JP/US PS3 and 50Hz content?

[Frode]

Basically - can anyone tell me if the US or JP PS3s support output of 50Hz BDs and PS3 games? Exactly how are they outputting that content if it does work - same resolution and frame rate as the original, or converted to 60Hz? With Europe set to having more region free BD discs it seems like getting a JP or US console is a no-brainer. Add to that I actually have a lot of PS2J games I'm tempted to get a JP one now before they remove the emotion chip.

[baccusboy]

I have a Japanese player, but I'm not home at the moment. Where can I check to see this specification? I'll try to find it in the documentation provided.

So you're saying that my PS3 has something in that (emotion engine?) that will be removed later? What does that mean? Thanks.

[HDViewer]

Originally Posted by baccusboy

So you're saying that my PS3 has something in that (emotion engine?) that will be removed later? What does that mean? Thanks.

He is talking about the PS2 emulator for backwards capatibility on the PS3. Current emulation is handled with a onboard ROM chip. This is being removed in favor of a software emulator for future versions of the PS3 in an attempt to make the PS3 less expensive to produce.

Right now, the current crop of PS3's have the ROM chip but after they are gone you will not find a PS3 with a hardware emulator anymore unless you buy a used PS3.

[baccusboy]

It would be better to have the ROM chip, then?

[HDViewer]

Originally Posted by Frode

Basically - can anyone tell me if the US or JP PS3s support output of 50Hz BDs and PS3 games? Exactly how are they outputting that content if it does work - same resolution and frame rate as the original, or converted to 60Hz? With Europe set to having more region free BD discs it seems like getting a JP or US console is a no-brainer. Add to that I actually have a lot of PS2J games I'm tempted to get a JP one now before they remove the emotion chip.

I was hoping the US PS3 would allow backwards compatibility with PS2J games but no luck. Even though they are BD for Japan and the US are the same region now it would seem that PS2 games have to be the same region as your PS3 in order to work.

[HDViewer]

Originally Posted by baccusboy

It would be better to have the ROM chip, then?

Software has the risk of introducing bugs into the backwards compatibility that might prevent some games from working correctly. Also, software emulation is usually slower, performance wise, than hardware. Even though bugs could be fixed with a firmware update the performance factor cannot.

This is just an educated guess but I'm betting hardware emulation is the better of the two.

[Frode]

Bit of a bump and some more info. Apparently if you play Euro PS3 games on the US/JP console they run at 60Hz instead of 50Hz. They do still work, which is the important part. The only question I have left is how do European Blu-ray's (if they don't have a region code I mean) play? Are they forced to 60Hz? Would those that have 50Hz content (like Planet Earth) play at some messed up frame rate?

As far as the compatibility goes, the emulation on the Euro PS3 isn't "true" emulation in that the lower level hardware functionality isn't emulated. What they do instead is that they try to recognize calls to high level library functions, and then substitute PS3 native versions of the code. This works well for games where the developers haven't deviated from Sony's development kit. The problems arise when the (PS2) developers instead have had to optimize code using assembly to either compensate for bugs or improve performance. This is why US/JP consoles have better backwards compatibility because they have the emotion chip that was used in the PS2. So they'll run that assembly code, but the software emulation in the Euro one won't (or at least it'll be more limited in both speed and code functionality). You can see how badly a software only implementation can work just by looking at the xbox360 - Microsoft are having a hell of a time getting older games to work and most of them need software patches.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by Frode

Would those that have 50Hz content (like Planet Earth) play at some messed up frame rate?

The Planet Earth Blu-ray is in 1080 24p

[Frode]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

The Planet Earth Blu-ray is in 1080 24p

Even the UK release? (is it even region free - I forgot to ask/check) I thought this was a case where it was shot in 25P?

[HDJK]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=7808&page=4

[Frode]

Originally Posted by HDJK

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=7808&page=4

Thanks - guess Planet Earth isn't a good example a 50Hz title to use then.