Why next-gen consoles won't run games at 4K

Just because some say they can, doesn't mean they should. Based on the latest graphics hardware no one should expect great 4K gaming in this next generation of consoles.

[fo3n1x]

dissapointed

[Isis06]

Are you one of those people that shit money?

[fo3n1x]

no i make mine...hard a hard on visualising gaming on 4k

[Isis06]

PC it is bro... but if you thought the consoles were going for 4000k you're ether delusional or ill informed.
Some day though... It's going to be amazing.

[kneon]

You won't need to be rich to get a 4K TV. 4K TV's start as low as $5k now, by Christmas 2014 they will likely be in the low $2k range.

[rustyspoon80]

Want a cheap 4k tv, check this out:-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pr...

It's probably rubbish though.

[Isis06]

I have three kids... the economy is craps... I'm trying to keep my house... and my wife... so sry if my logic does not apply to yours but...
Are you one of those people that shit money?

[kneon]

@Isis06

Ok so I make about 4 times the average salary, and my wife is not far behind. So if I wanted to I could buy a $5k TV today and not even notice the cost. What's wrong with that? I've put in my time at university and my career and am very well paid because I'm really good at what I do.

While you may not be able to afford a 4K TV anytime soon there will be a lot of people who can once they get into the price range of current higher end Smart TVs, which is typically around $2k+

[Isis06]

Then you have to get with the program...
you are rich.
Nothing wrong with that... good job getting there... hope you earned it.
But you kind of sound like you don't realize coz your saying stuff like... you don't have to be rich to drop 2k without notic...
YES YOU DO!

[extermin8or]

The point I think is, that for consoles to support this, they'd cost a hell of alot more than they are going to. So no only would you need the TV which people with money would buy and people without wouldn't bother, but then the majority of normal people would be paying extra for features they'd likely never have the other tech to use, at least not in the foreseeable future. PS4 supports 4k movie output apparently so... at least that's something this isn't quite the same as last gens bluray and hd tv switch over. 4k has much less noticeable gains for most people.

[minimur12]

because nobody has a 4k tv

[nukeitall]

I was hoping we would get an upgraded console every 3-4 years that is BC with previous generation.

All games released has to work on the two latest consoles. That gives each console a minimum of 6 year support from release.

Lower upgrade cost and smaller upgrade, but keeps up with technology. The way it is now, 7-8 years is just too long.

[kneon]

I expect this is actually what will happen now that they have moved to x86 platforms. They will be able to upgrade to newer hardware without major redesigns and still maintain backwards compatibility.

[wishingW3L]

who knows... The Xbox was x86 but then MS went with powerPC with the 360 like everybody else.

[JsonHenry]

The GPUs in the consoles simply could not do 4k with any form of decent visual fidelity options turned up. And even some high end PC would have a hard time keeping up with 4k rez.

The tech in the GPUs just isn't cheap enough at this point for it to be practical.

[medman]

4k is highly overrated. The human eye cannot perceive the difference between 1080 and 4k unless you have a screen size above 75 inches or sit less than 4 feet from the screen. It's not that big a deal folks. Just more marketing hype. Sorta like the push a few years ago when retailers and manufacturers tried to convince consumers 3d was the future and something you absolutely had to have. 3d is a novelty, at best. Same with 4k. I'm much more interested in organic light emitting diode televisions (Oled's)...that is a difference you can truly see.

[greenlantern2814]

the reason is because hardly anybody has one. why take time and money to make something that people dont have. like it or not there are plenty of people who only just now got a hdtv.
but i would guess that much like the film ware update that made the ps3 a 3d bluray player that if the market becomes big enough than a filmware update will be the fix again since i am pretty sure they are both capable of 4k video playback

[fo3n1x]

i would buy a 4k TV much earlier if next gen consoles supported 4K for games...seems like ill have to wait for the next next gen!

[iamnsuperman]

I would as well. But, for me, much early would be like 7 years from now. 4K tvs are too expensive and almost unnecessary if you're playing on a 32-42 inch TV. I think these things are just a fad. On a normal sized TV 4k is hardly noticeable. 4K and beyond should really be limited to cinemas or big sporting events because the screens are much bigger and so you can see the difference.

[Salooh]

I think i will wait 2 or 3 years then i will buy a 4k tv. It will be my gift for graduating college :P . By then 4k tvs will probably cost 1000$ :D

[DJMarty]

4K TV's upscale madia to 4K inc games, so Nex gen will be able to game at 4K(just upscaled).

