If you want, at the Baltimore workshop, bring the LDs and, and I will bring them to Matt, in Pittsburgh.
- Alex
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:30 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I have a laserdisc player, time base corrector, and video capture card. How soon does this need done?
There is no rush for this, but I would like someone to work on it steadily so that it doesn't get forgotten. A player was donated, but don't know if it works or if it is better or worse than your player. I will leave that up to you. Alex Jaccocks has offered to do this, but maybe both of you can figure out between you two who wants to do it or collaborate.
Jeff Salzman
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 3:23 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
So called “Video Game Enhancers” are simple time-base correctors and
will
remove Macrovision.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 3:07 PM Wil Birkmaier via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Laserdisc has a few different formats: all analogue, analogue video with mono analogue audio and digital audio, or analogue video with all digital audio.
They key to a good capture these days is to get the best composite video converter you can find as the video is stored like a vinyl record, as an analogue composite video stream. So yes using the svideo on some of the newer players, the conversion of composite to svideo is still not the best. I need to find a link to a decent converter to 720p I have been using with vhs and am happy with.
On Jun 20, 2021 14:45, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
Jeff, Are you able to post pictures of any of the discs including the label area. Laserdiscs came in a couple of different formats each with their own nuances. There is your bog standard commercially duplicated LD that is produced pretty much like a CD. There are several companies that did this with varying degrees of success, Kunaray and Mitsubishi chemical being the best and Digital Audio Disc Corp (DADC) being the worst. Then there is the Record once read many laserdisc, which used a dye based disc to record single or short run discs. Laserdisc is a component format which was mastered from 1” C or 1” B until the advent of of the digital videotape recorder then D1 and later D2 became the mastering format for laserdisc. As for what video format they should be captured in, I always recommend 10 bit YUV uncompressed with 24/48 PCM uncompressed audio. For digitizing they video nothing is better than a “broadcast quality” transcoder/TBC, running composite out of the player is the best option since LaserDisc is a composite video format and any conversion to S-Video would be late 80’s-early 90’s consumer grade. That transcoding will give you standard SDI 10 bit digital component video, which you can then capture with many different devices. As for players, the Pioneer LD-S-2 is probably the best ever made. It’s a laserdisc only model with a laser optimized for LaserDisc reading, just like the older players with Helium Neon lasers. Just my $0.02 and yes I can do the transfers if needed. Matt Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 20, 2021, at 2:46 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 11:21 AM Matt Patoray <mspproductions@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeff, Are you able to post pictures of any of the discs including the label area.
Yes. I can take pictures tomorrow when I am at the museum. Laserdiscs came in a couple of different formats each with their own
nuances. There is your bog standard commercially duplicated LD that is produced pretty much like a CD. There are several companies that did this with varying degrees of success, Kunaray and Mitsubishi chemical being the best and Digital Audio Disc Corp (DADC) being the worst.
Then there is the Record once read many laserdisc, which used a dye based disc to record single or short run discs.
Laserdisc is a component format which was mastered from 1” C or 1” B until the advent of of the digital videotape recorder then D1 and later D2 became the mastering format for laserdisc.
As for what video format they should be captured in, I always recommend 10 bit YUV uncompressed with 24/48 PCM uncompressed audio.
For digitizing they video nothing is better than a “broadcast quality” transcoder/TBC, running composite out of the player is the best option since LaserDisc is a composite video format and any conversion to S-Video would be late 80’s-early 90’s consumer grade.
That transcoding will give you standard SDI 10 bit digital component video, which you can then capture with many different devices.
As for players, the Pioneer LD-S-2 is probably the best ever made. It’s a laserdisc only model with a laser optimized for LaserDisc reading, just like the older players with Helium Neon lasers.
Wow! Lots of great information!
Just my $0.02 and yes I can do the transfers if needed.
That would be great. Since it seems that you are our resident expert, then I will see about getting the discs to you.
Matt Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 20, 2021, at 2:46 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 11:21 AM Matt Patoray <mspproductions@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeff, Are you able to post pictures of any of the discs including the label area.
OK. Sorry for the delay Matt. I have some pictures of the disc posted here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IUkgvu8kohaL8-BVdNqgH0A5oxe8aBDN?usp... Please let me know what you think.
Laserdiscs came in a couple of different formats each with their own nuances. There is your bog standard commercially duplicated LD that is produced pretty much like a CD. There are several companies that did this with varying degrees of success, Kunaray and Mitsubishi chemical being the best and Digital Audio Disc Corp (DADC) being the worst.
Then there is the Record once read many laserdisc, which used a dye based disc to record single or short run discs.
Laserdisc is a component format which was mastered from 1” C or 1” B until the advent of of the digital videotape recorder then D1 and later D2 became the mastering format for laserdisc.
As for what video format they should be captured in, I always recommend 10 bit YUV uncompressed with 24/48 PCM uncompressed audio.
For digitizing they video nothing is better than a “broadcast quality” transcoder/TBC, running composite out of the player is the best option since LaserDisc is a composite video format and any conversion to S-Video would be late 80’s-early 90’s consumer grade.
That transcoding will give you standard SDI 10 bit digital component video, which you can then capture with many different devices.
As for players, the Pioneer LD-S-2 is probably the best ever made. It’s a laserdisc only model with a laser optimized for LaserDisc reading, just like the older players with Helium Neon lasers.
Just my $0.02 and yes I can do the transfers if needed.
Matt Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 20, 2021, at 2:46 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer laserdisks to a modern digital format? There are 16 laserdisks recently donated that have C programming training from 1984, which was part of a UNIX and C training program. The reason for the transfer is that we don't know how rare these disks are nor how long laserdisk will last.
There are 16 laserdisks as well as supplemental floppy disks and some paper manuals.
========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org
participants (12)
-
Alexander Jacocks -
Chris Fala -
Dave McGuire -
David Ryskalczyk -
Dean Notarnicola -
Ethan O'Toole -
Jeffrey Brace -
jsalzman＠gmail.com -
Matt Patoray -
Sentrytv -
Vincent B -
Wil Birkmaier