Sony PS4 Pro Latest Update: Media Player App Gets Support For 4K Video Files

Sony has reportedly updated the Playstation 4 Media Player app to add support for 4K video playback. This means that PS4 users will be able to play 4K videos from an external storage device, USB drive or home media server via the Media Player app.

The announcement was made through an official PlayStation blog post. Notably, the 4K video files must be in MP4 format. This implies that PS4 Pro users would not be able to play 4K videos in the popular MKV container. Those who own a PS4 Pro as well as a PlayStation VR headset, they will also get support for 4K VR videos through the Media Player app. Sony has confirmed that while PSVR does not output at 4K, Pro users will enjoy improved image quality as compared to standard HD VR videos.

"PS VR's display resolution is 1920 X RGB X 1080, so 4K VR videos will be displayed in a higher image quality compared to HD VR videos," John Koller, VP PlayStation's brand marketing, said in an official statement, as reported by Gadgets 360.

According to The Verge, the updated Media Player app only supports video encoded in H.264/AVC and not the ones encoded in H.265/HEVC compression standard.

How To Play 4K Videos On PS4 Pro

Playing 4K video files on PS4 Pro is pretty simple. When Pro users will have a media server set up, it will automatically get listed on the console's Media Player app. For those who want to play their files over USB, they can just plug in any USB drive with 4K content on it. However, users will need to keep in mind that any drives they have formatted to be used as PS4 external storage will not save or play videos as those are only meant for games and apps.

At this point of time, it remains unclear whether the latest Media Player update will add support for HDR content in addition to 4K.