'8K Blu-ray would be a technical feat in search of a problem to solve’: I talked to the Blu-ray Disc Association, player manufacturers and TV makers about what comes after 4K Blu-ray, and the future of physical media

I dug into the future of physical movie collecting with the people behind the technology

Features By Becca Caddy Published 31 July 2026

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Blu-ray turned 20 this year, and although streaming is now the way most people watch films, physical media is dead is far from dead. Collectors are still buying Blu-rays for their new restorations, special features or limited-edition packages — and younger audiences are discovering the value of owning their films rather than dealing with your favorites disappearing on your all the time.

History lesson

Blu-ray replaced DVD in the mid-2000s. Named after the blue-violet laser it uses to read data, it offered high-definition video and much greater storage capacity. In 2016, Ultra HD Blu-ray was introduced, which added 4K resolution and HDR.

Throughout this article, when industry experts refer to “Blu-ray”, they're generally talking about that latest version, Ultra HD Blu-ray, as it's still considered the highest-quality consumer format for watching films at home.

So if people still want to watch movies on discs at home, is there a Blu-ray successor on the horizon to offer something new?

Every major home video format before it has eventually been replaced. VHS gave way to DVD, then DVD gave way to Blu-ray. As someone who appreciates the quality of Blu-ray films but isn't an expert in the technology behind them, I assumed there would be a straightforward plan for something to come supplant them. Maybe an 8K Blu-ray? Maybe another physical format I've never heard of because home cinema is an interest of mine rather than my specialism?

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But after speaking to analysts, hardware manufacturers and the organization behind Blu-ray itself, I discovered that most of them don't think another disc is coming. In fact, there’s no obvious "next format" about to be unveiled, and I wanted to find out why.

Why Blu-ray still has loyal fans

To understand why the future of Blu-ray is such an interesting topic, it's worth first getting to grips with why people still buy it. And the top reason came up in every conversation I had: ownership.

"Ownership matters more now than it did in 2005. When you buy a disc, you own that film. It’s yours, permanently, in its best possible form, sitting on your shelf whenever you want it,” says Victor Matsuda, Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, the group behind the development of Blu-ray.

He tells me that people are switching on to the fact that most of what we “buy” digitally today is really a license that can change or disappear. His comments come shortly after Sony removed over 500 purchased movies from people's accounts without compensation, and right at the same time as Disney+ was forced to remove 4K and HDR support in many countries.

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