One of the main reasons DVD took off had a lot to do with the easily observable visual leap from VHS. When the prices started dropping from “Laserdisc” enthusiast level down to the $200 range, electronics stores (hah, remember those!) were basically shoveling the things out the door by simply connecting a VCR and a DVD player to the same TV and pushing a button on a switcher.
DVD killed Laserdisc and VHS because it looked better than both formats, was cheap, and didn’t have any of the handling problems (getting up to flip the disc over, having to pay for an expensive disc-flipping player, worrying about rewinding and tape-eating).