VHS vs LaserDisc: Economies of Scale and Letterboxed Movies
“Back in the days of VHS, the only place you could reliably find letterboxed movies was LaserDisc. Despite the superior quality and easier mass production, VHS got the blessing of economies of scale.”
Summary
Letterboxed releases were available on formats other than LaserDisc, including early CED releases and later VHS titles, so LaserDisc was not the sole reliable source for letterboxed movies. While LaserDisc offered superior picture quality, VHS achieved broader market dominance due to its economies of scale.
Sources 59 searched
- LaserDisc - Wikipedia
LaserDisc could handle analog and digital audio where VHS was mostly analog only (VHS could have PCM audio in professional applications but it was uncommon), and the NTSC discs could store multiple audio tracks. This allowed for extras such as director's commentary tracks and other features ...
- Videotape format war - Wikipedia
None of these disc formats gained much ground as none was capable of home recording; however, they did hold small niche markets. Some sources say that VHS won over Betamax due to the greater availability of pornographic movies on the format. ...
- VHS - Wikipedia
Newer improved tape formats such ... disc format, LaserDisc; the lack of global adoption of these formats increased VHS's lifetime, which eventually peaked and started to decline in the late 1990s after the introduction of DVD, ...
- Laserdisc or VHS: Which Is More Collectible? - UMA Technology
Despite their lower quality, VHS tapes were more popular with consumers due to their convenience and affordability. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, both formats coexisted in the market, with VHS ultimately winning out as the format of choice for most consumers.
- VHS-Only Gems, a list of films by Jeffrey
A running list of excellent (an adjective loosely employed) films that have yet to make the jump to DVD or blu-ray. I understand that some of these made it to laserdisc. I assure you that I don't care. Note: Some of these have received bootleg or VHS-quality-transfer DVD releases in the US or other countries, but those don't really count now do they.
- Film list: Movies stuck on VHS without a physical release on DVD or Blu-ray (discounting VHS on DVD releases)
People are too eager to dismiss VHS. But what a lot of people don't know, is that there are movies threatened to get lost/ stuck on VHS without any new releases currently available on DVD/ Blu-ray. (discounting the VHS to DVD releases) This is a growing list of films released on VHS / Laserdisc, but as of yet not officially mastered on DVD and/ or Blu-ray.
- Letterboxing (filming) | Ultimate Pop Culture Wiki | Fandom
The first fully letterboxed CED ... in pan-and-scan versions. However, most later LaserDiscs (from 1987 on) and some VHS releases were released in their original widescreen versions....
- The first ever letterboxed home video release | Home Theater Forum
That's why the eventual video release was on MGM/UA's own home video label, and not CBS/FOX's home video label. Indeed the broadcast and home video versions had a light gray letterboxing, not black bars. The gray letterboxing was distracting, so the MGM/UA laserdisc remaster in the early '90s ...
- Understanding Widescreen, Letterboxed, and Pan & Scan
CED was the first video format to feature letterboxing, with the release of "Amarcord" in January 1984. This was eight months prior to the release of "Manhattan" on LaserDisc, which is often mistakenly considered the first letterboxed release.
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