Sony’s 4K movie download service will come to PlayStation 4

by Mark Tyson on 1 March 2013, 16:15

Tags: Sony Computers Entertainment Europe (NYSE:SNE)

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In an interview with Sony Electronics President and COO, Phil Molyneux, The Verge managed to get a confirmation, of sorts, that a 4K video download service would be supported by the Sony PlayStation 4.

Sony held an event in New York yesterday showing off its 4K TV product line and related AV equipment head-to-head against competitor products. The Verge sent a reporter to interview Sony Electronics President and COO, Phil Molyneux at the event. Interviewer Nilay Patel asked about how these new 4K TVs and AV equipment will work together with the PlayStation 4 and Xperia Z products that have just been shown at other events.

Took a while to get to the point

Molyneux talked at some length about using your Xperia Z tablet in conjunction with your TV to bring a richer experience; controlling the TV and interacting with social media concerning your viewing and so on. Further on in the interview the COO talked about the 4K content home server, which will be feeding lucky wealthy folks’ 4K TVs with UltraHD content.

You won’t be disappointed

The Verge interviewer then took advantage, while on this topic, to ask about whether the download service for 4K movies, using Sony’s 4K Home Server, is going to work for people using the PS4 instead. Molyneux replied; “We will give you more details in due course but I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.” Molyneux definitely placed emphasis on that promise. (Video at 10m20s)

100GB plus

Discussing the 4K movie content, it was estimated that an average UltraHD movie would weigh in at “100GB plus”. Molyneux considered that a challenge but said that Sony had some “very good ideas” to make 4K media downloads more comfortable. Possible new compression methods were hinted at. As far as buying 4K content on some kind of distributable physical media the Sony COO said that “the whole world is moving more and more to download”. Sony’s download service will kick off this summer.

At the moment with my “rural broadband” I have a download limit of 120GB a month so it would be appreciated if the Sony techs get working on that compression technology soon. Perhaps Sony will use the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)?



HEXUS Forums :: 19 Comments

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100GB for a movie? Not so bad. That's less than four hours for those of us with fast connections. And if you live out in the sticks using a dial up modem then I'd wager you're not the person who'll have a 4k screen!
Hope 4k gets a big push so I can get myself a >1080p monitor without paying an outrageous premium.
bridges009
Hope 4k gets a big push so I can get myself a >1080p monitor without paying an outrageous premium.

Not a chance IMO. It took the average joe years to upgrade to HD from SD. The jump to 4k is more expensive and less noticeable. Joe P will wait a LONG time for prices to drop, rather than drive the price drop.
4K monitors will not reach the main stream consumer and if they do it is a pointless technology.

There are many review/reports from well known tech and video sources that clearly indicate that 4K has no place in the home unless you have a 60" + TV. The extra resolution over 1080p is completely wasted as the eye can't see the difference.

But there was one good argument , Passive 3D TV in 4K would benefit. As a 4K screen splitting the image into half the resolution for each eyes means passive 3D in full 1080P resolution.
Brewster0101
4K monitors will not reach the main stream consumer and if they do it is a pointless technology.

There are many review/reports from well known tech and video sources that clearly indicate that 4K has no place in the home unless you have a 60" + TV. The extra resolution over 1080p is completely wasted as the eye can't see the difference.

But there was one good argument , Passive 3D TV in 4K would benefit. As a 4K screen splitting the image into half the resolution for each eyes means passive 3D in full 1080P resolution.

Yup…that's what I'm thinking of - I never really thought of 4K but my biggest gripe re: the LG passive 3D screens (which otherwise I'd prefer to the active ones I've seen) is the huuuuge drop in resolution when you swap to 3D.