Google Play Movies says "Note: HD Playback is not supported on this device."

[jetdog91]

So I decided to try and download a movie for fun with Google Play for the first time and it seems like there is confusion between Google and Sony on whether the device supports HD.  I picked a movie, and chose the HD version, but in the dialog where you choose between HD and SD, there is a seemingly false warning:

"Note: HD Playback is not supported on this device."

This is a little disturbing since our Xperia SP is marketed as an HD phone.  I realize we don't have super-duper HD, but 1280x720 is still HD, right?  In any event, when I go ahead and choose to rent/buy the HD version, and dowload it locally to the device, it plays back brilliantly.  Definitely HD quality to me in the playback.  Does anybody know what gives here?

Sony reps, can you please advise on this, and either clarify why the message is correct, or if the message is incorrect, pass this info to the proper people to get it fixed?  I've seen some mention on different boards (for ZL/ZQ) that this issue may cause HD to not work if streaming rather than downloading, which would mean Sony customers are getting a bit cheated by Google.

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Issue: Google Play Movies says "Note: HD Playback is not supported on this device." Seems false.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Launch Google Play.

2. Go to Movies section and select a movie that should have HD version available (ex: Star Trek Into Darkness).

3. Select "RENT FROM $n.nn".

4. In "Purchase Options" dialog that appears, note that user can select between "Rent HD" and "Rent SD" versions.

5. Note warning message under "Rent HD" option: "Note: HD Playback is not supported on this device."

Actual result:

There is a likely unwanted/incorrect warning message.  You can still choose to rent and download in HD, and playback quality is excellent and appears to be HD.  Google Play may not stream HD properly to the device but this is not confirmed.

Expected result:

Xperia SP should work fine with HD and SD versions, there should be no warning.

[Uliwooly]

That will be up to Google no Sony to address 

I did what you suggested 

Play store > Star Trek into darkness > rent from > rent HD > I do see the message 

but again, that will be up to Google to address

[jetdog91]

I agree that it may be up to Google to address, however I would think Sony would want to prod them a bit because they don't want their customers confused or their superb product misrepresented by Google (especially if this message is showing up for multiple devices that are even higher end than the SP such as ZL/ZQ).  So I've reported the issue on both ends.

[Uliwooly]

I get the same message on all my Xperias, even on my Xperia Z which has an 1080p full HD screen

[Davisdevil]

I wrote about this as well.  Google stated that Sony didn't buy the proper licenses to support HD playback for the Xperia Z ultra.  There is also a list of supported devices and the Z ultra is not listed, so I don't think this is a mistake.  I actually rented a movie and downloaded on my Ultra and it was definitely not HD.  Google refunded my money for the rental.  Now that there is a Z Ultra google play edition, I wonder what this will say when trying to rent an HD movie.