[Stephen]

It can't do that's the thing.

Everytime a tape is played the tape gets worn by the head making contact, and everytime said tape is copied it degrades further. That's how older tapes mostly get damaged or fail. The master tapes they used for making all the retail copies would get replaced after so many copies were made from it.

Whereas with LaserDiscs, DVDs and Blu Ray discs maintain their picture over time is that no contact is made with the disc. Unless they suffer disc rot.