Upcoming upgrades to the PS3

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I have been talking to my friends around Hollywood regarding the cost of downloads (look for an eye opening update to that discussion in the new news forum), and in talking to a friend of mine who works for Sony hip me to a few things that Sony is working on for the PS3.

First, YCrCb color output to be implemented next firmware update planned on December 8. Color accuracy and color range of BR will be improved by this update.

SCE will start work on upgrading DVD upscaling. This will not to be 'simple upscaling', but aimig at being equal to the upscale processing with an upper-grade PC scaling software. This will make the PS3 upscaling as good as Samsungs Reon processing.

Via a firmware upgrade, SCE is planning for the PS3 to convert a 1080/60i image to 1080/60p within internal PS3 process is planned. This is effective for playback of recorded BD-R/BD-RE.

And lastly instead of a forced 24/1080p option, it is confirmed that direct 1080/24p output through HDMI on BR movie titles to be implemented on future update.

I thought this would be good news for the PS3 owners on this site. He could not give me an exact date of the firmware upgrades, but he acknowledged that Sony was actively working on them.

[audio amateur]

I thought this would be good news for the PS3 owners on this site.
And owners to be. This is great news! Thanks for sharing

[captjamo]

And owners to be. This is great news! Thanks for sharing

Sounds like Santa might bring you one of those nice new slim PS3's. Blu, games, (Sony's version of Apple TV) built in, internet and plenty more for a very reasonable price-whats not to like. Good info Sir T, thanks

[audio amateur]

Sounds like Santa might bring you one of those nice new slim PS3's. Blu, games, (Sony's version of Apple TV) built in, internet and plenty more for a very reasonable price-whats not to like. Good info Sir T, thanks
Unlikely, but I'll very likely treat myself to one by the time summer rolls around again:)

[Invader3k]

Is this going to be effective on all PS3s or just the newer "slimline" model?

I have the older PS3, but still very happy with the current BD playback and upscaling.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Is this going to be effective on all PS3s or just the newer "slimline" model?

I have the older PS3, but still very happy with the current BD playback and upscaling.

All PS3's, from the oldest models to the newer ones.

The upscaling on the PS3 really does need some work. The horsepower is there, and it needs to be explored. The newer PS3 also needs a little tweaking as well, so this is welcomed news.

[audio amateur]

All PS3's, from the oldest models to the newer ones.

The upscaling on the PS3 really does need some work. The horsepower is there, and it needs to be explored. The newer PS3 also needs a little tweaking as well, so this is welcomed news.
Does this mean then that the PS3 will be competing with their own higher-end blu-ray players?

[L.J.]

Good news Sir T.

I always look forward to PS3 updates. I have two PS3's now and get so much use from both units. Well worth the money.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Does this mean then that the PS3 will be competing with their own higher-end blu-ray players?

It means exactly that. They are trying to push the Cell processor as much as they can. You can never update their regular Bluray players because they use SOC solutions that are not upgradeable. The Cell can be tweaked and upgraded until they max out the processor. That is going to be tough to do since the Cell is pretty darn powerful.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Good news Sir T.

I always look forward to PS3 updates. I have two PS3's now and get so much use from both units. Well worth the money.

I know you do use yours alot, one lost its breath and died! The creator had to raise it from the dead.

[audio amateur]

It means exactly that.
Kool:) I wonder what implications competing against themselves will have.


The Cell can be tweaked and upgraded until they max out the processor. That is going to be tough to do since the Cell is pretty darn powerful.
So I hear... Speaking of which I find it to be quite an achievement that they were able to commercialize this processor at the time and price they did. I know they have been selling PS3s at a loss (and not only PS3 but PS2s and perhaps even PS1s), nevertheless even then you wouldn't have thought it'd be possible to achieve this, considering core 2 duo processors were just becoming available.

[L.J.]

I know you do use yours alot, one lost its breath and died! The creator had to raise it from the dead.


