Laserdisc is better than vhs in so many ways.
The only thing i think is better with vhs is you don't need a seperate closed caption decoder for subtitled movies that are hardsubbed onto the vhs tapes and sometimes laserdisc.
Unsurpassed picture quality for the time many movies are near dvd quality on a standard definition tv set.
Uncompressed high fidelity digital audio tracks.
Theatrical cuts of movies the studios could not leave the fuck alone. etc
Vhs cost cheaper but you clearly get what you pay for.
Laserdiscs actually store the video analog since it is an analog format. The only thing ever digital was the soundtracks and that was added much later in the life of laserdiscs hence many earlier releases being analog only.
one feature i think was unique was cx noise reduction on analog soundtracks. As developed by cbs inc.
CAV format discs allowed stopping on a single frame and frame mode. Much more film like than vhs or dvd.
They had nice jacket art, covers and sometimes insert and liner notes. Criterion were the best to be had.
Biggest problems with LD:
-Cost
-Laser rot
- don't make movies on it anymore
-Amount of storage space required twice or 3 times that of dvd.
Those that have large vinyl collections would not be bothered by this though.
The same can probably be said of dvd but japan always had the superior laserdisc releases in terms of video and audio quality.
We have gotten to the point where the HD-DVD titles and Blu rays here in america and japan are pretty much the same in standards of quality with a few exceptions.