Sony’s long-awaited and much-debated PS4 Pro console has finally made its way into stores (and seemingly an impressive number of homes). Unfortunately, though, it seems as if Sony might have to keep its champagne on ice, as gaming forums and social media are awash with people reporting that they can’t get their shiny new PS4 Pros to work properly.
I’m not talking here, either, about the already widely reported problem where the ‘breakout box’ you get with Sony’s PSVR system doesn’t support the High Dynamic Range (HDR) signals now output by both the original PS4 and the new PS4 Pro. No; the latest problem is that many PS4 Pro owners are finding themselves staring at blank screens rather than basking in the lovely 4K HDR pictures that are supposed to be the PS4 Pro’s key selling point.
The issue is being reported with an alarmingly wide range of different TV models from LG, Samsung, Sony, Philips and Vizio, as well as with multiple brands of AV receiver and sound bar. As if this wasn't bad enough, many other PS4 Pro users are reporting that while they are getting an HDR picture, the PS4 Pro is incorrectly recognising their TV as being incapable of handling 4K in HDR and so limiting them to 2K HDR signals. Even with TVs that handle Ultra HD Blu-rays in 4K HDR with no problems.
To make matters worse, it seems that the compatibility issues aren’t consistent across different samples of the same TV model. For instance, one LG OLED65E6 will work seemingly fine with the PS4 Pro while another one won’t.
The problem was already so widespread by the end of Thursday November 10 - the PS4 Pro’s launch date - that it had garnered an official response on Sony’s EU PlayStation Forum. Online Support representative KingGobbo admitted the issue’s existence and suggested a convoluted temporary fix involving switching the console into its Safe mode and changing its digital rights management setting from HDCP 2.2 to 1.4.
Not the perfect solution
As well as being a faff, this ‘fix’ is hardly ideal (even when it works) since, as the Sony statement itself acknowledges, switching to HDCP 1.4 could lead to you not being able to enjoy 4K and HDR pictures with some apps and sources.
The PlayStation Forum response also stated clearly that the problem was “due to some compatibility limitations of some TV models with 4K and HDR content”, and advised PS4 Pro owners to contact the manufacturers of their TVs for further assistance about this “compatibility limitation”.
The Xbox One S had HDR compatibility issues too on launch - though not as widespread as those that... [+]
It seems, though, that the most common response PS4 Pro owners are getting if they do contact their TV manufacturers is to have responsibility for the issue pushed right back in the direction of Sony and the PS4 Pro.
For instance, I’ve seen a screenshot of a live chat between an LG customer support representative and a PS4 Pro owner where the LG representative states the following: ‘We are currently experiencing some configuration issues with the new PS4 Pro and… are currently in talks with Sony to fix the issues. We had similar problems when the Xbox One S was released, and back then it was Microsoft who released an update for their console to fix 4K and HDR issues with our TVs.”
In other words, the TV brands are blaming the PS4 Pro, while the PS4 Pro is blaming the TVs.
So what exactly is the problem here. It’s impossible to say for absolute certain until PlayStation or the TV brands fess up, but from what I can see and have experienced myself, the issues center around a mixture of failed HDCP 2.2 handshaking and strange inconsistencies and fluctuations in the PS4 Pro’s interpretation of your TV’s 4K and HDR capabilities.
My Samsung UN65KS9800 plays the PS4 Pro just fine - despite some quirks at the console end. (Pic:... [+]
I’m one of the lucky ones in that I have been able to see HDR and 4K images from my PS4 Pro from the moment I first attached it to my reference Samsung KS9500 (KS9800 in the US) TV. I didn't even need to change any of the console's display settings. However, looking more closely at the details of my TV’s connectivity with the console there are clearly some strange things going on.
First, if I connect the console directly to my TV and check the console's Video Output Information before firing up an HDR game, the console informs me that my TV can handle RGB HDR at 2K or 4K resolution. However, if actually start playing an HDR game, which automatically makes my TV switch into HDR mode, the HDR output changes. With Deus Ex: Mankind Divided it changes to YUV420, while with Uncharted 4 it changes to YUV422 (UPDATE: Following a recent new patch, Deus Ex also now outputs in HDR at YUV422).
This suggests that the exact specifications of the HDR your console is outputting are actually determined by the particular game, rather than just the console’s hardware.
If I loop the PS4 Pro through a Samsung K950 Dolby Atmos sound bar I’m currently testing, then the HDR output always reads YUV420. I couldn’t find any way to reproduce the RGB output reading before starting an HDR game that I get if I connect the PS4 Pro directly to the TV. Yet the K950 sound bar passes through RGB HDR from Samsung's K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player without any problems.
Inconsistency equals trouble
As I said, none of these inconsistencies actually prevents me from seeing 4K/HDR images from the PS4 Pro on my TV. But I’ve experienced enough other HDR-related connection problems in the course of testing TVs over the past 18 months to know that whenever you’ve got these sort of HDR/HDMI address fluctuations going on, you’re greatly increasing the chances of things going wrong.
My guess - based on the similar but seemingly more limited issues the Xbox One S had at launch - would be that this blank screen issue and the other sundry problems people are experience end up being things Sony has to fix via the PS4 Pro’s firmware, rather than them being problems for all the affected TV manufacturers to solve individually.
At any rate, I’ve contacted PlayStation and four of the main affected TV brands for their official reactions to the problems PS4 Pro owners are experiencing, and I’ll update you with what they have to say when/if I hear anything concrete.
[Update: LG has now issued an official response to the situation which can be found here.]
I've also put together a guide that might save at least a few of you from having to wait for new firmware to arrive: PS4 Pro Not Working With Your TV? Here Are 8 Things To Try.
Feel free to share your experiences of whether these - or any other solution I've missed! - works for you in the comments section.
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If this article was of interest, you might also like these:
New Sony TV Update Makes PS4, PS4 Pro and Xbox One S Gamers Die Less
Angry Gamers Start Petition Against LG OLED TVs.
The PS4 Pro's Missing Ultra HD Blu-ray Drive: The Mistake Sony Had To Make
