More PS3 updates on the way!
by Ed Stasick 
{ Dec 2nd 2006 at 11:30AM }
With all of it's 1080p, Blu-Ray and HDMI goodness, you might think that it would be impossible to pack anymore Hi-Def goodness into the mighty PS3. Well, Sony has found a few more esoteric features to ensure that the PS3 is truly the heart of your home theater. According to recent interviews with Sony developers, "the PS3 is on target for an update to add better software SACD support (better sound quality and wider dynamic range), user-selectable internal YCrCb image processing, 1080p/24 support for films (for crisper, more realistic Blu-ray film playback), and perhaps most importantly, the ability to play back standard-definition DVDs at 1080p HD resolution."
I'm looking forward to the DVD upconversion, but I'm not sure anyone will care too much for the other additons.
[Via Gamepro]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dahk @ Dec 2nd 2006 11:52AM
Question! I'm unfamiliar with these kinda things, but.
1080p/24 support for films? What're they using right now?
Urbanstorm @ Dec 2nd 2006 12:03PM
Where the hell is the 1080i fix damnit.......
poseidon @ Dec 2nd 2006 12:55PM
The PS3 currently support 1080p/ 60. 1080p/ 24 is preffered as that's the native format that film is hot in (24 frames per second). Apparently converting 1080p/24 to display in 1080p/60 introduces some image artifacts like loss of clarity and motion blur in fast moving scenes.
These updates truly don't matter. What Sony really needs to focus on:
720p to 1080i upconversion: as folks with 1080i only TV sets will have the misfortune of the PS3 downconverting 720p games to 480p.
1080i/p downconversion to 720p: as folks with 720p only TV sets will have the misfortune of the PS3 downconverting 1080i/p movies to 480p.
Standard DVD upconversion to 720p, 1080i/p.
The Xbox 360 does all of the above...so the abscense of such features on the PS3 is astonishing.
vox @ Dec 2nd 2006 1:38PM
So you mean they are gonna make it be like it was supposed to be like out the door?
Caramella Bongo ... how are you today? @ Dec 2nd 2006 9:11PM
The only other BD player that outputs 1080p 24 is the 1k Sony standalone player; 360 does output 1080p 24, none of the available hd-dvd players do.
Roofus @ Dec 2nd 2006 3:40PM
Try concentrating vox.
The PS3 is a gaming console. 1080p/60 is 1080 progressive scan HD at 60 frames per sec for video games. That is astonishing clarity. But because this is causing slight artifacting in movies that are shot at 24 frames per second, they are simply adding a codec that will allow the PS3 to disply Blu-Ray discs in 1080p/24.
It astonishes me that the 360 fanboys come over here and bash Sony's attempts to improve their system based on requests by their customers. They have already come out with 2 updates based on customer requests in just 3 weeks since launch.
MS gives their customers a fix every 4-6 months for horrid problems on that system, and they still haven't rectified headphone issues in over a year in XBL games. In addition they launch their media downloads which promptly crahes and takes hours and hours to download, and yet no one makes comments like, "So they are gonna re-release it like it should have been in the first place," toward MS.
I just don't understand the rampant double standard and slack MS gets from IGN to joystique, to blogs across the internet, to even guys on This Week In Tech. It's astonishing that when MS screws up people say nothing, when Sony screws up people start lighting fires across the net, and when Sony does something right then people complain that it should have been done in the first place.
Give me a damn break...
Kayura @ Dec 2nd 2006 3:39PM
It will be alright. Sony is doing a damn fine job on top of the horrid launch they had. They are updating the firmware almost every week with improvements and additions, which is more than we can even say about a lot of software companies.
I don't understand the bashing either. Xbox is solid, PS3 is solid, Wii is solid all in different ways. Why do we have to argue over stupid crap like this?
bob @ Dec 2nd 2006 8:11PM
little faq for the chickensoup soul...
he PS3 has 22.4 GB/s of GDDR3 bandwidth and 25.6 GB/s of RDRAM bandwidth for a total system bandwidth of 48 GB/s.
sounds promising?? well....
Why does the Xbox 360 have such an extreme amount of bandwidth? Even the simplest calculations show that a large amount of bandwidth is consumed by the frame buffer. For example, with simple color rendering and Z testing at 550 MHz the frame buffer alone requires 52.8 GB/s at 8 pixels per clock. The PS3's memory bandwidth is insufficient to maintain its GPU's peak rendering speed, even without texture and vertex fetches.
bob @ Dec 2nd 2006 3:51PM
for raw processing power...
# 115GFLOPS Theoretical Peak Performance for 360 CPU
# 218GFLOPS Theoretical Peak Performance for PS3 CPU.
The GFLOP numbers for the PS3 were calculated based on 8 running SPE, so the fact that the PS3 uses only 6 SPE for game applications lowers the peak theoretical even further, as majority of the floating point work on the PS3’s CPU is done via the SPE. Each SPE has a peak theoretical of 25.6GFLOPS. So the total peak theoretical performance for all 6 SPE would be 153.6GFLOPS, but why is that number also not achievable?