[SnakeCQC]

sony said the ps4 would support 4k movies

[Drakul]

4k movies cant fit in blu ray. for 4k resolution a new media is necessity which is NOT blu ray. they ment 4k remastered movies, compressed movies.
No chance that our ps4 s will come with some hidden media support.
i bet in the future they will release ps4 4k version with better graphic card and media support for true 4k.

[Foxgod]

4K can fit in a blu ray, they will use triple layer Blu rays for it which store up to a 120 GB of data.

[kneon]

4K media will use the new HEVC H.265 codec which offers twice the compression of H.264. And The BDXL format which supports up to 128GB per disk has been standardized for a few years now.

So we have a disk format with 2.5x the capacity of bluray and a codec that requires only half the storage space giving an effective video storage increase of 5x, but we only need 4x for 4K.

And future bluray formats will likely support capacities of up to a few TB. 500GB+ has been shown off years ago and the theoretical maximum is around 5TB.

[nukeitall]

I have good news, streaming will solve all your problems.

blu-ray is soon to be history in the next 5 years or so.

[wishingW3L]

streaming 4k... Is that a joke? 0_O

[kneon]

@nukeitall

Streaming doesn't even handle 1080p well yet. I don't use Netflix because I won't put up with the quality downgrade. And it's not my connection as it clocks in at 80+Mbps, lately it's been even higher. Speedtest needs an upgrade as my tests spend a lot of time pegged at 100Mbps.

[extermin8or]

Plus sony already developed a new high density disc and reading laser for it a couple of years back that started with 1TB disc space. But at the time it cost liek 20k-was said expect to see it hit market around 2020 for $500-ps5 anyone? :p
@kneon: but what's your ping like? if too many packets are being lost your bandwidth could be best ever but you aren't recieiving all the data that was actually sent which would much up your streaming, check on pingtest-conneted to speedtest.

[JackVagina]

no shiiitttt

[Tundra]

Because they're not powerful enough. You'd need atleast a GTX 680 (or AMD equivalent) to run BF3 on ultra with a steady 30fps on 4K res.

But I'm sure the common consumer doesn't want to pay $800+ for a console either.

[SnakeCQC]

you need better than a 680 to run bf4 at ultra at 4k and games get even more demanding every year.

[Tundra]

Digital Foundary has a vid of them running BF3 on a 680 at 4K on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[SnakeCQC]

ohh they turned off aa i may pick up a 4k tv soon to try this out

[kneon]

Comparing a PC to consoles is not a simple comparison. There is a lot of overhead on PCs. The hardware is more than capable, it's the multitude of software layers that slow things down. If you were to write to bare metal then you could achieve 4K resolution on a PC with much lower specs.

GT5 was shown off running at 4K using 4 PS3s working together, the PS4 is more than 4x more powerful so some games could run at 4K. But don't expect something like a AAA FPS or open world game. It would be more likely be smaller games or something like a racing game that has restricted environments.

[Fluke_Skywalker]

Simple answer, Because no one has a 4k TV so what's the point! By the time there are enough people with 4k tv's the PS5 and Xbox 2 will be out and I imagine they'll be able to do 4k gaming.

[SnakeCQC]

seiki made a 39inch 4k tv for 700

[jeffgoldwin]

True but never heard of that brand, so I wouldn't trust them at this point.

[M-M]

PS4 and the Xbox One will support 4k games(mostly Indie type games) from mid to the end of their life cycles.

[Gamingisfornerds]

Resolution is overrated.

Sure, there should be a minimum resolution to allow enough detail to come through, so the visuals aren't one blurry mess, but having 4k resolution while texture detail lags behind is a complete waste of resources.

Last gen 720p was the sweet spot and this gen it'll be 1080p.

I'd rather they spend those expensive resources on post-processing fx, A.I., physics etc...it will make for far more enticing visuals/experience.

[iamnsuperman]

I agree. People who say they can notice the difference between 4k on a 32 inch display are kidding themselves. 4K is more suitable for bigger screens. So it doesn't really have a place in gaming as no-one sane is going to put a 80 inch tv in their living room. TV wise is see it going forward with OLED or Smart TVs more than 4K. Its like 3D tvs. It would be cool but wearing glasses while watching TV seems a bit of an ask to do.

I would rather have smooth 1080p gameplay with other resources focused on things you mentioned.

[KingZFlipper]

I don't really mind 4K at this moment. Probably next-gen if even then I'll probably be excited, but for now I can't find it necessary.

[tigertron]

If I was a rich man, I'd be disappointed, but I'm not, so I don't care.

1080p is fine for the average Joe.

