Sony's long-awaited and much-anticipated PS4 Pro console has finally made its way into stores, where excited buyers had no hesitation in buying the product and taking it back to their homes. Unfortunately, though, it seems as if Sony might is encountering some sort of problem, as gaming forums and social media are filled with people reporting that they are unable to get their brand new PS4 Pros to work properly.
Problems with the PS4 Pro
According to several reports, the already widely reported problem where the 'breakout box' that you get along with Sony's PlayStation VR system doesn't support the HDR signals that are now output by both the original PS4 and the new PS4 Pro. The latest problem now seems to be that many PS4 Pro owners are finding themselves staring at blank TV screens rather than experiencing some lovely and amazing 4K HDR pictures that are supposed to be the PS4 Pro's main selling point.
PS4 Pro not recognizing different TV models
The issue is being reported at an alarming rate, with a wide range of different TV models from Samsung, LG, Philips, Sony, and Vizio, along with some multiple brands of AV receiver and sound bar. As if this wasn't bad enough, a lot of other PS4 Pro users are complaining that while they are getting an HDR pictures, the PS4 Pro is incorrectly recognizing their TV as being incapable of handling 4K in HDR, which will limit them to only 2K HDR signals.
More TV compatibility problems
To make matters worse for Sony, it seems that the compatibility issues aren't even consistent across different samples of the same TV models. For instance, one LG OLED65E6 will work seemingly fine with the PS4 Pro while another TV of the same variant won't.
A temporary fix for the problem
The problem was already spreading so wide that by the end of Thursday, November 10, which was the PS4 Pro's launch date that it had earned an official response on Sony's EU PlayStation Forum. Online Support representative KingGobbo admitted the issue's existence and suggested a complex temporary fix which involves switching the console into its Safe mode and then changing its digital rights HDCP management setting from 2.2 to 1.4.
Not the best solution out there
This said the fix is hardly even ideal since, as the Sony statement itself mentions, switching to HDCP 1.4 could lead to you not being able to enjoy 4K and HDR pictures with some specific apps and sources. The PlayStation Forum has also clearly stated that the problem was due to some limitation incompatibility for some TV models with 4K and HDR content. They advised PS4 Pro owners to contact the manufacturers of their TVs for further assistance about this compatibility issue.
What's the problem?
As of now, it's quite impossible to say with absolute certainty what this problem is until PlayStation or the TV brands make their official statements. But based upon the statements of analysts and experts, the issue seems to center around a mixture of failed HDCP 2.2 handshaking and some strange inconsistencies and fluctuations on the PS4 Pro's interpretation of a certain TV's 4K and HDR capabilities.
