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Will PS4 support 4K Blu-Rays?

I tried to google but every source has something different.
The main question is:

If I buy a PS4 today, will I be able to play 4k (3d would be interesting too) blurays?

I need to convince my partner (who is not a gamer but a serious movie-nerd <3 ) that this console is needed in our apartment. So the more future proof ps4 is in this department the more chances are there for me to finally pull the trigger ;)
 
IIRC, the PS4 can't output 4K so there would be no point.

Edit: I stand corrected. The PS4 has HDMI 1.4 at that technically does support 4096×2160 but only at 24fps.

Edit2: 3840x2160 at 30fps, 4096×2160 at 24fps.
 

inki

Member
I don't think anything concrete has been said. 4k Blue Rays wont be hitting shelves until end of 2015. I'm thinking you'll know by Xmas season perhaps a little before.
 

specdot

Member
From what I understand the PS4 can output 4K movies but not games. I may be wrong, but I remember reading something along those lines somewhere.
 

cHaOs667

Member
IIRC no actual available blu ray player can play a UHD BD as the standard is pretty new and they have changed the video codec as well the physical bd disc.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
They have announced the format, but not any players as yet IIRC. There's nothing technically preventing it in the future as far as I know, and considering how heavily upgraded the PS3 was last gen, I'd say it's highly likely.

Netflix already supports 4K, so I'm sure it won't be long until that shows up on the PS4 app aswell.

Go for it.
 

Lnds500

Member
I don't think anyone can tell you at this point. HDMI 1.4 supports 4K@30fps but there are other things to consider (like the encruption that they movies will use, the drive itself, HDR etc)
 

Elsolar

Member
I thought Blu-rays didn't have the storage or bandwidth for 4k? Or is this a new format and they're just sticking with the Blu-ray name?
 

dr_rus

Member
If I buy a PS4 today, will I be able to play 4k (3d would be interesting too) blurays?

No. Current PS4 BD drive doesn't support the new BD capacities of 66 and 100 GBs which will be used for 4K BD standard. And I don't think that any BD player on the market support them at the moment.
 
IIRC no actual available blu ray player can play a UHD BD as the standard is pretty new and they have changed the video codec as well the physical bd disc.

They have already agreed on a standard and expect 4k blu-rays to arrive by late 2015. Pretty sure we will be getting a firmware update so the Ps4 can play them.
 

FZW

Member
Nothing hardware wise stopping it from happening. The PS4 can't output 4k for gaming but it can definitely do it for video. Its up to Sony really.
 

Circinus

Member
I kind of hope they'll make a PS4 revision with 4K UHD Blu-ray support at some point. Might considering buying that at some point.
 

dr_rus

Member
They have already agreed on a standard and expect 4k blu-rays to arrive by late 2015. Pretty sure we will be getting a firmware update so the Ps4 can play them.

Nothing hardware wise stopping it from happening. The PS4 can't output 4k for gaming but it can definitely do it for video. Its up to Sony really.

Again, the 4K BD standard is using 66 and 100 GBs Blu-rays that current PS4 BD drive is unlikely to be able to read at all.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Is the laser format different? Because that would pretty much be the deciding factor in terms of PS4 doing UHD BD, from a hardware perspective

Laser is very similar, disc will go from 25GB per layer to 33GB per layer [up to 3 layers]. I think PS4 will be able to support it, but we have to wait and see.
 

Z3M0G

Member
Wow... if my current PS4 ends up being able to play 4K movie disks some day, I know what my next TV purchase will be...
 
Maybe PS5/XB2/WiiZ will be the big leap to 4K. Not that there is a plethora of 4K broadcasting overwhelming consumers and pushing them to adopt it.

I seriously doubt we can rely on pornography to push tech forward like it did with VHS and then DVD. I would assume porn is moving to digital delivery at an irreversible rate of knots. This would mean lower resolution due to shitty bandwidth being commonplace for the majority.

Your best bet is Netflix et al pushing demand for better internet and 4K tvs before it becomes the 'norm' rather than console gaming. Without decent internet I don't see it happening.

Excuse the verbal diarrhoea, I'm just thinking out loud here.
 

