Sony Remains Silent on PlayStation 5’s 8K Video Support, Which Is Still Missing after Two Years

[Tsing]

Sony doesn't have any idea when 8K video support will be coming to the PlayStation 5, according to FlatpanelsHD, which shared a report today that mentions how the publication reached out to PlayStation's PR representatives for comment regarding the omission that remains two years after the console initially launched on November 12, 2020, but failed to receive a response.

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[Uvilla]

I can't help but roll my eyes at '8k' video. Perhaps 2030 for a bit more contents, hopefully 4k by 2030 will truly be everywhere then.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

8K, the thing almost nobody wanted.

Next up, Sony demos PS5 playing games at 8K 120 FPS! How about tic-tac-toe or checkers, anyone? Now with ray tracing to boot and rendered at native resolution!

 

[Zarathustra]

8k is a total gimmick.

There is no combination of screen size and viewing distance that fits inside the human field of view that would allow a human even with exceptional vision to be able to detect the difference from 4k.

The only practical application would be in cases where youi have people close to a very large sceen focusing on a small part of that screen.

 

[Grimlakin]

8k is a total gimmick.

There is no combination of screen size and viewing distance that fits inside the human field of view that would allow a human even with exceptional vision to be able to detect the difference from 4k.

The only practical application would be in cases where youi have people close to a very large sceen focusing on a small part of that screen.

I mean... 8k movie screens could make sense.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

On a home level, the other reason I have little to no interest in 8K is that we're mostly once again stuck with streaming compression junk as physical media keeps dwindling, and even then you take your chances with how something is mastered and authored so there's still no guarantee of bit rates for A/V. I'd much rather see 4K bump up its video bitrates than have another resolution increase.

In terms of streaming, I'm happy with most 1080p streams I see these days but it's still very hit or miss for 4K in that some are barely distinguishable from 1080p. About the only good thing 8K could bring to the table is that same sort of backward downscaling suddenly has an 8K stream looking like a decent 4K steam. -lol!

 

[Zarathustra]

I mean... 8k movie screens could make sense.

Not really. At least not if you want to see the whole screen.

You are going to have to back up far enough that the whole screen will fit in your field of view, and if you do there will be no perceivable difference between 4k and 8k.

I mean, it may be noticeable if you are one of those people who like to sit really close to the screen and keep turning your head (or at least your eyes) throughout the film, but that's not how most people like to watch films.

The only benefit I can think of is the argument that high resolution provides a natural form of antialiasing, but it is a very computationally expensive way of accomplishing this goal, as going from 4k -> 8k roughly cuts the framerate to a quarter on the same GPU.

That, and you don't need to increase the resolution of the screen to get those benefits. In fact, the results may even be better if you don't. As an example 4k displayed on a 1080p screen in DSR/VSR has fewer "jaggies" than native 4k. So if you really wanted this benefit, it would be better to run 8k DSR/VSR on a 4k screen than it would be to run 8k native.

I love running DSR / VSR in older titles. Nothing looks better from an AA perspective, but requiring 300% more GPU power to do so makes it hugely inefficient. Every single other form of AA uses way less GPU power, even 8x MSAA.

 

[Grimlakin]

Not really. At least not if you want to see the whole screen.

You are going to have to back up far enough that the whole screen will fit in your field of view, and if you do there will be no perceivable difference between 4k and 8k.

I mean, it may be noticeable if you are one of those people who like to sit really close to the screen and keep turning your head (or at least your eyes) throughout the film, but that's not how most people like to watch films.

The only benefit I can think of is the argument that high resolution provides a natural form of antialiasing, but it is a very computationally expensive way of accomplishing this goal, as going from 4k -> 8k roughly cuts the framerate to a quarter on the same GPU.

That, and you don't need to increase the resolution of the screen to get those benefits. In fact, the results may even be better if you don't. As an example 4k displayed on a 1080p screen in DSR/VSR has fewer "jaggies" than native 4k. So if you really wanted this benefit, it would be better to run 8k DSR/VSR on a 4k screen than it would be to run 8k native.

I love running DSR / VSR in older titles. Nothing looks better from an AA perspective, but requiring 300% more GPU power to do so makes it hugely inefficient. Every single other form of AA uses way less GPU power, even 8x MSAA.

I meant at an actual movie theater. You know.. 50ft screen sort of thing. Problem is a 50ft oled at 8k would be SOOOO bright. lol.

 

[Zarathustra]

I meant at an actual movie theater. You know.. 50ft screen sort of thing.

Yeah, but even at the theater, I tend to try to select a seat such that the entirety of the screen fits inside my field of view. Don't you?

Problem is a 50ft oled at 8k would be SOOOO bright. lol.

Yeah, that would be brutal

 

[DrezKill]

I'd much rather see 4K bump up its video bitrates than have another resolution increase.

This, exactly! Who the f*ck cares about the resolution when the bitrates are so low? That's one reason why I never bother with streaming. BD rips or GTFO. 1080p streaming sucks @ss compared to 1080p BDs, and the same for 4K streaming compared to Ultra HD BDs. Shiat, a lot of the time I think 1080p BDs look better than 4K streaming. When I grab BD rips one of the main things I look at is the bitrate. We don't need a resolution increase, especially to something so f*cking useless as 8K. What they need to focus on are the bitrates.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

1080p streaming sucks

I will say that I'm really impressed with HBO Max's 1080p streams. I don't know what their doing but I like it. On the other hand Amazon and Paramount+ are the absolute worst. P+ occasionally has its moments but the app is horrid on most my TVs regardless of OS and buffering is just as bad as Amazon. Netflix, it depends but I'd put it at the middle, at best. Hulu, the same. Peacock, I hardly watch ever.

Edit: Disney, all over the map.