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PS3 Firmware 1.80 Announced
Slackpride
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Updated with more accurate info from Next-Gen
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5742&Itemid=2
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced today availability of the latest version of the PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) firmware. Version 1.80 features upscaling of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, and DVD movies up to full 1080p HD resolution when viewed on a compatible HD TV set.
The capability to upscale DVDs to HD quality is a feature normally only associated with top range DVD players, and its inclusion in the latest firmware upgrade now allows PS3 owners with an existing DVD collection to dramatically enhance the viewing pleasure of their DVD collection when viewed through a compatible HD TV set1. Not only can DVD movies be enhanced to full 1080p HD quality but so too will PlayStation 2 and PlayStation games be upscaled to provide much improved gaming pleasure.
In a comprehensive update to PS3’s already impressive capabilities, Version 1.80 also allows users to enjoy Remote Play on their PSP across the internet, allowing them to access their PS3 anywhere in the world where a broadband internet connection is available2.
Version 1.80 also allows users on a home network to seamlessly view and play rich media content such as images, music and video on their PS3, that is stored on their DLNA3 enabled devices such as PCs and laptops elsewhere in the house, reinforcing PS3’s credentials as a home entertainment hub that truly deserves pride of place in the Living Room.
Other firmware additions include the ability to print photos stored on the PS3’s hard drive or removable storage card on certain Epson printers. Also, users will be able to use the Memory Card Adapter to copy saved PS1 and PS2 files from the PS3 to older first- and second-gen PlayStation memory cards.
SCEA confirmed to Next-Gen that the same update will be hitting US PS3s tomorrow as well.
PS3 owners will be able to upgrade their PS3 with the latest Version 1.80 firmware from 24th May 2007.
Notes
1. DVD-ROM (including DVD Video content) can only be upscaled with HDMI compatible TV sets.
2. Use of Remote Play requires a powered up PS3 with Version 1.80 as well as PSP firmware version 3.50 which will be available at the end of May.
3. DLNA – Digital Living Network Alliance. For more info on DLNA, please see http://www.dlna.org/en/consumer/home
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5742&Itemid=2
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced today availability of the latest version of the PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) firmware. Version 1.80 features upscaling of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, and DVD movies up to full 1080p HD resolution when viewed on a compatible HD TV set.
The capability to upscale DVDs to HD quality is a feature normally only associated with top range DVD players, and its inclusion in the latest firmware upgrade now allows PS3 owners with an existing DVD collection to dramatically enhance the viewing pleasure of their DVD collection when viewed through a compatible HD TV set1. Not only can DVD movies be enhanced to full 1080p HD quality but so too will PlayStation 2 and PlayStation games be upscaled to provide much improved gaming pleasure.
In a comprehensive update to PS3’s already impressive capabilities, Version 1.80 also allows users to enjoy Remote Play on their PSP across the internet, allowing them to access their PS3 anywhere in the world where a broadband internet connection is available2.
Version 1.80 also allows users on a home network to seamlessly view and play rich media content such as images, music and video on their PS3, that is stored on their DLNA3 enabled devices such as PCs and laptops elsewhere in the house, reinforcing PS3’s credentials as a home entertainment hub that truly deserves pride of place in the Living Room.
Other firmware additions include the ability to print photos stored on the PS3’s hard drive or removable storage card on certain Epson printers. Also, users will be able to use the Memory Card Adapter to copy saved PS1 and PS2 files from the PS3 to older first- and second-gen PlayStation memory cards.
SCEA confirmed to Next-Gen that the same update will be hitting US PS3s tomorrow as well.
PS3 owners will be able to upgrade their PS3 with the latest Version 1.80 firmware from 24th May 2007.
Notes
1. DVD-ROM (including DVD Video content) can only be upscaled with HDMI compatible TV sets.
2. Use of Remote Play requires a powered up PS3 with Version 1.80 as well as PSP firmware version 3.50 which will be available at the end of May.
