Support NeoGAF

[Cosmic Smash]

D-Theater (D-VHS)

In 2002, prerecorded D-VHS cassettes were sold under the brand name D-Theater in the US. While D-Theater is a D-VHS tape, it is incompatible with D-VHS decks not bearing the D-Theater logo. They provide content in both 720p and 1080i as well as at least one Dolby Digital audio track.[citation needed] Supported films studios include 20th Century Fox, Artisan Entertainment, DreamWorks, and Universal Pictures.[3] D-Theater does have region code restrictions. There are 3 known regions; 1 for the USA, 2 for Japan, and 3 for South Korea.[citation needed] There has never been a D-Theater video release in region 2 or 3.[citation needed] Region code hacks for Japanese decks have been performed to support playback of US titles.[citation needed] The last film available was 20th Century Fox's I, Robot.[4] This title was a surprise to many as there were no prior announcements nor any indication that the title was available. It was originally available only on JVC's D-VHS store in late 2004 and no other distributor had it (not even Fox itself). A couple of weeks later they started trickling out to more distributors after much delay and confusion about its existence. Alien vs. Predator was announced to retailers as also being released on the same day as I, Robot, but Fox later announced that Alien vs. Predator was never shipped to retailers.

Most tapes have built-in copy protection mechanism (DTCP, also known as "5c") (copy never) that disables copying via FireWire. HDNet productions and 2929 Entertainment via Magnolia Entertainment did provide some of their original content on D-VHS but without copy protection. Many of the tapes have an introduction by owner Mark Cuban encouraging the viewer to make copies of the program in order to help distribute them.

DTS
Additional tracks may be included on D-Theater in other sound formats such as DTS. However, only the newest D-VHS players like JVC HM-DH40000, HM-DH5U, HM-DT100U, and Marantz MV-8300 include alternate audio track capabilities.

Muse Hi Vision Laserdisc

In 1991, several manufacturers announced specifications for what would become known as MUSE LaserDisc, representing a span of almost 15 years until the feats of this HD analog optical disc system would finally be duplicated digitally by HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Encoded using NHK's MUSE "Hi-Vision" analogue TV system, MUSE discs would operate like standard LaserDiscs but would contain high-definition 1,125-line (1,035 visible lines) (Sony HDVS) video with a 5:3 aspect ratio. The MUSE players were also capable of playing standard NTSC format discs and are superior in performance to non-MUSE players even with these NTSC discs. The MUSE-capable players had several noteworthy advantages over standard LaserDisc players, including a red laser with a much narrower wavelength than the lasers found in standard players. The red laser was capable of reading through disc defects such as scratches and even mild disc rot that would cause most other players to stop, stutter or drop-out. Crosstalk was not an issue with MUSE discs, and the narrow wavelength of the laser allowed for the virtual elimination of crosstalk with normal discs.

To view MUSE encoded discs, it was necessary to have a MUSE decoder in addition to a compatible player. There are televisions with MUSE decoding built-in and set top tuners with decoders that can provide the proper MUSE input. Equipment prices were high, especially for early HDTVs which generally eclipsed US$10,000, and even in Japan the market for MUSE was tiny. Players and discs were never officially sold in North America, although several distributors imported MUSE discs along with other import titles. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Lawrence of Arabia, A League of Their Own, Bugsy, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Chaplin were among the theatrical releases available on MUSE LDs. Several documentaries, including one about Formula One at Japan's Suzuka Circuit were also released.

D-Theater

HM-DH30000U

HM-DH40000U

HM-DH5U

HM-DT100U

Complete D-Theater/D-VHS list

Movie makers back D-VHS format

A high definition recordable video tape format

D-VHS demonstration and Q&A

Second Impressions on the D-VHS Format

Reviews

Terminator 2

U571

X-Men

Muse Hi-Vision

Pioneer HLD-1000

Pioneer HLD-X0

Pioneer HLD-X9

Sony HIL-1000
Sony HIL-C1
Sony HIL-C2EX
Panasonic LX-HD10
Panasonic LX-HD20

Complete Muse Hi-Vision list


MUSE HI-Vision LD Launched in Japan enters a new era of high-definition laserdisc - the first upgrade to depart completely from the original 1978 NTSC LD specification

Hi-Vision, MUSE, and the Optical Disc

MUSE catalogs

Equipment brochures (and other items)

Back to the Future trilogy

 

[Captain Zyrain]

Cool info.

