VHD in the USA
A video years in the making.
This is quite a densely packed video as there was a surprising amount to cover for something that didn't happen. You'll need to set aside 28 minutes if you want to watch the whole thing in one sitting, which is my recommendation.
It's been a two year treasure hunt getting this video together but I'm happy with the way it turned out as I don't feel I've left any stone unturned.
I'm hoping to find the time to make a patreon exclusive update video soon, I've been saving any interesting nuggets for that. I plan to release that as both a video and an audio version next time.
However in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one. I'll be working on editing another video today, but I'll check back in here to answer any comments or questions as soon as I can.
P.S. NAME IN CREDITS
If you pay for your name to appear in the credit scroll at the end of each video be sure to check this previous post that lists the orphaned names that are marked for deletion unless they are claimed https://www.patreon.com/posts/hologram-display-26532456
Comments (48)
Excellent vid once again Mat.
This long-forgotten home video stuff is so darn fascinating and, as always, you sure know how to tell a story, Mat! :D
This is what the couple are saying to each other while they play the game, if you are interested: Woman: What are you doing? [There's a cut here?] Man: On each side of the 1 hour disc, a truly impressive resolution of video and audio signals can be recorded. A personal computer can take that data and combine it at will. [mumble] Because the VHD interface is well conceived, this is possible. That’s why you can get these dream games. Moreover there are a large number of discs for which the personal computer program is contained on the disc, and with the raw video and audio, you can realize truly exciting games. VHD and games were made for each other. Women: Hey, hey, you did it! Man: You weren’t listening at all, were you?
I'll be uploading the full version soon - just for patrons.
Wow, a great video. Interesting enough here in Germany I wasn't aware that the VHD format was planned to launch; therefore I am more than surprised that they build a production facility for the format near cologne. Thank you for sharing!
Ray Charles selling Laserdiscs? That would never fly now - in such bad taste. Although if he was happy to promote it, fair enough. Seems wrong though.
Unlike Stevie Wonder, who was born blind, Ray Charles lost his eyesight as a small child. He certainly understood what vision is, remembered how it works, and what it means. A person born blind, on the other hand, would have no concept of that at all. So when some marketing genius proposed that he'd promote a new video format, I'm sure Ray Charles was a good sport about it and probably enjoyed the idea. Let's not forget he was a bit of a marketing genius in his own right, when it came to promoting his music and shows. Edit: Just found this old TV advert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s43AcSg2BhQ
I really enjoy your retro tech vids! Just a short question: instead of switching cases, couldn't the holes just be covered with some tape?
Possibly - but I haven’t tried it.
Really enjoyed the story of how you ended up in possession of that US disc! That's the kind of YouTube video creation backstory that is seldom told, it's always an unexpected journey with retro tech.
I hope I'm not the only one who "reads" everything Clint types in his own voice? 😄
Enjoyed that. Looks so much more reliable than CED. As I've said before, I bought a CED machine, which came with three discs, none of which play without hopping wildly. Whether I should have taken the stylus out to *gently* clean, well, I dunno!
Nice - thanks!
Wow. So in this video, one of the flyers you displayed had the game "Alice in Chemical Reaction" listed. I'm sure during your research you looked into VHD games and I have to say, I SERIOUSLY hope you one day do a video on the MSX games because looking online has shown me that these MSX VHD games are so elusive, most of them don't even have gameplay screenshots. Maybe one day I will get to see on your channel "Alice In Chemical Reaction - The Game That Didn't Seem to Exist". Actually, this reminds me of when the Japanese FMV game "Garage" on the playstation was discovered by some people as being super rare and also no disc images online so a group of fans hunting one down and made it available. I seriously hope the same happens for these elusive VHD games.
It’s a tall order as there’s a lot to get together and it’s all old, very rare and extremely expensive. I’ve seen the MSX adaptor on it’s own go for around £1000. However anything could happen.
I knew about these formats at the time because the BBC made a programme (an edition of 'The Risk Business') about them. I remember thinking how much more advanced the laserdiscs looked and how much clunkier the discs that needed caddies seemed.
Yes the BBC Archive posts a clip from that show every so often on Twitter which usually prompts a few people to link me to it https://twitter.com/BBCArchive/status/1125437567866793984
So here is the Yellow Magic Orchestra VHD playlist recreated in Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/davidrobertstx/playlist/2aQptABjblPyfQlURsPPG1?si=9OWKZs-NQUKMYZN6Y4sL7w
Sadly I can't open the playlist, it also doesn't show up on search...
Always welcome these historical format documentaries. You are creating the definitive historical record of these abortive format roll-outs! I'll pass on Arabesque, but I recommend the other group glimpsed in the video - Yellow Magic Orchestra - to those who like me enjoy retro-analog Kraftwerkesque type music. Start with Rydeen. So thanks for that.
Were you aware of them before?
