Laserdisc

Definition: A technology used mainly in the 1980s and '90s for watching movies prerecorded on optical discs 30 cm (approximately 11 3/4 inches) in diameter. Laserdisc offered better picture quality than videotape, and the discs could also contain supplemental material such as an audio track that could be used for commentary by a director or a scholar. However, Laserdisc players and media were relatively high-priced, and only a small percentage of households ever used the technology. When DVD came along in 1997, it quickly became obvious that the new technology was equal or superior to Laserdisc in every important way. The last movies on Laserdisc were released in the year 2000.