I am trying to think when I got my first "HD" TV. I think it had to be like 2002 maybe? Some Sony 32" tube TV (but with FLAT glass!), it weighed like 250 lbs.

I still have some laserdisks, though I don't think they are/were HD, but I kept them because the slipart is so cool.

What kind of TVs were around in the mid-90s for watching HD content?

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Cool info.

I am trying to think when I got my first "HD" TV. I think it had to be like 2002 maybe? Some Sony 32" tube TV (but with FLAT glass!), it weighed like 250 lbs.

I still have some laserdisks, though I don't think they are/were HD, but I kept them because the slipart is so cool.

What kind of TVs were around in the mid-90s for watching HD content?

Sony KW-3200HD
Released in 1992, one of the first consumer HDTV.
With built in Muse Decoder, 32" screen.

HDTVs with Internal MUSE Decoders

 

[Captain Zyrain]

1992! That is crazy.

We had a standard TV for years after that. I remember thinking having a 27" in our living room was "YUGE".

Oh how times change.

 

[VulcanRaven]

I was suprised when I found about this few years ago. I always thought that Blu-ray and HD DVD were the first HD home video formats.

 

[dolabla]

Japan was wild. Just another world technologically speaking. They had HD going all the way back to 1979.

 

[EverydayBeast]

People were living with fridge sized TV's back than.

 

[dolabla]

CRT had its faults (weight, size, etc), but it also had far better viewing angles, black levels were great, motion was superior than anything today, zero lag, etc. I use a CRT sometimes and of course my LCD tv (via OSSC and Framemeister) to play my retro games and the clarity of motion on the CRT is glorious. Looking back now, we went backwards. Maybe one day we will get that true successor to CRT.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Those Pioneer HLD players are damn impressive. Last I checked they were really expensive. Laserdisc is still my favorite video format.

 

[Jesus Carbomb]

People were living with fridge sized TV's back than.

I've taken a few years off of my life helping family and friends move their CRT's back in the 90's.

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Those Pioneer HLD players are damn impressive. Last I checked they were really expensive. Laserdisc is still my favorite video format.

They are expensive (you also need to buy a MUSE decoder), and the discs aren't cheap either. Still a fascinating format. I have an entry level LD player and a few discs.

 

[TUROK]

+1 for Techmoan. One of my favorite Youtube channels.

Dude always has some really neat tech to talk about.

 

[LemmingWithaParachute]

FIY, in the "New York City 1993..." that ponytail guy stairs back at the hotty @ 0:57 as he walks past her, is in the YT comments section. What a trip.

 

[sunnysideup]

x9 and x0 are vastly supperior when it comes to standard laserdisc playback. With those a good laserdisc looks like a letterboxed dvd.

 

[Silentium]

Great thread, love this kind of 'new old' technology

 

[Chairman Tickles]

You know what looks amazing? HD content on a CRT. Especially games. Gibs pls.

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Added new links to the OP.

 

[Scotty W]

For some reason, I always imagined the rooms in Trump tower being stocked with D-VHS.

 

[CaptainVanHelsing]

For some reason, I always imagined the rooms in Trump tower being stocked with D-VHS.

Donald VHS?

 

[Jezbollah]

SACD Pink Floyd was pretty amazing.

 

[Gp1]

A 29'/30/40' tv in the 90's was like having a aircraft carrier in the middle of your living rooms. Those thing were huge.

I saw one yt channel specialized in old tech. Going to post some videos later.

 

[lock2k]

Great thread, love this kind of 'new old' technology

This,

It's so fascinating.

 

[lock2k]

For some reason, I always imagined the rooms in Trump tower being stocked with D-VHS.

Make America HD Again

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Sony KW-3600HD (Trinitron) HD-equipped, 16:9 wide aspect ratio, 36-inch TV (1990)

Designated by the Tokyo museum as Essential Historical Material for Science and Technology.

 

[lock2k]

Sony KW-3600HD (Trinitron) HD-equipped, 16:9 wide aspect ratio, 36-inch TV (1990)

Designated by the Tokyo museum as Essential Historical Material for Science and Technology.

Sexy as hell

 

[Cosmic Smash]

MUSE Hi-Vision Ferrari of the Art

 

[Birdo]

I made HD video in the late 90's by recording with two camcorders side-by-side and stitching the footage together on my PC.

I was a geeky teen.

