The question: will PlayStation 4 Pro support 4K Blu-ray was greeted with a resounding ‘no’ from Sony. However, an interesting debate on PS4 Pro support for 4K and HDR gaming, and more specifically the lack of 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray disc support, has cropped up on Digital Bits.
Writer, Bill Hunt, claims that industry sources have passed on information that this was a deliberate move by Sony due to the fact that it has a 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray player launching in 2017. If the PS4 Pro launched being UHD-compatible it would affect sales, he claims.
“Our industry sources tell us that Sony Consumer Electronics doesn’t want a UHD-capable PlayStation 4 Pro to undercut sales of its forthcoming set-top 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, which is expected in early 2017 and the prototype of which was on display at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin last week," writes Bill.
PS4 4K Blu-ray support could still happen
What’s even more interesting is that there’s belief that Sony could in the future provide an update to PS4 Pro to support the UHD format, likely after sales of its souped-up Blu-ray player have subsided.
“It’s been noted around the Net in the last day or so that the actual disc structure and drive hardware are essentially the same between regular Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray,” says Bill.
“So it seems very possible that, once Sony Consumer Electronics’ set-top Ultra HD Blu-ray player finally arrives in stores and sells through for a while, you could see Sony Interactive Entertainment surprise people with a firmware update that adds full 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc compatibility to the PlayStation 4 Pro.”
So, PS4 Pro 4k Blu-ray isn’t coming any time soon, but it sounds very hopeful that a patch could land at some point!
PS4 Pro release date set for November
The PS4 Pro launch is set for November 10, 2016. At launch it will support 4K resolutions thanks to the upgraded CPU and GPU. So, any existing PS4 games that update their games via a patch can be playing at the higher-definition. Those videogames include: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, inFamous: First Light, and FIFA 17.
New PS4 games that will support 4K include: Horizon: Zero Dawn, Battlefield 1 and Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Sony is also launching the PS4 Slim this week, a streamlined version of the original console. A day-one patch will allow users to play games in HDR, providing those titles are compatible.