One-and-Only PS3 as Blu-Ray Player Thread - Page 2

People still pay for $500+ DVD players when you can get them for $50. People still bought DVD players even when they bought the PS2. They're not aiming at the same audience, they're just hoping to broaden the market. These companies aren't idiots, they've been working together for years. Considering that Blu-Ray has a huge lead in hardware manufacturer support, that should say something about the format.

my guess the PS convention in Feb. It's a double whammy

The PS3 has a DVR now too?

Could you explain this in detail


Per

Can you say hype?

Maybe it's just me, but it sounds an awful lot like they are promising the world just to curtail Xbox360 and/or HD-DVD shipments. Or perhaps they're just trying to push magazine subscriptions...

Sony has said the PS3 won't have a hard drive, so a DVR is out of the question without a storage add-on. Sony has said the PS3 won't have tuners, so recording high-def from both cable and satellite is out of the question, without an expensive new tuner add-on. The article does allude to that somewhat -- "we don't know how video is going to get into the system."

This story went to press at least a few weeks ago. I find the "final ps3 dev kit is alot faster than they thought" comment interesting, because published reports from last month indicated exactly the opposite. I'm sure we all read the infamous review from the Sony Online employee who was since fired for his comments regarding the status of the ps3 devkit. I suppose it's possible that the final devkit was released shortly he published those comments on January ~10, in which case, this magazine report is good news.

None of the information in this article is of particular interest to me. I am not a gamer, and could care less about gaming. I am interested in movies, and affordable Blu-ray playback. This article tells us little about Blu-ray playback. Things that I want to know about the PS3:

1. Will it have built-in decoding for Dolby TruHD, Dolby Digital Plus, or DTS-HD?
   
2. Will it have HDMI 1.3 to output the new lossless audio formats to a future receiver/processor?
   
3. Will it have 7.1 analog outputs with 24/196 DACs?
   
4. How good will its DVD playback will be? Will it scale DVD playback to 720p, 1080i, and/or 1080p?
   
5. Will it feature 1080p playback for all BD titles, regardless of the video codec used? At CES, Sony indicated the Cell hardware was capable of 1080p MPEG-2 playback.
   
6. What BD-J profile will it support? Edit: Should say BD profile...
   
7. Will it read BD50 writeable/rewriteable disks?
   
8. Will it support SACD? Some comments suggest yes, others suggest no.
   
9. When can I buy it, and for what price?

My god, why would they want to do that?! That's not fair!

Do you mean Blu-Ray profiles? Keith has shown that BD-J is a requirement at all levels.

According to official specs from the press release, it will support SACD, including hybrids. I haven't seen any comments refuting that. If you have, please post them.

I'd have to agree with this statement. Most have hoped for the PS3 to be $499 or less. With the specs listed above there's no way this thing is being sold for anywhere near that. It's one thing for Sony to take a loss, it's another for them to crash and burn. I'm not keen on the idea of add-ons either which is the only logical plan they could have IMO. But just as it is for XBox 360, how many are going to buy any of the future add-ons? I'm guessing a small percentage. Don't get me wrong a PS3 with a built-in DVR sounds fab but either this thing may cost a fortune and not even be a good BD player. Somewhere they're going to have to cut corners.

They have to come in at $500 or less, or they're dead meat. The vast majority of PS3's will be sold exclusively for gaming, not BR capabilities. More than $500 puts them out of the market entirely (more than $400 will be a challenge).

Exactly. Either they're blowing smoke (not unusual for any company, especially Sony) or they've been keeping very quiet about supplies and specs.

I read this a little while back, it's a story about a guy who got fired for breaking his NDA with Sony:

PS3 Developers Comments Removed

It's an interesting read about the PS3. Website "Down in Front" once featured his comments, but for some undisclosed reason took the information down.

that is not right, it was always supposed to have an HDD, the only difference between Sony and MS is that Sony does not have a second SKU that comes standard with one. The PS3 has a drive bay and there will be several drive choices, that was what Sony said back at E3. They also said they did not include it to keep the initial price down and so that people have choices (do you want 20GB, 80GB more....)

On the other hand I don't see anything (much) that is new or that surprising. From the beginning it was supposed to be able to play movies off the BD, connect to the internet and connect to PSP and have an optional HDD that could be used for multimedia as well as games.

