PlayStation 3 to feature Blu-Ray Disc

[Marwin]

PlayStation 3 to feature Blu-Ray Disc

Sony has revealed that its next-generation games console will use the Blu-Ray disc format, which is an evolution of the current DVD system that is designed to hold five times as much data on a similarly sized disc.

A meeting in Tokyo yesterday saw the creation of a working group to draw up final specifications of a read-only Blu-Ray system, including representatives from many of the world's largest electronics companies such as Sony, Dell and Matsushita (Panasonic).

Until now, Blu-Ray discs, which are similar to standard DVDs but use more accurate blue laser light rather than the normal red laser light to read and write data, have been both readable and writeable.

Sony officials confirmed that the next iteration of the PlayStation home console will be equipped with a Blu-Ray disc drive, allowing it to play back high definition movies (as movies are gradually expected to move from DVD to Blu-Ray in the coming years) as well as providing more space for game developers on the discs.

Single-layer Blu-Ray discs can store up to 27Gb on one layer of data, compared to 4.7Gb on DVDs, although the version of the standard favoured by Sony holds only 23Gb - still around five times larger than existing DVD discs. The Blu-Ray specification also allows for reading existing DVD discs, so the PS3 will almost certainly still be able to handle standard DVD movies and PS2 titles.

Video playback units based on the new read-only standard are expected to appear by the end of the current fiscal year, which runs through to March 2005 - the same timescale in which Sony plans to unveil the PlayStation 3 in public for the first time.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...e=dev&aid=3919

[phloyd]

It was interesting to see the PSX in Japan recently. It seems that they are definitely moving towards integration of game console and "TiVo" with this kind of box...

Adding BD would be a logical step for such a media centre.

Cheers!
DAve.

[Marwin]

Here's a new Sony press release to further confirm that PS3 will support BD-ROM:

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Adopts Blu-ray Disc ROM for Next Generation PlayStation
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040921/sftu096_1.html

i reckon, like the PS1 and PS2, Sony will take a hit and absorb some of the cost of the blu-ray readers in the PS3, knowing they're gonna ship a crap load of them and that putting the readers in their machines will, in itself, drive the costs of production down. (considering theyve just hit 70 million sales worldwide!)
and if you're saying its sony's 60th and they want to splash out on something... then putting blu-ray readers in their PS3s and still hitting their £300 release price average should be a splash out indeed.

if you're from the US, what do PS consoles sell for on first release? just trying to work out if we have been getting screwed as usual in the UK.

[Mills]

Do you think that Playstation 3 will show BD on a normal CRT pal tv? I live in Europe and the resolution is only 560i and the best input is RGB.
Do you think the player will be able to downconvert? Many people still don't have a HD TV on DVI(HDMI inputs.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Mills

Do you think that Playstation 3 will show BD on a normal CRT pal tv? I live in Europe and the resolution is only 560i and the best input is RGB.
Do you think the player will be able to downconvert? Many people still don't have a HD TV on DVI(HDMI inputs.

Surely there would be a way of just removing every other line to allow it to fit on SD tv's. How many people will have a hi-def capable tv in the uk by the end of 2005. Less than 5% of the population I reckon.

[dogabutila]

dont think that cost would be much of an issue as for the ps console the best (read most popular) games on it are rpg's which usually come in 2 or 3 disks now anyways

also you dont see too many good rpgs on any of the other consoles so i think it would be too bad, people would be willin to pay for it im thinking.

[Yayo]

I don't fully understand the hdtv or whatever. I know that my PS2 is hooked up to my tv by a red white and yellow cable. Thats about it. I know its not HDTV. I dont even think i own one. I want to know if blu ray would work on regular tv's like people have or in order to play a PS3 i need a HDTV.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by Yayo

I don't fully understand the hdtv or whatever. I know that my PS2 is hooked up to my tv by a red white and yellow cable. Thats about it. I know its not HDTV. I dont even think i own one. I want to know if blu ray would work on regular tv's like people have or in order to play a PS3 i need a HDTV.

I'm unsure if the PS3 will include analog connections but I would certainly assume so. If so, you'll definitely be able to play PS1 and PS2 games with your standard TV. However for PS3 games it's quite likely that you will need an HDTV. There has been some speculation that "some" PS3 games may still use DVD discs rather than Blu-ray discs. If that becomes the case some PS3 games would work on your standard TV too.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by n2blu

I'm unsure if the PS3 will include analog connections but I would certainly assume so. If so, you'll definitely be able to play PS1 and PS2 games with your standard TV. However for PS3 games it's quite likely that you will need an HDTV. There has been some speculation that "some" PS3 games may still use DVD discs rather than Blu-ray discs. If that becomes the case some PS3 games would work on your standard TV too.

The PS3 has to have anaologue connections, and in fact it does. Aside from the 2 HDMI connections, you have the standard 'Audio/video out'. You can see it if you look at pictures of the back of the PS3 and it's also listed in the PS3 spec sheet on Gamespot, ( http://hardware.gamespot.com/Sony-Pl...-3-15015-S-4-4). There is no way in a million years that Sony would make HDTV a requirement for their mass market consoles as this would allienate 10's of millions of potential customers. The console will simply scale down the image to suit your display. The disc used has nothing to do with it.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by Rob

The PS3 has to have anaologue connections, and in fact it does. Aside from the 2 HDMI connections, you have the standard 'Audio/video out'. You can see it if you look at pictures of the back of the PS3 and it's also listed in the PS3 spec sheet on Gamespot, ( http://hardware.gamespot.com/Sony-Pl...-3-15015-S-4-4). There is no way in a million years that Sony would make HDTV a requirement for their mass market consoles as this would allienate 10's of millions of potential customers. The console will simply scale down the image to suit your display. The disc used has nothing to do with it.

