How do you date and read a LaserDisc sleeve?

Q: What is the difference between CAV and CLV LaserDisc?

CAV discs hold 30 minutes per side NTSC with every frame individually addressable, so freeze frame and slow motion work on any player. CLV holds 60 minutes per side but is not frame-addressable.

Q: How do I date a LaserDisc?

Read the format name on the sleeve: DiscoVision is 1978 to the early 1980s, LaserVision the 1980s, CD-Video 1987 or later, LaserDisc from the early 1990s.

A LaserDisc tells you more about itself than a VHS tape does, and almost all of it is printed on the sleeve. This is a reading guide: how to date a disc, how to tell a CAV pressing from a CLV one and why it matters, what the format was called in which decade, and where the edition names came from. Everything factual here is sourced and cited at the foot of the page.

Walt Disney's Masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs deluxe CAV LaserDisc boxed set in a white slipcase — A deluxe CAV boxed set. The word CAV on a sleeve is a technical claim about the pressing, not marketing, and it is the single most useful thing printed on a LaserDisc box.

What the name on the sleeve dates

Name printed	Period	Who used it
DiscoVision	from 11 December 1978	MCA, at the US test market launch
LaserVision, or VLP in model numbers	1980s	Philips, and the European launch of 1983
CD-Video	from 1987	Philips relaunch branding; appeared on 20 cm and 30 cm discs as well as the 12 cm hybrids
LaserDisc	from the early 1990s	The format's final official name, originally Pioneer's player brand

So a sleeve that says DiscoVision is a first-wave American disc and a sleeve that says CD-Video is 1987 or later even if the film is older. The name is a better dating tool than the copyright line, which reflects the film rather than the pressing.

CAV against CLV, which is the thing collectors actually check

	CAV (Standard Play)	CLV (Extended Play)
Rotation	Constant angular velocity, 1,800 rpm NTSC	Constant linear velocity
Per side	30 minutes NTSC, 36 minutes PAL	60 minutes NTSC, 64 minutes PAL
Frames per side	54,000, each individually addressable	Not frame-addressable on standard players
Freeze frame and slow motion	Yes, on any player	Only with a player carrying a digital frame store
Typically used for	Special editions and supplements	Ordinary feature releases

Here is the judgment worth having. A CAV pressing of a two-hour film needs four sides where a CLV pressing needs two, so the CAV box is physically bigger and the film is interrupted twice as often. Collectors pay more for CAV anyway, because frame-accurate stepping is the reason film scholars used the format at all, and because CAV was where the studios put the supplements.

Sizes

30 cm, 11.8 inches, about the size of a 12-inch LP. The standard, and the vast majority of all programming.
20 cm, 7.9 inches, roughly a 45 rpm single. Much rarer, especially in North America; 20 minutes per side on CLV.
12 cm hybrid CD-Video discs, from the 1987 relaunch. These are a different object from a LaserDisc proper.

The Full Monty LaserDisc sleeve with a WIDESCREEN EDITION banner printed across the top — WIDESCREEN EDITION on the banner. On LaserDisc this is a real distinction: pan-and-scan pressings of the same title exist and are worth less.

Pulp Fiction LaserDisc sleeve with the full cast list printed across the top of the cover — A 1990s catalogue release. By this point the sleeve is carrying cast billing like a film poster.

Why the special edition exists at all

LaserDisc supported multiple audio tracks, which made it the first home format able to carry commentary and supplements on the disc itself. The Criterion Collection edition of Citizen Kane, released in 1984, is generally credited as the first special edition on home video, and King Kong as the first release with a commentary track. Every bonus feature on every disc since descends from those two.

The end dates, which are the ones people get wrong

Event	Date
Last LaserDisc title released in North America	Bringing Out the Dead, 3 October 2000
Last new film title in Japan	Tokyo Raiders, 21 September 2001
Last LaserDisc release of any kind	Onta Station vol. 1018, a Japanese karaoke title, 21 March 2007
Last player manufactured	Pioneer left the market, July 2009

The format also never won the market it was built for. Players were expensive and could not record, so North America and Europe largely ignored it while Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and especially Hong Kong adopted it - LaserDisc was the dominant rental format in Hong Kong through the 1990s.

Honest empty: exactly 6 LaserDisc listings appear in the 16,283-row US affiliate pull behind this batch. That is not a market and this page therefore publishes no median, no price range and no value guidance for LaserDiscs. The dating and format material above is sourced, not computed.

Last verified 1 September 2026. Format history, technical specifications and end dates from the source below; the listing count is from a US affiliate product feed pulled the same day.

Frequently asked

What is the difference between CAV and CLV LaserDisc?

CAV discs spin at a constant angular velocity and hold 30 minutes per side NTSC with every frame individually addressable, so freeze frame and slow motion work on any player. CLV holds 60 minutes per side but is not frame-addressable.

How do I date a LaserDisc?

Read the format name on the sleeve. DiscoVision means 1978 to the early 1980s, LaserVision the 1980s, CD-Video 1987 or later, and LaserDisc from the early 1990s.

When did LaserDisc end?

The last North American title was Bringing Out the Dead on 3 October 2000; the last release of any kind was a Japanese karaoke disc on 21 March 2007; Pioneer stopped making players in July 2009.

What size is a LaserDisc?

Usually 30 cm, 11.8 inches, about the size of a 12-inch LP. A rarer 20 cm size exists, and the 1987 CD-Video relaunch added 12 cm hybrid discs.

Was LaserDisc better quality than VHS?

Yes. LaserDisc resolved 425 to 440 TV lines against VHS's, carried CD-quality digital audio and was the first home format to support surround sound.

Sources

Wikipedia, LaserDisc — the DiscoVision, LaserVision, CD-Video and LaserDisc naming sequence; the 11 December 1978 US launch; CAV and CLV rotation, capacity and frame addressing; the 30 cm, 20 cm and 12 cm sizes; the 425 to 440 TV line resolution; the 1984 Criterion Citizen Kane special edition and King Kong commentary; adoption in Hong Kong; and the 2000, 2001, 2007 and July 2009 end dates
CJ Affiliate product feeds, US advertisers, queried 1 September 2026 — every count and price on this page is a deduplicated row count from that pull, dated to it