Yes, my launch 60g is pretty much dead....:frown5:

I am guilty of pushing it to its limits though. Surprised it lasted 3 years. What can I say, I'm a gamer :3:

Glad I got the warranty. Target should be issuing me a full refund of the original $599 price. They may try to just replace it with a slim though, so I'm still waiting to see what happens.

If all goes well, maybe I'll be up to 3 PS3s :yikes:

[kexodusc]

Sir T....can you use your super terrible powers to lobby the Sony folks to add some lossless-audio music playback capabilities (i.e., FLAC, ALAC, WMA-Lossless).

I stream now but it's a pain in the butt...that simple addition would make the PS3 the single greatest piece of a/v gear I've ever owned, because I do just about everything else with it.

[L.J.]

Sir T....can you use your super terrible powers to lobby the Sony folks to add some lossless-audio music playback capabilities (i.e., FLAC, ALAC, WMA-Lossless).

I stream now but it's a pain in the butt...that simple addition would make the PS3 the single greatest piece of a/v gear I've ever owned, because I do just about everything else with it.

Interesting thing I noticed is that my 60g never had trouble recognizing Tversity. It's always running in the background on my PC.

The PS3 slim version doesn't see it all the time though. I have to do the search for media servers thing or stop and restart Tversity. Kinda frustrating. I may try using PS3 media server, but my brother had the same issues.

I would love FLAC support!!!!

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Kool:) I wonder what implications competing against themselves will have.

I do not think this will be a problem because let's face it, even if the PS3 was the best blu-ray player out there (and it was once), some snobs still would not purchase it for bluray playback. The classify it as a gaming machine, when its capabilities extend far beyond that. As much as audio and video snob as I am, I do not care whether its a gaming machine, or a stand alone, I want the most flexible, well made, and competent performer. When I was first looking for a player, that was the PS3. When the Oppo came out, I got one of those as well.



So I hear... Speaking of which I find it to be quite an achievement that they were able to commercialize this processor at the time and price they did. I know they have been selling PS3s at a loss (and not only PS3 but PS2s and perhaps even PS1s), nevertheless even then you wouldn't have thought it'd be possible to achieve this, considering core 2 duo processors were just becoming available.

They took a big loss on the 90nm version, a little less on the 65nm, to no losses on the current slims 45nm processor. So they have managed to scale down the process without reducing its processing power (by processing less sources), reduce its power consumption, but acheive a profitability on each player.

I think because they had invested $400 million in the Cell, it was too far along to turn back. I think they made the right decision, because based on the performance of the Cell based Sony XBRpro I am currently testing, this processor can do alot more than it has been currently used for.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Sir T....can you use your super terrible powers to lobby the Sony folks to add some lossless-audio music playback capabilities (i.e., FLAC, ALAC, WMA-Lossless).

I stream now but it's a pain in the butt...that simple addition would make the PS3 the single greatest piece of a/v gear I've ever owned, because I do just about everything else with it.

Kex,
We kind of touched on that in our discussion, and his response was they really want to focus on the video, gaming, and store side before offering more upgrades such as other audio codecs for streaming. It is definitely on their radar, but they have a focused plan for the PS3 that they want to proceed with.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Interesting thing I noticed is that my 60g never had trouble recognizing Tversity. It's always running in the background on my PC.

The PS3 slim version doesn't see it all the time though. I have to do the search for media servers thing or stop and restart Tversity. Kinda frustrating. I may try using PS3 media server, but my brother had the same issues.

I would love FLAC support!!!!

L.J., I have a strong desire to push my PS3 to do more things. I need to pick your brain on how to stream music from my computer's hard drive to the PS3 via Tiversity, because I am lost as hell on how to do it.

Git wit the brotha and help him out, he is lost and cannot find his way!

[Rich-n-Texas]

Following L.J.'s recommendation, I use Tversity to stream mp3's from the hard drive on my computer, but I have audio drop-out issues with it for some reason. Recently though, because my router (I'm using it as an ethernet hub), went belly up after a power dip, I haven't been doing any streaming from my PS3 in my HT setup.

[Woochifer]

Exciting news on that front. Glad that all of you talked me into the PS3 when I went HD a year ago. The image quality I get on that device is very impressive.

