PlayStation Portal stutter woes solved as user finds crucial fix
SonyA Reddit user may have discovered the cause of the PlayStation Portal’s stuttering problems, and it looks like the refresh rate was the culprit all along.
The PlayStation Portal isn’t the PS Vita successor or the handheld many were hoping for. Unlike its Sony gaming handheld predecessors, the device purely exists as a method of using remote play with the PlayStation 5, and doesn’t have a catalog of games to play natively.
Regardless, the PlayStation Portal can be a vital tool if you desire to play your PlayStation 5 without being tethered to your smart TV screen. However, its reliance on a fast Wi-Fi connection as a remote play handheld does bring forth issues. Most recently, it appears that the device is being plagued by stuttering issues.
Refresh rate to blame
SonyA PlayStation Portal subreddit user has provided video evidence of what’s likely behind the ongoing stuttering problems plaguing the remote play handheld, and it looks like the refresh rate might be the culprit.
According to subreddit user parasupaman, the PS5 “appears to be locked to outputting 59.94 fps/hz over Remote Play” and as a result, any device which does not have the fresh rate to match is likely going to experience stuttering.
As it stands, the PlayStation Portal 8-inch 1080p LCD has a 60Hz refresh rate, which does not align with the PS5 console’s remote play output. The Reddit user suspects that even this minuscule 0.06Hz difference is what causes the screen to stutter.
To put this theory to the test, the Reddit user provided a series of videos on their YouTube channel. The first video reveals footage of the platformer Sackboy: A Big Adventure running on the PS5, before a console browser link is pulled up to show the console outputting 59.94Hz. Later videos then show support for the provided theory, with stuttering occurring at the 60Hz output, yet being absent from the footage when set to 59.94Hz.
Sony has yet to officially acknowledge the stuttering issues on the PlayStation Portal, yet it’s likely the PlayStation team won’t be able to ignore the problem for long. The alert by parasupaman, originally discovered by Wccftech, is just one of a sea of posts on the PlayStation Portal subreddit bringing the handheld’s stuttering problems to light.
In the interim, the Chiaki4Deck app for the Steam Deck could be an ideal alternative to playing your PS5 games on the go, without being at the mercy of the stuttering abyss.