 

[Quasicat]

I loved my laserdisc player and had tons of movies for it. Eventually, it started to wear out and some of the discs started to suffer from disc rot. In the early 2000s I started to rebuy everything on DVD; that is except for 2 movies. The original Fantasia was rereleased on DVD in 2000 but had Deems Taylor’s voice dubbed over due to the sound degradation on the original music cylinders. The 2nd movie I could not rebuy was Song of the South. It’s a Japanese laserdisc with dual language tracks. I was so worried that they would be lost to me since the format was dying out. While doing my Master’s, the university library had a laserdisc to DVD transfer unit. I waited until late at night when nobody was around and transferred both over. The quality is pretty rough, but it’s the best it’s ever going to get. If only they were on Hi Vision.

Also: I love that Back to the Future trilogy set! What a beautiful layout!

 

[Insane Metal]

Nice thread!

I had already watched all the videos in the OP! Heh

Technology Connections is a great YT channel for this btw!

 

[Cosmic Smash]

 

[lock2k]

Nice thread!

I had already watched all the videos in the OP! Heh

Technology Connections is a great YT channel for this btw!

The Manhattan one gives me goosebumps and it's bittersweet. I went there in 96 and the 93 footage looks like that old NY that I saw and it wowed 13 year old me very much. When I went back there 20 years later the city had lost its charm. I missed the old cabs and the walk/don't walk signs were gone. The city is also way cleaner but I enjoyed dirty NYC way more.

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition MUSE Hi-Vision

Source

Dances with Wolves MUSE Hi-Vision

Source

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

When I first heard of these it really surprised me to learn that there were HD formats/TVs going that far back.

CRT had its faults (weight, size, etc), but it also had far better viewing angles, black levels were great, motion was superior than anything today, zero lag, etc. I use a CRT sometimes and of course my LCD tv (via OSSC and Framemeister) to play my retro games and the clarity of motion on the CRT is glorious. Looking back now, we went backwards. Maybe one day we will get that true successor to CRT.

I wish TVs has stuck with CRT as the fundamental tech as well, the smaller sizes just isn't worth it to me.

 

[dolabla]

I wish TVs has stuck with CRT as the fundamental tech as well, the smaller sizes just isn't worth it to me.

Indeed. Hopefully something will come along one day and we can get back there again to those incredible strengths that CRT offered.

 

[Cato]

CRT had its faults (weight, size, etc), but it also had far better viewing angles, black levels were great, motion was superior than anything today, zero lag, etc. I use a CRT sometimes and of course my LCD tv (via OSSC and Framemeister) to play my retro games and the clarity of motion on the CRT is glorious. Looking back now, we went backwards. Maybe one day we will get that true successor to CRT.

I wish someone would start manufacturing and selling brand new, small, CRTs to service the retro console market.
It is getting really hard to get your hands on a CRT nowadays.
Every console prior to PS2 looks like shit on modern TVs.:-(

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Basic Instinct MUSE Hi-Vision

Source


Breakfast at Tiffany's MUSE Hi-Vision

Source





League of their Own, A MUSE Hi-Vision

Source

 

[Insane Metal]

I find it so amazing to see these old media relics. How far we've come. Storage has always been a pain in the ass for mankind.

 

[Cosmic Smash]

Cliffhanger MUSE Hi-Vision

Source

 

[sunnysideup]

honestly we need a new laserdisc format. The ultimate format.

Where every 35mm film cell is stored as an image on disc scanned in 16k lossless png.

Since they stopped making good films we must have ultimate format for preservation.

Robocop in 16k pristine film grain glory.

 

[Cosmic Smash]

 

[West Texas CEO]

Man, I am literally drowning in nostalgia.

 

[M0G]

I wish someone would start manufacturing and selling brand new, small, CRTs to service the retro console market.
It is getting really hard to get your hands on a CRT nowadays.
Every console prior to PS2 looks like shit on modern TVs.:-(

I think CRTs are actually still manufactured for markets like India and China but nothing that's pushing new limits or of decent quality. You'll always be better off buying retro to go with your retro.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

The Manhattan one gives me goosebumps and it's bittersweet. I went there in 96 and the 93 footage looks like that old NY that I saw and it wowed 13 year old me very much. When I went back there 20 years later the city had lost its charm. I missed the old cabs and the walk/don't walk signs were gone. The city is also way cleaner but I enjoyed dirty NYC way more.

Another interesting thing about these 80s/90s vids. Asian businesses person? Almost always Japanese. These days I feel seeing a Japanese person is actually kind of rare.