The PS5 is out, and in many ways it’s a lovely - if massive - machine. As many of us who spend our lives immersed in the ever-more complicated world of home entertainment technology had expected, though, the PS5’s ‘birth’ hasn’t been completely plain sailing on a technical level.
A few bugs and crashes were probably to be expected initially with such an advanced and powerful machine (the same thing’s happening with the Xbox Series X, too). As happened with the PS4 Pro, though, the PS5’s technical teething troubles are proving to run a bit deeper than a crash or two. A significant number of users are reporting problems getting the console to play high dynamic range images properly in 4K resolution - even at relatively undemanding 60Hz frame rates - onto their TVs and projectors.
In particular, as I discuss in more depth in this previous article, some users are finding that when trying to play 4K HDR from the PS5 they can only get HD (1080p) HDR. Even though the PS5’s Video Output Information screen for affected users seems to suggest that 4K HDR playback at 60Hz should be possible.
The PS5 isn't playing ball in 4K HDR for some users.
In some cases, especially for people using certain soundbars and AVRs from 2018 or earlier, this inability to play 4K and HDR simultaneously, regardless of what settings you’re using on the PS5, seems to be down to a PS5 ‘bug’/limitation that Sony is most likely going to have to patch. However, you don’t have to spend too long delving into the tales of 4K HDR PS5 issues (I’ve also seen reports of white dotting noise over 4K HDR PS5 pictures) to see that some if not most of the problems might be fixable by PS5 owners themselves.
With this in mind, I’ve collated all the possible DIY solutions I can think of to the PS5’s 4K HDR woes. They’re presented in descending order of how likely I think it is that each one will make a difference.
To be clear, as I’ve already noted these procedures won’t solve EVERY case where the 4K HDR issue currently arises. If you find yourself unable to enjoy 4K HDR on your PS5 when you think your kit should allow it, though, it’s got to be worth running through each of the potential fixes below one at a time to see if anything works rather than just sitting back to wait for Sony to sort it out.
1. Make sure your display or audio device’s PS5 HDMI port is set to Enhanced mode.
This appears to be by far the most common way of solving PS5 owners’ 4K HDR woes.
The issue is that (pretty ridiculously) some equipment capable of playing or passing through 4K HDR video feeds can only do so if the HDMI port the PS5 is connected to has been set to its Enhanced mode. This enables the HDMI to pass the extra amounts of data associated with 4K HDR feeds.
Many modern devices now support auto switching for their HDMIs, so you don’t need to manually call in the Enhanced mode. But at one time all 4K HDR devices required the HDMI Enhanced switch to be made manually. And more often than not there’s generally no onscreen prompt to remind you that you need to do it.
So if you have a 4K HDR projector or TV, or an AV receiver with 4K HDR passthrough, head into its connection menus and look for an Enhanced mode option for the port your PS5 is connected to. And when you’ve found it, make sure it’s set to on.
Bear in mind that, unhelpfully, different brands tend to use different words to describe their HDMI Enhanced modes. So also keep an eye out for connection feature names such as Deep Color or HDMI UHD Color.
The Enhanced HDMI feature on LG's 2020 OLED TVs is called HDMI Ultra HD Deep Color.
Switching HDMI ports to Enhanced on AV receivers can be particularly difficult. As an example of how complicated it can get, here’s the procedure for setting an HDMI to Enhanced mode on a 2017 Denon X2400H AV Receiver:
Press and hold the main unit’s Zone 2 Source and Status at the same time for at least 3 seconds. “V.Format<PAL> appears on the display. 3. Press the main unit’s DIMMER. 4K:<Standard> appears on the display. Use the main unit’s Tuner Preset CH+ or Tuner Preset Ch- and select the 4K Signal Format. 4. Press the main unit’s STATUS to complete the setting.
Soundbars that carry 4K HDR passthrough are an exception here, as I don’t think there are any that require you to manually activate an Enhanced mode. This may have something to do, in fact, with why older soundbars are seemingly the most affected by the currently most intractable PS5 4K HDR issues.
2. Make sure you’re using a suitable input on your display or audio equipment
Many older TVs, AV Receivers and soundbars, plus a few new ones, don’t support wide data rates on all of their HDMI ports. So check your device’s manual to make sure the HDMI port your PS5 is connected to is a 4K HDR-friendly one. Sometimes devices with HDMI ports of different capabilities will have a 4K label just above the relevant ports to help you.