JordanN

Banned
Because 720p to 1080p is a much smaller jump than 1080p to 4K.

There were PS3 games that ran much lower than 720p.

Regardless, it doesn't make much sense to assume only the devs who care about power will use 4K. Just like how 60fps is possible now, but you still have developers who target 30fps. Different priorities.
 

le-seb

Member
Again, the 4K BD standard is using 66 and 100 GBs Blu-rays that current PS4 BD drive is unlikely to be able to read at all.
It's just a matter of focusing the laser on another layer and using a more efficient error correction algorithm, so certainly nothing a drive firmware update couldn't achieve.
To be able to read UHD-BD, the console would need to support HDCP 2.2 which supposes being HDMI 2.0 compliant, though.
And at this point, it's still unknown whether Sony may be able to bring these through a software update.

Then why did they allow 1080p on games on PS3?
So many good looking 1080p games that weren't running like shit on the PS3, right?
Also, maybe they don't want Yamauchi to target unreachable goals with GT7. ;)

But can the PS4 decode HEVC at 4k in software?
It could. Either by using GPGPU or the Xtensa stuff Jeff_Rigby thinks is embedded in the console.
 

androvsky

Member
Do we know this for sure?

I don't believe we do know that for sure yet. BDXL has been around for many years as a recordable format at the same capacities as the 4K blu-rays, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch for Sony to have put a drive that can handle 4K BD-ROMs in the PS4. I'd be surprised if it couldn't read 4K blu-rays.

The HDMI is fine, it's enough for 4K and 30fps and I've run the photo app on the PS4 at 4K on my 4K TV. I think the biggest question is if Sony can upgrade to the proper HDCP; since it looks like they have to do it at the chip level, if it's not already in there might not be anything they can do.
 

finalflame

Gold Member
There were PS3 games that ran much lower than 720p.

Regardless, it doesn't make much sense to assume only the devs who care about power will use 4K. Just like how 60fps is possible now, but you still have developers who target 30fps. Different priorities.

Stop. 4k is literally 4x the pixel count of 1080p, it is insanely demanding. We will never see 4K games on PS4. Feel free to save this post, and if it ever happens (it won't), I will eat a shoe and post pictures for GAF.
 

Wag

Member
The current PS4 does not support HDCP 2.2 protection so no, it will not support UHD Blu-Ray playback.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
But can the PS4 decode HEVC at 4k in software?

Sure it can. It maybe won't have full hardware support inside media decoding block, but they can always task CPU/GPU to brute force it.

I am actually most unsure about PS4s abbility to support new 4K BD security measures [new HDCP].
 

le-seb

Member
Sony has made CD/DVD/Blu ray playback a major selling point of every Playstation console.
Yes, although they never promised the PS4 would support UHD-BD, to be fair.

That being said, the Game & Network Services (Playstation), Imaging Products & Solutions (CMOS image sensors), and Pictures & Music divisions are where they're expecting future growth, so it would make sense bringing UHD-BD support to the PS4 if they technically can.
 

dr_rus

Member
It's just a matter of focusing the laser on another layer and using a more efficient error correction algorithm, so certainly nothing a drive firmware update couldn't achieve.

A. "Matter of focusing the laser on another layer" is most likely a physical design issue which cannot be remedied with a s/w firmware update. I doubt that PS4 BD drive blue laser has any means of focusing anywhere but on two layers of 25/50 BDs. Because why would it?

B. 66/100 4K BDs are not only about layers but are about density on each layer as well as each layer now holds 33 GBs of data instead of 25 on the old BD. This leads to different laser positioning mechanics which is a physical problem again that cannot be fixed with software.

I'm 100% certain that you will need a new BD drive to be able to read 4K BDs.

HDMI 2.0 is also a problem as none of current AMD GPUs - including the latest Fiji - have support for this one.

So if you want to buy a PS4 which will be able to playback the UHD BDs - you should wait for the new h/w revision.

A picture somewhat describing what will play how where:

phpv2na0u.jpg
 

gatti-man

Member
The short answer OP is no it can't. Sony at one point said the ps4 will play 4k movies via a service and since then has been completely silent. It's not happening. I've been paying attention to this since launch bc I have a 4k setup but it's just not happening.
 
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