Thanks for the information Rob. I figured PS3 would have analog connections but I didn't want to say it did if it didn't. Are you sure about the scaling down of HD to SD though? I did not see that specified in your linked page.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by n2blu

Thanks for the information Rob. I figured PS3 would have analog connections but I didn't want to say it did if it didn't. Are you sure about the scaling down of HD to SD though? I did not see that specified in your linked page.

TBH, it's an educated guess that the PS3 will offer a standard def tv output, (though one I'd put any money on being true). Sony has said that all games are to be developed in 1080p, so some scaling down will therefore be required. As the PS3 is intended as a mass market product it cannot afford to exclude a large section of it's potential customer base by making hdtv a requisite. I'm not sure what % of USA/Jap homes have hdtv, but it's a long way from being a mass market product Europe and other continents. It's been estimated recently that HDTV 'could' be in 20% of Uk homes by 2008. So potentially 2 years after the PS3's Uk launch, 80% of households may still not have HDTV. When the PS3 launches in Europe that figure will be less than 10%, (this figure is pretty similar across Europe if not less).

Even if people have a HDTV it's likely they'll only have one in the main room. A lot of PS2's currently reside in bedrooms, spare rooms etc. and people aren't going to spend near £1,000 on a HDTV to play a £300 console. The Uk is so far behind the USA and Jap that the first hi-def tv broadcasts don't even start in the Uk until 2006. Even then only on expensive satellite tv neccesitating the purchase of an expensive HDTV set top box and additional monthly payment for HDTV content, (over and above their SDTV monthly payments). I don't know anyone who has a hi-def tv apart from myself, (or is interested in buying one). Even then, my lcd tv can only show 720p native and has to scale 1080i to 768i, (1366/768). Can't handle a 1080p signal for obvious reasons. Plus it doesn't have HDMI inputs so will only show these via component. Apart from the odd person on the net who uses a component lead, almost everybody connects their current console via Scart in the Uk. You can't even buy component leads for Uk consoles as the 3 companies involved realised too few people had compatible tvs to make it worth while. Those that have only do so because they have imported a USA/Jap console.

Basically, if 5% of Uk gamers had a HDTV with HDMI by the time of the PS3's launch I'd be very surprised. Now, as the XBOX 360 has already had SD connections such as s-video announced, and Microsoft themselves have said that games on 360 will still look amazing via SD, Sony have to follow suit. Imagine you're not sure which next gen console console you would like to buy, until you discover you need to buy an expensive hdtv to use one, but you can use your existing tv for the other. I know a lot of people, (friends, family, people at work etc..), who are looking to buy a next gen machine, but none are looking to replace their tvs anytime soon.

Bit long winded I know, but that's why I believe SD analogue connections are 100% guarenteed for PS3. S-Video for the USA/Jap and Scart for Europe.

[zombie]

Sounds reasonable Rob. Thanks for your reply.

[Yayo]

Wow, thanks. I wonder whats the capibilty of "anolog" TV's. Because you talk about how the games will look better on HDTV. So that means that what the game is expected to look like will be the HDTV version... Hmmm... I never thought the graphics depended on the TV. I always thought it was the system. Thanks Rob. But with all this stuff and graphics how much is this thing gonna cost? :?:

[Rob]

At the moment it's been rumoured that the PS3 will cost less than $500 USA. But that's about it so far. $400 seems a likely price considering the technology and the fact that it has Blu-Ray playback. Though it might depend on what price the XBOX 360 is launched at!? Nobody knows yet. It's just too early to day what with PS3 being roughly a year from launch.

I think standard def analog tvs in the USA are 480 lines, whereas in the Uk it's 575. 1080p offers rouglhy 5 times the resolution of standard tv broadcasting.

[erdega79]

I think consumers could use computer lcd's . I know of some from dell, viewsonic and samsung that have resolution of 1920x1200 and cost about a 1500$ but you know it will come down . These monitors can be used effectively for 1080p videos and games until big screen lcd, sed or plasma tv's come down in price.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=1412
http://www.ezgotrend.com/productdeta...4&pid=01957276
http://www.costcentral.com/proddetai...P231WB/F55515/

[schmitty]

Originally Posted by phloyd

I just realised that one cost saving factor is that PS3 will only need BD-ROM playback, no recording needed. So that could reduce the cost dramatically...??

Cheers!
DAve.

The playstation 3 is definitly using Blu-ray discs and the Playstation 3 i know for a fact will read any type of CD, DVD and any type of Blu-ray discs. You can get dis info from sony.com - playstation news.

[Gorkab]

Originally Posted by Mills

Do you think that Playstation 3 will show BD on a normal CRT pal tv? I live in Europe and the resolution is only 560i and the best input is RGB.
Do you think the player will be able to downconvert? Many people still don't have a HD TV on DVI(HDMI inputs.

560i ? You crazy ? How about 625p for a real change ! I agree that on the TNT it's 576 but it's progressive not interlaced !!! As if we were looking at some VHS stuff :shock:

[Rob]

I would assume that Blu-Ray players wil be able to scale down to 575p, but I don't think it would offer a picture significantly better than dvd. Cerrtainly not enough to warrant buying a Blu-Ray player or discs in the first place. Basically, until you have a tv capable of at least 1280 by 720p, I would stick with dvds.

[Gorkab]

Originally Posted by Rob

I would assume that Blu-Ray players wil be able to scale down to 575p, but I don't think it would offer a picture significantly better than dvd. Cerrtainly not enough to warrant buying a Blu-Ray player or discs in the first place. Basically, until you have a tv capable of at least 1280 by 720p, I would stick with dvds.

I think taht on a TV that would be the same but on a computer :shock: