I want a PlayStation TV. I have no idea, but the idea of a microconsole that’s capable not only of playing Vita games, but also PlayStation 4 gaming content beamed to my secondary TV appeals to me. Unfortunately, it seems it might not be suitable for my needs. Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry played with the thing, and in a Wi-fi environment, found the lag to be too much of an issue.
“We ran the PS4 at 720p resolution in order to match the amount of processing the display would need to do on the PlayStation TV signal, then filmed the screen with a high-speed camera at 120fps,” said Eurogamer’s Richard Leadbetter. “We then looked at the footage and counted how many frames it took for the exact same frame to render first on PS4 before it appeared on PlayStation TV.
“With a direct WiFi connection, a disappointing 100ms to 116ms latency, with an occasional spike to 150ms. Remember, that’s in addition to the game’s inherent input lag and the latency in your display. We tried a second approach by hooking up two high-end capture cards to our PC, using Open Broadcasting Software to composite the two images into the same stream, and captured that.
“The same tests produced the same results – 100ms to 116ms delay between the exact same frame displayed on PS4 making its way via WiFi to the Vita – and the same occasional lurches in refresh.”
Thankfully, on a wired connection to both points, the latency is a significantly better – but there’s a caveat that frame rates of 60fps in games will be dropped to 30fps and the resolution to 720p when the PlayStation TV is used as an extender. There’s a secondary caveat in that there appears to be region locking in place; Eurogamer couldn’t get their UK games working on their imported unit.
And of course, Remote Play on the Vita or Vita TV still can’t match up to the lag-free experience of Nintendo’s built-for-the-purpose Off-screen Gamepad streaming from the Wii U. Still, it’s a sexy device that would make for a pretty great Netflix box that allows for game streaming as a bonus. It’s coming to US and European markets in the Southern Hemisphere’s spring.
What do you think? Is this a device that could find its place, or is this sort of thing just another reason Sony’s still struggling financially?
Last Updated: June 23, 2014
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 14:34
I live in Africa, I expect lag on everything, and then when there’s no lag, I feel a stirring in my nether regions.
http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcz2hfo9An1rkqbz3o1_500.gif
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 23, 2014 at 14:39
Why aren’t they out adventuring? Nothing wrong with their knees.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 14:40
Clearly, they’re wizards and come from the moon!
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 23, 2014 at 14:47
I heard there’s a wee bit of sucklage.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 14:47
lol the sucklage was great with wee sir Tyrion…. 😛 But fortunately the game itself more than delivers.
iAmWeasel
June 23, 2014 at 16:20
If by delivers you mean is boring and repetitive, then yes Destiny delivers.
natalia
June 23, 2014 at 15:50
Silly <3
Monado
June 23, 2014 at 14:36
Depends on it’s price point, it could be a good contender for a media streaming device.
But seeing as you mentioned the WiiU I must say, that always impressed me. It’s completely (Almost?) lag free. Played wind waker in bed on the gamepad and it was smooth as hell. My one and only wish is that wii games could’ve been played with the gamepad
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
June 23, 2014 at 14:50
they can, though you need a wii mote too. The gamepad’s camera acts as a sensor.
Monado
June 23, 2014 at 14:51
Yeah no, I’m playing Xenoblade at the moment, but more specifically, I wished I could use the gamepad as a classic controller, I mean, the button setup is the same
Hammersteyn
June 23, 2014 at 14:37
Netflix box first then game streaming. How much will it cost?
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
June 23, 2014 at 15:08
US price is $99. No idea if it will be released locally, or what it might cost.
Hammersteyn
June 23, 2014 at 15:21
Not bad for a Netflix box, My laptop is so old it can’t stream audio through HDMI
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:41
Like we didn’t see this coming! sure…. not in a million years.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 14:42
TANNNYAAA!!!!
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:43
Sup Jimmy! You holding the fort here at LG. lol I seriously gotta find more time to get my ass back on Lazygamer
Monado
June 23, 2014 at 14:44
We miss your ass
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:45
I dunno who you are butt thanks… lol
Hammersteyn
June 23, 2014 at 14:45
It’s Umar
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:48
Oh he did something with his hair! I mean face! oh crap its his name!
Monado
June 23, 2014 at 14:49
Glad you noticed, I’ve been using Sunsilk
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:49
Works like a charm!
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 23, 2014 at 14:46
Speak for yourself. His commenting on the other hand…
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:46
I missed you too Trevor, I hope you keeping up the good fight with good old Rince!
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 23, 2014 at 14:49
I will never let the powers of evil triumph.
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:49
Good on you sir!
Monado
June 23, 2014 at 14:50
Aren’t you the evil one in the relationship?
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:50
by evil you mean weaker…
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 23, 2014 at 14:50
It’s all a matter of perspective.
Rince&exhale
June 23, 2014 at 15:01
Indeed! I do oh so enjoy fighting with the cretin known as Trevor.
Monado
June 23, 2014 at 14:46
So you didn’t just tell me the other day how you miss Tanya’s ass?
Rince&exhale
June 23, 2014 at 15:00
0-o
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 14:45
Yeah man, where have you been?
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:46
Slaving away at work doing vehicle wraps for a living.. oh and working on a mac. Its not that bad really.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 14:46
A mac? You poor bastard. I hope they give you hazard pay for that… 🙁
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:47
They got a work popcorn machine does that count?? o_0
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 23, 2014 at 14:44
…
Hammersteyn
June 23, 2014 at 14:45
I know you!
TiMsTeR1033
June 23, 2014 at 14:45
You do! I know me too!
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 23, 2014 at 15:25
You’re the dude disguised as another dude, pretending to be a girl!!!
HisDivineOrder
June 23, 2014 at 15:32
So wireless devices add latency?
News at 11.
I think the wired restrictions of 720p and 30fps are less understandable. Kinda makes me wish Sony hadn’t lazy’ed out by making use of the Vita hardware they can’t otherwise sell and instead created a full-on 1080p game streamer instead.
Hopefully, the next Playstation TV will do that instead. They could have a real hit on their hands if they fully embrace the power of Playstation Now and streaming games from PS4. Vita games are not really worth very much anywhere but in Japan and not much there, either.
AceZero911
June 23, 2014 at 16:39
100-150ms latency is crazy, our wireless network has about 3ms latency, latency from JHB to CPT via a wireless router is 31ms. Did they really expect more than 10fps at 100ms latency? I mean gee, it’s only 220ms to Europe…
Milesh Bhana
June 23, 2014 at 16:54
this is disappointing, this was a big drawcard for me to get a PS4.
also, i always wondered why they couldn’t just release an update to also give the PS3 this functionality.
Nicholas Gatewood
June 24, 2014 at 07:20
Forget PS4 game streaming, coming home and playing Vita games like Persona 4: The Golden and Souls Sacrifice on my projector sounds glorious… except SS and most other Vita games have touch controls, so damn. Also, Sony focusing on indies and game streaming over AAA handheld titles is probably going to kill a lot of this appeal for me… ffffffffffffffff why does Sony do this to its dedicated handheld fans?