Are UK owners seeing green when playing DVDs?

by Nick Doerr { Apr 9th 2007 at 10:30AM }

Joystiq got a pretty good e-mail concerning a DVD playback issue. Apparently, the PlayStation 3 in PAL territories has a very difficult time playing any DVDs without giving the owners a big, fat green screen. What's the cause of this? Sony, for starters. See, it seems that on an SDTV, the PS3 can't quite play back DVDs using the AV-Multi/SCART connector. This applies only to European PS3's (I checked mine out before typing this up -- works fine), so we've got to wonder... what's missing? What changed so much to inhibit this standard feature?

Apparently, at GAME stores, they sell a Sony brand RGB cable with a switch that fixes said issue, but it seems kind of ridiculous to have to shell out extra cash for a fix that shouldn't even be a problem. That brings us to the problem at hand: European PS3 owners, this is up to you. Let us know if you're having this issue and how much those Sony cables are at GAME -- if Sony does listen to this website at all (we've gotten a few e-mails from Sony reps about the site, actually!) then maybe they'll look into it a little further and possibly give a good ol' firmware update.

Oh, the problem doesn't exist on HD connections. Just throwing that out there, so make sure you try it on SDTVs only.

[Thanks, John!]

Tags: DVD playback, DvdPlayback, PAL, PlayStation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mathias @ Apr 9th 2007 10:51AM

Why would anyone connect a PS3 or 360 to a SDTV? Thats just dumb!

humpty @ Apr 9th 2007 11:09AM

I hooked up my PS3 to my xbr2 via composite just for fun.. lol. PS3 is meant to be played on an HD display.

(yea, yea, they only include composite cables.. i dont give a sh!t)

ArmedJimmy @ Apr 9th 2007 11:23AM

I've got mine plugged into a SDTV through the SCART cable that came with the system and I've had no issues.

Watched at least two dvd's that I can think of off the top of my head and they both played fine.

assi4 @ Apr 9th 2007 11:49AM

I'm currently stuck with an old tv, and I get this problem when using a scart. I'm norwegian, so the problem exists here at least.

Kinda annoying when they first cut the bc, and now this..

josealb @ Apr 9th 2007 11:56AM

I had my Ps3 connected to a SDTV and although the games looked normal (well quite crappy in fact lol) I couldnt play Blu-ray discs properly there was almost no color on screen and some strange lines at the top. I guess it was because of the refresh rate my tv didnt support 60hz. Never tried playing DVDs though.
Anyway i bought an HDTV and now i have it connected via HDMI and it looks damn nice. The gameplay experience has nothing to do with the one u have with an SDTV.
It's a pitty it doesnt have rescaling for Blu-ray because i dont like how interlaced looks but its ok.

Naaiif @ Apr 9th 2007 11:58AM

What the hell? I'm from the UK and i have my ps3 hooked up to an old SDTV through the scart lead and it plays DVDs fine.

I've never heard of this problem before.

lorderk @ Apr 9th 2007 12:02PM

Just an FYI, I have a US PS3 connected to an HDTV with HDMI, and I get green flashes now and then when starting DVD's/Blu-Ray's.

Jenny @ Apr 9th 2007 12:06PM

I'm living in France, have an SD TV, use the scart, no prob at all for DVDs. But some french video games website already made some articles about that last week. Its a problem happening only on TV not able to change from 50Hz to 60Hz. So TV not sold in France since at least 10 years ^^. But in some other countries of Europe, TV "50Hz only" are still sold and its on these ones that the prob is happening. The DVD player of the PS3 needs to switch in 60Hz mode to works (DVDs and Blu-Rays are using the same system, and all Blu-Rays are 60Hz, so to make it easier for the system, Sony kept the same 60Hz mode for DVDs).
Thats why NTSC territories have no prob, as you can see here :
NTSC SD TV : 60Hz
NTSC HD TV : 60Hz
PAL SD TV : 50Hz in some countries, 60Hz in the others
PAL HD TV : all PAL HD TV use both 50Hz and 60Hz

So as said here above, some countries where the SD TVs are still 50Hz have this prob. As far as i know, at least France and Germany are 100% 60Hz covered since an agreement in 1997 (agreement made cause both countries share some TV channels, so both countries needed to take the same Hertz system).

Jason B. @ Apr 9th 2007 1:20PM

I saw green (and the occasional purple). I turned on the cross color reduction filter in the PS3 settings menu and I see it no longer. :)

Next-Gen-Gamer @ Apr 9th 2007 1:12PM

"Why would anyone connect a PS3 or 360 to a SDTV? Thats just dumb!"