3. Use the HDMI cable that came with the PS5
One of the many complications associated with the increasingly messy implementation of the HDMI connection is that it’s not just HDMI ports/associated product software that need to be able to handle 4K HDR data rates. Cables have to be up to the job too.
As you would expect, the HDMI cable Sony provides with the PS5 is fully capable of passing whatever the maximum video quality the console might be capable of, both now and, potentially, in an 8K future. So if at all possible, make sure you’re using it!
4. Connect your console directly to the TV
If you’re looping your PS5 to your display through an external piece of equipment, such as a soundbar or AV receiver, and 4K HDR isn’t working properly, try connecting your console directly to your TV or projector instead. Using the HDMI cable supplied with the PS5, of course.
The LG OLED48CX TV is uniquely well specified for the new gaming generation.
If this works and you get 4K HDR working fine, then you know your issues must lie with your intermediary gear. This is good to know, but hardly ideal if you want to enjoy the PS5’s sound through your external sound system. Which you probably you do if you’ve gone to the trouble of buying such a system.
Happily, there is a way round this: connect the PS5 directly to your TV, and then connect the TV to your soundbar or AVR using either an optical/coaxial digital audio output (most TVs will sport one or other of these), or HDMI’s ARC feature.
ARC stands for Audio Return Channel, and it enables TVs to pass high quality digital sound from their ARC-enabled HDMI ports to ARC-compatible audio equipment.
HDMI ARC supports much more bandwidth than optical/coaxial connections, opening the door to better sound quality and more channels of sound. You can even get a compressed form of the premium, ‘object based’ Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks over ARC - something that’s certainly not possible with Optical/Coaxial digital audio connections.
The PS5 doesn’t support Dolby Atmos or DTS:X for games, of course, so perhaps you’re thinking it’s not worth worrying about. Sony’s new console does, however, support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X playback from 4K Blu-ray movie discs (provided you remember to enable this from the Blu-ray player app’s Options menu). So it’s well worth using HDMI ARC if you can.
Actually, thanks to another wrinkle associated with the HDMI connector, you will ideally want both a TV and a soundbar/AV receiver that supports eARC connectivity, rather than just ARC. The eARC system makes use of the wider bandwidth of more recent HDMI connections and cables to provide not compressed Dolby Atmos and DTS:X like ARC does, but completely uncompressed object-based sound.
The LG SK9Y is one of a number of soundbars that don't seem able to pass the PS5's video output in ... [+] 4K HDR even though the console's Video Output Information suggests they should.
Unfortunately, though, not all AVRs or, especially, TVs and soundbars support eARC. And even where they do, it’s perfectly possible for the TV to only pass Dolby Atmos, not DTS:X, even though lots of Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays use DTS:X soundtracks. This happens with LG’s latest X Series OLEDs, for instance. Plus, finally, some people experience a slight audio delay when using ARC/eARC, resulting in a loss of sync between people’s lips and the words you hear.
One other possibility is to buy an HDMI splitter, so that you can pass video via one of the splitter’s outputs from your console to the TV, and your sound - including Dolby Atmos or DTS:X - via the other splitter HDMI output to your soundbar or AV receiver. Do make sure if you go this route, though, that both the splitter and extra HDMI cables you’ll need are capable of supporting 4K HDR for 60Hz (which is likely the maximum you’ll be able to support on your system if you’re experiencing issues with the PS5 in its out-of-the-box state).
5. Try adjusting the PS5’s 4K Transfer Rate setting
Although it’s a poorly explained and far from obvious feature in the PS5’s menus, the 4K Transfer Rate setting on paper, at least, has a role to play in potentially solving users’ 4K HDR issues.
We’ve already become familiar with the idea that the graphics features your system can support are dictated in part, at least, with how much data your HDMI ports and cables can carry. The 4K Transmission Rate setting is a ‘spin off’ of this that based around color compression.
I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of explaining this in detail, here. But in short there are three key ways that color can be carried with a video signal: uncompressed (usually written as RGB 4:4:4, or RGB HDR in the PS5’s Video Output Information screen if your display set up supports it); slightly compressed (usually written as YUV4:2:2); and more heavily compressed (usually written as YUV4:2:0). The -1 and -2 options represent step ups in the amount of color compression going on, from the baseline and best RGB 4:4:4 output the console will output if your TV can take it.
