Microsoft’s Xbox Series X console is supposed to double pretty well as a 4K movie player thanks to its UHD Blu-ray optical drive, but it actually struggles to play back many discs.
That’s according to a popular thread with over 500 comments on the official Xbox Series X subreddit, which is filled with reports from users claiming that the next-generation console has a tough time reading triple-layer, 100 GB discs. While the Xbox Series X has no issues with dual-layer (66 GB) discs, owners say that 4K movies on higher-capacity discs play back with all sorts of problems that include extremely low frame rates and lack of audio.
“The Series X can play 66GB discs perfectly fine,” Ketamine-Kev began. “The tight bastards over at Disney have never issued a movie on a 100GB disc afaik, so Doctor Strange in 4K went down a treat the other day.”
“However, if you put a 100GB 4K disc in (which, at this point, a decent amount of 4K Blu-rays are), the Xbox completely shits out. For me, it plays everything at 1 – 2 fps with no audio, which pretty much results in taking minutes to get through the opening studio logo which is like 10 seconds at best.”
This is an issue that Microsoft should probably investigate, as triple-layer Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are used for a significant portion of films that have been released on 4K thus far. Sony’s PlayStation 5 console, which also supports playback of 4K Blu-ray, does not seem to be affected by such issues.
Source: r/XboxSeriesX