More crap from 1994 RCA DSS demo laserdisc

Most of the rest of the laserdisc made for the instore display promoting the launch of the first Digital Satellite Systems or DSS, more commonly known now as DirecTV. I always thought this was one of the stupidest consumer electronics products in history- when it was first introduced, the dish and receiver cost about $700, and you STILL had to pay several more dollars per month to get anything at all on it- no channels have ever come in on it for free as they did with C-Band dishes, even the ones that run commercials. You young 'uns may never understand that commercials were originally so stations could make money WITHOUT charging their viewers, but it turned out many people are dumb enough to pay to sit through paid ads.
The "quality demo" here cracks me up too since it's essentially just showing how great laserdisc quality was- DSS has always been overcompressed, and it looked especially crappy when it was new. (When I pointed out the blocky picture in store displays, salesdroids claimed I was imagining it as 'Digital' always meant 'Perfect'!)
It's a lot cheaper nowadays to get a mini-dish, but there's still nothing on it worth paying for. Many electronics stores now have annoying DirecTV salespeople trying to sell you on it- every time I see one, I tell them that I'll get one if they can give me a good reason to, but so far nobody has.
Note the early US widescreen TV model shown here. At the time it was mainly good just for cropping the unused screen space from 4x3 letterbox movie transfers (which of course were mostly on laserdisc, very few on satellite or cable.)

[@meechmushrooms]

This video emits such strong mid-1990s energy and it makes me so happy 😁

[@joshsimpson79]

I bought a store display model laserdisc player years ago and this disc was inside it. I was so happy when our family got directv back in 1994 or so. We lived in the country and didn’t have many channels.

[@zerosoma33]

6:29 blew my mind. I haven't seen that menu in 25 years. I remember as a kid I got to rent one movie a month and record it on VHS in my parents bedroom. Virtuosity was one of them. Heat was another. And then there was one kind of alien film where they sent the rocket of humans back to earth, now infected, to kill the rest of the population. Also saw the Cartoon Network premiere in 1996 on this thing and called in to vote for the cartoons. Man what memories.

[@georgef551]

I actually remember this system, as friends had it. The system had a weird way of displaying channels when called. When entered, there wasn't waiting for an initial frame, rather, the image came up one tile at a time, filled up in under a second.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@jason24568 DVD didn't exist yet when this came out. They did often advertise DSS as having "laserdisc quality picture" since that was the best consumer format out at the time. Laserdisc was analog and didn't have compression artifacts!

[@LuigiGodzillaGirl]

My family got a mini dish (Dish Network) in 1998. As a kid, I thought it was the greatest thing ever because I could finally tune in to all those great cartoons that made me so envious of all my classmates whose families had cable or satellite. But I do remember the picture being prone to becoming an artifact laden mess or nonexistent in bad weather back then. DSS signal technology got better by late 2000's, but by then, there was no programing on the networks worth paying to watch! All the shows I loved from the late 90's to early 2000's were replaced by crap, and you had to pay even more to get channels with anything worth watching! We gave up the dish when we tried going back to the basic package to save money only to find out that many of the still somewhat decent channels that were once available had been moved to more expensive packages. Nowadays, there are a few programs that I would like to watch, but not enough to pay the exorbitant prices that cable and satellite providers charge.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

***** Cartoons were a big thing that was really sad about this- there used to be new cartoons every Saturday morning on all the networks, plus a mix of old and new cartoons every weekday morning and afternoon on the independent stations. When Nickelodeon got bigger and Cartoon Network started up, most of the big cartoon shows were bought up by them- so you needed cable to see them and you STILL had commercials. Now Saturday morning cartoons are completely gone from the networks, and aren't even on weekdays anymore, replaced by news, talk shows and sitcom reruns. Truly a case of something you got for free being taken away and forcing you to pay for it, and now we have people who grew up with that and thinking it's OK. (Nickelodeon was commercial-free when it started in 1979 BTW, but it was only on for a few hours per day.)

