Today Sony has officially announced plans to bring their next-generation video game console PS5 (PlayStation 5) out holiday season of 2020 with a 4K UHD Blu-ray optical drive. Sony decided to give WIRED magazine an exclusive bit of details regarding this upcoming console in a recently published news post. In that news post, it has been confirmed that the PlayStation 5 will not only include an SSD (solid-state drive) for internal storage but also include an optical drive for games physically on a disc. Sony may not have found the previous console (PS4, nor the PS4 Pro) worthy of getting it but this next-gen console (PS5) is set to include a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive. Games will also physically be contained on 4K UHD Blu-ray Discs (via a BD-100 specifically).

There’s no word yet if the player will be capable of outputting Dolby Vision (or even HDR10+) form of High Dynamic Range. It’s worth noting that the current Sony 4K UHD Blu-ray set-top players do feature Dolby Vision support, so that’s perhaps a good sign it could be coming to the PS5. Next question, will the console be able to bitstream next-gen immersive sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X? That’s yet to be officially confirmed for the formats (by name), however, there is mention of sound that will leave you immersed – as quoted below.

“The result, Cerny says, will make you feel more immersed in the game as sounds come at you from above, from behind, and from the side.”

– WIRED

That should be a hint at Dolby Atmos probably at least being supported, especially considering that the rival XBOX One console now is featuring Dolby Atmos sound on some games. As further details come to light regarding this upcoming console and its capabilities in terms of a 4K UHD Blu-ray player, I’ll be sure to update this post. In the meantime, be sure to read the full news story over at WIRED. Below you can find the quote from that where they [Sony] drop the confirmation that it will include the 4K optical drive.

“Either way, physical games for the PS5 will use 100GB optical disks, inserted into an optical drive that doubles as a 4K Bluray player.”

– WIRED