Hello, good community folks; I hope you are doing great! Today I am back with a topic I had been asking myself a couple of days back, and I wanted to share the related experience. Sometimes we don't even realize we need something until we use it. And sometimes we buy things for sanity. Some people love spending their money; some spend money for the hobby. Some people have expensive hobbies, and some have rather rational hobbies. Some people even create a way to earn from their hobbies.
My 55" TV
Technology and ease of use products that don't clutter my environment are always a want. I bought this beautiful Samsung QLED TV while looking out for an OLED TV at the local shops. For some weird reason, the price of OLED TVs is way above the baseline in Bangladesh, where a $1000 OLED TV can cost you up to $2500, which is absurd. So, I had to check out an alternative, and I right away loved the features of the Q70A Samsung QLED TV. Now, it was already in my mind that I would get a console paired with my 4K TV when possible. As for aesthetics, I added the Govee DreamView T1 TV Backlight to my TV. This smart backlight has a camera to detect what's on the screen and reflect them on the wall using ARGB strips. Someone would have to experience this in real-time to understand how different is the immersion for content consumption; I can't rant enough. The experience elevated from 100% to 140% just by using these ARGB strips.
Getting the PlayStation
Well, I was already eyeing the PS5 stocks in the local stores. And I couldn't stop grabbing one with the copy of Horizon forbidden west and an extra black controller. To keep the experience as fluid as possible on 4K, I had to add a TP-Link Deco router pack on the purchase list as my house is pretty big, and regular wi-fi wasn't performing that well. And here is a photo of the first imitation of my PS5 Room set up in the living room.
The First Time Experience
I installed Horizon Forbidden west, and I was blown away by the quality on my TV; people have shared the idea of checkerboard 4k with me with an impression of "Not very good." But it's a different experience firsthand. It's impressive how the line between the quality of true 4k and checkerboard 4k has thinned down at this moment. As a content creator, I had to share the experience with people online. I have a small community of people on my youtube. So, I thought to myself, why not start streaming using PS5? I wish there was an option for 4k streaming or bitrate selection; the built-in encoder is pretty good at handling the quality, but more options would be nice. I am hopeful we will have these features in the future with updates. Or I would just set up and streaming PC, no joke. The fun in sharing experiences is always something else for me. I love to talk and narrate my experience through the journey.
Add-ons to create a better experience
At first, to stream, I was using my KZ-ZSN Pro X headphones connected to my controller with basic microphone audio quality, which wasn't professional at all, as the microphone on those IEMs is intended to use for phone calls, not broadcasting. I wanted to get an upgrade soon, so I bought the Pulse 3D wireless headphones. Well, out of the box, the sound profile and connectivity were already top-knot, but the microphone was not satisfactory. I also ordered a stand-dock to cool my PlayStation simultaneously, charge two controllers, and put the headphones there while not in use! Now I don't have to connect any wires to my controller, and I can take them and use and put them away so they can charge themselves while the PlayStation is resting.
Besides that, you can also see in the photo that we have a cable lying around, which is the latest upgrade I have added to my PlayStation streaming setup is V-Moda Boom Pro! It's an amazing 3.5mm microphone module that can capture your voice with true dept. The microphone is high-quality and super sensitive. In my latest stream of Red Dead Redemption 2, I was blown away to hear my voice using this microphone module. At first, I was skeptical about the connectivity as one must plug the microphone into the headset and the other end to the controller. I was expecting trouble as pulse 3D has a built-in microphone. But it worked just fine as I connected it. The wired connection bypasses the built-in feature, so there is nothing to worry about anymore.
Final Verdict
Did I need a PlayStation? As the PS exclusives are coming to PC now, people might say we can skip getting the PlayStation. But from my point of view, the ease of use and the basic zero complexity of having a PlayStation in my living room and just enjoying any games that I want on 4K is a different kind of an experience; you would never feel like you need it until you experience it yourself.
