Can PS4 Play Blu-ray Disc? Guide to Watch Any Blu-rays on PS4 (4K Included)

Fancy a movie night, but don't have a blu-ray player to hand? No problem, besides playing games, your trusty PS4 play Blu-rays and DVDs as well. 

While every PS4 comes with a built-in Blu-ray drive and can play regular Blu-ray discs and 3D Blu-ray without any problems. However, they don’t support every Blu-ray. 

In this article, we will explain in detail the types of Blu-rays that can be played on PS4, how to play Blu-rays on PS4, what to do if you can't play it, and the way to play any Blu-rays on PS4.

Now just don't forget the popcorn!

 

Part 1. Does PS4 play Blu-ray movies?

Yes, you can play blu-ray movies on PS4.  All versions of the PS4, from the original released in 2013 to the 4K-ready Pro model released in 2016, have a standard 1080p Blu-ray player drives. However, it doesn’t support 4K Blu-ray discs, which we'll touch on later.

Key Points:

• PS4 and PS4 Pro both have a built-in Blu-ray drives, so playing regular Blu-ray discs or 3D Blu-ray discs is a piece of cake. These discs go up to 1080p, which is the standard for most devices.
• PS4 lacks an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, so it does not support 4k Blu-ray discs. 
• PS4 provides auto-upscaling for standard Blu-ray discs 
• You can grab a dedicated Blu-ray player, a new PS5 or Blu-ray ripper for 4K UHD Blu-rays.
• Though the previous generation PS3 supported CD, PS4 does not support CD playback.  

 

Part 2. Which Blu-ray movies can play on the PS4?

Note:

• Please do not play unsupported blu-rays on the PS4, In the worst case, it may damage your console.
• There is no difference in the discs that can be played on PS4 and PS4 Pro.

 

Part 3. How to play Blu-ray movies on PS4

Some people may not know how to play Blu-ray movies on the PS4. Below is the guide.

Quick note:
Before you play Blu-ray movies, make sure that your PS4 is fully updated.
All blu-ray movies comes with copyright protection, to bypass the protection you'll need to connect to the internet the first time you play Blu-ray discs.

1. To play a Blu-ray Disc™ or DVD on PS4, insert the disc into the disc slot on the PS4(it is the same as where you insert a game disc.)

2. Once you insert the disc, the PS4 will read it, and a new option will appear on the main menu with a name "Blu-ray Disc". Use the PS4 controller to select this option and press the X button to start playing the Blu-ray.

 

Part 4. What to do if your PS4 won't play Blu-ray discs

Why is your PS4 not playing Blu-rays? Here, we list the possible reasons and solutions for PS4 won't play Blu-rays. Do remember that you could always try to get help from PlayStation Support when your PS4 won't play Blu-rays.

Solution 1 for PS4 not playing Blu-ray: Check if the disc is supported

Solution 2 for PS4 not playing Blu-ray: Check if the disc is scratched or dirty

Solution 3 for PS4 not playing Blu-ray: Install the software update
PlayStation 4 won't play Blu-rays or DVDs out of the box, customers have to install the software update when first getting it.
Simply connect PS4 to internet, open the function screen, then select Settings -> System Software update and install it.

Solution 4 for PS4 not playing Blu-ray: Enable disc playback feature
An internet connection is required the first time you import a Blu-ray to PS4. Just check to enable it the first time you playing the blu-ray.

Solution 5 for PS4 not playing Blu-ray: Enable HDCP
If there are copyright restrictions on blu-ray movies, you need to enable HDCP. 
From the home screen, go to "Settings" → "System", check "Enable HDCP", and press OK

Solution 6 for PS4 not playing Blu-ray: Region Code
Games are region free in PS4, but for blu-ray movies PS4 enforces region locks. If a disc is locked to region B, it will not play on a North American PS4.

In this case, you have two solutions
Solution 1. Change the blu-ray region code of the PS4. (Warning: you can only change it up to 4 times.)
Solution 2. Create a region-free copy of your blu-ray.

 

Part 5. How to play 4K Blu-ray or region locked movies on PS4

As shown above, it is very simple to play Blu-ray discs on PS4. but you may meet various playback errors. Problems caused by the system or internet are easy to be solved, but errors of incompatible disc or region code limitations cannot be fixed.

To address these issues, we can rip region locked or 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays to a PS4 supported format.

File formats that can be played on PS4

• MP4

• MKV

• AVI

• AVCHD

• MPEG-2 TS

• MPEG-2 PS

iFunia Blu-ray Ripper is the best Blu-ray to PS4 converter that supports remove the region code and other copy protections from blu-ray movies. It can rip Blu-rays to PS4 supported video and audio formats like MP4, WMV, AVI, MKV, etc. with high quality. If you only need sections from the blu-ray movie, you can use the build in edit function to trim unwanted clips, merger clips into a single one, add subtitles, effects, etc.

Free Download macOS 10.11 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7

Step 1: Run iFunia Blu-ray ripper, insert the Blu-ray disc you want to convert into the external optical drive. Click File > Open on the menu to load 4K Blu-ray movie in the Blu-ray Converter.

Step 2: After loading, it will list all the title and information. choose the title to be ripped, select the audio tracks and subtitles you want. 

To help you decide which title to be converted, this app list all information of each movie title, yo can click each movie thumbnail to preview the movie content and check information like video resolution, duration, file size, subtitles, and audio tracks.  

Optional: You can also use the build in video editor to trim unwanted video clips, crop redundant logo, merger clips into a single one, add subtitles or watermark, adjust video brightness, change interlaced video to a progressive one, etc. All these editing tasks will help giving a better video quality for playing back on PS4.

Step 3: Choose the preset for PS4 from Game Console or just choose a PS4 supported video format from the output profile panel. You can also click the Advanced Settings to customize the output video/audio.

Step 4: Go to the bottom of the main interface and click the "Start" button to start the process of ripping the Blu-ray to PS4. It won't take you too much time because it utilize multi-core CPU and Intel/NVIDIA powered GPU hardware acceleration. 

Step 5: Once done, copy the movies to a USB drive. Insert the USB into PS4. Long-press the PS button and select Media Gallery from the main list. Then click USB choose the Blu-ray movie and then start to play.

 

Summary

Can PS4 play blu-rays? Yes. 

• PS4 is not only a game player but also a high quality blu-ray and DVD player. 
• PS4 only supports blu-ray discs, 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays is not supported.
• Though PS4 Pro can play games and streams in 4K, it does not have a compatible drive for 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays.
• If you can't play the file, it's important to check not only whether it's supported, but also the software and hardware.
• Just like standard blu-ray players, PS4 is region-locked. 
• If you want to play discs that cannot be played on PS4, we recommend using iFunia Blu-ray ripping.