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?

[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.

[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.]

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]

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.

[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....

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

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

[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]

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!

[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

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

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!

[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.

[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.

[Rich-n-Texas]

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

[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

[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

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

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

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

[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.