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4K Movies Supported On PS4, But Sony Faces Obstacles

It has already been confirmed that while no game will support the futuristic 4K resolution on the PlayStation 4, it will indeed support 4K movies.

Of course, as you might expect, any video showing in that ridiculous resolution might eat up some serious gigabytes…tons and tons of gigs, apparently. And that's a definite obstacle according to Sony Electronics President and COO Phil Molyneux.

In speaking to The Verge , Molyneux said 4K movies could eat up "100 gigabytes and plus," but they're trying to find ways to make obtaining such entertainment a "comfortable consumer experience." So he admits there are challenges the company needs to face, but they're striving to conquer those challenges. I'm not sure when we'll see movies, TV shows, and other forms of media popping up in 4K resolution, but when they do, the PS4 will be ready.

At least Sony doesn't have to use the system as they did the PS3; i.e., like Trojan Horse to sneak Blu-Ray into people's homes ASAP.

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Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

It's so cool that the PS4 supports the next movie format just like the PS3 did back then.

And if now only we get the news that GTA5 will come for the PS4 too, well then history repeats itself in a wonderful fashion here: I got my PS3 bundled with GTA4 after deciding on this platform because of Blu-ray.

AcHiLLiA
AcHiLLiA
11 years ago

They better be, Sony invested a lot in Blu-ray, one of the reasons that was holding me back of buying a PS3 60gb years ago.


Last edited by AcHiLLiA on 3/2/2013 1:15:17 PM

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

I… Uhm… What? 😀

Yukian
Yukian
11 years ago

Guess the PS4 doesn't do everything like the PS3…

I'm not liking that the PS4 already have limitations even if it is for 4k res. which is quite ridiculous, but they don't even tell us that it may happen sometime in the future.

We knew the PS3 had (or should I say, have…?) hidden potential, now it seems, with what I've read about the specs, that we're gonna reach plateau a lot faster than previous gen which is not encouraging at all…

firesoul453
firesoul453
11 years ago

There seems to be no doubt that computing innovation isn't quite keeping up with the exponential growth we have been see for 50+ years….

But even so the ps4 will definitely be a jump. 4k resolution is significantly more than 1080p (its like rendering 4 full 1080p screens at once).

But the ps4 will probably do 60 frames/sec 1080p no sweat!

I'm for one excited for the possibility of ps4. With 8 gbs or ram I want to see open world games like never before!

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

I don't think it's anything to lament, there isn't a single studio in the world that was going to create a 4k resolution game in the next 6 years,

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

I really don't understand why some people see it as a negative thing to rather be able to fully enjoy their new hardware sooner than later.

Is it really desirable to sit there with a new machine and struggle with software issues and have to wait until the very *end* of the life cycle to be able to use it properly – long after the actual performance has become dated anyway?
Why do anyone want that? Throughout the years with my PS3 I've never understood that.


Last edited by Beamboom on 3/2/2013 3:21:46 PM

firesoul453
firesoul453
11 years ago

Well there is that rumored high capacity blu ray. One rumor is 50gb per layer (so 100gb total) or maybe it was a 100gb per layer (so 200gb total!).
Of course by the time 4k tvs become common, move disk in all formats might (unfortunately) be dead and everyone will just stream them (after a little bit of buffering lol)

JROD0823
JROD0823
11 years ago

I believe that 16 layer prototype blu-ray discs have been developed by Pioneer, and they have a reported capacity of 400GB.

firesoul453
firesoul453
11 years ago

Woa thats awesome! And the article I read seems to hint that they would work with most current blu ray players (ps3) with just a software update

Crabba
Crabba
11 years ago

Yeah I can really see people downloading 200GB digital download movies in the next few years *sarcasm*

If there is a 4k video format it's 100% guaranteed to be disc-based only for many many years ahead…

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

Yeah that's not gonna work so well with the proliferation of digital video.

AcHiLLiA
AcHiLLiA
11 years ago

Awesome, more layers, more space. F*** HD-DVD.

Vivi_Gamer
Vivi_Gamer
11 years ago

Can't we just leave the 4k experience for the cinemas? Within a year of 3D returning to the cinemas it was converted to TV at home. I for one see no need to have 4k resolution on TV's at home, they simply aren't big enough to handle it. But at least they're being cautious about it downloading 4k movies of the store would just be a nightmare in the time to receive it and having the hard drive space to keep it… I'll stick with my dvds.

amonte64
amonte64
11 years ago

Just give us 4K movies in superior Bluray format and everything will be good, no downloading or internet required 🙂

ChaseHammer
ChaseHammer
11 years ago

OMG OMG really? The PS4 will have 4K movies? Wow thats awesome…oh wait…who has a 4K TV here? It doesnt really matter.

Simcoe
Simcoe
11 years ago

A lot of people probably had that same attitude 15 years ago when HDTV sets started to become available to consumers…along with there hefty price tags. At that time content was a huge issue too. Very, very few television programs were offered in HD and even fewer television stations offered an HD feed. How long did it take for HD to hit that critical point where content, hardware and prices made it reasonable for the average consumer to invest in it? 2003…2005…2007? Point is, 4k isn't going to become the new standard overnight. The vast majority of people may not even use 4k before the PS5 comes out.

