- The first laser disc was released to the public on Dec. 15, 1978. This was almost 4 years before the first compact disc and a little less than 20 years before DVDs. The first laser-disc movie release was "Jaws."
- The laser disc, with its 11-inch diameter, is more than twice the size of a DVD. You placed the disc in a laser disc player. The discs were usually double-sided, which made it prone to damage, and each side held only 30 minutes to 60 minutes of video on each side. This meant that during a movie you would have to flip the disc over to watch the rest or put in a new disc.
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Laser discs had superior sound to VHS tapes. They used digital audio as opposed to the analog audio found on tapes. Laser disc also offered greater video resolution than tape. The different layers on the disc allowed the movie to broadcast in multiple audio formats, so you could activate features, such as commentary by actors and directors and dubbing in different languages.
Laser discs also offered scene selection, a large improvement over VHS, where the only options were "forward" and "reverse" to jump to a new scene. - Laser disc had the potential to become the leading format for movies, but some of its problems held it back. This potential was exploited in other formats, such as DVD, which became the dominant movie-viewing format.
- Laser discs are still popular among collectors because they featured exclusive material that cannot be found on DVD releases. Laser disc was popular in Japan, where they were sold until 2001. The format no longer has broad commercial value, but there is a market for old discs and players among collectors.
