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Dualshock 4: LED's effect on battery life test
- Thread starter Steel
- Start date
In flower it emits an ambient light depending on the "mood" of the level, and also changes dynamically; very subtle but nice effect if you're in a dark room.
But like I said, I can get 9-10 hours gameplay sessions with my controller without it ever complaining about low battery.
It's gaming related. It's about battery life. It's useful info.
This is gaf and we can at least garner a response from @YOSP if we come together and unify to make our voices heard. OP Please add #DS4LEDLIGHTOFF and see what happens. I'm willing to create an account and tweet this because I don't actually have a twitter account. Lets get behind this.
The point is, most of us who don't have cameras don't need the light on. Games like Resogun allow you to turn off the audio in the controller so why not the light?
famousmortimer
Banned
Everything doesn't have to be a campaign. Just tweet at them once or twice. They pay attention. They also read gaf.
You guys are wasting your time. No way they will let it be turn off. Just think about all the calls to customer support if they let people turn off the light. No way to see if the controller is even on. It also uses it to show 1 or 2nd player. Its shows that the controller is charging.
What people need to ask for is a way to dim it. That might be something they would do. Asking for them to turn it off is just wasting time.
razgriz417
Member
got me a 15footer for $4 on monoprice
On Topic: Great work xNo! I kinda like the light to show which controller is the active one and when its fully charged but I really want to lower the brightness. I'd give up the light tho if it'd help with battery life in a heartbeat
KungFucius
King Snowflake
How much room is there to put in a larger battery? Maybe that is the best route to go.
I was talking about the internets not gaf my dude!
The PS4 is a $400 toy; there is no possible way to talk about it in a non-First World context because by it is by its nature a frivolous thing.
If Sony didn't want people to turn off the light bar completely, it would have been nice to have the option to adjust its brightness at the very least. I personally don't mind the light bar, but I could see why some people might be annoyed by it, especially if it does affect the battery life.
Nealand Liquor
Member
I don't know if you're joking or you are minimising the issue for some reason. Like it or not this is a pretty big design flaw. Not only is the short battery life inconvenient for the consumer, but the constant charging of the battery (that cannot be replaced mind you) will drastically shorten its life. I don't think anyone wants to have to replace their $60 every year for a feature most don't use. So sure it's not genocide, but there is no need to minimize the issue and make excuses for Sony*.
*Not directly saying you are.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
You know something, I think I might do that as well. I hardly even notice it in games even though I know it's rumbling.
Thread whining: the post.
If gaf got MS to reverse DRM surely Sony flipping a switch is doable!
Maybe the system shouldn't bother doing all that if it doesn't detect a pair of headphones connected to the controller port. Why send game audio to be processed in the controller if no audio devices are connected?
SonyGAF right?
There are numerous things that I'd rather have a near-pointless Twitter campaign for ahead of a lightbar on a controller.
captscience
Member
This test seems flawed. Of course the light is going to draw much more on an idle controller, however, that draw might not make much difference while in active gameplay where it's power usage might be a small percentage of the overall usage.
That said, I want an option to turn the thing off.
That said, I want an option to turn the thing off.
Maybe because I only play 1-2 hour gaming sessions max, I just don't notice the battery issue. I haven't had the low battery warning appear for me once since I've owned my PS4. I tend to check the battery life when I power off or put the system in standby, and if it needs it (so far, I've only been down to one bar), I'll plug it on. Other than that, it's been a non-issue.
Also, I like the LED light, but there should be an option for people to disable it, if it bothers them.
Also, I like the LED light, but there should be an option for people to disable it, if it bothers them.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Let's be fair on both sides. We've already discussed this issue vehemently in what seems like a few decent sized threads.
Would I like to have the option to turn it off? Of course. Does the battery life bother me, not really. Do I want better battery life? Absolutely.
Meanwhile it's not something that stops me from enjoying the games but damn if I would not want some more options with it.
I think I will be turning off rumble in the future though.
between this and the issues with his test, I'm still inclined to agree here. I would honestly guess if it were a significant battery drain Sony would have given us the option to turn it off at launch. I think all this test proved is that "if your controller is doing absolutely nothing else, this is the difference in the battery indicator on screen" and nothing else.
If/when sony does give us the option to turn it off, essentially all posts are just then going to turn into "wtf? I switched my LED off and I didn't get any extra battery life"
an idle controller that from the looks of it started around a 6% greater charge than the other one..... yeah.....
BruiserBear
Banned
Let us shut off the light Sony.
to be fair, i dont know if thats actually happening without headphones plugged in
You maverick, you.
