Diminished LaserDiscs
Dear Gary: When I first moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1995, there were approximately 10 retail stores that sold LaserDiscs. At present, there is only one left: Tower Records in downtown Nashville. This past week, I was told by Tower that by the end of this year they would probably no longer stock LaserDiscs. They currently have half of their LaserDisc inventory on sale at 50 percent off — and the only LaserDiscs they currently receive from their distributors are new releases. The stock of older releases at Ken Crane’s, LaserDisc Fan Club and Columbia House is rapidly depleting and they all tell me that same thing — the distributors are not supplying them with out-of-stock titles — only new releases. But then, I’m sure both you and most of your readers are already aware of the facts concerning the immediate future of LaserDiscs.
Jay Cervone, Hendersonville, Tennessee
Editor Gary Reber Comments:
Sadly, it appears that the LaserDisc is fading away faster than enthusiasts expected. The format has admirably served as the foundation upon which the home theatre digital age is being built. But unfortunately for film enthusiasts, the LaserDisc format no longer seems to be paid the respect it deserves and should command. While there is a sizable penetration of LaserDisc player homes, people are either deciding not to buy Laser Disc versions of new releases and instead are buying the DVD versions, or they are not buying LaserDiscs thinking that the title will soon come out in a DVD version. In either case, the result is putting a damper on Laser Disc sales. Plus, most former LaserDisc specialty retailers are fast switching to DVD and ordering less and less LaserDisc versions of titles, or they have gone out of business. The specialty retailer must now compete with the financially strong and competitive entertainment retail chains plus the fast-growing Internet e-commerce in sales and rentals of DVDs. It is a formidable challenge. What enthusiasts should realize is that for some time to come the smaller, less noticed boxoffice successes and failures which have in the past seen life on LaserDisc, will no longer be available on LaserDisc, nor will they be released on DVD anytime soon — probably at least a year or more, depending on the realities of the DVD market once it has had another year or so to mature. Considering present DVD player penetration growth rates, the DVD market should easily surpass the two million or so LaserDisc player penetration by the end of 1999. Then begin to expect the DVD market to flower into a boutique market for speciality content providers and for less successful boxoffice films. If you haven’t added a DVD player to your home theatre system to augment, do not replace your LaserDisc player; but now is the time to get serious about buying a DVD player. Or you could wait up to a year longer and buy one of the new generation “universal” DVD players that will play both DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs, as well as DVD-ROM discs. If I were buying a DVD-Video or “universal” player, I would want such features as component video output and DTS Digital Out to complement the standard S-video and Dolby Digital circuitry. And I would want progressive scan output capability if I had a display device that could support the scanning frequency. While box office successes are certain to be released on LaserDisc for at least another year or two, perhaps up to five years depending on DVD’s market penetration; without pre-orders of at least 1,500 units, LaserDisc versions will cease to be issued. This is the current scenario with respect to previously announced LaserDisc titles, including some DTS format releases which have now been canceled. Sadly, but inevitably, unless the industry decides to return to the larger data packing capability of the LaserDisc, the format will no longer be a viable consumer product. Only if the LaserDisc is found to be required to deliver digital HD picture and non-data reduced multichannel sound quality, will the LaserDisc be reprised. That scenario is doubtful.
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