[@LuigiGodzillaGirl]

Unfortunately, I grew up in a smaller market where your free TV options were limited to the three major networks and public television, but they still had quite a few cartoons I enjoyed watching over the air on saturday mornings and weekday afternoons; I remember classic Looney Tunes, Recess, Doug, Dennis the Menace, Gargoyles, Arthur, and some anime later on. But as an animation enthusiast, I was drawn in by Cartoon Network's novel concept of being able watch cartoons any time of the day. Looking back, I see that the unfortunate consequences of it and other family/childrens cable networks were starting to take effect even back then! Scooby Doo, for example, I loved that show so much, and I was pissed that I couldn't watch it until my parents finally got satellite. Now I'm depressed!

[@TheMediaHoarder]

***** And now Cartoon Network doesn't even show cartoons all the time anymore. MTV was the channel I wanted way back when, but that was when it showed nothing but music videos 24 hours a day- NOW look what's happened to it.

[@AllisonDancerChick1982]

eyeh8nbc I actually remember when Nickelodeon divided network time with A&E - right after Danger Mouse was over, 8 pm would roll around and A&E Biography was coming on. There were nights the Thames Television logo just barely finished before the A&E station ident came up. While we actually did get more stations and A&E got its own station in my area, my grandparents still had the divided station where they lived (even though we were all under the same Adelphia Cable region). It is a sad state of affairs when weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings ceased to be what they were 30 years ago (I should know, I was born in 1982, and spent many afternoons/Saturday mornings among cartoons). I had Direct TV until 2013, it became too expensive to keep. I'm actually saving with Comcast, and we have minimal problems with them (plus the DVR box through Direct TV was just way too expensive).

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

Pay TV, cable or satellite, jumped the shark when most channels changed categories, names, and programming, case and point: MTV played less and less music video, and more reality TV, SCI-FI Channel became SyFy, TNN became Spike, Nickelodeon plays too much Ninja Turtles and SpongeBob SquarePants, and most of all, all pay TV being TOO EXPENSIVE!!!

[@DOPEMUSICNOW]

It's actually really sad, DirecTV used to be a beast. I remember growing up with the old receivers lol. So many cartoons. Our old reciever we had was an RCA drd435rh. It started to act weird around 2008 or so. It finally stopped working in 2013 so we called DirecTV and the guy who replaced it was like "I haven't seen this model in years!" He replaced it with the h23 model. That's when DirecTV started going down hill. Prices went up, less channels too. I'm only 15 tho so that all is what my mom told me. She cancelled last week after 19 years with DirecTV.

[@X2FileWrightonite]

Btw - I loved the fact that this ad was produced on a Laserdisc !

[@JosephASobora]

I had DirecTV since 2001 and continue to go on. Switching old recievers (RCA & Phillips) to new DVRs after moving to a new place. Now, that AT&T bought them! However, I did had Dish Network once in 2008-09 before switching back to DirecTV.

[@TeriLynn923]

We didn't get cable in my area until early to mid 90's. In high school I watched Mtv at a friends house. I remember hours of videos with the ocassionaly commercial and VJ interuption.

[@X2FileWrightonite]

I bought this exact system back then for my Grandparents who lived in Florida. They loved it. Today - I have DISH Network. I don't why eyeh8nbc thought this broadcast delivery system was one of the "stupidest" consumer electronic products in history." YES - SD channel's used compression. What they lacked was HD and DVR tech, but this delivery method is still here and actively being used today-

[@TheMediaHoarder]

+William Wright I saw no reason to buy these when you had to PAY a subscription fee for channels that already showed commercials, and the dish and receiver used to cost about $700 on top of that! I still see no reason to have satellite or cable; there's hardly anything special on anymore and some channels show MORE commercials than on broadcast TV- where is your subscription money GOING? At least now more people are finally getting sick of it, hence the term "cord-cutting".

