In the ongoing history of technology, there will always be bigger and better digital formats coming along to try and dethrone the top dog. VHS won over BetaMax, and Blu-ray beat out HD DVDs—but who will beat out Blu-ray? Well if it's up to Sony, Blu-ray XL will. That's right, Sony's seemingly begun eating its own tail and releasing new Blu-ray XL discs that aren't compatible with current Blu-ray players (including the PS3!).
Blu-ray XL (BDXL) discs are definitely an improvement, offering a capacity of up to 128GB. Sony intends for them to be used in the professional sector—for medical imaging or broadcast media—but that doesn't mean it won't make it's way into our homes.
The increased capacity means that higher-quality movies (including 3D films) could fit on discs that are the same physical size we're used to. The extra space could also mean that seasons of TV shows could dwindle down from 5+ discs down to only two. That'll make our Netflix queue shrink down fast, huh?
But of course the advancement comes at a cost. Current Blu-ray player lasers aren't powerful enough to read the four readable layers on the BDXL discs (the compound layers are the reason for the added capacity).
Although we're a long way from having BDXL discs on our shelves, it's definitely something for consumers to think about. If you're still rocking DVDs and don't have a single blue box in sight (like me!), you might want to hold out on making the Blu-ray conversion in your house to see how this plays out. Otherwise, you risk being "that guy" with a shelf full of HD DVDs.
(Image: Flickr user Jainaj under license from Creative Commons.)
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Comments (4)
once you go blu-ray you'll find it odd to watch regular dvd's or even standard definition tv. i held off for a while because i didn't see the point but it truly makes for a better picture and movie watching experience. Especially if you are watching animated movies.
I think the PS3 is completely worth owning, especially since we have a pretty nice television. As ladymelody points out, animated movies are just so much better on blu-ray. I definitely think it's worth it to get the most out of our cool technology. We got a great deal on the PS3 (and the tv), so by the time some way-fancier blu-ray is available, it will have paid for itself. And in the age of Netflix, who's going to be stuck with a shelf full of unwatchable dvds? As animation lovers, we love the blu-ray. But I guess if we were primarily into rom coms we might not care as much about picture quality.
This post amuses me. Very informative - but the notion that BDXL will make it into consumer homes any time soon is really comical. Sony is still spending hundreds of millions out of pocket to get Blu-Ray adopted into consumers homes now. The biggest battle being Online Media and the other being people who just don't see the value over DVD. If you are trying to decide whether to wait-it-out because your afraid your BD player will be absolute in a year or two, don't worry - it wont (well that is if you get a player that can have it's firmware upgraded - PS3!). Sony will milk every penny out of blu-ray format for the next 5-7 years. They are far too invested to risk burning out the consumer with a format change this early.
Go get a ps3 and a reasonably priced HDTV and enjoy some beautiful HD'ness.
Yes, current dual layer disks serve their purpose well. There is little need for even more capacity for AV. XL disks also cost more, which is the last thing manufacturers want to move towards. On top of that BR has a much, much higher theoretical max. If they were to move to a higher capacity they would most likely wait for larger disks and improved production to make it worth while.
Bluray is also doing fine as a medium. It is actually beating the adoption DVD and VHS had. As its cost goes down it will become just as ubiquitous and DVD is.
Also, keep in mind The BR consortium never intended BR to quickly replace standard DVD. They were in fact trying to stabilize media costs by introducing "premium" content in the way of more expensive BR disks. It was their way of dealing with the downward sales trend in DVD both in units and cost.