Reports of issues with PlayStation 4’s Blu-ray drive appear to be picking up pace following a rise in complaints about playback problems from owners of Sony’s new console.
Though the issue doesn’t appear to relate to all Blu-ray discs, users have reported a number of concerns, including long loading times, freezing during playback and failure to play certain movies.
Some of the reports stem from Twitter, though many more can be found in various forums across the web, including the official PlayStation community.
@SagiMewtwo, one of the many PS4 owners who has taken to social media to air his grievances, writes:
I was eager to finally watch E.T. on my PS4…but apparently the PS4 can’t handle Blu-ray movies well, it froze the system entirely.
— SagiMewtwo (@SagiMewtwo) January 2, 2014
Shortly after launch, Sony did state that some consoles were defective and asked owners to report any problems as soon as possible. "We are immediately sending replacement PS4 systems to those with affected PS4 systems,” a Sony spokesperson told Mashable. Whether the Blu-ray issue is related to a hardware problem or something that can be solved with a patch is still unknown, but if you’re suffering playback issues we suggest you give the customer service helpline a call.
The PS4 initially shipped without Blu-ray or DVD support, but Sony issued a day one update to enable playback. Nevertheless, it seems that some owners are reverting back to their PS3s to get their Blu-ray kicks.