While DVDs and Blu-ray media are a non-issue, what about older formats like LaserDisc and VHS?
Should anyone be collecting these?
If so, which one makes the most sense?
Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek
Quality and Format Differences
LaserDisc is a higher quality format than VHS, period.
LaserDisc offered almost twice as many horizontal lines of detail than VHS, so there really is no comparison.
However, with LaserDisc you’ll have to flip the disc over partway through most films.
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While LDs are still short of DVDs in quality, on the right equipment it can still look great.
Longevity and Durability
VHS tapes are not great from a longevity and durability perspective.
Every time you play back a VHS tape, it gets a little more worn out.
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Not to mention that the tape itself will degrade over time, and it’s susceptible to magnets.
However, these discs are susceptible to their own form of “disc rot.”
Well, at least the mainstream models my family could afford were.
Whether there will be any way to play these media decades from now is debatable.
Rarity and Availability
LaserDisc was a relatively rare format at the best of times.
So finding VHS from the late 90s and onward should still be relatively easy.
That said, you’ll find plenty of LaserDisc listings on sites like Ebay.
Not as many as VHS titles based on my casual browsing, but they’re still available.
From this perspective, they are highly collectible.
VHS tapes, on the other hand, are ugly and spartan.
As for the prices of the media, LDs seem quite a bit more expensive.
EvencollectingDVDs is starting to feel likemedia archeology, so while going further back than that feels daunting.
