CED was superior to VHS (which was never that difficult) but inferior to LD.
Only in terms of quality, since the discs could only be used so many times before they were useless.
RCA gave the discs a life expectancy for optimum performance of 500 plays. Most VHS tapes would be in pretty poor shape by that stage. š
http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html#threetwelve
ā¦and the majority of the films are presented in full screen/pan and scan.
Edit:
As a previous collectior of the CED format, I can testify that this edition of Raiders was in pan and scan.As were 99% of home video releases across all formats during that era. The only films I remember watching at home in widescreen during the 80s were the TV broadcasts of Manhattan (because of Allenās insistence) and 2001.
Out of curiosity, was Raiders ever shown in 2.35:1 by pay movie channels in the US during the 80s/90s?
Edit: interesting article from 1990 on Spielbergās fight to get his films shown in their OAR on home video.
http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/spielberg-turns-letterboxing-into-crusade-with-new-tape
That was the only transfer of Raiders available until the 1992 WS LD. Does anyone have the first edition laserdisc? It might be worth preserving that version in the highest resolution available and LD would be better than the VHS. In fact a good preservation of the WS LD is a good idea. I have it, but not a good way to capture it.
I donāt remember Raiders ever being shown in WS on television until the 2003 DVD transfer. They used the pan and scan of the 1992 transfer.