Once you assume those few key facts the rest is just a variation of a theme and rearrangement of those stuff

* PS3 will have online service that goes beyond xbox live

if it is a paid subscription like MS then - no cost to player

* PS3 will be a DVR

doubt it will have an internal tuner, most likely need to connect to something, my guess streaming from PC like MS - no added cost to Ps3 (but you will need to buy the optional HDD and maybe more stuff)

* It will connect with psp

known from day one, PSP can also be controller - no added cost to PS3 - bluetooth and IP are there

* There are a lot of games being worked on for it right now in the US (a lot more then what people know about)
* The final ps3 dev kit is alot faster than they thought (according to the developer)

not cost related

* The ps3 will have an itunes type service to let you download HI DEF movies, music, etc

what more then codecs and network connection is needed? no added cost to Ps3

* The Ps3 will take the media center functionality the 360 has even further

what more then codecs and network connection is needed? no added cost to Ps3

* PS3 will serve as a location free player for the psp, means you can watch the dvd's that you have in your psp on your psp (from anywhere in the world), or any other video files you have on your ps3, though this is still only being planned.
* PSP will be able to send its files straight to the psp from anywhere in the world, and it can also control its DVR functionalities

except for a network connection what is needed? - no added cost to Ps3 (but you will need to buy the optional HDD and maybe more stuff)


* Firmware updates will add more functionality, much like with the psp


* The Blu Ray Player functionality doesnt cost as much as a stand alone player because the Cell and RSX can take care of alot of the stuff the ps3 will need to do to be able to read the disks

this is a bit BS, but more to justify the stand alone players cost then the PS3, on the other hand it is true that all that is needed will be a drive, so except for the more expensive gaming part that makes comparisons futile it is true that they don't need some of the chips in other players

* Fall release date for ps3, no release date for online service, but expected to launch w/ the system

not a cost thing


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Now I know programming costs money and SW features do too, so it is not really no extra cost, but the cost is fixed so can't be said it adds cost to a player. Because the more players it makes the lesser the cost

The most Ironic thing about all this, is the MS(edit XBOX) usually get's criticized for being too PC, or being too much something else than a Video Game console.

But thanks to MS for pushing SONY off thier ass instead of re-hashing consoles with nothing but added graphics powers.

PS3, if all the above holds up, is a pretty killer piece of hardware.

oh, and as far as I am concerned with this monster of a PS3, it's still vapoware to me

And always a step or 2 back.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...94_page5.shtml

No one asked you but I am curious do you consider the Toshiba HD DVD players vaporware as well? If not you should.

You could add, will it be as loud and hot as the 360 when playing movies to that list as things that I'm curious about as well. I'll probably end up getting one for the games though, and not its ability to play movies. I fully expect its movie playing performance to be as sub-par as every console to date has been. *shrug*

Considering there is a release date, spec sheets, a price, pictures, and actual product demos...I would say your comparison is lacking.

I've long been a Sony fan (I still shine up my old 19" old Sony Trinitron taking special care with the SONY logo, it still retains a certain mystique for me)

Howver, the cheaper and simpler approach of HD-DVD looks to me Toshiba could also be a major player in Hi Def discs longer term

No, thats not right. Ken himself said the PS3 would NOT have a hard drive because any size HD Sony could offer would not be enough. I believe that is exactally what he said.

Sounds stupid I know, but thats what he said.

I remember seeing the supposedly "PS3 playback of Blu-Ray movies" demo at CES, and wondering where the PS3 was ?? All I remember seeing was a Sony Bravia LCD playing demo trailers of movies like "Da Vinci Code" and "Chicken Little", and compared to the same demos on their standalone players, the PS3 playback looked dull and washed out. Even thought the PS3 demos were playing on a non-final hardware, it might just be indicative that the Blu-Ray playback on PS3 might be sub-par compared to a standalone player - just like the Xbox 360's DVD performance is crap.

bdavidson: yes, he said something like that, but what does it have to do with what I said. Someone said the PS3 had no HDD capabilities so where will it record the movie. All I said is that it won't come bundled with an HDD but that it will be optional and someone that wanted one could have it. You think it stupid not to make a bundle (second SKU) with one, I don't really care, second SKU or not it is still optional (i.e. you can buy a PS3 with or without a HDD by paying more or you can buy a 360 with otr without a HDD by paying more.)

Sorry, your right, I read it wrong. I read your statement as:

"that is not right, it was always supposed to have an HDD, the only difference between Sony and MS is that Sony does not have a second SKU that , it comes standard with one.

no problem, it happens to all of us at some point in time

Sounds like they will just be showing the samething as what they've already shown before? Just doing it to get a foot hold in the Taiwanese market.

Finally, something concrete.