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Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 08:50:24 -0800 (PST)<br />
<strong>From</strong>: Jesse Skeen<br />
To: Tom Howe <br />
Subject: Re: <strong>CED</strong> Digest Vol. 2 No. 45<br />
Mime-Version: 1.0<br />
While I just have to laugh at the thought of putting out new movies on<br />
<strong>CED</strong>, I have heard that there is at least one professional videotape<br />
format that was used decades ago that is now impossible to play as all<br />
the machines have broken and irrepairable. I hate the thought of that<br />
happening to any format.<br />
Therefore, when I got into <strong>CED</strong>s my first worry was having my stylus wear<br />
out. It was so much that I started watching only the discs I REALLY<br />
wanted to see first, in case the player died and I couldn't watch any<br />
more. But I started combing the flea markets and thrift stores and have<br />
gotten some spare players, and in cases where the seller will only sell<br />
the discs and player as a package, if the player is mono then I take the<br />
stylus out of that and store it away in a plastic bag. I also have 2<br />
brand new "old-style" cartridges that I got at a mom-n-pop TV shop, so I<br />
don't think I have to worry about my <strong>CED</strong>s being unplayable for a long<br />
time. I've heard the SJT-series (motorized loading) players had styluses<br />
that were designed to last a VERY long time, someone claimed they would<br />
last forever with normal use; that's why there's no access cover like on<br />
other players, and once you get the player open it's still hard to get to<br />
the pickup arm and the stylus. I prefer my SGT-200 however because on<br />
"Dual audio" discs it lets me play them in true stereo. "Audio B" was<br />
really the out-of-phase sound like how the surround channel in standard<br />
Dolby works, so you can get some pretty interesting effects playing these<br />
in stereo. The music in Jane Fonda's Workout is recorded weird so you can<br />
turn off Jane's voice, and the CBS/FOX discs I have that are English with<br />
Spanish on the second track are quite funny in Dolby Surround. The whole<br />
Spanish soundtrack of "Snoopy Come Home" is just a microsecond off from<br />
the English track so the music echoes strangely if you're playing this in<br />
surround, and the dialogue also has an interesting effect- the English<br />
voice speaks first then it's like someone sitting behind you starts<br />
translating it into Spanish. I've always noticed how "spazzed" Spanish<br />
voices in cartoons sound, this is certainly no exception. I laughed when<br />
I figured out they were calling Charlie Brown "Carlito", it reminded me<br />
of Al Pacino's movie "Carlito's Way". I don't quite think I'm up to<br />
handling "North to Alaska" or "The Adventures of Robin Hood" this way yet<br />
though.<br />
But back on the subject of keeping equipment alive so the world can<br />
always play these, something SHOULD be done to make sure that all <strong>CED</strong><br />
players becoming unusable never happens. Enthusiasts of old 78 RPM<br />
phonographs make needles you can use with those, the <strong>CED</strong> stylus is a<br />
little more complex but I think someone can figure it out.<br />
Anyways, I'm off to the flea market at the Drive-in hoping to find some<br />
more <strong>CED</strong>s!<br />
Alan Smithee
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