PS4K Could Increase QA Costs, Possibly Fragment Console’s Market – nDreams Code Manager

Sony is apparently very busy this year. Along with the PlayStation VR releasing in October, the company is rumoured to have a modified PlayStation 4 console in the works.

[PoSTedUP]

if 4K becomes the new norm like 1080p did and VR becomes relatively popular, and you can get a PS4 with bluray 4K and VR and a 4K tv at mass market price, expect sonys stocks to keep rising. even so if some hit movies and music continues to do well, which will because this is the land of entertainment. sony has a perfect strategy atm and i admire their intellegence and everything theyve turned around.

[gameseveryday]

I dont think 4K TVS are going to become the norm anytime soon. To begin, if these PS4K rumors are true then it will most likely have the capability to only upscale the games to 4K. There is no they will be able to offer native 4K gaming at a competitive "console" price.

[PoSTedUP]

what about movies? resolution in movies and bluray evolve much quicker than games bc it takes way more resources to add/develope a game in 4k. as well as TVs and price drops. 1080p high deff movies were around for a while b4 1080p console games and they still struggle to hit 1080p nowadays. my fault i didnt clarify, i meant a 4k highdeff bluray player for movies, which could be the norm in the next 2-4 years. and upscaled 4K games is better than nothing and still an incentive, tho i agree 4k games arent anytime soon i dont think. but a PS4 as a 4K bluray movie player is a huge move just like bluray was to ps3. sony is a tech giant and theyre always ahead of the game. a 55' 4K visio ultra HDtv is 699.99 and sonys good 4Ks are like 1500.00. so the mass market price for the TVs is there and its gonna be the next thing to take off imo.

[fr0sty]

4K TVs are already phasing out the 1080p sets, you are seeing more and more shelf space dedicated to them and within 5 years, you won't be able to buy a 1080p set (not a full size one of 40+ inches, at least). Once the HDR TVs start getting more popular, and I think that they will far sooner than 4K due to their far superior image quality, 4K will get much cheaper and 1080p will be phased out.

[Dragonking007]

Its going to be like with ps3 launch not everyone had a blueray nor a hd tv but it still supported sd tv in fact i had been playing on an sd tv ever since i got my ps3 in 2009 eventually got a hd tv in 2014. Will i get a 4k tv probably because now i have money will i get a ps4k at launch absolutely as long as it gots relatively good features in comparison to current ps4.

[indysurfn]

huh? The 65 inch 4k TV I got in May 2015 is now down from 8,999 dollars to 2700 dollars. un65js9000. I would call that a sign you should not be so sure.

And HDR blu-ray just launched which makes mad max look super nasty. It's catching on. I have friends that can barely afford consoles that are foaming at the mouth to get one. So I think it will catch on fast. If you check all the store they are having FIRE sales on 1080P tv's to clear inventory.

[tontontam0]

TOO MANY ANTI-PROGRESSIVE PEOPLE,

You people think you know all about technology just because you read tech news around the internet.

What if sony has some alien technology that could make this work.HAHA

[nitus10]

All PS4's can play 4K content, however they can't play 4K games. Any search will tell you that.

What the PS4 or XB1 for that matter can't do is play the new three layer BluRay's which are the new standard (was ratified Feb 2015). It is not that expensive to add the new 3L BD players to the PS4 or even the XB1.

To fully support the new 3L BD players you will need a HDMI version 2.0 plus which is again something that can be cheaply added.

It may also be possible to add circuitry to up-scale games to 4K but I very much doubt that 4K gaming will be supported since only powerful and expensive gaming rigs can do that. Not only that but Sony and possibly Microsoft would not want to split their user base.

The bottom like is to wait for a official announcement. Until then the so called PS4K is just a rumour.

[Braveheart_NZ]

I don't know about not becoming the norm as currently in my country(NZ) there is a deal to buy an Akai 4K LED 55" smart TV with 4 HDMI inputs with inbuilt WiFi for $612 US dollars. I am picking one up for the girlfriend who has an older 1080P LCD TV. We checked the pic quality at the shop and it looked much better than what she had and that was only showing a 1080P Blu Ray movie so it's a win win really at that low price. Yes I know Akai isn't a well known top brand and is obviously entry level, but a 4K tv at that price is a very good deal really since it was $1300 US not long ago for the same TV and now $612 US, so if these 4K TV's keep dropping in price and remain affordable then more and more will adopt. I already have three LG 4K TV's in my place and watching material in UHD is brilliant.

[traumadisaster]

Speaking with a bit of experience in 4k, I was at 4kpc prior to x1 even being announced. I've also watched all current available 4k video content, from Samsung 4k hard drive to netflix and amazon 4k and Directv.

There is minimal improvement in video and mainstream won't appreciate the difference, of course videophiles will. But in games I see a really nice improvement even to 10 year old games. Imo casual gamers won't be interested 4k games, people who visit this site prob will like 4k, of course videophiles of the DF lot will love it.

[PoSTedUP]

it also depends on how it is marketed. i dont see a huge difference between LED and LCD especially for the prices it released at, but it was the next big thing and thats what people jump at in the economy. picture is only going to get better and better and the general consumers tend to progress with it aswell even moreso when the pricesbecome cheaper. always. especially in this era of t.v., movies and having/wanting to upgrade your smartphone every year despite the minimal differences.

