PS VR does not support HDR pass through

The PlayStation Blog released 'The Ultimate FAQ' for the PlayStation VR, which releases next week, that answers a number of questions and reveals one surprise effect of the PS VR. While it may not affect most, anyone that owns PlayStation 4 Pro will see the difference.

According to the FAQ, the PS VR Processor Unit essentially acts as an HDMI splitter between the PS VR and TV. When the PS VR is off, your television will show the normal PS4 output and when the PS VR is on, you will see the 'Social Scree' output image.

However, when the PS VR is off and you haven't removed the Processor Unit from the equation, you won't get PS4 content in HDR.

Q: Does the Processor Unit support 4K and HDR pass through?

The PS VR Processor Unit (PU) supports video pass through so that you can enjoy regular non-VR content on your TV when you have the PS4 connected to the TV via the PU and the PU is connected to power via the AC adapter and the PS VR headset is not in use. This pass through support works for regular 1080p signals and also supports 2160p (UHD or ‘4K’) content in YUV 420 color format at up to 60 Hz from a PlayStation Pro.

However, HDR signals are not supported for pass through by the PU. This applies to both 1080p and 2160p HDR. If you have a HDR capable TV and want to view PS4 content in HDR, it is necessary to cable the PS4 directly to the TV.

Does this really matter? It will to the people who have the ability to use HDR and 4K or anyone that buys the PS4 Pro that will take the hit. Sony recently held any entire event hyping up their more powerful PS4 console with its upgraded GPU (more than doubled), 4K display, boosted clock rate, and a 1TB HDD. Sony emphasized the 4K HDR feature of the PS4 Pro quite a bit during the PlayStation Meeting, showing off a number of forward compatible games.

The biggest emphasis of the meeting was 4K gameplay and HDR support (though a "majority" of games will be scaled), it appears as though this is a major oversight for the first generation of PS VR.

Of course, players can always disconnect the Processor Unit and re-connect their PS4 to their TV for HDR gaming, then plug the Processor Unit back in every time they want to play on VR.