3. DLNA – Digital Living Network Alliance. For more info on DLNA, please see http://www.dlna.org/en/consumer/home
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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I'm still hovering at 1.5 while hoping that the rumored homebrew exploits are on the way, but this is tempting. I have no upscaling DVD player, but the 1080p XBR television's internal upscaler should be every bit as good, right?
My PS3 *IS* my PS2 + BD player. I never owned a PS2 and I don't own a single PS3 game (I only rent). That means that the PS2 upscaling feature is of particular interest to me. For one, I need confirmation that the US PS3 is capable of this. It has no hardware scaler chip for doing this and the software to intercept, upscale, and output would be intensive and lag-inducing. To top it off, I don't think the US PS3 can handle it when the kernel has been rebooted into PS2 mode. The PSone emulation does not reboot the PS2 and is clearly inferior to even the PSP's PSone emulation upscaling, so I can see that being improved.
Is it possible that the PS3 may start selectively emulating PS2 titles even with the full PS2 hardware present to introduce these features? I suppose that is possible and much more likely than 1080p upscaling for ALL PS2 games.
Don't get your hopes up. I suspect it's Europe-only unless the new firmware selectively emulates PS2 games on PS3s that include full PS2 hardware.
Actually, 1UP picked up this story and confirms that the upscaling is for all territories, since as mentioned in the OP changes apply worldwide with Sony firmware updates. Either way, we'll find out soon enough!
I can't wait! Sony finally found their upscaling capability!
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
Every other week I feel like I've found a secret decoder ring in my cereal box.
That STILL doesn't mean that it's not for specific games done through the software emulation. After all, because the hardware differs, the FW clearly just behaves differently on different hardware. Similar to the PSP brightness handling being different on newer PSPs so the downgraded 1.5FW needed to be modified with the higher FW's screen handling code for TA80/TA82/TA86 PSPs.
If it's not done that way then it means that the behavior in PS2 mode has been changed. It was the way it was for security reasons.
(Does anyone else get that with HDMI?)
And is the playing video files new?
Streaming video across the network is new. I can stop using my 360 for that now (I'd rather use the PS3, I hear it has NO RED LIGHTS.)
The PS3 will be a very different beast in 12 months time from that which currently retails for £400, looking increasingly like an excellent future purchase.
No, it does not. Sorry bro.
Buy one and Fold
Yeah, it's a big no-no. It's all apart of HDCP.
It's out of both sony and microsoft's hands (although microsoft has apparently been making a giant push to try and get the 360 to be the sole exception).
I swear to god this is what made me buy a 360 instead...I just wanted something to look shiny on my 1080i HDTV
You hear wrong. When the PS3 malfunctions, the power indicator will flash red and green.
Oy. Thanks for taking that literally.
Jiminex... you mean 720p games to 1080i? No, they haven't mentioned anything yet.
No no, I caught the digg. I just thought it was funny because the Xbox 360 and the PS3 have virtually the same indicator when they brick.
But, DVD predates HDCP!
It better fix the westinghouse problem.
1080i should be deinterlaced to 1080p by your TV for 24fps film-sourced content and the entire 1080p frame should be restored with the original detail. Of course, most TVs fail miserably at this with many actually turning it into essentially a 540p signal! My own Sony KDL-52XBR2 fails the test but the only decent BD content I have is Planet Earth on BD (+ Spideman 3 sampler in crappy MPEG2, NIN sampler, Ballad of Ricky Bobby freebie in crappy MPEG2, etc). PE was intended for television, so I'm not sure if it's 1080p/24, 1080p/30, or 1080p/50. Hell, it may have been natively 1080i and upscaled to 1080p during production for all I know (considering that it is intended for television).
Some of the encoding in PE is BAD BAD BAD but with 1080p over HDMI it is damn impressive!
