Panasonic has finally announced that it will discontinue the production of its line of Laserdisc players. Laserdisc was a format created in the early 70s that failed to gain a following against the more popular and user friendly VHS format. It was technologically superior, but expensive and cumbersome, not to mention huge. The discs were almost a foot in diameter!
The technology that was developed during the use of the laserdisc helped make what the CD, DVD and even the Blu-ray formats what they are today.
I myself remember using laserdiscs in elementary school; there was a binder full of bar codes, and you would scan a picture or section from the book with the remote, and the laserdisc would pull up the information on the screen. I also remember a couple of instances where the discs were badly damaged after one short fall.
While it’s sad to see a format go, it’s way overdue in the case of the Laserdisc. Thank you for DVDs and Digital Video!
Do you have a Laserdisc player? Tell us below!