CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[CEDatum]

The popular press would have you beleive that the failure of CED VideDisc in the market was due to competition from VHS and BETA, recordable tape formats and to a lesser extent, LaserDisc.
Those of us who worked for RCA during the early 1980's and kept our ears open learned a different story. RCA had planned to break even on CED player sales and make money on disc sales. They never had foreseen a video rental market. Blockbuster opened and many mom and pop videostores sprung up in local areas. They rented players and videodiscs and pre-recorded tapes. RCA had supposed that the public would buy discs and build private collections. But renting the discs proved popular and consequently RCA could not meet sales targets for disc sales.

John at CEDatum.

[SelectaVision420]

the funny thing is now block buster is out of business!!
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complete '84 Dimensia Owner

[Rixrex]

The motion picture producers always wanted to drive the rental markets out of business, or at least change the way the business operated. They much preferred to sell product direectly to consumers and reap all the gains than to sell a few and let the rental places make the money.

Initially they had to go along with the rental outfits because that was the only practical thing to do, but when DVDs became so cheap to mass manufacture, which was what the production companies wanted, a big share of each DVD sale went to the studios and the independent producers, earning them much more than they got on selling to rental places. Rentals aren't all dried up yet, as Redbox shows, but it's not like it was.

The advent of streaming rentals is also fine for them because they can track and collect a fee for each production. That's something they could not do with rental houses. I can't think of a single rental house still in business within 50 miles of our town, only the Redbox booth in the marketplaces.

[Beetlescott]

That's amazing John, I always thought it was the VHS competition. It never dawned on me that it would be rentals. I do remember when I bought my player new in 1982, the seller of the player offered (I can't remember how many) CEDs to rent. I remember they were renting the CEDs for 5 bucks for a week. That makes perfect sense
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SGT-250
SGT-200
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[Dude111]

[Jesse Skeen]

I've always liked to have my own copies of movies- when VHS tapes were expensive, I got a 2nd VCR and copied all the rented movies that I liked. When I moved on to laserdisc, most movies averaged $30 so I bought the ones I really liked and there were a few places that rented them so I could rent the ones I hadn't yet seen. When DVD came along however, most of those were priced so low that I started buying exclusively. I've never rented a DVD from a regular video store, closest I've gotten is the public library or Redbox when they have free promo codes.
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Videodisc and stereo sound- there's no better value around!

[Rixrex]

I've never rented a DVD either. Used to rent VHS when they'd have the 2 for 1 specials at a local place on Tues, Weds, and Thurs.

A few years ago the Hollywood Video nearby had a big sale on all their VHS tapes. Dropped them down to like a quarter each. They sold many, but when I went back the next day to get a few more, there were none. I asked a guy sweeping the floor and he said that corporate told them to chuck all the tapes in the dumpster, but to make it worse, they were required to step on them and break them first.

I went to the manager and told him how stupid they were to do that and they could have donated the tapes to a charity and taken a corporate tax deduction. He agreed, but you know people who are corporate lackeys, they always say, there's nothing I can do. That's one reason why I have never held a corporate job nor have applied for one. You might as well be a zombie.

[Jesse Skeen]

And that's why they're now out of business! I heard Blockbuster did the same thing with their VHS tapes when they stopped renting them- they even had a metal spike to drive through them once they were in the dumpster so they couldn't be fished out.
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Videodisc and stereo sound- there's no better value around!

[Rixrex]

Yep, that's the corporate mentality. If they can't somehow sell it or use it, nobody else can either.

[tvictordavis]

It's not just corporate. I worked for a school district in Michigan. When it came time to close several schools the idea was floated to have a "garage sale" of old material such as typewriters, TVs, etc. Included in the material were several Laserdisc players and, believe it or not, two CED players. The Laserdisc material was primarily science and tech related. The CED discs were all classic movies used, I think, for a film appreciation class. Before the sale could take place a number of voices were raised in opposition due to the fact that all of this stuff was paid for by tax revenue and couldn't be resold at a "profit". I asked the A/V person in charge if there was any way I could salvage anything. He told me to check the dumpster. I did. It was all smashed beyond recovery.

[Rixrex]

You're right, it's just plain dumb@$$ mentality, not merely restricted to corporations, but government run entities as well. The stuff wouldn't have been sold at a profit anyway because they'd never have gotten more than what was paid for the items. It's completely illogical, eg, what if they'd had a mural on a wall done by a person who later became famous, would they just paint over it when the routine repaint time came around?

Your school district is not like many others who have a auction or discount clearinghouse type of setup for stuff not used any longer.

[Dude111]

[Jesse Skeen]

Macrovision was on the first tape I tried to copy (Back to the Future) but I got a box that defeats it. You still need these boxes to record protected tapes to DVD, as the picture on those won't be messed up but if the recorder sees the signal it won't go into Record mode.

Some tapes from the late 70s-early 80s have an older protection called "Stop Copy" which is really brutal- they assumed everyone had access to the Vertical Hold controls on their TV to watch them, but on my 1990s CRT which didn't have a vertical hold control the picture just rolled constantly, and now on my HDTV the picture often plays with the vertical interval in the middle of the screen with the picture wrapped around! They put this on both VHS and Beta too, I don't think Beta ever had Macrovision.
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Videodisc and stereo sound- there's no better value around!

[Dude111]

It pisses me off.... All 3 back to the future movies ON VHS have been DIGITALLY RECORDED to the VHS tape.. (They arent the analog masters and dont look that good!!!) -- The VIDEODISC COPY OF "BACK TO THE FUTURE" I believe is the analog master!

@ first I couldnt find "The Goonies" straight analogue on VHS either but I finally found a copy!!!!! (The only ones of this I could find were "digitally processed" and that takes away the analog quality!! (When I get VHS,records,etc.. I prefer straight analog!! (They are ANALOGUE PLATFORMS AFTER ALL RIGHT?? )))

Heh everyday as I get more desperate,im tempted to get a videodisc player and then find myself a back to the future record!!

Im glad I found this site!

[Glenn]

I purchased my four CED players and all of my discs from Advanced TV in Sacramento when I lived there. I rented several discs from them at the beginning but they were always in terrible condition and the skipping was so bad it just wasn't worth the effort. Enjoyed buying CED but always rented VHS tapes, it was just a lot less frustrating.

[SelectaVision420]