Techmoan "mini-marathon" today. I just had to watch the first two VHD videos again before I watched this one today. Always an enjoyable venture.
I may be missing some obvious joke, but why does the US flag at 0:08 have 51 stars?
I have no idea - it’s the first flag with a decent resolution that showed up in google image search.
You can tell that a lot of work went into this episode. Good job as always
totally unrelated but I just got a reward from a kickstarter I backed for a limited edition LP. It looks like they explain it is a "Lathe cut" recorded in realtime rather than pressed vinyl, with a number of caveats. Have you done a vid on that or know how to handle something like this safely?
I haven’t, and I’m not sure if there are any tips - but the only lathe cut record I have was killed by a Rokblok - so avoid doing that.
I haven't seen the mega CD version but I would assume it is. I had a fascination with laser arcade games in the late 90s before I got married and sold most of it.
Apologies if this was mentioned, but that Thunderstorm video was used in an arcade laser disc based game called Cobra Command. I had the laser disc for that game years ago.
It hasn’t been mentioned but I could see that this was from an earlier arcade game from the intro screen. I didn’t know about the name change though. So it’s the same one that appeared on Mega CD etc.
Excellent, Mat - fascinating video. Very impressed at all your research. We went straight from VHS to DVD, as I suspect did most people - in the UK at least. As I recall, watching movies at home was always more about convenience that quality. Before video tape you couldn't really watch movies off-air at all, then DVDs were much more convenient to use and store than VHS tapes. Buying an expensive system for watching expensive pre-recorded movies just didn't occur to us. Back in the 1980s, I was quite technology aware (so I thought) but I have to say, I don't recall there being much 'noise' being made about pre-DVD video discs of any format - certainly not compared to the efforts put in by VHS tape manufacturers to buy their brand - I still remember the Scotch adverts with the skeleton, but nothing at all about video discs ever. As always, thanks for your excellent video. Have a great weekend.
The title for this on YouTube has to be "You'll never believe what's on this sealed disk from the 1980s" with you holding up the disk and pointing at it. Excellent video Mat some classic Techmoan moments. Thanks for all the work you put in to this one.
It would certainly get the views - but at the cost of my soul.
When I was a student working for IBM in the early 1980s in Canada, the training centre that I worked in used, I think, laser disks for the educational videos. It's only now that I realise what had gone on in the technology field at that time. I am just grateful that I was involved in some way with the unimaginable revolution in video technology going on at the time. Techmoan, the historian.
I need to tell JVC in 1980 that Houston, Texas is not located under the sea. If you do a documentary on CD-i, I can probably help you out with some of the technical details and perhaps contribute a little section to the video.
Yes that would be good - it's going to be quite some time before I get to it though. I've had a couple of nice machines and discs sitting around for a few years.
I managed to startle my coworkers when I burst out laughing at the New Zealand map placement. Well done! Very Arabesque!
I know, right? "Seamlessly" :0)
Hilarious ending!
Beautifully researched and detailed as always. Like a lot of modern history this stuff just isn't documented anywhere else. Nicely done
In 1983, I was heavily into audio, not video, and made a special trip to Japan to acquire high end audio, not the least of which was a brand new CD player, something that no one had in the U.S. even though they were stated as available, in reality, they really weren't. I came home with the incredible Technics SL-P10 vertical loading CD player, and everyone I knew was so amazed with these CD's and player that I showed them, that I might as well have just returned from Mars! - It was a fun time time, because there was beginning to be a huge buzz about the quality of CD sound, and I was the only one who had one, and no one else could buy one! For a time, I owned every CD (there weren't that many) and probably half were classical music, and all of the CD's had Japanese characters on the labels. I remember Michael Jackson & Dire Straights and Led Zeppelin being some of the earliest CD's that were not classical or jazz. I would go into the largest record store in the U.S., Tower Records in Los Angeles, and I would ask about buying CD's, and they would take me into the back and present a small stack for sale, it was like I was buying drugs, all hush-hush.
It’s always fun (and expensive) getting into these things at the beginning. I remember seeing and hearing my first CD player a friends father had brought back from a business trip to Japan. Years later when I bought my own still very few people had them. I also recall when there was a choice of perhaps twenty DVDs for my first imported machine - all flippers.
Not to toot your horn but you are getting better and better at these documentary style videos. This one is the best yet. I really appreciate the research you go to, the video production and audio quality of your voice recordings. Excellent job!
We ARE in... the VHD world. :-) Brilliant as always, sir.
That 'Thunder Storm' music sounds like the opening music of Blade Runner. Really enjoying these VHD videos!
Brilliant program as always. I can’t seem to find Arabesque on iTunes, will you be selling pirated copies on your stall at the local flea market? Thank you.
Outstanding video. The ending was very amusing.
"Despite Arabesque's best attempt to derail this video" HAHAHA