ChronotriggerJM
Member
Yeah there's a ton of annoying variables to account for regarding ping. A hardwired line is obviously preferred, but anything on Wifi has so much to account for. I imagine Wavelength, and interference to be major players.
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Ars Technica reviews PlayStation Now (with bandwidth tests)
- Thread starter gofreak
- Start date
Yeah there's a ton of annoying variables to account for regarding ping. A hardwired line is obviously preferred, but anything on Wifi has so much to account for. I imagine Wavelength, and interference to be major players.
StopMakingSense
Member
I mean to like 90+% of people watching. It's well past the "good enough" test for consumers. Enthusiasts might have issues with it. I have very discerning visual tastes, and I can't be bothered to care about the difference.
Ultra HD is 15Mbps, and is 4k
IAmRandom31
Banned
18Mb/s speeds here and I can say it is very reliable. Starts up each time, unless I'm on wireless and its during a bad time and my bandwidth is sucking it up at that moment.
When I played Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time it was near flawless even on my wifi at a good time, but there were a few moments when I could tell the IQ dropped a tad down to keep up with the pace of the game. I never had a moment of input lag though, felt just like playing it live.
Really is fantastic tech. I'd say 15Mb/s is prob the minimum I would recommend.
When I played Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time it was near flawless even on my wifi at a good time, but there were a few moments when I could tell the IQ dropped a tad down to keep up with the pace of the game. I never had a moment of input lag though, felt just like playing it live.
Really is fantastic tech. I'd say 15Mb/s is prob the minimum I would recommend.
Are you on WiFi? I've never had an issue with lag on the same speeds.
qa_engineer
Member
50mb connection here in NYC and its very much like playing the game locally on a PS3.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
If im gonna try this i need to use wired connection for sure.
StopMakingSense
Member
lag is not dependent on the bandwidth, but the latency, which is mostly the physical land distance between you and the servers.
LordOfChaos
Member
It's a bit funny that this concept applied the other way - going from the last gen consoles to current gen - would make the newer generation partly moot if you could just play PS4 games on a PS3. The last gen HD twins could certainly stream like this.
Granted, the PS4 and XBO use big SoCs that would be costly to have thousands of running in server racks (like this currently uses Cells and RSXs in server boards on racks), but you could certainly do it with PC games and more standard hardware.
Granted, the PS4 and XBO use big SoCs that would be costly to have thousands of running in server racks (like this currently uses Cells and RSXs in server boards on racks), but you could certainly do it with PC games and more standard hardware.
Schreckstoff
Banned
Didn't they leave out the most important factor?
How near were they to the next Sony datacenter.
How near were they to the next Sony datacenter.
Dragonborn
Member
Why are you calling BS? Sounds about right. I was pretty damn impressed at just how well it worked both on PS4 and Vita.
That's be a good idea, I live in the very south of Texas and it worked well. Would be good for others to chime in.
ChronotriggerJM
Member
Also depends on whether or not they're supplying the servers or if they're renting. I really don't know much about it
Jacksinthe
Banned
I have 100 down rock solid business class. Nothing looked native to me when I tested it. My ping is always below 15ms and I still notice lag when streaming PSNow. Its acceptable in a pinch but in no way can it be mistaken for native.
I'm calling BS on it feeling like local play.
brickarts295
Member
I'm on 14mps and I can run PSNow on PS4 just fine, only problem are the suden dips in quality every few minutes. Weirdly enough, this doesn't seem to happen a lot when playing on a Vita in fact I had barely any drop on the Vita than the PS4. I'm guessing is because the game is streaming on a lower resolution than a PS4 but still it's pretty impressive especially if Sony plans to bring this to Phones and Tablets.
Not all 20mb connections are created equal. I have AT&T and my buddy across town had Time Warner (RR). I have 40mb and he has 20mb. His connection was MUCH more stable, could download quicker and had on average lower pings than mine, even though all the speed test reports from websites said otherwise.
Real word /= advertised or tests.
Wut. It's not even close .
Dragonborn
Member
But it does for the most part. Like they said, pro SF gamers might be able to know the difference but those guys are something else (and they're not going to be using PS Now)
SerTapTap
Member
The amount of input lag PS Now adds is probably negligable compared to the ping some connections have. If it's unplayable for you it's probably your connection, not an inherent part of PS Now. At some point, you're fighting against the speed of light and there's just always going to be latency. Some percent of people will probably never be able to take proper advantage of this stuff.
That said, 9Mbps is a pretty low barrier for bandwidth, really.
