Star Wars LD Problem (1 Viewer)

[Seann_B]

I purchased the original versions of star wars on laserdisc from ebay a few weeks ago. They are the THX half face versions from 95 i believe. In a few scenes on each disc there are lines which look like VCR tracking lines. I've cleaned the disc numerous times and concluded it's not a scratch. Is this laser rot? And if it' not any clues?

Thanks

 

[greg_t]

I would say thats probably just part of the discs. I notice the same thing in spots on mine. I wouldn't think it's rot. Laser rot looks like multi colored speckles, almost like multi colored snow, all over the screen. what kind of laser disc player do you have? How do you have it hooked up to your tv? It could be that your player just isn't able to cut video noise efficently.

 

[Rachael B]

Seann, it sounds like some bad spots in the discs. I have a few discs with similar symptoms. But, I too, am curious what you are playing the discs on. Best wishes!

 

[Joe Vidal]

I also have the CLV, Gatefold, "half-face" versions of Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back and the only problems I've noticed are the occasional video drop-outs...but it's not severe interference like tracking lines.

If you see short,thin, white horiz. lines that flash for a couple of frames...that's what I'm referring to as dropouts. I've seen these on other laser discs as well but if more than a couple are flashing across your screen at the same time that might be a bad spot on your disc.

 

[Rachael B]

Joe, I've seen these kinds of lines in blue and more commonly black, too. Sometimes I'm not sure what's the transfer and what's a disc problem? I've also seen the lines to be player dependent, sometimes. My oldest disc, literally, CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, which was one of the two LD's I got the day I got my first player (LD-838D, in 1987 BTW), anyway, it has medium blue lines on some players on the first part of side 2, spratically. It plays perfect on a few players. All players are not created equally.

The black lines I've seen in several, mostly older, films, I've taken them to be representations of damage to the film print. I might not be right about this? On video tape based stuff I've seen, I've seen black lines I was sure were tracking errors. Best wishes from Laserland!

 

[alan halvorson]

In my experience, since 1983, this is nearly always a tracking problem. Very likely you have something on the disc that the laser can't track see through. Obviously then, clean the disc! But do it from inside to out, always perpendicular to the tracks.