[@X2FileWrightonite]

+eyeh8nbc Hey - yeah - I remember they were that expensive when they 1st launched - but any new tech - the price came down. I think I paid $200 for the one I got the grandparents. Hear you loud and clear on the commercial issue - and I agree - maybe it's all a matter of time to it's all going to shift to wireless internet and streaming takes down cable / sat. - or they to will have to change in order to survive.

[@daltex81]

Will Wright III it's already here

[@TeriLynn923]

I miss the real mtv.

[@DelilahThePig]

A lot of people would use HiFi VHS to record sound because they thought it was digital. Likewise, CD has lost its pedestal because now only downloads are referred to as "digital".

[@anthonybaker2749]

Cd still sounds better.

[@realgroovy24]

it pisses me off when i see a digital copy included on a CD cover since CD's are digital they're not tapes or laserdiscs recorded in analog audio or vinyl

[@RyDawg96]

Who's idea was it to refer to downloads simply as "digital", it's one of the most misleading terms ever.

[@realgroovy24]

Ryan Good THANK YOU!!! you're the first person to understand also

[@TheMediaHoarder]

When those were new, all the channels were FREE!

[@JimmySand9]

Nowadays, saying something is "digital" is about as good a selling point as saying it runs on electricity.

[@ducklandwikeno]

Your right about that . The last time I seen good mtv was back in the mid 1990's , the 1980's was king for mtv . But when I was growing up in Chicago we never had cable until the late 1980;s . So cable and satellite was out of the picture unless you wanted to spend 3500.00 on a new c band dish system .

[@Swampert384]

The problem with free tv is that there are only 2 ways to get it. You could steal it, but that is illegal. You could also stick with just over-the-air signals, but that only gives you locally received stations, and if you live out in the country, you're screwed. I prefer to pay for quality tv, than save that money and have no tv at all. I'm also in Canada, where all over-the-air signals are digital.

[@TeriLynn923]

We used to have one of those monster sized satellite dishes! This was around 1986 and you could get all the channels for free. You had to move the dish most of the time and the picture was shitty. I remember when cable got all butt hurt and put an end to the free channels. For a time it was the shit though because you got all the movie channels free.The east coast and west coast versions.

[@Andrew_G4CH]

"Since our own videodisc format didn't work out..." I laughed so hard at that.... xD

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@ycdtotv I have most of the noteworthy segments uploaded- at the end there's a few short segments that mostly repeat what was already been shown previously. The display was set up so you could select either these long promos or the shorter segments. And I'm sorry for all the money you lost on this :)

[@8281Sam]

there are online retailers for it, it is legel, its just network programming pretty much, content that you could get off the air if you were in a more urban/suburban area, thats why there are no fees.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@David315842 Not when I still have to sit through commercials that they're being paid to show, and when I have no say in what gets shown! It still amazes me that there still isn't even ONE channel that would make me want one of these. (At least give me the REAL MTV!)

[@TheMediaHoarder]

That was the defense I got about DSS every time I criticized it- "It's better than cable!" Being hit over the head with a shovel is better than cable! DirecTV and cable in general should be delivering so much more than what they are- it's mostly just more of the same crap that no sane person would watch on free TV.

[@Jemalacane0]

Cable beats free T.V. over the head (kind of as if with a shovel). All broadcast bullshit is is reality T.V., soap operas, people suing each other, and shitcoms. There are precious few current movies or T.V. shows and no TVMA shows, nor R-Rated movies (or little of them). Broadcast has almost no educational programming and is close to devoid of 24 hour news. *Nothing* on broadcast could compare to _Chasing the Cure._ International competition could bring down the costs too. Ha! Carrying broadcast channels is actually a part of cable and satellite's cost. That's why I like Sling and Dish Network's Flex Pack: one can opt out of broadcast garbage. For fuck sake, broadcast "double-dips". It gets add revenue from viewers over the air and money from cable and satellite. Broadcast is dead.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

If I ever find the time, and find any promo material for truly stupid electronic products. Honestly I've always hated DBS systems more than any other electronic product in history, and it defies all logic that people actually bought into them. (Though it's far less costly to get into these now, but there's still nothing on them to watch, in fact probably less than there was when this video was made.)

