Editing LaserDisc (section)

== Branding ==
[[File:LD-mark.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|class=skin-invert|LaserVision / LaserDisc certification mark]]

During its development, [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] (which co-owned the technology), referred to it as the ''Optical Videodisc System'', "Reflective Optical Videodisc" or "Laser Optical Videodisc", depending on the document. They changed the name once in 1969 to ''[[DiscoVision|Disco-Vision]]'' and then again in 1978 to ''DiscoVision'' (without the hyphen), which became the official spelling. Technical documents and brochures produced by MCA Disco-Vision during the early and mid-'70s also used the term "Disco-Vision Records" to refer to the pressed discs. MCA owned the rights to the largest catalog of films in the world during this time, and they manufactured and distributed the DiscoVision releases of those films under the "MCA DiscoVision" software and manufacturing label; consumer sale of those titles began on December 11, 1978, with the aforementioned ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''.

Philips' preferred name for the format was "VLP", after the Dutch words Video Langspeel-Plaat ("Video long-play disc"), which in English-speaking countries stood for Video Long-Play. The first consumer player, the Magnavox VH-8000 even had the VLP logo on the player. For a while in the early and mid-1970s, Philips also discussed a compatible audio-only format they called "ALP", but that was soon dropped as the Compact Disc system became a non-compatible project in the Philips corporation. Until early 1980, the format had no "official" name. The LaserVision Association, made up of MCA, Universal-Pioneer, [[IBM]], and Philips/Magnavox, was formed to standardize the technical specifications of the format (which had been causing problems for the consumer market) and finally named the system officially as "LaserVision".

After its introduction in Japan in 1981, the format was introduced in Europe in 1983 with the LaserVision name, although Philips used "VLP" in model designations, such as VLP-600. Following lackluster sales there (around 12–15,000 units Europe-wide),<ref name='newscientist_cdvideo8703' /> Philips tried relaunching the entire format as "CD-Video" in 1987, with the name appearing not just on the [[CD Video#cdv5|new hybrid 12&nbsp;cm discs]], but also on [[CD Video#largediscs|standard 20 and 30&nbsp;cm LaserDiscs]] with digital audio.<ref name='newscientist_cdvideo8703' /> While this name and logo appeared on players and labels for years, the "official" name of the format remained LaserVision. In the early 1990s, the format's name was changed again to LaserDisc.

=== Pioneer ===
[[File:LASERDISC TURTLE (fair use).jpg|thumb|The LaserDisc Turtle]]

[[Pioneer (company)|Pioneer Electronics]] also entered the optical disc market in 1977 as a 50/50 joint venture with MCA called Universal-Pioneer and manufacturing MCA-designed industrial players under the MCA DiscoVision name (the PR-7800 and PR-7820). For the 1980 launch of the first Universal-Pioneer player, the VP-1000 was noted as a "laser disc player", although the "LaserDisc" logo was displayed clearly on the device. In 1981, "LaserDisc" was used exclusively for the medium itself, although the official name was "LaserVision" (as seen at the beginning of many LaserDisc releases, just before the start of the film). Pioneer reminded numerous video magazines and stores in 1984 that LaserDisc was a trademarked word, standing only for LaserVision products manufactured for sale by Pioneer Video or Pioneer Electronics. A 1984 [[Ray Charles]] ad for the LD-700 player bore the term "Pioneer LaserDisc brand videodisc player". From 1981 until the early 1990s, all properly licensed discs carried the LaserVision name and logo, even Pioneer Artists titles.

On single-sided LaserDiscs mastered by Pioneer, playing the wrong side would cause a still screen to appear with a happy, upside-down turtle that has a LaserDisc for a belly (nicknamed the "LaserDisc Turtle"). The words "Program material is recorded on the other side of this disc" are below the turtle.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvqzBQIVMwc The LaserDisc Turtle (real)], YouTube</ref>

=== MCA ===
During the early years, MCA also manufactured discs for other companies including [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]], [[Disney]] and [[Warner Bros.]] Some of them added their own names to the disc jacket to signify that the movie was not owned by MCA. After DiscoVision Associates shut down in early 1982, Universal Studio's videodisc software label (called ''MCA Videodisc'' until 1984), began reissuing many DiscoVision titles. Unfortunately, quite a few, such as ''[[Saga of a Star World|Battlestar Galactica]]'' and ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'', were time-compressed versions of their CAV or CLV DiscoVision originals. The time-compressed CLV re-issue of ''Jaws'' no longer had the original soundtrack, having had incidental background music replaced for the videodisc version due to high licensing costs (the original music would not be available until the [[THX]] LaserDisc box set was released in 1995). One Universal/Columbia co-production issued by MCA Disco Vision in both CAV and CLV versions, ''[[The Electric Horseman]]'', is still not available in any other home video format with its original score intact; even the most recent DVD release has had substantial music replacement of both instrumental score and Willie Nelson's songs. An MCA release of Universal's ''[[Howard the Duck (film)|Howard the Duck]]'' shows only the start credits shown in widescreen before changing to 4:3 for the rest of the film. For many years, this was the only disc-based release of the film, until widescreen DVD formats were released with extras. Also, the 1989 and 1996 LaserDisc releases of ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' are the only formats to include the cut scene of [[Harrison Ford]], in the role of the school principal, telling off Elliott for letting the frogs free in the biology class.