The PS3's a very versatile media device and I hardly play any games on it. The only glitch is the inconsistent connections I get with my Mac as the server (I use Medialink) with frequent DLNA errors. I suspect that it's an issue with my router (connecting with the media server occasionally causes the router to lock up), but I've not gotten around to trying a different router. Otherwise, it's been a very nice addition and the frequent updates are a plus. Nice to hear that improvements continue to be made, because it already does a decent job with my DVDs.

[L.J.]

L.J., I have a strong desire to push my PS3 to do more things. I need to pick your brain on how to stream music from my computer's hard drive to the PS3 via Tiversity, because I am lost as hell on how to do it.

Git wit the brotha and help him out, he is lost and cannot find his way!

If your just trying to stream MP3 or WMA, you can use Windows media player, which is the easiest to set up. Think you need version 10 or up. Just enable sharing under preferences and that's it. Search for media servers on PS3 and the WM icon should pop up. I don't really care for WMP so I don't use it.

Tversity, just download latest free version on your PC. Go through setup menus and have it launch after setup. Click library, click folders, then tell Tversity what files you wanna stream. Click add item to add a new folder or use an existing one. Double click the folder, hit browse and locate your music/photos/video folders. (I rip my music in FLAC and organize it in folders by artist name. All these files are in a my music sub folder under a main folder called PS3 Media.) Hit submit, name the folder if you want and your done. Do a search for media servers on PS3 and the Tversity icon will pop up. You get several options on how to search for your music. I always choose folders>my music, and my complete list of songs pops up in order by artist name :yesnod:

PS3 media server is easier to use but I had problems with it dropping in and out, plus it runs a bit slower cuz it loads album covers. Download PS3 media server. It searched for your PS3 (PS3 needs to be on) and lets you know when it sees it. All you have to do is tell it where your files are, or have it do a search of your HD. Alot of people like PS3 media server but it just didn't work good for me.

I just hooked up Tversity for my brother. Takes maybe 10 mins from beginning to end. All settings are adjusted for streaming and should be ready to go. Transcodes FLAC and many other codecs to PCM. I stream video and photos with it too.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

If your just trying to stream MP3 or WMA, you can use Windows media player, which is the easiest to set up. Think you need version 10 or up. Just enable sharing under preferences and that's it. Search for media servers on PS3 and the WM icon should pop up. I don't really care for WMP so I don't use it.

Tversity, just download latest free version on your PC. Go through setup menus and have it launch after setup. Click library, click folders, then tell Tversity what files you wanna stream. Click add item to add a new folder or use an existing one. Double click the folder, hit browse and locate your music/photos/video folders. (I rip my music in FLAC and organize it in folders by artist name. All these files are in a my music sub folder under a main folder called PS3 Media.) Hit submit, name the folder if you want and your done. Do a search for media servers on PS3 and the Tversity icon will pop up. You get several options on how to search for your music. I always choose folders>my music, and my complete list of songs pops up in order by artist name :yesnod:

PS3 media server is easier to use but I had problems with it dropping in and out, plus it runs a bit slower cuz it loads album covers. Download PS3 media server. It searched for your PS3 (PS3 needs to be on) and lets you know when it sees it. All you have to do is tell it where your files are, or have it do a search of your HD. Alot of people like PS3 media server but it just didn't work good for me.

I just hooked up Tversity for my brother. Takes maybe 10 mins from beginning to end. All settings are adjusted for streaming and should be ready to go. Transcodes FLAC and many other codecs to PCM. I stream video and photos with it too.

Great instructions, and you are right, it took about ten minutes and I am up and running. Now if I can just get this thing to recognize my music files, I will be very happy!

This cubarican owes the brotha big time. Thanks L.J., you are a gentleman and a scholarship......um....er....scholar yeah thats it!

[L.J.]

Great instructions, and you are right, it took about ten minutes and I am up and running. Now if I can just get this thing to recognize my music files, I will be very happy!

