PlayStation 4 firmware update v4.06 has put in a surprise appearance today, and rather than stabilising the system, it promises to improve the "quality" of your console. We're not entirely sure what that means, but okay. The update weighs in at 312.3MB, so it isn't exactly going to break through your bandwidth cap.
It is mandatory, however, so you'll need to have it installed if you want to play online. Remember, you can set your console to update in Rest Mode by following these instructions. Do let us know if you've noticed any improvements in the comments section, but this is likely to be under-the-hood stuff. Perhaps it's paving the way for PlayStation Network name changes?
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As Homer Simpson would say: "Mmmm, improved quality."
"We're not entirely sure what that means, but okay."....for some reason this made me chuckle
@ShogunRok More like "Mmmm something"
Few reports of consoles crashing immediately after the update is installed
Notifications ,Downloads you now have a choice to clear rather than pause
or delete.
Spent 10 minutes clearing all the clutter from my notification download box.
@Bhattiboy Oh thank goodness for that. I don't know why they temporarily removed that feature in the first place.
Maybe I can play DOOM now without making the console hang on shutdown
If only I could change my PSN name to the BigboyManchego. Just itching for that functionality.
Personally I am hoping we get external HDD support although its not as urgent for me as it once was now I have upgraded my Pro's HDD to 2TB's.
What I also want to see is an update for the PS4 Pro. With this update, I want to see the option to run the console at the PS4 level if I want. I also want to decide if I want to run it in the full Pro mode with Pro enhanced games too.
However and most importantly, I want a PS4+ option - an option that just switches off half the GPU but retains the clock speed of the CPU and the other half of the GPU. That way we can play games with unlocked frame rates and/or dynamic scaling and hopefully see an improved performance over the base PS4 version. IF these games (and any others) don't 'work' as expected, then we can always select the 'PS4' option.
By having these 3 options, it gives us gamers the choice in how we want to play our games. I know a lot of games would benefit from the increased clock speed without needing a patch but we also have the option to play at base PS4 levels too if for some reason a game doesn't run properly. We would have the opportunity to play some games at 'standard' or Pro enhanced and could use this to see how much of an upgrade the Pro actually offers. We could decide whether we want 1800p nearly 60fps OR 1080/60 in Last of Us (for example) instead of only having Pro options.
Of course these Pro enhanced games shouldn't have lower frame rates anyway so that shouldn't be a reason to run in PS4 mode. It should only be used to compare the upgrades or to run the games without patches that won't work properly in PS4+ mode.
The Pro currently only benefits less than 5% of games and a PS4+ option could see a number of games benefit without needing a patch. Obviously it won't see these run above their 'capped' level but should see them run at (or much closer to) these capped levels consistently. Sony could say something like 'use this at your own discretion as some games may not run as well (or at all)' for example...
@get2sammyb the simplest of things that make a difference.
The bloody thing interrupted my monster Elder Scrolls Online demo download.
@BAMozzy I like the idea of having the option to run on PS4 or PS4Pro level or managing the CPU/Clock. Sort of giving the console gears.
I suppose you'd want some form of method of quickly accessing preferred presets or setting games to default to a players preferred presets for chosen games.
@BAMozzy Sadly you have no chance.
@nathanSF As far as I can tell, the PS4 Pro automatically clocks down to PS4 levels to avoid breaking games. I'm not an expert at game development, but I assume many games have been performance tweaked exactly to the PS4 specs, and I also assume that some things in games are actually paced by the CPU/GPU clock speed...so if unleashed on a PS4 Pro without a patch, weird things could start happening.
That is the only logical conclusion I can make for not just opening up the firepower automatically across all games, patched or not.
@mantralux Yes, I read that, but isn't this about choice and preference where such scaling is possible and arrangements made to give players a choice?
There are rumours that if you clock your playstation 4 pro it erradicates the decades after decades of supposed frame rates issues.....
The downside is it creates a Black hole.
Sony just let me plug a hard drive into the usb and save my applications and dlcs one by one PLEASE.
@mantralux The point is that at the moment, we have no choice. A game that offers the Pro enhancements can ONLY be played with the full pro mode. Having the option to 'lock' it to PS4 could be great to see how much difference the Pro makes. Having a PS4+ mode also gives us the choice to try games with unlocked frame rates and/or dynamic scaling that haven't been patched to see if the bottlenecks that cause these 'drops' can be removed. IF it doesn't work as expected, then we still have the choice to play the game with the base PS4 levels - its not going to 'break' the game permanently!
