Editing LaserDisc (section)

==LaserDisc players==
{{Main|LaserDisc player}}

[[File:Magnavox Laserdisc player.jpg|thumb|A top-loading, [[Magnavox]]-brand LaserDisc player with the lid open]]
[[File:Pioneer CLD-1030 Laserdisc Player.jpg|thumb|A front-loading, Pioneer CLD-1030 CD/CDV/LD player]]

The earliest players employed gas [[helium–neon laser]] tubes to read discs and had a red-orange light with a wavelength of 632.8&nbsp;[[Nanometer|nm]], while later solid-state players used [[infrared]] [[semiconductor]] [[laser diode]]s with a wavelength of 780&nbsp;nm.

In March 1984, Pioneer introduced the first consumer player with a solid-state laser, the LD-700. It was also the first LaserDisc player to load from the front and not the top. One year earlier, Hitachi introduced an expensive industrial player with a laser diode, but the player had poor picture quality (due to an inadequate dropout compensator), and was made only in limited quantities. After Pioneer released the LD-700, gas lasers were no longer used in consumer players, despite their advantages, although Philips continued to use gas lasers in their industrial units until 1985.

Most LaserDisc players required the user to manually turn the disc over to play the other side. A number of players (all diode laser based) were made that were capable of playing both sides of the disc automatically, using a mechanism to physically flip a single laser pickup.

Pioneer produced some multi-disc models which held more than 50 LaserDiscs. For a short time in 1984, one company offered a "LaserStack" unit that added multi-disc capability to existing players: the Pioneer LD-600, LD-1100, or the Sylvania/Magnavox clones. It required the user to physically remove the player lid for installation, where it then attached to the top of the player. LaserStack held up to 10&nbsp;discs and could automatically load or remove them from the player or change sides in around 15 seconds.

The first mass-produced industrial LaserDisc player was the MCA DiscoVision PR-7820, later rebranded the [[Pioneer PR7820]]. In North America, this unit was used in many [[General Motors]] dealerships as a source of training videos and presentation of GM's new line of cars and trucks in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Most players made after the mid-1980s were capable of also playing [[Compact Disc]]s. These players included a {{convert|4.7|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} indentation in the loading tray, where the CD was placed for playback. At least two Pioneer models (the CLD-M301 and the CLD-M90) also operated as a CD changer, with several 4.7&nbsp;in indentations around the circumference of the main tray.

The Pioneer DVL-9, introduced in 1996, was both Pioneer's first consumer DVD player and the first combination DVD/LD player.

The first [[high-definition video]] player was the Pioneer HLD-X0. A later model, the HLD-X9, featured a superior [[comb filter]], and laser diodes on both sides of the disc.

=== Notable players ===
* [[Pioneer PR7820]], first industrial LaserDisc player, capable of being controlled by an external computer.
* Pioneer CLD-900, first combination player capable of reading [[Compact Disc]]s. Released in 1985.
* [[Pioneer CLD-1010]], first player capable of playing {{convert|5|in|mm|adj=on}} [[CD-Video]] discs. Released in 1987.
* [[Pioneer LaserActive]] players: The Pioneer CLD-A100 and NEC PCE-LD1 provided the ability to play Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) and TurboGrafx16 (PC Engine) video games when used in conjunction with additional components.
* [[Pioneer DVL]] series, capable of playing both LaserDiscs and DVDs