This cubarican owes the brotha big time. Thanks L.J., you are a gentleman and a scholarship......um....er....scholar yeah thats it!

It's not working :confused5:

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

It's not working :confused5:

For some reason no:confused5:

[L.J.]

For some reason no:confused5:

Can you see the files on your PS3? Or do you get a message saying unsupported data?

What kinda files you trying to stream?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Can you see the files on your PS3? Or do you get a message saying unsupported data?

What kinda files you trying to stream?

I am trying to stream tunes from my Itunes folder, and it may not be possible without conversion to MP3, is that right? I see the folder fine, I just don't see the individual tracks.

[L.J.]

I am trying to stream tunes from my Itunes folder, and it may not be possible without conversion to MP3, is that right? I see the folder fine, I just don't see the individual tracks.

You should try streaming one of the supported formats just to make sure it's working ok.


What media formats are currently supported?
The current version is designed such that almost anything you can play on Windows Media Player, whether it resides locally on your computer or located on the Internet, should also play on any of the supported devices, despite the fact that these devices do not natively support many of these media formats. You can also play Quicktime video and Real Media videos (including rmvb), however for the time being you cannot stream Quicktime or Real from the Internet. To give a more precise definition, any media format that has a Directshow decoder will work with TVersity as long as you have the directshow decoder installed, this includes:

* WMA, WMV, MJPEG, DVR-MS, AVI (including Divx3/4/5/6, Xvid, and others)
* MPEG1/2/4 (including H.264), MP3 and AAC
* Qucktime MOV
* Real Video/Audio/RMVB
* OGG Vorbis and OGM
* FLAC, WMA lossless, Monkey Audio (APE), Musepack Audio (MPC) and Wavpack
* Flash Video
* Matroska (MKA and MKV)
* Karaoke CDG/BIN

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

You should try streaming one of the supported formats just to make sure it's working ok.


What media formats are currently supported?
The current version is designed such that almost anything you can play on Windows Media Player, whether it resides locally on your computer or located on the Internet, should also play on any of the supported devices, despite the fact that these devices do not natively support many of these media formats. You can also play Quicktime video and Real Media videos (including rmvb), however for the time being you cannot stream Quicktime or Real from the Internet. To give a more precise definition, any media format that has a Directshow decoder will work with TVersity as long as you have the directshow decoder installed, this includes:

* WMA, WMV, MJPEG, DVR-MS, AVI (including Divx3/4/5/6, Xvid, and others)
* MPEG1/2/4 (including H.264), MP3 and AAC
* Qucktime MOV
* Real Video/Audio/RMVB
* OGG Vorbis and OGM
* FLAC, WMA lossless, Monkey Audio (APE), Musepack Audio (MPC) and Wavpack
* Flash Video
* Matroska (MKA and MKV)
* Karaoke CDG/BIN

Okay L.J., everything is working perfectly now. Thank you big time for all of your help. Now I have to pass this information off to all of the folks I talked into buying a PS3. My best friend told me not to think of planning anything this weekend until I get him hooked up!

You are a PS3 genius!

[Rich-n-Texas]

Did you pay your consulting fee yet like I had to? :smilewinkgrin:

[L.J.]

Okay L.J., everything is working perfectly now. Thank you big time for all of your help. Now I have to pass this information off to all of the folks I talked into buying a PS3. My best friend told me not to think of planning anything this weekend until I get him hooked up!

You are a PS3 genius!

Hey cool man!

I still listen to CD's, but there's nothing like having access to my entire music collection with just a few clicks :cornut:

I'm still convinced that the PS3 is by far one of the best HT purchases I've made.



Did you pay your consulting fee yet like I had to?

:prrr:

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Hey cool man!

I still listen to CD's, but there's nothing like having access to my entire music collection with just a few clicks :cornut:

I'm still convinced that the PS3 is by far one of the best HT purchases I've made.




:prrr:

One more question (and we'll discuss the fee), can the PS3 be made to stream Youtube video? I know it can do Hulu, as I got mine hooked into that. I know TVersity has a ICON for YouTube, but how does it work?

