Laser Disc Players Becoming More Affordable
The lower-priced laser disc player, which some industry observers believe will fuel a laser disc boom, is finally here.
Pioneer recently introduced a so-called “combi” (for combination ) player--which plays all forms of digital discs, including the 12-inch laser discs (videodiscs used for feature films) and regular compact discs. Called the CLD-980, it retails for $500 but will be discounted to $400 and maybe lower.
And Radio Shack, the nationwide consumer-electronics chain, will have a $500 “combi” player in 4,900 of its outlets by the end of October.
So far, interest in laser discs has been largely limited to major cities on both coasts, and the cheapest “combi” player, until now, was $600, with most selling for between $700 and $1,200. Combined with the fact that laser discs can only play back prerecorded material--rather than record--this has left the machine lagging far behind the VCR in terms of consumer acceptance, even though the laser disc offers superior picture and sound quality. VCRs are in 70% of the nation’s 93.1 million TV households, compared to an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 homes with laser disc players.
Many industry observers have predicted that the public would become interested in laser discs when the hardware was more affordable. The lower-priced “combi” machines from Pioneer and Radio Shack may introduce laser discs to consumers in smaller towns across the country.
“With the low-priced players, we want to appeal to the person who is about to buy a CD player,” said Mike Fidler, Pioneer’s senior vice president of marketing. “If the price is right, that consumer will buy a machine that plays laser discs too.”
But some retailers contend that low-cost machines are not the answer. These detractors maintain that what’s holding back the laser revolution is the simple fact that laser disc distribution is inefficient. The primary outlet for laser discs (which retail for $25 to $40) is video stores--and most don’t stock them.
“For the most part, retailers can’t get laser titles when they want them,” said Brad Burnside of Video Adventure in Evanston, Ill. “The distribution system is bad. Until this problem is cleared up, most retailers won’t want to be bothered with laser discs.”
This may surprise laser disc fans in the Los Angeles area. David DelGrosso, marketing vice president of the software distribution firm Image Entertainment, said that’s because Los Angeles is the largest laser disc market in the country.
Local laser disc fans are lucky, he pointed out, because it’s much easier for them to find software here. It’s also easier to find stores that rent laser discs. Elsewhere, almost no stores rent laser discs because, with such a small universe of machines, it doesn’t pay to do anything but sell them.
Compared to the videocassette distribution network, laser disc distribution seems particularly inefficient.
“With videocassettes, you can get them when you want them--if they’re not out of print,” Burnside said. “It may take a retailer a week to get a hard-to-find tape. With older laser titles, it may take weeks or months for it to come through. And what’s worse, when you make an order--even of current hits--you never get as many as you ordered. Also, laser titles often aren’t available on the announced date. From the retailer’s point of view, you can’t count on laser discs being available. With cassettes, the retailer can always get what he wants within a few days.”
DelGrosso disputed these criticisms, but did acknowledge that availability has been something of a problem in the past.
“Those retailers who complain about availability are living in the past,” DelGrosso said. “Eighty-five percent of all orders get shipped in the next few days. In a few cases there are some hard-to-get titles, but those are the exceptions. I’d say two years ago, availability was a problem, and last year it was a concern. Now it’s not really a problem and it certainly shouldn’t keep any retailers from stocking laser discs.”
If you are considering venturing into laser, there are few things to know.
First, you may have to buy a new TV set to take full advantage of laser disc’s 425 lines of horizontal resolution (a measure of the brightness or sharpness of the picture). If you have an average-priced set that’s a few years old, chances are it’s only capable of delivering 330 lines of resolution.
Second, very few stores rent laser discs, which means spending $25 to $40 each time you want to see a new movie on disc. “There’s not enough disc players on the market to make it worthwhile for most retailers to get into rental,” explained Ed Weiss, general manager of Philadelphia’s Movies Unlimited. “But as more players are sold, more retailers will experiment with rental.”
Third, the quality of the sound delivered by many of the “combi” players has been less than the CD quality that’s advertised. Traditionally, manufacturers have paid more attention to producing a first-rate picture. When buying a lower-end machine, make some sound comparisons first. Don’t assume you’ll get great sound.
On the positive side, laser disc quality has improved over a few years ago when the industry was plagued by defectives.