The point is it gives us gamers the choice. Not all games will benefit from a PS4+ mode because of the way they were made (I assume) but the reason games with unlocked frame rates/dynamic scaling have these 'drops' is most likely due to the lack of processing speed - they can't process the information fast enough and so we lose frame rate or the resolution drops to reduce the amount of information the hardware has to process.
The architecture is the same and therefore the way it receives and handles the information is the same too - generally. The only difference is the amount of information these can process per second. At 800mhz that 800 megs of data per second at 911, this enables up to an extra 111mhz to be processed. In quieter scenes, the CPU/GPU are not under stress and not running at capacity. In busy scenes, the amount of information increases which would put more stress on the hardware if its not capable of processing that workload. increasing the clock speed generally makes these deal with a bigger workload without being stressed.
@BAMozzy I understand what you're saying (and would also like to get my £350 value in "unlocking" power for all games) but keep in mind that the vast majority of people on this planet, and therefore in extension PS4 Pro owners, are dumber than snails, so there is no way Sony would allow a setting in their hardware that could potentially break games. It would just result in 100x more support tickets for Sony having to deal with "my game doesn't work anymore" - "go into settings->performance and turn off PS4+" - "ah ok it works now thanks".
@mantralux the xbone s has a slightly higher clock speed that is permanently enabled and has been shown to result in higher or more stable fps for many games. Perhaps the clock speed difference is not enough to break games but you would think we would have heard if it was causing issues by now.
@aric201812 There must be some reason why the PS4 Pro power isn't just unlocked though. Is there a financial benefit perhaps?
It's just the HDR patch that they said they would do along side of the pro launch. Nothing big.
@nathanSF There isn't an option to do this, but there should be. Games like World of Final Fantasy look AWFUL on the pro right now (either due to a bug or terrible pro implementation). I really really wish I could disable the Pro mode in that game.... the blurry stuff gives me a headache.
Nothing new in this update, just security updates they don't want people knowing about. They spend more time on the security of their own PS4 than they do actual feature updates.
SONY patched the Chaitin tech jailbreak method in this patch.
P.S. I'm not a hacker or anything like that, I just like to know what exactly I'm downloading. Sony's patch notes are extremely secretive.
Damn quality updates, I was hoping for some of that sweet sweet stability.
Im starting to worry about the update its waiting to install but the boards on a lot of forums have started to light up with tons and tons of ps4 pro players why after the update its breaking there console so it crashes as soon as it starts again and no way to fix it so far.
So excited... Noticed such a massive difference... Can we add our own music to the console yet?
@Hellbringer1975 No problems here I never had any problem with any patches fingers crossed for the future.
I have gave up on the external HDD support dream...
One thing that I'm hoping for with future firmware update is external hdd support. I'm not giving up hope yet.
@mantralux I really do think you are doing people an injustice by calling them 'Dumb'. As stated these should be 'optional' and unless selected specifically, the default option would always be the primary way the console functions.
For Pro enhanced the games, the default would always be the Pro mode but you could 'force' the console to simulate a PS4. I would expect a 2 stage confirmation with the second page advising that the game has the Pro enhanced features designed to make use of the extra power of the console and 'are you sure' you want to run this game in the standard PS4 mode type message.
I expect something similar with non-patched games with the second page warning the user that the game may not run in PS4+ mode. Any problems with the game running is not the fault of developers/Sony etc etc as the game was designed to work with the PS4 settings. The typical disclaimer!
The full 'Pro' option would not be available with non-patched games and only selectable with 'Pro' enhanced games too return to the 'default' after trying out the PS4 option.
As soon as you quit that game - go to the dashboard for example, the console returns to the 'default' settings. Essentially that would mean that unless gamers specifically change the way the console should run those games, non-patched would always run in PS4 mode and Pro enhanced would always run in Pro mode.
That way if 'any' of the so-called idiots you are referring too have any issue with a specific game not running because of selecting the wrong mode, they only have themselves to blame - they themselves were the ones that selected a 'mode' that was 'different' from the default setting.
you WILL NOT get external HDD support for soo many reasons mainly for security reasons christ it took almost 2 years to get a media player out of sony it will just not happen people need to drop asking for it
@mantralux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dXvcuOFjTg
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