LaserVision

Credits

Descriptions by
LogoWriter and James Stanley Barr

Captures by
EnormousRat

Editions by
BenderRoblox, EDC4 and DatuDimatablan

Video captures courtesy of
Video Disorder

Background

This logo is the American certificate mark arm of LaserDisc, and it appears on a majority of LaserDiscs that were released from approximately 1981 after the end of MCA DiscoVision in the late 1990s. American LaserDisc production ended in 2000, while disc production in Japan continued until approximately 2001. Stand-alone players ceased production around that time as well, but combination LD/DVD players were produced until late 2009, when Pioneer discontinued the final combo player models.

This logo was used mostly on U.S. titles pressed by Pioneer and, in some cases, DiscoVision Associates (a spinoff of MCA DiscoVision).

(1981-October 26, 1999?)

• 

Logo: Up against a black background, we see strange purple lines (which is an extremely vertically-stretched "LaserVision" in purple) at the bottom of the screen that slide a bit. Then the LaserDisc certificate logo appears from a distance, and it turns a little bit left towards the center with a trail. Then "LaserVision" appears with a similar trail and moves under the LaserDisc certification mark. Then on the top corner, a set of strange purple lights with "lens flares" appears.

Variants:

• When starting the end of other sides, the words "Side 2", "Side 3", etc. appears after the animation.
• End of side bumpers on most discs simply consisted of a still image of the logo.
• A still blue and white version exists on the earliest discs.
• On some discs, like Charlotte's Web (1973) or Alien (1979), there is an animated version. The outermost part of the logo fades in along with the word "Laser". The innermost part of the logo fades in along with the word "Vision". Again, on a side that is not Side 1, the side number fades in.
• On the end of a promotional video (made by Phillips), the LaserVision logo (colored all blue) zooms in with a whoosh sound effect, on a black background. There is text on the bottom that says "Now Ask For a Demonstration Here".

FX/SFX: The purple lines moving, the LaserVision logo and text appearing, and the lights.

Music/Sounds: While a low warbling synth plays, we hear a couple of whooshes, followed by a ding when the lights appear. The blue and white version sometimes has the opening music from LaserDisc: What It Is, the first half of a demonstration disc with Patrick O'Neal.

Availability: Although it hasn't been seen in over 20 years, it's still common.

• This logo was used on a majority of LaserDiscs from Warner Bros., Paramount, Disney, 20th Century Fox, CBS/Fox, and Magnetic Video.
• Not every studio used the logo. MCA/Universal, Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment (RCA/Columbia releases did use the logo), Vestron, and MGM/UA were among the studios that did not use the logo.
• The logo decreased in usage through the late 1980s, but was still in use in the mid-1990s, as seen on LaserDiscs such as the 1993 widescreen edition of Demolition Man (1993), the 1998 widescreen edition of Charlotte's Web (1973), and the 1997 widescreen edition of My Fellow Americans (1996), which only had the logo at the start of side 1. Some early Paramount titles such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Starting Over (1979), and Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978) feature this logo after the 1979 Paramount "Acid Trip" warning screen. After 1997, the logo's usage plummeted significantly (much like the format itself), even from the studios that regularly used the logo. Nonetheless, the logo continued to be used sporadically throughout 1998 and 1999. The U.S. Pioneer manufacturing plant shuttered on October 1, 1999, with the last discs from them releasing on October 26th with the releases of Election and episodes 59 and 60 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, both from Paramount - these two releases might be the final releases with this logo.
• Used on Warner Home Video LaserDisc releases from 1992 to at least 1998, though the print logo still appears on the covers of 1999 WHV releases.

Legacy: It's an iconic logo for LaserDisc fans and collectors, with its smooth animation and iconic synth sounds making the logo a winner. It helps that the logo appeared on releases for 18 years, so it became a regular sight to the format's collectors.