[@BluStatic]

All of this in '94? Wow!

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@ycdtotv Better to pay NO services for television- at least channels that already get money from showing commercials and infomercials! Someone has a video up of DirecTV's onscreen program guide from the middle of the night, where EVERY channel listed is showing "Paid Programming"! Where the hell does your subscription money go??

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@gli7utubeo Funny thing is, I was a theater projectionist when Coneheads was out and I HATED it! I hated Ace Ventura too, which is also shown here. When Coneheads first came on HBO, I was also forced by my idiot roommate to watch it yet again- in fact, I would not have even had cable had my idiot roommate not wanted it. It seems the powers that be REALLY wanted me to hate DSS, and I still do to this day. (I still hate The Coneheads movie too!)

[@segaboy9894]

Your annotations are hilarious.

[@zuluecho5886]

What did they say

[@vikingscool]

Oakdale, wow! That where I live near the city. It was on laserdisc. Yay!

[@israelprieto6863]

2:44

[@scottstrang1583]

They looked good until they started over compressing the video and audio. Ppl didn't care which is no surprise since they think 128kbit/s MP3s sound just fine.

[@goldleaf889]

dope... I have been with Direct Tv for over 10 years and have one of the original boxes that I use as a tv stand it looks big and boxy like that one.... The one I have now is so small... Thanks for this

[@KajiwaraYuki]

2018 admiral DSS demo CD admiral Dightal satellite system

[@israelprieto6863]

yome fasino escushando how far i'll go

[@BTCRAILFILMS]

Drinking game: Digital.

[@YukoAsho]

Hehe, good luck getting that working in Florida. *Laughs* Weather down here would wreak havoc on any satillite signal.

[@yakrb.4412]

You can still get free satellite tv. It's called Free To Air, or FTA satellite tv. 100% legal. Google it.

[@linkskywalker5417]

Yeah, but you'd be limited in what channels you get. Especially given that even most local channels are encrypted on satellite.

[@deckofcards87]

Laserdisc quality image? WOAH

[@mattf9044]

lol.....this was like a sarcastic pop up video episode.... loved it!

[@WestleyWolf]

i actually loved it. we used a Sony model until about 2005 before switching to PACE (Directv Models Today). now we use u-verse and i don't really have issues with it, sure they may not be the way it was back then but it all depends on what you watch. i really thought it was innovative for the time. i even enjoyed PPVs and HBO.

[@cjpwolf2436]

I use to have DirecTV in my old house at I had a Sony DirecTV Box and got a [PACE] DirecTV DVR in 2007.

[@daltex81]

DSS was a lot better than tci's digital cable! Hell any thing is better than cable these days!

[@gli7utubeo]

@eyeh8nbc Wow, having to watch the Coneheads over and over is a real diabolical kind of torture (Ace Ventura, too!). Thanks for these vids again.

[@hansemist]

This needs some HD enhancement too!

[@Mythical6255]

It's just annoying that nowadays when I want to get a new Samsung phone AT ATT, they are like "Would you like to sign up for our lord and savior, DIRECTV?" I mean their technology has fallen behind. I'm already happy with Dish now

[@electrogeek77]

08:56 - I don't think that the houseowner that steals a Cinzano umbrella from a cafe care so much about esthetics...

[@RetroDakota]

Sorry for deleting my earlier comment. I didn't want to sound like a troll, and there was no way to edit the comment. I did say that we do get Dish Network at our house since we only get three over-the-air TV signals. (ABC, CBS, NBC). I come from rural South Dakota, and TV reception can get spotty in certain areas, mainly on the Indian reservations and northwestern SD, satellite TV may be your only option if you don't have internet access.