I'd say it's dumb to assume everyone owns a HDTV, when in fact, hardly anyone in the world owns a HDTV.

And to think. People actually laughed at Nintendo for not going HD.

Dahk @ Apr 9th 2007 1:59PM

Well Next-Gen-Gamer, it really depends on where you're living.

Where I normally live, about... 80% of all the people I know have an HDTV. about 5-10% have two.

The place where I'm temporarily staying (for school).. still about 60% of the people have an HDTV, though I don't know anyone that has two.

Still, Wii doesn't look horrible at all on an HDTV and as you can see, their plan to not go HD worked above expectation.

But within the next couple years, PS3 can start controlling the HD market as HDTVs start to bloom in more areas.

seamonkey420 @ Apr 9th 2007 5:03PM

i saw these same probs (USA PS3, 60GB) when my PS3 was freezing for a day straight. after doing a hard reset and full format (per advice of Sony CS); my problems had been eliminated..

i was and am running v1.60 firmware; seems a ton other people are having similar freezing problems.

das @ Apr 9th 2007 4:06PM

"I'd say it's dumb to assume everyone owns a HDTV, when in fact, hardly anyone in the world owns a HDTV."

(Oh lord, here we go again)

In fact, hardly anyone in the world is interested in gaming at all (a few percent of the total population, at best). There are hundreds of millions (or even billions) of people who can't afford a TV of any kind.

However, in the target demographic for the next gen consoles the proportion of HDTVs is soaring at a blistering rate. I don't know anyone who has bought an SD set for the last three years or so. It's impossible, because nobody sells them anymore.

I'm quite sure that the majority of Xbox 360s and PS3s are already used with HD sets.

"And to think. People actually laughed at Nintendo for not going HD."

It truly was a ridiculous decision which will cost them dearly in the long run. Once PS2 support dries up, say bye bye to Wii versions of multiplatformers. All the big games will be developed with Xbox360 and/or PS3 in mind and porting them to Wii is just not worth it.

gladior @ Apr 10th 2007 6:14AM

I connect my PS3 to a standard tv using a scart cable and when i play a dvd the screnn is green. I mean, I can play my dvd but the movie is covered by a green layer. It's the same problem occuring when you play a dvd with the ps2 using a scart cable. I think it's the macrovision copy protection. To wacht the dvd correctly you must use a composite cable or a scart cable with the AV/RGB switch. When quality is orrible but there is no other way to play your dvds.

Wesley Trask @ Apr 9th 2007 6:41PM

I have mine connected to a HD TV with HDMI and I get flashes of green also when the DVD is starting up and inbetween features on the disc. But so far, the dvd's have played ok.

Fade @ Apr 9th 2007 7:09PM

It's because, for whatever reason, Sony have implemented the exact same DVD playback for PS3 as they did with PS2 when it comes to DVD playback through RGB scart.

This only effects RGB scart. If you are using the cables that came with your PS3 you wont have a problem because these are COMPOSITE. Thats what the switch does on third party scart cables that you can buy. It switches the cable from RGB mode to COMPOSITE mode.

I remember back in the ps2 days the rumour was that sony were saving money by not using macrovision over RGB scart, so in order to prevent piracy they just made DVD playback green.

Go figure....

Laurens Holst @ Apr 10th 2007 6:32AM

The problem also occurred on the PS2 when you used a SCART cable. I think it’s macrovision, and it’s ridiculous. If you wanted to fix it there you either had to have a modchip (as I do) or buy a 3rd-party boot-CD which removed the green from DVD playback and also made DVD playback region-free.

Very annoying that it still does this.

~Grauw

Zta @ Apr 10th 2007 10:53AM

My EU PS3 plays DVD perfectly on my old tv with the cables that came with the console. Tested with one DVD on my CECHC04-model.

E H Jacobsen @ Apr 11th 2007 12:43AM

It's green on all PS3s; NTSC and PAL with scart RGB connected to the RGB scart SDTV in connector.

I'm from Norway and I've connected my imported US NTSC PS3 to SDTV with the RGB scart connector to get the best possible GAME picture on my PAL/NTSC tv, with success, but when I want to watch a Region 1 movie I get the green picture, as I also did on my US NTSC PS2. So I have to change to the original $ony composite connector to watch the movie without the green.
I'm waiting to get my ordered 1080p 40" lcd Samsung, to watch my free EU Casino Royale Blu Ray from $ony in HD.
(The EU Casino Royale BR is region free, lucky me.)

Jacobsen