It's half of the equation, and the more easily measured one. Ping can be variable and more people down their down speeds than ping (though testing it against a SINGLE location is pretty easy)
StopMakingSense
Member
Sorry, I was trying to more explain that it is clearly in the "close enough" range for the majority of consumers, if they were to compare the two. Such that watching it on its own they wouldn't really know they were watching one or the other.
I know I wouldn't care if I were watching Vudu instead of a Blu-Ray, and I do have a very discerning visual acuity for such things.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Ah, I thought that was their best 1080p stream. What was that called, "Super HD"? Is that gone, and it's simply 1080p now? All these marketing terms confuse me. Just tell me the resolution, dammit! Either way, they recommend 25Mbps for Ultra, but I guess that's so you have some to spare.
it has little to do with the speed and a lot more with latency (ping) to their PSNow server that is closest to you.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
I have no data caps, but do have a woefully crappy connection I pay too much for. 3Mbps for $60 a month (there's no competition here) so I can't partake. 25Mbps cpsts around $150 a month. By price the more effective solution, but also something I can't rationalize. Given that $60 is one bill among many.
yes, i wonder this too - routher bandwith limitation is probably not the greatest, and quite possibly you might have same experience with 5Mbs connection that they have with 9 Mbs... I believe routher bandwith control drops packets to limit connection.
Of course, if you barely satisfy minimum requirements, it also means that someone else in the house surfing the net will cause your game to glitch for a second.
But who does not have at least 10 Mbs these days? Minimums are more like 20 Mbs... real limit is upload speed and for this purpose it does not matter anyway.
Reallink
Member
Not just distance, but also the peering and routing path your ISP uses. Connecting to a server 100 miles away may be 16ms on one ISP but 50ms on another.
SirMossyBloke
Member
I am hardwired BTW, I have no idea what causes such awful issues. I can download up to 6MBps though on psn.
BeatResetsTheWorld
Banned
I'm sorry, but this is kind of sad for a professional tech review. I expected DF level of actual timing measurements and lag compared to a local setup, not just "felt like local play".
Thunder Monkey
Banned
People in small American towns.
We have Whirlwind DSL through KanOkla. Fiber-optics, and yet the fast speed is 250Mbps for $400 a month, down to 3Mbps for $60. Cheapest possible under my budget was the 3Mbps. Which when I started my sub was actually 1.5Mbps for $60 but we got boosted speeds when the fiber-optics were put in.
Small towns + monopolies = higher prices for everyone!
WAR recon zero
Banned
Useless article without lag and ping measurements.
My ping here in Colombia to the google server is 80 ms :v
My ping here in Colombia to the google server is 80 ms :v
I've only got 5 mbps down here in southern California. All the talk here makes me simmer with envy, yet I mostly get by okay on my 5 mbps. Just have to wait longer for downloads.
UpUpDownDown
Member
Unique compression routines have been some of the big secrets behind game streaming tech. The solution to the problem isn't isolated to bandwidth. Sony acquired gaikai for a reason.
Spaced Harrier
Member
Petrae
Member
Here, you either deal with the data caps or you go without Internet due to lack of competition (along with most ISPs implementing data caps here anyway).
My data cap forces me to be selective with how I use it. Since I watch a lot of streaming media and do a lot of web-surfing, I buy fewer digital games and am wary of large patches.
UpUpDownDown
Member
The worst part is losing unlimited bandwidth in Canada, because of various reasons....only to see those reasons go away 2 years later if you're willing to pay extra for it.
:/
Nopers. Wired connection.
Dash Kappei
Not actually that important
I see you finally StoppedMakingSense. What a load of bull, there's a HUGE difference between that and a bluray's video quality. Freakin' huge.
IAmRandom31
Banned
before you even are able to purchase a game, individually, it will run a network test first to see if you can even play it. Will just tell you you can't play the game with your current bandwidth it the test fails.
tbh a download speed that high is pointless for this, the maximum upload from the server will be far lower. Someone on a 10mbps connection could have a better PS Now experience than you if they're closer to a datacentre.
Good Lord in Italy this service it's send to dead. We are the third world of the bandwith.Just to give an idea even 7 Mbps aren't real 7 Mbps here. It's the more optimistic scenario to have a full steady 7 Mbps service. But of course with crazy amount of money you can pass at better bandwith.
Triggerhappytel
Member
It's early days, but if Sony can get proper streaming working then I think this is really damn exciting. I fucking love browsing and watching random stuff on Netflix, and I'd be totally down with a gaming equivalent. Just need to make sure there's plentiful content from day one.