Can PS4 Pro play HEVC/x265 video files from a USB?

While on the topic of 4K, the Media Player on PS4 Pro has updated to support 4K video. Following this update, 4K videos in mp4 format saved on a USB stick can be played on the PS4 Pro using the Media Player app. There is a problem is that many 4K videos are encoded with HEVC/H.265 codec and PS4 Pro can't play HEVC/H.265 video from USB stick.

Why does the PS4 Pro Media Player not support HEVC since the PS4 Pro, as expensive machine, can do 4K with HDR? Because H265 is not in the Basic PS4 Media player application. The media player has had ZERO updates for the PS4 PRO its only been updated to support functions that work on ALL versions of PS4 like the VR, FLAC and 4K update. If you want to play HEVC/H.265 4K video, you can put the USB stick on the TV set to have a view, making sure your 4K TV is 2015 and later models. For those insisting on playing HEVC/H.264 video on PS4 Pro, The only workaround is to transcode HEVC/H.265 to H.264 for PS4 Pro media player playback.

Getting H.265 to H.264 Converter

To re-encode HEVC to AVC video for PS4 Pro, you need a HEVC Decoder. Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate will be the NO.1 HEVC converter, whose name you can often see in tech sites like digitaltrends.com. Why using Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate to convert HEVC/H.265 to PS4 Pro?

To start with, This HEVC Decoder can decode any HEVC video source like HEVC MKV, HEVC MOV, HEVC MP4, even 4K Blu-ray encoded with HEVC codec.

Then, this video converter can convert H.265 video to H.264, DivX, XviD, MPEG-2, QuickTime, DNxHD, WMV1, WMV2, WMV3 codec video.

Furthermore, this HEVC encoder can re-encode video including 4K Blu-ray to HEVC/H.265 video using NVIDIA CUDA acceleration offering realtime 30X HEVC encoding speed.

Equally, it also can convert other PS4 Pro unsupported video format like MKV, Blu-ray and DVD with another region codes, FLV, MXF, TS, etc to MP4 for PS4 Pro streaming via USB Stick. It can compress 4K video for 1080p when your TV is not a 4K model. it also can upscale lower resolution video to 4K for PS4 Pro streaming on 4K with better visual effect.

Last but not least, this HEVC to PS4 Pro converter enables you to choose subtitle streaming you like and hard burn the subtitle to video for PS4 Pro media player playback video with subtitles. You also can configure A/V encoder, bit rate, frame rate, etc to get the most compatible video for PS4 Pro media player.

10 Minutes Convert HEVC/H.265 to PS4 Pro

1. Download and install Pavtube H.265 to PS4 Pro converter. Launch the software and simply load HEVC files into it by brower searching and "Darg-and-Drop" feature is also supported. This video transcode supports to convert H.265 video by batch. You can choose the subtitle streaming at the bottom of the chapter list to hard encode the subtitle to video.

load HEVC video

2. Navigate to "Format" > "Common Video" > "H.264 High Profile Video(*.mp4)". The switch to "Settings" to set video size. If your video is 4K video and you want to preserve 4K resolution, you can tap 3840x2160 in Size. When your TV is HD TV model and just need 1080p, you can simply choose 1920x1080 here. You also can adjust video bitrate, frame rate, audio channel to get better video enjoyment on PS4 Pro. When you encoding video to H.264, you also can accelerate the video encoding speed with GPU acceleration. Just hit on "Tools" > "Options" > Accelerate > Enable Encode Acceleration.

H.264 MP4

PS4 Pro system also can play music files from a USB storage device. You can listen to music in the background without interrupting games, the Internet Browser, or other applications. This HEVC transcoder also can convert HEVC/H.265 video to MP3, AAC, FLAC for you listening on PS4 Pro. Just choose the format in "Common Audio".

3. Finally, after the all settings, you can simply click "Convert" in the bottom-right corner to start to convert H.265 to H.264 for PS4 Pro. A process window will pop up to show you the process bar. Once the process ends, locate the generated H.264 files in output folder.

Playback Videos and Music on PS4 Pro Via USB Stick

When you transfer video files to USB Stick, you can't dump it into the “root” folder of your USB drive, otherwise, the PlayStation 4 won’t see it. Your video files must be located inside a folder on the drive. Audio files must be located in a folder called “Music” on the drive for the PS4 Proto detect them correctly. Video files can be in any folder, but they need to be in a folder and not on the root of the drive. You could put them in a folder named “Videos”, or create separate folders for different types of videos.

Once you transfer video and audio to USB stick, you can safely remove the drive from your computer and plug it into one of the USB ports on your PS4 Pro.

Launch the PS4 Media Player app and your USB drive will appear as an option.

You’ll see the PS4’s “Media Player” app icon in the PS4’s “content area” — that strip of icons on the main screen. Select it with your controller and launch it. If you haven’t installed the media player app yet, the icon will still appear here, but it’ll take you to the PlayStation Store where you can download the app for free first.

media player on ps4

Select your USB drive, browse to the music or videos you want to play, and use the buttons on the controller to control playback.

While playing a video, you can press the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons to rewind and fast forward. Press the “Options” button to open a playback control panel, and press the triangle button to view information about the file.

When playing music, you can hold down the PlayStation button while in a game to access the quick media player controls, allowing you to quickly skip songs and pause playback.

Please remember, you’ll also need a 4K compatible TV to watch the videos in 4K using PS4 Pro.

What's Next? Price: $52$65