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Getting a black screen with your PS4 Pro and 4K TV? There may be a workaround, but it's not ideal

Sherif Saed avatar
News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor
Published on

The PlayStation 4 Pro is not playing nice with certain 4K TVs, according to a number of reports.

ps4_pro

One of the major reasons many went out and bought a PlayStation 4 Pro is because of the console's capability to deliver 4K visuals. Naturally, many of those players own 4K TVs.

But, as a few users have later found out, connecting the console to certain 4K TVs doesn't always produce the intended result. The issue here is that upon connecting the console to the TV, users get a black screen.

Some believe this has to do with the most recent firmware update, 4.05, while others have had the issue fix itself after restarting the console. The number of reports with different TV make and models is too big to ignore, however. NeoGAF and Reddit are full of the same reports, but it's hard to isolate select models or brands as being the only ones affected.

The various troubleshooting steps seem to indicate the problem is with the console's HDCP setting. Choosing the outdated 1.4 version seems to have solved the issue for some, but doing so means apps like Netflix and others that rely on the most updated HDCP standard will not work in 4K.

HDCP has no effect on playing games, but since being able to enjoy 4K video on PS4 Pro is one of its selling points, disabling HDCP is a workaround, but it's definitely not ideal. Here's what one Reddit user suggested you do if you own a Vizio TV, but this could work with other brands.

  • Make sure your PS4 is off
  • Plug the HDMI into the 4K 60hz port on your TV
  • Turn your TV on
  • Hold down the power button on your PS4 until it beeps twice (Safe mode)
  • Change HDCP setting to 1.4 only
  • PS4 will restart and you'll probably still have no signal
  • Turn PS4 off and get back to Safe Mode (step 4)
  • Choose change resolution which will restart PS4
  • If you get an image after PS4 restarts then choose the YUV420 option. Hooray!
  • If you got no signal still after PS4 restarted then go back to safe mode and go back to HDCP and choose automatic
  • Got back to safe mode again and choose change resolution and then choose yuv420
  • If still not working then try the above steps a couple more times

Before you attempt these fixes, first make sure your console is connected to one of your TV's modern HDMI ports, version 1.4 or higher. If you're looking to get a 4K signal and HDR, the HDMI port needs to be 2.0, as does the HDMI cable itself.

This problem will either be fixed by TV manufacturers through a firmware update, or by Sony through an updated PS4 firmware.

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