Playstation And Xbox Booths At The 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) In Los Angeles
IN PHOTO: People walk past the Playstation and Xbox booths at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California June 10, 2014. Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn

Here's the sort of speculation that would prompt you to hold you the impending console purchase. Both reigning console giants Sony and Microsoft could possibly be working on updated models that could be released this fall. Netflix predicts that we could be witnessing 4K-compatible versions of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles.

While 4K screens have been available in the market for quite some time now, there's no support for 4K playback in any of the current generation consoles. According to a Forbes report, Netflix believes that the Xbox One and PS4 consoles would support 4K playback by "around October or November" this year. During CES 2015 last month, Netflix's Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt claimed Sony "promised" 4K video playback capability for the PS4 through a hardware revision.

However, Netflix has did an about turn on the comment after Forbes contacted it for additional information on Sony's apparent 4K playback "promise" for the PlayStation 4. A company spokesperson replied saying that Netflix isn't in a position to "speak definitely" on Sony's plans. IGN reports that Netflix's Hunt believes Sony and Microsoft will nonetheless add 4K video playback capability to their consoles through a two-year console refresh that should be due soon.

Interestingly, both Microsoft and Sony haven't washed their hands off 4K. Microsoft assured Forbes that it remains "committed to bringing leading entertainment features and services to the living room." However, the company added that it had nothing to share on the subject at the moment. Sony issued a similar statement to Forbes saying that it is considering supporting 4K output for still images and movie content. Like Microsoft, the Japanese console giant refused to divulge any further information.

It must be noted that all speculation for 4K support seems to be restricted to video as well as still image playback and not for videogames as such. It is reasonable to assume that the consoles in their current hardware capability cannot realistically support gaming at 4K resolutions. In fact, most games on Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PS4 consoles can't maintain playable frame rates at Full HD (1080p).

That leaves the PC master race to gloat about its capability to run most new games in 4K resolution, provided the gaming rig is beefy enough to handle the enormous processing load. If the speculation turns out to be true, the adoption of 4K in consoles could prove to be an impetus to 4K TV adoption among consumers.

In case you have any feedback or wish tip us off, the author can be contacted at nachiketpg13@hotmail.com

RELATED STORIES