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PS Now Success

In September, Sony rolled out the PlayStation At present beta service to the PS3. The public beta has been available on the PS4 for a while at present, but this additional release spurred me to take some other look at the service. This time, I wanted to test the latency on both the PS3 and PS4. The former is practically aboriginal technology in 2014, and it's WiFi configuration tops out at 802.11g. I was curious if that would make a difference when it came downward to streaming a game.

Previously, I've written extensively regarding how PS Now feels shockingly responsive. Maybe I had extremely low expectations going in, just I'm consistently surprised at how well streamed games control over Sony's service. If I play for more than than a few minutes, I eventually forget completely about the crazy technology backside it, and just enjoy the game itself. I wanted to know more than, though. The subjective "feel" test is undoubtedly important, but I wanted to know how well PS Now on PS3 stacked up to the experience on the PS4, so I began testing.

PS Now Store

Methodology

To go an thought of how the PS3 and PS4 stand upwards against each other, I wanted to perform three tests on each platform. So, I decided to test the latency of a PS Now in-game menu over an ethernet connection, the latency of a PS Now in-game menu over WiFi, and the latency of the local primary carte on each device.

So, how am I estimating latency here? I don't have access to loftier-terminate capture equipment, but I practise accept a video camera. I set up the shot with both my TV and controller in-frame, and and then I striking "record." From there, I pressed the D-pad ten times in a row, and so started the adjacent test. I and then imported the video to my calculator, and counted the number of frames between a button printing and a visual modify on the screen.

Read: The best costless games for the PS4

My camera only shoots at 30 fps, but that'due south beside the point. I'g by no means attempting to exercise extremely precise measurements here — all I need are ballpark results. 33 millisecond units of measurement are perfectly fine for this specific test. Subsequently all, I'm trying to compare multiple results against each other — non trying to calculate the purest latency data in a vacuum. In any case, the exact amount of latency would differ drastically depending on the quality of your connection, the distance from Sony'south server farm, and your specific network surroundings. Diving any deeper on this seems like a huge waste of time since it would only apply to people with my exact setup.

PS Now Chart

Results

Across the board, the results were consistent with every test. With my gear up-up, it took roughly four frames (~115 milliseconds) for the screen to update on a wired connectedness on both platforms. Over WiFi, in that location was a tiny chip more latency at v frames (~150 milliseconds). For the local menu? One frame (0-33 milliseconds). The latency seems very consistent in my experience, and ultimately that makes even faster-paced games functional. Equally long every bit everything remains consequent, you tin compensate quite finer.

PS3 ComparisonOf class, these results shouldn't be interpreted every bit gospel. I have a fiber internet connection, my router is simply a few feet away from my consoles, I live in a relatively secluded area, and I had sectional apply of my home network during this test. If whatsoever part of the chain is sub-optimal for you lot, your gaming experience is spring to change on PS Now.

All of that said, I was very pleased to see the PS3's functioning lucifer up with the PS4's. Fifty-fifty with the 802.11g limitation of the PS3, it worked surprisingly well over WiFi. A wired connection is obviously preferable for any kind of streaming, but information technology shouldn't make that much of a divergence equally long as your signal is strong, and there isn't likewise much interference in your surface area. If yous're packed into a crowded apartment building with dozens of WiFi admission points, you'll desire to stick to a wired connection, but that's a minor price to pay for height-drawer game streaming.

At present read: How to boost your WiFi speed by choosing the right aqueduct