Drives

Highest Capacity Blu-ray Disc: 128GB BDXL and What Your Drive Needs

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The highest capacity blu ray disc you can buy is the 128GB quad-layer BD-R XL. In practice, most people who need a big disc use the 100GB triple-layer BDXL, which is much easier to find. Both need the right drive.

The highest capacity blu ray disc is the 128GB quad-layer BD-R XL, a write-once disc. The 100GB triple-layer BDXL is the common big disc, available as BD-R and BD-RE. You need a burner that lists BDXL support to write either one.

Every Blu-ray capacity, from 25GB to 128GB

Recordable Blu-ray capacity grows with each added layer, per the Blu-ray Disc recordable overview:

• Single layer: 25GB
• Dual layer: 50GB
• Triple layer (BDXL): 100GB
• Quad layer (BDXL): 128GB, BD-R only

A single-layer disc already holds more than five times a DVD, as Verbatim puts it. The 128GB disc holds over five times a single-layer Blu-ray.

Where BDXL came from

BDXL is the format that pushed Blu-ray past 50GB. Sharp announced the first recordable BDXL media, the triple-layer VR-100BR1, in July 2010, as its press release shows. It went on sale in Japan on July 30, 2010.

Sharp said the format doubled the 50GB of existing dual-layer discs to 100GB. It pitched the disc for recording about 12 hours of Japanese terrestrial digital TV in HD on one disc.

What the highest capacity blu ray disc needs

A BDXL disc will not work in every Blu-ray drive. The drive has to list BDXL support. Older and cheaper burners often stop at 50GB.

Check three things before you buy 100GB or 128GB discs:

1. The drive lists BDXL. Look for it in the specs or the product title.
2. Your software can write BDXL. Most bundled burning programs can, but check.
3. The player or drive that will read the disc supports BDXL. A home Blu-ray player may not read a BDXL data disc.

Our Blu-ray external drive guide lists drives that support BDXL, including models from ASUS and LG.

100GB or 128GB: which to buy

Pick 100GB BDXL for most big backups. The discs are easier to find, and they come in rewritable BD-RE as well as write-once BD-R. Verbatim sells them in printable and M-DISC versions.

Pick 128GB only if you need the extra room and can find the discs and a compatible drive. The quad-layer format exists as BD-R only, so there is no rewritable version.

For most people, the practical top is 100GB. Our blank Blu-ray guide compares the packs.

Recordable discs versus movie discs

The capacities above are for blank discs you burn yourself. Movie discs are pressed at a factory to different sizes. 4K Ultra HD movies ship on 66GB and 100GB discs, which listings often call BD-66 and BD-100.

For example, the Blu-ray.com listing for The Transformers: The Movie 4K edition shows "1 BD-66, 1 BD-50": a 66GB 4K disc and a 50GB Blu-ray. Our guide to Blu-ray.com shows how to read those listings.

How much a 100GB disc really holds

Capacity numbers are easier to picture with examples. A 100GB BDXL disc holds about four single-layer Blu-rays of data. In Sharp's own launch example, that was about 12 hours of Japanese HD TV on one disc.

For a photo archive, one disc can hold a large library of phone photos. For video, how much fits depends on the resolution and bitrate of the files. Check your folder sizes before you pick a disc size, and leave some headroom.

Is a big disc better than a hard drive?

A 100GB disc holds less than most hard drives. What it offers is a fixed copy that cannot be changed by accident, and no moving parts. M-DISC versions are sold for long-term archiving.

Many people use both: a hard drive for everyday backups, and BDXL or M-DISC discs for a copy stored away from the computer.

Verdict on the highest capacity blu ray disc

The highest capacity blu ray disc is the 128GB quad-layer BD-R XL, but the 100GB triple-layer BDXL is the practical choice for most people. Either one needs a burner that lists BDXL support. Confirm your drive, software and reading device before you buy a large pack.