[TheCommentator]

The parts of an image where I see a big difference in 4K video reside within finer textures like the particular pattern of print on clothing or brickwork at a distance, for example, where there tends to be rather noticeable pixelation at 1080p. Smoother surfaces like cars and faces don't have much difference though.

As far as 4K gaming goes it doesn't seem to be necessary to run AA as high because of the increased pixel density, which is nice because it reduces the amount of artifacts usually introduced by various AA techniques.

I've read that TV's may need to reach as high as 32k before the larger sets will have reached maximum visible density(200-300dpi), which is just insane.

[fr0sty]

There is definitely a visual improvement even in video, but it's only noticeable on larger screens (the color clarity afforded by the extra pixel density does stand out more, however. 4:2:0 4K is almost equivalent to 4:4:4 1080p on smaller sets, effectively).

That said, HDR blows them all away.

[indysurfn]

Thats because the movies are still being filmed in 2k at best. Once you see a true 4k move (the players START at 400$) and just launched last month. You will see hugh differences. I have people that have seen my tv and cant wait to get one. Ahead of getting a new car at that.

[naruga]

what i see is probably the flagship version of PS4
(smthing similar with nowdays versions of hi-spec phones or like PS3 first models where they launched a 60gb model for more hardcore buyers and a 20 gb model for casual audience...this time Sony launched only the casual version from start to create an install base and after it they ill launch the more prestigious one, it was just a marketing strategy ...is 99,99% safe to say that the games will be the exact same

[gameseveryday]

I think a marginally better CPU, GPU, a SSD drive and better Wifi card at $499 could do the trick. At least we can get all games at 1080p and 60fps as a minimum standard on the new PS4.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

This might split the casuals who want to play games at an affordable price and those more passionate gamers and nerds that would pay more for a beefy hardware.

Sony didn't hold back with the PS3 and added Bluray and other new technologies that ultimately raised the price, and look how that turned out...

I wonder if they considered 4k or stronger chips for the PS4 but went back Because they feared another PS3 situation. This PS4K if true can either ruin consoles or benefit them. I still can't see how this could work. Still not conviced

[Salooh]

It can be done if rules were set like developing games for both hardwares (i really trust sony with supporting their consoles) , meaning no ps5 level of games even if it is possible which will benefit the resolution and fps with high quality assets of current gen games , also AAA VR experience. So all of them will get the same games but with different settings.

Two choices is easy to support when you compare it to PC. People would choose what's suitable for them without any sacrifice because they will get what they paid for. All kinds of Gamers will be really pleased , sony and developers will profit more.

I for one wold love to see this choice especially from beginning. If you check my history you will see that i always wanted a hardware beast from sony( i don't care about the price ) . What they did with the ps4 is genius but it didn't satisfy me as a gamer.

If true this will push PS5 release date , longer cycle ( i was expecting 5-6 years cycle for this gen and now it will be 8), meaning more games except in this gen we will be more satisfied with VR and Exclusives quality.

[Get_A_Job_Foxtrot]

So not wanting to pay for a new console after only 2 years with current ps4, suddenly means one is not hardcore enough?

Why don't you go work for EA, or Microsoft. They need people like you to come up with ways to sucker people out of their hard earned money.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

I'm hypothetically speaking

Read!!

[BattleAxe]

Sony should not release a PS4K a this time. They're doing great with the PS4 as it is, in terms of sales, so it's not necessary at this point in time. Release the PS5 with 4k in another 3 years from now, and do it with a bang. They wont generate the same excitement by releasing a new console with more powerful components mid-generation, unless it's just simply an aesthetic change with a PS4 slim.

[Aenea]

Yikes, I really wish gaming sites would stop this BS about the PS4k, let's just wait until E3 and when they actually announce one, then start making article after article about what effects it will have...

[Salooh]

Yeah , feels wrong to me. So much talk for something unlikely to come. I made like 3 to 5 comments about this and i already feel tired...

[DJ]

New phone models are released every year, this is no different and actually a great move by Sony (and hopefully Microsoft as well). Why get outclassed after a few years when you can keep the exact same hardware structure, but simply amp up the overall power?

You need way more GPU power for VR, and this is the only way to do it. Yes, it's a fragmentation of their userbase, but no more so than the iPhone 5 vs the iPhone 5s. If people want 4K or proper VR, now they have an option.

[BossBattle]

I think the PS4K is a great decision by Sony also. The articles says that all these negative things "could" possibly happen but it won't because Sony's Playstation brand is too strong. I myself would trade my old PS4 and buy the PS4K. I want the best quality I can get on a 4K without dealing with the settings and inconvenience of a pc.

[Immorals]

1080p to 4k is completely different from iPhone 5 to 5s.

Base iPhones don't even have 1080p resolution and at the end of the day, they are a phone. It'd be a stupid move for Sony to release a more powerful version (and I doubt it's anything other than 4k video support)

[uth11]

No this is very different. A new phone costs $600-700, but most people under contract pay a fraction of that and don't feel the pinch when they upgrade. The consoles wouldn't be subsidized.

Also phones are not coded to the metal the way game consoles are, having multiple configurations will make it more difficult to do this, and quality could suffer

[Oschino1907]

So in terms of upgrade timing and pricing you can't compare phones to console but you feel it's fine to compare dozens of phone configurations with multiple operating systems to a hypothetical 2 configuration same OS console?

[spoonard]

PS4K is not a real thing...