Sony and Panasonic reveal Blu-ray successor plans

A 300GB successor to the Blu-ray standard has been revealed by Sony and Panasonic.

The BBC reports that the format is intended to be in place by 2015 and is being designed with an eye on the new 4K Ultra High Resolution standard. Movies made to this spec will likely be in excess of 100GB in size.

Current Blu-ray discs have a capacity of 50GB, although plans are afoot for new Blu-ray versions with as much as 128GB of storage space – although these will likely be incompatible with current players.

Both companies insist that despite the ever-declining market for optical discs, the medium still offers benefits and continues to be vastly more lucrative than the streaming movie market.

"Optical discs have excellent properties to protect them against the environment, such as dust resistance and water resistance, and can also withstand changes in temperature and humidity when stored," they argue.

"They also allow inter-generational compatibility between different formats, ensuring that data can continue to be read even as formats evolve. This makes them a robust medium for long-term storage of content."