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Category: IT|Jul 7, 2024 | Author: Admin

The beginning of the end for Blu-ray

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Blu-ray isn't going to last as long as floppy disks.

PlayStation 3 (2006) was in many ways the consumer launch of the storage medium that won out against HD DVD in 2008.

16 years later there have been no new battles between physical storage media. In fact, Netflix started streaming movies and TV the year before, and with that launched a new era. It was in many ways over for the storage format in relation to video even back then, except for enthusiasts and Sony's consoles.

The company offers, like Microsoft, Blu-ray and digital versions of its latest consoles.

So it is no surprise that Sony is now announcing that Blu-ray discs with writing functionality will be phased out by the company neither producing them nor developing new technology in the area.

Those of you who use Blu-Ray for storage will therefore have to hoard – everyone else can relax for now:

“We will continue to sell B2B products, and for consumer products, we will determine the specific end date in the future through discussions with distribution partners such as mass retailers, but we will continue to sell them until further notice.”

You will therefore still be able to buy stand-alone Blu-ray players if you are one of those who want maximum quality.

Tom's Hardware points out that it is not 100 percent positive for consumers, as disks and SSDs keep going for an average of five years, while Blu-Ray discs for several decades.

The newspaper refers to the situation for optical storage media as "bleak, at least for Sony." The company is known for creating many of its own storage formats (Blu-ray was created in collaboration with Philips and Pioneer), so when they think it is time to phase out parts of the technology, it is not inconceivable that others do the same.