Xbox Series X owners on Reddit and other social media platforms like ResetEra are complaining about issues with the playback of 4K Blu-Rays on the console. Many posters have issues with specific movies not working on their consoles. According to a thread that was originally posted on Reddit, the issue appears to stem from larger 4K Blu-Ray discs known as “triple-layer” discs. The triple-layer discs are 100GB discs that are designed to store larger 4K movies. Smaller dual-layer 66GB discs can also hold 4K movies and they seem to work fine on the Xbox Series X. Triple-layer discs make up a large percentage of all 4K Blu-Rays and are often considered in home cinema communities to be “real 4K” whereas dual-layer discs are often labeled as “fake 4K”.
The original poster of the Reddit thread complained about triple-layer movies being unable to run properly. “For me, it plays everything at 1 – 2 fps with no audio”. Other Xbox Series X owners in the comments complained about the console being excessively loud while playing 4K Blu-Rays. Commenters also added in their own movies which failed to work on their consoles. Movies such as The Lord of the Rings, Tenet, and The Matrix were all described as being unplayable or having issues that make them unwatchable. All three of which are triple-layer discs.
It’s unclear what is causing the issue and why some owners are experiencing it but not others. It could be that Microsoft uses different 4K Blu-Ray drive suppliers which means some consoles have inferior drives or it could be a software issue affecting some consoles but not others. I personally tried three triple-layer 4K Blu-Rays on my own Xbox Series X and had no issues. It’s unclear whether Microsoft is aware of the issue affecting some Series X owners.
If you’d like to see if your Xbox Series X is affected by the issue, a list of triple-layer 4K Blu-Ray discs can be found here.
