Donor: Helt
A LaserDisc (LD) uses small pits on a plastic-coated disk to store digital data. A laser reads the pits by scanning the disc's surface, and this approach provides the basis for new technologies, such as CDs and DVDs.
inventors.about.com provides this history: "David Paul Gregg first envisioned the optical disk (or VIDEODISK as he named it) in 1958 and patented the technology in 1961 and 1969. Gregg's company Gauss Electrophysics was acquired by MCA in the early 1960s. MCA also bought the patent rights for the optical disk which included a the process for making a video record disc and other optical disk technology. In 1978, MCA Discovision released the first consumer Optical disk player in Atlanta, Georgia."
Although LaserDiscs provided high-quality video with two analog audio tracks, the format experienced limited popularity. LaserDiscs were reasonably popular in Japan, Hong Kong, and parts of southeast Asia. However, title selection and high costs limited the adoption of LaserDiscs in North America, Europe, and Australia.
References:
- http://inventors.about.com/od/ofamousinventions/a/Optical_Disk.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc
