You’d think if your console was going to herald in the introduction of support for 4K and the technologies that come with it, you would include support for 4K Blu-ray discs.
But the PS4 Pro doesn’t. And guess what? The internet is pissed.
Towards the end of the PlayStation Meeting, the official Xbox account decided to fire off a shot across the bow with this cheeky tweet:
4K streaming & Blu-Ray ✅
HDR gaming ✅
Greatest games ✅
40% smaller ✅
Xbox One S from $299: https://t.co/GzguOUfMeV pic.twitter.com/vWb6r1x9PD— Xbox (@Xbox) September 7, 2016
The real catch, of course, is in the Blu-Ray capability. The PS4 Pro can handle 4K streaming just fine — indeed, there’ll be a new Netflix app available from day one specifically for all the new content.
But the PS4 Pro won’t be supporting 4K Blu-rays. And people are angry.
HAHAHAHA THE PS4 PRO DOESNT EVEN PLAY 4K BLURAY. HOW IS THIS A THING!?
— (Adjective) Yehuda (@yehuda_vs_world) September 7, 2016
@TimGettys The no 4k BluRay is a big issue since they are not pushing it, Sony only profit from 4k BluRay so its strange.
— TheEregos (@HerbieTCG) September 7, 2016
No 4k bluray support? what is the point of the PS4 Pro then? To play upscaled PS4 games in 4K? I’m buying the Xbox One S.
— Sergio-EL (@SergioEES) September 7, 2016
Users also took pains to ask a fairly basic question: why would Sony not have support for 4K Blu-rays in their 4K console when they went to the extreme of adding a Blu-ray player into the PS3?
Furthermore, could you really justify charging $US399 or €399 for a console if it didn’t have 4K Blu-ray support?
[clear]
The new PlayStation DOESNT support 4K bluray discs… What the fuck. That’s mental. It’s made for 4K but doesn’t support 4K blurays..
— David (@DavidDesu) September 7, 2016
Getting PS4 Pro and want 4K Bluray? Don’t bother, it doesn’t have it. Get the Xbox One S instead.
— Oakley [TGG] (@SarkyBrit) September 7, 2016
The move is understandable on some level — by not launching with a 4K Blu-ray player, Sony are thinking about the fact that more and more people are exclusively streaming all of their content, instead of pulling discs off the shelf the way they used to.
But are people ready to completely transition away from discs just yet?
There also seemed to be a good deal of confusion about the PS4 Pro’s ability to play games in 4K, with most thinking that games would simply be played in 1080p and upscaled to 4K.
Xbox One S supports 4K bluray but the monster in the bluray industry, sony with PS4 Pro doesn’t… Literally makes no sense.
— KillingSpree8 (@KillingSpree8) September 7, 2016
Whoah, interviewee made it sound like simulated 4K, not native. #PlayStationMeeting
— Nate Church #Unhyped (@Get2Church) September 7, 2016
The attitude to physical media has certainly changed a lot from when the PS4 first launched:
Comments
60 responses to “The PS4 Pro Doesn’t Support 4K Blu-Rays And People Are Pissed”
I barely use my BR player now, so it’s a non issue for me.
But I do find the exclusion interesting
I’ve never owned a Blu-Ray anything. I stream everything.
The ONLY reason to buy the hard copy of anything these days if for nostalgia purposes.
… Or because you want to legally want to watch something that isn’t available on our local streaming services?
Or like me, you live in a town that has just made it out of the stone age.
Don’t be silly. The local streaming services have between them something like ten thousand titles. What makes you think that some of the hundreds of thousands of titles released over the years could be missing?
In any case, in a developed country like Australia, surely there can’t be anybody with an Internet connection incapable of streaming HD video. Heck, recently the guy next to me at work has his line fixed and now he can download at 5Mbps, which is much better than the 1Mbps that he used to get. That should be plenty for 4K streaming.
I’m sorry for your lack of Streaming Services. I would like to state for the record that I do not support torrenting in any way, shape or form. I pay for all of my entertainment streaming services. Spotify, Netflix, iTunes…. everything is paid and streamed. If i can’t stream it legally, I just don’t get to watch it.
Fair enough. I watch a lot of foreign movies. The Netflix and Stan selection is good, but it’s not complete.
It’s not a big deal, just wanted to comment on your hardline “no reason” stance. They still have their place.
Or if you care about picture and sound quality.
Or you want modern games without having to use up 100gb of your download cap. They are just going to keep getting bigger and bigger.
I do care. I get HD through my services I use. I’m not an Audiophile Snob. As long as it isn’t SD I am happy. I have to squint at everything anyway. I really do need to get glasses. So 4k is wasted on me.
It’s like the missing 3.5mm jack on the iphone 7. It seems crazy now, but it’s more about jumping before you’re pushed. When it comes to movies and tv, streaming isn’t the future, it’s the present, and I for one am glad they are not adding superfluous drives that most people think they need but won’t use, and instead are trying to keep the cost down for the consumer.
I sure hope people don’t fuck this up through their short-sightedness like they did the always on streaming power of Xbox One.
How are you actually expecting many 4k native games? It’s more powerful, sure, but my gpu costs nearly twice as much as this thing and it works very hard at 4k.
This console is way off the specs of a 4k pc.
Its mostly for the people that don’t understand the relationship between 4K gaming and the hardware required, while you and me understand that you have to sacrifice your GPU to some otherworldly demon to run it, regular joes hear “4K” and make assumptions.
Most likely for some games will use dynamic resolution scaling where a tiny sliver is in 4k and the rest in 720p or something worst. Or Sony are just misrepresenting the tech and it can’t do 4k gaming unless upscaled.
Is it something they could just add in an update? Or is the drive fundamentally different to a ordinary bluray one?
I believe it’s the drive, not the software that determines these things. In other words you can’t patch it, something to do with being able to read tri layer discs. I could be very wrong.
I’ve heard similar. If the drive would add substanially to the cost I could undertand not putting it in. I don’t think it’s a feature that will affect many people (that said as a film collector I will miss it)
4K UHD needs a BDXL drive capable of reading three- or four-layered blu-ray discs. Everything I’ve read today suggests this console only includes a normal blu-ray drive. A firmware update alone won’t be enough.
This might not affect many people today, but if this console generation is supposed to be around for another 5+ years it seems a very strange omission. Maybe Sony is saving it for next year’s PS4 Pro Plus (aka Please Buy More of Our Stuff) …?
You make a PS4 4K wonder machine and leave out the part that does 4K Blurays, seems like a stupid move. It may effect very few people and I doubt Sony are going to suffer financially from consumer backlash, but it just seems lacking to release the greatest Playstation ever and not include it.
It would be like buying a new car and not getting a Radio, it can stream your phones music, but you can’t listen to the radio. Few people would be effected but everyone would be asking what where they thinking?
In this case I think it would be more like buying a car and not getting a 4k bluray player. In that, adding in a radio is an almost zero-cost addition that everyone expects to be in every car. A 4k bluray player is not that.
Maybe a CD player would have been a better Metaphor.
And I think a 4k Bluray Player is something people expect in a 4k console with a Bluray Player.
Seems like the drive cant be that more expensive, considering the Xbox One S already has this.
So I suggest:
1. Get a fancy 4k compatible Blu-Ray player for my PC,
2. Rip my own discs to a personal media library, then
3. Stream from personal library to new PS4.
I definitely understand their angle, but I’m one of the lucky few with 100mb/s bandwidth and heavily rely on streaming services rather than torrents or physical media.
This will definitely be a selling advantage for the XBone S for the majority of Australians I reckon.
The thing with including the 4K bluray support is you can explain to your partner / family that you are also getting them something as well as a gaming machine. And it makes sense to only buy one rather than 2 separate things.
Title should just read ‘The PS4 Pro Doesn’t Support 4K Blu-Rays’.
I think we can just assume people are pissed off about everything.
The word “angry” generates more clicks, than say PS4 Pro doesn’t have 4k Bluray, internet reacts as expected.
My bet? They have metrics on how many people use the PS4 as a BluRay player, and decided the numbers are too low to go with the new drive.
Maybe, but they’d be wrong. I hardly use my PS4 as Bluray player, I stream most 1080P content. Of course 1080P content from the bluray is better than a stream.
But, the difference between 4K streaming and a 4K disc is much higher. I’d love to be able to watch a new movie in all it’s 4K glory via a physical media player on my fancy pants new 4K HDR TV.
To do that, I need to go and buy a Xbox one S. Which works for me as I’ve never had an Xbox.
I honestly think Sony will suffer from this decision. It smells of the old Apple “We will tell you the consumer what you want” line.
What do you mean “old” Apple!
…because I still use the PS3 as my blu-ray drive. 🙂
You’ve quoted two peoples tweets twice (Or did were you trying to quote someone else?), and no one seems pissed, more laughing at the lack of support. But hey. Clickbait.
Microsoft’s cheeky reply seems more like failed misdirection, seeing as the PS4 Pro does everything there aside from 4K Blu-Ray (price doesn’t come into it, unless the Scorpio is gonna be cheaper than the Pro by the time it comes out…. which it won’t).
Sony’s whole end-game at this point is to trump Microsoft and keep the momentum. Their answer to the Scorpio is out a whole year ahead. I’d put money on anyone with a 4K TV already having access to a 4K DVD player.
I’m actually super happy with this, I was worried that a “newer” PS4 would make my old PS4 null and void, new games being tailored to the Pro leaving my machine lagging behind – not the case, it seems (though playing Bloodborne at 60fps is pretty tempting…)
Thanks for pointing out the double quote. It’s been a super long morning, my bad. Should be fixed now.
“I’d put money on anyone with a 4K TV already having access to a 4K DVD player.”
I don’t have a 4K player and have a 4K TV……definitely looking to get one though.
Now, the cheapest 4k player is the Xbox One S.
I’m a PS4 man, was looking like I was going to grab a Pro/Neo to upgrade my current PS4. Though now, I’m not going to upgrade my PS4 and will go and buy my very first Xbox….the One S.
Not when the cheapest 4K blu-ray is more than half the price of the cheapest 4K television.
That’s kinda the point I was making, 4k TV’s are bloody expensive as it is, anyway, just like HD/Blu-ray used to be. I still never bought my PS3 because it was a cheap Blu-Ray player. I’d guess Sony are aware of this which is why they’re looking to cut costs by excluding it.
As a huge buyer of DVD and BD, I’m barely buying bluary anymore. All about streaming. No way my peasant ADSL will stream 4K though. I’m torn. Its a feature I probably wont make that much use of but I still want it! I’d would have paid more for a UHD model but I think the decision makes the most sense for the mainstream.
lol physical media
Lol Australian internet speeds in most places….
Hmm.. I think we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves here. I’d love to see what the Scorpio is priced at. I bet it’s a cost issue. We’ll have to wait and see I think.
The XBox One S is listed on the EB Games site as AU$399 and has 4K blu support. It might cost more, but I doubt it would make a huge difference to the price tag. Ultimately, even if it does cost more, if they’re positioning this as a 4K device then it really should support 4K blu ray.
Thats okay I suppose. 4K TV’s aren’t the norm yet.
Are you serious? They are releasing a more powerful PS4, yelling 4k everywhere in their presentation and it can’t play 4K blurays? This is the strangest decision I have ever seen, especially when your competitor has the ability to play 4K blurays.
It is kinda like somebody meticulously planning a trip and than realising they left there keys at home as the plane takes off. Like nobody noticed they forgot to put a 4k Bluray player into the machine until launch.
Agreed, Push 4k TV’s then 4K with HDR and expect everyone to have a reserve 25Mb of bandwidth on top of their data consumption to stream 4k in a lower streaming rate that what 4k video recommended standards set. Especially in Australia where NBN is a joke, and VDSL is only available to Transact (iiNet) and some HFC customers.
Microsoft are going to love this… Honestly does a bulk build UHD Bluray player really cost $$$ per unit instead.
I think there is more to this than Sony are letting on, as their dedicated UHD BluRay player is due some time next year….
Lets not forget that the streaming rights don’t last forever. Netflix regularly culls content that they no longer have rights to or now deem are not worth paying money for. With a physical disc, that thing will last 25 years at least. I like having my library of movies and TV series I can come back to whenever I want.
I really cannot understand this decision!
Yeah, same here. I have Netflix / Stan subscriptions but I also have a fairly large collection of DVD/BluRay. The streaming services aren’t a replacement for my collection, they’re a replacement for free to air TV / pay TV.
This doesn’t really bother me personally since I don’t own a 4K TV and aren’t interested in any of these mid-cycle console updates, and presumably 4K BluRay will be in the PS5 in 2-3 years. But it just seems pretty illogical to produce a supposedly 4K device and not support the 4K disc format for what is probably not a particularly huge cost saving on the hardware.
i’d be happy if PS4 didn’t even ship with any drive.. i download/stream everything. i hate owning physical games let alone films etc.
i won’t be buying ps4 pro until my ps4 dies.
This is a massive deal breaker for me. I love collecting physical media and enjoy the increased quality in blu-ray movies in comparison to compressed internet video.
Someone else mentioned this, but Sony probably saw that not many people actually play blu-rays on their PS4’s. That’s understandable. A lot of people have internet capable of streaming 1080p videos from services like Netflix. Streaming 4K video? That’s a completely different ball game. I know I don’t have internet that good. Which is why 4K blu-rays are so appealing. You are getting the best possible version of a film with the least amount of compression and it doesn’t require an internet connection. This is a bad decision from Sony.
The idea, theory and marketing strategy behind upscaling makes me feel very uneasy. Upscaling may make an image appear sharper, and even somewhat perfect to an untrained eye, but the fact remains that an upscaled image will never come anywhere near close to the fidelity of a native 4K image. To hell with upscaling. It’s one of the worst marketing ploys out there, making consumers think that what they are getting is an awesome new 4K compatible device, when in reality they are getting device with some garbage post processing effects that slightly improves the sharpness of a 1080p image. All I can say to those who let themselves be deceived by shifty marketing strategies is do some research before you blow your money on inadequate products.
Netflix 4k over ADSL2+ is just fine. Stable stream. That is pretty much the best outcome from ADSL. NBN? Stop talking jokes.
So those who don’t care and are happy with “streaming 4k”, do you realise how much data that requires? Bet your ISP would love you that’s for sure.
If you’re also one of those people streaming 4k yet pointed, laughed & moaned at Xbox’s “always online” (24hr check in) policy, then you’re a freaking idiot. Kindly take a razor blade, place it between your glute cheeks and slide that bad boy right up the crack, slut drop into a bucket of vinegar and dry in bowl of salt.
See if that seasoning is to your liking and taste the hypocrisy.
I doubt this is Sonys answer to the Scorpio. Bet u this time next year they will announce PS4 Elite…or somin. Mark my words.
A complete swing and miss on Sony’s part not to include a 4k player in the PS4 Pro. The Xbox One S does it for $299. Absolutely the worst business decision possible. They’re basically trying to get you to pay $400 for a Roku that plays games! All 4k Tvs already have 4k streaming apps as does stand alone streaming units already on the market that does HDR now and or will with the next release wave coming anytime. The leading manufacturer of 4k Tvs, projectors, UHD discs and a 4k streaming service. They’re all in on the 4k bandwagon but yet refuse to include a player with the premiere product in their 4k lineup that has the potential to give them the majority of the market share and push the 4k format to the next level which woud bring millions of consumers still on the fence to adopt the format exponentially! Not everyone has the internet speed to even push 4k streaming to their homes. Streaming can never match the picture quality of a physical disc. To top it off, they’re adding HDR capabilities to all current PS4’s and to the PS4 Slim disqualifying any need for the more expensive option of the Pro.
I see a lot of responses that the lack of a 4K bluray player is pointless because you just stream. That’s fine but anyone truly looking for the best image quality for 4K (movie) content it’s really no comparison. The streams you watch off amazon, Netflix, etc are HEAVILY compressed images being sent to your tv. A true native uncompressed 4K HDR movie image is in a completely different league than streamed content. So anyone looking to view the best picture possible you’ll want a disc and 4K UHD player which immediately makes the one s an incredible choice (cheapest 4K player out there. For the record I own a ps4). Honestly I could care less that it will stream 4K content. My existing 4K TV with the existing apps on it already support 4K. Why would I care to do the same thing through the PS4?
For Sony to claim they are going all in on 4K this seems like a huge oversight to not include all the options and truly future proof the console. Also, it is doubtful the console is even capable of a truly native 4K image (for games). I own a 4K tv and the internal scaller does just fine scaling the ps4 I already own to 4K. I’ve been itching to upgrade when I thought the neo/pro would have a 4K player. I’ll be picking up a One S now for movie viewing purposes.
Even my existing PS4 is supposed to get an HDR update now so really what am I missing out on by skipping the pro. Being a 4K tv owner I should be the exact customer they want to appeal to, yet me and my friends (also with 4K tvs and PS4’s) couldn’t care less about the pro.
You’re missing out on 4.2 teraflops compared to 1.86 aren’t you?
Stupidest decision ever by Sony. My 4k TV (and pretty much every media player) already has all those 4k streaming apps.
Besides, anyone who thinks a 4k stream is even remotely comparable to full 4k on a Blu Ray is kidding themselves – streamed 4k has the same resolution sure, but its heavily compressed to limit bandwidth so it loses detail – the difference between the 2 is night and day, especially in action movies.
Do I really have to go Xbox? Not keen on doing it at all, I was holding out for Sony to respond but now they’ve dropped the ball completely the Xbox looks like the cheapest UHD Blu Ray player, and it plays mostly the same games.
I’m with you on this one I was holding out buying a 4k blu Ray player for the new ps4 thinking it would have it . Now I might just buy a Xbox one s for 4k blu Ray support , And I hate Xbox!!!!
I’m happy to play games on my gaming machine. Sony said from the get go that this is a gaming console, not a media machine. I’m happy to pay for more power and not an upgraded BRD drive I won’t use. I have a massive BRD collection that I’m going to sell as they don’t get used.
Sanity currently has a grand total of 40 titles in 4K bluray, many being movies form the 80s and some of which are not even out yet and can only be pre-ordered. Really not going to be a big issue for most people.
Fuck millennials, and fuck streaming. You idiots think you’re something you’re not, just like the crap you support.