- that is a result of inter-- - ference. --interference and the phenomenon that's called-- sound. this phenomenon of pulsating-- two sounds pulsating in and out, in and out of phase is called, by the way--scholars? - beats. - beats. all right. i thought you guys were putting me on there for a while. and that's a beat. ted, can we show beats up here? hopefully show beats. so you can see as well as hear what's going on. you can see the wave form. isn't that nice? we certainly hear the wave forms but now we can see them. so this device, called an oscilloscope, beautiful, allows us to see the shape of waves. very, very nice. wow. where it's extra loud, a compression from one fork and a compression from the other have reached your ear. and where it's very low, a compression is matched by a rarefaction, in one fills and the other, it makes it like null. isn't that nice? beats. question, paul? can you explain why laser discs are suppose to have a better sound quality than tapes? those laser discs amaze me. let me tell you what a laser disc does. you saw ted sang in here and showed you a