By the way, you are right. As much really great equipment as I own, the PS3 has shown itself to be the most fullproof, flexible, competent performer and worth every dollar I paid for it.

[L.J.]

One more question (and we'll discuss the fee), can the PS3 be made to stream Youtube video? I know it can do Hulu, as I got mine hooked into that. I know TVersity has a ICON for YouTube, but how does it work?

By the way, you are right. As much really great equipment as I own, the PS3 has shown itself to be the most fullproof, flexible, competent performer and worth every dollar I paid for it.

You can access Youtube directly from the PS3 browser. I haven't tried streaming it through Tversity but I'll give it a try out of curiosity.

[L.J.]

OK, gave it a try and it works fine. Gotta set a few things up but I'm thinking playlists, favorites and stuff like that can be set up for easy access. Still toying with it but I got it to work right away so that's a plus. I skipped the Youtube username log in during Tversity installation, now I can't find where to enter that info. Besides that, I could access a bunch of videos based on different categories such as "most viewed, highest ratings....and so on". Each feed needs to have its own unique title to keep things organized. Also, each category pulls up about 15 videos. Not sure if that's the limit or what.

This would come in handy for repeated watching, but the PS3 browser would be easier for finding a quick video or two.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

OK, gave it a try and it works fine. Gotta set a few things up but I'm thinking playlists, favorites and stuff like that can be set up for easy access. Still toying with it but I got it to work right away so that's a plus. I skipped the Youtube username log in during Tversity installation, now I can't find where to enter that info. Besides that, I could access a bunch of videos based on different categories such as "most viewed, highest ratings....and so on". Each feed needs to have its own unique title to keep things organized. Also, each category pulls up about 15 videos. Not sure if that's the limit or what.

This would come in handy for repeated watching, but the PS3 browser would be easier for finding a quick video or two.

I also got it working, and I got my Netflix disc as well. Downloads suck, they just make Blu-rays look just that much better. I love my PS3:smilewinkgrin:

[L.J.]

I also got it working, and I got my Netflix disc as well. Downloads suck, they just make Blu-rays look just that much better. I love my PS3:smilewinkgrin:

Man , I didn't even know PS3 could stream Netflix now. Where have I been :shocked:

So quality may be bad but my wife & kids ain't gonna care. More use out of my PS3s and gettin more value out of my Netflix account :yesnod:

Guess the disc is needed til a future update allowing streaming directly from the XMB. Come on T, you need to keep us slackers updated. I been too busy playing Resident Evil 5 :biggrin5:

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

It seems that Hulu has blocked the PS3 from accessing its content. I found a work around, but it is difficult to implement, and not for the faint at heart. When I finally did get it to work, the results are pretty mediocre. I think bandwidth is the issue, as I only have a 6.0mbps DSL connection, hardly the speed you get with cable.

I also found there was content on YouTube that cannot be accessed by the PS3. It seems they have a block on some content that the PS3 cannot access. I can get it fine on my computer, but not on the PS3. The workaround, I downloaded it to my hard drive, and was able to stream from there.

[Woochifer]

It seems that Hulu has blocked the PS3 from accessing its content. I found a work around, but it is difficult to implement, and not for the faint at heart. When I finally did get it to work, the results are pretty mediocre. I think bandwidth is the issue, as I only have a 6.0mbps DSL connection, hardly the speed you get with cable.

Hulu got blocked from the Vudu boxes and all smartphones as well. Now that Hulu has successfully corralled a dedicated group of regular viewers, that service is now getting pitched around as a bargaining chip. There's talk about walling off certain content only for cable and satellite subscribers, and even talk about going to a subscription model to access certain programming on the site. They built up the viewership with free content, now they want to make money off of that audience.

Seems that a lot of these online video services are just trying to build up a core audience, so that the parent companies can use them as leverage when negotiating with service providers and hardware manufacturers. ESPN360 has been playing hardball. They even got one of my relatives to switch ISPs when his cable internet could not access ESPN360's programming and the site told him to switch to AT&T, which apparently pays ESPN a fee to allow their subscribers access to ESPN360 programming.