[Foxgod]

Obviously.
Even top of the line pc's can barely pull off that resolution.

I think even the Xb2 and the Ps5 wont do 4K, they will most likely play something inbetween like 2,5K.

[Zool 08]

By the time consoles can do 4k gaming they'll be releasing 8K or possibly 16k media then they'll be comparing them to P.C's that may be able to handle it (yawn).
As for now 1080p or even 720p at 60 FPS(unless you have a 50" screen or bigger)would be good enough, now we have in the immediate future consoles that can run games in that standard.

[SpideySpeakz]

I don't really care for 4k. As long as most games run in 1080p.
Current PCs can't even run 4k all that well, and people expected Consoles to do so. I'm not seeing this happen for another 10 years or so when these TVs become affordable.

[d3nworth1]

Who the hell own a 4K T.V. anyway. I'm sure the vast majority of people don't own one so what does it matter?

[OC_MurphysLaw]

4k just not gonna be a priority for anyone for a number of years until its more standard in homes.

[TomShoe]

Not surprised at all. Unfortunately, we're just not quite there yet technologically to be able to do 4K gaming on major consoles, as that requires a crap-ton of processing power, something that this new gen can't handle yet.

Besides, 4K TVs just came out on the market, and there's still little content out there that does come in 4K. We'll just have to wait until tech advances enough for 4K to become mainstream just like 1080p did. For now, I'll be happy gaming in 1080p. Games will still look a lot nicer :)

[yewles1]

There's another factor being left out besides processing power:

Neither 8th Gen. console supports DisplayPort 1.2...

[DiRtY]

maybe that is why:

http://images.anandtech.com...

Xbox One / PS4 GPUs can run metro at a whopping 6 - 8 FPS... maybe if the game is specifically desgined for that GPU this might increase to 12 - 15 FPS. Maybe. The PS4 / Xbox One are just not powerful enough for 4K Gaming. And they don't need to be that powerful.

The cheapest 4K TV I could find is 5.000 USD.
Why not buy the projector while you are at it for 25.000 USD?

[darkwalker]

I'm sure by the end of this generation we'll see at least a few games running in 4K. With the PS2 we saw some games running in 720p and the PS3 had a a few games running natively in 1080p. There will always be games that push boundaries.

[GABRIEL1030]

Sorry bro but PS2 cant be able to run games at 720, because is a machine max of 480 in few games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[darkwalker]

Actually Gran Turismo 4, Tourist Trophy a couple others were in HD.

[GamePeace]

Nobody needs 4K, except for a few rats, which try to justify the high price of their PC's. I shit on 4K, only need exclusive games and optimated multiplats, even PC games will get consolized...

[cyclindk]

Best that they don't, last gen we had all the attempts at jumps in resolution for games due to the HD tvs and stuff and that always takes a toll on the other aspects of game quality.

If we jump resolution each generation, we won't see as many visual enhancements each time around apart from the overall clarity of the image. 1080p should be a goal and once reached, just put any remaining hardware resources into what the game can do and display.

[Coach_McGuirk]

ANYONE who knows ANYTHING about gaming hardware performance knew that 4k gaming wasn't going to be possible on these consoles, unless we're just talking about a little arcade game maybe.

[Double_O_Revan]

Even without the money factor of buying expensive 4K TVs, the systems just aren't strong enough to process that kind of resolution. We are Finally coming into having 1080p 60fps as a possible Standard.

[GABRIEL1030]

C'mon, give to us 1080 and 60 FPS first.

[flunkers]

4k is not needed. Its like the old megapixel on camera analogy. I've got an old 5mp SLR and a new 12mp phone. At first glance the phone looks the better hardware but the older SLR blows it away due to better developed and quality hardware.

The average Joe still basis their hardware choices on the kit with big numbers everywhere which is not usually the full picture.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

in games maybe they can't run 4k because even with just 1080p its really heavy on the console how much more 4k reso right?? but the movies absolutely will run on 4k im betting on that.

[madjedi]

4k is beyond overkill for the ps4/one for games. 4k is ps5 at the absolute earliest, by then hopefully we will gotten away from current material components and switched to the next generation(can't think of a better phrase) of better materials like graphene and better more efficient replacements ect.

"I have good news, streaming will solve all your problems." 1080p uses 2-3 gigs per hr, 4k would be 4-6 if not more, maybe with a unprecedented worldwide phenomenal infrastructure upgrade. Must be nice to have god tier internet at bargain prices.

"blu-ray is soon to be history in the next 5 years or so." For movies not really, for games yes it will be a cartridge based media.