The PS5's 4K Transfer Rate option.
Debates rage as to whether you can see much if any difference between the three main color distribution systems - at least when you’re not looking at small text. Though I argue in this other recent Xbox-related article that I think you just about can. The key point, though, is that the two levels of colour compression the -1 and -2 PS5 transmission rate settings establish can make a big enough difference to the amount of data your system’s HDMIs are carrying to potentially allow 4K HDR playback possible where it wasn’t before.
Surprisingly, I haven’t seen much evidence in the wild to suggest that changing this setting fixes things for people affected by PS5 4K HDR issues. Which kind of makes sense given that other aspects of the PS5’s system suggest that the console at least tries to compensate automatically for potential bandwidth limitations of connected kit using information it gleans from HDMI handshake protocols.
This points again to there currently being some small bug or missing option in the PS5’s 4K HDR functionality that’s preventing it working with some slightly older setups when other 4K HDR sources do. Still, the 4K Transfer Rate setting is there and has clearly been put there for a reason, so you owe it to yourself to try both the -1 and -2 options to see if they resolve your problems.
6. Make sure other HDMI cables in your system are up to spec too
While sticking with the HDMI cable provided with the PS5 is easy if you’re connecting directly to a TV, there can be a problem if you’re wanting a long cable run into a projector, or you’re running the console through a secondary device such as a soundbar or AVR, where a second HDMI cable will be necessary.
If you fall into either of these categories, I’d recommend that you use an HDMI cable that’s certified to carry at least 18GB of data. And if all your equipment is supposed to be capable of playing or passing through such treats as high and/or variable refresh rates, you should try and get a full bandwidth HDMI cable capable of carrying 48Gbps.
It’s worth looking for HDMI cables that have been certified by the HDMI.org. This means that independent testing has proved them definitely capable of carrying the amount of data they claim to support.
HDMI cables that are tested independently as being capable of handling data rates up to 18Gbps can ... [+] carry a Premium Certified Cable logo like this.
For 18Gbps cables you’re looking for a Premium Certified logo on the cable’s packaging or online product page. It’s tougher with 48Gbps cables as the HDMI.org only recently finalized its certification program for these, so there aren’t many around. In fact, at the time of writing I don’t think there are any Ultra Certified cables that run longer than 5m. There are a few shorter examples around, though, and more are arriving all the time.
7. Set your PS5 HDMI to HDCP 1.4 mode
We’re getting into fairly desperate territory here, and I have little confidence that switching their PS5 into HDCP 1.4 mode will work for many people. It’s particularly unlikely to fix the problem of people not being able to enjoy 4K and HDR simultaneously on their systems - though it might just do the trick if you’re faced with a black screen every time you try to run your PS5 with 4K HDR. Certainly it helped a few people solve their black screen problems with the PS4 Pro.
To make the switch, you first need to boot your PS5 in its safe mode. Please take care when using your console in Safe Mode, as some options here have the potential to delete stuff! You can go into Safe Mode as follows: Turn off your console by pressing the power button. The power indicator will blink for a few moments before turning off. Once the system is off, press and hold the power button again. Release it after you hear the second beep - one beep will sound when you first press, and another will sound seven seconds later. Finally, connect the controller with the USB cable and press the PS button on the joystick.
Here you will be presented with the option to set your HDCP setting (this is essentially an anti-piracy connection protocol) to 1.4 rather than the default 2.3.
This option is explicitly designed to potentially ensure a good HDMI handshake with legacy AV gear. But be warned that even if it solves your particular PS5 4K HDR gaming issue, it could cause playback issues elsewhere. For instance, you might find that streaming apps will only play in HD, not 4K.
If you can think of or accidentally stumble on any other potential solution to PS5 4K HDR problems I may have forgotten or missed from this list, feel free to let me know via the Twitter account linked to below.
Sony PS5 Reportedly Suffering With Frustrating 4K HDR Bug
Call Of Duty: Cold War’s Graphics Options Expose Xbox Series X Setting Flaw
Xbox Series X 4K Blu-ray Player Review: A Work In Progress. Hopefully