Sony has introduced it’s going to discontinue the manufacture of Blu-ray discs, a format it invented and championed, setting the stage for the attainable imminent finish of the optical format.
Because the world has embraced streaming lately, Blu-ray gross sales have declined sharply, paving the way in which for Sony’s resolution.
“Thanks very a lot to your continued help of Sony merchandise,” the buyer electronics large stated in a Japanese posting in one in every of its on-line help boards and translated by TechCentral utilizing software program.
“As of February 2025, we are going to discontinue manufacturing of all Blu-ray Disc media, recording MiniDiscs, MD knowledge for recording, and MiniDV cassettes. There isn’t a successor mannequin,” it stated, in line with the interpretation.
Sony will not produce Blu-ray discs and the opposite codecs from February, it stated.
The corporate launched Blu-ray commercially in 2006 as a successor to the DVD format, which had extreme limitations within the quantity of knowledge that may very well be saved on every disc.
Because the world moved to excessive definition (720p and 1080p) – and later to 4K UHD – Blu-ray step by step outdated DVD. It was used primarily for gaming consoles like Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox and for motion pictures and field units of tv collection.
Format warfare
Blu-ray discs initially supported as much as 25GB of knowledge, although that expanded over time because the expertise improved.
Sony had been engaged on Blu-ray since round 2000, when the primary prototypes have been unveiled. Its launch in 2006 sparked a format warfare with the competing HD DVD customary, which had the backing of Sony rival Toshiba. Blu-ray rapidly received the battle with HD DVD, nonetheless, and cemented itself as the brand new optical disc customary after it was extensively adopted by the Hollywood studios.
Learn: New DVD-sized optical disc shops 125 000GB of knowledge
It’s attainable Blu-ray discs will proceed to be out there on condition that Sony isn’t the one firm that manufactures them. However the Japanese agency’s resolution seemingly signifies that the format shouldn’t be lengthy of this world. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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