Jordan O'BrienSony strongly believes that 4K has the potential to be the next HD, and will bring about as much change in the way users consume content. That’s despite many of the world’s largest streaming services being rather apathetic towards the format, and instead being bullish towards HDR.
It’s not surprising that Sony and many other TV manufacturers have been pushing 4K Ultra HD, after all it’s much easier to tell a consumer that its latest TV has 4x more pixels than a standard HD TV. Despite that, many in the industry agree that 4K doesn’t offer all that much in terms of picture quality, especially when compared to the day and night difference between an HDR and non-HDR image.
The comments from Sony come as the company gears up for E3 2017, where it’s likely to concentrate on games, having not long launched the PS4 Pro. Supposedly one in five PS4 sales are now of the more powerful model, which could be higher, if consumers weren’t confused about what exactly the new console offers.
In response to the purpose of PS4 Pro, Shawn Layden, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, notes: “We see 4K as being the next HD and PlayStation 4 Pro is our answer to that opportunity.”
The PS4 Pro has full support for HDR content, and even offers 4K HDR gaming, so given the disappointment a few extra pixels affords on its own, it’s surprising to see Sony making resolution central to its marketing message. That’s in direct contrast to Microsoft’s strategy with the Xbox One S, which put HDR at the heart of its features list.
Since the beginning of the new generation of consoles, the two companies have differed in their marketing approach. Sony has solely concentrated on gamers, while Microsoft wants the Xbox One to be a media hub for all things games, movies and TV shows. Given the movie and TV industry’s love of HDR, it’s not surprising that Microsoft took that approach.
At the Streaming Media East conference in New York in May, industry executives from the world’s largest streaming services all attested to the fact that HDR offered better visuals than 4K on its own. They even argued that it was cheaper to produce and easier to deliver.
It’s not just HDR that the streaming media companies are backing, but the firms are also convinced that HDR matched with 1080p is all that consumers need, something many TV executives would outright disagree with. It’s easy to see why the streaming firms may not be all too keen on 4K – after all the larger file sizes means increased bandwidth, increased storage and increased costs.
Don’t expect 4K to fall out of favour with the TV or gaming console makers anytime soon, however. Microsoft is expected to launch its native 4K gaming machine on Sunday, although it’s also likely to support HDR – but there’s no word on whether that includes Dolby Vision just yet. TV manufacturers have also been bullish on 4K, with Toshiba’s return to the consumer TV sector lacking HDR support, while boasting the higher resolution.