3 ms·

Tape drive backwards compatibility is an issue for sure but optical drives have had decent backwards compatibility so far. DVD drives can read CD's. BR drives c

Tape drive backwards compatibility is an issue for sure but optical drives have had decent backwards compatibility so far. DVD drives can read CD's. BR drives can read CD, DVD and BR. I think backwards compatibility is more feasible for optical as the larger pits on older media can still be read by narrower wavelengths. They'll just look like giant craters flashing by instead of nice neat pits.

kmeisthax 5y ago
AFAIK I believe that they actually do use different lasers for different disc types, but the cost to put two or three laser diodes in one drive is basically nil these days. The big problem with optical storage is the same that tape struggles with - it's primary market shrank. This was a bit of a self-inflicted wound. CDs and DVDs were basically ubiquitous, drives came down in price dramatically, and the storage densities and pricing was competitive with competing technologies. BD is where that all started breaking down. BD had a format war with HD-DVD, and both formats relied upon new and then-expensive technologies such as blue lasers and quad-layer stacking. PC manufacturers (notably Apple) balked at the cost of either format. Microsoft backed HD-DVD, but wisely decided not to bleed money by not sticking an HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360. This created an odd situation where the Xbox 360 sold better as a game console, but Blu-Ray outsold HD-DVD because Sony had let the PlayStation division bleed out for a couple of years. Of course, Microsoft still wanted the 360 to be able to play HD movies, and their response was to partner with Netflix to make streaming a reliable (arguably better) substitute for movies on optical media. In other words, Sony killed HD-DVD, so Microsoft killed the whole home video market by pushing digital distribution for everything. If you're wondering, there are successor formats to Blu-Ray. Interestingly enough, the whole quad-layer stacking thing was rebranded as BD-XL and UHD-BD (which the PS4 doesn't even support), and there's also a proper successor format for data storage called Archival Disc. Except the latter is basically an LTO competitor - you can't buy bare AD drives and discs and use them like Blu-Rays. The technology only exists in archival systems like Sony's ODA system (Gen 2 and Gen 3; Gen 1 used Blu-Rays), which has discs stacked in cartridges that have to be loaded into special, very expensive readers and media libraries.
- fomine3 5y ago
  I believe streaming killed optical disc for video even if there are no format war. It's just convenient and quality is fine for most people.

kmeisthax 5y ago

AFAIK I believe that they actually do use different lasers for different disc types, but the cost to put two or three laser diodes in one drive is basically nil these days. The big problem with optical storage is the same that tape struggles with - it's primary market shrank. This was a bit of a self-inflicted wound. CDs and DVDs were basically ubiquitous, drives came down in price dramatically, and the storage densities and pricing was competitive with competing technologies. BD is where that all started breaking down. BD had a format war with HD-DVD, and both formats relied upon new and then-expensive technologies such as blue lasers and quad-layer stacking. PC manufacturers (notably Apple) balked at the cost of either format. Microsoft backed HD-DVD, but wisely decided not to bleed money by not sticking an HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360. This created an odd situation where the Xbox 360 sold better as a game console, but Blu-Ray outsold HD-DVD because Sony had let the PlayStation division bleed out for a couple of years. Of course, Microsoft still wanted the 360 to be able to play HD movies, and their response was to partner with Netflix to make streaming a reliable (arguably better) substitute for movies on optical media. In other words, Sony killed HD-DVD, so Microsoft killed the whole home video market by pushing digital distribution for everything. If you're wondering, there are successor formats to Blu-Ray. Interestingly enough, the whole quad-layer stacking thing was rebranded as BD-XL and UHD-BD (which the PS4 doesn't even support), and there's also a proper successor format for data storage called Archival Disc. Except the latter is basically an LTO competitor - you can't buy bare AD drives and discs and use them like Blu-Rays. The technology only exists in archival systems like Sony's ODA system (Gen 2 and Gen 3; Gen 1 used Blu-Rays), which has discs stacked in cartridges that have to be loaded into special, very expensive readers and media libraries.

fomine3 5y ago
I believe streaming killed optical disc for video even if there are no format war. It's just convenient and quality is fine for most people.