A new PlayStation Now update has made a long-awaited upgrade that subscribers of the subscription service on PC, PS4, and PS5 have been demanding for months. If you missed the new PS5 update, hidden in the patch notes is an upgrade for PlayStation Now. As of today, PlayStation Now subscribers can now choose between 720p and 1080p when streaming games, which is primarily used for playing PS3 games, as PS4 and PS5 games can be downloaded natively.
1080p streaming for PlayStation Now only began to roll out a couple of months ago. It in itself isn’t new, but the ability to choose between 720p and 1080p is. As for why PlayStation Now subscribers may choose 720p streaming over 1080p streaming, it’s simple: sometimes streaming at 720p actually looks better as the number of encoded bits per pixel is higher for lower resolutions. So, depending on the amount of motion in the live stream and your encoding bitrate, 720p streaming can sometimes look better than 1080p streaming. That said, it’s unclear if this is actually the motivation behind letting subscribers choose between the two resolutions, as it’s not specified, but it’s unclear what else the motivation could be.
“PlayStation Now subscribers can choose between 720p or 1080p (depending on the individual game) to accommodate their preferred video resolution for game streaming,” writes Sony over on the PlayStation Blog of the new changes to PlayStation Now. “A streaming connection test also helps them identify and troubleshoot any problems with their connection.”
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PlayStation Now is available via the PC, PS4, PS5. At its cheapest rate, a 12-month subscription runs at $60. In other words, it costs the same as PlayStation Plus.
