Video CDs Still Have Drawbacks to Overcome

If your Christmas shopping takes you into an audio-video store or department, you may notice another new technology on display--video CDs, introduced about two months ago.

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Before you start worrying that your VCR is about to become obsolete, consider that, if video CDs do catch on, it won’t be for another couple of years. Video CDs--the same size as audio CDs--sell for about $25. Software is limited, with Paramount releasing a few titles, including “Top Gun” and “The Hunt for Red October.”

The positives are that video CDs offer terrific sound and are more durable and much easier to use than tapes.

But there are many drawbacks:

* The biggest is that, as with any new technology, you have to buy new hardware. Video CDs are played on a CD-1 player, made by Philips and Magnavox, costing $400-$500 plus a $250 cartridge.

* It might somehow be worth the money if video CDs produced a dazzlingly sharp picture. But the quality is no better than what you already get on your VCR--and, naturally, vastly inferior to laser discs.

* You can’t record on video CDs.

* It takes two CDs to hold one movie.

CDs may catch on in the next few years if plans materialize for a fairly inexpensive cartridge that will make the discs usable on standard audio CD players.

Audio-Video Shopping Tips

Laser-Disc Players: Good for a movie buff with a fairly recent TV that has a screen of at least 27 inches. Older, small-screen TVs aren’t sophisticated enough to take advantage of the high-resolution and excellent sound you get from laser discs. Also make sure the person you’re buying for has easy access to a store that rents laser discs--which aren’t that common. Otherwise, the cost of buying discs is $30-$40 apiece.

Decide whether you want a single-play or a double-play machine. The discs have information on both sides. A double-play machine--$600 and up--plays both sides automatically. With a single play machine--in the $300-$600 range--you have to flip the disc in the middle of a movie.

Pioneer is the top laser-disc brand name, with the largest model selection--from about $300 on up to the top-of-the-line, topping $3,500. If you’re at all in doubt, technical experts say you can’t go wrong with Pioneer. Many recommend the very basic Pioneer CLD-S201, which you can find for about $300.

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VCRs: The big breakdown is between two-headed mono players ($160-$350) and four-headed stereo machines, $350 and up. The cheaper players deliver mono sound and limited special effects (fast-forward, etc.) with some visual noise. More expensive players offer stereo sound and more extensive, noise-free special effects.

Repairmen warn that the quality of cheaper VCRs has dipped drastically in the last few years, with the parts getting flimsier. Don’t dump that 3- to 4-year-old machine in favor of a newer, less-expensive one, thinking that newer is better. Newer is better only if you’re spending at least $400.

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Michael Jackson Video: Sales of Michael Jackson’s new video collection suggest that the pop star has many faithful fans who haven’t been turned off by the child molestation allegations. A spot check of stores around the country indicated that “Dangerous: The Short Films” (Epic Video, $20) is doing decent business. For instance, Peter Margo, an executive at the New Jersey-based Palmer chain, said it’s selling fairly well--though not as well as other Jackson videos when they first came out. Margo said that he’d had some reservations about stocking the product, considering the allegations against Jackson, but he decided it ought to be the public’s choice to accept or reject it--not retailers’.

What’s New on Video:

“Rising Sun” (FoxVideo, $97). Adapted from Michael Crichton’s best-seller about two L.A. policemen (Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes) tracking the killer of a party girl in Japanese corporate circles. Though director Philip Kaufman eliminates the flagrant Japan-bashing that permeates the novel, he doesn’t purge the tale of Japanese and female stereotypes. If you can get past those flaws, it’s a largely effective thriller.

“The Adventures of Huck Finn” (Disney, $97). An intelligent, ‘90s version of Mark Twain’s tale about two runaways--a teen rebel (Elijah Wood) and a slave (Courtney B. Vance)--escaping down the Mississippi. While providing an updated perspective on their relationship, it doesn’t neglect, as other film versions have, Twain’s razor-sharp social parody. By far the best of all the “Finn” films, it’s geared for older children.

Upcoming:

Columbia TriStar’s “Poetic Justice,” starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur, comes out Feb. 2.

Also: “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Super Mario Bros.,” “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” “Guilty as Sin” and “House of Cards” (Wednesday); “The Firm” (Dec. 16); “Dave” (Dec. 22); “Hot Shots Part Deux” and “Hocus Pocus” (Jan. 5).