The name “PlayStation” is very famous even for someone who doesn’t own one. It is a series of video game consoles from Sony. The latest iteration in the PlayStation lineup is the PlayStation 5 or simply PS5. With its modern hardware and software, you can play very high-quality games in 4K resolution and also produce up to 120 fps. While gaming is the primary focus of PS5, it also comes with an optical disc. Obviously, you can buy game discs and play with this optical drive. But can PS5 play Blu-ray discs?
In this guide, we will take a brief look at the PlayStation gaming console. After that, we will answer the question “Can PS5 Play Blu-ray?”. We will also see what kind of discs you can use with PlayStation 5.
A Brief Note On PS5
The “PlayStation” is undoubtedly one of the most popular series of gaming consoles. You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to have heard about the PlayStation consoles.
Sony launched the first PlayStation console in 1994. Since then, all the PlayStation models have been a huge success all over the world. Here is a timeline of all the PlayStation consoles: PlayStation 2 (PS2 in 2000), PlayStation 3 (PS3 in 2006), and PlayStation 4 (PS4 in 2013).
The latest version in the PlayStation lineup is the PlayStation 5 (PS5) released in 2020. Sony constantly upgrades the hardware and software of the PlayStation consoles with powerful processors (CPU) and GPUs.
As expected, PS5 packs all the bells and whistles of a modern video game console. Its AMD-sourced CPU and GPU can deliver 4K gameplay at high frame rates. Using its HDMI 2.1 port, you can connect the PS5 to an 8K UHD Display (if you have one).
PlayStation And Optical Media
Let us rewind the time a little bit. Optical Disc Drives and PlayStation consoles have a long-standing relationship. The original PlayStation has a simple CD ROM Drive.
With PlayStation 2, Sony bumped the optical drive to a DVD ROM Drive. You can play audio CDs and DVD movies using the PS2 Console.
Things completely changed with the PlayStation 3 Console. This was the first console in the PlayStation series to feature a Blu-ray ROM Drive. It also supported various CD and DVD formats as well.
The PlayStation 4 was a huge leap in the PlayStation lineup as the PS4 Pro version had support for 4K game playback. Coming to the optical drive situation, the PS4 also had a Blu-ray ROM Drive. It can also play DVDs but sadly Sony removed the support for regular CDs.
Can PS5 Play Blu-ray?
While the PS4 Pro version supported 4K game playback, Sony improved the performance of the PlayStation 5 with this. Apart from 4K playback, it supports a display of up to 8K UHD Resolution.
In 4K gaming, PS5 also supports variable refresh rate or VRR up to 120 fps and also ray tracing. To support this high frame rate and high-resolution gaming, Sony used a custom AMD CPU (based on AMD Zen) and GPU (based on AMD RDNA 2).
Now, coming to the main question, “can PS5 play Blu-ray?”. There are two models of PS5. One without an optical disc that supports only digital games and one with UHD Blu-ray Disc Drive that supports both digital as well as Blu-ray game discs.
So, the answer to the question is if you have the optical disc version of the PS5, then yes, it can play Blu-ray discs. In fact, the Blu-ray Drive of the PlayStation 5 can play back Ultra HD Blu-ray discs apart from the regular Blu-ray discs and DVDs.
You can use the drive to play games as well as watch UHD Blu-ray movies. Just like PS4, the PS5 also doesn’t support regular CD ROMs.
What Disc Formats Does PS5 Support?
Know that we know PS5 can play Blu-ray and DVDs, what are the different types of discs you can use with the optical drive of the PlayStation 5?
Here is a list of all the discs formats that the PS5 Console supports:
- 4K UHD (Ultra High-Definition) Blu-ray
- Blu-ray
- BD-ROM
- BD-R/RE (BDAV, BDMV)
- DVD
- DVD-ROM
- DVD-R/RW
- DVD+R/RW
If you are interested, here is a list of the disc formats that the optical drive of the PS5 doesn’t support.
- CD
- BD-RE ver. 1.0
- BD-R/RE XL
- Unfinalized DVDs
How To Play Blu-ray On PS5?
Playing UHD Blu-ray discs, regular Blu-ray discs, or even DVDs on the PlayStation 5 Console is very simple. Just take the optical disc (make sure that the disc is one of the above-mentioned formats) and insert it into the disc slot.
A Disc Player appears on the home screen as soon as the console recognizes the disc. You can start the playback just by selecting the player.
Since the PS5 Console supports UHD Blu-ray discs, gamers can take advantage of the large disc capacities of UHD Blu-ray discs.
Regular dual-layer Blu-ray discs have a storage capacity of 50 GB. So, larger games that have sizes above 50 GB usually come in two Blu-ray discs.
But Ultra HD Blu-ray discs have a storage capacity of 100 GB. So, instead of storing the game in two regular Blu-ray discs, you can just use one Ultra HD Blu-ray disc.
You can enjoy 4K movies with UHD Blu-ray discs. If you combine 4K Game Play, 4K UHD Blu-ray move playback, playback from USB, and also streaming from Netflix (and other platforms), the PlayStation 5 is more than a gaming console but a complete home entertainment system.
Region Lock On Blu-ray Discs
If you are familiar with the logistics of Blu-ray movies in general, the Blu-ray disc usually has a region lock. This means the Blu-ray player from one region can only play Blu-ray discs (usually movies and TV Shows) from that region.
We usually see three (or four) Region codes on Blu-ray discs. The following table shows the areas and their corresponding Blu-ray codes.
| Blu-ray Region Code | Area |
| A | North and South America, Japan, North and South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Oceania, and Southeast Asia |
| B | Most of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southwest Asia, Australia, and New Zealand |
| C | Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Moldova |
| A/B/C or FREE | Worldwide. Unofficial “Region Free” code |
Coming to the Blu-ray Drive in the PS5, if you want to know whether it has a region lock or not, then the answer is, yes, it has a region lock.
So, make sure you buy region-specific Blu-ray discs so that you will have error-free playback.
Another important thing to remember is that this region lock system applies only to regular Blu-ray discs. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs don’t have any region locks or codes.
Conclusion
Apart from being a top-tier video game console, the PlayStation 5 is also a media player. Many PS5 users have a simple doubt, can PS5 play Blu-ray?
In this guide, we saw the basics of the PlayStation 5 gaming console. We also saw the history of optical media in the whole PlayStation series.
After that, we answered the question about Blu-ray playback on PlayStation 5, which is yes, PS5 can play Blu-ray discs, UHD Blu-ray discs, and even DVDs.
As a bonus, we also discussed about region codes and locks of Blu-ray players and discs.