[@KieraCameron514]

How did terrestrial cable TV compare in this time period?

[@TheMediaHoarder]

Channels were the same as shown here, mostly crap. The quality of analog cable in most areas was abysmal though. They simply could not get a perfect signal to every TV, many channels weren’t even in stereo. We had a roof antenna and got over the air analog stations better than they came in through cable. I haven’t seen enough cable since it went digital to know if it’s gotten any better, but that they had any subscribers at all proved that average people don’t care about quality or even notice it.

[@KieraCameron514]

@@TheMediaHoarder For a long time, pay TV was better than OTA. Pay TV has gone downhill too. Even though OTA has had some good shows, it's overall the worst. It's all sitcoms, people suing each other, gameshows, and other crap.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@@KieraCameron514 Cable started out promising but had gone to crap by the 90s. My main problem was that they should not be charging to get their channels when they also showed commercials, and many channels had the same crap as regular TV such as sitcom reruns. Cable should concentrate on what regular TV can’t or won’t show you, not give you more of the same and charge you for it. It blew my mind when these came out that anyone would pay $700 for something that made them pay for crap.

[@KieraCameron514]

@@TheMediaHoarder No! Cable has had great shows after 2000 and even after 2005 like Falling Skies, The Last Ship, Turn: Washington's Spies, Storm Chasers, X Play, and Attack of the Show.

[@heiscute4207]

I remember watching MTV networks

[@bunkers8399]

4:25 Tennessee Volunteers

[@ilivekajol]

the annonation for 33 more lines of resolution hahahahahahahahahha

[@gli7utubeo]

All this technology so I could watch The Coneheads (as shown).

[@vikingscool]

@ycdtotv correct!

[@ilivekajol]

pretty clear tho

[@mystica55121234]

"Space age digital technology" ... and horrible mint+taupe UI. *barf*

[@krisstarring]

And direct broadcast satellite TV is still a joke. Try looking at their so-called "on demand" options. Not that cable and telco TV is much better, but they still somehow give DBS a run for their money.

[@omarsparks3353]

You are using too much criticism ,the dogs seem quite entertained.

[@David315842]

@eyeh8nbc Now that I blame on National Amusements...MTV?! More like non MTV!

[@mattcintosh2]

The dish cost $700 and you had to install it yourself. Nowadays, you pretty much can't even own the equipment, you have to rent it and over time end up spending way more than $700. Somehow my parents actually own a Dish Network DVR and they pay less per month because of that.

[@mattcintosh2]

Little known fact. The dish could actually be mounted "indoors". I worked at a place in 1997 and the dish just faced out a south facing window and worked fine.

[@MrFeelGoodJson24YTP]

It said that digital TV is a Laserdisc-quality pictures? Laserdisc is analog! or did you mean DVD-quality picture?

[@israelprieto6863]

6:30

[@TeriLynn923]

Illegal? Why would it be illegal?

[@MrFeelGoodJson24YTP]

Is this video is digitalized?

[@David315842]

You certanly don't like spending money on satelites or cable do you?

[@MultiAnimationdude]

I just created a full version of the video which is viewable here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZDMY52NmbKdoMk Hit the link, and tell me what you think.

[@Swampert384]

First, where would you even get one of those? Second, is it legal in Canada and the US? Because I will not go for anything illegal. I would rather buy packages of programming than break the law.

[@Disneyfan95]

Dogs are color blind????

[@ThouShaltSuffer1]

9:07 AMERICA IS NUMBER ONE, I'M 1/16TH IRISH, I'M 1/32ND UPSIDE DOWN GERMAN

[@DuplicatedOnce]

A: Do you have any C-Band Footage? B: There are new episodes of Beavis and Butthead, with music videos! C: Favorite LD?

[@DuplicatedOnce]

Can you do more annotation riffing on more A/V informational videos?

[@mamatemari6061]

My dad used to have one the boxes