Overnight Sony announced 2 new editions of the PlayStation 4. The PS4 Pro is capable of powering 4K games, the first console to do so, but the surprising part of the announcement is around the 4K video playback.
While Microsoft’s 4K gaming console ‘Project Scorpio’ won’t be out till next year, but their updated Xbox One features a 4K or UHD Blu-ray player.
Despite knowing that in advance, Sony have made the PS4 Pro and are only shipping with a regular Blu-ray player. Movie studios and UHD Blu-ray player manufacturers were betting on the fact we’d go one more round with optical media, but Sony’s decision to skip on UHD Blu-ray may have just changed that equation.
Those early adopters who have already started building their next generation UHD Blu-ray libraries have to look elsewhere.
Of course the preferred method of delivery is digital distribution and services like Netflix that offer 4K streaming will work fine on a PS4 Pro. The flaw in that plan is the number of people who have internet connections capable of delivering a sustained bandwidth necessary to deliver UHD content, especially with HDR.
The PS4 Pro is coming November 10th and will retail for A$559.95.
The other console is the PS4 slim, simply known as PS4 it replaces the current model. It’s thinner, supports HDR and comes in black, but does still have an external power supply.