I just received a PS4 Slim. I noticed the controllers' LED lights flicker at a high frequency, probably in the 20 kHz range. It is strong 100% flicker (on/off PWM). Setting the controller brightness adjusts the PWM but does not change the flicker intensity. It might be a good idea to cover the LEDs completely.

    KM flicker at a high frequency, probably in the 20 kHz range

    Time to try to pull out the oscilloscope?

      KM But if you cover it completely you will not be able to use it or the signal will be bad.. ?

      I still wonder if it can have any impact on your eyes/headaches cause I don't look down there at gamepad light while using it. On PC you can turn that light completely.

      • KM replied to this.

          Luki99 I think the light is only necessary for the separately available camera or to visually distinguish controllers when there's more than 1 player. The regular Bluetooth signal goes through my black isolation tape without problems. If you know you have a history of peripheral flickering lights causing symptoms, I highly recommend to give it a try.

          However, I can feel that the PS4 video output is worse when compared to the PS3. The symptoms for me are similar to using Firefox (left eye hurts, headache over time). I'm not sure what they (Sony) do and why they do it. Happens in the system menu and in the one game I have tried so far (Assassin's Creed Origins). They give big epilepsy warnings every time you turn on the console but do nothing to make their video output clean in the first place.

          I will try different games, too, and share oscilloscope pictures of the controller flicker as soon as I feel like looking at it again. 100% PWM is never a joy for me.

              KM Ok maybe it goes thru a tape for me im sure DS4 even if it PWMs it's not the problem and as I said im using it for PC so I can just turn off lightbar with just 1 click...
              I still think it's the display's or the combination of PS4+display because on older TV I had no problems playing PS4 any game and also on my monitor FS2434 which I have from like 7 years I can plug there anything and it won't give me any sympthoms besides neck pain but I was an IT guy and PC gamer for like 25 years... that's why I would like more relaxing couch experience and im in a work to find a big display solution for me.

                a month later

                I have had bad luck in general with PS4 - although I had a "known good" XBox One config, I never had a "known good" PS4 config. The base unit they shipped me way back in the day (when it first came out) hurt to do everything on. Menus, games, even just watching a blu-ray. At the time I suspected the ATI drivers, but at this point I have no idea.

                The PS4 Slim I recently bought is on firmware 7.02 (waiting for the jailbreak) and feels good. I have played Horizon Zero Dawn and Far Cry Primal so far for many hours. The Far Cries on PS3 were unusable for me, so that's a big improvement. XCOM 2 feels good, too. I have disabled all HDR stuff and HDCP, too. I can imagine that some games won't feel good, as experienced on the PS3. Some PS3 games were terrible while others (the majority) could be played for many hours without eye strain. Maybe the Pro uses a different video driver, upscaling, or something like that.

                • Gurm replied to this.

                  KM it's possible there is some upscaling or downscaling going on. If I had perfect eyes I would have already bought an XBox One X, just to get the "4k textures rendered at 1080" feature. MS made it a selling point, I could see Sony just quietly doing the same thing (they use the same chipset, after all, with nearly identical specs) on the Pro.

                    a year later

                    Has anyone updated his usable PS4 to firmware 9.00 and found it's still as usable as before? I'm on an older firmware, but now that 9.00 is exploitable (jailbreak), would be nice to know if it's usable.

                    dev