Sony Studios President Shuhei Yoshida previously promised gamers remote play via PC, a feature they had been demanding for a long time. The good news for these gamers is that Sony has finally implemented remote play via the PC, Mac and Windows 10 platforms with the PS4’s 3.5 update.
Sony PS4 Remote Play: the details
GamesRadar did a quick write-up covering the PS4’s remote play options and the resolution and frame-rate in which they can be played. It’s been noted that the bandwidth speed between the user’s router and devices will determine how fast a user can stream at home.
On the other hand, the general net connection of a user will determine how fast they will be able to play remotely for devices that are not connected with a router. GamesRadar notes the following options: Resolution options: 360p, 540p, 720p; Default resolution – 540p; Frame rate: Standard (30fps), High (60fps); Default frame rate – Standard (30fps).
An important point worth noting is that now both the Xbox One and PS4 support remote play through PCs. What makes it interesting is the fact that the PS4 typically has higher resolution games than the Xbox One, but despite that, the reported streaming options don’t support them yet. Apart from remote play, Sony also introduced other features with the update, such as new notification options and sharing capabilities.
PS4 vs. Xbox One
In August 2015, some users tried tampering with the settings in the Xbox One’s in-home streaming menus and on their Windows 10 PCs with the intent of unlocking the 1080 at 60fps resolution and frame-rate option. It is possible for Xbox One owners to stream games on high settings, hitting the maximum resolution and FPS similar to the highest-end console games that are based on such specifications.
Apart from the hardware capabilities of the PC, the bandwidth throughput from the end-user’s ISP and network hardware is also important. Some savvy PC and Xbox owners did see success with better quality of the streams to support 1080p at 60fps, but it consumes 13Mbp/s.
Using that kind of high-end streaming is not possible for people with bandwidth caps, but it is good that the option is available on the Xbox One. Since Sony is essentially playing catch-up to Microsoft, it will have to step up its game in this area. Though it is nice to know that the PS4 finally has this feature, the fact that it is of such a low end may not attract many gamers.