IIRC, Planet Earth was filmed natively in 1080p. I was asking around about planet earth in HD, and thats what I was told.
Makes sense, too. Considering how beautiful that show it, it'd be criminal for it to peak at 1080i.
I believe so too, but all Wikipedia mentions is the broadcast resolution of 1080i.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5742&Itemid=2
Other firmware additions include the ability to print photos stored on the PS3’s hard drive or removable storage card on certain Epson printers. Also, users will be able to use the Memory Card Adapter to copy saved PS1 and PS2 files from the PS3 to older first- and second-gen PlayStation memory cards.
SCEA confirmed to Next-Gen that the same update will be hitting US PS3s tomorrow as well.
The top one is great for those of us who need to transfer saves (ps2 at work, ps3 at home for me), confirmation is always nice.
A television series could be filmed live in front of a studio audience with 1080i cameras and stored as an MPEG2 1080i source for ATSC broadcast. It would likely be put on disc the same way. The Nine Inch Nails BD is flagged as 1080i/60 and requires a high-end receiver to deinterlace the signal to 1080p/30. This was done to squeeze more detail as extra frames that would be thrown away if it was 1080p flagged as 1080p/24. It is considered THE benchmark for BD quality as Microsoft had to modify their VC-1 codec many times for a proper encoding.
The whole reason it supports MPEG2 is to throw extras taken from the DVD production and HDTV sources without additional work, therefore you can expect 1080i content for the feature product too considering the source. Taking those MPEG2 1080i sources and converting to 1080p VC-1 or AVC would just be stupid and would actually lose quality.
Of course, your definition of "feature content" may be theatrical-only and may not include such things as made-for-TV movies, HBO original movies, and "The Sopranos," which would all very likely be 1080i. [There very-well may be some rule stipulating that all theatrical releases be released in 1080p]
Understandably, they discourage putting standard def stuff on there and there is probably something complicating matters for anyone who wants to put SD content as the primary content when HD is available, but blocking it all together would mean that long-running television series' that "went high def" half-way through their running would likely not be released entirely on BD. Same for collections of "complete" series only available in SD (many old black & white SD shows should fit entire series on a 50GB BD if upscaling isn't required). Rehashing SD DVD extras makes a BD release MUCH easier, so they're often SD (they no longer have to out-do their DVD release while redoing all the extras in high-def). I'm sure you noticed that, even within the scope of standard DVDs, the DVD extras absolutely SUCK in quality compared to the DVD feature.
It's probably kinda like Sony discouraging porn from being produced in the same factory as G-rated films to avoid a "OMG there's porn in my Madden disc!" incident. Sony's supposed "2D BAN" on the PSone and PS2 was kind of overstated too. Namco Classics, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, or Disgaea Hour of Darkness anyone?
[There very-well may be some rule stipulating that all theatrical releases be released in 1080p]
What is the Westinghouse problem?
Westinghouse makes a 1080p set that does not accept a 1080p signal, I know that much. They are very likely one of the manufacturers that take EITHER 1080i OR 720p on other models instead of accepting either and scaling them to the native resolution. Because both are ATSC broadcast formats, the PS3 should expect an HDTV to support either, therefore a game only needs to support one or the other with no need for a scaler chip in the PS3. Unfortunately, televisions with no tuner sometimes expect your tuner to do the scaling and therefore do not scale themselves. This is why some people are forced to play PS3 games in SD on their HDTV when the game doesn't support their set's native resolution.
I think you can guess which games.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
The biggest thing, I think from the get-go, is to make sure you do a bit of research on sets that you like before committing to anything. Native 1080p (dot-by-dot) over HDMI would be ideal, but you're going to end up sending a pretty penny for larger sets.
That being said, my frothing demand for a high-def gaming hasn't been helped by this news. Sounds like a real upturn in the whole PS3 department.
It will over HDMI, but we'll have to wait and see if it can't over component (it would be an arbitrary restriction at that resolution).