Blu-ray discs are hanging on, but for how much longer?
Will Blu-ray discs be the last optical format ever, or will another replace it?
Few prebuilt desktop PCs or laptops come with optical drives anymore, either.
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That is unless you buy a current or previous-generation Xbox or PlayStation console.
Digital purchases aren’t suitable for keeping a collection since their servers can be taken offline at some point.
Known as the HVD orHolographic Versatile Disc, it would offer capacities of up to 6TB.
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Optical discs, if they’re made from the right stuff, can theoretically last more than a century.
This makes them desirable for archival purposes.
In 2018, scientists announced they had developed a10TB optical disc with a theoretical lifespan of 600 years.
In 2020, Sony (who developed Blu-ray) announced theirthird-generation optical storage system.
Related:What Are Read/Write Speeds, and Why Do They Matter?
Streaming this content will be a tall order and downloading it to a local drive would be onerous.
Related:What 8K Content Is Actually Available?
Will There Be Other Optical Discs?
Secondly, confidence inthe all-digital content futuremust come down from the current hype’s peak.
Third, solid-state memory devices would have to remain too expensive in comparison.
We think the last factor is perhaps the least likely to be true.
Solid state memory benefits from the same exponential performance and density increases as other semiconductor technologies.
