San Diego Is Slow to Spin Laser Discs

SAN DIEGO —  Bob Wright would much rather watch his favorite movie on laser disc than on VHS videocassette.

“Laser discs are more durable and less prone to having defects, and the quality of recording is far superior,” said Wright, who owns the Prime Time Video stores in Scripps Ranch and Clairemont. “The picture resolution is better, and the sound is digital, which you don’t normally get on tapes, and a good many laser disc versions of movies tend to offer things the cassette versions don’t, like two or three different endings or a second sound track with a running commentary about the making of the film.”

Wright’s enthusiasm for laser discs has yet to rub off on his customers. Although videocassette sales and rentals at his two stores continue to climb, he’s selling no more laser discs today than he was a year ago.

“It seems that people, at least in San Diego, are still not aware of the advantages of laser discs,” Wright said. “In other parts of the country, business is really picking up. But, in San Diego, people have yet to realize that laser discs are the best way to go.”

A recent study by the Electronic Industries Assn. (EIA)--a national organization of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers--indicates that laser discs have finally maneuvered into the fast lane of the home-video highway.

Over the last two years, according to the EIA study, sales of laser disc players in the United States have increased by 41%, from 85,000 units in 1986 to about 120,000 in 1988. VCR sales, meanwhile, have leveled off.

Software sales have grown proportionately, and so has the number of available titles. From 1986 to 1988, the number of films available on disc rose from 1,745 to 2,600. Because most disc players are in the hands of sophisticated movie buffs, the video disc inventory is heavy on classics and contemporary critical hits.

In San Diego, however, the laser disc branch of the home-video industry continues to be stalled. There are only a few places in town where you can buy laser disc players, even fewer places where you can buy laser discs, and only three--Victor’s Video in Mira Mesa, Show Time Video in La Mesa and Disc Dreaming in Solana Beach--that rent laser discs.

The handful of local merchants who carry laser disc hardware or software report that sales are flat--in sharp contrast to the gains posted by retailers elsewhere around the country, particularly in Los Angeles and New York, where movies provide one of the staples of the cultural diet.

But San Diego is a movie town, too, so why don’t more movie buffs here own laser disc players? Catch-22. People don’t buy disc players here because they can’t find discs, and video stores here don’t stock discs because nobody owns players.

“The problem here is there aren’t a lot of hardware dealers,” said Ron Meiners, manager of the Tower Video store on Midway Drive, where hundreds of films are available (for sale only) on disc. “So, my customer base hasn’t been able to grow much. . . . It’s still pretty much a select club of consumers.”

John Pasqua, manager of the video department at Cousin’s Warehouse in Mission Hills, said Cousins sold fewer than 50 disc players last year, contrasted with 10,000 VCRs.

“If people have trouble finding the software,” said Pasqua, “what incentive is there for them to purchase the hardware?”

Dave Sprosty, vice president of sales at the seven-store Mad Jack’s chain, agrees. Eventually, he said, “there’s going to be a point when laser disc players will be more welcomed and accepted by the consumer.”

One obvious problem is cost. The least expensive laser disc players go for about $700. In addition, you need a quality four-speaker sound system to take full advantage of digital laser sound and a good TV to display its higher-resolution images.

To get the same quality from a VCR that you get from laser (you can do it with Super VHS), you would have to spend at least as much money. But most people are content with the sound and image they get from simple VCRs that sell for less than $300.

The laser is also limited in its uses. Although most of the new players allow you to play audio compact disc of all sizes, they still cannot be recorded on or erased.

For now, laser players are special-interest items in the vast home entertainment industry, and an almost unknown phenomenon in San Diego.