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PS4K/Neo Seemingly won't have BDXL (4k disc) support

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O

Occam

Member
According to Eurogamer, the upcoming PS4 revision won't support BDXL discs (100GB triple layer / 128GB quadruple layer).

"On top of that, while the documentation says that the hard drive will remain the same (Sony has several in circulation, so we assume it means 2.5-inch laptop drives generally) there are no indications of any changes to the Blu-ray drive. This is surprising, as we would have assumed that Sony would take this opportunity to support the new UHD 4K movie standard, supporting standard 50GB discs along with 66GB and 100GB variants. For now it seems that developers are set to stick with 50GB of storage."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-sonys-plan-for-playstation-4k-neo-revealed

This seems insane.

EDIT: Of course it would make sense for Sony not to change the dev kit drive specs, as game discs will have to continue being compatible with older PS4s, while the retail version of PS4k / Neo could still have a BDXL drive for 4k movie discs.
 
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spons

Gold Member
You don't need changes to the blu-ray drive to support larger disc formats though.

No idea where Eurogamer got this idea from. They're misinformed.

Opus Angelorum said:
It's the strength of the laser.
Click to expand...

Guess that's the difference indeed. No BDXL it is then....
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
very weird

I wonder if its a cost consideration

Could be bad. People expect the disc to just work when you put it in the damn machine
 
M

Massa

Member
It won't support them for games, because the games must also work on the original PS4. Silly DF.

Also, PS4 games all run from the HDD, so the developers don't care at all about the specs (speed and size) of BD discs.
 
R

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
I assume that's just for devkits because they're not allowing Neo exclusive titles. 4k blu-ray support is almost guaranteed looking at Sony's history.
 
O

Occam

Member
spons said:
You don't need changes to the blu-ray drive to support larger disc formats though.

No idea where Eurogamer got this idea from. They're misinformed.
Click to expand...

Yes you do, not every BD drive can read triple and quadruple layer discs.
 
P

ps3ud0

Member
I guess if thats true its just too expensive to put in and Sony dont want another PS3 situation. I presume the standalone UHD BD players arent cheap for a reason, no doubt they will get cheaper...

Mad thing is I thought thats the whole point of this console - rather than being a normal Slim, something that coincides with Sony push with 4K TVs and 4K BDs.

Awful timing on something I feel they can dictate. I personally still dont see why a PS5 in 2018/2019 with all this in was such a bad idea.

EDIT: All those replies, guess it must be just for the dev kit and retail console will have the ability to play larger disc in readiness for 4K...

ps3ud0 8)
 
L

Loxley

Member
This seems to fly in the face of everything else we've heard about this thing, no? Half of the reason the PS4K is supposedly even being made is to allow Sony to get in on the UHD market with a more affordable 4K bluray player compared to the competition.

I feel like there's some sort of semantic misinterpretation going on here. If they're saying it won't support games at 4K, I get that (despite the rumors to the contrary), but stuff like movies? That almost seems like a given at this point.
 
E

Elandyll

Banned
Prolly because it's a dev kit and from that point of view it would not impact dev (games run from a hdd in all cases).
I honestly can't imagine Sony not pushing the next step in Blu-Ray with their 4K machine.

Only possibility I could see would be if they have info about MS releasing a drive less version, investing the budget they save in specs for the same overall base cost.
 
D

DerZuhälter

Member
Occam said:
According to Eurogamer, the upcoming PS4 revision won't support BDXL discs (100GB triple layer / 128GB quadruple layer).

"On top of that, while the documentation says that the hard drive will remain the same (Sony has several in circulation, so we assume it means 2.5-inch laptop drives generally) there are no indications of any changes to the Blu-ray drive. This is surprising, as we would have assumed that Sony would take this opportunity to support the new UHD 4K movie standard, supporting standard 50GB discs along with 66GB and 100GB variants. For now it seems that developers are set to stick with 50GB of storage."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-sonys-plan-for-playstation-4k-neo-revealed

This seems insane.
Click to expand...

It doesn't say Sony won't support BDXL, it's not mentioned.

Considering this documentation was meant for devs, and these should be creating games that run on PS4s and NEO, they are supposed to get their games out on standard BDs anyway since PS4s can't handle BDXL. So why mentioning it?
 
B

Bsigg12

Member
Massa said:
It won't support them for games, because the games must also work on the original PS4. Silly DF.

Also, PS4 games all run from the HDD, so the developers don't care at all about the specs (speed and size) of BD discs.
Click to expand...

