(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
You must login or register to view this content.
Sony has finally come through for its fans and has added a new media player feature to the latest PS4 firmware. Media Player, creatively named, will be available to download from the PlayStation Store as an app.
You must login or register to view this content.
The Media Player app will work with your existing DLNA streaming servers, so that means anyone using the PS3 Media Server, or Plex, or even Windows Media Player, will be able to stream media straight to their PS4. The app also will read media from USB storage devices attached to the PS4, but not any media stored on the hard drive locally. That limitation might be because of the PS4’s habit of installing almost every game to the hard drive, making media storage on the PS4 a bad idea if you want to pop in a game without worrying about how much space is left from your media storage.
You must login or register to view this content.
The Media Player also works with music, which can be played in the background even while a game is running. It can also run slideshows of your photos, so you can show off those vacation photos to your family in the lounge without having to whip out a notebook or phone and hook it up using HDMI. If you look at the screenshot above this one, there is mention of a “generic mass storage” device, which would be how devices like phones and tablets will pop up when plugged into the PS4 to access the internal SD card or phone storage. Pretty neat.
Sony might add more functionality later on as this is an app separate to the PS4 firmware, so updates to add in new capabilities will become available later on. This will be particularly important in the shift to media using the H.265 codec, which is required for streaming 4K content, as H.265 makes improvements to bandwidth requirements and compression quality. The GPU inside the PS4 is also HEVC capable, so that will probably come later as well.
As for file formats supported by the media player, here’s what will work on it thus far.
Video formats supported by Media Player
MKV:
Visual: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2
Audio: MP3, AAC LC, AC-3 (Dolby Digital)
AVI:
Visual: MPEG4 ASP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2
Audio: MP3, AAC LC, AC-3 (Dolby Digital)
MP4:
Visual: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2
Audio: AAC LC, AC-3 (Dolby Digital)
MPEG-2 TS:
Visual: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2, MPEG2 Visual
Audio: MP2 (MPEG2 Audio Layer 2), AAC LC, AC-3(Dolby Digital)
AVCHD
.m2ts, .mts container support
Photo:
JPEG (based on DCF 2.0/Exif 2.21)
BMP
PNG
Music file support:
MP3
AAC
M4A