Sony launching 4K movie service for PS4, downloads will exceed 100 GB

Sony launching 4K movie service for PS4, downloads will exceed 100 GB
Sony's upcoming 4K movie service will be available to PS4 owners, and will require a ton of bandwidth.

Sony Electronics President and COO Phil Molyneux did not reveal too much about the service, except to note that major bandwidth will be a necessity, as most 4K movies will be over 100 GB large. Today's average Blu-ray-quality HD film can exceed 15-20 GB.



When asked how consumers in the U.S. would be able to handle such large files with typically low Internet speeds, Molyneux says they are certainly "challenges that we have to work through... we've got some very good ideas that will make that a comfortable consumer experience."

The company is also working on improved compression for smaller files, but that is still in early stages.

Molyneux also noted that 4K on physical discs could be a possibility in the future, but says "there's no conclusion, and I have to let that forum do their work."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Feb 2013 19:46
Tags
streaming Sony PS4 Downloads 4K
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  • 15 comments
  • baxter00

    Uh yeah, you gonna pay my internet bill?

    28.2.2013 23:04 #1

  • kanaske

    it will take days to download the movie wont want it by the time it is ready.

    1.3.2013 06:41 #2

  • Gosurf101

    Originally posted by kanaske: it will take days to download the movie wont want it by the time it is ready. It would take a little under 3hrs for me to download a 100GB's, gotta love FiOS.

    1.3.2013 08:03 #3

  • Interestx

    Hmmmm.
    Not sure how popular this will be - not for many years until the infrastructure catches up, at least.

    The most popular torrents I see these days seem to be 720p up to 4.3gb (single layer DVD size).


    1.3.2013 09:10 #4

  • hacker7 (unverified)

    You also Gotta love Fios and comcast , AT&T and whatever ISP providers download and upload limit Too !! DuM @$$ !!!!!!

    1.3.2013 15:45 #5

  • ThePastor

    2 and 1/2 movies and I hit my cap? ... um yeah, right
    Actually this may be a very good thing. It may cause ISP's to finally get their act together and deal with this issue.

    Oh, Im sorry... Did the middle of my sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?

    1.3.2013 16:00 #6

  • Bozobub

    Originally posted by ThePastor: 2 and 1/2 movies and I hit my cap? ... um yeah, right
    Actually this may be a very good thing. It may cause ISP's to finally get their act together and deal with this issue.

    Not a chance. The artificial scarcity of bandwidth employed by the big ISPs suits their wallets handily.

    1.3.2013 19:01 #7

  • Mrguss

    Nothing better that a solid physical disk (CD, DVD, etc.)

    +5000

    3.3.2013 17:02 #8

  • Interestx

    Originally posted by Mrguss: Nothing better that a solid physical disk (CD, DVD, etc.) Well after the rather disappointing Blu-ray performance I think it's safe to say there won't be another disc based media any time soon.

    The multi-layer XL Blu-ray is going nowhere & holographic storage is dead as far as retail goes.
    You might see something if the SD card roadmap holds true (they talk of 2tb cards eventually with 300MBps read & write speeds).

    I wouldn't hold your breath though.

    3.3.2013 22:23 #9

  • russ2 (unverified)

    Most TVS are only 1080p so 4k x 2k will be no use at all only if you buy a new TV

    6.3.2013 14:28 #10

  • maitland

    i have to say that I have finally started watching more blu-ray discs... and they really do look amazing.

    optical media is kind of a crazy concept in the first place though... it's very prone to physical damage.

    I think it was just, like, some engineers in the 80's were on a bunch of cocaine and they were, like:

    ::You Can Dance by Madonna playing in the background::

    "what if we made little plastic discs that are read with lasers!!! Wouldn't that be radical to the max!!???

    ::sniffs another line::

    "here you go"

    ::passes the mirror::

    "yeah, yeah, you're righteously right, man, that would be totally tubular! Lasers are most excellent!!

    ::sniffs a line::

    "and you know... if we put our minds to it, we can do ANYTHING!!"


    I mean, i'm guessing it went something like that. That's just what things were like in the 80's.

    And now since 99% of humans seem to have lost the capacity for innovation we have just been rehashing that same coked-out concept of optical discs for the past 30 years...

    8.3.2013 13:16 #11

  • Tarsellis

    Yup, not gunna fly in Amerika. 2.5 days after you started the download and killed your internet connection for everything else, you're now ready to watch a movie that you probably won't see a difference in, but now more than half of your allotted bandwidth for the month is gone.

    8.3.2013 13:55 #12

  • xboxd00d

    Originally posted by russ2: Most TVS are only 1080p so 4k x 2k will be no use at all only if you buy a new TV Stupid statement, of course u will need a new tv, u dont watch a bluray through a 14" crt (at 480i), u get a big hd tv.

    All the big tv manufacturers are working on 4k tvs right now, and to think it wont look better than a bluray is beyond retarded, 4x the rez of 1080p will be superb.

    And as for bandwidth most people will be using fibre optic before long, in the uk they say it will be 300Mbps so your 4k movie will fully download in about 45mins.

    Just hope all the providers give unlimited usage!

    A completely different approach, stores u can go into with your own ssd to have the 4k movie copied onto while u wait!!

    "Trying is the first step towards Failure" Homer.J.Simpson

    8.3.2013 15:03 #13

  • Bozobub

    Gotta check you right there, homes. Especially in the US, "before long" is also known as "Real Soon Now(tm)". ISPs in the US are also hopelessly dependent on enforcing false bandwidth "scarcity", to keep prices artificially high as long as possible.

    Even FiOS has crappy market penetration. We're not going to be seeing gigabit/near-gigabit internet in secondary markets in the next 10-15 years, most likely, much less tertiary markets. My guess is 20 years before it hits towns under 250,000 people, or so. Even my local Verizon says so, when I call tech support (they get asked a lot, apparently - lol).

    8.3.2013 15:30 #14

  • Tarsellis

    Originally posted by Bozobub: Gotta check you right there, homes. Especially in the US, "before long" is also known as "Real Soon Now(tm)". ISPs in the US are also hopelessly dependent on enforcing false bandwidth "scarcity", to keep prices artificially high as long as possible.

    Even FiOS has crappy market penetration. We're not going to be seeing gigabit/near-gigabit internet in secondary markets in the next 10-15 years, most likely, much less tertiary markets. My guess is 20 years before it hits towns under 250,000 people, or so. Even my local Verizon says so, when I call tech support (they get asked a lot, apparently - lol).
    Absolutely correct. On top of everything else, we have a government that's in bed with the carriers, and enforce monopoly/duopolies in most locations. Short of some sort of unexpected disruptive technology, you won't see any significant change for a long time. Even then, the legal system will be used to block it to protect the telcos' current business model.

    8.3.2013 18:49 #15

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