On topic:
Sucks that the battery life is taking a hit because of this, I've always been impressed by how long the 360 and PS3 controllers lasted - 8 hours~ is unacceptable for a home console.
and by unacceptable I mean "damn this sucks, but there's no alternative so I kind of have to accept it anyway."
That is apple and oranges.
If you really care about this then people need to request a way to adjust the brightness. I just do not see anyway they will let people just turn it off without a redesign.
Really? Its a video game forum all our problems are first world related.
EL CUCO
Member
I just Tweeted him. Hopefully he checks out the thread and can sort it out.
https://twitter.com/elcuco786/status/405389534592266240
It lets you easily see what player you are for multiplayer. It's easier to remember a color, especially if they match the color of your character in games like Tiny Brains. "I'm the blue one, the blue controller is mine".
It flashes in some games to indicate health, or add ambiance. The developers of Transistor say it'll flash along with the sword while it speaks (which also flashes in game). Which is neat.
I think it's nice, but I understand why people want the option to disable it.
TheLegendOfMart
Banned
I wish people wouldn't go crying to Sony high ups for every little pathetic problem, eventually they will stop listening when actual real problems occur.
this
8-Bit Beast
Banned
Speaking of disabling the lightbar, is there a way to disable rumble at an OS level still? I've had rumble turned off for so long I'm not sure I can go back to having it enabled. Also yes, my controllers last an eternity this way.
Nealand Liquor
Member
If that is your feeling, I still don't understand how your first post is anything but thread whinning. Nobody is saying the lights stop them from enjoying playing games and that 'feeling' has absolutely nothing to do with this thread.
This is a real problem. 7-8 hours of battery life that will only go down as the battery keeps getting recharged,
TheCanisDirus
Member
B/c camera? The camera was originally designed as part of the system like the Kinect is part of the One (if rumors are to be believed). The LEDs were to interact with the camera.
I hope they give us the option to turn it off, switch colors etc. Just give us the control.
I also hope that more developers use it for health as KZ does in SP. I love how it adds some cool ambient lighting to the room in dark setting.
Considering most controllers before this lasted way longer, it's a big deal.
Matrix XII
Member
7-8hrs of battery life ins't a problem?
One controller did not start with 6% more charge than the other in this case, that was after 3.5 hours if you read the chronology of the posts. I agree with your second point though, it's hard to say how much more the controller would drain while playing a game, but the controller still draws significant amounts of power while idle maintaining the signal, I would have assumed that this alone would be several times greater than the LED personally.
You can't speak for everyone in regards to what "actual real problems" are. For me, this is a huge annoyance, and it is for others.
With my DualShock 3, I'd play for hours in a day, put it away, come back to it later, and play again for hours. I didn't have to continually babysit it and hope it had enough power to last a full gaming session. With my off/on playing of the PS3, I think I recharged my main controller once a month, maybe twice. I realize that part of it is the nature of having a brand new console and using it a lot in the excitement, but I've had to constantly think about plugging my DS4 in and making sure it's recharging.
Maybe that's not a big deal to you. It's a big deal to me. Also, the argument about "buy a long USB cord" are kind of ridiculous. I'm thankful we're now past the era of controllers having cords, and I don't want to have my DS4 continually tethered. I do have a long USB cord, which I use for my DS3, but I'd break it out when the controller was getting low, play using it for a couple of hours, and then put it back away again for weeks.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
This is so plain but made me chuckle.
Snony, LET US SHUT THE LIGHTS OFF 2014 CAMPAIGN
xn0
Member
This is exactly why I conducted the test. When I'm playing CoD:G alone with the lights down the LED reflects in my TV and breaks immersion for me. The light serves no purpose for CoD:G other than identifying that my DS4 is controller 1 with a bright blue LED. I love the DS4 but the light is mildly annoying and so is the battery life. I just wanted to see if both of my annoyances were connected in any way in order to bolster the case for an option to turn off the LED. Which is possible.. @yosp confirmed that developers have the ability to turn off the DS4 LED, if Sony exposes API controls to the DS4 LED's there is no reason why the PS4 OS cannot give us this option.
Fenderputty
Banned
The ds4 is so much better than the ds3 that I'm having trouble even feigning to be upset about this.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
It's as on topic as it gets while agreeing with the general consensus on giving us options. I would label other posts are thread whining before looking at me.
Finster
Member
Just disconnecting the ribbon cable as OP did may end up disconnecting some other aspect of the controller besides the LED. I think what this says is that SOMETHING is draining the battery on the DS4, but I'm not sure it's a slam dunk that it's the LED's.