PlayStation Portal Update Leads to Major Visuals Upgrade

A recent update to Sony's PlayStation Portal handheld seems to have resulted in a substantial upgrade to the platform's visuals. Earlier this week, Sony released new firmware for the PlayStation Portal, but the official patch notes tied to this update weren't very substantial. Since that time, PS Portal users have been trying to figure out what patch 2.0.6 actually did to improve the platform. Now, after ongoing testing, it seems that Sony may have greatly improved the fidelity that games can be played with on the streaming device. 

Shared by numerous users on Reddit, it was said that many have found the video quality of the PlayStation Portal to be much improved following the release of update 2.0.6. Most PS Portal users happened to attribute this to upgrades that were made in association with bitrate on the hardware. Although it's hard to know for certain if this is what Sony upgraded given the lack of detailed patch notes, most PlayStation Portal owners seem to agree that the device has never been better after this patch. 

"I notice a difference in the video quality. I played Final Fantasy VII, Uncharted, Madden, and Guardians of the Galaxy. They all look amazing and picture quality didn't suffer," said user Valens606 of their own experience. "The fast-playing games still stutter a bit but it's still more stable than before."

Other than this change in streaming quality, the other big alteration to the PlayStation Portal with this update seems to be tied to emulation. Specifically, it has been found that Sony patched out an exploit that would allow users to emulate games from PSP on the Portal if hacked. Although this likely isn't what most are using the PS Portal for in the first place, this tweak still shows that Sony isn't looking to have the hardware modded or jailbroken if it can help it. 

If you own a PlayStation Portal, have you noticed any improvements to the hardware over the past few days? And if you don't yet own the device, does this news of its visual upgrade now make you more interested in buying it? Let me know either down in the comments section or reach out to me on social media at @MooreMan12. 

[H/T PlayStation Lifestyle]