ChaseHammer
ChaseHammer
11 years ago

First do you know how long it will take to download 100+gb? Also i can buy a car for what a 4K TV costs. Then there is the fact that majority of HD conent is still only at 720p not 1080p, lets not even mention 3DHD….

Just saying 4K isnt a big feature.

Simcoe
Simcoe
11 years ago

Is 100 GB the top end using today's encoding equivalent (H.264 aka A.V.C. which is much better then MPEG-2 – the standard used in DVD's) to what Blu-ray discs are encoded at so what 25 GB (minus special features and what not from a 50 GB Blu-ray disc). All streaming services compress at a much higher rate, that's why some people prefer watching movies on Blu-ray rather than streaming. Plus the H.265 (H.E.V.C.) has recently been announced and was designed to be able to encode 8k video.

Also when HD TV's first hit the market (1998) they too cost as much as a car. I remember seeing large screen HD (720p) plasma sets showing up in mainstream electronic retailers (Future Shop) for the low, low price of $9999, four-years after the first commercial sets were introduced.

You're right that the majority of streaming content is 720p, although I believe that is due to consumers internet bandwidth preferences. Many streaming services do offer 1080p content too. Cinema Now, even Netflix now has their "Super HD" (1080p at 5-8 Mb/s) available on selected hardware (PS3 included) through partnered ISP's.

Sony Entertainment Network does offer 3DHD movies too, I believe they recommend a 5-8 Mb/s connection.

Ultimately 4k will be up to the consumer, but until then that's not going to stop manufacturers and others if they can make a profit from it.

Doppel
Doppel
11 years ago

US and Canada-wide Google Fiber (and equivalent competitors) would be a good start.

___________
___________
11 years ago

of course there facing challenges, everyone does when trying to usher in a new type of technology.
i gotta put up the question is it worth it though?
bluray was one thing, the players cost max 1200 bucks when they first came out.
4K TVs?
TWENTY FIVE!
and that price aint going to decrease too quickly.
not to mention to get the added benefit of 4K you really need to have a 70"+ TV, and people just dont have that space in their living rooms to have a TV of that size!
its come to the point where for technology to improve further its getting far too expensive, and also far too impractical.
to enjoy a full HD TV at launch they were 50" and no where near 25K and the 70"!
its just come to a point where its become so impractical most people just wont do it.
whos going to knock their living room down and extend it just so they can fit a 4K TV into it?
not to mention the optimal viewing distances are so large you have to sit far to far away from the screen to make it practical.
im not so sure 4K is the technology $ony should be pushing, im concerned its another 3D but FAR more costly!
look at all the buzz and hype $ony put into 3D, and now wheres it at?

Simcoe
Simcoe
11 years ago

You're right about the market's need/desire for TV's larger than 70", when I see those 80 and 90" Sharp TV's sitting in stores, they just look so ridiculous…and those spaces are much larger than my living room. But there will always be some people who will want those massively huge TV's. Or if Apple releases a 46" 4k TV…then people will "have" to have 4k.

___________
___________
11 years ago

some absolutely, but thats not the point, the point is i cant see 4K TVs ever becoming so popular that it will make it worthwhile for $ony to invest in creating a movie delivery service.
dont forget sharp and other manufactures have already showed off 8K prototype TVs which expected to hit retail in 2018.
thats 5 years after 4K, is 5 years really going to be enough time for manufactures to get something up and running and make decent profits on it before people jump ship and the costs start over again with 8K?

Crabba
Crabba
11 years ago

If Sony would introduce a new 200GB blu-ray format with the PS4, that's actually something I would consider a good new feature! Something that would make the PS4 a little bit technically interesting…

Sure no one has 4k TV's currently, but a lot of people didn't have HD TVs when the PS3 came out, now you can't find non-HD TV's in the store…

Yes you would probably need 70"+ displays in order to see the difference, but for those of us with projectors that's not an issue, we've been enjoying 100"+ screens for many years, and at far lower costs than any big screen TVs, even now when "big screen" TVs are a lot cheaper per "inch" than they used to be…

For those who haven't tried it, I can just say there's nothing like gaming on a true big-screen, aka ~100" or so…

Warrior Poet
Warrior Poet
11 years ago

4K on a home TV is like 1080p on your phone. Ridiculous.

PHOENIXZERO
PHOENIXZERO
11 years ago

That's why there's BDXL in the spec. The question is will the PS4's Blu-Ray drive be able to read the updated version of the format and if not at launch will the drive be good enough to be able to do so after a firmware update?

Either way, 4k is beyond ridiculous and probably won't be adopted by the mainstream in the PS4's life time since the screen size required to make 4K start to matter is way above the average TV size. Besides that, it's not going to supported by TV networks/providers either in the foreseeable future, hell most of them still don't do 1080p. They're not going to 4K/2160p any time soon.

4K will come to pass when we get video walls though by that point 8K will be out.

startazz
startazz
11 years ago

It's good to know that my new PS4 will be able to play my videos that i record in 4K,as my Go-Pro Hero3 black edition has the 4K video resolution,with Go-Pro and Sony having the option of 4K could mean a lot of other companies are going down this road too.

I wondered when i might get the full use out of that bad boy action camera now all i need is a TV which could handle it too LOL.

Now IF we did have games in that format would be just mental,i mean that in a good way. 🙂

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