Blu-ray Technology

Optical disk storage, like all forms of digital storage has a very important role in establishing and maintaining the accuracy, reliability and trustworthiness of electronic records. The main reasons for choosing optical blu-ray technology are:

Longevity

• The highly reliable inorganic phase change recording layer provides a 50- to 100-year archival life.
• Compared to magnetic tape and HDD, it is less likely to be affected by humidity, temperature and light, and resists changes over time.
• Unlike magnetic tape and HDDs, there is no contact between the optical pickup (OPU) and the disc, so it maintains excellent durability even after repeated reading and writing.
• Panasonic Blu-ray™ discs have an archival life of 50 or 100 years, in contrast to an HDD’s 5 to 10-year and magnetic tape’s 15-20-year archival life. This allows data to be stored for longer periods of

Readability

• The Blu-ray Disc™ is the de facto standard for large-capacity optical discs, and is supported by about 170 major corporations, assuring long-term readability.
• A large variety of applicable equipment offers a wide range of reading environments.

Authenticity (BD-r)

• Unlike media such as magnetic tape, the WORM (Write Once Read Many) BD-R physically prevents overwriting.
• With its long-term storage ability, the BD-R eliminates security risks because data migration is unnecessary.
• BDs have a serial number and an ID (recorded in the Burst Cutting Area (BCA) ), making it easy to verify the authenticity of the media itself.

*Special application software is required for reading the BCA.

Operation costs

• As data can be managed offline, the system does not have to be constantly powered, making it environmentally friendly.
• Air conditioning is not required, so power consumption is reduced and CO2 emission is lowered.
• Data migration is not required, so large amounts of waste products are not generated by having to replace devices.
• Polycarbonate, which is the main disc material, can be recycled.

Green media

• As data can be managed offline, the system does not have to be constantly powered, making it environmentally friendly.
• Air conditioning is not required, so power consumption is reduced and CO2 emission is lowered.
• Data migration is not required, so large amounts of waste products are not generated by having to replace devices.
• Polycarbonate, which is the main disc material, can be recycled.

Source: Panasonic