Experience your TV speakers with 3D sound and enjoy a ton of new features thanks to Sony’s second major software update for the PS5.
Yesterday, Senior Vice President of Platform Experience, Hideaki Nishino, gave us a look at some new PS5 features on Sony’s PlayStation blog. Those features include UX enhancements, new gaming and social customisations, 3D audio support for built-in TV speakers, M.2 SSD storage expansions, and additional mobile features.
He also chose to add a grateful shoutout to beta participants, telling them that their “support and feedback was valuable”.
The UX enhancements mean that personalising and managing your games is about to be a lot easier. Through the Control Centre, players can now rearrange or choose “which controls to hide or unhide at the bottom of the screen”, and with an Enhanced Game Base you can “easily view and write messages to friends and parties”. Helpful, certainly, but nothing to rave about just yet.
What is a more notable improvement is that PS4 and PS5 versions of the same game will now appear separately. Gone are the days of upgrade confusion.
For those who use Screen Reader, you can now pause or resume this function with the PS+Triangle buttons, or “have it repeat anything it reads” with the PS+R1 buttons.
Otherwise you’ve got more customisation thanks to the resolution selector and connection tool, allowing subscribers to choose between 720p or 1080p (depending on the game), or the new Accolade type, “Leader”.
But it’s probably the 3D audio support that takes the cake in this update really. Nishino claims it’s capable of “heightening the sense of gameplay immersion”, transforming the usual two-channel output of your TV speakers into a simulated three-dimensional sound.
Using the microphone on your DualSense wireless controller will even let you measure the acoustics of the room, dictating the best audio settings for you to run with. For the many players without a surround sound setup or 3D audio-enabled headphones, this is a massive boon.
Those who’ve got Pulse 3D Wireless Headset already will now have equaliser settings available in their Sound Controls, adding that extra dollop of sweet, sweet sound customisation. Time to turn up that bass.
The M.2 SSD storage expansion lets players download, copy and play PS5 games and apps, just so long as the SSD meets a few requirements first.
For iOS and Android users, the mobile PS Remote Play app now lets players switch to mobile data when the WiFi says ‘bye’ and on the 23rd of September, another update will let users watch their friends’ Share Screen broadcasts together too.
If you’re yet to get your hands on a console, check out our guide on where to get a PS5 in Australia.
