It was only yesterday that I was waxing lyrical about Sony's beta firmware update finally bringing Dolby Atmos three-dimensional audio handling to the PlayStation 5. Hurrah! It's a feature many PlayStation fans have wanted for years since the console's launch.
But that's not all, as this firmware brings a beeping brilliant upgrade to the PS5 that I didn't see coming: control over the actual beep sound when switching the console on/off or putting it into rest mode. Ideal for late-night play sessions, aye?
No longer do your ears have to suffer the infernal fixed-volume beep sound each time, as you can either mute it or adjust its volume as you please. To do so, simply go to Settings > System > Beep Sound > the select Volume or Mute Beep Sound. Job done (well, if you have access to the firmware, which is coming to UK, US, Canada, Japan, France and Germany first).
Much as I appreciate this bleeping brilliant new feature, I can't help but feel there's also one major PS5 control feature still missing. Do you, like me, love yet loathe the PS5's lighting? Yes, it looks lovely when it pulses white or blue (no blinking red, thank you very much), but it can be overly distracting in some circumstances.
As part of my job I test out the best TVs, and when it comes to the best OLED TVs in particular – which are exceptional at black-level handling – when I'm using the console to deliver a 4K Blu-ray movie I find its emanating light too distracting. I'd want to turn it off, ideally, or certainly dim it down.
But, no dice, that's not possible. I doubt it's even a case of 'yet' either, as historically – i.e. throughout the previous PlayStation 4 series' existence – Sony hasn't allowed for lighting control, with 'no light' simply meaning the console is powered off. There's a whole list of which light colour means what on the company's official website.
I get it: accessibility is key here. But I still pine for PlayStation 5 lighting control to complement the new beep sound control. It'd make my movie-watching and gaming experiences better. So I live in wait and wonder whether such a pipedream will ever come true...
