At long last, the Disney Plus app on PS5 has been upgraded to support 4K HDR streaming.
Accessible via the media tab, you’ll be able to enjoy compatible Disney content, which includes Marvel movies and Star Wars TV shows, in Ultra HD and HDR10 through Sony’s console once you’ve updated the Disney Plus app to a new, native PS5 version.
Disney Plus content on PS5 had previously been capped at 1080p resolution, since the app was merely a port of the PS4 equivalent. The likes of Netflix, HBO Max, and Prime Video have offered 4K playback on PS5 for some time.
“A key part of our global expansion strategy is to meet consumers wherever they are,” Jerrell Jimerson, Disney’s EVP of product and design for streaming, said in a statement (opens in new tab). “The ability to support 4K HDR video streaming on [Disney Plus] will also improve the viewing experience for fans.”
It’s worth noting that PS5 still doesn’t support Dolby Vision HDR or Dolby Atmos audio. So, if your TV is compatible with either feature, you’ll be able to enjoy a more complete viewing experience by streaming content through dedicated streaming devices (like the Apple TV 4K, Roku Ultra and Amazon Fire TV Cube) or built-in TV apps.
Mind you, it’s nice to at least be given the option of watching Andor and Thor: Love and Thunder in more than 1080p on Sony’s flagship console.
What are Ultra HD and HDR10?
Ultra HD and HDR10 are, for all intents and purposes, the two main components of the modern 4K viewing experience – but what do they actually do?
Ultra HD refers to the level of detail (or definition) in the picture. Think of your TV like a grid, with rows and columns. A full HD 1080p image is 1080 rows high and 1920 columns wide. A 4K (or UHD) image approximately doubles those numbers in both directions, yielding approximately four times as many total pixels. To put it another way, you could fit every pixel from your 1080p set onto one-quarter of a 4K screen.
As such, Ultra HD resolution reveals much more nuance and detail than 1080p. Its higher pixel density also means you can get much closer to the image without the grid-like structure of the image itself becoming visible – in other words, you can comfortably watch a much larger screen from the same seating position as adopted for a regular HD display.
HDR, or high dynamic range, refers to color. Essentially, it increases the difference between the lightest and the darkest portions of an image. Blacks get properly dark rather than milky grey, and whites get blindingly light. HDR comes in three formats; HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The former is the most basic of the three, and is supported on any modern 4K TV.
So, if you’ve been waiting for the chance to stream Disney Plus on your PS5, now is the time to do so. Once you’ve loaded the app up, be sure to check out our pick of the best Disney Plus shows and best Disney Plus movies that the streamer has to offer.