I’ve replaced the aging Blu-ray drive in my computer with a shiny new LG one. Amongst other things, this one burns Blu-ray discs rather than merely reading them. And, I see from the LG website, it also supports the new 128GB BDXL format.
But on the front was something I’d never heard of: M-Disc. A little googling around revealed that this is a new write-once recordable DVD technology that involves making actual pits in the recordable material
, rather than simply changing the reflectivity of dies. The advantage is longevity. They say that these are good for a thousand years and impervious to UV, light and temperature (within reason I imagine). They are 4.7GB capacity.
It seems that you need a special drive to burn them, but once burnt they are compatible with all DVD drives.
Wikipedia says that a Blu-ray version is on the way.
I see that the M-Disc people are selling blank discs from their website. Surprisingly, and pleasingly, they are not insanely expensive: $30 for a pack of ten. Pretty good value if they really are good for a thousand years.