What is a laser disc?

Laser discs for the first time, as a technology, appear in the 58th year of the last century. A patent for technology in 61 is received by D. Gregg. The technology used to record information on a light-transmitting medium.

In 1969, Philips created the first video disc using light reflection technology. During the development of the laser disc, there were many problems, both technical and commercial. Philips joins forces with MCA to create a commercial laserdisc. This allowed companies to achieve some success and in 72 to demonstrate their first laser disc, made as a video disc. They entered mass production in 1978, when VHS cassettes dominated the market. The first film released on the first laser carrier is "Jaws".

Basis of the laser disc method

With the help of heating, dots are applied on the disk at a certain distance. When the laser passes over the surface of the disc, the change of a recess in the form of a point to a simple surface is read as a "one", the absence of points at a certain distance is read as "zero". The basis of one-zero is machine code, or, to put it more expressively, a kind of machine Morse code. There are several rumors and legends about the 12 cm diameter disk known to this day. The most beautiful of them is exactly what is needed to record Beethoven’s ninth symphony in 16-bit encoding and sound quality of 44.1 kHz.

It was not included in mass use for various reasons, it was used until 2000. The technologies used in the laser disc formed the basis for CDs and DVDs.