The PS5 will keep 4K Blu-rays alive that little bit longer
Even if Sony’s late to the game
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The PS5 has come into clearer focus than ever. Sure,Sonystill won’t show us the console design, and the long list of PS5 specs area bit of a mouthful to chew over. However, we’ve had a good look at a lot of the console’s capabilities over the previous months, and it’s clear Sony is doing a lot of things right – not least its inclusion of a4K Blu-ray playerin the PS5 disc drive.
Digital downloads – rather than retail discs – are getting more popular by the day, though we’re not in a disc-free world yet, and it’s not that surprising that both the PS5 andXbox Series Xwill ship with disc drives for playing games new and old, if just to keep their promises ofbackwards compatibility.
But being able to play4K Blu-rays, too, is significant given wavering interest in the technology from plenty of manufacturers: we didn’t see a single new4KBlu-ray player fromPanasonic,LGor Sony atCES 2020this year, andOppo bowed out of the market a good while ago.
If you’re partial to using your home console for 4K DVDs or Blu-ray discs – often the best way to view a film in high quality without relying on your buffering internet connection – you’re likely to appreciate the convenience of not having to buy a separate 4K Blu-ray player, which are in shorter supply these days as people increasingly consume content via throughTV streaming services.
But there’s a larger issue around how long we can expect console makers likeMicrosoftand Sony to keep supporting disc formats – and this could well be the last console generation to do it.
Blu-ray or the highway
Sony did Blu-ray fans a huge favor by including an HD Blu-ray player in thePS3, which islargely considered as being crucial to the format’s success. For cinephiles, Blu-rays are still seen as offering a superior viewing experience compared to online streaming, withfilmmaker Christopher Nolanopenly favoring the format for home viewing overNetflix.
However, Microsoft one-upped Sony by including an Ultra HD Blu-ray player in theXbox One S, putting thePS4’s continued reliance on a HD drive to shame. When thePS4 Procame out in 2016, we werepretty shocked at Sony’s decision not to include the same, especially for what was an explicitly premium console.
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As video quality gets more important for viewers and with4K TVsmore or less ubiquitous in our homes, the absence of4K Blu-raysupport could have been a major issue for a console that Sony hopes – and needs – to be seen as a home entertainment center as well as a gaming machine.
The stronger sales of the current PlayStation speak to the strength of thePS4 gamesavailable, even without the format support – but there’s only so long Sony could hold out on this feature.
Death of the disc
With the rise of streaming platforms likeGoogle Stadia, which allows you to access even AAA games from mobiles, tablets, and browsers, and with games increasingly being bought and played via digital download, there’s clearly a shrinking appetite for the humble disc.
Microsoft has already embraced the future with theAll Digital Xbox One S, which ships without a disc drive entirely, while rumors persist of an streaming-only Xbox Series X model that could do the same thing.
Sony, too, has been pushingPlayStation Now, with aprice cutlast year likely getting the video game streaming service into a lot more gamers’ lives, and further normalizing the existence of a broad gaming library that doesn’t rely on a stack of disc cases below your television.
The PS5’s disc drive will be a relief to those of us with a back-catalog of DVDs and Blu-rays which we still need a way of playing, without carting around old hardware – which the current generation of consoles will soon be viewed as. Not to mention its ability to play older PS4 games, given Sony’s belated (but appreciated) inclusion of backwards compatibility on the next-gen console.
The PS5’s support for 4K Blu-ray feels a little late, too, given its absence in the last two PlayStation consoles – especially as it may be the last piece of PlayStation hardware to do it. But just as the PS3 helped to put Blu-ray discs on the map, so the PS5 could keep high-quality disc formats alive for that little bit longer.
Henry is a freelance technology journalist, and former News & Features Editor for TechRadar, where he specialized in home entertainment gadgets such as TVs, projectors, soundbars, and smart speakers. Other bylines include Edge, T3, iMore, GamesRadar, NBC News, Healthline, and The Times.
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