Dexter laserdisc replacement

Today I want to mention a very exciting web site. In fact, I stop by every day to take a look!

I am talking about.. laserdisc-replacement.com!



I'm sure some of you own laserdisc based arcade games. I myself have a European Dragon's Lair cabinet. The problem is, as I'm sure you are all aware, that both the laserdisc players and the discs themselves are fragile. The players weren't constructed to last for 30 years, and the discs are prone to something commonly known as laser rot.

As a workaround, many have chosen buy a newer model laserdisc player. But that still requires a working disc. Others just surrender and replace all the original innards with an emulator like Daphne. Even though that is a fully functional solution, I don't like to stick a PC inside a classic arcade cabinet.

A couple of years ago I asked the question: Why not emulate just the laserdisc player?
I already have a working Dragon's Lair board. I don't need to replace that, just the laserdisc part. For some reason, people didn't seem to understand why that would be useful. The answers I got were mostly suggestions about replacing everything with Daphne.
Then, some weeks ago, I was browsing a forum and noticed that my wish has come true! The author of the Daphne emulator is working on a hardware solution for replacing the laserdisc unit!

Welcome DEXTER!

Picture borrowed from laserdisc-replacement.com

 It looks like it's already in a pretty good working state! Please take a look at the video below.


I'm looking very much forward to this to become available to the general public (that's me!). I'll put it into my old empty Philips 22VP932 shell and my cabinet will look and feel complete.. but last for 30 more years!