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Tech Tangents is one of the best retro channels on youtube but by retro I dont mean glorified nostalgia either. Shelby puts a lot of work into his videos and likes to showcase what awesome engineering went into some of the early tech that was practically magic. Love the channel and glad to see it on HN.
By lysace 2026-03-0918:21 The real fun is on his Twitch channel. https://www.twitch.tv/techtangents
By Nux 2026-03-0821:48 [flagged]
As I understand it, this only works with still images that scroll vertically.
Each revolution is one frame, so if you compare the data paths next to each other, they don't make up an image but the same single line of several consecutive frames.
Scrolling a still image makes the same line on the screen cover a different part of the image each frame, so you can sort of make out what the original image looked like.
The end credits should show up as a single tall image, since the only limit to the height is the radius of the disc.
By sixothree 2026-03-0914:44 Great points.
And it just so happens in this video that the scrolling was at a speed where everything was preserved and also not stretched. Too slow and it would be elongated vertically on the disc and too fast and it would be compressed and you'd miss information.
If I’m not mistaken, it also doesn’t work with LaserDiscs… it works only with CEDs.
The title is a bit misleading. LaserDiscs are digital but CEDs are analog.
Very different technologies.
By NoMoreNicksLeft 2026-03-0917:24 I was under the impression that laserdisc encoded the video signal in analog. Some (all?) audio tracks were digital/pcm, however.
By itisit 2026-03-0917:51 LaserDiscs are not quite a digital medium. The video is an FM analog signal (composite). Digital PCM audio was introduced about half a decade into the format's life.
By rustyhancock 2026-03-0822:371 reply Here's a screen capture of the end credits visible on the disc the videos worth it but I do think sometimes you need to start with the money shot https://ibb.co/v4KK88fF
By crazydoggers 2026-03-0822:531 reply This is from a CED not a laserdisc.
By crazydoggers 2026-03-096:021 reply Yes, but the end credits mentioned by the parent and the link to the image is the CED. That and the title of this post make it seem like this level of image clarity is from a LaserDisc which its not. I think it's worth being clear.
Watch the video if you believe it's worth being clear. The credits are perfectly visible on both the LaserDisc AND the CED. Approx 22:00-24:00 is the laser disc and 25:00 onwards is the CED. Enjoy.
By sixothree 2026-03-0914:50 And to support your point even further, in the video he captures the credits off a disc with constant angular velocity, but he _also_ completely lucks out and captures an image from a disc with constant linear velocity.
I'm so sick of this negative attitude. I get it when it comes to politics or more complex systems or conceptual ideas. But holy hell, we're talking about a "money shot" to get people interested in the subject.
Wow. Downvoted for factual clarification and helpful citation. No idea what drives such people, but must logically assume deception and obfuscation.
Ugh, I'm pretty sure it's Big CED deceptively here to muddy the waters and obfuscate superior LaserDisc Technology. Perhaps flag the post so the moderators can see it and make sure we root Big CED out of these forums and out of our lives for good.
