A new Blu-ray disc capable of storing 20 times more data could change movie and video game distribution, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.
Higher capacity data storage could help studios sell premium content that's not as easy to stream or download. Source: Tim Beyers/The Motley Fool.
Sony (SONY -0.33%) and Panasonic (PCRFY -3.03%) plan to release the first version of "Archival Disc," as it's known, next summer in a 300 gigabyte format -- six times more than today's Blu-ray disc. Versions scaling to 500 GB and 1 terabyte are planned, though no specific timetable had been set as of this writing.
Added capacity makes "Archival Disc" an intriguing choice for distributing movies and games, especially when you factor in rising production quality and the sorts of digital extras users expect when paying up for physical media. And yet it may take a while to see the distribution shift, Tim says. Panasonic told GameSpot that "Archival Disc" is intended only for professional archiving of digital assets.
Perhaps it'll stay that way for a while. According to Akamai Technologies, average Internet speeds in the U.S. increased 28% year over year in 2013. Fat files are easier to send across the Internet than they have been in recent years. Yet files are also getting fatter: Call of Duty: Ghosts occupies 40 GB of space on a compatible Windows PC versus 16 GB for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Tim sees the industry clamoring for higher capacity media over time, a need that "Archival Disc" can help fill.
