Obscene Jester
Banned
Wouldn't it be better to just measure the difference in current draw and calculate battery life? How he is doing it introduces too many variables and won't be accurate.
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Dualshock 4: LED's effect on battery life test
- Thread starter Steel
- Start date
tokyo slim
Banned
Sounds like you just don't like the controller. If it's a deal-breaker for you, I suggest you look into getting a different console, since most PS4 games are using those "useless gimmicks".
And if I'm not mistaken, the battery is pretty decent. It's 1000mAh, which is twice the capacity of the Dualshock 3.
Oppo
Member
It has a few uses:
Login player ID w/camera
Physical controller ID (which is player 1, 2 etc)
Correction factor for accelerometer drift
Splitscreen auto config
Player feedback (effects)
I think the data from this test would be more useful if you had taped down one of the analog sticks so the controller would be continually sending data.
Comparing the power use when the controller is sitting idle is not representative of the actual use case that people are interested in.
Consider the following hypothetical situation: Say the LED increased power consumption by 30% in idle but only 3% when the controller is in use. Measuring battery life in idle would lead you to make a conclusion that would not hold true in normal use.
Comparing the power use when the controller is sitting idle is not representative of the actual use case that people are interested in.
Consider the following hypothetical situation: Say the LED increased power consumption by 30% in idle but only 3% when the controller is in use. Measuring battery life in idle would lead you to make a conclusion that would not hold true in normal use.
silver.tongue
Member
All great ideas, but I still think we should have the option to turn it off.
Giving the gamer more options is never bad initiative.
Oppo
Member
Yeah, if it bothers enough people, sure.
I think it would have to be on for any two-player local action, but if it's a single player game they should just have it shut off once a game boots, if the player so chooses.
What might work is if there were times when the game or software mandated that the LED be on, and otherwise it was up to the player to have it on/off. So, in the XMB, or in pause menus, and maybe in multilplayer character select and stuff like that, or any time the Move functionality was being used, the LEDs would be turned on, but otherwise the player could have the lights off.
Analogue inputs are always sending data. I haven't worked with a PS4, but this is how it works on PC with, for example, the 360 controller. The buttons, on the other hand, probably only send Up and Down notices, although it's also possible that the controller is sending the whole button state each call (once a frame or more, depending on the software's programming).
Some of the power draw from regular play is going to be in audio sent and rumble usage. If there's a game where could drive a car in a circle, or against a wall, and occasionally have audio come through, that would fairly representative.
Analogue inputs are always sending data. I haven't worked with a PS4, but this is how it works on PC with, for example, the 360 controller. The buttons, on the other hand, probably only send Up and Down notices, although it's also possible that the controller is sending the whole button state each call (once a frame or more, depending on the software's programming).
Some of the power draw from regular play is going to be in audio sent and rumble usage. If there's a game where could drive a car in a circle, or against a wall, and occasionally have audio come through, that would fairly representative.
xn0
Member
I'm expecting this to be an option in the OS soon.
I agree with the people saying that testing the drain with idle controllers is not going to provide useful information. An idle controller is going to have lots of power saving features kicking in and isn't representative of power draw during gameplay.
I don't know if you have access to a power supply but can you power the LEDs from an external source and just measure the power consumption? That would be much easier and more accurate than doing the battery drain tests.
I don't know if you have access to a power supply but can you power the LEDs from an external source and just measure the power consumption? That would be much easier and more accurate than doing the battery drain tests.
must be something wrong with both of my controllers then. I definitely don't get 10 hours.
It's been described earlier, but analogue inputs are constantly sending a state signal, so it wouldn't matter.
pretty done
Member
They need to fix this asap. Let us turn it off, this controller dies too damn fast.
Then the controller will be heavier.
8hr is a the trade off. Most people do not game 8hr straight. Its still double the battery life of the wiiu gamepad.
Also you can always get a longer usb cable if you run into any issues. I do not see led using any big part of the battery.
Current battery is a vast improvement from DS3 specwise, there are just so many more things drawing battery power in this case.
This to me says that there will be more software choices for the controller soon, or a newer model with increased battery life.
Dreams-Visions
Member
Good thread.
xn0
Member
I am going to redo the test next week.
rbanke
Member
As others have mentioned, I'd like to see active controllers compared.
That there are so many LED's in it will add a little more draw, but really this should be nothing compared to the increased polling (assumed that they got lower latency by upping the polling, can't say for sure) and added Bluetooth audio. There is a reason wireless gaming mice are not super popular and are riddled with battery life complaints.
That there are so many LED's in it will add a little more draw, but really this should be nothing compared to the increased polling (assumed that they got lower latency by upping the polling, can't say for sure) and added Bluetooth audio. There is a reason wireless gaming mice are not super popular and are riddled with battery life complaints.
They really skimped out on the battery capacity. Sorry Sony, I know the controller has a lot of features, but at £55 here in the UK, a larger or more capable battery should have been included. Thankfully charging is pretty easy, and third party batteries with far better capacity should be easy to fit.
FrostuTheNinja
Member
Thank you for this thread. Looking forward to your findings during gameplay!
xn0
Member
Thanks, I was glad to do some OC, NeoGAF is a great forum.
It's not the LED that's causing the issue. These tests don't show anything other than the fact that a light uses more power than no light, which everyone should have already known. When the controllers are actually being used in games the difference in battery life between the two will be minimal because there are other parts that use far more power. Basically even if his tests showed that turning off the LED increased the charge time from 10 hours to 20 when idle that doesn't mean it's going to last twice as long while gaming. In fact I'm willing to bet that under normal gaming conditions, using both the rumble and sound, that the difference would be insignificant between the two. If all people are worried about is their idle charge time that's what the "turn off the controller after so many minutes" settings are for.
I hope Sony gives the option to turn it off, but it's not going to be the fix you are looking for in terms of battery life.
IdreamofHIME
Member
If Nintendo won't patch a way to blank their pads screen with it's not doing anything but showing what's on the TV and only giving 2hours play time, then I can't see Sony prioritizing this with all the shit they're probably working on at the moment.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
The 360 wireless controller (which I still use often because PC) has an always-on LED and its battery life is so long that I actually have no idea how long it is. Tens of hours.
Meanwhile DS4 is 7 hours for me and DS3 and SixAxis have been <6. (lol30lol)
Meanwhile DS4 is 7 hours for me and DS3 and SixAxis have been <6. (lol30lol)
Technically the current battery of the DS4 would qualify as a bigger battery by DS3 standards. But I could see something that hooks onto the micro usb as a backup battery pack, it could even simultaneously cover up the light(yes please). Third party most likely.
Ultimatepancake
Banned
I use a Logitech Marathon mouse and I only have to swap out AA's every year and a half or so *shrugs*
Hidden One
Member
Why did I laugh so hard?
CraZed
Member
This ▲. I Played AC4 and NBA 2k14 from 10pm damn near straight to 9 in the am (I work nights and the house was asleep) and didn't have to change controllers until about 8 am, which is when I got the low battery alert. It's fine.
That's not a gaming mouse. I have a G700, it lasts about three hours of continuous use before having to either plug it in or change the batteries. It's so annoying I bought an Enloop 4-pack to keep swapping them instead of having to stay plugged in all the time.
SmoothRunningGun
Member
So finally people will come around to agreeing that we should be able to turn off this useless light.
Mike Works
Member
I'd like to know if this will EVER be available in North America.side question: is the OFFICIAL Sony charging station available yet?
there will be lots of things affecting battery life. As you can only use 4 controllers instead of 2, it may be reserving two bluetooth channels for each controller - one for audio? If it keeps that audio streaming connection open permanently (even if not actually playing anything) that could use up battery pretty quickly.
Unless you're posting from Africa from a ruggedised laptop with a hand crank for power you should drop the tired drive-by memes.
DistortionOfReality
Member
oh BURRRRN. Good show
OT: Light won't bother me, and 8-10 hours seems like the absolute maximum I would spend on a single gaming session anyway, not sure I can see the issue here. I like the DIY approach to finding out the comparative battery drain though!
xn0
Member
You are absolutely correct and I stated this in my test. Of course no LED is going to use less power than the DS4 with the LED on. However I was testing how long the controller lasts at idle, and when the DS4 without the LED lasted over twice as long maybe having the LED on is significant given then 3.65v battery Sony is using in the DS4.
LEDs require power to run. You are a genius.