DualShock 4 Lightbar Can’t Be Disabled; May Reflect Off Your TV

The Lightbar on the DaulShock 4 controller, which Sony initially demoed alongside the PlayStation camera, will always remain on.

According to Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, he answered over Twitter that players cannot disable the DualShock 4 Lightbar.

@DN_pro no

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) July 5, 2013

Immediately obvious reasons suggest that disabling the Lightbar will increase battery life, but another problem quickly arose.  Reddit users found that the Lightbar's bright blue LEDs will reflect off the TV if positioned in front.

A screenshot of a demo for The Playroom shows how covering the Lightbar will react with the camera. If you look closely at this gif, you can also see how the bright light remains clearly visible in the glare of the TV.

Sony initially showed the Lightbar as a way to convey some in-game statuses such as a red light to indicate low health.

As players constantly deal with glare from lights and windows, no option to disable the Lightbar currently exists. If the glare becomes an issue, looks like you will need to resort to electrical tape or other materials to conceal the light.