The lack UHD-BD is absolute nonsense to me. As far as I can see the Pro only exists due to some mandate from Sony top brass to push 4K. That's the only thing that explains this ultra-narrow, razor focus on 4K displayed at the meeting. But yet it won't push UHD-BD, which is fucking strange considering Sony owns a movie studio and sells the damn things, and is actually involved in yet another format war (HDR10 vs. Dolby Vision). It's a borderline incomprehensible move. It's taking a feature away from the machine, a feature its competitor just launched with.
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PS4 Pro: Was the lack of a UHD Player Strategic?
- Thread starter ClearData
- Start date
Oddvintagechap
Member
https://blog.sony.com/press/sony-la...load-service-and-expands-4k-ultra-hd-tv-line/
or they can use this. Unless they neeeeed to have a disc.
Chris_Rivera
Member
It's now an aspect they can't compete with the Xbox One on, that is fact and they are competing with the Xbone. Whether or not the lost sales are less than the cost of the drive hardware, only they can say, and no amount of speculation will answer it.
Muppet of a Man
Member
This right here is why folks. And it was a good decision for that reason alone. 399 is a great value proposition, especially for a first time eighth gen console owner.
That's fine. People will have to take that into consideration when they go shopping this holiday season. I just remember how much shit everybody gave MS after the Xbone reveal because of how thoroughly they pimped it as a multimedia machine. All we were concerned about was games games games.
I don't know when a UHD Blu-ray player became a standard feature in a "premium" gaming device. Not seeing how this is some sort of monumental gaffe and I seriously think a $50- $100 dollar bump in price would get significantly more outrage.
Wait, what? I thought the drive was 1TB
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
It's an interesting situation.
The CPU is the same - no extra cost
The RAM is the same - no extra cost
The drive is the same - no extra cost
Is the GPU bump literally the only thing that the extra $100 is for then? You'd think they could have eaten the $20 or so extra a UHD player would have cost.
The CPU is the same - no extra cost
The RAM is the same - no extra cost
The drive is the same - no extra cost
Is the GPU bump literally the only thing that the extra $100 is for then? You'd think they could have eaten the $20 or so extra a UHD player would have cost.
You're telling me most people buy their movies online?
I think it was mind-boggling honestly. For me personally I couldn't care less as a video game system is purely just for games as far as I'm concerned and that's all I would use my Pro for if I decide to get one.
With that being said it would have been nice to have and I'm sure a lot of people are turned off by this regardless.
With that being said it would have been nice to have and I'm sure a lot of people are turned off by this regardless.
Hockeymac18
Member
I think the argument is that one would expect it in the premium product, especially one pushing the UHD format that they helped form. Not being in the base model is fine...people can buy that one if they don't care about watching UHD Blu-Rays...while those that want the best PS that one can buy will go for the Pro model (with UHD disc playback features).
It's really not that big of a deal, I guess...but it just seems odd to cut corners on your top end product. Cutting corners is generally for the base model. Or at least, it should be...
At the end of the day, it just comes off as a really odd decision.
tiredheadcrab
Member
While I agree that streaming is important and probably going to be what we will all be using far into the future, right now streaming $k content isnt viable for some people. Data caps and slow internet for people in the USA makes this difficult. 4K blue ray is niche now because everything is still new and expensive. The numbers will only go up from here on out. Blue Ray is still a money maker and it was silly to not include it.
I expect most of you know about ISP issues in the USA so I also expect to see the people pitching so hard for streaming services, to come to Philly and protest outside the Comcast headquarters. I work right across the street so dont BS me and tell me you showed up. I will be checking GAF names.
I expect most of you know about ISP issues in the USA so I also expect to see the people pitching so hard for streaming services, to come to Philly and protest outside the Comcast headquarters. I work right across the street so dont BS me and tell me you showed up. I will be checking GAF names.
what most people don't do is to buy uhd blurays
where I live most people don't buy movies at all but that's another matter and I want to think many countries are not like that
johancruijff
Banned
Why are you people comparing the S with the PRO is beyond me
The S is the slim version, that incidentally have a UHD, something that everybody expected to be on the "NEO"
They are in different segment
The S is the slim version, that incidentally have a UHD, something that everybody expected to be on the "NEO"
They are in different segment
Realistic reasons are that:
1)They mandated for themselves a price no higher than 399$ for the Pro with a decent profit margin. Including the UHD drive meant either raising the price to 449$ or destroying their profit margin on the product.
2)Precisely because they have a movie studio, they make dedicated players, they sell TVs and so on they have a lot of research datas available to them showing that the format is dead, major studios aren't planning to support it in any meaningful way and everyone think that people have moved on from physical formats.
Def cost savings for sure, though I'm sure at some point they looked at how well physical 4k media was selling to current owners of 4k sets. My guess is that Blu-Ray as a whole is a shrinking market with even less people opting to move their current 2k collection over to 4k.
professor_t
Member
Haha. I was thinking the exact same thing.
Yes, it was strategic - they wanted to save money.
This is not a thing.
Sota4077
Member
I sincerely doubt that adding a Blu-Ray player would tack on $50 to the price tag. We're talking just a raw device in bulk quantity. It would obviously have put the price tag higher, but not $50 more most likely. I find it strange that they didn't just eat the cost. Unless they're already eating up some losses before the Blu-Ray even came to the chopping block. I guess that would make sense. It may not have been an issue of high price, it may have been an issue of lower losses on each console.
It was a mistake on Sony's part not to include Ultra HD BD play on the PS4 Pro.
Usually it's Xbox fans moving goalposts but this goalpost moving by PlayStation fans is just as laughably bad.
And unlike Microsoft, Sony still has a much greater vested interest in Bluray be it regular or Ultra HD as it is their proprietary tech. That doesn't even count the fact that you need proper 4K media to drive 4K TV sales.
Streaming is only convenient, but it's not a showcase for home theater systems.
The convenience argument doesn't work for the targeted audience for 4K who are vital in driving up support for mass adoption by the masses.
Usually it's Xbox fans moving goalposts but this goalpost moving by PlayStation fans is just as laughably bad.
And unlike Microsoft, Sony still has a much greater vested interest in Bluray be it regular or Ultra HD as it is their proprietary tech. That doesn't even count the fact that you need proper 4K media to drive 4K TV sales.
Streaming is only convenient, but it's not a showcase for home theater systems.
The convenience argument doesn't work for the targeted audience for 4K who are vital in driving up support for mass adoption by the masses.
This.
It's a dumb decision, they already have the PS4 at 300$, they didn't need to skimp on such an important feature for the Pro.
DISSESHOWEDO
Banned
Sony keeps their plan that the ps4 being wven a pro version is a console that plays games. Also adding the uhd drive would have increased the price, so imo they did great with the pro. Sigificant upgrade with keeping the cost down. Exactly what won them the begining of this gen.
family_guy
Member
or 3) They are trying to shape the market to what they want it to be. It works out pretty great for companies to not have to print and ship physical media anymore as well have that nice DRM to go with it so you don't really own anything anymore. It's in their best interest to kill disc support.
Somewhere there's a spreadsheet with a pivot table that says that the crossover between likely Neo buyers with those interested in UHDBD discs is smaller than those likely Neo buyers who are price sensitive to >$399 along with propensity & ability to stream 4K content, own a 4K set etc.
I think it is a weird omission, but as I don't have access to the same audience data Sony has im not going to second guess their decision as good or poor business-wise.
I think it is a weird omission, but as I don't have access to the same audience data Sony has im not going to second guess their decision as good or poor business-wise.
To that end I'm not so sure Sony intends the Pro to be their sales leader, I think they're still banking on the Slim to an affordable and popular console. The trouble there is that the Slim is now lacking prominent hardware features to the competition in the same price range.
+ Licencing.
brandonh83
Banned
Not really. Remember how the PS3 was so expensive because of the BR drive and backwards compatibility? I think they were trying to avoid that again. A $400 price point for an upgraded console is a bit easier to swallow than something more.
OfTheOverflow
Member
Then why don't they include the best quality way to experience that content? Blurays remain leagues better than compressed streams from all services. Even buying video content on the PlayStation Store is buying the licence to stream it; not download it and keep a copy.
newtypepilot
Member
I feel like people complaining about lack of 4kBD is like people complaining about backwards compatibility.
potatohead
Member
For $15 per console, that is very debatable.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
This really just sounds like your opinion.
Lots of people, like myself, for example, still haven't purchased 4K TVs, largely because there wasn't any worthwhile content for it. Now with UHD Blu-ray emerging as a proper format and with a video game device taking advantage of HDR technology, etc., getting a 4K TV looks that much more attractive, but it loses some appeal when you can't have it in one device.
Equanimity
Member
The 1TB XbS model is $50 cheaper and roughly 3.5x weaker.
I haven't bought a blu ray in 3+years. Ive streamed here and there for movies but literally all i do is stream stuff.
Maybe, but in this case they're missing a big reason to make full use of a hot new 4K TV instead of a costly convenience feature for old stuff.
You are assuming they use the same exact drive which probably isn't the case. The drive for the Xbox one is probably larger than what the ps4 uses.
DangerMouse
Member
I wouldn't say dumb, but it's a bit of a shame, I would have liked the complete package at $399 for the pro version and a UHD drive is the one thing missing, but I'd bet it's because of price. They really wanted to hit $399 which is only 50 more than the S despite being 3x more powerful in the gaming-related components.
Admittedly having bought my 4K HDR TV last year, I splurged and got the Samsung player already since I wanted UHD BDs as fast as possible, so it doesn't kill me.
Equanimity
Member
So your primary reason to invest in a gaming console is to watch UHD movies through physical media?
Add licencing fees to drive cost and +$50 retail looks about right
Which is the point of markets. Gamer 1 wants UHD drive and 1.2 TF gpu, he buys one s. Gamer 2 preferes 4.2TF GPU and doesn't want UHD, she gets ps4pro. There is no villainy here, just different business strategies. Now we wait to see how it plays out.
I kinda suspect that most film collectors and videophiles would rather own a disc and not a download. But that's really more my speculation.
reptilescorpio
Member
I agree with first post
Brad Grenz
Member
Videophiles, like audiophiles, will pay whatever they have to to meet their needs, even if that means buying a dedicated 4K Bluray player. They'll probably be glad the dedicated player actually works with their Harmony remote.
DangerMouse
Member
This. You'd have people complaining the Pro was $449 rather $399 the other way too. There's no winning unless they were able to squeeze a UHD drive in at the same $399.