The PS5 is a wildly popular console, and this looks like the generation that finally put an end to the Xbox vs. PlayStation debate, unless Microsoft has something huge up its sleeve. Over 90 million PS5s are in the wild, and that actually means many people have a perfectly capable 4K Blu-ray player in their home. This has been a nice PlayStation tradition since some people keep their old PS3s plugged in just to serve as a Blu-ray player.
While physical media sales are on the downswing, there are still many reasons to invest in physical. You don’t have to worry about your favorite movies leaving streaming services, you get superior sound and visuals, and you get to have a nice collection on display. Your PS5 is actually a good way to play those Blu-rays as well, and it’s so close to being the best way.
If you’re getting into 4K discs, you can play all of them on your PS5 and reap the rewards that an increased resolution offers. However, there’s one glaring issue with the PS5 being your primary Blu-ray player, and it’s Dolby Vision. The PS5 doesn’t support Dolby Vision with your 4K Blu-rays, so even if your disc has the functionality along with your TV, the PS5 will still output it with regular HDR10. Don’t get me wrong — HDR10 is better than nothing, but it’s still disappointing not to go the extra mile and sweeten the pop with Dolby Vision.
Dolby Vision is a big missing piece
It holds the PS5 back from greatness
Dolby Vision is a very nice thing to have on 4K Blu-rays, and it’s a major selling point of the format, if you ask me. Both that and Dolby Atmos are the biggest gains you get compared to streaming, even though streaming has both of those formats, but in a more limited state. The fact that the PS5 can’t utilize this format is disappointing considering how prevalent the console is. It’s far more likely that a person has a PS5 in their home versus a Dolby Vision-capable 4K Blu-ray player. The PS5 already represents a huge stepping stone for somebody to get into physical media. My Xbox One S was how I enjoyed movies before I bought a decicated player, and like the PS5, if the Xbox supported Dolby Vision, I wouldn’t have needed to buy a standalone player.
Other than missing Dolby Vision, I don’t have much to complain about using the PS5 as a dedicated player. It’s perfectly fine for any disc, and while you aren’t getting the best of the best picture quality, it’s still an upgrade over what streaming has to offer. The big problem is that if you want to get better picture quality, you have to go out and buy a whole new piece of equipment. I don’t know if it’d be as simple as a software update for your PS5 to allow Dolby Vision, but if it is, that’d be a much better solution if Sony went ahead and did it.
Good standalone 4K Blu-ray players with Dolby Vision can still cost over $200, so it’s not like it’s a cheap investment. A lot of people are going to balk at that price and just say HDR10 is good enough. That’s a reasonable choice to make, but it does wipe away some of the gains a disc sees over streaming. It’d be nice to see Sony get on board with Dolby Vision on the PS5, but I fear it’s just not on the list of priorities for the company.
It’s still great as an entry point
It could even be your endgame
The PS5 is still an excellent way to enjoy your 4K Blu-ray discs. It can even play regular Blu-rays and DVDs, so don’t feel like you’re only locked into the newest format. For the casual viewer, it’s great because you don’t have to buy anything new if it’s what you already have. I know plenty of people who are fine watching on their game consoles, and more power to them.
If I didn’t watch a lot of movies or invest in a decent sound system, I probably wouldn’t have a dedicated player either. A game console is a perfectly fine option. However, those days could be limited as there’s a real possibility that the next-generation consoles won’t even have a disc drive. With the trajectory of physical media, it really wouldn’t surprise me. The PS5 Pro launched without a disc drive and the Xbox Series S doesn’t have one either. If I had to make a prediction, I’d say there will be at least one more generation with disc drives, but then all bets are off. I don’t like that we’re trending toward a digital world like this, but the consumers have spoken loud and clear. I’m going to keep collecting and watching 4K discs as long as I can, and you can do the very same thing with or without a PS5.