[L.J.]

It seems that Hulu has blocked the PS3 from accessing its content. I found a work around, but it is difficult to implement, and not for the faint at heart. When I finally did get it to work, the results are pretty mediocre. I think bandwidth is the issue, as I only have a 6.0mbps DSL connection, hardly the speed you get with cable.

I also found there was content on YouTube that cannot be accessed by the PS3. It seems they have a block on some content that the PS3 cannot access. I can get it fine on my computer, but not on the PS3. The workaround, I downloaded it to my hard drive, and was able to stream from there.

Yes I need to make some changes myself. I have the 6.0 dsl as well. Router runs directly to my PS3 but wireless to my desktop. I may just switch over to Comcast internet and run wire directly to my PC ( easier said than done). Wish Comcast didn't charge a arm n' leg for internet service.

My brother has Comcast and his connection is lightning fast :incazzato:

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

More information I received from my friend. The PS3 can be firware upgraded to 3D viewing of Blurays. It will not be full resolution because of the limitations of the PS3's 1.3 HDMI transmitter, but you will get 960x1080p 3D instead of 1920x1080p 3D. Even half resolution 3D looks really good and sharp based on the Sony demo I saw while attending Blu-con 2.0.

This IMO is great news for PS3 owners.

[audio amateur]

More information I received from my friend. The PS3 can be firware upgraded to 3D viewing of Blurays. It will not be full resolution because of the limitations of the PS3's 1.3 HDMI transmitter, but you will get 960x1080p 3D instead of 1920x1080p 3D. Even half resolution 3D looks really good and sharp based on the Sony demo I saw while attending Blu-con 2.0.

This IMO is great news for PS3 owners.
That would mean about 9/10 aspect ratio. What's up with that?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

That would mean about 9/10 aspect ratio. What's up with that?

That would be two identical streams of 960x1080, one stream for each eye so it will take up the entire 16x9 screen. When combined with the eye, it will come out as 1920x1080p.

[audio amateur]

Oh, thanks for clearing that up. I thought we'd gone from widescreen to tallscreen.

[L.J.]

This IMO is great news for PS3 owners.

Wow, the updates just keep coming. I remember my 60g being at version 1.30 when I first hooked it up. People come to my house and are always amazed at what the PS3 can do. And some of these people own a PS3 themselves.

[GMichael]

More information I received from my friend. The PS3 can be firware upgraded to 3D viewing of Blurays. It will not be full resolution because of the limitations of the PS3's 1.3 HDMI transmitter, but you will get 960x1080p 3D instead of 1920x1080p 3D. Even half resolution 3D looks really good and sharp based on the Sony demo I saw while attending Blu-con 2.0.

This IMO is great news for PS3 owners.

Keep it coming T. It just keeps getting better.

[L.J.]

PS3 Data Transfer:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4169274250_a25605dc54.jpg

This feature enables you to easily transfer all of your saved data from one PS3 to another. So if you decide to get a new PS3 you can make sure you don’t loose any of your existing content. Content such as games, game save data, and videos downloaded from PlayStation Network can be transferred to the new PS3 system and deleted from the current PS3. Other content, including personal media files (photos, music, videos), can be copied onto the new PS3 and remain on the current PS3 system.

The process is really simple

1. Turn both the current PS3 (A) and new PS3 (B) on and connect them with a LAN cable; PS3 (A) should be connected to the TV
2. On the XMB of PS3 (A), scroll to the Settings menu and select [System Settings] and then [Data Transfer Utility]
3. Follow the instructions on-screen and transfer data
4. After transferring the data, follow the instructions on-screen, and then connect PS3 (B) to the TV to view the XMB
5. If content that was downloaded from PlayStation Store was transferred as part of this operation, you must activate PS3 (B) before you can use the data. Log in to the PS3 system as the user who owns the content, and then select (PlayStation Network) > (Account Management) > (System Activation) to activate the system

[GMichael]

Good news for anyone replacing their PS/3's.