Official, this is how you should set up your PS3 thread!

[BTBuck1]

ok, messing with my ps3 for several days I have learned a few short commings of the ps3, but fortunately there are work arounds until sony gets their software jive'n with their hardware.

so here are a few tricks, to get the most out of your ps3, and make setting it up a quicker more enjoyable process.

HDMI vs. Component
First off, I know everyone will be quick to assume that the only way one should connect ps3 is via HDMI. I will say that if your not playing psone/ps2 games this would be the ideal connection, and or if your using a 1080p display that accepts 1080p via HDMI. But you may want to consider component as well or instead if you don't have a 1080p set.
Here's why:
psone & ps2 games are by and large interlaced, 480i the ntsc standard. when connecting ps3 via HDMI there is no option for interlaced you do however get this choice with the component y-pb-pr connections. At first glance you may think, cool the ps3 will upscale my ps1/2 games via HDMI to 480p...however the results are less than satisfactory. It gives the games a severe softening, to the point of being blurry. Also it forces a stretch on the aspect ratio.
Connecting Via component and selecting "Custom" and then deselecting 480p relieves you of the forced stretch and the Blurring that is associated with connecting via HDMI.

So, for those with 1080p HDMI sets, you may want to connect up both ways and when gaming ps1/2 go in and change connector type & resolution and then change it back when playing ps3, BD's etc.

I have found that the resoltuion on my set via component vs. HDMI was a wash, barely a noticeable or appreciable difference in Picture quality. Both look fantastic and any difference is probably placebo. My tv is a Sony LCD RPTV native resolution of 1366x788p. For me component is fine, and I will leave it this way until sony adjusts their ouput abilities via HDMI (if ever they do so).

Audio

For some odd reason sony made it so that if you have optical selected that you get no sound through R/L audio. So for people who have both connected IE the R/L to the TV and the optical to your reciever, you will get no audio output from the ps3's multi av R/L out if you have "optical" selected.

If your using the optical output and connecting to a hometheatre receiver then select "bitstream" on every available selection. Also make sure your receiver is set to Auto Decode as you will have many issues otherwise because ps3 supports a wide variety of audio codecs. When in the Audio setup for optical, select all outputs unless your receiver does not decode the said formats.







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These are a few suggestions I have, If others find interesting information on connections, or have differen't results based on their display devices heres the place to post them.

[JTK]

For HDMI audio, do you still set it to Bitstream or not?

I always get confused for a moment...

[dobyblue]

Don't set it to bitstream until your receiver is HDMI 1.3 with TrueHD and DTS-MA decoders.
Only PCM will work on bitstream, but you're better off not using this until your receiver supports the other codecs that bitstream will attempt to pass through.

In other news I watched a proper copy of Ridge Racer 7 today on a Sony SXRD 70" XBR2 television with Paradigm Millenium speakers and a Denon amp.
It was running at full 1080p.
It was ridiculously good.

[JBlacklow]

Originally Posted by JTK

For HDMI audio, do you still set it to Bitstream or not?

I always get confused for a moment...

Set it to PCM for HDMI, and let the PS3 do all the decoding. For optical, use bitstream.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by JBlacklow

Set it to PCM for HDMI, and let the PS3 do all the decoding. For optical, use bitstream.

Ok. It's easy to lose track of sometimes.

Just to verify: I can use PS2 component cables on the PS3 no problem yes? Same AV Multioutput on the back? It looks like it...

I can get those nice Monster component cables for the PS2 for under $20 new off of Ebay right now. I think I'll do it.

[jedivball]

Yes, the PS2 component cables will work on the PS3.

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by JTK

I can get those nice Monster component cables for the PS2 for under $20 new off of Ebay right now. I think I'll do it.

you'll apprecciate your ps2 games alot more once you go component, and deselct 480p. You can still do the triangle/X thing on games that support 480p. and they look great doing so!

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

you'll apprecciate your ps2 games alot more once you go component, and deselct 480p. You can still do the triangle/X thing on games that support 480p. and they look great doing so!

Cool deal.

[Monkey]

What if I'm running two channel audio. Will the analog's from the multi out sound better than optical cable? What audio settings would be best.


I'm waiting for a bit before buying a new HDMI 1080p receiver.

[BTBuck1]

go optical.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Hey brianbobby.

There are a lot of people on other message boards complaining about how bad some PS2 games look when played on a PS3. Apparently this is only when played on an HDTV (but not an HD-CRT).

My question is, what PS2 games have you tried on your PS3? Have you tried the imfamous FFX or FFXII? I've also heard that Shadows of the Collosus and Okami have the same problem...

[Casey]

ive noticed ps2 games look worse using the hdmi video than with component cables. they look grainy and pixelated, although they're still playable.

switching to component video makes them look how they always looked...

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by Casey

ive noticed ps2 games look worse using the hdmi video than with component cables. they look grainy and pixelated, although they're still playable.

switching to component video makes them look how they always looked...

Ditto

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

go optical.

I thought optical didn't have enough bandwidth for the really good stuff like SACD.

[PeterTHX]

Don't set it to bitstream until your receiver is HDMI 1.3 with TrueHD and DTS-MA decoders.
Only PCM will work on bitstream, but you're better off not using this until your receiver supports the other codecs that bitstream will attempt to pass through.

INCORRECT!!!!

My receiver, an Onkyo TX-SR803, is HDMI 1.1 compliant and I have the PS3 set to "bitstream" via HDMI.

Dolby Digital comes out Dolby Digital
Dolby TrueHD comes out multichannel PCM
SACD comes out multichannel PCM
DTS-HD Master Audio comes out DTS
PCM 5.1 is PCM 5.1

If you set it to PCM, unsupported formats like DTS-ES 6.1 discrete (X-Men) will be downgraded to DTS 5.1. My Onkyo doesn't do THX processing to the multichannel PCM tracks, and things like dynamic range (night mode) are disabled.

HDMI devices are smart enough to know if the bitstream format is supported or not. SACD is sent in 2 channel as 192KHz PCM and 5.1 channel as 88.2KHz PCM to the Onkyo.