Well you're kinda right. The PS4K/Neo will and should be able to playback 4K Blurays. In that sense they wouldn't need the drive in these devkits sense developers may not necessarily be able to use those disc standards for games (which sucks). We'll have to wait and see on that aspect at this point.
 
W

Wollan

Member
I wouldn't be so quick to assume no UHD Blu-ray support.
There's no reason for Sony to lay every card on the table as this is not relevant for devs.
 
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spons

Gold Member
Occam said:
Yes you do, not every BD drive can read triple and quadruple layer discs.
Click to expand...

What's the (physical) difference between a drive that can and one that cannot read those discs then?

On a different note, the original PS4 will never support UHD movies because it lacks an HEVC decoder. PS4K could easily have this included. I doubt they're going to software-decode that content on the older device.
 
iNvid02

iNvid02

Member
that would be rough, maybe they're trying to push their 4k streaming service

nJ3LqdW.gif
 
Z

zephervack

Member
Wouldnt be surprised if Sony has data telling them that almost no one is using the PS4 to watch BluRay movies, not worth the extra expense.

I personally will be bummed out if they dont include it but there is no denying that we are in the streaming era, convenience over quality :(
 
O

Occam

Member
Of course it would make sense for Sony not to change the dev kit drive specs, as game discs will have to continue being compatible with older PS4s, while the retail version of PS4k / Neo could still have a BDXL drive for 4k movie discs.
I think this thread can be locked, sorry.
 
S

Spider_Jerusalem

Member
Occam said:
This is surprising, as we would have assumed that Sony would take this opportunity to support the new UHD 4K movie standard, supporting standard 50GB discs along with 66GB and 100GB variants.
Click to expand...
No, this isn't surprising at all, actually. This is strictly developers documentation, and Sony already made clear elsewhere in the doc that they don't want to introduce differences to PS4 and NEO userbases. If they made 100GB disks available to developers, those would have been incompatible with base consoles.

But this doesn't mean the final console itself won't have those readers, simply the developers won't be allowed to burn on higher capacity disks.
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Game Discs will have to work on PS4 as well, so no reason to include on dev kits.

We have no idea if there is 4k disc support for movies yet.
 
D

DerZuhälter

Member
MasterOfNone said:
A UHD drive is too expensive, they don't want this thing to be too premium priced.

Their internal data shows people are moving away from blu ray so they will make a big push for digital content instead.
Click to expand...

Actually having just checked prices for stand alone BDXL / UHD players. Yeah it's too pricy. Cheapest one I found was 490 euros. And there are only two different models available.

Forget about it. It won't have BDXL support. lol
 
R

rjinaz

Member
MasterOfNone said:
A UHD drive is too expensive, they don't want this thing to be too premium priced.

Their internal data shows people are moving away from blu ray so they will make a big push for digital content instead.
Click to expand...

It's really not that expensive. From what I understand, it's really just some tweaks on current blu-ray drives. Heck, Samsung's player is $399. That's a for a brand new 2016 player. When blu-ray first hit the market, it was selling 2-3 times that. I have no doubt Sony can and will make their new console UHD compatible.

As others have speculated, it seems unlikely a dev kit would support this feature.

You are correct that digital is the way things are moving, but there is definitely a market for UHD discs as 4k tvs become standard for new tvs.
 
SlimySnake

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It could be the dev kits or it could be that these bluray drives are too expensive. It's disappointing but i will wait 3 more years for the PS5 to have a 4k bluray player. There are barely any 4k blurays available anyway.
 
O

Occam

Member
Yes, dev kit =/= retail unit.

Again, I apologize, and I have asked for this thread to be locked. There is no point in continuing this.
 
TBiddy

TBiddy

Member
DerZuhälter;201348868 said:
Actually having just checked prices for stand alone BDXL / UHD players. Yeah it's too pricy. Cheapest one I found was 400 euros.

Forget about it. It won't have BDXL support. lol
Click to expand...

Wasn't it about the same price, back when the PS3 arrived? I'd assume a large part of the PS3s succes, was because of the Blu-Ray drive.
 
J

J-Skee

Member
If I were in the market for a PS4K, this would be a huge concern for me. Studios are starting to make the push for 4K Blu-rays, & that would be nuts if Sony of all companies didn't support it.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
Don't really care personally, even if true I'd want a standalone player anyway, so it can be made to play foreign movie releases. That'd be a lot harder to accomplish on a console.
 
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