In IBM’s controlled testing environment, their optimized code on 8 SPE only yielded a performance number of 155.5GFLOPS. If it took 8 SPE to achieve that, no way 6 will be able to and that testing was done in a fashion that didn’t model all the complexities of DMA and the memory system. Using a 1Kx1K matrix and 8 SPE they were able to achieve 73.4GFLOPS, but the PS3 uses 6 SPE for games and these tests were done in controlled environments. So going on this information, even 73.4GFLOPS is seemingly out of reach, showing us that Sony didn’t necessarily lie about the cell’s performance as they made clear the 218GFLOPS was “theoretical.” But just like Microsoft they definitely wanted you to misinterpret these numbers into believing they were achievable.
Even while taking all of this into consideration, the CPUs can’t reach those crazy performance numbers; the PS3’s cell still comfortably comes out on top in terms of overall floating point capability, but it should be known that the available power on the PS3’s cell will be significantly more difficult to harness than the available power on the 360’s CPU.
It’s also worth mentioning that even the PS2 CPU had more than twice the GFLOPS of the original Xbox’s CPU, but it didn’t necessarily lead it to being the performance winner. This time around, while the cell has the GFLOPS advantage, its advantage isn’t quite as big as the PS2 CPU had on the Xbox. This teaches us that there is more than one meter of real world performance.
all information iam posting is from two main sites
http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/35372/?spage=4
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/617/617951p1.html
joane @ Dec 2nd 2006 6:33PM
At some point, i have to give up on sony. I love the PS2 and PS1, but I have to admit my faith has been shaken lately....come on sony give me something to boost spirits.
rv65 @ Dec 2nd 2006 10:40PM
Now if only I can get one at MSRP at a store with no waiting.
ChiTownMexican @ Dec 3rd 2006 4:48AM
What! Sony fixed their firmware 2 times in the past month already, why can't they it right the first time, the only reason why Microsoft takes so long to update, is because they have to find things to update, lol, you guys complain so much, Sony is probably up to their necks with complaints. Why even bother with a PS3. Microsoft is a SOFTWARE COMPANY, of course their software is going to be better, which makes me laugh at Sony's attempts to make software, its quite embarrassing when you have to update your software more than once a month. Sony + Hirai = no more playstation. Might as well buy an XBOX 360 now! Get used to playing Halo 3 a lot.
GL @ Dec 3rd 2006 7:00AM
LOL! Look at all the xbots whining and crying about "They should have done this already at launch....blah, blah, blah..."
Hey, xbots! We don't care about your crapbox360. Go play it and stay off the ps3 site. Geesh! Why are the xbots such idiots?
Oh, and ChiTownMex...we'll see how much your "SOFTWARE COMPANY" bragging comes into play in a year when the PS3's software has been patched. But you'll just fine something else to complain about, wont you? LOL! Idiot!
naruto007 @ Dec 3rd 2006 8:55AM
ChiTownMexican if microsoft is that good in software why the fuck they have a firmware that kills the 360? huh?
vox @ Dec 3rd 2006 10:11AM
Did it ever occur to your microscopic little pea brain GL that just because people have a problem with the PS3 launch does not automatically mean they have an XBOX360?
Maybe I'd just like my PS3 to do what it should have done out of the box. And articles like this one that skirt the issue by claiming that Sony is doing value adds, when all they are actually doing is patching the thing to get it up to speed...kinda annoy me.
Just because people have a PS3 does not automatically void them from drawing comparisons to the features of other existing consoles.
Aex @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:42PM
I think the pea brains are ripping into you because you make arguments that carry no weight. The Xbox360 was a mess at launch but you expect near perfection from the Ps3 at launch. It gets tiring, especially on playstation.joystiq.com. We don't really care about how much you like your Xbox more. There is really no benefit being served telling us you think the Xbox is better, or that The Xbox does this already, or that you think the Ps3 should have done all this out of the box.
This update is rather nice and it brings some good functions to the Ps3. I decided to wait to get a Ps3, Xbox 360, and definately wait to get a Wii. They are all unproven still. Xbox is closest to being proven now that they have a few great games, and the Wii the farthest from it. I'm glad each time I see an update to the Ps3 because everytime they do it only pushes the Ps3 towards the goal of being a great system.
Sean @ Dec 4th 2006 4:13PM
In the long run if: PS3 gets its exclusives (and takes X-Boxs), Square-Enix masters the processor (Square sacrificed polygons for texture in FFXII and STILL had a game that riviled most on the Wii and 360 on the PS2), and the machine becomes accessable to the middle class... it will take off... millions of people are willing to pay 600+ for 10+ years of entertainment... This comming from a Sega veteren, Sony needs help from the the hungry 3rd parties that at the moment intimidated...
Mike Lamanna @ Jan 4th 2007 12:33PM
my ps3 froze twice! i got update when i first bought and it froze first on the internet and 2nd on my fight night round 3. anyone know why? please email me
mike_lamanna7@hotmail.com