Sony's PlayStation 4 console will be capable of chewing through 4K video, but won't use the super-high definition technology when it comes to gaming.
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida told IGN, "The PS4 supports 4K output, but only for photos and videos -- not games." That will pour water on hopes that Sony's new console would be the first to natively handle the ultra high-resolution format.
UHD, or 4K screens bring roughly four times as many pixels to the party as a 1080p display. That makes for an eye-watering number of individual pixels, but as you'd imagine, processing a game at that high resolution requires enormous graphical oomph.
It's dismaying that Sony's upcoming system will miss out on an interesting new technology, but take heart -- this CNET article argues (with a chart and everything) that you'd have to have an absolutely massive telly or be sat extremely close to the screen to see the benefit of 4K.
It's also worth pointing out that if Sony's system can handle 4K video, that could give it serious media-player potential in the future.
4K tellies are starting to become commercially available (though they're still very expensive), but there's not much point in buying one at the moment, because there's nothing to watch in the new, higher resolution.
For a long time, the PlayStation 3 was the best value Blu-ray player around. If Sony plays its cards right, the sequel could be the cheapest box capable of handling 4K films and TV.
Sony still hasn't revealed the PlayStation 4 console itself, teasing gamers with a new controller and the promise of streaming games online. For everything you need to know on the new console, click here.
Will you buy the PlayStation 4? Or are you waiting to see what the next Xbox looks like? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 9
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anonymous 22 February, 2013 13:26
if it could do 4k gaming the cosole would cost 2 or 3 times the price.
plus i don't think 4k tv will be in most peoples home during this generation.
Peter Hudson 22 February, 2013 13:49
I would rather it did 1080p at 60fps for gaming.
anonymous 22 February, 2013 14:32
I think we would be foolish not to see what Xbox has coming up, especially with ps3 games not being backward compatible there is no real reason stay. Unless you have blind commitment to a brand like Apple, but I’m not sure Sony have the same impact on consumers (based on there losses in other part of their business. I think the games will probably be much for much so would be interested in media streaming, codec support, ability to add any hard drive and the on screen aesthetics (menu system, cover art).
There has been a lot of talk of being able to upload videos of in game action along with other social media, which doesn’t interest me. Hope they have better then that up there sleeve.
anonymous 22 February, 2013 14:37
Forget backwards compatibility - you can't have that and a reasonable launch price due to the completely different system architecture (X86 vs Cell), Sony would have to incorporate a Cell CPU and supporting components to acheive this
4K gaming is just impossible, considering even the top of the range Nvidia and AMD GPUs can't even manage it
JohnsonDion1 22 February, 2013 14:47
I am really disappointed in the PS4 I wasn't planning to get it anyway but man is this pathetic amount of progression for 7 years of development. Also cloud gaming is useless if you have a bad connection speed and a lot of people do so why are Sony relying so heavily on it? They need to make a PS4.1 with some real improvement over the ps3!
anonymous 22 February, 2013 15:37
More of a PS3 EVO then? Just a PS3 with a few updates? Like when the Xbox360 S got the intergrated wifi?
Damien2701 22 February, 2013 17:41
I don't think this is as bad as people are making out. If you wanna play your old ps3 games just don't sell ur ps3. Isn't it worth it to have way better looking games? I would also like to see what Microsoft reveal but if the rumoured specs are true it won't even be as powerful as this. I think we will need to wait for this next gen to mature before we are properly impressed
anonymous 22 February, 2013 22:43
What about upscaling? As i understand it, upscaling wont add anymore original pixel data, but will quadruple the existing pixels to give a sudo 4K picture.
Its earlydays, nothings been announced. But given the 'released' technical specifications, i wouldn't be supprised that this could be done 'in game'.
Not to long now!!!!
Matt Winston. 23 February, 2013 14:05
This is strange, I agree with JohnsonDion1, couldn't have said it better myself.
My PS3 broke a few weeks ago, I decided to wait a while in the hope Sony would release the PS4 next month, but Wednesday's event was pointless. I brought a PS3 Slim last night from Asda.